If she hadn’t been implying that I was a whore, Jackson’s interjection would have been funny.
“If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and acts like a duck, Jackson, then it’s a duck,” Mrs. Wallace said coldly.
“Or a goose… they look a lot alike,” Jackson quipped.
“Shut up, Jackson,” Mrs. Wallace snarled. Jackson promptly excused himself.
“Mom, you have to stop,” Griffin said ignoring Jackson.
“Stop? Stop what?”
“Interfering with our lives.”
“Interfering? Me helping you avoid a scandal is what you consider interference? Me trying to get the rubbish out of your life is a disaster?”
“I’m not garbage,” I growled, finding my voice.
“You’re right. You’re way worse than that. At least garbage knows its place.”
I was done talking. I was ready to strangle that old lady. I jumped down from my barstool and was making my way over to her when Griffin stepped in between us.
I knew then that it was time to tell Griffin everything.
“After she called security on me, I gave Cliff my number and contact information. She must have got it from him because she arranged to meet up with me at an ice cream shop on the beach. I thought I was meeting up with you, but she turned up instead with the $250, 000.”
“So I lied. I was just trying to protect you from the ugliness of life. Is that so bad? Why do I feel like I’m on trial here? I did nothing wrong,” she screeched.
“I saw you playing on the beach with a little girl and I saw you hug a woman. I thought you had used me, especially after you left so abruptly.”
Griffin looked confused and then turned to his mom and said, “How could you?”
“What?”
“You took her to the ice cream shop at the beach? The one we used to go to with Dad every weekend? You took her there to do your dirty work?”
“I did what I had to do.” Mrs. Wallace was stoic, her expression gave away nothing of what she was feeling.
“I know the beach and ice cream shop you’re talking about. Our dad used to take us there every weekend, I thought it would be nice to take my niece and my friend… the woman you saw me hugging. I’ll never forget that day, because my niece met her father that day. It was a special day for her so I wanted it to take place somewhere that had been special to me… special to all of us.”
Griffin’s mom’s lips grew so tight they were barely perceptible. She sat down on the couch and pleaded with Griffin yet again. “I just did what I thought was best.”
“I know and that’s why it’s so sad. You thought keeping me away from someone I cared about was good for me. Think about that, Mom.”
She shook her head. “Nora had already caused enough pain with her bad decision-making. I just didn’t want to go down that road again.”
“Yes, because keeping up appearances is so much more important than your kids’ happiness.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s not true and you know it. Your happiness, Jackson’s, even Nora’s means more to me than my own.”
“Oh stop, you’re no saint, Mom.”
“Neither is she!” she yelled, pointing at me. “You think she’s the only man you’re seeing?”
I furrowed my brows. “What the hell are you talking about? More lies?” I looked at Griffin who placed his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.
“Mom, you’re off your rocker.”
She became livid and leaped up from her chair. “I saw her a few days ago cuddled up with some guy at the gym! Ask her if you don’t believe me.” She turned to me and said, “And don’t you try to deny it.”
“There’s nothing to deny,” I said with a carefree shrug, “You did see me with a guy… my cousin Kenny. He’s an instructor there.”
“A likely story—”
“Not another word. You’ve said enough,” Griffin interrupted in a cold voice. She finally had his undivided attention.
She swallowed thickly. “You’re going to take her word over mine.”
He said softly, “Mom… I haven’t been able to take you at your word since Dad died.”
She pulled her face back as if he had just slapped her. “Ok, I see. I’ll just leave now.” She stood up slowly and walked to the door as if she wanted him to stop her, as if she was giving him the chance to tell her not to go. She was sorely mistaken.
“Ok, well, call me when your world falls apart. Because with her, that’s the only future you have. A future that’s worth nothing.”
With that parting shot, she got into the elevator and was gone.
“Is she gone?” Jackson said, sticking his head out.
Griffin closed the door silently, not answering.
Jackson happily sat down on the couch and said, “Hey, I don’t blame you. If she offered me $250,000 I would have taken it.”
I flinched. “I didn’t want to take it, I tried to give it back to her—”
“Jackson,” Griffin interrupted. “Go home. I need to talk to Nina alone.”
I swallowed hard. I should have known I wasn’t getting off that easily.
“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed, “I guess I should head home then.”
“Yeah, you should,” Griffin said softly. I could hear the anger bubbling under the surface and apparently so could Jackson.
Jackson abruptly hugged me and whispered, “You’re on your own, babe. Sorry.”
I sighed, knowing he was right. Griffin grabbed him by the shoulder and practically shoved him out the door.
“Hey! This jacket is expensive!” was the last I heard from Jackson as Griffin slammed the door.
I sat down heavily on the couch and he sat across from me.
“Did you plan to tell me?”
“About which part?” I said deliberately coy.
“The money…”
“Oh, that part.”
“Is that why you came back to see me that day in the office? You wanted money?”
