Читать книгу Beg To Die - BEVERLY BARTON, Beverly Barton - Страница 8

The minute Jim Upton heard his grandson’s Mercedes zoom into the circular drive in front of the house, he stomped out onto the veranda to head the boy off. He had a few choice words to say to Jamie, and he didn’t want any of the ladies to overhear their conversation.

Reba had been so upset with their grandson’s outrageous disappearance from his own engagement party last night that she’d gone to bed with a migraine. When he’d checked in on his wife this morning, she’d still been sleeping. He and Reba hadn’t shared a bed in years. Her choice, not his.

Jim hadn’t seen anything of the Willis family—Laura, her mother and father and younger sister. He assumed they were all still in bed. Of course, he wouldn’t blame Cecil Willis if he insisted his daughter call off the wedding. Damn shame that such a sweet, fragile Southern belle had fallen in love with Jamie. The look on dear little Laura’s face last night when she realized Jamie had just up and left had been enough to break a man’s heart.

Jim stood on the veranda, his arms crossed over his chest, and watched his grandson meander up the steps, all the while whistling. When Jamie saw Jim, he threw up a hand and smiled broadly. Damned good-for-nothing scoundrel, Jim thought. What the boy lacked in every other aspect, he often made up for in charm. But charm was worthless in and of itself. Just about as worthless as Jamie. Why the Good Lord had seen fit to take away Jim’s son and daughter and leave him with nothing but Jim Jr.’s only child, he’d never know. If only Jamie was more like his father. But he wasn’t.

And to think that Jamie had been such a sweet, precocious child. Loving, beguiling, and seemingly as devoted to his grandparents as they were to him. But with each passing year, from twelve years old to the present, at twenty-nine, Jamie had become more and more of a disappointment.

If it hadn’t been for Reba’s pleading defense of the boy, Jim would have written him off as a lost cause a couple of years ago. But Jim realized that losing Jamie would break Reba’s heart, and even if he didn’t love his wife—had never really loved her the way a man should—he cared about her and believed she deserved what little happiness she derived from their grandson.

Reba had her heart set on Jamie’s marrying Laura. And by God, if it meant beating sense into the boy to get him to straighten up, at least until after the wedding, then Jim was ready to whip his grandson’s ass.

“We need to talk,” Jim said as Jamie approached him.

“Ah, now, Big Daddy, what good is talking going to do? You’ll chew me out, I’ll say I’m sorry, then—”

Jim grabbed Jamie’s arm, twisted it behind his back and said, “March your sorry ass around to the side of the house and into the gazebo. You and I are about to have a major come-to-Jesus-talk, boy.”

Grunting in pain, Jamie struggled. Fruitlessly. Despite being seventy-five, Jim had the advantage of not only superior strength, but superior size. He was half a foot taller and fifty pounds heavier than his grandson. “Hellfire, Big Daddy, you’re going to break my arm.”

“I’d like to break your neck.” Jim tightened his hold on Jamie’s arm and marched him down the steps and onto the driveway.

Jamie stopped struggling, relaxed, and fell into step with Jim’s pace. As soon as they drew near the large, ornately decorated gazebo at the side of the house, Jim gave Jamie a shove inside and motioned for him to sit down. Jamie sat in one of the two huge wicker chairs. Jim paced back and forth in front of his grandson, then took a deep breath and sat down in the other chair.

“Look, it’s no big deal,” Jamie said. “I’ll apologize to Laura and to Big Mama and to Mr. and Mrs. Willis.”

Jim clenched his teeth. No big deal. I’ll apologize. “There comes a time when apologies just aren’t enough. How the hell are you going to explain to Laura why you left your engagement party before it ended? Are you going to tell her that you had to go see Jazzy Talbot, that your hunger for another woman was so powerful that—”

“I can’t give Jazzy up. Not entirely. Surely you, of all people, understand that.”

“Don’t compare the two of us, boy. I have never done anything that I knew would hurt your grandmother. I respect her too much, care about her too—”

“What about Erin? Don’t you think that if Big Mama knew about your latest mistress, she’d be hurt?”

“She doesn’t know and she never will.”

“And Laura has no reason to ever—”

“Hell, boy, Laura knows about Jazzy. Everybody in Cherokee County knows about Jazzy.”

Jamie glanced away, a sullen look marring his handsome features. “I’ll marry Laura, just like Big Mama wants. And we’ll give y’all some grandbabies. That should make Big Mama happy. But I can’t love Laura. Not the way I love Jazzy.”

