Page 14 of The Lake House (Southern Charm #2)

Chapter Fourteen

The dining room at the Honeysuckle Café was buzzing with the usual midmorning coffee seekers—a couple holding hands and laughing together, two friends discussing an issue in muted tones and with serious faces, and a trio from a local business sipping coffee and discussing strategy.

Rita glanced around in satisfaction as she headed for her office.

Everything was running smoothly, as it should after so many years.

Cathy wasn’t making waves today, which was a relief to Rita, who didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

She seemed to have taken Rita’s words to heart after their last discussion.

“Rita!” Amanda called, then jogged towards her.

“Hi. I was going to stop by the kitchen later to say hello. Didn’t want to disturb you.”

Amanda gave her a hug. “How are you?”

Rita was surprised. Amanda had never been much for displays of affection. “I’m feeling a little better each day.”

“You’ve lost weight.” She looked concerned.

Rita nodded. “That happens. I haven’t been eating much. But my appetite is back today.”

“I’m going to make you something. I’ll bring it to the office. I know what you like.” Amanda flashed a smile.

“Well, thanks, honey. You’re sweet as pie.”

“Pie. I’ll bring you some of that too.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Rita replied.

In the office, Rita got to work ordering supplies and paying bills.

It seemed to be a never-ending task, one she hadn’t got around to training anyone else to do.

Maybe she could ask one of the staff to help her with it at some stage.

Or at least to be a backup for her. She should really ensure someone else was across the books other than herself since she might be out of action even more during the next round of treatment.

She stopped and leaned back in her chair to rub her eyes. She was tired. She might take another nap after lunch. Amanda knocked on the door, then pushed it open. She held a plate with a chicken sandwich and fries on it, along with a pickle spear.

“Thought you might like to try this one. It’s new on the menu. Cathy suggested it, and it’s been selling like crazy.”

“It was Cathy’s idea?” Rita took the plate. “I’m glad to hear she’s contributin’ ideas. Thank you, honey.”

“You’re welcome.” Amanda pressed both hands to her hips. “You let me know if you need anything else.”

“Will do. You and Cathy are getting along better, then?”

Amanda exhaled. “She’s frayin’ my nerves a little less. That’s about all I can say for now.”

“Well, that’s somethin’, at least.”

After Amanda left, Rita took a bite of the sandwich and let her eyes drift shut in delight. It was delicious—a mixture of salty, spicy and creamy, with a crunchy filet of fried chicken at the centre along with a tart and creamy dressing, crispy lettuce, tomato and pickles.

When she was done, she wiped her hands clean and pulled a large envelope out of her purse.

She’d stowed some of the correspondence she’d found in the box at home in the larger envelope so she could read it today at the office.

She was dying of curiosity, wondering if there’d be any further clues in the letters about her parents’ marriage or the conflict at the café.

She knew her father and his brother had a falling out all those years ago, but she hadn’t learned the truth of what happened.

What if these letters had nothing else of interest in them?

She might never learn the truth about the past, and she’d have to come to terms with that.

There was no way for the dead to speak, but letters they’d written could help.

The next letter she read was from her grandmother to her father. Rita’s paternal grandmother had been a quiet and reserved woman. Rita didn’t recall her speaking much, but when she did, she used a steady, gentle voice, and people listened. Rita’s father certainly did.

Darling Ray,

Daddy and I are enjoying California. I never thought we’d get to visit, and now that we’re here, I wish we could stay longer. There’s so much to see. It’s very different from back home. It’s dry here, and the wind is warm. There are hills, and some mountains too, although where we are is flat.

We went with your sister and her family to Disneyland yesterday.

The kids were over the moon about it. I can’t say I blame them.

There’s everything you could imagine and more for a kid to do.

Not to mention the food and the shows! Dad and I had a great time, even if I did avoid the wilder rides.

I’m not up for that kind of thing anymore.

I’m sorry you couldn’t come visit your sister with us this time.

Maybe next time? But I know you have a lot to tend to at home.

Have you heard from Sylvia and the girls lately?

It makes my heart ache to think of y’all being so far apart.

And three months is too long for a family to be separated.

I know y’all love each other. You need to do everything you can to work things out.

And on the subject of reconciliation, you’ve got more than one to make. Don’t forget your brother, my boy. The two of you have been as close as peas in a pod your whole lives, and you can’t let anything come between you. It’s over, and you’ve both got lives to live. Let the past stay in the past.

You both fell in love with the same woman.

There’s no crime in that. But to let that come between blood brothers—that’s for certain a crime, at least in my eyes.

Blood matters more than any other tie. And you’ve got to understand that your brother is a proud man, just as you are.

If you don’t make the first move towards reconciliation, he might not either, and then you’ll have this rift between you forever.

That’s enough of a lecture from me. I only wrote to let you know how we’re doing, and that we’ll be back as planned on the fifth.

No need to pick us up from the airport—we’ll get a taxi.

I know you have your hands full with the business.

I’m not sure how you’re managing on your own, but you were always more than capable.

