“Since when?” I closed the door behind him.
“Since you changed the locks,” he bellowed as he opened the fridge door. “Hey, can you watch Sherlock for a couple days next week? Bella has a meeting in New York and I’m taggin’ along.”
“Yeah.” Jimmy had gotten the hound dog when he was a teenager and I’d spent the first few years of the mutt’s life takin’ care of him. I’d been the one to potty train him, clean up his messes, and take him to the vet to get his balls cut off. At the time, I’d been pissed because it was one more thing I was responsible for, but when Jimmy moved out and took the dog with him I’d missed the damn thing more than I’d care to admit.
Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I walked over to the window that faced the back of the property and looked at the blue house that had new residents. I’d hoped to get a sighting of my new neighbors, but it turned out to be the screen door flapping. The place had to be in pretty bad shape since Old Man Thompson hadn’t lived in it for over five years. I was thinkin’ I might head on over there later and offer to check out the pipes and electrical. It was the neighborly thing to do, after all.
I was already making a mental list of what I’d need to inspect when I heard a light knock at the door. When I opened it I found Jimmy’s better half standing on my porch.
“Sorry I’m late, Mary Jane had a lot say.” Isabella held up bags of take out from Granny’s Pantry. The owner, Mary Jane, liked to talk. “Where’s Jimmy?” She asked as she walked in. “I saw his car.”
“Where do ya think?” I said flatly.
“Hello, beautiful.” Jimmy walked out of the kitchen with a smile and a fried chicken drumstick.
“What are you doing? You knew I was bringing the food.”
“I’m a growin’ boy.” Jimmy patted his stomach and then playfully swatted Isabella’s ass as she walked to the dining table to set the food down.
“Hi.” Cheyenne knocked lightly on the open door as she walked in.
Reagan and Billy were right behind her and after everyone said their hellos and filled their plates, we all took our seats around the dining room table and Isabella wasted no time getting down to business. She was a woman after my own heart.
“Okay, so when Jimmy was at his fitting this morning—” Jimmy interrupted with a loud groan as his head fell back dramatically. His fiancée ignored him and continued, “This document arrived.” She pulled papers out of a manila envelope she was holding. “A couple of months ago I tried to hire the P.I. firm my father uses to find out more about your mother’s crash but they were unavailable. It turns out they were unavailable because my father had hired them and this is the report.”
Miles Santini was a well-respected businessman who was regularly featured in Forbes magazine. I didn’t know much about Isabella’s relationship with him other than it had been strained and the two were working to make it better now.
“The private detective was able to find the tow truck driver who was first on the scene and the mechanic. The tow truck driver passed away years ago so that didn’t lead anywhere. But the mechanic is alive and living in Alaska. He says that he has information but will only talk to you.” Isabella handed me the paper.
I looked down at the report that basically outlined what she’d just said.
It listed the mechanic’s name, Jerry Samson. I remembered that he worked at Firefly Auto Shop and he’d come into Southern Comfort for a drink on paydays, but I couldn’t remember ever saying more than a few words to the man.
Why would he want to talk to me?
“Why Hank?” Billy asked the question I’d been thinking.
“Don’t know, he said that he’d talk to Pops or Hank.” Jimmy twisted a toothpick in his mouth. “Since Pop is gone, that leaves Hank.”
“Who is the mechanic?” Cheyenne asked me.
“Jerry Samson,” Isabella told her.
“Do you know him?” My sister started to read over my shoulder.
“No. Not really.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Billy prompted before demanding, “Call him!”
I didn’t respond as I stared down at the paperwork.
“Hank,” Billy urged.
“I’ll think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?” Billy stood from the table and gestured toward the papers. “He has information and he’ll only talk to you. Call him!”
Reagan reached up and placed her hand on Billy’s forearm. “This is a lot to digest. Why don’t we all take some time and revisit this.”
Billy exhaled through his nose, lookin’ like a bull in the chute. I understood his anger, but this wasn’t as cut and dry, as he thought it was. I needed time to think about it.
“Hank.” Billy leaned forward on the table and it was clear from his tone and demeanor he wanted answers.
Answers that I wasn’t prepared to give him.
“Let’s meet at the bar next week.” Reagan stood and gathered her purse.
My chin dipped in a nod as she passed me on her way to the door. Billy begrudgingly followed behind her, as did the rest of the group.
I stood out on my front porch as everyone walked to their perspective cars. Billy got in his truck and slammed the door. He didn’t exactly peel out but his tires spun and he left a cloud of dust in his wake as he headed down the path toward the main road.
The rest of us watched as his truck disappeared over the horizon.
“Looks like the panty dropper’s panties are in a bunch,” Jimmy teased as he climbed in the driver’s seat of his pickup.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Reagan snapped her fingers before getting into her Prius. “You have new neighbors. Bernard Thompson’s granddaughter is moving into his house.”
“I didn’t know Old Man Thompson had a granddaughter.” Jimmy’s brow creased as he rested his elbow on his window and leaned out.
“He does,” Reagan confirmed. “And he left her his house. I took over his estate from Tanner.”
Tanner Abernathy and I had never gotten along. He was a pompous, arrogant, bully whose daddy always cleaned up his messes. But even Jennings Abernathy couldn’t keep his son from being disbarred on the grounds of moral ineptitude. Tanner had been in and out of rehab a half dozen times mainly for DUIs. But he’d really gone off the rails once he started doing coke.
Reagan worked for Abernathy at his family law firm. We’d suspected that Jennings might be Cheyenne’s biological father, but it turned out he wasn’t. So the mystery continued.
“Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up that you weren’t all alone out here anymore.” Reagan climbed into her car and waved.
“Looks like your gonna have to stop gardenin’ in the nude,” Jimmy teased before backing out.
As I watched my family drive away, I felt something that I didn’t quite recognize. It took me a second to realize that it was loneliness. Which made no sense. This was what I’d been working toward since I was a teenager. No responsibilities. Everyone grown and taking care of themselves.
So why did I feel like something was missing?