Just Breathe Again (15 page)

  “I’m sure he’s worried. You’re meeting a complete stranger, married to the man that’s your father you didn’t know existed. This sounds like a soap opera or a bad country song.” They both laughed.

  They talked for another hour about Vince, Lydia, and her mother. Carmen called and spoke to her father, Kane, and he told her to invite Jeannie and Michael over next week. Jeannie agreed, but figured she would get out of going somehow. She wasn’t in the mood to meet the man married to Katherine Foster. He may be angry, upset, or too snobby for Jeannie. Jeannie gave Carmen the pictures she had of Michael and Lydia and they said goodbye in the parking lot between more hugs and a few tears.

  Jeannie drove home with a sense of peace and so many questions. Why had Katherine kept this from Vince? Was she a cold hearted woman that wanted revenge? Her heart broke for Carmen losing her mother at such a young age and not knowing her real father.

She had so much to talk to Marsha about. When she got home, Marsha waited for her on the back patio wondering where she had been.

  “You did what?” she yelled.    

  “I didn’t want a crowd. I knew she was harmless,” said Jeannie.

 “This could have been a well-constructed plan to murder you. There are people who do this on purpose and stalk and kill you.”

  “Marsha, you are not peace and love anymore. What’s happening to you? I knew she was harmless. She looks like Lydia,” said Jeannie, a tear come to her eye.

  “Please, please, next time tell me so I at least know where you are at,” she begged, and Jeannie ignored her. 

  As promised Carmen called Jeannie later that week and asked her to come over for dinner. Jeannie was going to get out of going. She had a change of heart when she heard the excitement in Carmen’s voice over meeting her brother. Michael wasn’t as excited.

  “Why do I have to go and meet these stupid people?” yelled Michael, kicking the coffee table with his shoe.

  “Because she is your half-sister. I explained this to you. Don’t argue, get ready to go,” said Jeannie.  Michael was being so difficult. Jeannie tried to explain to him about Carmen. He didn’t understand or he just didn’t want to. Since Lydia died he has been so angry and the last thing Jeannie wanted to do was confuse him more. She thought about this a long time and came to the conclusion going to their house might do him some good. She decided to tell Marsha a few minutes before they left.

  “I want an address in case you don’t come back,” said Marsha.

  “Shut up, crazy. She was the sweetest thing ever. I will have them over here if this turns out well. Remember, I’m a grown woman and I can handle this.” 

  “If you live to tell about it. I told you, they are a couple of psychos that read about you in the paper and now are going in for the kill,” said Marsha.

  “You are losing it,” said Jeannie, laughing at Marsha’s craziness. 

  “I have to look out for you. Not everyone is like me. There are real crazies out there Jeannie, waiting to pounce,” she said, cracking herself up with her comments.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s Michael who should concern you right now. He’s planning to kill me in my sleep,” said Jeannie, putting on makeup for the first time since Lydia died. 

 “I will have John spend tomorrow with him. He’s confused and angry, Jeannie. Now he has this new person in his life that appeared just to confuse him more,” said Marsha. She was staring at Jeannie.

  “Why are you staring at me?” she asked, applying mascara.

  “You look so beautiful. Who knew this beauty queen lived in there? What a little mascara does for you is incredible,” she said.

  “Please, I want to make a good first impression.”

 “I’m glad you do, but what if this father is a serial killer? I’m thinking about following you when you leave.”

Chapter 14

T
he second she pulled in the driveway, she fell in love with their house. It was a huge farm house resembling an updated version of the Walton’s. A huge weeping willow was out front, a barn sat in the back, and four beautiful brown horses grazed out in the field. Carmen and her father, were standing on the porch when Jeannie arrived. Before she even turned the car off, she had strict instructions to text Marsha.

     House
is beautiful. Everything looks good. Her father is wearing a vampire cape and sharpening a hunting knife. LOL.

  Michael was asleep in the backseat, or pretending, so he didn’t have to talk to Jeannie on the ride up there. She pulled the earphone out of his ear and said,              

  “We are here. Please be polite or the iPod is mine.”

