Two Much Alike

by Pamela Bauer

  “Yes, because Joe didn’t want her to. When I heard that, I figured he had something to hide.”

  “What he has is a sick father, a very good man whose heart could be broken if the whole truth is revealed.” She could feel her cheeks heating, and her voice had started to wobble.

  “I’m sorry his father’s not well, but that doesn’t change the facts. If you’d stop pacing the floor and sit down, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  Frannie didn’t want to sit. She didn’t want to look at what Lois had uncovered about Joe, because it didn’t matter. Maybe he hadn’t exactly been a Boy Scout, but he was a good man. In her heart she knew that. But you thought that about Dennis, too.

  Her heart banged against the wall of her chest and her mouth felt dry as she sat down next to her sister.

  Lois handed her a piece of paper with a hospital logo across the top. “Before you go giving him the farm, I suggest you take a look at this.”

  Frannie looked at the list and saw Arlene’s name, as well as those of her sons, Dennis and Daniel.

  “You’ll notice there’s no Joseph Smith or any woman named Smith,” Lois said.

  Frannie frowned. “Maybe his mother went by her maiden name.”

  “Which was?”

  Frannie shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “What about her first name?”

  “I think he said it was Kathleen.”

  “Do you see a Kathleen on that list?”

  Frannie looked it over. There was one. A Kathleen Hawthorn.

  “There’s only one Joseph on that list. A baby boy named Joseph Hawthorn, mother Kathleen Hawthorn,” Lois rattled off.

  Frannie met her sister’s eyes. “You think that’s him?” she asked weakly.

  “There are no other baby boys with that name.”

  “I don’t get it. Why would he say his name is Joe Smith if he’s…” She didn’t want to think of what the answer to that question might be.

  “If you were going to pick an alias, Joe Smith would be a good one,” Lois told her. “There are a ton of them.”

  “You think Joe’s using an assumed identity?”

  “Sure looks that way to me.”

  Frannie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “To someone on the run it does.”

  “Are you saying you think Joe is a fugitive?”

  “Why else does a man change his identity? Unless he’s like your ex-husband—running from bad debts and responsibilities.”

  Frannie put her fist to her mouth, determined to push back the tears that threatened to fall. Just like her ex-husband.

  No! Joe was nothing like Dennis. Nothing.

  She looked at Lois. “You’ve met him. He’s nothing at all like Dennis.” Silently she begged her sister to agree with her.

  “He’s not who he says he is,” her sister stated grimly. “There’s a reason why he was so emphatic about your not looking into his past. He said it was because of his father’s health, but that wasn’t the only reason.”

  “You think he’s a criminal, don’t you.” The roller coaster had reached the top and was on its descent, and there was no way for Frannie to stop it.

  “I’m not sure, but I intend to find out. I’ve got someone working on it right now. Checking records, running traces.”

  Frannie sank down onto a chair, feeling defeated. “Have you told Arlene any of this?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Until we know what it is that Joe’s hiding, I don’t want to cause her any more pain than she’s already had.”

  Pain? Frannie almost asked, “What about my pain?” But she didn’t. She couldn’t admit to her sister just how badly she hurt inside.

  “Are you going to be all right?” Lois asked.

  “No.”

  “I’m sorry, Frannie. I know you think I don’t like Joe, but the truth is I do believe he is a good man. It’s just that ever since I met him I had this feeling that he was hiding something.”

  “I can’t believe this,” she said, choking back the emotion that threatened to clog her throat.

  Lois reached across the table to cover her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Frannie. You’ll get through this.”

  Frannie almost laughed out loud. This morning she’d been planning a lifetime with him. Now she was wondering what horrible things he had done to warrant his going into hiding. She shivered at the possibilities that raced through her mind.

  “What happens next?” she asked.

  “We wait to see what information I collect.” We wait. Frannie didn’t want to wait for anything. She wanted to call Joe and find out for herself what was going on. But her sister’s warning stopped her.

  “Whatever you do, Frannie, don’t call him and tell him the authorities are onto him. You can’t do that. You understand?”

  Oh, yes, she did understand. After years of trying to find Dennis, she knew how slippery a fleeing man could be. If Joe Smith had done something wrong, she wanted him to pay. Not for the crime, but for breaking her heart.

  Because it was broken so badly she didn’t think it would ever mend.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “HI, ALEX. It’s Uncle Joe. Can I talk to your mom?”

  “Umm…she can’t come to the phone. She’s painting the kitchen.”

  “She’s still working on that?”

  “Yup.”

  “You did tell her I called yesterday, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you will tell her I called today, right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Alex, is everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” Alex glanced nervously at Josh. “I gotta go. My friend Josh is here. We’re playing a game on my computer.”

  “No problem. Ask your mom to call me back when she can come to the phone, okay?”

  “I will. Bye.”

  As Alex hung up the phone, Josh asked, “Was that him again?”

  Alex nodded. “He’s called like six times and my mom won’t talk to him.” He kept his voice low deliberately, knowing that his mother was just around the corner.

  He was glad he had, because she stuck her head into the family room and asked, “Who was on the phone, Alex?”

