You might be surprised, Adam thought.
“For our family, to hide the truth was the only choice we could make, and my son is the rightful heir of everything you see on this estate and much, much more.”
“What about your husband?” asked Adam.
Isabel was pensive and nodded slowly. “Juan Diego wanted it to be this way. He was proud to have a son, even if he was not his true father. And just so you know, yes, Santiago did come to know his real father, only he did not realize who he was. I sent Santiago to meet my Englishman—his father—when he first went to America. I told him to seek him out, that he was an old friend, and that he would help him any way he might need it if he told him that he was my son.”
Adam began to feel his body shake. He already knew how this story ended. He had heard some of it before, only not Isabel’s version of events.
“Santiago’s father is your master, Emmanuel Rogers. Emmanuel knew that Santiago was his son, but I pleaded with him to keep the matter a secret, and he promised me that he would, out of his deep love and devotion to me.”
“So you’re the one!” Adam exclaimed.
Isabel was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh . . . Oh, I can’t believe this.” Adam shook his head in disbelief. He then explained, “Not long after Emmanuel brought me on as his apprentice, I ended up getting into kind of a mess. It was bad. Anyway, he told me that he wasn’t going to send me away, and that he wanted me to succeed no matter what, and that he had made a promise to someone long, long ago, but he wouldn’t say anything about what the promise was or who he made it to.” Adam smiled. “But it was you!”
Isabel smiled. “Well, I suppose it must have been.”
Adam’s mind worked quickly. “If Emmanuel is Santiago’s father, then that means Emmanuel is my grandfather.”
“This is true,” said Isabel.
As happy as it made him to know that, Adam still thought of his master and the lonely life he had been living all this time.
He confronted Isabel about it. “You denied Emmanuel the privilege of having his son know that he is his father all because you thought you had good reasons?”
“Ay, mijo . . . Emmanuel and I knew that what we had done was wrong. The way we handled everything was the least damaging way possible. You may form whatever opinions you like, but the decisions were not yours to make. But the one I am presenting to you now is. Please let me arrange for you to present yourself as a Velasquez so you can finally position yourself to inherit the estate that has always been intended for Santiago. If I had thought he’d die before he could inherit, I never would have bothered to stay here all this time. I always knew Eduardo resented the fact that Juan Diego bequeathed the family’s inheritance to Santiago, but I never understood why.”
Adam realized he should now tell her what he knew. “Abuela, there’s something I should tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Evidently, Eduardo has always been aware of the fact that Santiago was not his brother’s son. That was why he did not want him to have a legitimate heir, because he never thought it was right that a man who was not a true Velasquez would inherit the family’s largest estate holdings.”
“How do you know this?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
“Eduardo told me himself, but it is also in my father’s will.”
Isabel’s eyes grew large. “What? Santiago has no will. Why are you saying this?”
“He does have a will. My father told me about it a couple of nights ago. He told me to take it to Eduardo and show it to him, that it should stop him from coming after me, but it didn’t.”
“Where is this will now?”
“I put it back in his wardrobe yesterday, just before Eduardo came in and tried to attack me. It’s in the third drawer down.”
Isabel shook her head frantically. “What does this will say?”
Adam suspected she worried about its contents and if it might be embarrassing to her. He knew now he ought to tell her, and so he explained what it said. He saw the color leave her face, and she looked horribly worried.
“This will be in the public record,” she said. “This will be a scandal. Oh, I would rather die!”
“Just destroy the document, then,” said Adam. “He obviously wrote it as a safeguard in case something like this happened and Eduardo was still living, but he’s dead now. My mother and I are the only people who he bequeaths anything to in the will. Without the document, if my father dies, everything that was already his will go to you, anyway. It will be up to you, then, if you want to bequeath the items as he requested in your own way, but you won’t have to mention any embarrassing pieces of information.”
Isabel thought for a moment, then began nodding slowly. “Yes, that is what I will do. I will do that.”
Adam continued looking at her, unsure of what to say.
“Why would Santiago put all of that into his will? Why would he not just talk to me about it?”
“I’m guessing he thought it was the only way he could figure out how to turn down the inheritance. Maybe he assumed that he would outlive both you and Eduardo, in which case he could then inherit everything and pass it on to Eduardo’s sons without his will ever having to come out in the public record.”
Isabel began to weep. “In the end it appears all of this is my fault. Who would ever think that my one indiscretion so many decades ago could have caused so many years of heartache?”
Adam reached out and took her hand to comfort her. “Abuela, as painful as life sometimes can be, everything happens for a reason. Just think, Santiago would never even have been born if you had not . . . well . . .”
Isabel dried her eyes with her handkerchief and offered a weak smile at Adam. “And you would not be here.”
Adam nodded. “That’s right. And I for one am grateful to be here, so even though all of these terrible things have happened, I would never blame you. Eduardo was an evil man, driven by greed and anger. That is not your fault.”