  He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on where they were. They walked up the porch and the whole front of the house was stone with a waterfall by the front door. 

  “Hi, Jeannie, I’m Kane. I hope Carmen didn’t scare you about coming out here,” he reached out to shake her hand. His hands were manly and rough and they made her flinch when he touched her. A weight descended on her chest and she gasped.

  He too was as beautiful as the house. Still comparing all men to Vince, he was the total opposite in looks. His hair, grey, and his eyes, piercing pools of blue that could go on forever. Subtle lines were around his eyes and there was a sweetness about him. He had stubble that matched his hair. Not as tall as Vince, he was muscular, and she made out his stellar body through his shirt. He obviously worked out. She also noticed he had on ripped blue jeans and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He wore a flannel plaid shirt. This was something Vince wouldn’t wear, even on the weekends. He said flannels were for farmers or preppies. Kane looked nothing like a farmer or a preppy. Under the flannel, he had on a rock t-shirt pulled tight against his broad chest.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Kane. Your home is beautiful. This is Michael, and he just woke up so he’s a little grumpy.” She pushed Michael forward and he shook Kane’s hand without being told.     

 “Nice to meet you, Michael. Wow, what a firm handshake. You must be a football player.”

  One thing that brought Michael around was sports, especially football. 

     Michael looked up at him and a smile spread across his mouth. “I’m a full back this year.”

  “I thought so. You look like a full back.” Kane winked at Jeannie. 

  Jeannie smiled at Carmen and walked over to give her a hug. “Hi, Carmen. It’s good to see you again, honey.” She looked so much like Lydia and Vince. 

  “Hi, Jeannie, I’m glad you came. I thought for sure you would bail. I don’t know if I could have done it.”

  “I couldn’t wait to come. I needed to get out of the house. I haven’t been anywhere since Lydia…well you know.”

  “Come on in you two. The food is ready and I’m sure Michael wants to check out the horses when we are done eating,” said Kane. Jeannie forgot to tell them she was a vegetarian and she could tell some sort of meat was cooking. The food smelled wonderful despite her hatred of actually eating meat.

  “Yeah,” said Carmen. “I may even take you for a ride on one,” she smiled.

  “Sweet,” said Michael, smiling at his mom for the first time in a long time.

  The house inside was as beautiful as it was outside. The entire place was like stepping back in time.  Even the refrigerator looked like a replica made in the 1940’s. Everything had a worn out look, and so homey and comfortable. Dark wooden floors, expensive furniture, and exquisite looking art covered the walls.

  “I see you like antiques,” said Jeannie.

  “I hate the new modern look and technology of everything. I love the 40’s and everything about that time, especially the music. Can I get you something to drink beer, pop, coffee?”

  “Water would be great. Vince built a log cabin, and we kept the inside as rustic as the outside.” Jeanie’s gaze looked away from Kane. Vince might be a something she shouldn’t talk about in front of him.

  “I’m sorry. I forgot that could be a touchy subject.” He walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a cold bottle of water. When he handed the bottle to her, his fingers touched hers. His touch made her flinch again.

  “I guess he’s what brought us together. If it weren’t for Vince, we wouldn’t have met. I bet you don’t remember we met a few years ago. You and Vince walked into DelSorro’s and Katherine and I were waiting for a table,” said Kane, as he caught Jeannie’s gaze.

  “You’re right. Oh my God. I remember you had those blue eyes and of course you still have them. Wow, that was you?” Jeannie forgot about that night until Kane reminded her.

  “Katherine just had Carmen and I wanted to get her out of the house that night. She was more uncomfortable than you. She had a secret and the one person she wanted to keep it from just walked in.” Kane’s gaze held steady on her. Jeannie shifted on her feet feeling nervous talking about their past. She was the other woman Katherine Foster hated.

 The food was delicious and Kane and Carmen cooked it themselves. A prime rib roast, so good she may have to reconsider her vegetarian status. They ate, laughed, and talked about everything including politics and fashion. Even Michael talked, and that was unusual. He and Kane shared a love for football so they argued about who was the best team. This was the first time since Lydia’s death where he talked as much as he did. In fact, they could not get a word in at times. For the first time in a long time, Jeannie felt happy.

