Lasting Pride (Pride Series Romance Novels) (18 page)

There were potted plants on the small front porch, so many, that it looked like a jungle. Flowers of every color bloomed in the warm summer sun. A Welcome sign hung on the front glassed door. The yard was well maintained and she could tell that whoever lived here took care of the place.

“Well?” Ric leaned over and brushed her hair back.

“Yeah, well.” Taking a deep breath, she started to open her door.

They walked up the sidewalk in silence and it took ringing the door twice to finally get a response.

“Coming,” she heard a woman’s voice from the back of the house.

Through the glass, she could see a woman who appeared in her late sixties walking towards them. She was wiping her hands on a dish towel and looking at them cautiously.

When she opened the door, her eyes were on Ric, but when she started speaking she looked over to Rob.

“
Can I help yo…” She broke off mid-word, her hand went to her heart and for a minute, Rob was concerned she’d just had a stroke. Her face went white, her eyes blinked several times, and her chin fell opened.

Ric stepped in and gently took the woman’s arm. “Here now, are you alright?” he started to walk the woman to a large chair that sat in the front room. The woman kept her eyes focused on Rob’s face.

“Do you want some water?” Ric was leaning over the woman who was now sitting in the chair, her hands still clinched the towel over her heart.

“Who?” she looked at Ric briefly, “Who are you?”

“
I’m Roberta Stanton, this is Ric Derby. I’m sorry to bother you ma’am. May I sit?” Rob’s hands were sweaty. When the woman nodded, Rob took a seat across the room and Ric walked over and sat next to her, taking her hand in his.

“Stanton, Stanton. Your father, was he…” Rob could see the wheels turning.

“My father’s name was Robert Stanton. At least, that’s the name he went by. Are you Eliza Catalonia?”

Rob could see some similarities, but she wanted to make sure. Needed the confirmation.

“How old are you?” the woman asked, not answering her question.

“I’ll be twenty-eight in October.”

Upon this news, the woman’s face lit up and tears started slowly flowing down her checks.

“You’re Ruth Ann aren’t you?”

Ruth Ann, the name was so wholesome sounding to Rob. She couldn’t imagine what her life would have been like as Ruth Ann.

“I believe so, yes.”

T
hey sat in the living room looking at each other, then the woman, Eliza, had quickly excused herself and rushed to grab her phone and made a quick call. Then she came back into the room with more tears in her eyes.

“I wish Steven was alive to see you,” she patted her eyes with the hand towel. “He died almost seven years ago. An accident at the plant he worked in across the river. We looked everywhere for you. After…” she sat and just looked at Rob’s face., taking in every inch.

“I knew it when I first saw you. You look like your mother and brother. Oh!” She jumped up and went to grab the phone again. “One more call.” She held up her hand.

Less than an hour later, Rob and Ric sat in a room full of people they didn’t know, but it was now apparent Rob was definitely related to. Rob’s mother, Maria, looked so much like Rob, at first Ric thought they could be sisters.

When Rob’s brother, Ethan, walked in less than fifteen minutes later, he saw the resemblance. The man was taller, at just over six foot, he had an impressive amount of muscles and wore his military fatigues. Ric noticed that he didn’t relax the entire time they were there, and that he hadn’t seemed overly surprised to see his sister, like the others had.

They met Rob’s step-father, Ken. Apparently he and Rob’s mother lived just a few miles down the road. Her brother Ethan actually was stationed up north, near Seattle and he’d just been down for the weekend, visiting.

“You must stay for dinner, oh no, you must stay for the night.” Eliza was saying.

Looking over to Rob, he nodded his head in agreement. How could they leave? She looked like she was truly enjoying herself. Her initial nerves were gone, replaced with curiosity and excitement.

It was just after dinner when her brother, Ethan, pulled her aside. It was weird knowing she had a half-brother, it was weirder looking into his eyes and seeing her own staring back at her.

He pulled her onto the back deck where it was darker. Somehow the darkness suited him better than the bright lights of the kitchen. Rob stared at his features, so much like her own, but different.

