by Opal Carew
She heard Warner’s breath quicken.
“After a while, I quit trying to see you. The school sent me updates with photos. I picked your father over you.”
“Why?”
“He threatened to leave me with nothing. I’d be divorced and gone from New York.”
“I remember you and Dad fought a lot back then.” Taddy didn’t buy the busted leg story. With all those years past, she still had failed to come and see her. Irma’s legs seemed to be working fine enough for her to greet them at the door moments before. They’d walked her highfalutin’ ass around town to shop the previous day when she’d called. If anything, she’d broken Joseph with her actions.
“When Joseph ordered your paternity test and the results came back negative, he was devastated. He loved you more than—”
“More than you did, Mother.” Taddy finished the sentence for her. Had her mother ever felt anything for her?
Did Irma’s own mother treat her the same way when she was growing up? Taddy had never met her grandmother. She’d died a year before Taddy was born. Taddy couldn’t help but imagine Irma had learned her behavior from someone else. It didn’t seem natural.
“I’m not going to lie to you. You’re too smart for that. You always were. Years ago, Joseph’s physician diagnosed him as sterile. When your father and I married, we agreed no children. I didn’t want a baby. When I became pregnant and gave birth to you, your father took to you. He loved you. More than he loved me, at times. He believed you came as God’s miracle.” Irma paused and continued, “I understand this information isn’t what you wanted to hear.”
“It’s nothing new,” she admitted, wiping her tears. “I’ve raised myself since I was a kid.”
“You pushed for the emancipation.”
“What choice did I have?”
Warner listened. Taddy could see the interest on his face, but he didn’t say anything.
“That legal stunt pissed Joseph off further.”
During Taddy’s junior year, she and Vive had signed up for an elective class in legal studies with Mr. Kettle. She’d enrolled in the class because, at twenty-three, Mr. Kettle was Avon Porter’s youngest male teacher and also the hottest. Once in the class, she’d become fascinated with a subject they spent two weeks studying called Family Law. Taddy had yearned to discover how a teenager could divorce his or her parents. Vive, already a journalist for the school paper, wrote revealing celebrity stories on Drew Barrymore, who’d left her parents at thirteen, along with Juliette Lewis and Jaime Pressly, who’d both separated from their parents at fifteen.
“If these child stars can pull this shit off, honey bunny, then so can you,” Vive had encouraged. She even had a potty mouth back then.
Taddy had wanted to try.
In hopes her folks would react and fully come for her, take her home and parent and love her, she’d tested the legal system with Mr. Kettle and filed a petition citing reasons for separation from her parents. Taddy had assumed that would be the end of it. They’d call and flip out then pick her up.
But the Brillfords didn’t.
A children’s Connecticut law center gave her free legal aid to secure the case. The paperwork was processed and Judge Roderick had approved a hearing. The media had tagged the Brillfords as “Too Rich to Parent,” pushing Taddy sympathetically into the spotlight. It drove a sky-high wedge between them, more than she’d anticipated. “Joseph stopped paying for your tuition and boarding costs, saying he’d kill me if I ever spoke to you again.”
“Dad would never kill you. I don’t believe you.” Nothing added up. Shocked, she assumed her parents had done one thing right and made good on her high school education. “Who paid my tuition after I emancipated?”
“You became an independent then, an adult according to the law,” Irma defended, ignoring her question.
“I didn’t understand all the ramifications. I went to the lawyers for help, to get your love. The case spun out of control and became more than I imagined.”
“We didn’t have any responsibility to you after the verdict.”
The lawyers she’d worked with, who’d won the case, wrote a book on teens emancipating from their parents and never even followed up with Taddy to see how she made out. As an independent, Taddy felt used and ashamed after the case ended. She sure as hell didn’t get any money from the lawyers who profited with the publicity. “Tell me who covered my junior and senior year expenses.”
“Birdie.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Easton sent the checks.”
Taddy stared, tongue-tied. “I didn’t know.”
Irma nodded. “Birdie and I argued over it. She stopped talking to us and vowed to look in on you going forward.”
All the horrible resentment toward Lex’s mother over the years had been misdirected.
“Why would Birdie do such a thing?”
“We both became pregnant at the same time. Birdie always treated you as if you were her own baby girl. I admired many things about Mrs. Easton.” Irma turned to Warner. “We were best friends throughout our twenties and thirties. Birdie and I did everything together. She was the best friend I always wanted.”
