Good Woman Blues (32 page)

“Good job leaving the office behind.”

Gabriel rolled his weight from her. In one
motion he lay next to her and tucked her bottom against his pelvis.
Drifting off with her in his arms was sweet. The muted light faded
to black. Then he floated in a suspended-time- and-place dream
world.

***

The next morning Erikka smiled down to her
toes as she hit the OFF button on the cordless phone. She’d only
left him a few hours ago. Now he wanted to go for a Sunday
afternoon drive. Heaven.

“Gabriel is very thoughtful. I’m happy for
you,” Darlene said. She looked up from the pile of papers strewn on
her dining room table.

“He’s my reward after suffering through a lot
of fools,” Erikka said with a laugh. Her laughter died at the
expression on Darlene’s face.

“Must be nice. I wouldn’t know that feeling.”
Darlene went back to the work she’d brought home.

“Listen, I’ll stay here and help you. Gabriel
will understand.”

“No he won’t, and I wouldn’t blame him.
Besides, I don’t need help. Go have fun. Somebody ought to.”
Darlene rubbed her back and winced.

“You were up when I got in this morning and
now you’re at it again. Did you even go to bed?” Erikka sat down in
the chair across from her.

“Oh I went to bed for about a minute. One
thing about not sleeping, I get a lot done.” Darlene picked up a
sheet of paper. She squinted at it before making notes.

Erikka glanced around the room. Darlene was
right. The house looked so clean she imagined it was germ- free. A
speck of dust would have felt guilty showing up anywhere.

“By the way, thanks for ironing my clothes
while I was asleep,” Erikka said. She hadn’t even heard
Darlene.

“Hey, Moms.” Malik bustled in. “Thanks for
proofreading my paper. Man, my Sunday is free now. I’m takin’ a
cruise with my boy Vondrae.”

“You know when to be home,” Darlene said
sharply.

“Yes, ma’am, no later than seven. Bye, cuz.”
Malik kissed the fingertips of one hand and waved them at
Erikka.

“Bye, shorty.” Erikka winked at him.

“Dang, Darlene. Slow up. We’ll get fat and
lazy with you doing everything for us,” Erikka teased, hoping to
get a smile.

“I’m not doing anything different than what I
usually do,” she asserted without looking up.

“Uh-huh.” Erikka drummed her fingers on the
table. “Guess you haven’t heard from him.”

The faint scratching sound of Darlene’s pen
moving across the paper stopped. Darlene sat perfectly still for so
long Erikka held her breath. She’d waited for some storm of emotion
to break, but Darlene was calm. Too calm.

“I’ve thought about just what I would do if
Kelvin came back. Of course he won’t. So, doesn’t make sense to
even think about it,” Darlene said in a toneless voice.

“Maybe you need to talk to somebody. That
therapist I saw in Lafayette has two partners, and they—”

“What I need is to save the center and my
job.” Darlene finally threw the pen down. She rubbed her eyes hard.
“Half the people in town won’t speak to me. I know the board is
getting phone calls demanding they fire me.”

“That’s not fair. You’re a victim, too,”
Erikka said heatedly.

“Not in their minds.” Darlene pressed her
lips together. “Anyway, so far the board hasn’t brought up firing
me. Doesn’t mean they won’t, though.”

“I’m sorry you have to go through this crap.”
Erikka looked at her aunt. Darlene’s skin seemed rougher. She had
permanent lines of worry etched around her eyes and mouth.

“My biggest worry is Malik. He’s almost
gotten into three fights at school defending me. I appreciate his
principal being so understanding.” Darlene picked up her pen
again.

“Let me look over the bank account. I can put
together a plan the board will get behind.” Erikka tapped a clump
of papers.

“I have to do this, Erikka. Thanks anyway. I
don’t want them causing you problems.” Darlene seemed to regret her
last words. She pursed her lips.

“What?” Erikka frowned.

“Small-town folks with small minds.” Darlene
let out a hiss of air. “Some people implied that you maybe had
something to do with the money being taken. They brought up your
past.”

“Of course. I’m a liability to you right
now.” Erikka chewed a thumbnail

“No, you’re not. Anyway, what counts is how I
take care of this.”

“You’re not in this alone. Get me copies of
those statements and checks. Overtime or not, I’ll look them
over.”