“I’m glad you found them,” he nodded his head towards the loud house where her family was celebrating her return. “Ruth – Roberta,” he corrected, “there’s something I need to tell you.” He started pacing, then turned back to her. “I found you,” he took a deep breath.

When she just looked at him with a confused look, he continued. “I found you over a month ago. I was in Portland for a… anyway, I was in Portland and I saw you at the hospital, you were there with your friend,” he nodded his head towards the glass doors. She looked and saw Ric standing there laughing at something her mother was saying. “I knew who you were in an instant. I followed you, found out who you were and left something for you to…”
 

“
The medallion! You left it in my apartment. Why? Why did my father have it?”

“Yes, I left it knowing you’d start looking into your family. The medallions have been handed down for many generations. I couldn’t get in contact with you then,” he looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn’t. “I knew you would find them, find us.” He smiled for the first time and his whole face changed. He looked kinder, more relaxed. She knew some military types took being serious to all new levels, he was one of those types.

“Mom said that hers went missing the night you disappeared, and I knew that you would have it. I can’t stay tonight, but I wanted you to know that I’m glad you’re here for them.” He was looking into the house towards his family, their family. “I’ll be gone for a while, over seas. It’ll be hard on them.”

“Don’t worry, I have a feeling that now they know who and where I am, I’ll be seeing a lot more of them from here on out.” Rob smiled. “You know, I’ve always wanted a baby sister. But, I guess a brother will have to do.”

They laughed and hugged for the first time.

Ric watched from inside of the house as Rob and her brother hugged. He liked to think he knew her pretty well by now, but she was amazing him with her relaxed attitude about everything. Maybe she had enough time to settle it all in her mind before meeting these people. Watching Rob and Ethan walk in the back door together, made him think of his own family. How torn it was right now, how screwed up it felt. Would they ever be at a place where everyone was okay again?

Knowing Rob’s family was just as messed up as his, yet here they were. Laughing and rejoicing in the return of a long lost family member which only gave him hope.

Would he embrace his half-brother the same way he had just watched Rob hold onto hers? Somehow he doubted it. Then he thought of Katie and his happy mood soured. He knew she’d asked for time to heal, but he was having a hard time with letting her go.

Rob stepped up to him just then, “Deep thoughts?” she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

Shaking his head clear, he kissed the top of her head, “I like your family.”

“Mmm, I’m beginning to as well.”

They slept in a guest room down the hallway from her grandmother’s room. Ric held her in his arms and stared at the ceiling until finally sleep came.

The next morning, after having one of the largest breakfast he’d ever eaten, they headed back to Pride. Rob’s grandmother and mother had cried, they’d taken more than a dozen photos of Rob with everyone. They’d even snapped a few of Rob and himself.

The drive back to Pride was a quiet one, he could tell she was on an emotional high. She kept looking at her phone, where she had a few dozen photos of them.

“Do you remember what I said back at your gallery that night?”

He looked over at her, she was looking at a picture of her and her brother.

“That you’re glad you were raised by your father, that you wouldn’t be who you were without him.”

She nodded her head, “I guess that still rings true, but after meeting them…” she trailed off.

“Rob, I know this is hard, and they seem like very nice people. I just can’t imagine you there, with them. Look at who you are…”

“No, that’s not it,” she looked up at him, and then he saw the tears. “After meeting them, I think I can truly appreciate where I came from now. If I had been raised there, with them, I don’t think I could have become who I am now. I probably would have married young and had a passel of kids by now. Who knows, maybe I’d be two-hundred pounds and do nothing but watch soap operas all day.”

He laughed at the thought, “No, you wouldn’t.”

“
Well, maybe not watch soap operas,” she laughed along with him.

Where were they? The dark man knew they’d gone off together. But, he didn’t know where. He had several new men out looking for them and it was costing him plenty. He had a guy keeping track of their cell phone calls, but nothing so far.

He’d even driven by her place himself several times. Knowing it was just a matter of time that they’d slip up, he felt he could wait patiently to get his hands on her. Dealing with Ric was a different matter, he wanted the man taken care of, and the sooner the better. He had a score to settle and he didn’t like having it hanging over his head for too much longer.