Taylor’s hand covers her mouth. “I can’t believe you knew this whole time.”
“I swear, Taylor, I didn’t! I just overheard my father on the phone one afternoon. Marguerite was two at the time. He said something like, ‘If anyone ever found out about Marguerite’s mother’. I confronted him about it, but he just dismissed it. Typical. That’s when I decided . . .”
“To hide us here.” Taylor finishes his sentence. “It didn’t make sense to me for a while. I guess I just wanted to believe that having a child had changed you.”
“It did . . . it does,” Edwin says. “I can’t imagine life without us as a family.”
“But why didn’t you say anything?” She pleads.
“You seemed so happy, Taylor. You left your career for this life. I couldn’t take that away from you.”
“But look at the position you and your father put us in now,” she replies, trying to keep her voice even.
“Like I said, we did nothing wrong. We will not give her up.”
Dahlia stares back at him. “I didn’t come here to fight. I want to right a wrong, that’s all.”
“That’s easy for you to say. That will cost us our daughter, our family,” Taylor responds.
“No, it isn’t easy for me. What would you do if you were in my position?” Dahlia asks.
Taylor’s reply is almost out of her mouth, but then she falls quiet. She holds the back of her hand to her eyes and sits back down, her elbows on her thighs. “I would do the same.” She looks up, her eyes pleading with Dahlia.
Dahlia sighs and positions herself on the coffee table in front of Taylor. “I wouldn’t dream of robbing you of your daughter. I know how it feels, and I couldn’t do that to someone else.”
Edwin starts to speak, but Dahlia holds up her hand, not taking her eyes off Taylor. “But I want to know her. I think I deserve that much. Maybe one day she can know that I’m her birth mother.”
Taylor nods.
Dahlia continues, the tears that threatened now flowing in a steady stream. “I dreamt of this day since I found out she was alive. I wanted to know what she looked like and how she lived and if she was happy and if she had a family that loves her as much as I do.”
“She does,” Taylor replies quietly.
“Yes, she does,” Dahlia repeats. “And I also want her to know how much I loved her the day I gave birth to her. That she has a grandmother and uncle out in California who would give anything to know her. I think she deserves to find out about her father,” Dahlia pauses as she remembers Shane, the love she felt for him those months in California taking over again. “He was so kind and loving and would’ve moved heaven and earth to be with her again. Shane was so sorry about letting her go. I know he wishes he didn’t do it.”
“But we are so grateful he did,” Taylor murmurs.
A calm silence fills the great room until Thomas says, “Perhaps you can come to some understanding about how Dahlia can be in Marguerite’s life. A good faith agreement could certainly make it easier than dealing with lawyers.”
Dahlia nods. “I don’t want to turn her life upside down. If I can see her regularly, and get to know her, it would mean the world to me.”
Chapter 52
“You showed remarkable strength today, Dahlia,” Thomas says as he pulls out of the Archer’s driveway.
Dahlia stares back at the house, picturing the evening routine in the home, Taylor reading to Marissa, Edwin kissing her good night. The image breaks Dahlia’s heart all over again. What she wouldn’t have given for just another ten minutes with the little girl who had inherited Shane’s smile and Dahlia’s artistic talent.
“What if they don’t agree to let me into her life?”
“They don’t have a choice. They know that. Just give them time to process.”
The ring from the hotel phone wakes Dahlia out of a fitful sleep. “I’m so sorry to wake you,” the desk clerk says, “But you have a visitor who insists on seeing you.”
“I’ll be right down.” Dahlia jumps out of bed, not doubting the identity of the person. She changes her clothes, tiptoes out of her room and down the stairs so as not to disturb the other guests. She sees Edwin standing near the fireplace, perusing the small library filled with books on Tibet and the history of New York.
“I’m sorry if I woke you,” Edwin says, returning a book to the shelf. “As you can imagine, the only one asleep in our house is Marguerite.”
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Dahlia says, drawing closer to Edwin. She sits on a loveseat across from the fireplace.
“What would it take for you to leave us alone, Dahlia?” Edwin asks. “I’d offer you money, but you obviously don’t need it.”
“There isn’t anything I want but to know my daughter,” she replies firmly.
He perches himself on the arm of a winged chair and clears his throat. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“I have nothing to lose, Edwin” Dahlia says. “I’m not afraid of retribution. Are you?”
“Not so much for me. I could care less what happens to my father. I wrote him off years ago. My, I mean our primary concern is Marguerite. You have a history, Dahlia. We both know your reputation.”
“That’s what this is about?”
“Look, Taylor is too emotional to see straight. She’ll agree to anything if you don’t challenge the adoption. She always knew there could be a slight chance her mother would appear out of the blue, cleaned up, or whatever. Or that Marguerite would want to find her birth mother when she got older. We tried to be prepared for anything. I had secretly hoped that if we led a quiet life, no one would find us.”
“I understand. We try hard to not pay for the poor judgment of our parents.”
“I still don’t think you do. Now, as I see it, if you are her mother, what guarantees do we get that you won’t hurt her? Your partying ways have been well documented in the press.”
Dahlia laughs, incredulous at his hypocrisy. “I could say the same about you. You had how many women and escorts back in the day?”