  Kane also discussed music with Michael. Michael tried to convince him that rap was the best music around and Kane argued that nothing was better than classic rock. It seems back in his younger days, Kane was in a rock band called, “
The Teflon Don’s”
, and played bass. They took Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin songs and made them into rock versions. Jeannie, of course, had to know why the name.

  “I had an obsession with the mafia and gangster movies. You know, like Godfather and Good Fellas. I started this band around the same time John Gotti became popular in the eighties. I saw a headline in the paper that said he was
‘The Teflon Don’s’
, and I thought it was awesome, especially for what we were playing. Needless to say, we didn’t become famous, and the band fell apart after a year,” he laughed. The evening was excellent, and the kids went on their horseback ride. Kane took Jeannie around to show her the house and everything was a reminder of his wife. Her touch was everywhere, including her running shoes, she wore the day she died, still sitting on the porch.

  “I haven’t been able to move them yet, it’s been a year and they are in the same spot we left them the day she died.” Kane’s gaze fell to the shoes.

 “The hospital gave me the bag of Vince’s belongings and I couldn’t bear to look at them until this year. Thankfully, I did because that is how I noticed Carmen had called. Even when I opened the bag, his cologne was still imbedded in his clothes. His scent I tried so hard to forget, was back in my mind after I opened his bag.” Jeannie knew her face was filled with sorrow as she spoke about Vince. She looked away so Kane wouldn’t see.

  “It’s silly what we don’t want to part with when someone we love dies. The things we take for granted or don’t think twice about become so important when we don’t have them.”

  Suddenly missing her husband, Jeannie forced back tears. “It is. Sometimes the smell of a grill or the sound of a motorcycle will send me over the edge.” Kane sensed the subject was still too sensitive to her.

  “Well, let’s talk about something a little happier. Isn’t Carmen a wonderful girl? I’m so proud of the woman she has become.”

  “She’s so mature for her age. You and your wife did a wonderful job with her. I like spending time with her. She’s courageous to meet me like she did.”

  Kane told Jeannie about Carmen and her accomplishments. No one would have ever guessed he was just her step dad. Jeannie wondered why they didn’t have more children together, but she did not want to bring up something so painful to him. He also told her about his job as a Congressman. He was elected ten years ago, and he had to travel to Washington, D.C. quite a bit. He loved what he did and was considering a run for a bigger office in his future.

  When the kids came back from the horseback ride, they sat down to a bonfire in the back yard. Kane bought the ingredients for s’mores and Michael made them for everyone. 

  “So tell me more about Lydia,” said Carmen.

  “Well, she looked very much like you. She was a track star, she loved music, books, anything French, her faith, and she had a best friend, named Steven. He still comes over weekly to visit. He misses her so very much.”

  “Did she love coffee? Did she have a boyfriend?” asked Carmen.

  “Yes, she did love coffee. She didn’t have a boyfriend. Steven was the closest thing, but he’s gay. They were like brother and sister. She started to get interested in boys when she became sick. In fact it would have been her first homecoming dance that year.” Jeannie felt the tears start again.

  “Did she have pain when she died?” asked Carmen.

  “Honey, don’t ask that,” said Kane.

  “That’s okay, Kane. Yes, and no. We had hospice come in and she had a wonderful nurse that kept her calm and out of pain. She slept a lot and towards the end and she could not get up or see very well. She passed away peacefully with her rosaries in her hand she held onto every day while continuing to pray.”

  “How could she accept the fact she was dying when you told her, Jeannie? I don’t even know how a person could handle that,” asked Carmen.

  “I don’t know either, Carmen. I fell apart when the doctors told me. Lydia’s faith helped her take the news better than I expected. She was very active in our church and she accepted her illness as God’s plan for her and God’s plan for Michael and me. She was a strong girl,” said Jeannie.

  “So you’re Catholic?” asked Carmen.

  “Yes, we are. How about you?” asked Jeannie.

  Carmen lifted her arm to show she had on a rosary bracelet.