Relentless Pursuit: A Novel (Secrets of Roux River Bayou) (27 page)

Chapter 31

Zoe sat at the kitchen table at Langley Manor and finished telling Vanessa about the chain of events that had begun when Sax Henry appeared on Adele’s doorstep, claiming to be Shelby Sieger’s brother, Michael.

Vanessa stared at her, seemingly struggling to find words. Finally she said, “Adele called and told me Sax’s sister was coming to see him at ten o’clock in the flower garden. I never expected it to be you.”

“Sorry for shocking you like this, but I wanted to tell you myself. You’re the only person besides Pierce and Adele who knows my life’s story. I never expected to see my brother again. And now that he’s here, I’m terrified of dealing with the memories—and almost angry enough
not
to see him. But Pierce and Adele have convinced me I’d be sorry if I let this opportunity go by.”

“I can’t say that I disagree.” Vanessa put her hand on Zoe’s. “What are you going to call him—Sax or Michael?”

“His legal name is Sax, just like mine is Zoe. For all practical purposes Michael and Shelby Sieger no longer exist.”

“But it’s Michael who left you,” Vanessa said. “And it’s Shelby he’s trying to find. I think it’s important that you deal with who you were and what really happened.”

“I’m not sure I can, without letting him have it with both barrels.”

Vanessa squeezed her hand. “I have to believe he’s expecting you to be angry. Who wouldn’t be? But at least you got to know a little of Sax Henry—and that’s who your brother has turned out to be. He seems like a really nice guy.”

“This would probably be easier if he weren’t so nice.” Zoe sighed. “It’s Michael I’m angry with. It’s hard to realize they are one and the same.”

“So face him as Michael the teenager and say whatever needs to be said. Then forgive him as Sax, the adult brother who has been searching for you for three years.”

Zoe ran her thumb across her diamond wedding band. “I wonder how he’ll react when he realizes
I’m
Shelby. Adele didn’t tell him. All he knows is that his sister agreed to meet him in the flower garden at ten.”

“I have a feeling he’ll be pleased.” Vanessa glanced into the dining room and then at her watch. “I’ve got to go serve my guests. And you need to go meet your brother. Let me pray with you first.” Vanessa paused for a moment, holding tightly to Zoe’s hand. “Lord, there’s not a lot left to ask of You, since we’ve laid this at Your feet many times over the years. We believe that You brought Michael here and that You want this brother and sister to have an honest exchange that will bring healing and peace. Let Zoe be a peacemaker, whatever that needs to be in this situation. Let her sense Your presence every moment. And most of all, we pray that it will be honoring to You. We pray this in the Name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

“Amen.” Zoe rose to her feet, feeling a little light-headed.

“This is exciting on one level,” Vanessa said. “It has to change your life for the better.”

“If I live through it.”

Vanessa hugged her. “I’ll call Pierce and Adele and let them know you’re on your way. Just be honest with him. We’ll be praying.”

Emily sat on the white leather couch between Chance and Reba and across from Deputies Stone Castille and Mike Doucet.

“Let me make sure I’m hearing this correctly,” Stone said to Reba. “Your sister, Lydia Durand, informed you that her husband, Huet Durand, was having an affair with Joanna Arceneau, is that correct?”

Reba nodded. “It is.”

“When did Lydia first inform you of this affair?”

“On Valentine’s Day last year,” Reba said. “She had gotten roses and chocolates and a beautiful card from Huet. But she was crushed by his deceit because she had stumbled onto a monthly statement, hidden in his closet, for a Visa card she knew nothing about that had been sent to a PO box she knew nothing about. There were multiple charges for flowers, perfume, lingerie, theater tickets. Restaurants.” Reba sighed. “Lydia confronted Huet with it, and he admitted he was seeing a woman they knew from the country club—Joanna Arceneau. She was ten years younger than Huet, and was Lydia’s Facebook friend, for heaven’s sake.”

“Did Huet end the affair?” Stone said.

“Said he did.” Reba pursed her lips. “But things between them were strained, and Lydia got suspicious as time went on. One morning last fall, Huet said he was going to play golf, and she followed him—to a garden home across town. She saw the name Arceneau on the mailbox.” Reba sighed. “Lydia waited two hours for Huet to come out. It was all she could do
not
to pound on that door and embarrass him. But instead she drove home and decided she was done trying to win his affection. She didn’t believe in divorce, you know. She decided to settle for a platonic relationship—to live her own life and let Huet live his. Her life revolved around Chance anyway. She was so very proud of his being in medical school and all. That’s what she lived for.”

Chance quickly whisked a tear off his cheek. Emily squeezed his hand.

“Do you know if Joanna Arceneau had ever been married?” Stone said.

