“How did you get involved in the first place? Did Willis send you to the luncheon?” Dolores asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue.
“You know he would never involve me in anything remotely connected to the business. He thought I was a complete idiot. The first time Willis heard that I had represented him was when he got the letter from Pappas. This entire snafu falls squarely on Norman’s shoulders. You see, Willis sent Pappas’s text to Norman and told him to represent the company by meeting with Pappas.”
I could visualize the catastrophe in the making. “Norman had other plans that day?”
“He sure did. And she must have been a real hot number, because he paid me a thousand dollars to go to lunch with Pappas and be congenial. And we figured by the time Willis came home Pappas would be back on the West Coast and long forgotten. To be honest, Norman’s been helping me out over the years by having me represent the company at useless meetings and paying me off the books so Willis never knew.”
“But this time Mr. Pappas wrote a letter,” I said.
“Yes. And Willis went ballistic. He blasted me from here to kingdom come. Told me I was never to go near any of his business associates again. I thought he’d take a similar piece out of Norman’s hide, but since mine was the name in the letter, he sent for me first. With Willis round two was never as bad as round one, so Norman just did a little genuflecting and the incident passed.”
Clancy squinted at his phone. “It’s getting late. I have to pick up Abby and drive her from school to dance class.”
I put my hand on Dolores’s arm, but it was too little, too late.
“Tell me the truth,” Dolores demanded. “Did you drink any alcohol today?”
Clancy began to squirm. He leaned so far back that I feared he would fall off the bench he was sitting on. “No. Of course not. It’s the middle of the afternoon. Why would you even ask such a question?”
Dolores stood up and planted her hands firmly on her hips, her voice getting louder with every word. “Clancy, you know why. You have multiple DUI arrests that you have been hiding from the family, and all the while you are putting our Abby in jeopardy.”
Clancy crumpled like a punctured tire. “I would never.” He stopped, and started again. “I would never jeopardize Abby’s safety. Never!”
“And what about your own? The poor child has lost her mother and now her grandfather, and you risk your life every single time you get behind the wheel after you’ve had one too many. You won’t be happy until she’s a full orphan.”
Clancy slashed back, “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Then you’d have Abby all to yourself.”
“At least when I drive her anywhere I will always be sober. Maybe you should stay here and I should pick her up from school.”
“Clancy, Dolores, stop it right now.” I was beginning to fear they would come to blows. “I personally think you are both too upset to get behind the wheel of a car. We have Elton and a roomy Escalade at our disposal. Why don’t you let him drive the two of you to the school? And for goodness’ sake, act as though you like each other. It’s important for Abby to see the two people she loves getting along.”
Neither answered me.
After a long silence I said, “Do I have to go along to keep you from arm wrestling in the car?”
Dolores broke first. “Clancy, we can hash this out later but for Abby’s sake we should be civil, and perhaps our going together to pick her up from school would be a start.”
Clancy shrugged, which I hoped meant Why not? but he didn’t answer.
Dolores said, “Besides, I think Abby will love the captain’s chairs in the Escalade. Don’t you, Jess?”
Before I could agree, Clancy said, “Okay, for Abby’s sake I’m in, but very soon we’ll have to have a long talk about how our relationship proceeds from here.”
Dolores said she would look forward to it and went off to find Elton.
Clancy got up and gathered his golf clubs.
Before he left, I took the opportunity to say, “That was very gracious of you.”
“Well, the fact is, after my first conviction for drunk driving I had to pay a fine and was sentenced to one hundred hours of community service, instead of spending thirty days in jail and having my license suspended. I was lucky the judge took my circumstances into account and reduced it to a restricted license because I am a single parent. I was allowed to drive Abby to activities and to visit relatives, do the food shopping, things like that.”
“And that’s how you kept Willis from finding out.”
“Willis and everyone else. But time went by, I got sloppy, and one night coming home from a—well, I may as well say it—coming home from a date, I got pulled over for a burned-out taillight and out came the old Breathalyzer. My lawyer says I am definitely going to lose my license this time. I’m only glad that Willis isn’t here to see it.” Clancy smiled wryly. “He would lambaste me, although I am chagrined to see that Dolores seems quite capable of filling that role. Looks like Willis married the right girl. And I’d better get to the car before she comes looking for me.”
I sat for a few minutes enjoying the serenity. Dolores and Clancy certainly had far more issues to work out than I’d realized. But if they both put Abby’s best interest first, I was sure it could be done.
Then I noticed Marjory Ribault, wearing a red cape and carrying a small basket, walking along the path through the pine trees. The scene reminded me of the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood.
I offered her a glass of sweet tea, and
