Indigo Tales: Short Stories

By Vee Williams Garcia

INDIGO TALES is a collection of short stories about characters who stumble into surprising situations during their travels: a weekend getaway; a longer visit to a dream destination; relocation from a small town to the big city. Some characters meet strangers with secrets. Others are subjected to crime. Still others discover hidden agendas of someone close to them.

As they navigate their way through intrigue and deception, characters in Indigo Tales compel readers to travel with them toward each storys unique resolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491789957

Vee Williams Garcia

Native Washingtonian Vee Williams Garcia majored in English and Literature at UDC, and USF in Tampa, where she was married to the late musician Robert M. Garcia and resided for many years. Garcia read from her poetry collections and novels in various states and in Paris, France.

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Copyright © 2016 Vee Williams Garcia.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-8994-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-8995-7 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 02/17/2016

CONTENTS

The Help at Rainbow Inn

Mory and the Stranger

That Friday

The Landlady

Mrs. Jordan’s Scheme

The Nighttime Limousine Tour

Jake’s Fate

Breaking Away

Other Books by Vee Williams Garcia

NOVELS:

Intrigue in Paris

The Jazz Flower

Forbidden Circles

Whatever It Takes

BIOGRAPHY:

From Drums to Harp: The Story of Drummer and Harpist Robert M. Garcia

FOR MY SONS

Entrepreneur and Author

Jon L. McCoy and Visual Artist and

Author Martin B. McCoy,

who have always inspired and encouraged me with their talent, skills, and words of wisdom.

There’s a certain

amount of traveling

in a dream deferred.

–- Langston Hughes

THE HELP AT RAINBOW INN

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.

–- Zora Neale Hurston

O n a St. Augustine, Florida, street of commercial buildings and private residences stood the Rainbow Inn, a pink Victorian house with blue doors and yellow window shutters. A few palm trees graced its grounds. Inside the Inn this morning, as usual, a plump brown woman with gray hair emerged from the kitchen, holding a tray of pancakes and various breads in one hand and a platter of scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon in the other. Doing a balancing act, she walked a short distance to the buffet and placed the tray and platter on top of it. As the woman turned around, she noticed a light-skinned young couple entering the dining room. She greeted them with a smile. Good morning. I’m Bertie, the housekeeper and cook here.

Good morning, the young woman said. I’m Carmen Walters. And this is my husband, Ray.

Ray acknowledged Bertie with a nod. Hi, he said.

Glad to meet you both, Bertie said. Y’all travel far to get here?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

We drove up from Tampa, the two answered, almost in unison Oh. Okay, Bertie said. I hope you enjoy yourself in St. Augustine. You can get whatever you want from the buffet. I’ll be back shortly with coffee and orange juice.

Thank you, Bertie, Carmen said.

The food smells great, Ray blurted.

Thank you! I appreciate you, Bertie said, her eyes acknowledging Ray, then Carmen. You two help yourselves, she added before going back into the kitchen.

The couple, looking comfortable in T-shirts, shorts, and sandals, moved to the buffet and served themselves. As they were the only guests in the dining room at the time, they had no trouble spotting an unoccupied table.

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When Carmen and Ray finished eating and were drinking coffee, they met the gardener, a balding onyx-colored man with stone gray eyes, and lips framed by a white moustache and beard. He had shuffled into the house from the yard wearing overalls and a plaid shirt.

Glancing at the couple, the old man said, Good morning! He was welcoming—unlike yesterday afternoon when they arrived in their white pickup, while he was sitting on a power mower, leveling the grass surrounding the Inn. He had glared at them then. This morning he was pleasant, and his opaque gray eyes though strange did not seem cold.

Good morning, Carmen and Ray said in unison.

Bertie returned from the kitchen and began clearing the table. She looked at Henry. Oh, honey, this is Carmen and Ray Walters, she said. They’re from Tampa. She then looked at the couple. Carmen and Ray, this is my husband, Henry Wellman.

We met Mr. Wellman, Carmen said. Well, we spoke to him, anyway. I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Wellman.

Ray said, Glad to meet you, sir.

My pleasure, my pleasure, Henry said in a gruff yet friendly tone.

Bertie looked at Henry as if she were waiting for him to say or do something.

On cue Henry said, I’m SOME kind of hungry this morning! He headed towards the kitchen with Bertie following him.

After finishing their coffee, Ray and Carmen left the dining room. Other guests were filing in, retrieving breakfast from the buffet, and seating themselves.

Carmen and Ray went outside to the porch and sat on a swing glider, across from a few wicker chairs. They had