“I already know what happened. Alexis sent me
a copy of all the checks that went through. Someone took checks out
of sequence, which is why I didn’t miss them. They forged Carmel’s
signature. The bank wasn’t suspicious because the checks were
written to businesses that we buy supplies from every month.”
Darlene did not look at Erikka as she spoke.

“And you think you know who did it. Darlene,
I don’t think you should protect this person. Call the
Sheriff.”

“No,” Darlene said with force. She took a
deep breath.

“You balanced the accounts faithfully and
thought you had enough money. Some thief stole checks after you
reconciled the bank statement last month. I under-stand this is a
small town. You’ve known the employees and the folks who come to
the center all your life. But still—”

“Erikka, please. I’ve got to deal with this
in my own way.” Darlene’s expression closed. She shuffled papers
then went back to writing.

Erikka watched her work for a moment. She
wished hard for the right words to make Darlene see reason or at
least feel better. When nothing came to mind she gave up. Two hours
later Gabriel arrived and rang the front doorbell. He must have
seen the frustration on her face.

“Hi, babe.” Gabriel kissed her, and then
stood back. He wore dark sunglasses. “Who made you so mad? And I’m
glad it’s not me.”

‘Tell you later. Come say hi to Darlene. Be
extra sugar on top nice,” Erikka whispered.

“Sure.” Gabriel took off his glasses when he
came inside.

“Hey, Dar. Look who’s here.” Erikka hugged
one of Gabriel’s husky arms.

“Good seeing you again.” Gabriel flashed his
handsome smile at her.

“Hi, Gabriel. Y’all have fun today.” Darlene
smiled back at him. The effort to be sociable seemed a strain.

“Such a pretty Sunday morning should be spent
outside, not buried in work. Join us,” Gabriel said. He hooked the
sunglasses on the chest pocket of his blue T-shirt.

“Normally I’d be at church, but these days,”
Darlene fell silent. “Anyway, I appreciate what you’re trying to
do, but no thanks.”

“Oh, come on. There’s a crafts fair over in
New Iberia. On the way back we can have lunch on Jefferson Island.”
Gabriel used his most gracious manners.

Erikka would show her gratitude later. With
such a tall, dark, and handsome incentive, Darlene seemed to waver,
but only for a moment. Erikka saw only a brief spark that died
quickly. She wondered if Darlene would ever be the same.

“No, y’all go ahead. I’d just obsess about
this mess the whole time anyway.” Darlene turned her attention back
to the papers before her.

Erikka exchanged a glance with Gabriel. He
shrugged as if to say he’d tried. “Okay. I’ll be back in a few
hours. We’ll talk more before I leave.”

“Sure,” Darlene replied, still reading.

Erikka lingered until Gabriel tugged her
hand. She finally nodded and followed him out. Once they were in
his truck, she still had doubts. Gabriel sensed what she felt.

“Let Darlene work through it her way, honey.”
Gabriel put a hand on Erikka’s thigh.

“I feel bad going off to play when she’s so
miserable.” Erikka continued to stare at the house.

“Darlene made it clear she doesn’t need a
babysitter. I can understand her wanting to work. Making it right
is probably good therapy for her right now,” Gabriel said, the
voice of reason.

“I hadn’t thought of it that way. Guess
you’ve got a good point. Sure you’re not moonlighting as a
psychiatrist in your spare time?” Erikka teased.

“No way,” he smiled back then grew serious
again. “While I lived in Texas, I did a lot of work with at-risk
kids. I didn’t want Ricky’s death to be my one and only legacy on
this earth.”

“It won’t be.” Erikka covered his hand with
hers.

“Let her do what she’s gotta do, Erikka,”
Gabriel urged.

“You know what, I’m going to let her do what
she’s gotta do. Just came to me outta nowhere.” Erikka grinned at
him.

“Well said,” Gabriel replied, with a laugh.
“Ready for our Sunday road trip?”

Erikka fastened her seat belt and put on her
sunglasses. “Drive on, sweet thang.”

Gabriel backed out of the driveway. “Now
we’re talkin’.”

He turned on the truck radio. Zydeco music
played on a local station. Erikka tapped her feet against the
floorboards in time with the rhythm. She even tried singing along
in French. Gabriel laughed at her attempts. Several miles down the
highway he turned down the volume.

“Is that a commentary on my singing, my
Creole French, or both?” Erikka joked.