Edwin shrugs. “Matters less for me,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Because you’re a man? How does sleeping with a multitude of women make you a playboy but it makes me a whore?”
“Listen Dahlia, I don’t write the rules. All I want is to have good role models in my daughter’s life.”
“My daughter,” Dahlia corrects. “What I did, or who I’ve been with has no bearing on the kind of person I want to be for her, Edwin. People can change, don’t you think? I mean, look at you. You’re less of an asshole than you were when I knew you. And I’m guessing you’re not sleeping around on your wife.”
Edwin shakes his head. “I leave the man-whoring to my father.”
“My mother is just as manipulative as your father. I know how hard it is for their actions to not affect us, how we want to ignore their lesser qualities. We don’t have to perpetuate the sins of our parents,” Dahlia says. “We’re not them.” She searches his face, noticing the weariness and fatigue in his eyes.
Finally he nods. “I’ll talk to Taylor. We will want to take this slow. I don’t want Marguerite hurt by any of this.”
Dahlia nods her head in agreement. “Neither do I. I want to make this work, Edwin. More than anything, I just want a chance to know my daughter.”
“Let’s confirm it first. You will agree to a DNA test?”
Dahlia nods. “Of course.”
He stands to leave, unsure of whether to hug Dahlia or shake her hand. She kisses his cheek. “I’ll be in touch,” he mumbles.
Dahlia closes the door quietly behind her, feeling both hopeful but empty, knowing that she’ll have to keep a safe distance from her daughter while the Archers adjusts to the news.
“Where were you?” Thomas asks, turning on the small wall light above the bed.
Dahlia sits next to him and tells him about her conversation with Edwin.
“Are you getting the happily ever after you were hoping fo
r?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever really have it until she knows I’m her mother. But I’m happy that we found her and that she’s safe and loved.”
Chapter 53
“Dahlia, wake up,” Thomas says urgently.
“What time is it?” She groans into her pillow. “I don’t want to do anymore yoga.”
“It’s just after six in the morning. Vi just texted. We have to go.”
“What did she say?” Dahlia asks as Thomas flies down the 684 toward Manhattan.
“That she can’t do brunch tomorrow.”
“And that has you taking off like a bat out of hell?” Dahlia asks, holding onto the door as Thomas nearly rear ends a Subaru that just cut him off.
“It’s our code. It means she’s about to be exposed.”
“What does she need you to do?” Dahlia asks, her heart racing.
“Go to her place to retrieve a few things.”
“That simple?”
Thomas’s green eyes reflect his fear and resolve. “For now.”
They slow to a crawl down the I-95, Thomas cursing the traffic as the car inches forward.
“Is that why you came to New York? Did you sense this was going to happen?”
He shrugs. “Seemed likely that things were going to implode after Gustavo reached out. I figure that if he knew, then it was only a matter of time.”
“Why do you feel this insane need to protect Vi? She’s so self-possessed and confident. Did it ever occur to you that she doesn’t need saving?”
Thomas swerves suddenly into another lane. “Perhaps. But I owe her.”
“For what?” Dahlia presses.
“For saving me.”
Chapter 54
Thomas begins his story just as they reach the Triboro Bridge. “My platoon had set out on some routine mission. But there was nothing routine about any of it. It was the dead of night, two choppers flying over enemy territory. I won’t bore you with the details, just that of the fourteen of us, only me and one other soldier survived.”
“Where is he now?” Dahlia asks, unable to contain her curiosity.
Thomas shrugs. “Don’t know, and quite frankly I don’t want to know. I’m sure neither one of us wants the reminder of that hell. You have no appreciation for life or death until you’ve seen bodies torn up and broken by war.”
He looks into the rearview mirror and changes lanes on the FDR.
“I was sent back to the U.K. to recover and for rehab, but by then I was completely beyond their help. Vi came as soon as she heard I was out of Afghanistan and stayed the entire time I was in the hospital.”
“Funny, she never mentioned you.”
“You can’t expect any less from her,” Thomas chuckles.
“So then what?” Dahlia asks as Thomas nears Houston Street.
“She convinced me to leave the military and come back to London. That’s when I was recruited.”
“By whom?”
Thomas shakes his head. “That’s the end of my story.”
“I still don’t get the part where Vi saved you,” Dahlia says as Thomas pulls up in front of her apartment building.
“Sometimes people don’t have to do much but just show up when you need them the most, even when you don’t realize it at the time. She reminded me that there were plenty of reasons to live.”
He looks at Dahlia with tired eyes. “Time for you to go.”
“Why are we here? Aren’t we supposed to go to her apartment?”
“Not you, Dahlia. You cannot get involved in this. It will look suspicious if you go to her apartment right now, and you don’t need that drama, especially now that you’ve found Marissa.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll be fine. I’m the childhood friend who is staying with her for a few days. That’s all.”
Chapter 55
“I was just about to give up on you,” her mother says as Dahlia walks through the door.
“Isn’t it a bit early for you to be making house calls?”
“To check on my own daughter whom I haven’t seen for a couple of months. No, I don’t think so.” Poppy rises from a French Deco zebra armchair.
