The Confession (16 page)

“Just the same boring month in the life of Aimee,” Luther shrugged his shoulders.

His sarcasm was exactly what she needed and she could feel her moment of panic subsiding. “Joan really did make me a salad today, with fresh bread, the works.”

Both men’s jaws dropped, their mouths agape, the disbelief clear in their eyes. Another bubble of amusement escaped, and she clasped her hand tightly over her mouth to trap it inside.

Luther slapped the table. “Shut up! You’re not serious? Are you going to tell me you can turn water to wine next?”

“She really did. But then you have to remember, she was worried that I’d been traumatized by this adoption news.” She sipped from her glass. “Although, she was extremely happy to realize I wasn’t really her sister, something about my not being able to help being uptight. She was also relieved to know the reason Dad seemed to favor me was because he felt sorry for my lot in life. It can’t be easy for a girl to discover her parents didn’t want her and all.”

Luther grunted and rolled his eyes.

Bob finally snapped his mouth closed. Reaching over for his glass, he sipped and leaned back in his chair. “What is going on? Why would your mother tell Joan you’d been adopted?” He fidgeted in his chair. His brow creased, his eyes locked with hers. “Three or four weeks ago, you’re here for a day, then just gone, which is completely out of character for you, especially with your mother in this condition. Joan said something about you working in San Francisco for someone else, when you own your own business. Not to mention you completely freak out over a sandwich. Aimee, what the hell is going on?”

She took a deep breath. “A little over three weeks ago, mother told me she’d taken me. That she’d kidnapped me from a hospital in San Francisco.”

Bob’s face was unreadable, and for a moment he didn’t utter a sound. Slowly, bright red crept into his cheeks, his jaw clenched, and his eyes became slits. Abruptly, he stood from his chair, sending it clattering to the floor. “That bitch! That conniving … deceitful … heartless … bitch!”

He turned and began marching from the room. Aimee knew he was going to confront her. Jumping from her chair, she ran after him, catching him just a few stairs up.

“Uncle Bob, please don’t. I know you’re angry. She hurt your friend and he never even knew it happened, but please, for me, don’t do this now.”

He turned to her and she could see his anger begin to subside. “I’m sorry. I saw red and didn’t stop to think how my confronting her would affect you.” He stepped down the last stair and pulled her into his arms. “It’s not just that she hurt my friend, she hurt my little girl. I’m so sorry, Buttercup.”

She clung to him for a moment longer. Stepping away she took his hand and led him back toward the kitchen. “You only know half of the story. There’s strong evidence that I’m currently working for my birth mother in San Francisco.”

“I need a drink, a strong, stiff drink. Then I need to sit down, so you can fill me in from the beginning.”

“I’m already ahead of you,” Luther said when they walked into the kitchen. He motioned toward an already open bottle of whiskey and three glasses.

“Let’s take this conversation outside,” Aimee suggested. “I can’t be sure if mother has told Joan the truth yet, and I think it has to come from her. I don’t want to risk her overhearing us.”

The three of them grabbed their glasses and headed for the front porch. Luther suddenly stopped, and holding up a finger, ran back into the kitchen. “We might need this.” He smirked, and continued walking onto the porch carrying the entire bottle of whiskey with him.

Aimee told Bob everything that happened, from the leather case, her trip to San Francisco, the mistaken identity, the interview, and the web of lies she’d trapped herself in. After catching Bob up on the last three weeks, she told them both about the conversation she had with her mother today.

They sat in silence for a moment. Both men seemed to be processing the information.

Bob was the first to break the silence. “This Mark guy, what’s going on with you two?”

Aimee’s eyes grew wide, and she stuttered her response. “No … Nothing, we work together, well kind of. Why would you think something was going on?”

Luther grunted. She turned to glare at him.

“You’re lying, but we can get to that later.” Bob turned to Luther and nodded his head. She got the feeling an entire conversation just happened in a single nod. “Why haven’t you told them who you are?”

“It’s complicated.” She threw her hands up in frustration. She looked over at Luther for help, but he simply bowed his head and concentrated on the ice in his glass.

“Is it complicated? Or are you making it complicated?” Leave it to Bob to get to the root of the situation.

