Chapter 13 #2
The look in her eyes made me do a quick scan of the counter for a bottle of rat poison or anything else that might contain arsenic.
I started to refuse, but she pressed the spoon closer to my mouth, leaving me without a choice.
If I was going to ask her for Sunny’s phone number, I had to play nice. And hopefully not die trying.
“That’s amazing,” I lied. It could have been sawdust.
“I’m glad you like it,” she said, settling the lid back on the pot, then lowering the heat on the burner. “I’d invite you to stay, but Beau and I have plans for an early supper, and then…” She shrugged, the Cheshire cat grin on her face telling me everything I would rather not know.
“No worries,” I said with forced cheerfulness. “Jolene and I are going out, too.”
She looked at me expectantly. My roommate and I usually spent Saturday nights wearing green-goop facial masks and eating takeout while bingeing true-crime shows on the Investigation Discovery channel.
“There’s a new bar on Magazine we want to check out.
Some of Jolene’s friends from work might be there, so… ”
“Sounds fun. What’s the name of it?” At my blank stare, she added, “In case Beau and I want to go sometime.”
“Oh, um, I don’t remember. Jolene’s driving, so all I have to do is get in the car.”
“Right.” She leaned against the counter, her arms crossed. “It’s nice of you to be Jolene’s wingwoman. She’s such a beautiful person, inside and out, and it’s hard to watch her throw herself at a guy who’s engaged to someone else.”
I started to say that Sam and Beau weren’t engaged yet but stopped. She wasn’t talking about me.
“I’ve seen a few of the comments on the YouTube channel where she and Jaxson share screen time, so I know it’s not just me.”
“There have been comments?” I was embarrassed to admit that I gave our channel only a cursory glance every once in a while.
YouTube was a black hole, and every time I settled in to watch an episode I got sucked in, swept toward suggested channels about cute dogs and restoring old houses.
Watching YouTube videos was a great way to waste time—for a person who had time to waste. Which I didn’t.
“Lots. Don’t worry—whoever is in charge of the channel deletes them as soon as they appear, but I guess a few have slipped through the cracks.
Same with a bunch of anonymous ones from people claiming they know where Mardi came from.
Probably just scammers looking to make a buck, which is why, I’m assuming, they’re taken down so quickly. ”
“Wait—what? Someone says they know where Mardi came from?”
“Yes. I’m sorry—I thought you were the one taking them down.”
I shook my head. “No, Jolene’s in charge of all the social media for JR Properties, so I don’t have to be involved at all. I just show up when asked to pose with Thibaut and Jorge or while using donated tools or hardware.”
“Oh. Then I guess you’ll need to ask her about it. Like I said, I’m sure it’s just a scam.” She looked at me expectantly. “So, Beau said you needed a newspaper?”
“Yeah. He left one in his truck and he thinks you might have picked it up with the groceries.”
“Right,” she said. “I wish he’d told me earlier, because now there are tomato sauce cans and beer bottles on top of it.
” She stepped on the pedal of a tall stainless steel garbage can and peered inside.
“I can just make out a corner of it. Could you grab the rubber gloves on the sink and hand them to me?”
“I don’t mind digging for it. Let me.”
She didn’t argue, so I reached inside and pulled the newspaper out from beneath several empty beer bottles of Beau’s favorite brand. It was still folded, as if it had just been left on a doorstep, then placed directly in the recycling bin.
“I can look through it here and pull out what I need if you think you might read the rest of it.”
“Considering it’s a few days old, not likely. Take it—it’s yours.”
“Great. Thanks.” I tucked the paper beneath my arm, then washed my hands in the sink. “There was one more thing I wanted to ask you.”
“About Beau?”
“What? No. Although if you’re wondering what Beau and I were doing outside the theater—”
She held up her hand. “Don’t bother. He already told me. About your mom. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. It’s not really a secret. But it does help knowing someone who has faced similar issues. It’s hard to explain what I’m feeling to someone who was raised by two parents in a happy household.”
“I get it. No explanation needed. I’m just sorry I overreacted.
” She gave me a warm smile. “I’m a little sensitive when it comes to Beau.
I know that he’s ‘the one’ for me. I’ve felt that since the first time we met.
