by Jaden Skye
Lynch turned to his mother slowly then. “This is your grandson, mom,” he said.
Raina stopped in her tracks and looked at him horrified.
“Don’t talk like that, Lynch, not now. Don’t ruin everything we’ve worked so hard for. You’re about to marry Tara. The wedding is set, only a couple of days. Important people are arriving. This is not something we want announced.”
“But it’s public knowledge now, Raina,” Aldon stepped in.
“Oh no, it isn’t,” Raina glared at him.
“Aldon dug this up, those are his private detectives over there,” Lynch filled his mother in.
“So, all of us in this room know about it,” Raina spit out. “But not anyone else. And no one else will! Over my dead body.”
“It’s not a matter of who knows or doesn’t know,” Tara stepped forth.
“What is it a matter of then, dear?” Raina took her on.
“I never knew a thing about the child,” said Tara, trembling. “In all the time we were together, Lynch never said a word.”
“So, the child didn’t know a thing about you, either, did he?” Raina quipped. “What’s the big deal?”
“Who knows what else Lynch is hiding? How can I trust him now?” asked Tara.
Raina was completely unmoved by the question. “Listen, I’ll take care of this, so that neither you nor Bala will know anything further about each other’s lives.” Then Raina turned directly to Bala. “You are the mother of this child, I assume?” she said in a totally businesslike fashion.
“I am,” said Bala, quietly.
“You and my son had some kind of encounter?” Raina went on.
“We went out for two years,” Bala replied. “I was his girlfriend. Lynch loved me.”
“Immaterial,” said Raina.
“And I said it was over,” Lynch interjected. “You understood. We made arrangements for Paulie.”
“Yes, we did,” said Bala, “I did not say otherwise. You called me here, I did not ask to come.”
“Wait a minute,” Tara intervened, walking over to Bala. “Bala, I’m pleased to meet you,” she said. “You have a beautiful child.”
Tears filled Bala’s eyes, “Thank you,” she whispered.
“I never knew a thing about him,” Tara continued. “If I had -.”
“If you had, what?” Lynch walked over to them, agitated.
Tara kept speaking to Bala, not looking at Lynch at all. “If I’d known that Lynch had a son, I would have made sure he saw him often.”
Tears fell down Bala’s face.
“This has nothing to do with you, Tara,” Lynch interposed himself. “This is not your business, butt out.”
“This has everything to do with me,” Tara turned on him, furiously. “I’ve been lied to, through and through! You’re not the person you pretended to be. If you can abandon your son, what else can you do? Our wedding is off!”
The words rang through the room like the sound of a shot gun going off on a summer night.
“Off?” Lynch’s jaw clenched and his hands drew into fists. What are you talking about?”
“It’s over, it’s finished! We can’t go on!” Tara called out wildly, frightening Paulie with the sound of piercing pain in her voice. “You never told me about your son. You lied.”
Raina stepped in then, like lightning rising over the hill. “This wedding will go on as planned,” she demanded. “It’s way too late for turning around.”
“Never too late,” Aldon insisted.
“Do you realize what’s at stake here?” Raina insisted, “the plans, the costs, the arrangements, hundreds of people coming down, our family’s entire reputation is on the line.”
“I realize full well,” said Aldon, “but my daughter’s life is worth more than it all.”
“Your daughter’s life has never been better than when she’s been with my son,” Raina shot back at him. “Tara’s grown, she’s bloomed. They’re fabulous together, I’ve never seen Lynch this happy before. This is nothing but a chance mishap, a ridiculous blip in the road. Our family will take care of the mother and child completely financially. Then, neither of them will ever be seen or heard from again.” Raina turned swiftly towards Bala then. “Do you understand that? Not a word of this goes past this room.”
Bala nodded sadly, as Tara put her arm around Bala’s shoulder. “Forgive us all, Bala,” Tara said. “We have done wrong.”
Raina swept over and pushed Tara to the side. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to forgive. We have done what’s right and always will!”
Tara looked at Lynch painfully over his mother’s shoulder.
