Ray knew that it must be difficult for her to talk about her late husband. He didn’t want to cause her pain, but he couldn’t fight his curiosity about Colton Cameron and his hold on Bev. So he remained quiet and his silence reaped the results for which he hoped. Bev kept talking.
“Colton had to go out of town on a construction job. He was to be gone a week, and neither one of us was looking forward to it. Our baby was due in a couple of months and he didn’t want to be away from me for a second. He was so excited about the baby; you would have thought that he was pregnant instead of me. He was worried that something would happen before he got back and he called me every day that he was gone, sometimes two or three times a day. Finally, the job was done and he was coming home. He called me that morning to say that he would be driving straight through and that he would be home that evening. Night came and went and so did the next morning, but no Colton. I was going out of my mind.
“A week passed, a month, and there was no trace of my husband and no indication as to what had happened to him. My parents hired a private detective to see if he could be found, but no luck. Colton had vanished into thin air. Although nobody said it, I still believe that there were members of my family who thought that he might have walked out on me. After all, he was a young man with a wife who didn’t work and had a baby on the way. That was a lot of responsibility, but he was up to it. Colton made a good living. We had no money problems. There was no way that he would have left me. Then one day I got a phone call from the state police. A car had been found at the bottom of a lake with a body inside.” Bev swallowed the lump that still lodged in her throat at the memory. “It turned out to be Colton. He had been in a one-person car accident.”
“You identified his body?” Ray held his breath, hoping against hope that she hadn’t had to go through such an ordeal. Yet, Bev’s identification would have confirmed Colton’s death beyond a shadow of a doubt.
She shook her head in answer to his question. “No, I never saw my husband again. My Uncle Gerald identified him and I went into labor. The shock proved too much for me. Uncle Gerald brought Colton’s ring to me while I was in the hospital. After I recovered, we had a graveside service for him and I barely got through that. In the end, I had two things that proved that he ever existed, his daughter and his wedding ring.” Pausing, Bev looked out the window.
They drove in silence, each with thoughts that they didn’t care to share with the other. Bev was remembering a young man who’d had so much to live for but who died much too soon, while Ray’s thoughts were of a body submerged in water for months, and which might not have been recognizable. He wouldn’t let his thoughts go any farther than that. It was Bev who interrupted the uneasy calm.
“So, Ray, I’m not trying to hurt you by holding on to Colton’s wedding band. It’s just a part of my past that I can’t seem to let go.”
Ray turned to her with a pensive smile. “I’m sure that it’s difficult.”
“Every time I think about how his young life was snuffed out, it breaks my heart. I would have given anything—he would have given anything—for him to see his daughter just once. And I know he would have given his life to get to know her.” She gave a heavy sigh. “Maybe someday I’ll be able to release all of this.”
Ray thought it best not to address that. She could figure out where he stood on the subject. It was her hurdle to clear.
The mood in the car had turned from joyful to solemn, and was about to take another turn. Reaching into her purse, Bev withdrew her cell phone and called her mother to check on her sister. Ginny reported, happily, that Dana was greatly improved. She was talking and the nurses had her walking with assistance. It would take time, but Dana was on her way to a full recovery.
“Does she remember what happened?” Bev asked, thrilled at her sister’s progress.
“No,” Ginny replied, “but who cares? All that’s important is that she’s better.”
Bev couldn’t argue with that. Ginny reported on members of the family who were still there in support, and informed her that Renee Ingram had been kind enough to call. It was after her mother disconnected that Bev’s memory was jolted. Placing her cell phone back inside her purse, she withdrew the diamond earring.
“I know who this belongs to,” she announced triumphantly. “Renee Ingram. She was wearing heart-shaped earrings that day she came to the hospital. I remember noticing that they matched her engagement ring.”
“Mystery solved.” Ray smiled over at her, relieved that the energy in the car had shifted.
“I guess,” Bev frowned as her eyebrows knitted. “Except that I’ve got one question.”
“What’s that?”
