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“Mom, I’m fine. I only called Dad to ask him some questions about a case I’m working on. He’ll tell you all about it.”
“All right,” she finally said.
“If anything changes, I’ll call you,” he said. “I promise.”
“Love you,” she said, and his father came back on.
“There is one other name I thought of,” he said. “Priscilla Jones. She was a bartender at a local club where the men played illegal poker in the back. She might know something.”
Quickly, he wrote her name down.
“I don’t know if she’s still working at the bar or if she’s retired. Good grief, she’s old enough to draw social security. I would think she’s retired.”
As soon as he hung up, he’d do a search on her and see if she was even still alive.
“Thanks, Dad, and don’t let Mother convince you that you need to come home. Everything here is fine,” he said.
“I know, son, but she worries, and you’re our only child,” he said.
His mother had miscarried multiple times and had not been able to carry a child to full term. He’d often thought his life would be different if he had brothers and sisters.
“See you when you get back,” he said. “Be careful.”
“Love you,” his father said and disconnected the line.
For the next ten minutes, he searched for Priscilla Jones. She now owned The Honky Tonk Stable. A bar on the edge of town that looked like any day it was going to fall down.
It wouldn’t be open just yet, but just as soon as he could, he was going down there, preferably without Lillian or Cal.
In the meantime, he’d let his own work suffer, and there were wills to file, divorces to work on, and even a DUI to get ready for court. He had plenty of work and he needed something else besides Lillian and Cal to think about.
CHAPTER 10
Lillian drove her small car down the dirt road that led to her grandfather’s shack. She’d promised Nathan she would not come out here alone, but her curiosity had overcome her objections, and here she was, pulling up in front of the little house that looked like it was ready to crash around his ears.
She parked the car and then stepped out. Today she’d worn comfortable jeans and tennis shoes and even had a top on that was modest fearing that the temperatures would climb today. The Texas sun could be brutal.
Walking across the grass, she noticed that the woman from next door stepped outside with her cigarette hanging out her mouth.
“He’s there,” she replied. “I told him you had come by to see him.”
“Thank you,” she said, hoping the woman would disappear.
The front door swung open, and a tired, feeble old man stood there gazing at her. He didn’t look well. In fact, he looked like a big gust of wind could knock him over.
“Lillian, is that you?”
“Grandpa,” she said, recognizing his voice immediately. She stepped into his embrace.
“Paul, you still owe me for the rest of this month’s rent,” the woman yelled.
Her grandfather flipped her off and then opened the door wider for her to step in.
“You’ll have to excuse her. She charges outrageous prices for this shanty and expects her money on the first. She can wait,” he said, stepping back inside and closing the door behind her.
The smell in the cabin was not the greatest, but she could see the place was tidy.
“I can’t believe you found me, and look at you all grown up,” he said, sinking down in a green recliner. “Have a seat.”
