Over You (18 page)

Now, as Jessica pulled into a parking space at the diner, she considered how to get the information she wanted. She didn’t want to tell him about the letters and the fact that Teal Harrington may have had an affair, and then a child out of wedlock. She wanted to find out just enough to help her decide if Teal Harrington was B.

The moment Jessica entered the diner she spotted Thomas sitting in a booth. But this time there was someone with him. It was a man that appeared to be around the same age as Thomas. She stood there a moment, trying to decide if she should come back another time. Then Thomas waved her over.

Smiling at the invitation, Jessica walked over to the booth.
 

“Hello there,” Thomas said. “Jessica, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Good morning.”

“Jessica, this is my good friend, Paul.”

She greeted his friend, wondering if he might have any information on the Harringtons.

“What brings you to this lovely diner so early in the morning?” Thomas asked.

“I was actually hoping to talk to you again.”

“Is that so? Well, slide on in next to me then.”

She did as instructed, pleased he was willing to talk to her.

“Jessica here is doing some research on some of our old-time families,” Thomas said to Paul. “Isn’t that right?” He directed his question to her.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How’s that going?”

“Pretty well, although I wanted to talk to you a little more about the Harringtons, if that’s all right.”

“Jessica is staying with her aunt, who lives in the old William Donohoe place,” Thomas said to Paul.

“That right?” Paul said.

Jessica thought she saw a look pass between the two men and wondered if that had anything to do with what she’d discovered in the letters. “Did either of you know William?” She hoped the question was natural enough, since they’d brought him up.

Thomas nodded toward Paul, who said, “I worked with him.”

“Really? Where did the two of you work?” Jessica asked.

“The U.S. Postal Service.”

“Oh,” she said. “What did you do there? Did you both deliver mail?”

“Indeed we did.”

“What was it like back then? Nowadays so many mailboxes are clustered together. Did you drive your entire route, or did you do some walking?”

“Most routes were a mix. The rural routes were mostly driving, but we certainly did a lot more walking up to doors than they do now.” He paused. “I rather liked going to the houses. Gave me a chance to chat with members of the community.”

“That would be nice,” Jessica said. “What about William?”

“He liked the walking part the best, I reckon.” Paul winked at Thomas, who looked down and smiled.

“Why’s that?” Jessica asked, not getting the joke.

Paul smiled at Jessica. “Same reason as me. Mix with the folks.”

A sudden realization swept over her. “Did you have the same route all the time, or did they change it up on you?”

“It was pretty consistent. Sometimes we’d sub for each other when the other went on vacation though.”

“Where was your route?” Jessica asked, pretending to be interested in that detail.

Paul told her the general area.

She nodded. “What about William’s?”

As Paul named the boundaries of William’s route, Jessica repeated them in her head, memorizing the street names. “Did you spend much time with William outside of work?”

“I thought you wanted to know about the Harringtons,” Thomas interjected.

“I do. But I’ve always been curious about the man who once owned the house my aunt lives in.”

“Sure, we’d go out for a beer after work on occasion,” Paul said.

“I understand William never married. Do you know if he had girlfriends?”

This time Jessica was certain that a look passed between the two men.

“To tell you the truth, he didn’t talk much about his personal life. I did get the impression that there may have been a special lady in his life though.” Paul drank from his coffee cup.

“If he had someone special in his life, why do you think he didn’t marry her?” Though Jessica knew the answer perfectly well, she wanted to see if Paul knew anything about it.

“I don’t rightly know.”

She waited to see if he would go on, but he said nothing more, just drank his coffee.

“About Charles and Teal Harrington,” Jessica said, watching Paul’s reaction. She thought he flinched ever so slightly at the mention of Teal’s name. “Did you know them, Paul?”

“I may have met them a time or two, but that’s it.”

“Do you remember what the occasion was when you met them?”

“Most likely one of those annual things,” Paul said, looking to Thomas for confirmation.

“Annual things?” Jessica asked.