“When was Renee at Dana’s house?”
CHAPTER 22
Bev disconnected her cell phone and held it thoughtfully before turning to Ray.
“Renee says that the earring does belong to her, that she must have lost it when she was visiting Dana.”
“That makes sense.” Ray sped up to pass a truck ahead of them. It had been his suggestion to call Renee. The diamond in that earring was worth a small fortune, and he knew that whoever it belonged to must have missed it.
“I guess,” Bev answered, but there was still something about the earring that disturbed her. As she started to put her phone away, it rang. Darnell was on the other end.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Guilt threatened to tug at Bev’s conscience. In her effort to be with Ray she had all but forgotten her daughter. “How is everything going? How are Thad and Nia?”
That question always got Darnell going. Her husband and daughter were her favorite subjects. She was busy telling Bev the latest when the sound of a truck horn drifted through the closed window. It caught Darnell’s attention, much as the announcer’s voice had in the airport when Bev was headed to Tiburon.
“What was that? It sounded like a car horn. Are you on the road? Where are you?”
Bev decided to go on the offensive. “I’m on my way to L.A., and what’s up with you? I haven’t heard from you.”
“We did some late shooting this weekend,” Darnell answered smoothly, then went right back to the original subject. “So where are you, in Chicago headed to the airport? What time do you arrive in L.A.?”
Bev avoided specifics. “Oh, it shouldn’t be long.” As soon as she said it, she knew that she had made a mistake. Her daughter had always been extremely bright, and she had to be fed facts. Suspicion tinted Darnell’s tone.
“I wouldn’t call crossing a time zone soon. What time is the plane leaving Chicago and arriving in L.A.?”
Bev was getting annoyed. What was this, the Inquisition? She was going to squash this. “I’ll get there when I get there, Darnell. You haven’t even asked about your Aunt Dana. I just talked to your grandmother, and she said that they’ve got Dana walking.”
There was silence on the other end. Bev knew that wasn’t good. That meant that Darnell was thinking, and when that happened that meant that she was putting the pieces of a puzzle together to come up with a whole.
“I know about Aunt Dana,” Darnell said slowly. It was clear that she was still weighing their conversation. “I spoke to Grandma before I called you. She said that you told her that you were headed to L.A.—” Her voice drifted off.
“I’ll call you when I get there,” Bev reassured her, treading the minefield carefully. Darnell might need to know the truth about Ray and her, but she wasn’t ready to tell her until she was ready. Meanwhile, a car honked its horn trying to move Ray out of the passing lane. Bev said a hurried goodbye. “Kiss the baby for me.” Disconnecting, Bev slumped in her seat.
Amused, Ray gave her a sideways glance. “You know that it’s not going to take long for her to figure out what’s happening with us.”
“I know.” Bev was sure about that. “At times having a gifted child isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. My daughter is a little too smart for her own good.”
“Then why the secrecy? Is it because it’s me and not some stranger
? Or do you think that knowing that her mother has a love life will shock her?”
“Maybe I am hesitating because it’s you. I’m not sure.” She sighed. “I know that she likes you. She never would have agreed to naming you Nia’s godfather if she didn’t.”
“Tell me about it.” Ray had been honored. Winning Darnell over had been almost as difficult as attracting her mother. “Then may I offer a reason that I think you’re not telling her?”
“Sure.” Bev was curious.
“If you tell her, your secret won’t be a secret anymore. It’s out in the open. It becomes real. It’s not as thrilling or exciting knowing something that somebody else knows.”
“My mother knows about us.” Bev was defensive because she knew that he was right.
“And she approves.” Ray knew that Bev was disturbed by his insight, but this needed to be settled. “I suspect that the reason that she hasn’t said anything to Darnell is because she feels that it’s not her place. But I don’t plan to be a secret much longer. I doubt if you would like it if the situation were reversed.”
Bev knew that he was right—again. “You’re just too smart for your own good.” Her words were said in jest, but there was truth behind them.
