Personal Possessions (19 page)

I was setting up the
meeting place for Elle and mine’s luncheon. I wanted it to be just
perfect for what I had to ask her. I wasn’t about to give her a
chance to say no to my proposition, it was a “too good to be true”
offer even for her.

If I had a month, that
would be enough time to convince her to leave Bear and be with me,
but she had kids and wouldn’t be able to be gone that
long.

Which reminded me, I
needed to call my attorney, Stevens and let him know my
requirements. Here again, this wasn’t an option. If he wanted to
continue to be my attorney, he wouldn’t turn my request down. I
hated fuckin’ with people like this, but this was business. My
business. My business was all about Elle, and I vowed to never let
anyone or anything stand in my way of her again.

I stared at the screen
that was in front of me as I twirled the ring around my neck.
Sitting at the desk in the penthouse with my schedule in front of
me and my cell beside my other hand, I had left this part to fate,
I wasn’t sure what to plan if I didn’t know how the reunion was
going to go. So, once I finished my meeting with Stevens, I was
able to start planning the little details. Like the one that was
weighing heavy on my mind, I was going to have to think damn hard
about this part.

Elle was not like the
girls I was used to being with, she was clever and smart as fuck.
Besides even though seventeen years had passed, she still knew me
inside and out. No way she’d fall for my bullshit lines.

I looked back at my
schedule, I could push some of these appointments to the side, but
some of them were crucial. I cut and copied. I pasted and
rearranged.

“Damn.” I looked at it
again. Two weeks. That’s all I could squeeze in there was two
weeks. I was going to have to bring the big guns out on this one,
picking up my phone, I made the first of many calls to come that
morning.

“Simon. Trevor McHale, how
are you?”

I wanted to bring Simon in
on this as best I could, I knew that once I got back into town,
Elle wouldn’t feel comfortable staying at my house. So I thought I
would set her up in the penthouse, but what she didn’t know was
that I would be staying with her.

“Ah, Mr. McHale, I am
well. What can I do for you today?”

Simon was the night
manager of the hotel, and since I was a reputable patron of their
establishment, I was offered above and beyond the royal
treatment.

“Simon, I’m going to be
coming back into town in a couple of days, and I will be having a
guest join me. I’m not exact on the dates that we will be arriving,
so I need you to put a hold on the penthouse for the next month.
Make sure you charge it to Mac-Gentry, and throw yourself a little
something extra in there as well for taking such good care of
me.”

This was just one of the
reasons why they didn’t have an issue when I went around barking
orders, money talks a hell of a lot louder than my voice. I made
sure to send my wealthy clients his way when they were in town as
well.

I could hear the smile in
his voice as he replied, “Of course, Mr. McHale. We always
appreciate your business with us.”

I’m sure he did, he would
probably pay his car off with what I just left him as a
tip.

“Fine. I will see you
soon, Simon, have a good night.” I didn’t hear his reply, I just
hung up.

Things were coming
together just as I predicted, the only plan that was up in the air
was Elle’s decision to accept my offer. Thoughts of how I would
make her accept flew through my mind, and I even considered tying
her up and putting tape over her mouth. But that wouldn’t help my
motive. I was still set on making it an offer she couldn’t
refuse.

I decided now that I had
most of what I needed planned out and scheduled, I couldn’t put off
what I needed to do since I started coming back to town. I had to
go visit with my mom. I didn’t want to do this, all that this visit
was going to bring was sadness and tears. Both of those would bear
hard on my momma, and I’d brought enough pain to her life, I didn’t
want to bring her any more.

Regardless, I couldn’t
postpone this visit any longer. I looked around the hotel suite,
noticing that Kip had cleaned up before he left. I was so busy
trying to get everything situated, I didn’t even hear him leave.
Ready to head out I grabbed my keys off the counter and headed
downstairs.

I couldn’t help but think
of childhood memories as I drove down the street that I rode my
bike on. Visualizing that bike that I thought could spit dirt out
off the back tire, I remembered attaching a playing card to the
wheel so that when the spokes hit it, the sound was just like a
dirt bike.

I thought of the times
that I would walk back and forth between my house and Elle’s.
Sneaking back in my window at night as quietly as I could. Getting
caught was worth the ass whoopin’ I got just to have her fall
asleep in my arms.

Pulling into the driveway,
I parked behind the small compact car that more than likely
belonged to one of the nurses. I wiped my hands over my face
briskly to bring myself back into the moment. This was it, I had
dreaded this since the day I left. Wanting to avoid seeing the pain
that I had caused my mom, I knew it would be written all over her
face.

Ringing the doorbell, the
four-measure melody it played was the tune you usually heard as the
hour was struck on a grandfather clock. I waited there for what
seemed like hours, finally I could hear a female’s voice
approaching.

“I’m right here, Mrs.
McHale. You just sit and enjoy that tea,” She finished her
statement when she opened the door. I looked into a face that
seemed to have known who I was because her eyes went wide as the
door grew closer to shutting.

There stood a woman, about
five-six in height, she was a bigger woman possibly in her early
forties. Her hair was colored red, but not a natural red, you could
tell it was too red. She had it pulled back into a ponytail all
nice and neat. She wore a bit of makeup but it wasn’t overdone,
just enough to give her some color.
She was dressed professionally, she wore colorful medical scrubs
and nurse shoes, but the look on her face was that she took her job
seriously. Me standing there in that doorway was not something she
was going to take lightly.

“Wait!” I threw my hand up
to keep the door from closing. “I just need a few
minutes.”

“Why, so you can rip her
heart out again? I think you did a good enough job the last
time.”