  “It was Uncle Joe.”

  “Oh.” She quickly disappeared into the kitchen again.

  “See? I told you,” Alex whispered when she’d gone.

  Josh shrugged. “She’s painting the kitchen. It’s no big deal if she doesn’t want to answer the phone.”

  “Oh yeah? So how come she told me she’d talk to Auntie Lois if she called?”

  “You think she doesn’t want to talk to him?”

  “I know she doesn’t.”

  “Why not?” Josh asked. “I thought you said everything was going to be really cool now that you’d found your uncle.”

  Alex shoved a finger to his mouth. “Shh. You’re not supposed to know he’s my uncle. You haven’t told anybody, have you?”

  “No way! I said I wouldn’t and I keep my word.”

  Alex sighed. “You better. Things are messed up enough.”

  “You mean because your mom’s mad at him?”

  He nodded. “It’s probably over something really dumb.”

  “Maybe he forgot to bring her flowers,” Josh suggested.

  Alex frowned. He knew it had nothing to do with flowers. In fact, a delivery truck had brought some yesterday and his mom had taken one look at the card and given the flowers to old Mrs. Greenley across the street. That wasn’t a good sign. The other times Uncle Joe had sent his mom flowers, she had practically drooled over them, getting a really mushy look on her face every time she looked at them.

  “I wish I knew what was going on,” Alex said, voicing his uncertainty.

  “Can’t you just ask her why she’s mad?”

  “I did, but she got all emotional and started telling me how this was a difficult situation for everyone and that I shouldn’t ask questions she coul
dn’t answer.”

  “Well, at least if they break up, he’s still going to be your uncle,” Josh stated pragmatically. “You’ll still get to do cool stuff with him.”

  Alex wasn’t so sure. What he didn’t tell his best friend was that he’d overhead his mom and his aunt talking. Auntie Lois didn’t trust Uncle Joe. She’d warned his mother that Joe might be more like his dad than anyone wanted to believe. He could drop out of sight and never be heard from again.

  That wasn’t what Alex had wanted to hear. Ever since he’d seen his mom and Joe kissing, he’d started thinking about what it would be like if Joe were to marry his mom. Then Joe wouldn’t just be his uncle, he’d be his dad.

  Alex thought Joe would make a good dad. Joe liked to do things with Alex and his brother and sister. And he was always interested in hearing about school. And he was smart. He even knew more stuff about computers than Josh did. And he didn’t care if Luke got crabby and cried all the way home in the car.

  The more Alex thought about it, the more he was sure that Auntie Lois was wrong. Uncle Joe was not like his father at all. He wouldn’t abandon his family.

  JOE WAITED ALL DAY for Frannie to return his call. He pictured her on a ladder, with paint splattered across her face, doing a job he’d offered to do for her but that she’d insisted on doing herself. The fact that she was self-sufficient was one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her, yet that didn’t keep him from wanting to ease some of the load she carried so proudly on her shoulders.

  As often as she’d told him she didn’t need a man, he wanted to believe that she needed him. Not to take care of her, but to be with her as friend and lover. He knew that her first marriage had made her reluctant to trust any man. He was willing to wait, to give her time to discover that she could count on him. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  He couldn’t imagine any man turning his back on Frannie. In a very short time she’d become such a big part of his world that he found it difficult to think of life without her. If a day went by when he didn’t get to talk to her, he felt as if something was missing.

  That’s why he was so frustrated tonight. He’d been trying for two days to reach her, yet every time he called he got the same message, either from Emma or Alex. She couldn’t come to the phone because she was painting the kitchen. The task hadn’t surprised him, but he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t returned a single one of his phone calls. It was almost as if she was avoiding him.

  He wasn’t about to make that assumption, however. Not when it came to Frannie. Knowing her the way he did, he was confident that if she were upset with him, she’d tell him. It was another quality he admired—her directness.

  And the memories of the last time they’d been together refused to let him think that anything could be wrong. She’d cooked dinner for the two of them after the kids had gone to bed. It had been a wonderful evening filled with soft music and intimate conversation that had been the instigation for the plans they’d made for a weekend getaway without the children. Aside from giving them time alone without any interruptions, Joe knew it would be a chance for the kind of intimacy they both wanted.

  Thinking about what a weekend away would mean had Joe wondering if maybe that wasn’t the reason Frannie hadn’t returned his calls. Was she feeling as if things were moving too quickly? She was a mother with three children, a woman who’d been hurt badly. He could understand why she’d be a little gun-shy when it came to love the second time around. If that was the case, he needed to talk to her, to assure her he could wait until she was ready.

  First thing in the morning he dialed her number, hoping to catch her before she left for work.

  Once again when he phoned, Alex answered.

  “Hi. It’s Uncle Joe. Can I speak to your mom?”

  “She can’t come to the phone because—”

  “She’s not painting at this time of morning, Alex,” he said a bit impatiently.

  “No, she’s in the bathroom.”

  Joe grinned. “Tell her I’ll wait. It’s important.”

  He heard a clunk as Alex set down the phone. Joe wasn’t sure how long he waited. He heard a door slam, Emma warn her brother he was going to be late, another door slam. He waited so long that he was beginning to think that he’d been forgotten and that the entire crew had left the house with the phone sitting off the hook.