“That’s what you get for falling for an intelligent man,” Ray crowed. He laughed when Bev thumped him playfully on the head.
She slid down in her seat, resigned to the eventual revelation of her secret pleasure. “I don’t want to share you yet.”
Ray reached across the console and took her hand. This woman touched him in so many ways. “I’ll tell you what. Do you remember those houseboats that we saw in Sausalito?”
“Yes, I do.” Bev smiled at the memory. During their wanderings around the artsy hamlet, they had strolled down the rows of colorful houseboats moored on the dock, delighted with the idea of living in one of them and concocting fanciful stories about those who actually did.
“When we’re uncovered as a couple, we’ll rent one of those houseboats…”
“The bright yellow one trimmed in startling blue,” Bev piped in excitedly. “It had a For Rent sign on it.”
“Okay, that one, and we’ll pull the ramp up so that no one can come aboard.”
“I like that.” Bev’s eyes were shining. “Then we’ll set sail into the sunset—or whatever you do on a houseboat—so that I can keep you all to myself.”
“And vice versa.” Ray squeezed her hand.
Bev gave a wistful sigh. “Meanwhile, if I know my daughter—and I do—she’ll figure everything out. She won’t need any help from me. I’m sure of that.”
* * *
Sitting in her elegantly decorated trailer on the set of the latest movie that she would star in with her husband, Darnell Cameron Stewart was thinking hard about her last two conversations with her mother. Bev had been a little too evasive. Something smelled fishy and she was going to find out what it was. Her musing was interrupted when Thad entered the trailer.
“Hey, baby.” His tone was seductive. He and Darnell had a two-hour break before having to return to the set, and he knew exactly what he wanted for lunch.
However, Darnell had other things on her mind. “Sweetie, would you do me a favor and call Ray? See if he’s in L.A. yet and ask him if he drove your car down there instead of leaving it in Tiburon.”
Thad dropped down beside her and loosened the tie that he had been wearing in the last scene. He knew the love of his life well. He wasn’t fooled by the sweetness of her tone. He cut to the chase.
“What are you up to?”
Darnell didn’t pretend to be insulted as she used to do when they were first married. Thad knew that trick. He was becoming too good at reading her.
“I think Ray is with my mother.”
Thad hesitated. “Uh, they’re staying in the same house, Darnell.”
“Which, if you remember, I told you was not a good idea, but you said that it was none of my business.”
“Which it wasn’t.” He reached for her to pull her onto his lap, but a preoccupied Darnell got up from the sofa and began to pace the room. Thad sighed in acquiescence. The quicker he complied with her plan the quicker they could get to his plan. Taking out his cell phone, he dialed.
Ray had Bev retrieve his cell phone from the console so that he could keep his eyes on the road. She looked at the name on the display window.
“It’s Thad. Darnell’s behind this call. She’s zeroing in on us.”
Ray chortled at her declaration. “Let it go to voice mail. I’ll call him back later.”
“Good,” Bev replied. “Let her sweat, but I’ll bet you $100 that she’ll have it all figured out before we hit L.A.”
“You’re on.”
Back at the trailer, Thad left a message for Ray to call him. Darnell stopped pacing. Bracing himself for his wife’s next move, he settled back to enjoy the action. He had no doubt that his lady must have been a private detective in her former life. His only hope was that her effort wouldn’t take too long.
“Voice mail, huh? Well, we’ll see about that.” Darnell whipped out her cell phone and called her mother’s Chicago office. Eventually the call made its way to Janice, who greeted the younger woman cheerfully.
“Hey, how are you doing? How’s the movie going?”
“Great!” Darnell’s greeting was equally as friendly. “The production is on time and we’ve been happy with the results so far, thanks for asking. Listen, I called you to see if my mother got off okay. She was scheduled to leave from there today to fly back to L.A., wasn’t she?”
“Yes, she was, but she left on Friday from home after the meeting with our client.” Janice sounded concerned. “Haven’t you been in contact with her?”