“I see.” Warner gripped Taddy’s hand.
Irma shrugged. “Eddie refused to have more babies. He wanted to tour and sing for the world. He never wanted a family. Contrary to his desires, Birdie felt it selfish to have only one child. She wanted more and took to you just as Joseph did.” Irma sipped from her teacup, hands shaking. Was she nervous? “People say the meanest things about that woman. Her demons and drug addictions were horrible. But when Birdie sobered, she became a great mom to Lex—and you.”
“Yes, when we were younger. I have some fond memories of Birdie’s sobriety. She just relapsed so often it was hard to trust her.”
“Birdie tried to show me how to parent you, but I couldn’t get my head around mothering,” Irma confessed dryly.
“Obviously.” Taddy couldn’t help but raise her voice.
Warner released Taddy’s hand and patted her right knee, probably to calm her down. “She needs time to think about your request. We’re not going to get anything resolved here today.”
“That’s understandable.”
“I’m open to talking again.” Taddy sat on the edge of the chair. Their time together was coming to an end. She took a deep breath.
“Good.” Her mother leaned forward with anticipation. “I need to figure this out,” Irma muttered in a low voice, almost as if she’d slipped.
“Figure what?”
“Us,” Irma replied. “You and me. Our future together.”
“No, that’s not what you meant.” Taddy had heard enough. “You need to settle up with Dad, but you can’t do that until I agree to support you. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Don’t put it that way, please…honey.” Irma’s voice cracked.
“I’ll never give you any money.”
Irma’s body stiffened and her right brow shot up. “I feared you’d respond as such. I will make the support worth your investment.”
“How?”
“I will answer your most essential question. The one you asked in each and every letter you wrote me.”
Revulsion struck Taddy with a massive blow. “I won’t dignify your offer with a response.”
“I don’t understand,” Warner questioned, focusing on Irma.
Before clarifying, Irma adjusted the pin on her brooch, fixing the needle straight through the jeweled royal ornament. She relished the attention they were giving her. It wasn’t going to last long. “If you help me divorce Joseph, I’ll tell you who your real birthfather is. Who I carried on an affair with for many years. Who I should’ve married.”
Blood pumping, rage boiling, Taddy Brill, Manhattan’s number-one public relations professional—who’d penned over a thousand client speeches, trademarked the world’s best taglines, owned a repertoire for every conundrum—didn’t know what the fuck to say. But she figured cal
ling the woman who sat across from her a selfish, coldhearted, narcissistic bitch would be a really good start!
Chapter 21
Sheldon Truman’s Fudge Balls
Warner had learned many things since becoming a billionaire and moving into the ranks of the world’s one percent. Some behaviors he admired, such as financial contributions made by fellow billionaires Mike Bloomberg, Cargill Corporation heiress Margaret A. Cargill, and Dietrich Industries chairman William S. Dietrich II. Their donations for education, feeding the underprivileged, and research inspired him to continue with his philanthropic work for bone cancer.
But there’d been others he didn’t admire. Women similar to Irma, for example. Some called them leeches. Irma’s behavior toward her daughter stunned him more than when the doctors had told him his late wife was dying and more than when Rielle had faked her pregnancy. Witnessing Irma invite Taddy, who she’d cast aside as a teenager, back into her life only to hold on to the posh lifestyle she wanted outraged him.
“Do you not want to learn who your father is?” Irma persisted.
“We’re done here, Countess.” Warner stood, extending a hand to his girlfriend. “Ready?”
Pupils dilated, Taddy gazed at him and managed, “Uh-huh.” Her face regained its coloring as she found her footing.
“Mr. Truman, you’re being rude. Let my daughter answer.” With her hand on her hip, Irma marched over. Her initial frailness at their introduction earlier had all but faded.
“One minute.” Taddy motioned for Warner to pause. She stepped over to Irma, placing her hand on her mother’s shoulder. Warner hadn’t noticed the contrast in their physical stature until then. “I came today for answers. Now I’m leaving more confused than imaginable. I’ll never be able to justify your choices, Mother.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why you threw me away.” Taddy’s voice rose. “Why you kept me from seeing Dad all these years. Why you’re now blackmailing me into giving you money.”
“I am doing no such thing.”
“What else would you call making me pay you to tell me who’s DNA I share, Mother?”