Jim groaned. A part of him actually felt sorry for his grandson. Jamie truly believed that what he felt for Jazzy Talbot was love. Hell, maybe it was. Maybe he loved Jazzy as much as he was capable of loving another human being. But Jamie’s love was weak and spineless, just the way he was.

“I thought Jazzy had pretty much told you to get lost,” Jim said. “ Is that what this is all about—you just can’t take no for an answer? Her not wanting you makes you want her all the more?”

“She wants me.” Jamie rose to his feet and walked over to the edge of the gazebo railing that circled the twenty-foot circular building.

“Did she let you stay the night?”

Jamie turned, a wicked grin on his face. “I stayed a couple of hours. We talked. We said our good-byes. But I know that sooner or later, she’ll take me back. She always has.”

“Not this time. She wants marriage, doesn’t she? She knows you’ll never marry her. I hear she dated Jacob Butler for a while. He’s a fine man who’d make her a good husband. And I’ve been told that the new bouncer at Jazzy’s Joint is very protective of her. He’s thrown you out of the place more than once, hasn’t he?”

“Jazzy broke it off with Butler…that big, ugly Indian. And as far as Caleb McCord—she wouldn’t marry him anymore than she’d marry Butler. Neither man has what Jazzy wants.”

“And that would be?”

“Money.”

Jim snorted. “Maybe that’s what she wanted when she was sixteen and got herself pregnant with your baby, but Jazzy’s grown up and turned into a damn fine businesswoman. My guess is her priorities have changed.”

Jamie turned and glared at Jim. “Is this conversation over? I need some breakfast and a few hours’ sleep.”

Jim grabbed Jamie by the front of his fancy tuxedo shirt and hauled him closer. “Before you do anything, you find Laura and you fix things with her. You get down on your knees and beg her to forgive you, if that’s what it takes. Come Saturday, three weeks from now, you’re marrying that girl. And if you do anything—and I mean anything—to break your grandmother’s heart, I’ll break your damn fool neck. I’ve had all I’m going to take from you.”

Jamie trembled. Good, Jim thought. It’s about time I made him afraid of me. He released Jamie and shoved him toward the exit. “When you apologize to Laura, you’d better be convincing.”

Locking his gaze to Jim’s, Jamie smiled. “I didn’t spend the night with Jazzy, but I did find solace in a lovely lady’s arms. I think you might be interested in who I shared coffee and a kiss with less than half an hour ago.”

“I couldn’t care less what poor, stupid slut entertained you last night.”

“Now is that any way to talk about Erin Mercer?”

Every nerve in Jim’s body rioted, every muscle froze. “Try another lie, boy, because I don’t believe that one.”

Jamie shrugged. His grin broadened to show a set of perfect, pearly white teeth. “If you don’t believe me, call her and ask her if we didn’t share breakfast coffee and a smoldering good-bye kiss this morning.”

Balling his hands into fists to keep from hitting his grandson, Jim inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “Get out of my sight. Now!”

Jamie laughed as he turned and sauntered lazily toward the house. Jim, who watched until the boy disappeared from view, wondered what he’d ever done to deserve a grandson like Jamie.

Sally Talbot and her best friend Ludie emerged from Jasmine’s and headed up the street toward Jones’s Market. Sally had a hankering for some catfish and she knew Jones’s was the best place in town to get fresh catfish. They bought straight from Silas Monroe, who owned a pond-raised catfish farm here in Cherokee County. When they crossed the street, Sally gathered a mouthful of tobacco juice and pursed her lips. She spit out a stream of brown liquid just as they stepped up on the sidewalk.

“I wish you’d give up that nasty habit,” Ludie said. “You’re going to wind up with cancer of the mouth, mark my word. One of these days—”

“My God, look over there…” Sally grabbed Ludie’s arm. She couldn’t believe her eyes. But sure enough, right there across the street, only half a block from Jasmine’s, a woman stood talking to Caleb McCord. A woman who looked a hell of a lot like Jazzy. A cold fear surged through Sally—a hidden fear that had plagued her for nearly thirty years.

“Where?” Ludie asked, glancing up and down the street.

“Over there by that fancy green car. I think it’s one of them Jag-u-wars. Look at that woman talking to Caleb.”