“No,” said Isabel. “It is not. But you know, perhaps we should have talked to him about all of this many years ago, my husband and I. You see, Eduardo was not much younger than you when Juan Diego and I were married. My husband was many years older than him—he was the oldest—and there were only sisters between them. Eduardo came to stay with us shortly after we married because their mother died. He was here when Emmanuel came to find me, and although we never acted anything like lovers in front of Eduardo, he must have either spied on us while he was here or found out some other way. If he has know that all this time—carried that around in him, thinking that his brother did not know—I am not surprised he was so angry.”
“None of that matters now,” said Adam. “It still didn’t give him a right to kill anybody. He should have just confronted you or his brother about it if he was so concerned, but he chose the path of violence.”
Isabel squeezed his hand and then looked at the clock. “You have to go soon, mijo,” she said.
He looked over at the clock too and nodded. “I do. I wish we had more time to visit,” he said.
“You will have to come back here to visit me again,” she said.
“Or maybe you should come visit me. And Emmanuel Rogers.”
She cast her eyes downward, ashamed, and said, “No, I am afraid that cannot be.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, I’m sure you’d be welcome.”
She stood and motioned towards the door. Adam then stood and started to cross the room.
“I want you to know, I will be praying for a miracle with my father. If he makes it, hopefully I’ll hear from him, but even if he doesn’t I’m grateful that we have at least had this chance to get to know each other.”
“Me too,” said Isabel. “I still think you should reconsider giving up all of that inheritance.”
Not this again, thought Adam. He wasn’t going to spend any more time trying to con
vince her to drop the subject, but he did have one thing he wanted to say.
“I may not have a fancy life back in Beaufort, but it’s home. There isn’t a single thing I could possess, here or anywhere, that would make me feel richer than I do just to finally know who my father is, and my grandfather.” He reached out and touched her arm. “And you.”
Isabel grabbed him and stood on her tiptoes to hug him and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Lo siento, mijo. I am sorry that you have had to learn these things in this way, but I am grateful that I was able to meet you—to learn I have a grandson. I hope you will come back to Havana one day in happier times.”
He nodded. “Maybe so.”
But in his heart Adam didn’t even want to think about coming back. He gave his grandmother’s arm a squeeze and stooped down to plant a kiss on her cheek, and then he left.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“YOU ALRIGHT?” MARTIN ASKED ADAM as they got farther away from the Velasquez estate on the way back to the Gypsy. Isabel had ordered Timoteo to take them back to their ship in the family’s coach.
Adam stared out the window of the carriage and considered the question as he took in the Cuban landscape. It was so different from Beaufort, so foreign to him. “All of this . . . it’s bittersweet, you know? I found my father. I actually found my father. But only to say good-bye.”
“Are you havin second thoughts about leavin? I mean, do you think you should stay here? Wait to see if he recovers?”
Adam shook his head. “No. First of all, Captain Phillips wouldn’t let me stick around here, anyway. He already said so, but even still there’s no way I’m going to let the Gypsy go back to Beaufort without me on it.”
Martin tipped his head. “Alright. Well, it’s up to you.”
“It might sound silly to you, but I promised my mama I’d come back and bring her wonderful gifts. When my father left for Havana, he never came back . . . even though I’ll bet she always secretly hoped that he would. I’m not going to do that to her. In fact . . .” Adam pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. He then opened the little window so that he could speak to the driver of the carriage. “Timoteo! We need to make a stop at the Plaza Vieja.”
The driver nodded. “Yes? We go to la Plaza Vieja, then.”
The young men were taken to the bustling marketplace. Adam bought several gifts to take back to Beaufort. For his mother he bought a golden locket, inside of which a tiny portrait could be placed. He picked up diverse souvenirs for Valentine, Emmanuel, Boaz, and the rest of his friends back at Rogers’s Shipping Company. He also found something special for Laney Martin—a simple necklace and pair of earrings—that he knew she would be surprised to receive.
They returned to the Gypsy, where an impatient Captain Phillips was waiting for them. “Y’all are cuttin it mighty close. I was startin to worry you two might’ve decided to abandon ship”
“No, Captain,” said Adam. “Just tying up some loose ends.”
“All finished?”
Adam nodded. “I think so.”
The captain grinned. “Let’s go on back home, then.”
“Aye, Captain. I can hardly wait.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“OH! THANK YOU, GOD!” ADAM exclaimed as they approached the Topsail Inlet. He knew he was now just moments away from home sweet home.
As the Carolina Gypsy made her way into Taylor Creek, Adam looked through his spyglass and was able to see friends and family of the men on board beginning to run towards the docks where the sloop would be moored. Whenever a local ship would return home from a long voyage, it could be spotted at a distance by folks in town, and everyone would come down to welcome their men back home.
He looked towards the direction of the Topsail Tavern to see if he could see his mother or Valentine or anyone coming towards the docks, but there was no one—at least not that he could make out. He knew he wouldn’t see Laney Martin arrive to greet him. She lived around Lennoxville Point, which was too far away to hear the folks in town announcing the Gypsy’s return.