“It’s over, Lynch,” Tara proclaimed definitely. “This wedding cannot go on.”
*
Bala grabbed her son, lifted him in her arms and ran out of the room suddenly, in haste, as Tara began sobbing.
“Don’t go Bala, stay awhile,” Tara cried, racing after her.
Lynch grabbed Tara by the shoulders, stopping her. “Let her go,” he said stiffly. “She doesn’t belong here with the boy.”
Tara turned towards him fitfully. “The boy, or your son?” she exclaimed.
“Calm down this minute, Tara,” Lynch replied, ignoring her comment.
“You never said a word to your son, Lynch,” Tara could not be consoled. “You never held him or said hello.”
“This isn’t the place to talk about this. Stop it this instant,” Lynch was shaken to the core, caught off guard, confused.
“How can I stop?” Tara moaned. “Your son has to be part of your life. You can’t just throw away a person.”
Lynch’s jaw clenched. “He is not being thrown away. I see to it that all his needs are met.”
“He needs a father, not just money,” Tara’s voice cracked in distress.
Raina broke in fiercely then. “Enough of this utter and complete nonsense. You have totally and completely humiliated us, Tara. How dare you suggest that my son has done something wrong to that native woman or to her offspring?”
Tara stopped in amazement and glared at Raina. “That native woman is the mother of your grandchild. And, you don’t seem to care at all about him, either.” Tara gasped.
Raina, appalled, turned to Lynch. “This horrendous situation is growing more preposterous by the moment,” she declared.
“I’ll take care of it mother,” said Lynch in a clenched voice.
“Will you?” she asked suddenly, bitter. “I certainly hope so, because cancelling the wedding is not an option. It’s out of the question. Absolutely.”
“This is not exactly your wedding, Raina,” Aldon broke in. “And I’m proud of Tara’s response. She was raised to care for and respect others. She’s sensitive, concerned.”
“Yes, she is and that’s why I love her,” Lynch proclaimed, coming to Tara’s defense.
Raina turned on Aldon then. “If your daughter’s so sensitive, how dare she threaten to hurt the man she loves and cancel the wedding over something as foolish as this?”
“Your grandson is something foolish?” Aldon replied.
“It’s obvious the child’s mother is after nothing but money,” Raina declared. “Why else would she show up unannounced with the boy? This is simply a form of blackmail. I’ve seen it before and I’ll see it again. But will I be prey to it? Never.”
“I insisted that Bala come with the child,” Tara stood strong. “I couldn’t believe that Lynch had a son unless I saw him for myself.”
“So you saw him,” Raina proclaimed. “Do you want a medal for that?”
“I also wanted to see how Lynch would react,” Tara went on, blocking Raina’s comment. “I wanted to see if he and his son at least knew each other.”
“We do not,” said Lynch quietly. “That was not part of the arrangement.”
“It’s awful, just awful,” Tara began weeping again. “You’ve abandoned your son, I can hardly bear it.”
“You, you, you! Is this all about you?�
� Raina blasted her. “How dare you say my son abandoned his child? You, yourself, just threatened to abandon everyone, to call off your entire wedding! How do you think Lynch feels about that?”
“There’s no comparison,” Tara barely caught her breath. “I didn’t keep life changing secrets from him.”
“I never thought of this as a secret,” Lynch had trouble speaking now. “I thought of it as a mistake I made that I’m taking care of now, quietly.” His face grew pale.
“Tara,” Raina exclaimed. “You are about to become a member of our family, a very prominent family. Hundreds of guests are arriving for your wedding. You think you can stop it just like that?”
“I’ll handle this mother,” Lynch tried to intervene.
“There’s nothing to handle, Lynch,” said Tara, “I can’t go through with the wedding now.”
Lynch tried to get closer to her. “This is crazy, Tara, I love you. I can’t lose you like this. We’ll find a way, we’ll talk it over.
“I love you too, but I don’t know who you are anymore, “Tara whimpered.
