“Continue,” Lindsey said, giving me her full attention.
“After I was attacked, Luke told me that he had been hired to protect me. I had decided that I didn’t want a relationship full of lies, so I made my decision to let him go.”
“But you didn’t,” Lindsey cut in. She took a big gulp of her wine, and shook her head apologetically. “Sorry. That’s obvious. I just wanted you to know I was with you. Go ahead, I’ll shut up,” she said, gesturing with her hands excitedly, seemingly annoyed with herself for cutting in. I laughed, using the break in conversation to down my glass of wine. I turned around, and saw the waitress already heading back over to us. It was apparent that she didn’t have much to do.
“Ready for another?” she asked with a bright smile. Thoughts of Crash and Buck interviewing her had laughter bubbling at the back of my throat.
“Can I buy a bottle?” I asked, while simultaneously thinking that at this rate I would never get the story out if I kept drinking this fast.
“We really don’t sell it by the bottle, but you’re LLC’s girl, right?” she asked, her body relaxing, and her head tilting to the side as she eyed me curiously.
“Right,” I confirmed, with a smile. “I don’t need special treatment, though. Just bring us three glasses apiece and charge me for each individual one.”
“That I can do. I can check with the bartender though, if you want me to,” she offered, smiling sweetly at me. She may have just been being nice, but I could have sworn she was sucking up.
“No, really, it’s not a big deal. Let’s just keep me a secret and you just bring me the individual glasses.” Sheesh. Had I have known it would be such an issue, I wouldn’t have asked.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” She walked off, and I rolled my eyes at Lindsey’s smile.
“What?”
“Look at you miss ‘I’m LLC’s girl.’”
“Whatever. Anyway, where was I?”
“You didn’t let him go. You wanted to, but you didn’t.”
“Right, so during our conversation, he told me that Stacy was in line to get the land on Highway 98 if something happened to me. My dad had given it to the mayor, along with money, to ensure my safety. But, if something was to happen to me before my 25th birthday, then it would go to Stacy, leaving the mayor with nothing. I guess this was a way to ensure that the mayor kept his end of the deal. I’m sure my dad used Stacy because he was the closest thing to a son he had.”
“So why twenty-five? I mean what’s so special about that age?” Lindsey asked. I twirled my empty wine glass in my hand, as I contemplated her question.
“I don’t know. Luke said my dad hoped to see that day, but didn’t. This was all in place before anything happened to him. He was going to send me to live with my grandmother after my mother died. We always talked about me going to Tennessee for college, so I guess he just wanted to ensure my safety while I was in Mississippi and away at college. He couldn’t watch over me from Atlanta, and maybe he thought that at twenty-five I would be married and living my own life, and that my husband could protect me.”
“Or, he thought that would give him enough time to take your safety into his own hands and do away with the people that would do you harm. So, who was out to get you? The same people that killed your mom?” The waitress appeared at that moment and I hoped she had not heard our conversation. She seemed too focused on not spilling the six glasses of wine she carried for me to worry too much about it. I slipped her two one hundred dollar bills, waving her away when she started to inform me it was too much. Maybe the money would keep her out of hearing range. She gasped a few thank-yous, and I responded with a smile, willing her to just go away. She left, and I greedily took a gulp of wine and continued, considering Lindsey’s insight.
“I don’t know what was so special about twenty-five, but I’m sure both of our theories have some truth to them. Anyway, Frankie was the one who killed my mom. That leads me to my next story. Maddie is the result of an affair between my dad and a woman from Mississippi. A woman who was asked to abort her child, and, when she refused, was paid good money to keep it a secret. She also later married Frankie, who happens to be the only father Maddie ever had.” I let my words sink in, as I downed my wine, and reached for another glass. “That’s why Maddie hated me so much. I took the life that could have been hers,” I said regretfully, still wishing things could have been different for Maddie.