Darnell avoided the question. “We’ve been busy here. I just thought that she wasn’t leaving Chicago until today.”
“All I know is that she told me on Friday that she was off to California. Can’t you get her on her cell phone?”
Darnell could hear that Janice’s concern was growing. She sought to ease it.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to call her. I just wanted to get her schedule straight. Thank you.” Disconnecting, Darnell looked at Thad smugly. “I knew it! Mama’s headed for L.A. all right, probably from Carmel or Tiburon!”
She shared her accumulated evidence—the car horns, Bev’s evasiveness, and what Janice had said during their conversation.
Thad was delighted, “So my man finally did it! Yes!” He pumped his fist in the air.
“Yes, what?” She glared at him. “My mother is supposed to be in L.A. with her sick sister, not holed up with your agent, and maybe in our house! God! Who knows what they were doing, and on our furniture!”
Thad laughed, prompting Darnell to throw a pillow at him, which only evoked more laughter. Sighing in disgust, she speed dialed her mother’s number.
When the phone rang, Bev glanced at caller I.D. and then at the clock. It had been thirty minutes since her daughter’s last call. She glanced at Ray.
“I think she broke a record, and you owe me $100.” She answered the call with a sing-song, “Helloooooo.”
Darnell wasn’t amused. She knew that her mother knew that she knew what was going on. The preliminaries were skipped.
“I know that you’re with Ray, Mama, so don’t try to deny it, and you’re in a car not on a plane. Is it one of Thad’s cars?”
“No, we’re in a rental car, sweetie. Thad’s car is in Ray’s garage in Tiburon.” Lord have mercy, her child was good! She would have made one hell of a detective, except for one little thing. “And let me suggest that you change your tone, or I’m going to hang up.”
Darnell was properly chastised, but not deterred. “All right, I get the message. But may I ask if that’s where you spent the weekend?” If so, at least they hadn’t been in her house doing whatever, but her mother wasn’t too cooperative.
“You may ask.” That’s all that Bev felt compelled to say. After all, she was a grown woman.
She didn’t have to answer to her own child.
Darnell held her temper. She knew just how far Bev would let her go. “All right, Mama, but I want you to know that your secrecy about you and Ray has hurt my feelings.”
“Just like your secrecy about you and Thad hurt mine,” Bev countered.
For a moment, Darnell was left speechless. Her mother was right. She and Thad had been together for months before she found the courage to tell her mother about their relationship. At the time, Bev didn’t like the movie star’s playboy reputation and thought that Darnell was too good for him. Now Bev and Thad were crazy about each other.
When Thad sat beside Darnell and draped his arm around his wife, she knew that the gesture was to show his support for her feelings. But the look that he gave her was a silent message to her that it was time to let this go. Darnell knew that Thad was good at seeing both sides of an issue, and it wouldn’t be difficult for him to take Bev’s side on this.
She took a deep breath and surprised her mother, her husband, and herself with her next words. “You’re right, Mama. All I’m trying to say is that you didn’t have to keep the fact that you and Ray have a relationship from me. I like him. I would have loved it if you had shared that information.”
Bev was stunned. She put her cell on speakerphone.
“Uh, will you say that again? I want Ray to hear this.”
Darnell did as asked. Her words put a smile on Ray’s face.
“That’s good of you to say that.” He meant it from the bottom of his heart. Winning Bev’s affection was the golden medal. Winning her daughter’s acceptance was the silver. What more could he want?
Darnell was gracious. “Ray, there is nothing that you won’t do for us. You’re a good friend, a great human being, and the best godfather that Nia could ever have. I have no doubt that my mother is in the best of hands. She sounds happy, and that’s all I want for her.”
“Me, too!” Thad shouted loudly, making sure that his presence was known.
Bev and Ray laughed. The four of them carried on a conversation for a few minutes. Bev and Ray made plans to join the younger couple in Virginia for the wrap party when the film was finished. It was Thad who ended the banter.
Still Waters... Page 19