“Yes.” Reba’s eyes narrowed. “She was divorced.”

“Any idea what her ex-husband’s name was?”

“Alan.” Reba fingered the hem on her tunic. “He lives in New Iberia.”

Mike wrote something on the clipboard.

“Any chance Alan Arceneau is the jealous type?” Stone said.

Reba shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Do you think the ex-husband might have had something to do with the poisonings?” Chance leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees.

“I’m not going to speculate. As of now, everything points to someone who wanted to kill as many people as possible and no one in particular. But we’ll definitely talk to him.”

Zoe walked slowly down the brick walkway toward the flower garden at Langley Manor, feeling weak-kneed and energized at the same time. An hour from now, this would all be over. More bad history she could write off.

Lord, don’t let me go off on him. Help me to do this right.

She scanned the grounds as she walked, relishing the blossoms on the crape myrtle trees, her thoughts wandering back to a happy childhood memory she hadn’t thought about in years.…

Michael ran up to her, hiding something behind his back. “I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes.”

“What is it?” Shelby clamped her eyes shut, giggling with delight.

“No peeking … okaaay, you can look now.”

Shelby opened her eyes and saw Michael holding a large bouquet of gorgeous pink blossoms.

“They’re
princess
flowers!” he said proudly.

Shelby brought her hands to her mouth. “You found them!”

Michael put the bouquet in her arms, his smile as wide as the Rio Grande.

“They’re beaut-i-ful!” Shelby studied the blossoms. “Are they
real
princess flowers?”

“Absolutely,” Michael said. “And they’re pink—just like the ones in my story.”

“I love them!”

“I’ll go find something big enough to put them in. But you have to keep them outside. If Daddy finds out where I got them, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Okay.”

Michael ran into the house, and Shelby searched the back of the property for the perfect place to hide the flowers.

Real princess flowers
, she thought. Had she ever loved Michael more than at that moment …?

Zoe blinked the stinging from her eyes. A neighbor had come to the door shortly after that and complained to Mama that Michael had broken some branches off their crape myrtle tree. When Daddy got home from work, he gave Michael a whipping with a belt, but Michael never told him that he’d done it for Shelby—or why. It remained their secret. Poor Michael had welts on his legs and bottom. But he told Shelby he wasn’t sorry. She cherished those blossoms and tended them carefully until they finally turned brown.

Why did she have to remember Michael’s tenderness now—when she needed to get the anger out of her system? The sweet things he did could never make up for his having abandoned her.

Zoe walked toward the flower garden. There he was. Sitting on the wrought-iron bench. Everything in her wanted to turn around and run. But something seemed to nudge her forward. This was it. This was the moment she had always wondered about. And she still didn’t know how she was going to handle it.

Emily sat with Chance in the glider on the patio at his parents’ house.

“I wish you’d talk to me,” Emily said. “I get that you’re mad at me for involving the sheriff. But try to understand that I grew up around this stuff. If I hadn’t made sure the sheriff knew that two victims in a criminal case were having an affair, I would have been withholding evidence.”

“I’m sick of hearing about how you grew up with a mom who was a cop, Emily. This information was private. There was no reason to air my mother’s dirty laundry, just so you could feel like Miss Ideal Citizen.”

“I’m sorry you see it that way.”

“So am I.”

“Would you prefer I leave?” she said.

Chance took her hand and held it. “No. I’ll get past it. It’s just a huge shock to find out all those disgusting details about my dad. And all that my mom went through because of it. I can’t believe I was so blind. But they slept in the same bed—at least when I was home. Dad was nice to her and vice versa. I never thought to look for anything, you know?”

Emily nodded. “The sheriff isn’t going to make the information public. The way people remember your parents won’t change.”

“But mine did.”

Emily kept silent. What could she say?

“Really, what are the odds my dad’s affair had anything to do with the cyanide poisonings?”

“I have no idea,” Emily said. “I just know better than to withhold information. Sometimes it fits the puzzle. Sometimes it doesn’t. But you never know when it could be important, especially when we don’t know everything the sheriff knows.”

“I want to know more about Alan Arceneau. If I find out my mom was killed because this guy was ticked off about his ex-wife’s sleazy affair with my dad …”

“Don’t think about that now,” Emily said. “Let the sheriff’s deputies talk to him. Believe me, if they suspect anything, they’ll push him to the edge of the cliff to get answers.”

“They’d better.”

Emily linked her arm in his. “They will. Let it go. You have enough to deal with.”

Chance sat quietly for half a minute. “I’m really glad Aunt Reba is leaving this afternoon.”