  He was just about to hang up when he heard Frannie’s voice.

  “Joe, this isn’t a good time. I have to get Luke to day care and I’m already late for a meeting at the paper.”

  There was no warmth in her voice, only impatience. His nerves tingled a warning. “I don’t want to make you late. I just wanted to hear your voice. I missed talking to you this weekend.”

  She didn’t say, “I missed talking to you, too,” or “It’s good to hear your voice.” Gone was the affection he normally heard when they talked on the phone—that husky, seductive quality that made him ache with longing for her. She easily could have been talking to the neighbor next door, so impersonal was her tone.

  “I painted the kitchen. It looks much brighter in here. I got rid of the dinginess.”

  “I’m sure you did a good job.”

  “I hope so. Look, this really isn’t a good time for me, Joe. Luke’s fussing.”

  He couldn’t hear any whining in the background. “Frannie, is everything okay?”

  “It won’t be if I miss my meeting,” she said tersely.

  So he hadn’t imagined the distance she’d put between them. “Why don’t I call you tonight? What would be a good time?”

  She sighed. “Alex and Emma have an open house at their school. I’m not sure what time we’ll be home.”

  “Maybe you should call me then?” he suggested.

  “If it’s not too late,” she said, and then abruptly ended the conversation, leaving Joe staring at the phone.

  Everything was definitely not okay. Joe didn’t know what was going on, but he was determined to find out. He paced the kitchen floor, watching the clock, waiting for time to pass. When he knew he’d given her enough time to get Luke to day care and herself to the newspaper, he tried her number at work. He was not surprised to find her at her desk instead of at a meeting.

  “Frannie, we need to talk,” he said as soon as he heard her voice.

  “Joe, I’m at work,” she said on a note of exasperation.

  “Just answer one question. What’s going on?”

  She sounded nervous as she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Last Thursday we practically made love on your sofa. Today you’re treating me like one of those people who call during dinner trying to sell you new windows.”

  “Because I’m at work.”

  “We agreed we wouldn’t play games, Frannie,” he reminded her. “Give me a straight answer. What changed between last Thursday and now?”

  “Joe, I really don’t want to get into this now,” she said with a plea in her voice.

  “Get into what? Are you unhappy with the plans we made for next weekend?”

  “I’m just unhappy!” she finally spat out.

  “With me?” He hated to ask the question, but had to know the answer.

  “Yes.”

  A pain knifed through him, tightening his chest so that he found it difficult to breathe. “Is it something I’ve done?”

  “It’s…” She paused. “It’s just not going to work out between us,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I’m sorry, Joe. Please don’t make this any more difficult than it is.”

  In other words, don’t ask me why it won’t work. Just get out of my life. Joe felt as if he’d just jumped out of a plane, only to discover his parachute wouldn’t open.

  “Frannie, you’re not serious.” He didn’t know what else to say.

  “Yes, Joe, I am. I’m sorry.”

  There was a finality in her voice that sent a chill through him. He wanted to ask her what had changed, to tell her how he felt abou
t her and try to persuade her that she was wrong. It could work between them. They were good for each other. And a million other reasons why she couldn’t be saying what she was saying.

  Fortunately, his pride asserted itself.

  “If that’s the way it is,” he said with as little emotion as possible, “I won’t bother you again.” And without waiting to hear if she had any response, he hung up the phone.

  As usual, when he needed to think, he went down to the dock. He didn’t bother grabbing a jacket or a sweatshirt, needing to feel the sting of the brisk autumn air. It was how he felt inside—as if a good strong wind had knocked all the warmth out of him. How long he sat outside he wasn’t sure. When he finally made his way back up to the house, his father greeted him at the door.

  Joe hoped the Admiral was going to say that Frannie had called and wanted Joe to call her back right away. He didn’t. He said, “You trying to catch a cold sitting out there without a coat?”

  Joe didn’t answer, and the Admiral said, “Oh—almost forgot.” He shuffled over to the kitchen counter and picked up a piece of paper. “You had a phone message while you were out.”

  Hope that it was from Frannie had Joe’s heart beating erratically. He reached for the slip of paper and frowned. It was a message from the dentist reminding him it was time for his checkup.

  In the days that followed, Joe jumped whenever the phone rang, hoping that it would be Frannie. It wasn’t. When his father asked him why he was moping around the place, Joe answered him honestly, telling him in as few words as possible that his relationship with Frannie was over.

  With a pat on his shoulder, his father said, “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, son, but it’s for the best. Women get you into trouble. Look at me.”

  Joe knew his father referred to the fact that he’d been forced into retirement due to an affair he’d had with another officer’s wife. That had eventually provided a motive for the treason charges made against him. But Joe didn’t think that it was a mistake to be in love with Frannie.

  “You were taking a risk seeing her, especially with her sister being a lawyer,” his father continued. “I’m not worried about me. I’d go to jail in a minute if it meant you could have a wife and kids, but the problem is that if they catch me, they catch you. And I couldn’t bear the thought of your going to prison because of me.”