“They held a community cookout each summer,” Thomas said. “I guess it was Charles’ way of thanking the community for their support in his businesses.”

“Did most people go to the cookout?”

“Well, it was free food.” Paul chuckled. “And very good food at that.”

“Did the whole Harrington family attend?”

“Usually. But there was one year Mrs. Harrington didn’t go.” Paul paused. “I think it was when Douglas was a baby. There were rumors that she was depressed and she didn’t go out much at all for a long time after he was born. I think nowadays they call it post-partum depression.”

“Did she experience depression with any of her other babies?”

“She had one other,” Thomas said. “I don’t recall there being issues with that one.”

Interesting
, Jessica thought. I would be depressed too if I had made the choice to give up my true love when I gave birth to his child. “I have to admit, I’m kind of surprised that you would know so much about her state of mind. I would think that kind of thing would stay pretty quiet.”

“Like I said,” Paul said. “There were rumors.”

“Just about her being depressed, or about other things?” Maybe now we’re getting somewhere, Jessica thought.

“The Harrington’s were wealthy and well-known in the community. People are always interested in what goes on in the lives of other people, but especially rich people. Look at those magazines at the check-out line in the grocery store.”

Jessica nodded, hoping he would give her something to lead her to the truth. When he didn’t say anything, she said, “I really appreciate you talking to me, and I don’t mean to be pushy, but what kind of rumors were there?”

“They were just rumors,” Paul said.

“Why do you want to know?” Thomas said at almost the same time.

Flustered by their reluctance, she hesitated. “Just curious, I guess.”

“I have to be honest with you, Miss Jessica,” Thomas said. “Your interest in the Harrington’s, added to your interest in William, makes me wonder if you know something
you’re
not sharing with
us
.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She wasn’t about to tell them about the letters, or her suspicions that Teal was William’s secret love. “I’m just doing research on some of the people who lived here in the past.”

“Well,” Thomas said, “I think we’ve told you all we know.”

He was obviously dismissing her. Jessica stood. “I really do appreciate you both talking to me.”

“What are you going to do with this research?” Paul asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. Right now it’s mostly for my own information.”

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” Paul said.

Jessica smiled, not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.

“Well, I don’t know about Paul here, but I enjoyed talking to you,” Thomas said.

“’Course I did,” Paul said.

“You take care now,” Thomas said.

“I will.” She gave them both a warm smile before walking out of the diner and out to her car. As soon as she closed her car door, she pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper and wrote down the streets that defined William’s mail delivery route. Then she drove to the long-term care center to talk to her aunt.

“Sounds more and more like Teal Harrington may be the mystery woman,” Ellen said, after Jessica had finished telling her what Paul and Thomas had told her. “But don’t you think it’s kind of a cliché that the mailman is the father of the child?”

Jessica couldn’t hide a smile. “I thought the cliché involved the milkman.”

Ellen laughed. “In any case, it’s interesting that William was the Harrington’s mailman.”

“You’re certain that their house was on his route?”

“I’m certain their house is within the boundaries you told me, which leads me to believe he was the one who delivered the mail each day,” Ellen said.

“I wonder if Teal left the letters for William in her mailbox and he picked them up without them even being mailed to his house.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Seems risky though, if he was sick or on vacation or something. Someone else might pick them up.”

“She probably had them addressed to him and stamped, and if for some reason he wasn’t the one to pick them up, they’d be mailed.”

“I wonder if William ever sent letters to her,” Jessica said. “And if he did, how did he know someone else wouldn’t get the mail?”

“Maybe they had some sort of arrangement where he would respond to her letters within a certain number of days or something.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” Jessica said, more curious than ever about the relationship.

“Well, I’m glad you were able to speak to those men at the diner.”

“I think they knew more than they were willing to tell me.”

“That doesn’t really surprise you, does it? They’ve lived here their whole lives, I guess. I’m sure they feel a certain loyalty to the townsfolk, even if they don’t know them all personally.”