Trust me—I kissed a lot of frogs before I found Beau, so I almost feel like he’s the dessert, you know? ”
I nodded in agreement so I wouldn’t have to tell her that I knew exactly what she was saying.
“I want us to be friends,” she said, “after all we went through to find Sunny. Not that mistakes weren’t made, but I thought we made a good team.”
“We did. We do,” I added, not mentioning how Beau almost died because of the plans that Sam and I put into motion. “And that sort of brings me to the second thing I came here for. Sunny’s phone number. I’m hoping you still have it.”
She seemed surprised. “Of course I do. We talk. Regularly.”
It was my turn to be surprised. “Oh. It was my understanding that she’d blocked Beau’s number and was only speaking with Mimi.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Beau. And no, Beau doesn’t know that we talk.
I think it would hurt his feelings—you know how men are.
” She gave a small laugh. “It’s hard, because I don’t even know why she’s okay talking with Mimi but won’t talk to Beau.
It’s not like he had anything to do with her kidnapping.
I think it’s because she truly loves the family who raised her and she thinks it’s disrespectful to want to know her biological family.
And yes, Mimi is her biological grandmother, but Sunny and Beau share the same parents. ”
I looked at Sam with disbelief. “Have you tried pointing out to her that the family who raised her is the family who kidnapped her, regardless of their intentions and how much they actually knew?”
“I’m not an idiot, Nola. Of course I have.
But you of all people should understand her point of view.
For the last thirteen years of your life, you’ve been welcome in a new family who didn’t know you existed.
I’m sure there have been times when you’ve felt angry with your mom for not telling you that you had a father and that he hadn’t abandoned you, because he didn’t even know you were born. ”
At my blank look she said, “I’m sorry. Beau and I talk about anything and everything. Even you.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or alarmed to know that Beau talked about me. Or that he even thought about me when we weren’t in the same physical space.
Sam continued. “I’ve been trying to get Sunny back to New Orleans—just for a visit—but I haven’t had any success.”
“Well, then. This kind of makes it easier. If I’d known that you were still communicating with her, I would have approached you before now.”
“Wow. Now I’m intrigued.”
I hesitated, remembering the repercussions from the last time we collaborated behind Beau’s back.
But this was different, I assured myself.
This wasn’t a plot to extort information or to feign affection with an ex.
This was about the reunion of a brother and sister and the hope that they could work together to find out what happened to their parents.
Surely nothing bad could happen with such honorable intentions.
“I think we need to force a meeting between Beau and Sunny.”
I waited for Sam to shake her head or hold up her hand or do anything else to make me stop, but she only nodded. “I agree. They’re siblings, and it’s not their fault that they’re estranged.”
“To be fair,” I went on, “this was Jolene’s idea, and after seeing Madame Zoe today—”
“Wait—you went with Beau to see Madame Zoe?”
“Yes. He didn’t tell you?”
“He said he was going to see the fortune teller, but he didn’t mention that he was going with you.”
My face flushed as if I were lying, even though I wasn’t. “I guess that was because Madame Zoe approached me first and told me to bring Beau to see her. He didn’t take it seriously anyway. Maybe he didn’t want to waste your time.”
Her light brown eyes considered me, taking in my reddened face and noticing the way I stammered my explanation.
I imagined my constant feelings of guilt stemmed from my mother making me lie to the police and her various dealers once I was old enough to talk.
Even when I was telling the truth, saying that I had no idea where she was, I still felt like a liar.
“What did the fortune teller say?”
“That Beau should ask his mom where to find Buddy.”
“Sounds pretty simple to me,” Sam said. “But Beau doesn’t see it that way.”
“I think she’s right. Adele is still here for some reason, and my best guess is that it’s because she wants to reunite Buddy with his family.
And if Madame Zoe is right, Beau needs to find his father before others who mean Buddy harm do.
I have no idea if we should take that with a grain of salt, but that’s what she said.
Regardless, I think Beau’s reluctance to ask for help from his mother has more to do with his anger at both of his parents for deserting him than with anything else.
It doesn’t take a therapist to see that Beau needs closure.
Even if that means confronting his father—assuming he’s still alive—and finding out why he’s never come back home. ”
“Fear of rejection, then?” Sam asked.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah. That makes sense.”
“Either way, in typical Beau fashion, he’s being stubborn and just needs a little push in the right direction. From the right people.”