Lowering my hand from the
door, just as I dropped my head in hearing the harsh words that
were actually fact. I knew it. I was a shitty son for what I did,
but it was what had to be done. I couldn’t have lived here in the
same town with the two of them like nothing ever happened between
Elle and me, it was just not possible. I couldn’t come back either
because, well - I don’t think I could live with seeing Elle’s
happiness and me not being a part of that.

“Can I just have a few
minutes, please? I just need to see her.”

“Patricia, who is it?” I
could hear my mom calling from what seemed like deep inside the
house, possibly the kitchen.

My eyes went back to
Patricia, “Please,” I mouthed.

“Shit. You have ten
minutes, son. Listen, she’s not going to know who you are so don’t
be surprised if she asks your name, ok?”

I looked back in her eyes,
and I know that I had surprise written all over my face. She
wouldn’t even know her own son? What the fuck did I do to her? I
took a deep breath, nodded once as Patricia moved to the side to
allow me in.

I knew every room by heart
and nothing about what I could see so far had actually changed,
everything still looked the same. And yet, this was not my house
anymore. I paused in the foyer as Patricia shut the
door.

“By the way, we haven’t
been introduced. My name is Patricia, Patricia Adams. I’m your
mom’s daytime nurse. I’m usually here until seven at night, then
Cybil comes in.

Nodding once to
acknowledge that I heard her but I wasn’t paying attention, I was
still shocked from the fact that my mother would not know who I
was. I looked in the formal dining room that was off to the right
of the foyer, and saw it was still set the same way it was when I
was eighteen. The silver more than likely was still polished but it
was never eaten off of other than holidays.

The heavy door shut with a
click, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as Patricia begin
walking down the hallway to the living room and kitchen
area.

“Mr. McHale, you momma’s
in here having her afternoon tea. Would you like to come and sit
with her?”

I didn’t answer, I
couldn’t answer. Choosing instead to just follow. I didn’t know
what to expect when I walked into the large open family room, but I
don’t think anything would’ve prepared me for what I did walk
into.

There at the small dining
table in the kitchen sat my mom, older yet still as beautiful as
she was years ago. She looked extremely thin, almost sickly. Her
hands were just bones with wrinkles and age spots covering her fair
skin. Her wedding right still adorning her left ring
finger.

She was still styling her
hair the same, with her blonde locks looking as if it had just been
set and teased out to almost a football helmet, which was the way
that she always wore it.

I thought maybe she would
be dressed in her nightgown and just lying in a bed all day, this
was not the case. She was dressed in what looked like Lagerfeld or
maybe even Chanel; who knew with my mother.

She took a sip of her tea,
and set her china teacup back down on the small saucer as she
hurried to stand up.

“Patricia, you didn’t tell
me we had company. Hello there young man, what is your
name?”

There I stood in front of
eyes that I had looked in every single night as a child and yet,
they had no clue who I was. She began walking towards me, and I
didn’t know whether to back up or allow her to come near. I decided
to not move at all. She stuck out her hand as she approached
me.

“Sally Broderick- McHale,
sir,” She declared as though those were the proudest words she ever
spoke, “It is a pleasure.” Her smile was still so
beautiful.

I had to make myself speak
the words, “Trevor, ma’am. My name is Trevor.”

I didn’t want to say my
last name, I didn’t know how that would go over, and so I just kept
it simple.

“Ah, Trevor. I like that
name. That’s a good strong name. Your parents must be good
Christian people.”

I answered her truthfully
and swiftly, “Yes, ma’am. My mom is a wonderful, amazing woman.” I
was dying inside to have to witness this. I needed to have a seat
and a drink if possible.

“Good, good. Glad to hear
it. Well, what can we do you for today, sweetie.”
There was the name she had called me throughout my childhood.
Sweetie. Damn it all to hell, I couldn’t take this much more. I
should’ve killed Tripp when I had the chance.
I looked up at Patricia who was standing behind my mom washing some
dishes that were in the sink, she just nodded her head at me which
I took, as a signal to hurry and make something up.

“Car just ran out of gas,
Patricia here was kind enough to call the motor club for
me.”

She looked back at
Patricia, “Well, it shouldn’t be long, my husband will be along
anytime now, maybe he can help you out.”

I closed my eyes in
defeat. She was still waiting on that bastard, the one that would
never be back here again. I made sure my lawyers took care of that,
his coming back here was not even feasible.

“Thank you ma’am, I think
I’m taken care of though.” I smiled.

She smiled back, the same
smile that was on my face. How could she not see it, how could she
not recognize me. The more I thought about it, the madder I became.
I had to get out of there.

“I want to thank you,
ladies for your hospitality, and the fine conversation. It
shouldn’t be much longer before the motor club arrives, I think
I’ll just wait outside.”

“Nonsense, you’ll wait
right here, inside with us. Ain’t that right, Patricia?” I looked
back up towards Patricia with a help-me-out look on my face. As
Patricia busted out with a shit eating grin on hers.

“Absolutely, Mrs. McHale.
Trevor, would you like a glass of iced tea?”

I jotted down on my mental
list to make sure Patricia was fired ASAP.

“Yes, ma’am,” I responded
through gritted teeth, “I’d appreciate it.”

She handed me a tall glass
of sweet tea that I knew would taste like heaven. Too much sugar
and less water made it more like syrup than it did iced tea, but
that’s how we southerners like our tea. I tipped the glass back and
let the cool sugary substance roll down the back of my
throat.

I finished off the glass
and set it back down with an audible, “Ah.” That was always how you
complimented someone on a good glass of tea. You drank it all and
followed it up with an, “Ah.”

“I see you enjoyed it. I
make sure to make it fresh every day, just made that jug early this
mornin’,” My mom stated.