“Both,” she answered honestly. “I only have circumstantial evidence right now. I don’t have any real proof and she’s been hurt so much. I don’t want to be wrong. At first I just wanted to meet her, and to know if it were true, would she want to know.”

“And now?”

“Now, I’ve trapped myself in lies and if I tell her my suspicions she probably won’t believe me, and it could hurt her. Besides, I don’t have any proof. I’d look like another con artist after her money.”

“You’ll have proof sooner than you think,” Luther muttered into his glass.

“What do you mean?” Aimee felt her heartbeat increase, and the blood rushing through her veins. “Luther?”

He looked up at her, his face a mask of innocence. “Don’t be mad.”

She swallowed hard. “Luther, what did you do?”

He looked away from her again. “I wanted you to know for sure, so I got some proof.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“What kind of proof?” She raised her voice.

“I had a DNA test done. Well, it’s being done. You should have the results sometime next week. Did you know they can do that from a simple piece of chewing gum? It’s amazing how far technology has come,” Luther said looking directly at Bob.

“Chewing gum?” she asked, stepping into his line of sight so he couldn’t avoid her. “How did you get it?”

“Yours was easy, due to the fact that you still chomp and smack it like a first grader. I’ve been taking gum from your mouth for years. Emily was another story. It seems classy ladies don’t chew gum, but my, you-simply-must-try-it voice, and my incredibly hard to resist charm, worked. I felt a little foolish being all pushy over a piece of juicy fruit, but she’s such a nice lady, she humored me and chewed away. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t a fan, so the minute she excused herself I followed closely behind her and picked up the wrapper when she quickly discarded it.” He actually seemed proud of himself. “You owe me six hundred bucks by the way.”

“Why would you do that?” she shouted. “You had no right! It’s none of your business!”

“Aimee,” Bob said softly. “He was only trying to help.”

Luther stood from the swing and placed his glass on the porch rail. He stood in front of her with compassionate eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t do it, even though it made sense. You wouldn’t do it because you’re scared of the results. I watched you with her, you already love her. You’ve spent your whole life looking for a connection with your mother. But you were looking at the wrong woman, so you weren’t finding that relationship. It’s like Emily said, mothers and daughters have a bond, and you already feel it. Now you’re afraid it won’t be real.”

She stepped forward and laid her head against his chest. Looking back up at him she smiled appreciatively as he reached over to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “How is it that you know me so well?”

“Years of research, my dear.” He pulled her against him again, and kissed the top of her head. “You’re not alone, Aimee. You never have been.”

“Have you heard from her?” Mark asked Emily as they crossed the yard.

“No, not yet, but I left a message on her voicemail.”

He was going crazy. That was the only explanation he could come up with. Aimee had walked into his life less than a month ago and somehow she was taking over his every waking thought, which was a better part of a twenty-four hour period, now that he could no longer sleep.

So what if she didn’t come back, he kept telling himself. She was Emily’s assistant, nothing more, and she could be replaced. He was attracted to her, and that was it. He’d been attracted to women before, and would be again. Hell, she’d only been gone two days.

“I hope she’s okay,” Emily said, cutting into his thoughts.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Probably has a lot going on.”

“Why does your tone not match your words, Marcus?” She smiled up at him in that knowing way of hers. “She’ll be back.”

“Of course she will. She seemed quite competent in her work and I can’t see her leaving you stranded at this point.”

Emily made a small rumbling noise and didn’t respond.

He stopped at the seating area of the rose garden and held his arms out in a ta-dah gesture. It was finally complete, the fountains were in, and roses, in full bloom, exploded in an array of bright colors.

“It’s absolutely beautiful and exactly what I wanted.” A smile lit her face.

“My boy always had a way with flowers,” said a voice from behind.

They both spun around.

“Mom!”

“McKenzie!”

“I can’t believe what you two have done to this place. It’s amazing.” She walked over and threw her arms around them.

Emily couldn’t believe how much she’d missed her best friend. She squeezed her again for confirmation before stepping back to get a good look at her.

