I was playing greeter today, answering the door and taking jackets and coats from our guests as they arrived. Christmas had been two days ago but we had celebrated it by ourselves, just the family. My sister Alexis and I were the only two blood relatives but since Courtney had been spending time in my bed for the past few months, we each considered her family as well. She had been like a sister to Alex ever since the two had been roommates in college and that friendship continued. Today was Saturday and since Monday would be Alex's 26th birthday, we had decided to invite a few friends over for a small get together.
Ellen and Lizzie had arrived early, the two of them along with Alex and Courtney had been fast friends for a number of years and they were regular guests here. They were helping to get things ready although there really wasn't much that needed to be done. We would have a meal a little later although I had hired a caterer to take care of all of the preparation and serving so there really wasn't a lot for us to do. The next to arrive were Lewis and his wife. Lewis, or Uncle Lou, as we called him had been one of my father's oldest friends and had done quite a bit to help us through the difficulty of our parents' death. He still took care of some of the administrative details of our family business but was less involved as Alex and I had started taking on more of those duties ourselves.
Our parents' will had stipulated we each would receive half of their assets in the event of their death but at the time Alex turned 25, the age stipulated in the trust agreement, neither Lewis nor I felt she was mature enough to be given full rights to her half. It probably was wrong but since we never explained it to her, she never questioned any of the decisions and there had not been any problems because of that. Over the past few months however, she had undergone a remarkable transformation into a more responsible person and had become more actively involved in the company. I was glad to see that, not that I needed help managing the company, but I hated to see her waste her life on the frivolous and outrageous behaviors she had shown up until that point.
The Bell rang again, I left the conversation I was having with Lizzie and went to the door to see who would be arriving next. As I opened it, I saw it was my old friend Pete, otherwise known as Detective Fuentes. As I was greeting him JoAnn and her husband walked up behind him.
"Hi Travis. Thanks for inviting us, I don't think you've met my husband Wayne." JoAnn said as she gave me a quick hug and a brush of her cheek across my own. She stepped back which allowed the man with her to take a step closer, extending his hand to mine. I shook it and introduced myself.
"I'm glad you were able to come Wayne, I'm Travis."
"JoAnn has told me a lot about you, she said you really helped her get her business started. She probably would never tell you this but things were going quite slowly for her until people found out someone like you had been willing to give her a chance." Wayne offered with a smile.
I saw JoAnn give him a discrete elbow to the ribs, I could see a light blush form on her face.
"JoAnn does a great job, I'm glad I made the decision." I answered, I really didn't want to embarrass her anymore. I had been paying her for the past three months now even though she had not been servicing the pool. As the weather was turning cooler she told me it was time to winterize and close it for the season so I wouldn't need her services until the spring. The first month I sent her a check, she sent it back saying she had done nothing to deserve it but I insisted that I continue paying her.
"I don't want you to find other customers and not be able to take care of my pool." I had said in jest, although that's really the way I felt about her.
"You know I wouldn't do a thing like that Travis." She had objected but in the end I convinced her that the money was more a retainer than payment for services rendered.
I took coats and hung them up in the closet as the most recent guests moved into the house, there was light music playing in the background and the guests were starting to mingle and speak among themselves. As I was surveying the room I heard another car door outside. Most of the people we had invited had arrived and then I thought of Carmelita. She had been our housekeeper and cook, but had not returned to work after being traumatized during the break-in.
The Bell rang and I went to answer the door, I was happy to see her as she greeted me with a big smile and a hug. I was surprised to see her sister with her although it did not bother me. I had met her sister a few times and Carmelita had been living with her for the past few months, she really had nowhere to live since her employment with us had included her own room in the house. I wasn't certain what she was doing since leaving our employ but that would be something to talk about later if she felt comfortable discussing the matter.
The only person who had not yet arrived was George, he had been seeing Alex for the past two months. I knew he wouldn't come, the two of them had only recently broken up. He was some sort of mid-level executive with the Texas Department of energy, someone Alex had met through business. The two of them had started seeing each other and he had even stayed over a few nights, Courtney and I hearing the two of them going at it in Alex's room which is right next to ours. He had seemed nice enough but there was something about him I couldn't put my finger on. I attributed it to the fact he was a bureaucrat, someone who could use his authority to affect our oil drilling business, either for the good or bad. We did everything by the book but sometimes you can never tell which way the political winds blow and perhaps that's what colored my opinion of him.
*****
"Travis, I'd like to talk to you about something." Alex had asked me several weeks ago.
"Sure sis, what can I do for you?" It wasn't unusual for her to ask me questions, we had become very close and even more so in the past few months.
"It's something personal and I'd like to do it away from here. How about if we go for a ride?" She had asked.
I was a little surprised at the request, there was plenty of privacy available around with only Courtney who might possibly hear anything she had to say. Of course I wasn't certain what her concern was but I didn't think she had any secrets from Courtney either. I wasn't going to argue, if she wanted to go somewhere and have a private talk with me why not.
"Where would you like to go?" I asked.
"I don't know, let's just get in the truck and drive. Oh, don't worry about Courtney, I already talked to her and I just want to get your opinion without anyone else around." I was surprised she had spoken to Courtney already, although I don't know why I should be. The two of them had been close for quite a while and I didn't have any problem with them discussing issues each might have.
"Anything special we'll need?" I asked, she hadn't given me any clues other than she just wanted to drive.
"It's warm enough we shouldn't need a jacket or anything, other than that just some time and enough money to cover the cost of lunch." She chuckled, having enough money to pay for lunch had never been an issue.
"You say the word, I'm ready whenever you are."
We got in the truck and started driving, Alex telling me to pick a direction although nowhere where anyone might recognize us. That was a bit odd I thought but this was her show so I let her words guide me. We drove for almost 2 hours aimlessly, nowhere really but just making idle small talk as the time passed. I didn't try to press her about any of her concerns, she would talk to me in her own time and I figured she would let me know when that time had arrived. Shortly before noon we pulled into a small town that was about 90 miles from our ranch and Alex decided this was the place.
"Let's talk first and then get lunch later." She announced as I was parking the truck.
"No problem, I'm not that hungry anyway." I let her know.
