Family Sins(49)

“Once I let you leave my life without a word. That will never happen again. Come back to me, love, when you can.”

He cupped her cheeks as he brushed a kiss across her lips.

“Oh, I have to come back. I’m leaving my heart with you.” Then gave her one last hug before leaving.

Talia watched him back out of the drive, then went inside to wait for the people to come pick up the hospital bed. While she was waiting, the funeral home called to tell her that her father’s body was ready for a last viewing. Too many things happening at once.

*

Justin Wayne was on his way to the helipad, thinking about what Blake had asked him to do. The investors were going to fly over the area one last time to see if they could find a suitable substitute for the resort location. If they couldn’t settle on anything here, they would scrap the resort altogether and take their project to the state that had been their second choice. Justin knew what that would mean to the family. If the developers took the resort out of state, the Waynes would be the proud owners of a whole lot of useless land on a mountain and nothing more.

His mind was on the job until he turned down the street that would take him to the helipad. He noticed a couple kissing on a front porch. When it dawned on him that the man was the same one who’d stood outside their gates challenging him, he nearly hit the brakes. What stopped him was the realization that the man was even bigger than he’d thought. He was suddenly glad Fiona and Nita had stopped him from making a fool of himself. Still, the urge to take the man down was strong, and ways to make that happen floated through the back of his mind all day.

*

Once Bowie got home, his job became keeping Jesse busy so that Leigh could work in peace in the garden.

She’d been hoeing these green beans when Stanton was murdered, and now it was time to pick them again. Later they would all sit out on the porch and break the beans so she could can them. Stanton was gone, but they were not, and life’s needs went on. She finished about an hour before noon and left the green beans inside the utility room when she went inside to start the midday meal. It passed in relative quiet once Jesse settled down to eat. They were just finishing when they heard a car coming up the driveway.

“Someone’s here!” Jesse cried, and bolted from the table.

Leigh sighed.

“Go run him down for me, will you, son? I want to gather up the dirty dishes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bowie said, and left the kitchen.

Jesse was already outside on the porch, but when Bowie came out, Jesse backed up against him.

“I don’t know this man,” Jesse said.

“It’s okay. I do,” Bowie said. “Go tell Mama the constable is here.”

“Yeah, the constable,” Jesse said, and headed into the house as Riordan approached.

“Afternoon, Constable. Did you come to tell us you have the killer under arrest?” Bowie asked.

Riordan sighed.

“Not yet. I need to talk to your mother. I’m hoping she might have some insight into her family that would help us.”

The screen door opened behind Bowie.

“Come in, Constable Riordan, and take a seat,” Leigh said.

Bowie stepped aside as Riordan followed Leigh into the house.

Jesse was sitting in Stanton’s chair, ready to visit.

Leigh glanced at him. “Jesse, would you like to take the peelings out and feed them to the chickens? Remember to close the gate behind you when you go in and when you come out.”

Jesse beamed. “Yes, ma’am. I like to feed the chickens.”

“I know you do. The peelings are in the blue tin bowl on the cabinet. When you’re done, come right back, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. Close the gate in and close the gate out.”

Leigh ran a hand over Jesse’s head to smooth back a strand of hair. As she did, she felt the ridges of scar tissue beneath.

“Run along now,” she said.

“Do you want me to go with him?” Bowie asked.

“No. I want you to stay with me,” Leigh said, and sat down on the couch opposite the chair where Riordan was sitting.

Bowie sat beside her.

“I’ll make this brief,” Riordan said. “First of all, I want to tell you again how sorry I am for your loss. The reason I’m here is that I’m hoping you can shine some light on your family for me.”

“I haven’t talked to any of them in over thirty years,” Leigh said.

“How did you keep from running into them in Eden?” Riordan asked.

“Because they don’t lower themselves to shopping where people like us would go. They have people to handle the mundane things in life,” she said.

“Your children never ran into Charles while they were in school?”

“I don’t know who Charles is,” Leigh said.

Riordan didn’t bother to hide his shock.

“He’s Blake’s son.”

She shrugged. “I homeschooled my boys.”

“You must be a very intelligent woman, Mrs. Youngblood.”

She shrugged. The fact that she’d graduated college by the time she was seventeen was immaterial. Being the brain of the family had gotten her nothing but disdain. She’d had it drummed into her from her youth that her smarts were wasted on a girl.

“Stanton helped tremendously. He already had his college degree in business and economics before we married. He was an online broker and licensed for quite a few years. He had his own clients.”