All my love,

Momma

Rita stared at the letter for a long time before folding it away. What was Grandma Beatrice talking about? Dad and Uncle Bill were in love with the same woman? When was that? Who was that? And why would that cause them to fight so many years later when each of them had married someone else?

Three months in North Carolina—that’s what the letter said.

Three months of family separation. And maybe it lasted even longer.

It must’ve been so difficult for her father to be alone, to manage the café without his partner and his wife.

They’d previously all worked there together.

The abrupt change must’ve pushed him to his limits. How had he coped?

There was a knock at the office door.

“Come in!” Rita called.

Cathy opened the door and stepped over the threshold. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.” She held a plate of pie aloft, along with a glass of what looked like iced coffee. “I brought dessert.”

“Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing? You’re not interrupting, not at all. I was finishing up some bills.” Rita shoved the letter back into the larger envelope and put the lot in her purse under the desk. “How are you today?”

Cathy placed the dessert on Rita’s desk and sat in the chair opposite Rita, smoothing the apron she was wearing over her dress.

Her blonde hair was teased and styled in waves away from her face that didn’t move.

Her eyeshadow was blue, and there was thick black eyeliner that swept up at the corner of each eye.

“I’m holdin' on. And you?”

“Doing okay. Sounds like things are workin’ out at the café.”

“They’re fine. I’m just… well, I’ll be honest, I’m strugglin’.” Tears formed in Cathy’s eyes, and she dabbed at them with the tip of a manicured finger.

“Oh, honey. What’s wrong?”

Cathy sniffled, searching for a tissue in her sleeve. “It’s Gareth. He says he’s not going to give me a dime of the house equity. He’s selling it right out from under me. I’ll have nowhere to go. I’ll be homeless!” She burst into tears and smothered her cries in her uncooperative sleeve.

With a sigh, Rita got to her feet and lumbered around the desk to pat her cousin on the back. “I’m so sorry, honey. That’s hard.”

“And the kids blame me. They say it’s all my fault he left. That I’m too mean, and I nitpick him. They think I’m critical and judgemental, and that’s what drove him away. But I know he’s just feedin’ all that to them. They can’t seem to locate an independent thought to save their lives.”

“That happens sometimes. It’s hard for kids to understand these things even when they’re grown.”

“I know it. But he’s lying to them. He left me because he’s found someone else. He just won’t admit it—not to me or to them. But I’ve got the evidence, and I know who she is. I can’t tell the kids, though. They love that man. Heaven knows why. But they do.”

“Well, he’s their daddy.”

“I know it. They don’t want to think badly of him, and I don’t want them to either. But I’m going to end up homeless and alone if he gets his way. No place to lay my head, and my grown kids, who I dedicated my life and heart to raisin’, wanting nothing to do with me. I can’t see a way out of this.”

“They’ll come around. And as far as the house is concerned, he can’t toss you out of your own place. You stay put. The law will have your back on that one.”

“Are you sure?”

“Is it in your name?”

“It’s in both names. But he says since he made the payments all those years while I stayed home with the kids, the law will side with him and say it’s his.”

“I can’t believe that’s true,” Rita replied with a shake of her head. “He’s trying to manipulate you. The law says that the house belongs to the two of you. And if it’s sold, you’ll both have to agree and you’ll get an equal share. Have you got yourself a lawyer yet?”

“I’ve found one, but I haven’t signed the paperwork yet. It’s a lot of money, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to afford a thing. I’ll be penniless. At least that’s what Gareth says. That I’ve leeched off him long enough and he’s cutting me loose.”

“Leeched?” Rita saw red. “Well, I’ll be darned…”

“I’m sorry,” Cathy said. “I’m bawling all over your office.”

“No, you’re not, and you’re fine. There’ve been plenty of tears shed in this room over the years—don’t you worry about that.

Now, listen up. You didn’t leech off anyone.

You had a partnership with this man. The two of you agreed that he would earn, and you’d raise the family.

It’s an equal partnership. And that means any resources built by the family over the course of your marriage are communal property. ”

Cathy blinked. “Is that true?”

“That’s the way I see it. I don’t know the exact legal terminology, but I do know the law tries to be fair. They’re not going to leave you homeless and without a nickel to your name.”

“So, I should stay in the house?”

“Don’t you move out until you’re ready to or want to. No matter what he says. That’s your home. If he chose to leave because he wants to be with someone else, that’s on him. And if you need to take some time off from the café to manage all of this, you let me know.”

Cathy shook her head. “No, I love coming here. It distracts me. And I can be myself here. No one knows anythin’ about what I’m goin’ through and I like it that way.”

“Well, whatever works for you. I’m here and I’ll do what I can to help. I hope you know that.”

“I know you are. And I’m grateful,” Cathy replied. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a witch.”

Rita laughed. “Haven’t we all, Cathy? There’s a season for everything, and this is the season of Cathy startin’ over. You have a fresh slate. Nothing written on it yet. Life can be anything you want it to be.”

Cathy huffed. “I don’t know how you stay so positive, Rita. The world throws you a rotten lemon, and somehow you turn it into lemonade.”

Rita bent to give her a hug. “Well, who wants to suck on a rotten lemon? Not me. Lemonade tastes so much sweeter.”