“What? No! That’s not why!”
“Because Jackson said you wanted nothing to do with me when I left the island. And then suddenly you showed up months later, just out of the blue…”
“Listen, I know how it looks, but that’s not what happened.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I mean, yeah, I was angry with you after you left me on the island. I thought there was something more between us and when I woke up and you weren’t there, I was really hurt—”
“I already told you what happened.”
“Yes, years later.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why you showed up months later, that does sound suspicious.”
I was speechless. He thought that lowly of me? Really? I took a deep breath and tried to stay cool and collected. Don’t get emotional, Nina.
“I’m sorry if that seems suspicious, but I was not after your money.”
“But yet when Mom offered it, you took it.”
“I needed it.”
“You needed it?”
“Yes,” I said refusing to meet his eyes. “I didn’t ask for it. I tried to give it back, but I eventually needed it.”
“Where’s the money now, Nina?” he asked coldly. “Spent it all? Got yourself some pretty things? Maybe a fancy car?”
I looked up at him sharply. “You know me better than that.”
“Actually, no. No, I don’t. I know my mother is a misguided snob, but I don’t know your angle.”
“I don’t have one.”
He nodded and then stood up. He began to pace. “I think it’s time that we put all our cards on the table, so to speak.”
I gulped, knowing there was one card I was holding that would trump all other cards.
“Do you want to go first?”
I shook my head.
“Ok, then I’ll go.” He abruptly stopped pacing and leaned against a pillar. �
��I had Richard offer you the insurance commercial job. It wasn’t a coincidence. I wanted to see you again so I told him to hire you. He didn’t just happen to “share” with me that you were in town. I had him bring you here.”
His confession didn’t surprise me. I’d already put that together.
“So, is that why your mom was at the casting for the entertainment specialist job? She didn’t think Richard would do a good job?” I asked, stalling.
“Pretty much. She wanted to make sure Jackson and I weren’t around any girls that would cause a scandal.”
That had been my initial thought. It made perfect sense and it explained so much. I bet Richard had picked me against his aunt’s wishes and had deliberately paired me up with Griffin to shake things up. Well, he certainly accomplished that.
But that’s not what this conversation was about.
“I guess now it’s my turn.”
“I guess,” is all he said. I couldn’t read his expression.
“After the island, our encounter on the island, I was depressed and so I left to lick my wounds, so to speak. I went back home and I…” I stopped, not knowing what to say or how to say it.
“You realized who I was and that you could get very good money from my family?”
“No! How could you think that?” I said.
He shrugged. “It’s the most logical conclusion. You were a broke actress. I’m set to inherit hundreds of millions over what I already have now. What conclusion would you come up with?”
He was right. All conclusions led to me being one gold-digging you-know-what. But I thought Griffin knew better than that. Apparently not.
I tried to speak calmly and keep my voice from shaking, but I was visibly upset. “I might have been a struggling actress, but I have some dignity.”
“Yes, enough to take $250,000.”
“If I had only had to worry about me, I would not have taken it,” I said angrily.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he said staring at me.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. “I was pregnant. With your baby. That’s why I took the money. I didn’t ask for it but when your mom wouldn’t take it back and I saw you with that woman and that child, I don’t know… I thought that I was doing the right thing. I knew I would need money and like you said, I was just a broke actress.”
I expected him to yell at me or say something, anything. His silence was killing me. He was staring off into the distance as if I didn’t even exist anymore.
“Griffin?”
“Get out.”
“What?” I hadn’t expected that. He looked at me and his eyes were cold, flat and emotionless.
“Get out,” he repeated simply.
“I tried to tell you earlier—I swear I did.” I didn’t understand why he was angry and then I thought back to the conversation we had about his sister Nora.
“Go,” he said softly. He walked to the door and held it open. “Get out.”
I wanted to fight him. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to do something, but I did what I thought was best, which was nothing. I walked past him, determined not to show how much pain I was in and I walked out the door. He slammed it behind me, so hard that the noise it caused scared me to the point that I let out a startled cry.
As the elevator came for me, I tried to tell myself to not cry. I tried to tell myself that everything would be fine. I’d done what I was supposed to do. And now it was time to go home.
I reached for my phone and realized I’d left it in Griffin’s place. I would have just walked away, but I didn’t have a way to get home. I’d left my wallet and everything in Griffin’s place.
I marched to his door and banged on it, not caring if my banging disturbed the neighbors.
“I left my phone and my wallet,” I said when he answered the door looking angry.
Without a word, I barged around him and found my phone ringing in his bedroom. I grabbed it and my purse.
At least now I can answer my phone without worrying about him finding out my secret, I thought to myself as I answered, walking past Griffin. The secret was officially out in the open, but for some reason, I didn’t feel any better than before. I got into the elevator and I tried not to think of the pain I felt, that made it hard to even breathe.