“I forgot you have a key. Remind me to change the locks.”
“I like what you’ve done with this space. It’s so modern, edgy, like you,” her mother says, ignoring Dahlia’s previous statement. “Although if I must say, that lacquered-wood flower cocktail table is just a bit much. Wouldn’t hurt to add a bit more color too.”
“Would you like a tour?” Dahlia asks sarcastically, setting down her bag in the foyer.
Her mother walks over and studies a painting by an Australian aboriginal artist Dahlia. “Your taste is quite eclectic.” She turns toward her daughter and purses her perfectly painted lips. “I got a disturbing phone call last night. An old friend is quite upset by your appearance at his son’s home. Seems you showed up uninvited.”
“Is that the story that Senator Archer is spinning?”
“Come off it Dahlia. What were you thinking showing up at Edwin’s house like that?”
“Like what, mother? Like the birth mother of his adopted daughter?”
Her mother looks taken aback.
“You did know that your dear friend the Senator gave Marissa to his son, didn’t you.”
Poppy takes a deep breath. “He promised she would be with a good family, yes.”
“For seven years my own daughter’s been living less than an hour away from me. Fairly ironic, wouldn’t you say.” Dahlia notices her mother pale a bit.
“You should’ve heeded my warning. You do not want to upset that family, Dahlia.” Her mother warns.
“Why? I’ve lost my daughter. I have nothing left to lose.” Dahlia pauses. “Wait, were you the one who sent me that note in London?”
Her mother’s cold expression is enough of a response.
“It’s a wonder you’re human. You don’t seem to have a heart.”
Poppy clears her throat and moves on to examine a vase on a side table. “Hmm. This is pretty.”
“I painted it,” Dahlia says matter-of-factly.
“Right. Such a waste of your talent—chasing men and the promise of tomorrow. Well then Dahlia, what are you going to do now?”
“What can I do? You took her from me, mother! Now, we all have to live with that, including her.”
“Do you plan to seek custody?”
Dahlia shakes her head. “Of course not. That will ruin all their lives. I wouldn’t do that to people. I’m not cruel like you.”
“Then what was the point of all of this drama?” Poppy asks, setting down the vase.
“Over time, I will get to know her. We’ve agreed that once my maternity is established, which is really a formality, then I can visit her from time to time until we feel she’s ready to know who I am.”
Poppy sucks in a breath.
“This isn’t about you anymore, mother. I won’t do what I think is best for me. I only care about what’s best for Marissa. We all do.”
She takes one more look around the room as she takes her leave and says. “You should fire your housekeeper. She’s not doing a very good job. I’ll send you someone tomorrow.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Dahlia asks.
“Do you want me to say ‘congratulations’? You should’ve left well enough alone. I just hope you know what you’re doing,” she replies, closing the door behind her.
Chapter 56
“I’m so excited you found her! When do I get to meet my niece?” Lily squeals when Dahlia enters her Park Avenue apartment two weeks later.
Dahlia hugs her back, holding her so tight Lily can hardly breathe. “Not for a while, Lil. Her parents are being extremely cautious. For now, I get to visit every other weekend and to join them on some outing or to watch her at her swim meets.” She finally lets go of her sister. “Shane would be thrilled by how much she loves the water.”
“You’re
not letting them dictate all the terms, are you?” Lily asks, leading her sister to the kitchen.
Dahlia shakes her head. “I want them to trust me. I think they’re afraid I’ll kidnap her or something. They did recently leave us alone for an hour to do an art project. I’d say that’s progress.”
Lily opens the oven to check on dinner. “If you don’t mind, I’ll need you to set the table. I don’t have a housekeeper today. I wanted this to be an intimate dinner.
“Don’t tell me you’re cooking that turkey,” Dahlia says, unable to hide the horrified look on her face. “You’re scaring me with this whole domestic thing you have going. Since when did you own an apron?”
Her twin laughs and shakes her head. “Of course I’m not cooking. Alejandro is. He just went out for something.”
“You don’t mind that we’re not spending Thanksgiving with mom and dad, do you?”
“God, not at all. After what they did, you’re entitled to your feelings. At least they were smart enough to take off for St. Barth’s this weekend.”
“How did you convince Alejandro to come up to the cold? I know how much he hates winter.” Dahlia pops a bright green olive into her mouth while Lily opens a bottle of wine.
“It wasn’t easy at first. You know how Cubans like any excuse to eat, so a holiday like this isn’t to be missed. But I told him that between the engagement party and the wedding, his mom should rest. Besides, it wouldn’t be the same with Rosa in Italy. She went to see some friends.”
“Shame she isn’t here,” Vi says, entering the kitchen. “Don’t you mean you need to rest as well?” She kisses the sisters. “I rang the doorbell, but you didn’t answer. Typical. How are my girls?”
Dahlia looks over at Lily, noticing her strained smile. “Is it too overwhelming for you?”
“His family is wonderful. I just need time off from all the wedding planning, and I missed you guys and the City . . . .” Her voice trails off when she hears Alejandro talking to someone.
The Dahlia Trilogy (The Gilded Flower Series) Page 22