“I refuse to answer on the grounds that you
might hurt me,” he joked back. “No, I wanted us to talk.”

“Okay.” Erikka wasn’t sure at all that a talk
was okay, not from the way he said it.

‘Tell me what’s going on at the office. And
don’t try to play it off as nothing,” Gabriel added, as a
preemptive strike to a denial.

Erikka relaxed. This she could handle. “I
don’t know, Gabriel. Maybe I just can’t believe it’s this
easy.”

“What?” He steered the truck right taking the
turn toward New Iberia.

“Getting my life in order. I went from being
flat on my face to back in stride again.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Gabriel glanced
at her then back at the road.

“Yeah, but down deep it feels too good to be
true. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. Nadine gave me
this big account. At first I was all happy, walking around with my
company mug. I’m in the game. Meeting with big dogs, having lunch
with uptown movers, hanging with my girls after work. The whole
nine, ya know?”

“Sounds pretty much like a perfect world,”
Gabriel said.

“Not even close. Now when you show up, that’s
a different story.” Erikka slid close to him.

“Good answer. Go on.” Gabriel seemed pleased
by her words.

“I don’t know. Like I said last night, they
either cut benefits or jobs. Nadine wants me to recommend they do
both. On paper it makes good business sense, but the employees
aren’t happy, and I don’t blame them.” Erikka remembered her talk
with Nadine.

“You make the recommendation, but the company
execs make the decision. You could suggest ways they can avoid
both,” Gabriel said, cutting into her thoughts.

“I tried finding other ways in those figures
they gave me, and they just weren’t there.” Erikka shook her
head.

“Then you’ll help save at least some jobs by
showing them how to stay in business. A bankrupt company can’t pay
anybody, honey. You’re doing the best you can,” Gabriel said, and
patted her on the thigh.

“You’re a very smart man. Cute, too.” Erikka
lifted his hand and kissed the back of it.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, with a grin.

Erikka gazed out at the sun-splashed
landscape. Trees draped with Spanish moss lined the highway. Every
few miles they passed a house. Otherwise, there were only grass,
trees, and marshy land. Distance from New Orleans made her feel as
though she’d been paranoid. Of course Nadine had given her a big
account that turned tricky. She probably needed to know Erikka
could handle the stress. Getting paranoid about it would not
reassure Nadine one bit. The more she examined the situation
through the filter of a breathtaking day, the better she felt.
Erikka turned the music up again.

“Feeling all right now?” Gabriel glanced at
her.

“I’m feeling more than all right.” Erikka
stretched her arms out, one landing around his shoulders. “Oh
yeah.”

Chapter 19

“Have you seen the newspapers?” Laurie came
into Erikka’s office. She beamed as though Monday was her favorite
day of the week.

Erikka knew something was up. Laurie had been
downright friendly when she’d greeted her earlier. Now she seemed
downright euphoric. “I haven’t had a chance. Why?”

“Local Company Target of Probe,” Laurie read
a headline from the newspaper she held.

“What?” Erikka frowned at her.

“A group of Layton, Inc. employees accuse CEO
Kent Transome of mismanagement of company funds, and claim he
should be investigated for securities fraud,” Laurie read on. “Made
page one of the business section. Once questions were raised about
proposed changes in the pension plan a big can of worms popped
open.”

“Let me see that.” Erikka got up.

“You had no clue, huh? Hmm, Nadine will be
wondering how you missed that.” Laurie’s ice-blue eyes sparkled
with glee as she handed her the paper.

“I dealt with the numbers they gave me,”
Erikka muttered, then went back to reading.

“Meaning you didn’t see past the smoke and
mirrors. Not good. Not good at all.” Laurie clicked her tongue like
a teacher scolding a child.

Nadine stood in the door frowning. “You seem
to get some satisfaction out of the headlines today, Laurie. Want
to tell me why?”

Laurie’s smirk disappeared before she turned
around. “I came to offer Erikka help reviewing their files.”

“Your team spirit is appreciated, but Erikka
is doing fine. The St. Martin audit should keep you busy for a
while,” Nadine said crisply.

“Right. I should be through by next Tuesday.”
Laurie hurried out without glancing at Erikka again.

Nadine shut the door when she was gone. She
swept a hand at the newspaper Erikka still held. “I was just coming
to tell you about Layton. Anyone can sling wild accusations. We’re
on top of it.”