Oh well, he thought, that just means I can surprise ’em when I walk into the tavern. He tried to push away a worry that something might have happened in the time he had been gone.
He put his spyglass back into his pocket and walked over to stand beside Martin at the rail. Martin had no one who would be waiting for him to return. His parents were both dead, and he was an only child. His only family close by was his cousin Laney.
“Glad to be back home?” asked Adam.
“I am,” said Martin.
“Think you’ll be up for going on another one of these trips anytime soon?”
“Maybe so, but if we do, no adventures, alright?”
Adam laughed. “Agreed. I think I’ve had enough adventure to last a right good long while.”
As the Gypsy was being brought about into position in front of Rogers’s warehouse, the dockworkers were standing by to help off-load the vessel. Adam’s heart raced as he looked inside the giant cargo doors of the building and saw a staid Emmanuel standing there, his hands clasped in front of him. Is something wrong? Why is he standing like that? He looks worried, Adam thought. He tried to push out of his mind the multitude of reasons why Emmanuel might wear such an expression, but there was no need. He soon was able to make out a smile spreading across the old man’s face. Apparently, he had just been waiting until he was able to put his eyes on his young apprentice.
The next several minutes were a blur, with dockworkers hurriedly helping set the ramp and assist with the unloading of the vessel. Once Adam was finally able to disembark, he ran down the ramp and over to Emmanuel and surprised the old man by grabbing him in a manly hug.
“What’s this?” said a bewildered but bemused Emmanuel.
“I’m so glad to be home,” said Adam. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“Oh?”
“We do. About my father . . . And Isabel.”
Emmanuel’s eyes grew very big. Then he nodded and smiled at Adam. “I see. Well, I suppose we do have much to talk about, then. But perhaps you should first go and see your mother.”
“She’s alright, isn’t she?”
“Of course, my boy, but she’s been so worried, what with the ship being delayed and all.”
Adam nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll go over there in a little bit, but first I need to tell you something important.”
“What is it?”
“Can we go upstairs and talk?”
“You sure you don’t want to run over to the tavern first?”
“I’m sure,” Adam insisted.
“Very well,” said Emmanuel.
He went over and gave a few instructions to Boaz Brooks, then walked on ahead and motioned for Adam to follow him upstairs to the living quarters. As Adam got to the top of the stairs and reached the balcony, he breathed in deep. He remembered that first time he came to the warehouse the year before, just at the start of his apprenticeship, and how the place looked so big from up there. It still smelled of the warm fragrances of tobacco, rum, and cedar shingles.
When they entered the main room of the living quarters, Adam looked around and was thankful to be back home. He never did get so used to living there that he took for granted the exotic furnishings and decor that reflected Emmanuel’s lifetime of collecting wares from around the world.
“Well, set your bag down and take a seat,” said Emmanuel. “Want me to make some tea?”
Adam shook his head. “No, I’m not going to stay that long right now. I just wanted to let you know about something before you heard it from someone else.”
“You’ll be the death of me, boy,” Emmanuel remarked, making his way around to sit in his favorite chair and motioning for Adam to sit on the settee next to it. “This must be of great importance for you to be so solemn. What on earth is the matter?”
“My father, Captain Velasquez, he was gravely injured. He may already be
dead.”
Emmanuel’s face fell. “What? What is this all about? What in the world has happened down there?”
Adam proceeded to tell Emmanuel about how he had gone off in search of Alonso Cordova and ended up getting kidnapped instead. Then he explained how Santiago got involved in the search and what all had happened, including the gunfight in which he took a severe hit.
“He did it to protect me,” said Adam. “I know now who he is.”
Emmanuel took a very deep breath and appeared to be fighting the urge to weep. “He’s your father, Adam.”
“Yes, he is.”
“He told you?”
“He did.”
“How did he know?”
“He figured it out when he was talking to Martin and Charlie, and they mentioned my mother’s name. They told him that she’d kill them if they didn’t find me.”
“Mary Fletcher. Yes. Of course he’d remember her name.” Emmanuel looked reflective.
“You knew he was my father, didn’t you?”
Emmanuel nodded.
“And you’re my grandfather.”
At that, Emmanuel could not restrain himself anymore. He gripped his handkerchief and brought it to his cheek as he began to sob. “That I am,” he said. “How on earth did you find out?”
“Isabel told me—my grandmother. There’s a lot more to all this mess, but I can explain all of that to you later. The important thing is now I know.”
Emmanuel said nothing. He just nodded. He was very emotional.
“And you’ve always known this?” Adam raised his eyebrows in concern. “Why haven’t you told me?”
The old man finally composed himself. “That is a fair question. Do you remember when we had that talk last year, and I told you I had made a promise to someone long, long ago and that I had a vested interest in your future?”
Adam nodded. “I do. You were talking about Isabel, weren’t you?”
Emmanuel nodded. “I promised her when our son—Santiago, your father—was just a wee babe that I would never reveal the truth to anyone. She asked me to make that promise.”
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