“You look happy,” she told her, taking in the sun kissed skin, the long, ebony hair that lay softly over her bare shoulders, and the new sparkle in her eyes. She hadn’t seen that look in her friend’s eyes for years. So long, she wasn’t sure at first she remembered what it meant. She gasped. “Oh my god, you’re in love.”

McKenzie blushed, and looked down at the ground before looking up at Emily. “I don’t know about love, but I’ve met someone, yes.”

With a girlish squeal, Emily grabbed her hands and tugged her toward the seating area. “Who is he? Where did you meet him? Tell me everything.”

“I will, I will. But first, I need to catch up on what’s going on with you two.”

Emily looked over at Mark, realizing he hadn’t uttered a sound. Watching his face, it was clear he was processing this new information, and didn’t seem quite as happy with the news as she was.

He walked over and kissed his mother on the cheek. “It’s good to have you home, we’ve missed you. I’m going to leave you two giggling girls to catch up while I help Mimsey get your room ready. I expect to hear all about this mystery man over dinner.”

As Mark walked away, Emily said, “I think he’s missing Aimee. He’s been in a bad mood since she left.”

“Let’s walk. I want to hear all about this girl who’s got my son so worked up,” McKenzie suggested.

As they walked down the brick path and through the spacious grounds, Emily told McKenzie all she could about Aimee.

“She’s lovely. I believe she has feelings for him as well, but it seems he is doing his best to hold her at arm’s length. Peter is also smitten with her and is finding a million reasons to stop by. I’m selfishly grateful for it, because it makes Mark jealous, although he’d never admit it.”

McKenzie shook her head. “That boy is so damn stubborn. He’ll spend the rest of his life here with us if we let him. I would be the happiest woman in the world if he would settle down with a nice girl who made him happy. Besides, I’m ready to be a grandmother, surprising as that sounds.”

Emily didn’t speak. She couldn’t stop the flash of envy that coursed through her. She’d always wanted to be a grandmother, too. To chase her grandchildren around the yard, walk along Fisherman’s Wharf and lick ice cream cones, fly kites on the beach beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and create necklaces out of macaroni noodles and bright colored yarn.

“Emily? Are you okay?” McKenzie reached over and touched her arm.

Nodding her head, she replied, “Sorry, my mind wondered for a moment. I’m not at all surprised you’re ready to be a grandmother. Mark’s thirty, and you and I aren’t getting any younger. Although no one would believe it to look at you, you look absolutely fantastic.”

“Well, thank you very much. I think it’s the South Pacific sun, more vitamin D or something.” She gasped as they rounded the far end of the house. “It’s beautiful. I can’t believe how a few bushes, a couple of trees and a simple fountain can transform an entire yard. It’s like a national park for the rich and famous.”

“Mark has done a great job. I can tell him what I envision and he makes it come alive. He’s far surpassed my expectations.”

“My boy’s a genius. He gets that from me, of course.”

“Of course, and speaking of the man he didn’t get any of his good traits from, he came to see Mark this week.”

The color drained from McKenzie’s face. “What? Did Mark speak to him?”

Emily nodded her head. “It seems Jacob had a near-death experience. Heart attack, I believe. He wanted to try to set things right with Mark. They spoke, but judging from Mark’s sullen attitude the following day, I don’t think it went well.”

“The bastard doesn’t have a heart so we know that attention-getter was bullshit.”

Emily watched emotions run across McKenzie’s face, before it finally settled on rage. “Why won’t he just leave it alone? Hasn’t he hurt that boy enough?”

Emily knew this wasn’t just about Mark. The pain McKenzie endured was never forgotten, and clearly, had never been forgiven. She’d never be able to fully understand what McKenzie had gone through, but she did know how fleeting life was.

“Do you think it’s possible that maybe he truly wanted to make things right?” Emily asked hesitantly.

McKenzie froze, years of pain and anger etched in her eyes. “Are you kidding me? Are you seriously buying into his bullshit? The man is a snake and he doesn’t deserve anything from his son, especially not his forgiveness.”

Emily flung her hands into the air in a show of surrender. “You’re right. I know he doesn’t deserve it. He was the worst kind of predator. But I can’t help but wonder if Mark might find some peace if he could let some of it go.”