Ludie’s keen black eyes zeroed in on the woman. Ludie gasped. “Dear God in heaven. She looks like…she could be Jazzy’s twin. But how’s that…oh, lordy, Sally, do you think she might be—”

“Yeah, I think she just might be. And if she is, you know what that means.”

“It means our Jazzy is going to be asking a lot of questions.”

“You got that damn straight.” Sally munched on her tobacco, then spit on the sidewalk. “And just what do I tell her?”

“You could tell her the truth.”

“She might hate me.”

“She might,” Ludie replied. “But knowing our Jazzy the way I do, I figure she loves you enough to forgive you.”

“Come on.” Sally motioned to her friend. “I got to see her up close. Let’s go over there and get Caleb to introduce us. I might ask that lady a few questions before I worry too much. Maybe she don’t know—”

“If she doesn’t know she looks like Jazzy, she will soon enough. You know Caleb will tell her.”

Sally yanked on Ludie’s arm, then all but dragged her short, plump friend back across the street. As they drew near and were able to get a better look at the woman, Sally’s heart sank. This gal had to be Jazzy’s sister. Lord, help me. I had no idea there were two babies. If I’d known…

“Morning, Miss Sally.” Caleb McCord, always cordial and mannerly, nodded in his friendly way. “Miss Ludie. How are you ladies this morning?”

“We’re just fine,” Ludie replied, all the while sizing up the woman beside Caleb. “Who’s this pretty lady you got with you?”

Caleb chuckled. “Miss Ludie, Miss Sally, I’d like for y’all to meet Ms. Reve Sorrell, from Chattanooga, Tennessee.”

“Howdy do, miss.” Ludie smiled.

“What brings you to Cherokee Pointe?” Sally asked.

“I’d think that was obvious,” Caleb said. “She came here looking for a woman she was told resembled her enough to be her twin sister.”

“Well, now that you mention it, she does favor our Jazzy some, don’t she?” Sally extended her hand toward the woman. “I’m Jazzy’s Aunt Sally.”

Reve shook hands with Sally, all the while studying Sally as if she’d put her under a microscope for close scrutiny. “I met your niece and I agree that we do look a bit alike, but—”

“You know, they say that we all got a double out there in the world somewhere. Guess Jazzy’s yours, huh?”

“Ms. Talbot, may I ask you a question?” Reve Sorrell looked Sally right in the eye.

Sally swallowed. Don’t blink, she told herself. Don’t show any fear. You ain’t done nothing wrong. Not thirty years ago. Not today.

“What you want to ask, gal?”

“If Jazzy is your niece, then you’d know if…if she had a sister, wouldn’t you?”

Sally chuckled, the sound just a bit off. She hoped nobody but Ludie heard the nervousness in her voice. “Yes, I’d know. And if you’re thinking there’s any chance you and Jazzy are sisters, then get that notion right out of your head. My younger sister—Jazzy’s mama—had one baby girl. That’s all.”

“I see.”

Sally could tell by Reve Sorrell’s heaving sigh and her tentative smile that she was relieved not to be related to Jazzy. Judging the woman by the fancy clothes she wore and the expensive sports car she drove, Sally figured Ms. Sorrell came from money. Big money. And big bank accounts usually came attached to big snobbery. More than likely this gal was mighty glad to find out that she wasn’t blood kin to the likes of Jazzy Talbot.

“What did Jazzy say when you two met?” Ludie asked, and Sally wanted to slap her friend senseless. Damn it, Ludie, leave well enough alone.

“We really didn’t get a chance to talk,” Reve said.

“I’m afraid Jazzy and I had a little difference of opinion,” Caleb admitted.

“Let me guess.” Sally huffed. “It was over Jamie Upton coming around last night, wasn’t it?” Sally reached over and patted Caleb on the back. “You keep on giving her hell about it. When she told me she’d let that rascal in last night, I sure gave her hell for being so stupid.”

“Jazzy told you that she was with Jamie?” Caleb asked.

Sally eyed him speculatively. “She didn’t let him spend the night, you know. She ain’t that stupid. She swore to me that it’s over between them. And I believe her.”

Reve cleared her throat. “If y’all will excuse me—”

“Ms. Sorrell is a friend of Jamie’s, too,” Caleb said. “He’s the one who told her that she had a look-alike here in Cherokee Pointe.”

