FOURTEEN

Paul wasn’t joking when he’d tell me stories about the Cox’s house. Whenever Paul told a tale about people who had a lot more money than we did, I thought maybe he was stretching the truth a little to be more humble himself, but this was not the case.

The sprawling acres of the greenest grass, black Kentucky fence-posts, and grazing horses was just the front of the property after I’d driven through the gate where Jr. had punched in a code.

There were people on mowers, trackers, and all sorts of equipment I didn’t recognize. In the distance, I could see what appeared to be a race track where men were mounted on big brown horses and riding them. Some were at a trots pace, while others were full speed ahead. It was a working race horse farm just like Paul had said. It was probably the only thing he was truthful about in our marriage.

The barns were luxurious on the outside and looked exactly like the house we’d pulled up in front of minus the grand marble staircase leading up to the double front doors.

“This is where you live?” I gawked after we’d parked and I’d gotten out.

“One more week here.” His voice cracked. “We can’t afford it now.” He took his cap off his head and ran his hand through his hair. “No thanks to Paul West.”

“Where will you go?” I asked.

“Honey, can you come in and give me a hand with the boxes from your bedroom? The movers will be here in a minute.” Ava Cox stood at the front door in a pair of leggings and red baggy top that hung off her right shoulder. Her long black and curly hair was pulled to the side over her left shoulder. Her olive skin was just as beautiful as I’d remembered it, though the brown circles under her eyes told me It’d been a long few months. It was funny the weird stuff you remember about people and I remember Paul telling me that I’d love Ava because she was younger than Grady.

“Hi.” She trotted down the steps like one of her fine horses. “You must be with Brighton Interiors.” She outreached her hand. “Thank you for taking the time to come look at the paintings.”

“Mom,” Jr. tried to stop her.

“I’m sure you’ll find they’re in mint condition and rare.” She was selling me, even though I couldn’t afford the gas to get them back to Normal.

“Mom!” Jr. stopped her again. “This isn’t the lady from the interior place. It’s Mae West, Paul’s wife.”

“Ex.” I was really getting tired of correcting people. Maybe I needed a sign to pin on me or one of those fancy necklaces that women wore with their name, but I’d say Paul’s EX wife.

“What do you want?” The sweet southern hospitality I’d received when she thought I was the interior chick had completely left every bone in her body “Why did you bring her here?” she demanded of Jr.

“Ava,” I gulped because the look she gave me when I used her name was one that told me I’d almost crossed the line. “If I may call you Ava,” I said again relieved not to be smacked by her. “I came to town to actually talk to you, scorned woman to scorned woman.”

“My husband didn’t scorn me,” she was quick to retort.

“No, but my husband did both of us wrong and I’m trying to make things right,” I said.

“Then I’ll take fourteen million dollars in cash.” She nodded and when I didn’t say anything, she said, “I didn’t think so. Get her out of here before I call the police.” She turned and walked back up the stairs.

“Please. Just a minute of your time and I’ll leave forever. Please,” I begged.

“Mom, just hear what she has to say. If you don’t, then we can’t move on from all the thoughts and questions in our head.” Jr. did the sideways walking next to her, almost tripping on the top step. “You said that if she were ever in front of you, you’d let her have it.”

My eyes grew big.

“Now’s you’re chance. That’s why I brought her here.” He jumped in front of the double doors to block them. “Let her have it.” He socked one fisted hand in his palm.

“Fine,” she said, pushing Jr. aside and going in to the house.

“Come on.” He gestured to me.

“She’s not going to really let me have it, is she?” I asked slowly walking up the steps.

“No.” He actually smiled. “Though it’d be funny.”

Jr. was actually starting to grow on me. I remember I’d found him in our pool house at the reception after the actual wedding reception with some booze he took from the bar. He was clearly underage. He begged me not to tell his parents. Luckily, I’d gotten there before he did too much damage and I kept his secret, taking the rest of the booze with me.

“Remember I found you, I kept that secret,” I reminded him.

“Yeah. That’s why I brought you. You’re not so bad, maybe bad taste in men, but not a bad person.” His jaw finally softened as well as his eyes, uncovering the deep hurt that was so clear in them now.

“I am sorry,” I wanted him to know that.