I wiped away tears and tried to keep my voice cheerful as I spoke into the phone, “Hi, Mom. How’s—”
“You have to come home—”
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Her cellular reception was going in and out. “Mom… Mom?”
“Hon… hospital… come home,” were the last words I heard before the line went dead.
Chapter 11
I awoke from a hard sleep when I heard someone pull the curtain back beside the hospital bed. I’d spent the night curled up in the chair next to the gigantic hospital bed and my body felt cramped, but I ignored the soreness of my body as I looked towards the person now peering at me. I’d spent most of the night worrying, pacing, praying, hoping for a miracle.
And this morning I’d gotten exactly the miracle I hoped for as I rubbed my eyes and saw him sitting up in bed.
“Hi, Dad. How are you feeling?”
“Felt better yesterday. I barely slept. You were snoring so loud I thought about having the nurses remove you.”
“I guess that means you’re feeling better.”
“I would if I could get this dang curtain down. Makes me feel dead having this curtain around me.”
“Wow, Dad. You just had a stroke, leave the curtain alone.”
“A stroke? I feel fine.”
“You might feel fine but the doctors want you to take it easy.”
“They’re trying to kill me.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re not.”
“You’re too trusting.”
“You’re too ornery.”
“I hate doctors.”
“Mom’s a doctor.”
“She’s the exception to the rule. Where is she by the way?”
I didn’t answer. I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. He sat stiffly before finally hugging me back.
I felt tears falling down my face and plopping on the top of his bald shiny head. “Are you crying or did the ceiling just spring a leak?”
“Both,” I teased. Reluctantly, I let him go.
“Stop the crying,” he said, looking around for a handkerchief. He always kept a handkerchief in his pocket. That was a difficult feat when wearing a hospital gown. I grossed him out by using the sleeve of my shirt.
“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see that,” he said, lying back down.
“But seriously, how are you feeling?”
“Just tired. Did they say when I can leave?”
“A few days, I think. They want to run some more tests.”
“That’s because I have insurance. The good kind. If I didn’t they would have just made sure I was alive and sent me on my way.”
Dad was such a cynic.
“I need to get home to Sadie, but I’ll be back. Mom should be on her way.”
“Who’s watching Sadie?” he asked, trying to sit up again.
I stopped him. “Relax, Dad. Kenny’s here.”
He smiled. “Kenny? He’s going to have her sashaying up and down the hallway like she’s a runway model. And then who will I have around to play checkers with? He’s going to turn her into a diva.”
“I promise Kenny won’t do any permanent damage,” I teased.
“He’d better not. That Kenny,” Dad said, chuckling.
“Get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”
He grunted and then soon enough he was snoring. I stood staring down at him and slowly took his hand in mine. I squeezed it and he surprised me by squeezing back.
“Love you, Daddy,” I said, kissing his forehead before making my way out.
I almost ran into my mom who looked frazzled.
“Hi, honey. How’s he looki
ng?”
“About the same.”
“Ok. Thanks for staying with him. I had a long night. Full moon and all that.” My mom swore that the full moon brought out all the weirdos and as an emergency room physician, she’d seen her share of weird things.
“You know I don’t mind staying longer.”
“No,” she said giving me a light push towards the elevator. “Go home to your daughter. I’ll stay with your father.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with her. When her mind was made up, there was no point in trying to change it.
I got on the elevator and sighed as I pushed the down button. I was so tired. As soon as I had gotten off the elevator at Griffin’s place, I’d called my mom back, feeling frantic.
She’d told me with tears in her voice that she’d found Dad unconscious and was waiting for the attending physician to give her an update. I hadn’t hesitated. I’d gone directly from Griffin’s house to the airport and called Kenny on the way.
He dropped whatever he was doing and had joined me as we waited for the flight back to Georgia. We’d held hands like scared little kids as we waited for our flight. We barely spoke, both deep in thought, and worried about my dad. We were a close-knit family. Worrying about each other is what we did best.
When we had landed, we’d stopped at my mom’s house to relieve the sitter. Kenny had volunteered to stay with a sleeping Sadie until I came back.
Mom couldn’t find anyone to cover for her at work so she’d been stuck working while Dad was in the hospital. Luckily, it was the same hospital she worked for.
And now I was on my way back to Mom’s house to get Sadie and relieve Kenny.
Home was only ten minutes from the hospital and when I pulled up, I saw Kenny chasing behind Sadie. They were jumping over my dad’s pond full of his precious koi, chasing each other with water guns.
“Mom!” Sadie yelled when she saw me. She dropped the gun and ran full speed into me, knocking the wind out of me in the process.
“Wow! I guess you missed me!”
“I missed you so, so, so, so, so much,” she said, hugging me tightly.
“I missed you so, so, so, so, so much, too,” Kenny said, smiling brightly as he blasted me with a spray of cold water.
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