The Last Celtic Angel

by Wallace Jan Ecklof

  Ed speaks to Deanna trying to calm her down, she feels like her world is coming apart. “Your Father was the best person I knew and was proud of the gift he gave us, so was Moina. Your Mother and Dad were the closest people I knew just like family. He remained Miona’s best friend until the day she died. He never quite recovered from feeling it was his fault that the accident happened. The worst was yet to come for all of us; we never suspected any of it. This is something I should tell you, because it was because of me that we all drifted apart so long ago.

  Mary was your Dad’s prized student, and he was naturally proud of her because he knew she was his. When her mother was killed, she took it very badly and ran out to be with him. Going to your Dad she broke down and told him how much she loved him and always would, at first he didn’t comprehend what she meant and tried to comfort her. You see, to her, he was her first love not knowing he was her Father.

  When he realized what she was talking about, he handled it very badly, telling her how silly she was, and that she should get that nonsense out of her head. He hurt her so badly that she ran away that night, and we couldn’t find her at all.

  When he told me what happened, I was enraged with him and told him that I never wished anything to do with him again. I had just lost the two most precious individuals in my life.

  Your Mom said he was never quite the same again after that. Mary had just disappeared, we didn’t know where, back than young people could drop out and no one could find them, not even me.

  You’re very much like Mary, now more than ever. Even when you two were young, and she was so much older than you, people remarked how much you looked alike. Jennifer and Moina had the same coloring and green eyes, and your Dad and me, both of us being Irish, so no one ever made the connection to your Dad.”

  Deanna sits there dumbfounded not quite grasping what’s just been told to her. She had come there expecting to obtain the truth about Jamie, now she has found out it’s not just Jamie that has dark secerts. Mary was her sister, and she never knew it. She used to watch out for her all the time when she was little.

  Deanna’s fallen in love with her sister’s husband, and he still loves her, she can tell. He’s not ready for anyone yet, because he can’t let her go. Not while she’s around to remind him of her constantly. Deanna wonders is this reason he took to Jonah and Katy because her blood runs in them, and he could not have children with her?

  “Deanna, are you alright?” Her mother asks her. “I’m so sorry, but you have to see there was no reason for you to know. Who would have thought that you would ever come in contact with Mary’s husband, or anything that’s happened? The fates have not been kind to any of us.

  When you told me on the phone I almost died thinking you were getting involved with him, and I called Ed right away. He said he had just come back and did not think that it would have gotten to this stage, or that you would have been so persistent in finding the truth. I forgot how much like your Father you are. Please talk to me I can’t stand seeing you so hurt.” She pleads with Deanna.

  “Mother, you have no idea how much I hurt, now or since Daddy died. You have never known nor have you ever listened. I finally find a man that stirs me as no other has done, I tried to use the caution that you so often preached I should use. Now I find out that I have fallen for my sister’s husband, and he’s still in love with her ghost. I feel you have deceived me with never telling me something like this. You have no idea how much I hurt, please don’t come to the house just go home. I don’t want to talk to you anymore not for a while at least.” Deanna sees the hurt in her eyes, but she’s hurting more.

  Turning to Ed Haskell Deanna apologizes to him. “Mr. Haskell I’m sorry for you, it must have been very painful for you to have to relive all this again. I won’t bother you anymore, the story will end the way it is. His secret does not have to be told, let someone else discover his past. I’m all done with it and him.”

  “Deanna, you may be all wrong about him. He loved Mary more than anyone I ever saw, but that does not mean he can’t care for you or love you, just as much. Give him a chance to prove it to you. He won’t break his principles about Katy and you, but when Katy doesn’t need him anymore, and then there is that chance for the both of you. It’s not what he’s said to me about you that make me feel this, but the way he looks when he tells me about you.

  The medallion you’re wearing belonged to his family. It is directly descended from the Celtic kings Dagda and Nuada. He must set great store by you to have given you that, it’s the only thing that ties him to his past and he never gave it to Mary, in fact the only time I saw him without it was when Mary died.

  Please for all your sakes give him the time he needs to finish what he’s started, then judge whether he can bury his dead and move on.” Ed begs her to reconsider.

  “Mr. Haskell, he can never bury his dead he carries them with him day to day, as he carries Mary with him. I believe that he has too many ghosts to let himself love once again. I see what his mission is now; he needs to forgive himself and to receive atonement and absolution, something I don’t think he ever will. Your right Mother I shouldn’t give up any offers or miss any opportunities. Thank you Mr. Haskell, but I think I have to leave now and call my editor and tell him the story is done.” Deanna gets up to leave and her mother breaks down and begins to cry covering her face with her hands. “I will see myself out sir.” Deanna tells Haskell and walks to the front door.

  Ed Haskell watches her leave knowing he should try to stop her somehow, but he believes that he must try to comfort his old friend more. How will he tell Jamie that it all went so sour? The truth was not what she needed; the lie was of greater comfort. Deanna is more like Mary then she knows, storming out like this reminds him of her so many years before.

  It is like history repeating itself, and she’s hurting just as bad, except, there is no Jamie to save her and bring her back, not if she believes that Mary is still so much alive to him, and he’s not sure if she’s wrong. He loves him as the son he never had, but much of him is a mystery, and he’s just not sure.