“I know,” his voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “The kitchen is that way and if I know my mom, she probably taking one of those fancy coffee cakes out the freezer to defrost that she keeps in there for just in case company.”

“I could use some of that right now.” I patted his arm and walked back to where he’d pointed.

I didn’t want to comment on how amazing her home was because I knew it was no longer her home, but the FBI’s.

“I’m sorry.” I looked around the custom kitchen. It had all the bells and whistle no one ever needed. I could relate. All the marble, designer cabinets, buttons that made things come out of the counter and hide back down. I looked around at the walk-in butler pantry with all the Kitchen Aide appliances along with all the spices and ingredients. Even the lighting was fit for a palace with all the crystals or maybe they were diamonds. The large wall of glass was just a visual reminder of the horse farm right outside of these walls.  “I just went through this.”

“I want to tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not there yet.” She took a plate out of the microwave that had the fancy coffee cake on it. “But I’m a southern lady, and I can swallow my pride to have a few of my questions answered.” She put the plate on the island. “I wish I could offer you a seat, but they’ve been taken along with the rest of my furniture.”

“I’m fine.” The pastry did make my mouth water.

“How did you not know your husband was doing this?” she wasted no time with pleasantries.

“He went to work, came home at decent hours. There were never any luxury gifts or vacations.” I reached for a slice and put it on a napkin she’d practically thrown at me. Under her trying to be tough exterior, I knew there was a lot of hurt inside. “I went to play tennis, had a few women’s clubs and friends.”

Those friends left rather quickly after the FBI raid.

“Rather acquaintances.” I changed my words.

“Yes. I’ve been looking for different words to call those same people. Funny how when you’ve got money, people adore you.” She took the words out of my mouth, so I finished her thought.

“And run when you’re broke.” I smiled.

“Exactly.” She leaned her hip against the counter and folded her arms. “I don’t hold ill feelings towards you and I know he took you for everything too, but how are you going to live with yourself knowing how many lives he’s ruined?”

“That’s why I’m here.” I sucked in a deep breath. “The only thing the FBI didn’t take was a small campground in Normal.”

“Normal?” She bent back, pressing her lips together. “Grady lived in Normal one summer while we were in college.”

“Do you know where?” I asked.

“Yes. I think it was a campground. He did things for the camper’s children. Like a summer camp for the vacationers,” she said.

That was a great idea. Camp for the camper’s kiddos. I put that back in my memory for later use.

“That’s how he got the idea that he wanted us to have scads of children, but I wasn’t able to conceive after Jr.” She blinked a few times and turned away as though she didn’t want me to see her getting upset. “Anyways, that was a long time ago.”

“Interesting because Paul had a college bet with someone and that’s how he got ownership of the campground. I can’t help but wonder if Grady owned the campground somehow.” There were incomplete thoughts rolling through my head.

“No, he didn’t own it, but Paul did come visit him a lot. I do remember that.” She nodded and tapped the counter with her fingernail. “There were some rumblings about a poker game, but Grady always blew me off when I asked him about it. Since it didn’t involve me or him, I just dropped it and never thought about it until now.”

“You can’t remember any particulars about the poker game?” I asked. “I’ve never known Paul to even gamble.”

“There appears to be a lot you didn’t know about your husband,” she gave me a little dig, which I let slide.

Apparently, those made her feel better about the situation and I wasn’t going to take that away from her. My skin had really thickened up over the past couple of months, especially in the last few days.

“Anyways, I’m living in a camper in Normal.” I rolled my eyes and gave a little laugh. “Far cry from Fifth Avenue.”

“At least you have a roof over your head and know that your husband is dead,” there was no sympathy coming from her.

“Ex,” I said with an exhausted sigh.

“You know what I mean.” She pushed the sleeves up on her shirt. She looked like she was just getting started with me and I wanted to shut that down.

“Do you have any other questions?” I wanted to get them out of the way.

“How exactly do you plan on helping people out?” She asked a great question that I’d not entirely figured out.

“One at a time,” I pulled that out of nowhere. “Paul hadn’t been paying the manager of the campground. Said she could live there for free.” I rolled my eyes. “She’s had been spending any extra money she had to pay for the lot fees of the residential campers so they weren’t evicted. She has a kind heart and Paul took advantage of her. She happens to be a suspect since she let Paul invest her savings.”