“Oh God,” Mattheus suddenly burst out, startling everyone. “This has gotten completely out of hand. Tara, there’s no reason to cancel the wedding over something like this.”
“Finally, some plain common sense,” Raina murmured, looking at Mattheus admiringly.
“Cindy and I have investigated all kinds of cases,” Mattheus went on, “we’ve seen awful things happen, deceit, disaster, heartless murder. This is just a normal bump in the road. You’ve got to give the guy a chance to make it right. You weren’t dating Lynch when he had the child. He hasn’t cheated on you. What has it got to do with your wedding?”
Tara looked over at Cindy, who just shook her head.
Aldon, outraged, went over to Mattheus directly. “You were not hired for your expert opinion,” he said. “You were hired to gather plain information and you did your job perfectly. More than this is not required of you.”
“Your daughter’s making a terrible mistake,” Mattheus insisted. “I feel it.”
“In plain English, your assignment is over,” Aldon continued, “and you’re free to leave, right now.”
“Wait a minute,” Tara, interrupted. “I don’t want Cindy to go. I like having her here. I want to talk to her more about it.”
Cindy was surprised and touched. She liked Tara as well, admired her greatly.
“Very well then, I’m not firing Cindy, only Mattheus,” said Aldon.
“Cindy and I work as a team or not at all,” Mattheus retorted and threw a swift glance at Cindy.
“Is that so?” asked Aldon.
“Yes, it is,” Cindy agreed.
“Let them stay on a little while longer then,” Tara pleaded.
Aldon quickly agreed. “Fine, stay as long as Tara wants you here,” he said perfunctorily.
At that Raina turned to Lynch, and pulled him to the side. “I am not staying here in the midst of this maelstrom. I’m just telling you to make up with your bride! Do it however you can. Get Mattheus to convince Cindy to convince Tara. I couldn’t care less how.”
Lynch looked staggered. “I’ll do my best,” he said quietly.
““Your best better be good enough,” Raina’s voice grew shrill. “You two must go forward with the wedding. You can’t make a public fool of our family this way. If you do you’ll no longer be able to work for the company. You’ll end up disinherited.”
Lynch stared at his mother, open mouthed.
“It’s not what I want, it’s not what I’m hoping for,” Raina tried to soften her words, “but what choice will I have? If this ever gets out, we’ll all be done for. You have to make absolutely sure that not a word of this leaves this room, ever!” With that she spun around and dashed to the door. “I have guests to welcome,” she called out over her shoulder. “People have paid thousands of dollars to be at this wedding. Things are going on as normal, or else.”
CHAPTER 7
It was as if the eye of a storm quieted down after Raina left the room. And those remaining were left with all left with the debris that the whirlwind had caused.
“I need to talk to you, Tara,” Lynch said quietly then, reaching out for her.
“Not right now,” Tara began shivering.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you taking it so hard?” Lynch alternated between looking baffled and afraid.
“I need time, Lynch,” Tara answered.
“There’s no time left, we don’t have time,” Lynch replied. “The rehearsal dinner’s tomorrow night.”
Tara put her head in her hands and started sobbing.
“Give me some time alone with her,” Cindy said quietly to Lynch. “Meanwhile you and Mattheus can talk.”
Aldon tapped his foot on the floor hard, at Cindy’s suggestion. “I don’t know exactly what it is that Mattheus would have to say that would make things better,” he said. “Mattheus seems to feel
that it’s perfectly fine to have a secret child you’ve told no one about.”
“It’s not that simple,” said Mattheus, his face growing tight. “I’m saying there are worse things to find out and that misunderstandings can be repaired.”
“Not always,” said Aldon. “Actions can have irreparable consequences.”
Tara looked up and sighed. “Take it easy, dad,” she said.
“I’ve been worried about something like this for a long time,” said Aldon.
At that Tara, grew quieter. Aldon’s statement seemed to jar her. The last thing she wanted to do was go along with him.
“Let Mattheus talk to Lynch,” Tara proclaimed, “let me talk to Cindy. Back off. Give us some time.”
