Page 88 of The Lady on Esplanade
Sarah shrugged.“I have no idea.I’m just the messenger.”She leaned her head against the back of her chair and closed her eyes.
I’d made the executive decision to order pizza for dinner and was pulling out my phone when I heard a loudthumpcoming from the direction of Jolene’s bedroom.I glanced over at Sarah, but her deep and heavy breathing told me she’d fallen asleep.
Not willing to wake her up, or wait until she woke up on her own, I slid down to the floor and crawled to the back hallway.When I was halfway there it occurred to me to be wary of an intruder, but I reassured myself that I had my phone and could dial 911 if I needed to.
I peered around the corner of the doorframe and immediately spotted the source of the sound.Jolene’s Bible, usually perched on her bedside table, lay on the floor five feet away from where it should have been.I crawled closer and slid the book toward me.It was open to the middle of the book of Luke.
Even if I believed in coincidences, I would feel sure that two Bibles falling open to the same place in separate locations within days of each other wouldn’t qualify as one.I was tempted to call my dad but I discarded that idea almost as soon as it came to me, for the same reason why I couldn’t call Melanie.
Instead, I called Cooper.I had no idea what time it was in Malaysia, but I had an urgent need to talk to someone who understood as much as I did that puzzles were meant to be solved.He was also someone who’d known me for a long time and liked me anyway.The call went directly to voice mail, and I hung up without leaving a message.Wherever our relationship was, it seemed desperate to leave one, so I told myself that he’d see that I’d called and would get back to me when he could.
Then I crawled back to the sofa and ordered pizza while I waited for Sarah to wake up.
CHAPTER 27
By Thanksgiving, my dream of endless days of blissfully doing nothing productive had changed, and Sarah and I had become stir-crazy and eager to escape the small space of the apartment.Even Mardi seemed despondent, his plumed tail, usually held proudly aloft along his back, now hanging low and limp.The weather had been chilly and damp, which meant we couldn’t entice him to spend more time outside than was necessary for him to do his business before he pulled at his leash to return inside.
After a nap following our feast of Jolene’s turkey casserole and homemade buttermilk biscuits and almost an entire pecan pie (pronouncedpuh-CAHNby Jolene, who was the authority on such things), we opened our eyes to sunshine in an almost perfectly blue midday sky, temperatures hovering in the low sixties.
Mardi began pawing at the door, and I watched with envy as Sarah stood and shrugged on her sweater.
“I’m coming, too.”I pushed myself up to a sitting position.“If you’ll bring my scooter down the stairs, I can go down on my rear end, step by step.”
At her look of doubt, I said, “It’s just my ankle, Sarah.The doctor didn’t say anything about not getting fresh air.I just need to keep my weight off of it.”
“That’s not—”
“I know.I’m supposed to be keeping it elevated.It will be—sort of—on the scooter.And we won’t be gone long—promise.I’ll put my leg up as soon as we get back.We can just go around Tulane’s campus, since there are smooth paths everywhere and you won’t have to lift me out of any potholes.”
“That’s not what I was worried about.”Her eyes traveled to my head.“Your hair…”
I rolled my eyes.“I’ll wear a hat.And I think you’ve been hanging around Jolene too much.”
After Sarah had helped me bundle up in a thick sweater, jacket, hat, and gloves, I positioned myself at the top of the stairs and began the process of descending, Mardi considerately matching my slow progress.I’d made it to the landing when my phone rang.I was so grateful for the reprieve that I didn’t check to see who was calling before I answered it.
“Is this Nola?”came Uncle Bernie’s familiar voice.“Did I interrupt you in the middle of a run?”
“No,” I panted.“I mean, yes, this is Nola.But no, I’m at my apartment.”
“Good.I was hoping I could stop by.I’ve got some interesting information about the house on Esplanade that I wanted to share.I could probably tell you over the phone, but I’m going through a bout of cabin fever and would welcome an outing.I didn’t want to bother Beau so soon after the funeral, but I didn’t want to wait, so I thought I’d try you.”
I remembered that Jaxson’s parents were on a Caribbean cruise for the holiday, and that must have left Bernie and his wife to their own devices.Since they didn’t have children of their own, Thanksgiving must have been lonely.
“Believe me, I get it.My sister and I have been cooped up here, and we were just getting ready to go for a walk through campus while the sun is shining.If you give me about an hour, I can meet you here at my apartment.Your wife is welcome to join us.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you.But how about meeting on that bench behind Gibson Hall where we met last time with Jaxson?Since campus is deserted, I can have my friend Frank park in the circle in front, and then I can walk around the building.The wife says I need to get more exercise anyway.”
We made plans to meet in thirty minutes, and Bernie was already waiting when Sarah and I made it across campus to the bench in the small memorial garden.A giant live oak shaded the area, but Bernie sat on the end of the bench bathed in a swatch of warm sunlight.
“Hello, Bernie,” I called out.“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
He grabbed his cane to stand.I hopped off my scooter and situated myself next to him on the bench so he wouldn’t feel obliged to get to his feet.I gave him a peck on the cheek because he looked lonely, sitting by himself, with only trees for company.I looked around.“Where’s your wife?”
“She wanted to stay home and tidy up.I can be a bit of a slob, I guess.”
“I can see why you and Nola are friends,” Sarah said as she placed the scooter on the smooth paver in front of me and propped my ankle on top of it.
“Ignore her,” I said.
