Whiskey Beach Part 61

A tough picture to mind-sketch.

"Is that so?"

"Rock-solid truth. Then he went off to Boston to school, and I scooped her up. He got Harvard and Hester, and I got Mary. We agreed we both couldn't have done better. What're you drinking?"

"I'll have what you're having."

Pleased two of her favorite people were sharing drinks and conversation, Abra snaked her way through to deliver orders. As she moved toward the back, she saw the empty table, and the bills tossed on it.

Odd, she thought, putting the money on her tray. It looked like her solo had changed his mind about another tonic and lime.

At the bar Eli settled in, snagging a stool when an a.s.s lifted off one, listening to stories-some he a.s.sumed were exaggerated for effect-about his grandfather as a boy and young man.

"He rode that motorcycle h.e.l.l for leather. Gave the locals a fit."

"My grandfather. On a motorcycle."

"Most usually with a pretty girl in the sidecar." Eyes twinkling, Stoney slurped through the head of his beer. "I thought he'd win Mary because of that motorcycle. She loved riding. The best I could offer back then were the handlebars of my bike. We'd've been about sixteen then. Used to have the best d.a.m.n bonfires down on the beach. With whiskey Eli nipped from his father's cabinet."

Now Eli tried to picture the man he'd been named for driving a motorcycle with a sidecar, and pilfering his own father's liquor supply.

Either the image came more naturally, or the beer helped it along.

"They threw some big parties at Bluff House," Stoney told him. "Fancy people would come up from Boston, New York, Phillydelphia and where-not. They'd have the house lit up like a Roman candle, with people gliding along the terraces in their white tuxes and evening gowns.

"Made a h.e.l.l of a picture," Stoney said, and downed his b.u.mp.

"Yeah. I bet it did."

Chinese lanterns, silver candelabras, big urns of tropical flowers-and the people in their Gatsby elegance.

"Eli, he'd slip out, get one of the servants to bring down food and French champagne. I'm pretty sure his parents knew about it. We'd have our own party on the beach, and Eli, he'd go back and forth between. He was good at that, if you take my meaning. Good at being between. Rich and fancy, and everyday. First time I saw Hester, he brought her down from a party. She was in a long white dress. Had a laugh in her, always did. One look at her, and I knew Mary was mine. Eli couldn't take his eyes off Hester Hawkin."

"Even as a kid I knew they were happy together."

"So they were." Nodding sagely, Stoney banged a hand on the bar, his signal for another round.

"You know, Eli and I married our girls within a couple months of each other. Stayed friendly, too. He lent me the money to start my carpentry business. Wouldn't take no when he heard I was going to go to the bank for a loan to get it going."

"You've lived here all your life."

"Ayah. I was born here, figuring on dying here in another twenty, thirty years." He grinned over the dregs of his beer. "I did a lot of work in Bluff House over the years. Been retired awhile, but when Hester got it in her head to refit that room up on the second floor for a gym, she brought the plans to me to look over. I'm glad she's doing better. Whiskey Beach isn't the same without her in Bluff House."

"It's not. You know the house pretty well."

"I'd say as well as those who've lived there. Did some plumbing for them on the side. No plumbing license, but I've got handy hands. Always did."

"What do you think about Esmeralda's Dowry?"

He snorted. "I think if there ever was such a thing, it's long gone. Don't tell me you're looking for it. If you are, you've got your grandfather's eyes but not his good sense."

"I'm not. But somebody is."

"Do tell."

Sometimes, Eli thought, the way to get information was to give it. He did tell.

Stoney pulled on his bottom lip and considered. "What the h.e.l.l could you bury in that bas.e.m.e.nt? The floor's as much stone as dirt. There are better places to hide a treasure, if you're hiding it. Not too bright to think it's in the house in the first place. Generations of people living there-servants, workmen like me and my crew. Plenty of us have been over every inch of that place at one time or another, including the servants' pa.s.sages."

"Servants' pa.s.sages?"

"Long before your time. Used to be staircases behind the walls, and ways for the servants to get up and down without running into family or guests. One of the first things Hester did once they took over the house was have them closed up. Eli made the mistake of telling her how kids had gotten lost and locked in behind the walls. He made half of it up, I expect, that was his way to a good story. But she put her foot down. I closed them up myself, me and three I hired on for the job. What she didn't close off she opened up-the breakfast room, another bed and bath on the second floor."

"I had no idea."

"She was carrying your father when we did the work. Everybody who's lived in Bluff House put their stamp on it one way or the other. What are you planning?"

"I haven't thought about it. It's my grandmother's house."

Stoney smiled, nodded. "Bring her back home."

"That I am planning on. Maybe you could give me a better idea where those pa.s.sages were."

"Can do better." Stoney picked up a bar napkin, rooted a pencil out of his pocket. "My hands aren't as handy as they once were, but nothing's wrong with my brain cells or memory."

They closed the place down. Though Stoney outdrank him two for one, Eli was d.a.m.n glad he wouldn't drive home. And just as glad when Stoney told him he was on foot.

"We'll give you a lift," Eli told him.

"No need for that. I barely live a Stoney's throw from here." He cackled at his own joke. "And it looks to me like I've got another Landon eyeing my girl."

"I don't know if this one can fix my screen door." Abra tucked her arm through Stoney's. "I'll take Eli's keys and drive all three of us home."

"I didn't bring my car. I figured I'd ride home with you."

"I walked."

Eli frowned down at her high black heels. "In those?"

"No. In these." She pulled a pair of green Crocs out of her bag. "And it looks like I'm putting them back on because we're all walking home."

She changed her shoes, zipped into a jacket. When they stepped outside she took each man by the hand. "Looks like I won tonight's jackpot. Two handsome men."

Both of whom, she thought as they walked, were just a little bit drunk.

Over his objections, they detoured to walk Stoney to the door of his trim little house. The sound of high-pitched barking sounded before they were within two yards.