“God help you, gal.” Sally pinned Reve with a warning glare. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll steer clear of Jamie Upton. He’s nothing but trouble for any woman. Somebody should have skinned him alive years ago.” Sally puckered her lips and spit a hunk of brown tobacco juice on the sidewalk. When she heard Reve Sorrell gasp and noticed her jump backward, Sally grinned. “Damn, I should have killed that good-for-nothing polecat back when he was a teenager. I could have saved Jazzy a heap of heartache.” Sally slapped her hand down on Ms. Sorrell’s shoulder. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to scare the woman off. No sirree, not a bad idea at all. Even if Ms. Sorrell thought she might be Jazzy’s sister, knowing somebody like Sally might be her aunt would run her off pronto. “If you been fucking around with Jamie, then you got my sympathy. Take my advice and stay away from him from now on.”

“Ms. Talbot, I can assure you that I have not been—”

“Call me Sally. Everybody does.” Sally interrupted before Reve finished her sentence, which undoubtedly was a denial of a sexual relationship with Jamie Upton.

“Sally, it’s been…interesting meeting you. But I really must go.” Reve backed away several feet. “Having met your niece…and you…and finding out that she and I are not related, despite our resemblance—”

“Did you really come here just to see if you and Jazzy might be related?” Sally asked. “Or did Jamie mention Jazzy and you came here figuring to see if she was competition? She ain’t. Her and Jamie are finished. But you do know he’s engaged…to be married?”

“No, I didn’t know, but I’m pleased for him. Believe me, Jamie Upton doesn’t mean a thing to me. Now, if y’all will excuse me, I’ll be going.”

Sally spit again, this time creating a lot of noise before doing so, making the event seem even more gross to someone unaccustomed to being around an old woman who chewed tobacco and occasionally dipped snuff, too.

“Don’t run off,” Caleb called after Ms. Sorrell.

The lady in question didn’t even bother saying good-bye. She unlocked her car, got in, and backed out of the parking place, all in a powerful hurry.

“So, what’s going on?” Caleb asked Sally. “Why did you try so hard to run her off? Is she really Jazzy’s sister?”

“What a fool thing to say,” Sally told him. “My Jazzy ain’t got no sister. My sister gave birth to one baby girl. Says so right on her birth certificate.”

“Mm-hm…if you say so.”

“I say so.”

“Well, it’s been quite a day already and it’s not even ten o’clock.” Caleb nodded cordially. “You ladies have a good one.” Smiling, he turned and walked away.

Just as soon as Caleb was out of earshot, Ludie grabbed Sally’s arm. “You might have run that Sorrell girl off pretty easy like, but we both know that Jazzy’s going to ask you about her. And you just remember that Jazzy knows you. She’ll be able to tell if you’re lying to her.”

“I didn’t lie to that Sorrell woman and I won’t be lying to Jazzy when I tell her that my sister, Corrine, gave birth to one little girl. Not twins. Corrine’s baby didn’t have no brothers or sisters.”

“That’s only a half truth and you know it.”

“It’s all the truth Jazzy ever needs to know.”

“Something tells me that sooner or later Jazzy and that Sorrell girl are both going to start wondering more and more about why they look so much alike.”

“There could be another reason, another explanation,” Sally said. “I swear to you that I don’t know nothing about there being two babies. All I ever knew about was my little Jasmine.”

“I believe you.” Ludie patted Sally on the back. “I been around all these years, all of Jazzy’s life. I know everything you know.”

Not quite everything, Sally thought. There was one thing I never told you, my old friend. One thing I’ll never tell a living soul.

Morning sunlight warmed her as it streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and caressed her body. She’d been thinking about what she had to do to protect her child. No more, no less than any mother would do to keep her child safe. Jamie Upton was a danger she planned to eliminate. He didn’t deserve to live.

She had to be very careful. Her plans had to be well thought out, meticulous in details, so that not only would Jamie die a horrific death, but so that Jasmine Talbot would be accused of his murder. They were both sinners. Fornicators. They both deserved to die. Why did men think they could betray the women they professed to love and never be punished?

She had to act quickly. The wedding was in three weeks. Any time before then would be soon enough, but she didn’t think she could wait. The thought of tormenting Jamie excited her. She didn’t dare wait much longer. What if someone else killed him before she got the chance? And it was quite possible that might happen, because so many people hated Jamie. Even his beloved Jazzy professed to despise him. But she hadn’t turned him away last night, had she? And for that alone, she deserved all the misery that was in store for her.