A Haunted Twist of Fate (18 page)

“Let me help you.”  Shay dashed over to take two
teetering plates from the crooks of Hannah’s arms.

“Thanks, dear.” Hannah slid Dawn a look of
displeasure. It was understated, but Shay noticed it. Dawn just sat there, not
bothering to get up, cracking her gum. Hannah then counted out the dishes. “I’ll
bring the pitcher of tea in and we’ll be ready to start.”

“I can get it,” Shay offered, starting for the
kitchen.

“You’re my guest,” Hannah replied. “Please sit down.
I’ll be one minute more.”

It was apparent that Hannah and Dawn were not close.
Dawn hadn’t offered to lend a hand, and she continued to pop her gum at the
table until Brady told her to dispose of it.

Colt pulled out a chair for Shay, which garnered
snickers from both Brady and Dawn.

“What are you laughing at? Have you forgotten the
manners Mama taught us?” Colt stared at his brother. His tone was
light-hearted, but Shay sensed the comment was meant to remind Brady about the
way they’d been raised.

Brady wasn’t that much younger than Colt, but her
initial thought was that Colt seemed twice as mature.

“Maybe Dawn would like it if you pulled the chair
out for her once in a while,” he told his brother.

“Yeah, maybe I would,” she agreed, smacking Brady’s
arm.

Hannah poured tea into each of the tall glasses and
finally plopped onto one of the chairs and expelled a long sigh.

“It’s about time you relax,” Chet said, patting her
hand. “She’s worked hard getting the house ready and the boy’s birthday supper
cooked,” he told all of them.

“Thank you, Mama,” Brady said. “I appreciate it. It
looks great.”

“You’re welcome, son. Happy birthday! Now, everyone
dig in.”

Conversation never lagged throughout the meal. Shay
temporarily forgot about the discussion she planned to have later with Colt and
joined in the laughter and jokes. It had been so long since she’d shared in
that kind of family camaraderie. It did her heart good.

After supper, they gathered in the living room for
Brady to open his gifts. He appeared to genuinely like the bolo tie she gave
him. Either that or he was demonstrating the polite manners Colt had spoken of
earlier.

From Hannah and Chet, he received some clothes and mud
flaps for his truck. Dawn had bought him a pair of maple drumsticks. When it
was time to open Colt’s gift, Brady shook it several times. It rattled.

“Sounds broken,” he said, and everyone laughed.

Colt clasped his hands behind his neck and leaned
back into the sofa cushions, grinning. “Just open it.”

When Brady ripped off the paper and flipped up the
box lid and looked inside, a wide smile spread across his face.

“What is it?” Dawn asked, peeking in.

Brady started lifting out the pieces of a toy train
set and tracks, including fake trees, street lamps, buildings, cars and
miniature people. Hannah clapped a hand over her mouth. Chet laughed and nodded
with satisfaction.

Shay knew there had to be a family story that went
along with this gift. She and Dawn both stared at Brady and waited for him to
explain.

“When we were kids,” he started, “I had a train set
just like this. I got it for Christmas one year. Mama said I could play with it
in the basement. Daddy fashioned a table out of plywood and Colt helped me hook
the cars together and we set up the village. The two of us spent hours in the
basement running that train around the tracks.”

Colt grinned, probably recalling the good memories.

“Why is Colt giving you a new train set now?” Dawn
asked.

“Because my set got ruined.”

Hannah broke in and continued with the story. “We
had a big snowstorm that same winter. During the months of January, February
and March, our county suffered the coldest temperatures on record in over a
century. Many folks’ pipes busted, including ours. The basement flooded and
froze everything, ruining so many items and keepsakes I’d stored down there.”

“Including Brady’s train set,” Chet added.

Brady went on. “By the time the spring thaw came, it
was too late for my train. The pieces were rusted. We had to throw everything
out.”

“Ah. That’s sad,” Dawn said. “Why didn’t your mom
and dad buy you a new train set?”

“We wanted to,” Hannah answered quickly. “But Brady
wouldn’t have it. A lot of his friends lost more than toys that winter. Some of
our neighbors lost their clothes and furniture from the flooding, and they had
to start over again. Brady told his daddy and me that if his friends could do
with hand-me-down clothes and shoes, he could do without a toy train.” Tears
pooled in Hannah’s eyes. “I was never more proud of my son as I was that day. And
Colt, this was such a thoughtful gift. What kind-hearted boys I have.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Shay felt happy
tears form in the corners of her own eyes. Such a loving, caring family this
was. Seeing the joy they shared made the loss of her mom and dad feel fresh.

Brady broke through the quiet. “Thanks, Colt. You
want to help me set it up again? Mama probably won’t mind moving some of her
stuff out of the basement to make room.”

The brothers laughed when Hannah shot them a
no
you don’t
look.

“It must feel awful crowded in this house. When are
you going to buy your own place?” Colt asked him directly. “I’ve got a few on
the market that have nice basements and extra rooms where you could set up the
train, your drums, and still have space left over.”

Hannah rolled her eyes and stood up. “Go ahead,
Colt. Try and convince him to move out. It won’t do any good. I’ve tried. 
Excuse me. I’m going to get the cake and coffee ready.”

Brady and Dawn exchanged glances, and he cleared his
throat. “Sit down, Mama. The cake can wait. Dawn and I have something to tell
y’all.” He grabbed Dawn’s hand and took a deep breath. Hannah looked at Chet
and retook her seat.

“We’re getting married!” Dawn shouted.

“Isn’t that something?” Chet said, slapping his
knee. He and Colt stood and offered congratulations to the couple and shook
their hands. Shay did the same and asked Dawn if they’d set a date yet.

“Yes. Two weeks from now.”

“What? Why so soon?” Hannah’s brow wrinkled.