  “I should have told her when Robert died; she had a right to know what caused him to go downhill as fast as he did. His heart was broken and I think Deanna always thought she was the cause of it. God please forgive me, Oh my God, oh my God.” Jennifer cries and her body is wracked with sobs, as Ed tries to comfort her.

  CHAPTER 20

  “The Story Goes to Press”

  As Deanna heads back to the office, her mind still spins from the revelations of the morning. How could her Mother have been so callus about her having a sister, even if she couldn’t tell her when she was just a kid? How about when her Father died or when she was in college? Didn’t she think that she had a right to know? Deanna tries to compose herself before she calls Ellsworth.

  “Hello Mr. Ellsworth, Deanna here, kill the background check I have all the information, nothing I learned is relevant to the story___ Yes I’m sure, I’ll tell you everything when I get to the office, and I think you’ll agree with me___ I’m alright thanks, it was quite an interview I’ll tell you that___ He is really a great old man___ Alright for lunch___ I would love to see her again___ I’ll go home to change and meet you both there___ Goodbye.” Hanging up she knows that that he’s the best boss and has become a great friend to her, now he wants her to go to lunch with him and his wife Melody and finish up the story.

  Deanna pulls into her driveway as Jonah comes out of the barn, “Hey didn’t think I was gonna see you before I left to go to work. We are moving all the new cattle unto the new property, and Jefe wanted me to ride the fence line and make sure all the wire is still up.” He walks up to give her a kiss and see’s her face. “Mother what is it, you’ve been crying. You didn’t have another run in with Steve did you?” He gets that same worried look that his Father used to get.

  “No, it was one of those women’s moments, just starts, and sometimes it feels good to let it out. I’m alright now; I’m meeti
ng with Mr. Ellsworth to wrap up the story this afternoon. Will you take Katy to the ranch for her lessons and bring her home?” She asks him trying to be nonchalant as possible, because he knows her so well already.

  “Sure no problem, but I thought you wanted to watch how she’s doing. You’re not going to be long are you, you know she always hangs out with the others after practice, you could pick her up later after you finish with your boss?”

  “I’m not sure that I want to be around the ranch so much anymore, Mr. Ellsworth said he was going to have another assignment for me.” Deanna lies to him hoping he doesn’t pick up on it.

  “Mom, is there something going on between you and Jamie that I’m not aware of, I mean did you two have a fight or something? You two seem different somehow; you know you can always talk to me.”

  “No we didn’t have a fight; it’s just that I would rather be friends than trying to be a couple. He has a lot on his plate with the new property and trying to get the Crisis Program going. We have decided to put anything else on hold. He thinks that it would be inappropriate for he and I to be anything more than friends while he’s Katy’s trainer. We should keep it just like that until after we deal with Steve. If he thought there was any hanky panky going on it would make his argument stronger that I was not a fit parent for Katy.” She tries to explain to him, so he will accept that she will be going out there less. How could Deanna explain what she learned this morning to him knowing how he feels about Jamie? She’s really not quite sure how she’s going to handle this whole thing from here on out herself.

  “I understand, but the two of you seemed to be really getting on so well, I mean a kind of natural thing, as though the two of you had known each other forever. Sorry just my opinion, not trying to tell you what to do. By the way, have you spoken to Grandmother yet?”

  “No not really, we had some words over something that came up, and we’re having one of our feuds, she may skip Christmas this year again.”

  “When did you talk to her, today, could that be a reason why you were so upset?”

  “Yes I spoke with her today and yes some of my reasons for being so upset were because of her, but it has nothing to do with you or Katy, it’s just something between the two of us. I don’t want you to interfere, or attempt to play peacemaker, ok. Please promise me Jonah.” He looks at her face and nods his head. Deanna thinks he knows she means business this time.

  “I have to go and change and get ready for the meeting with Ellsworth, so I will see the both of you later.”

  “Oh Mother, I will stay at the Ranch this weekend we have a lot of work to do, if Katy is invited, I will call you and let you know what we’re doing. Rosa is getting all excited about the Horseman’s Christmas Banquet and starting to make ready for the holidays.”

  Deanna knows he’s trying to keep her involved with what’s happening at the Ranch in the hope that she will change her mind.

  Driving to the restaurant that Ellsworth has asked her to meet them at; Deanna can’t help thinking about the moments she shared with Jamie. How tender he was and seemed to know what she was feeling. Is he that intuitive or is there really something to this legend business, Haskell said he died that night, and they couldn’t revive him, and he lunged back to life as they unplugged the equipment? Was it his will to live, or could it have been something else? She shakes it off and pulls into the parking lot.

  Entering the restaurant a hostess greets her and asks, “A table for one.”

  “No I’m meeting John Ellsworth, would you know if he’s arrived yet.”

  “Yes Madam, if you would accompany me please.” She leads the way to a table in the rear, where John and Melody are sitting talking. He gets up as soon as Deanna walks over to the table.

  “I see you made it, have a seat we were just waiting for some drinks. What will you have, you look like a good stiff one is called for?”

