When Love Finds a Home (33 page)

Four Weeks Later

Rona walked around the
courtyard for one final inspection. Two long tables loaded with barbecue and
side dishes sat off to the side. A dozen picnic tables were arranged in the
center. White twinkle lights were strung across the area and secured to wooden
poles that had been bolted into the brick walls of the buildings. At the front
stood the stage, with equipment ready for guitars to be plugged in.

During the past three weeks,
she and Jerry had rebuilt the stage and repaired and painted the wooden benches
and tables. Verna had pulled weeds and cleaned the area.

Verna called several club
owners she knew and gathered names of new musicians who possessed enough talent
to warrant the attention of music scouts. Then she began putting out the word
to those who were looking for new acts.

"I believe you're more
nervous that I am," Verna said as Rona stepped back inside.

"I just wanted to make
sure everything was as it should be," Rona said.

"Are you ready?"
Verna asked.

"As much as I'll ever
be."

"Good. Then go find Anna
and go for a walk. I'll handle everything from here on out. You concentrate on
selling that song of yours."

"Are you sure? What if
something goes wrong?"

"Then it'll get
fixed."

Rona nodded and reluctantly
left. She found Anna talking to Tammy and Lenny. When she joined them she was
pleased to see that Anna was wearing the pendant watch she'd had repaired for
her birthday.

Anna slipped an arm around
her. "Are you all right?"

"Why does everyone keep
asking that?"

"Because you look like
you're about to heave," Lenny said as he rocked back and forth on his
heels.

"And you're driving us
all nuts with that rocking," Tammy told him.

"Maybe we should all go
for a walk." Rona nodded toward the door.

The warm April air felt good
when she stepped out. The fragrant smell of mountain laurel drifted on the
breeze. Tammy and Lenny walked ahead of them. As they strolled, she and Anna
gradually slipped farther behind.

"I'm scared," Rona
admitted.

"I know you are, but you
shouldn't be. I've heard the song. It's wonderful. You're going to be
great."

"What if no one wants
it?"

"Then you'll write
another song and another for as long as it takes. If you want it bad enough,
you know it will eventually happen."

She took a deep breath and
slowly released it. "Maybe that scares me too."

Anna squeezed her arm.
"What, you're afraid of being successful?"

"It's just that the more
I have, the more I could lose."

"Rona, you aren't going
to end up back on the streets. I promise you that. Tell me what I have to do to
make you feel safe."

Rona didn't have the heart to
tell her that she would never again have that fragile sense of security. She
had seen how quickly it could all fall apart. She leaned over and kissed Anna's
cheek. "Don't listen to me. I'm just whining to keep from worrying about
screwing up tonight."

They walked for a while in
silence. Rona stopped when she realized she was in a familiar area. As she
looked around she thought about the past few weeks. So much had happened in
such a short time. A billboard advertising a bank product made her think of
Neal. "Did you ever find out where Neal got all that money?" she
asked.

Anna sighed. "I don't
know too much about it, but it seems he borrowed the bulk of it from his
parents and grandparents."

"What a waste. He had so
much going for him," Rona said.

"He got greedy."

Rona spotted a familiar
landmark. "See that vacant building over there." She pointed to a
three-story brick building that had large sheets of plywood secured over its
windows.

Anna nodded.

"That's where I first met
Tammy. There used to be a door to the alley that wouldn't lock and a bunch of
us would slip in after dark. Malcolm and I went in one night and there Tammy
was with those two kids. I don't know how she survived." A silence fell
between them again as Rona continued to stare at the building. She had been
checking the newspapers daily, but so far, there had been no mention of a drug
bust or any other type of major police action in Floresville. Maybe the police had
blown off Malcolm's call. She said as much to Anna.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I
have something for you." Anna reached into her pocket. "A letter came
for you today."

Rona looked at her and
frowned. "A letter? Who would be sending me a letter?"

Anna smiled. "The return
address was for Kepha Ooko of Philadelphia."

"Malcolm."

"Yes. I saved it until
now, hoping it would help distract you."

Anna handed her die letter as
they stepped into die bright glow of a street lamp.

Rona opened the letter. Inside
she found a single sheet of paper carefully wrapped around a check. She skimmed
the note. "He's working at an arts center," she said. "And he's
painting again. He's still living with his sister and her husband, but he's
hoping to find his own place soon." She glanced at the check before
slipping it into her pocket. He had reimbursed her for the clothing and the
cash she had given him.

"You're a good
person," Anna said suddenly.

"I didn't do nearly as
much as you did," Rona reminded her. "You took Tammy and me into your
home. I'm not sure I could have done that." They turned the corner in time
to see Tammy and Lenny steal a quick kiss. "It was nice of your mom to
watch Tammy's girls tonight."

"She loves those kids.
They're like her own now." Anna nodded toward Tammy and Lenny. "What
do you think they're going to do?"

"I don't know, but Tammy
actually mentioned the D word the other day."

"D word?" Anna
asked, clearly confused.

"Divorce. I got the
impression she's starting to think about looking into divorcing Wayne."

"I don't think he would
have much of a chance in getting custody of the girls. I'm sure he'll think
twice about harassing her if he has to contend with Lenny."

Rona stopped and pulled Anna
into the shadows of a building. "There's something I want you to know. No
matter what happens tonight, I love you. I have loved you for so long, but I
was afraid to admit it." She leaned in and kissed Anna.

"I love you, too,"
Anna whispered as they embraced.

"Hey, guys, we need to
head back," Lenny yelled from somewhere nearby.

Anna gave her another quick
kiss and they started back.

Rona sat at die keyboard and
stared out over the crowd. Verna was introducing her to the crowd and telling
them how Rona had convinced her to start holding the Saturday night jam
sessions again. As she looked around, she found herself thinking about Malcolm
and how he had found his sister, and in a different way, she and Tammy had
found a family too. In her heart, she knew that if she didn't sell the song
tonight everything would still be all right with her.

She took a deep breath as
Verna turned to her and announced to the crowd, "I'll let Rona introduce
the song to you."

To stem her nervousness, Rona
lightly fingered a few chords as she once more looked out over the crowd.
"I'd like to welcome everyone tonight," she began. "This song
was written for the person I love most in life. It's entitled, 'When Love Finds
A Home.'"