“She’s been invaluable. I hope you realize that. And she could hardly stand the idea of breaking your mother’s confidence about the affair. She only did it because I convinced her it was the right thing to do.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Chance brushed the hair out of his eyes. “I could see how torn up she was. I’m just uncomfortable having her here. We’ve never been close. I don’t want to feel obligated to share my private feelings with her.”

“I understand. But you really should thank her, Chance. She saved you a lot more hassle than you realize right now.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll thank her. I’m just glad she’s leaving. I like my privacy.”

“So you’ll be honest when you want
me
out of your hair, right?”

Chance put his arm around her. “It’s totally different with you. I don’t ever mind your being here. You’re the only person I know, besides my mom, who knows when to talk and when to just be there.”

“Thanks. I try to be sensitive.”

“You are.”

Chance tilted her chin and kissed her ever so softly. Emily was lost in the moment until she heard Aunt Reba calling from the house.

“Chance, Uncle George is on the phone!”

The kiss ended abruptly, Emily’s cheeks burning, both of them smiling.

“Don’t go away,” he whispered. “This shouldn’t take long.”

Emily watched him walk up on the back stoop, her lips still tingling, her heart pounding. At least she hadn’t lost him by insisting Aunt Reba tell the sheriff about his father’s affair.

Chapter 32

Zoe reluctantly approached the flower garden at Langley Manor, feeling as if her breakfast might come back up at any moment. Could she go through with this? Did she really want to have the confrontation with her brother that she had imagined a thousand times in her mind? Why did he have to be so nice? Why couldn’t he be the long-haired, unkempt, crackhead guitarist she had envisioned all these years?

Michael spotted her. He got up from the wrought-iron bench and turned, locking gazes with her, his expression going from surprise to realization in a matter of seconds. “You …?”

Zoe studied his face with new eyes and instantly saw the resemblance until tears clouded her vision. “I never expected to see you again, Michael.”

“I … I wasn’t trying to trick you. I had no idea you were Shelby … until this very moment.”

“I know. Adele told me everything. I didn’t recognize you either. I put two and two together after you told Tex you were looking for someone from Devon Springs.”

“I’m a little shell-shocked,” Michael said. “Would you sit here with me and let it sink in?”

Zoe sat, her hands clasped in her lap, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure it must be audible to him, too.

“I … I don’t know where to begin, Shelby.” Michael’s voice was shaking. “I can hardly believe I found you. I’ve been looking for three years.”

“I’m Zoe Broussard now. I walked away from Shelby a long time ago.”

“So did I,” Michael said. “That’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want to earn your forgiveness—and your trust. That’s all.”

“That’s
all
? That’s everything!” Zoe wiped a tear off her check. “You think you can walk out of my life and leave me in hell—then just show up on my doorstep almost three decades later and pick up where you left off?”

Michael shook his head. “Of course not. I have a lot of explaining and apologizing to do first.”

“Do you think?” Zoe got up and moved over to the ivy-covered arbor that marked the entrance to the flower garden. She turned and faced Michael, her knees feeling as if they would give out at any moment. “Why didn’t you come back like you promised?”

“I did come back—several times. I met with Mom privately so Dad wouldn’t know. I tried to get her to leave him and take you to a shelter. She insisted she couldn’t leave him.”

“Why not?”

“She said Dad needed her.”

“Needed
her
?” Zoe felt an anger rise up in her that she had never felt before. “For what—to pop a TV dinner into the microwave? I’m the one whose bed he crawled into!”

Michael winced and began cracking his knuckles. “I never knew for sure. I suspected it, but you never said anything. And neither did Mom. I didn’t know for sure until Mrs. Woodmore told me.”

“Tell yourself whatever you want, Michael. But you weren’t that blind.”

He sighed. “I suppose I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know. If no one talked about it, I could pretend it wasn’t true.”

“But it was true.” Zoe looked him squarely in the eyes. “And the only thing
I
could pretend was to be somewhere else—until Daddy staggered out of my room and I could run to the bathroom and throw up.”

Michael put his face in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me he was abusing you?”

“It started when I was in second grade. I had no frame of reference for what was happening to me. I was confused and ashamed. Daddy told me it was our secret, and if I told anyone, I’d have to go live with strangers—that I’d never see
you
again. That scared me more than anything. So I never told anyone. You know what the big irony was? Once you left, I never saw you again anyway.”

“I was a scared teenager who wanted out as badly as you did. When Mom refused to take you and leave, it was useless for me to try going up against Dad, knowing she would back up his lies. I was afraid he’d kill her if you weren’t there.” Michael lifted his gaze. “What was I supposed to do?”