Brady’s cheeks flushed and his head dropped. He let
Dawn answer. “I’m three months pregnant.”

Hannah collapsed back into her chair with her hand
to her forehead. “Oh, Lord.”

Thirty

Colt’s cell phone blared. “Excuse me.”  He pulled it
from his shirt pocket and stepped into the hallway. The timing couldn’t have
been better. He didn’t want to hear more of Mama’s reaction to Brady’s news.

“Hello. Morgan Realty.”

“Colt? This is Opal Franklin. Sorry to bother you.”

“No bother, Opal. What’s up? Is it Frank?”

“That’s why I’m calling you at this hour. You told
me to call anytime.”

“Yes, I did. It’s all right. What’s going on?”

“He’s been agitated ever since you and your
girlfriend left yesterday.”

Colt let the girlfriend comment pass.

“Can you come over?” she asked.

“Right now?”

“Yeah.” There was a pause before she said, “Frank is
asking for you again, and for Shay, too.”

“He’s asking for Shay? By name?”

“Yeah. He’s saying it over and over, and I caught
him crying.”

Frank was crying? Whatever bothered him must be
serious, Colt thought. “Sure, Opal. Shay happens to be with me. We can be there
in about a half hour. It’s my brother’s birthday, but I think the party’s about
over anyway.” He was thinking about the bombshell Brady and Dawn had just
delivered to his folks.

Colt flipped the phone shut and rejoined everyone in
the living room. His mama was calmly serving cake, with Shay following up with
coffee.

“Is there a problem?” Shay whispered when he sidled
up next to her. She must have noted the worried look on his face. He was
concerned about Frank. He’d never seen a man of his granddaddy’s generation cry
before, or his father’s, for that matter. Hell, the only time
he’d
ever
cried as a full-grown man had been the day Denise received the diagnosis of
terminal cancer.

Pushing that sad memory to the back of his mind, he
said, “That was Opal. Looks like we’re going to be seeing Frank sooner than we
expected.”

After explaining to his family that he needed to go
see Frank, he and Shay wished Brady happy birthday again, as well as
congratulations to him and Dawn on their upcoming nuptials.

Colt kissed his mother goodbye at the door and
whispered in her ear. “Brady’s a grown man, Mama. You may not be crazy about
his bride-to-be, and they’re doing things in the wrong order, according to you,
but at least he’ll finally be out of your house.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on that. When you
were taking your phone call, he asked your daddy and me if they could live with
us for a few months after the wedding, while they save up for a place of their
own.”

Colt shook his head, but was not really surprised.

Hannah hugged Shay. “Honey, do this old woman a
favor. If you and my son become serious, will you please do things the right
way? Marriage first, and then a baby?”

Colt groaned. “Mama. Come on now.” His mother had
never been one to censor her words. He kissed her cheek again and placed his
hand at Shay’s back and gently pushed her out the door before Hannah could say
more. “See you later, Granny,” he teased.

“That was an interesting evening,” Shay said, once
they were in the truck and on the road. “Particularly the ending.”

“My brother may be thirty-five years old, but Mama’s
old fashioned. Sorry if she embarrassed you back there.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed. Your family is great,
especially your mother. She’s a lot like you. She shoots from the hip and says
what’s on her mind.”

Colt slid a grin her way. If only Shay knew what was
on his mind right now. A visit to Frank wasn’t what he’d planned for tonight. But
it was only a quarter past eight. The night was young.

* * * * *

When Opal ushered them into Frank’s bedroom, he was
holding a picture frame, staring intently at it—so intently, Colt realized,
that he didn’t even notice them until they were standing at his bedside.

“Howdy, Colt. Why are you here?”

Colt took note of Frank’s eyes. Despite them being
bloodshot, he appeared lucid. Colt looked at Opal, who shrugged.

“I told you I’d stop by today, Frank. I’m sorry it’s
late, but this was my first chance to get over here. Shay came along, too. Opal
said you were asking about her today. Do you remember her from yesterday?”

Frank’s gaze moved to Shay. “Of course I remember
you. You remind me of my grandma, Cynthia.”

Shay smiled politely. “You and Colt seem to think there’s
a resemblance.”

Frank’s gaze swung to the picture in his hand. “You
look like this girl, too.”

“What have you got there?” Colt asked, feeling his
pulse speed up.

Frank handed him the picture frame and the hairs on
the back of Colt’s neck stood at attention. At the exact moment, streaks of
lightning lit up the sky, followed by a boom of thunder. Colt’s head jerked to
the window. A storm hadn’t been predicted for tonight, but the air suddenly
buzzed with static electricity.

When the lights dimmed and then flashed off and back
on again, Opal said, “I’ll go check the circuit breaker and grab some candles
in case the power goes out.”

Colt hadn’t even realized she’d still been standing
in the doorway. He gazed at the photo and felt his gut twist. “Who is this,
Frank?”

Frank appeared captivated by Shay. “Where’ve you
been all these years, girl?” His voice sounded dream-like. Colt knew he was
hallucinating.

Shay glanced at Colt and stretched out her hand. “Can
I see that photo please?”

He handed it to her over Frank’s prone body and
jiggled Frank’s arm. “Who’s the girl in the picture?” he said again.

The old man’s lips curved upward. “That’s Alicia.
Don’t you remember her, Colt?”

“This is your daughter?” Colt blurted.

Shay peered at the photo and muttered, “What the
hell?” Apparently she saw what Colt saw, because her face grew ashen, and he
could have picked her chin up off the floor.

“I don’t understand.” She sank into the chair next
to the bed. Colt strode to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder and
felt her shaking.

Frank’s face glowed like a light bulb.  He crooned,
“I’m glad you came home, Alicia. I’ve missed you so.”

Thirty-One