  Deanna says hello to Melody, “I think a Cosmos if that would be alright.”

  Melody looks at her and says, “How are you doing, and don’t dare lie to me, your eyes are still puffy from crying, tell me what happened before you say one word to him.” She demands, sounding more like a mother than the boss’s wife.

  Deanna tries not to cry again as she tells them about the meeting with Haskell, starting with her Mother first. Melody is shocked and reaches over and takes Deanna’s hand trying to comfort her.

  “You poor thing, that must have hurt to find out something like that, after all these years. You know I’m not trying to defend what they did, but I can see how they would have thought that it would have made very little sense to enlighten you at the time because of your age. After Mary ran away it wouldn’t have occurred to them after so many years to inform you. Especially since Haskell moved away right after she disappeared, like they say, out of sight, out of the mind kind of mentality.” Melody says to her in a comforting tone of voice.

  “Mrs. Ellsworth you might be right, but my father was never the same after that, now that I look back on it. They should have told me, so I would understand what was bothering him. I thought it was because of something I did.”

  “Yes I can see that, but hindsight is what we all have, but seldom get a chance to use. Now tell us about what you learned about Jamie, and call me Mel, I am not your Boss’s wife, just your friend, ok.” Deanna nods and gives her a big hug, she’s really wonderfully warm and genuine, and not the kind of spoiled person Collins led her to believe.

  Deanna tells them all about Jamie’s background, and that she feels that it would have no bearing on the story or him, and if they had this much trouble finding it out the average person would not know either. Mel is saying it is the most terrific ending to a novel, but for a human interest story it would be better to let sleeping dogs lie.

  Mr. Ellsworth agrees and says they should run with what they have. “I will have Tim bring over all the prints, and we will put it up on a story board on Monday.”

  Mel looks at her and asks, “Tell me how you’re feeling right now, about him, not the story. You need to talk to somebody, and I am a good listener and so is John.”

  “I’m angry at my Mother, but I feel like he used me, I was really starting to feel deep emotions for him, and I believed in what he was trying to do.” She has to stop for a moment to get control of myself.

  “Was it because you felt he deceived you about the ranch, or what he was doing, or is it something else.” Mel asks her.

  “You didn’t have relations with him did you?” John asks as he tries to be fatherly, something that does not quite fit him, but makes Deanna feel better as she laughs at him a little.

  “John what kind of question is that to ask a woman, you didn’t, did you,” Mel looks at her and smiles.

  “No I didn’t, but it was the tender moments, his touch and the way he looked at me. It’s just a combination of so many things that have happened to me over the last four weeks. His kiss was like none I had ever been given, a fire that burned, a gentleness that I could depend on. He spoke with his eyes, the way they looked right into you, and the way he was with my children, all the things that I could have looked for in a man. Why couldn’t he have told me the truth, about Mary and even his age? He let me think that it was about something else, just to get good press for her dream.

  He used me Mel; I was falling in love with him, and all the time it was about her. How do I compete with a dead woman, I just feel so burnt up, I thought when he stood up to Steve that he really cared about me, but it was just about Katy and her doing good?

  They could not have children what if he knows about Mary being my sister, and he only wants to be near mine because they share the same blood? I never want to see him again.”

  “Come with me honey, you need to be somewhere more private, you have not gotten this out of you yet. John you meet us later, I’m taking her home with me.” Melody gets up leaving John sitting there with a blank expression on his face. “Don’t look like that, you never had a daughter so you don�
�t know how it feels to be dumped or deceived, and you’re not a woman.” Melody and Deanna leave the restaurant and head for Deanna’s car.

  Mel asks to drive because she says she is terrible at giving directions Deanna agrees to give her the keys. The house is in a lovely section of the Village, a spacious brick colonial backed up by a lake with a circular driveway. Pulling in they park in front and go inside.

  “Mel your home is spectacular everything is so warm and bright.”

  “Why don’t we go in the kitchen, and I’ll make some coffee, unless you want something stronger.” Mel asks.

  “No that will be fine I’m really not much of a drinker, it’s just sometimes it dulls the pain. I mean I don’t always reach for a drink if things go badly.” She tries to explain to her.

  “I know exactly what you mean I do that myself sometimes; I feel that we are going to be close if you don’t mind me saying so. John and I never had children, and I was an only child and John had never been married. If I did have a sister, I would like her to be like you. I admire you, starting a new career, all you’ve been through. I always had everything, except what you have, children, a challenge, but maybe if I can be of help than it will be like I was sharing your experiences if you know what I mean.

  I know that you’re angry at your Mother, and maybe you have a right to be, I’m not going to try to tell you that you don’t. The situation right now is what we’re going to do about you and this man.” Melody shocks her with that statement.

  Melody is not much older than herself, but Deanna likes her and begins to confide things to her that up until now she has only questioned in her own mind. “Mel you don’t understand he’s in love with my dead sister, not just another woman, the person that I share the same gene pool with. He sees her in me, and he can’t let go of her. Do I love him, yes I do, but I can’t share him with a ghost? Besides there is too much about him that I still don’t understand.” Deanna admits to Melody what she’s been unable to admit to herself.