Zoe marched over to him and stood nose to nose. “Were you afraid he’d kill her if you sent a Christmas card? Or a birthday card? Or called once in a while? You
abandoned
me! You walked away and left me trapped in an unspeakable nightmare, and”—Zoe choked on the words—“you wrote me off. You were the one person in my life who loved me. You … broke my … heart.” She flopped onto the bench next to him, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. “You were the only one who
could.
You were my hero …”

“I’m so sorry, Shelby. As long as I couldn’t get you out of there, it was easier to let you go if I cut off all communication. And I’ve regretted that decision every day since. The guilt has eaten me up. It’s contributed to the failure of three marriages and any chance of finding peace.”

“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”

“No. I chose what I chose. My hope is that, over time, you will be able to understand what was going on in my head—and forgive me.”

“All I understand is that you were a coward.”

Michael nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s forget the fact that Dad would probably have killed Mom if I took you out of the house—was I supposed to take you on the road with me? Let you drop out of middle school? Run from the law? Live on the bus with the losers in the band—who were drugging and drinking and bringing in women to spend the night? It’s not like there’s any privacy in a bus, if you know what I’m saying. It was no place for a young girl.”

“But our home
was
?” Zoe threw her hands in the air. “Tell me how it could have been any worse for me than it was in my own bedroom!”

“I was in denial about what was going on in your bedroom. But Mom told me you’d make it through, just like she did when she was your age. And that you would be free to leave at seventeen. I didn’t see any alternative.”

“Or you weren’t looking for one.”

Michael turned to her. “You had other options. If things were intolerable, why didn’t you go to a shelter yourself? They would’ve put you in foster care, where you’d be safe.”

Zoe sighed. “Safe? I was afraid that, if I admitted Daddy was abusing me, I would be forced to go to court and describe every detail—in front of a whole lot of people, including Mama. And I would have to be examined and probed by doctors so they could prove what he’d been doing to me. Frankly, that was more terrifying than the abuse.”

Michael rocked, his hands folded across his chest, his eyes glistening. “I’m so sorry, Shelby. I can’t even tell you how sorry. I know I let you down. But neither of us had the coping skills to deal with the horror of our childhood. Surely you understand that?”

“Don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t understand, Michael. I’ve forgiven Mom and Dad. You’re the one who broke my heart. It’s you I need to forgive. I know that. I’m just struggling with it.”

Michael exhaled. “There’s more—about Mom and Dad.”

“I don’t need to know anything.”

“Actually, you do.” Michael held her gaze, his eyes the color and shape of Grace’s. “There’s no easy way to tell you this. Mom and Dad have both passed away.”

“How’d they die?” she asked, surprisingly devoid of feeling.

“Dad died first—about five years ago. He was drunk and walked out in front of a delivery truck. He never knew what hit him. Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer the next year. She battled it for six months, enduring rounds of chemo that made her deathly sick. I was with her when she died. She welcomed it.”

“Are they buried in Devon Springs?”

Michael shook his head. “They were both cremated. That’s what they wanted. I still have their ashes. I haven’t been able to scatter them. I thought you had the right to know they passed, and the right to give your input on how their ashes should be dispersed.”

“Me?” Zoe said. “Didn’t they tell you what they wanted?”

“Actually, they didn’t. Mom kept Dad’s ashes, so I have both their ashes in separate urns in my closet. I thought you might have some idea of how to disperse them. Truthfully, I couldn’t decide whether to scatter them in the Gulf—or the landfill. I’m extremely conflicted in my feelings about both of them, so I haven’t done anything.”

Zoe held up her palm. “This is just too much for me to take in all at once.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I’ve waited a long time to tell you. I wanted to be sure I got the chance, just in case you told me to get lost.”

“I’m not upset,” she said. “I’m not anything. I don’t have any feeling about it, one way or the other.”

“I’ve done most of the talking,” Michael said. “I’m ready to listen to anything you have to say for as long as it takes to say it.”

Zoe stared at her hands, her mind racing back through her conversation with Michael. Finally she said, “You were right to come here. We’ve needed to deal with this issue for a long, long time. But forgiveness is too important to rush, and right now, I don’t know how I feel about anything. In the past forty-five minutes, I’ve lost both parents and rediscovered a brother that I’ve tried to hate for twenty-eight years. I need time to process.”

“I understand.”

Zoe rose to her feet, avoiding eye contact. “I’m going to leave now. Please don’t follow me. Or call me. Let me decide when I’m ready to see you again.”

“All right. Shelby”—Michael took her hand—“I
never
stopped loving you. I just want you to know that.”

Her brother’s words lanced a wound deep in her soul. Even if she’d known how to respond, she couldn’t have formed the words.

Zoe hurried up the brick path toward the manor house, walking faster and faster, barely able to see through the tears that soaked her face. She didn’t want to talk to Vanessa yet. Or even Pierce or Adele. She just needed to be alone with God.