*
Cindy put her arm around Tara and led her to a sofa to sit down and talk. Mattheus took Lynch into the alcove, and Aldon walked out onto the balcony and stared at the sky, alone.
“My father is happy about this,” Tara started, as Cindy sat next to her and took her hand.
“I can’t imagine that he’s happy,” said Cindy.
“He and Lynch’s mother hate each other,” Tara went on. “They made it hard for the two of us in the beginning, but then Raina decided she loved me, and forgot about my dad.”
“He didn’t forget about her, though, did he?” asked Cindy.
“No,” Tara shook her head. “He’s held this crazy vendetta, determined to find out the truth about Lynch. Lynch is a wonderful guy, but my father couldn’t see it.”
“That’s rough,” said Cindy.
“Awful,” Tara went on, “Lynch and I knew he was poking around, investigating Lynch’s background. We didn’t care, though. It didn’t amount to anything. I always thought Lynch was squeaky clean.”
“I don’t know if there’s anyone in the world who’s squeaky clean,” Cindy said slowly. “There’s always a little something, here or there. Life leaves its traces.”
“I realize that, of course,” said Tara, “but something like this!”
Cindy sighed. She couldn’t help but agree. This wasn’t a little something.
“This is huge,” said Tara.
“Yes, it is,” Cindy agreed.
“He lied to me,” Tara was taking it in, turning it over and over in her mind, trying to make it real. “Lynch hid the fact that he had a child.”
“He didn’t think of it as lying,” said Cindy, trying to soften the blow.
“But whether or not he realized it, he lied,” Tara shrugged. “In a way it would be better if he realized it. Otherwise, it could happen again.”
““That’s true, you’re right,” Cindy agreed. “You’re in a rough spot, Tara.”
Tara turned to Cindy point blank. “What would you do?” she asked her.
Cindy was taken aback. “I’m not sure,” she said slowly. It wasn’t up to her to tell Tara what to do.
“Would you go forward with a fake marriage, even though you couldn’t trust your husband?” the words fell off Tara’s lip quickly.
�
��No, I would not do that,” Cindy was stalwart.
“Then, what would you do?” Tara’s voice grew more strident.
Both of them looked up then, and to their surprise Lynch and Mattheus were walking over to where they were sitting. They’d obviously heard what had been said.
“I would give it time,” Mattheus took it upon himself to answer the question. “I would take a long walk, talk to friends, make an effort to forgive. After all, this is someone you said you loved, isn’t it?”
Tara looked up at Lynch swiftly and began to tremble.
“In fact, in a few days you were about to vow that this is someone you would love forever, for better or worse, in sickness and health,” Mattheus was making his case strongly.
Encouraged, Lynch joined in. “You did say that you loved me, Tara. You said you loved me more than anyone or anything else in your life.”
“I said that, and it was true at the time,” Tara trembled more strongly.
Lynch took a step closer to her. “Did you really mean it?” he asked, his head dropping, “or was it just words?”
“I meant it,” said Tara, “of course I meant it.”
“Then give me a chance,” Lynch pleaded. “That’s what it means to love, isn’t it?”
Tara was silent a few moments and then shook her head. “I’m not sure what it means to love at this moment,” she whispered. “I could ask you the same question, if you loved me, how could you have hidden your son from me? How could you, Lynch?”
“What’s the matter with you?” Lynch grew agitated, “you’ve become completely obsessed with my son.”
*
Cindy and Mattheus left the two of them alone for a while to talk further as Aldon walked in from the balcony.
“Where do we go from here?” asked Aldon. “How are we breaking the news that it’s done?”
“That’s for them to decide,” Mattheus said scornfully to Aldon.
“There’s nothing to decide, the facts are clear,” Aldon countered. Then he turned to Cindy, “I hope you told my daughter that she was making the right choice in saying good bye.”
“This is her choice,” Cindy chimed in. “She and Lynch need time alone together now.”
“What for?” Aldon’s face curled in disgust.