I left out the part on how Dottie had gotten the savings, from losing her husband and child.

“I didn’t give back all her money, but I will continue to pay her and let her live for free on the property. I’ve got plans to bring the campground back to what it use to be.” I dug in my purse for the brochure. I slide it across the island for her too check out.

“You live here?” She unfolded it.

“On the land,” I let out a snort. “Paul had let the campground go to ruins. I’m going to bring it back to what the brochure says it is. I’ve got a fundraiser planned and a few good hearted people in Normal have stepped up to the plate to help and donate a lot of things.”

“That’s just one woman,” she eagerly pointed out.

“Normal used to be a vibrant community that families would flock to on vacation, just like your husband did the during summer camp. Normal still has all of that to offer, it’s the campground that needs to be fixed up so I can bring income back to the town. Give people jobs. That surely has to help.” It sounded so powerful to say those words out loud.

I’d never really given my business plan a purpose and this was exactly why I needed to bring the campground back.

“One at a time, huh?” She stared at me. “When’s it going to be my time?”

“Well, for starters, I need to know where Grady is.” I put the brochure back into my purse.

“You’re guess is as good as mine.” She looked down, unfolded her arms and brushed her hand along the marble island top. “That morning we had just packed up the last of the kitchen items. We were having a cup of coffee on the deck. We started to talk about how we’d made all of our college plans come true.” She sniffed. I could tell she was fighting back tears. “I used my law degree to get him great business deals as he used his business degree to make those deals happen. We were a match made in horse business as the Herald Leader pointed out in an article they’d done on our marriage. Jr. was a whiz at all things computer, so we’d made sure we’d had a fully funded 529 college fund plus all the extra money he was going to need in case he didn’t get a full scholarship. He dreamed of going to Harvard to major in business and IT.”

“That’s great.” I was happy to see Jr’s dreams come true.

“Great?” Her brows furrowed. “He didn’t get a full ride this year.” She looked away. “And I found out that Grady had given all of Jr’s money to Paul,” her voice trailed off.

“Oh.” My gut dropped.

“Jr. didn’t deserve this. He worked so hard in school and we worked hard to put that money into the account. When I found out that a couple of months ago that Paul had talked Grady into giving him the money around a year ago, I almost divorced him  it. This fall, Jr. will be attending community college and working at the BBQ diner to pay it.” She pinched her lips together, and began to rub them together like she was rubbing in lipstick.

“I don’t have the words.” I looked down at my fingers and fidgeted nervously. It wasn’t just one generation of lives Paul had ruined, it was the entire legacy of that generation. “I don’t know how I’m ever to going repay everyone, but I’ll come up with something.”

“What about giving him a job?” She looked me square in the face. “He can do both jobs this summer.”

“Well,” I wasn’t sure how that was going to work. “Let me get the fundraiser over and I’ll see what I can come up with. The car he’s driving?”

“Yep. His other was re-poed.” She made me nervous with her stare.

“Do you have any idea where your husband could’ve gone?” I asked.

“The detectives asked me the same thing. I have no clue. He didn’t take a wallet, his cell or even his car. That too was re-poed.” Her jaw clenched. “It makes him look like the killer now that I remembered the summer camp thing.”

“Do you think he’d heard from Paul from prison and he planned to meet Paul there with the intent to kill him? Seek revenge?” I asked.

“Grady was very angry at Paul, but he’d never hurt a fly.” She wasn’t going to hear of any ideas I might’ve had as to what happened to her husband.

“Then where do you think he went?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It’s no secret that after what he’d done with Jr’s college fund, we didn’t fully recover our marriage. He’d been living his life and I’d been living mine. They only times they’d cross was when we had to do something in public.” She looked back at the door when the doorbell rang. “I’m sorry, Mae, but I’ve got some paintings to try to sell so I can get a roof over me and my son’s head. We don’t have the comforts of a camper to go home to after tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry,” I made sure I told her again. “I’m not sure how I’m going to make it up to you and Jr, but I’m going to. I’ll get back to you on a job.”

“Mmmhmmm,” she blew me off and went to the door.

I ended up showing myself out of their house when she didn’t come back after I waited a few minutes. I grabbed another piece of the coffee cake for the road.