“And I’m a stranger who may be stirring up old rumors,” Jessica said.
 

Ellen nodded. “You know, Jessica, to you it may seem like it was a long time ago that these things happened, but to the people who were around back then it probably doesn’t seem quite so ancient.”

“But it was fifty years ago. And William is dead, and both of the Harrington’s are dead.”

“Don’t forget about the child. Douglas. You don’t know what, if anything, he knows about what happened.”

“Do you think there were rumors about his birth? Do you think anyone suspected anything?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, I guess I’ve found out what I wanted to know. At least, I’m pretty sure Teal Harrington is B.” Jessica paused. “But I still wonder what the B was for.”

“Maybe it’s time to leave it alone, Jessica.”

Surprised by her aunt’s suggestion, she hesitated. “But aren’t you curious?”

“At first I was. But now, with the information you’ve discovered, I worry that some people might get upset with you if old hurts resurface.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Ellen smiled. “Now, tell me how things are going on my renovation.”

The sudden shift in topic caught Jessica off guard. “Uh, well, the renovation is going fine.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Ellen’s eyebrows went up in question.

“No, really. The renovation is moving along.”

“Jessica. How are you getting along with Kyle? And what about this Alex fellow?”

The scene from the previous night’s dinner flashed through her mind. Everything was so complicated—more than before. The thought of explaining it all to her aunt exhausted her, but she needed to talk to someone about it, and her aunt knew more about the situation than anyone else. “Oh, Ellen.” Jessica sighed. “I hardly know where to begin.”

“Yesterday you told me your last boyfriend, Alex, had shown up unexpectedly, and that Kyle had said some rude things to you. What happened after that?”

She replayed the conversation she’d had with Kyle the previous morning.

“I’m sorry, but why do you care?” she’d asked.

“I don’t,” he’d said, his eyes narrowed.

The memory sunk into Jessica’s heart and she had to take a deep breath to keep her emotions under control. Why would he care about me? He has Melanie now. And his daughter.

“Jessica?” Ellen said.

She focused her attention back on her aunt. “Last night when Alex took me to dinner, Kyle showed up at the same place. He had his girlfriend with him.” Jessica paused. “And his daughter.”

“His daughter? What makes you so sure she’s his daughter?”

“She called him
Daddy
, Ellen.”

“Oh. I see.”
 

“Yes. There’s not much doubt now.”

“I suppose not.” Ellen paused. “What about Alex? How do you feel about him?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica shook her head, frustrated with herself for being undecided. “He’s a great guy in many ways, and I believe him when he says he’s sorry for what he did.”

“But?”

“I just can’t get past Kyle.”

“Are you saying you’re still in love with Kyle?”

Jessica dropped her head into her hands. After a moment she looked at her aunt. “I think I am. Yes.”

“Now, be honest with yourself. Is it because he’s unavailable? Or can you really see yourself being with him for the rest of your life?”

“I’ve thought about that too, believe it or not.” Jessica gathered her thoughts. “I think the thing that really made me face my feelings were those pictures of him with the little girl. Before he left me, I’d had plans about our future, and I just can’t get past the idea that it should be
my
child calling him Daddy.”

Ellen nodded slowly. “What are you going to do?”

“There’s nothing I can do. I’m not about to try to break up a family. Besides, Kyle made it clear he doesn’t . . . care . . . about me anymore.” She swallowed the tears that threatened.

“As hard as it will be, you’re going to have to come to terms with the way things have turned out.”

Jessica nodded, knowing it was true, but not liking it.

“What about Alex? Is there any future with him?”

“A few weeks ago I was ready to make a commitment to him. But now, I’m torn.”

“Jessica, be honest. If Kyle is out of the picture, where does that leave you and Alex?”

“I suppose there could be a future there.”

“Then I think that’s where you need to focus your attention. You need to at least give yourself a chance to develop feelings for him. Give him some of your time and see where it leads. If it’s not meant to be, then it’s not meant to be.”