“Tabitha Adelaide, please.”
“My name is Taddy, and you’ve never cared about me as your daughter. But I’ll be okay. I have my real family. I have Lex, Vive, Blake—”
“And me,” Warner added. “You have me.”
Taddy smiled at him and confirmed, “I’m loved, Mother. For the first time in my life, I know how love feels,”—her arms came wide, indicating the Brillfords’ apartment—” and this isn’t it.” She grabbed her purse and slipped her arm around his.
He led her to the door.
She turned, facing Irma one last time. “The day you dropped me off at Avon Porter, I never got to say my farewell.” It was unfathomable as a child, but right then, Taddy as an adult was different than the girl she’d been all those years before. “Good-bye, Countess.”
Warner helped Taddy into the SUV as she texted her friends to meet them at what she called ‘their place’. It was Club Macanudo over on East 63rd Street. It was early in the day for a cocktail, but Taddy told Warner she needed a drink. “Are you nervous to meet my peeps?” she asked.
“Should I be?”
“They’re a little outrageous.”
Anything would pale in comparison to Irma. Warner felt at a loss for words. There was nothing he could say to ease her pain from what’d happened with her mother. He could be there for her, let her speak and love her, but that was it.
“I texted my brother, Sheldon, who wants to meet you. He’ll be here shortly.” Warner remained confident Sheldon would win at the shocking game.
“This is our home away from home.” Taddy walked into the cigar bar.
Living downtown, Warner had never set foot in Club Macanudo. An Upper East Side institution with lithographs along the walls, the interiors looked posh with Art Deco-styled leather couches stationed around the lounge with glass and marble cocktail tables. In a city where smoking indoors was prohibited, there it was not only permissible, but deemed fashionable. The social establishment thrived as a secret gem.
He sat with Taddy as they talked about Irma’s behavior. Taddy confessed she’d almost given in. She felt a strong urge to help her mother. “Thank you for pulling me away from her, Warner. I’m still tempted to give her the money, though.”
“So you can learn who your birthfather is?”
“No, I don’t care about that. It won’t change who I am. There’s a part of me that will always have hope. Hope that my mother and I can have a real relationship. I’d give anything for that, including money.” Taddy sighed. “I sound desperate.”
Warner’s heart broke as he heard her say that. “Not desperate. You’re a good person with so much to give. And from what I’ve seen, you give a lot to others. Maybe too much.” He was impressed with her ability to endure. It became obvious the worst in Taddy’s life had passed years before. A strong urge to protect and love her even more came over him. It wasn’t pity or a savior complex. Rather, he admired her resilience.
From the entrance came a thin, Scandinavian-type woman wearing her bleached white hair in a bob. She bee-lined it for their table. Warner tried not to make eye contact with her, but she looked familiar. He didn’t want to be rude. Then it hit him where he recognized her from. She was the woman he’d seen on the security video with Taddy at Secrète de St. Barth. As she closed in, her long, gold nails pointed at him.
Taddy laughed.
“Big fucking Daddy indeed!” the woman shouted.
“You must be Viveca.” Hands down, Taddy won for most eccentric friend with that one. A cross between a Las Vegas showgirl and a socialite auctioning her gold nuggets at Sotheby’s, he’d never seen a friend such as Miss Farnworth in his life.
“It’s Vive, and don’t I get a kiss?” she flirted.
Taddy ok’d the gesture with a wink. Afraid his lips might get glitter on them from her prominently applied rouge, he opted to kiss her right hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Blake and I came together. Poor guy is stuck outside on a call,” she said. “He’ll join us in a few.”
“Diego?” Taddy asked, remembering Blake and his husband were on the outs.
“Yup. Looks like they’re fighting again.” Vive scooted her chair closer. “I hate Diego.”
“Vive, don’t start in on him.”
“Diego is the biggest piece of shit to walk this town. But don’t you worry. I’m gonna write an article on him in Debauchery that will ruin him once and for all.”
“No. Blake wouldn’t like that.”
“It’s just a lil’ blurb saying he has, you know, the same thing my friend Ollie had in St. Barth.”
“The sprinkles?”
“Yup! So…let’s celebrate. What are we drinking?”
“Taddy ordered the Club Macanudo’s signature martini.” Opening to the beverage list, Warner passed Vive a menu.
“Sounds yummy to me. Make that two, please, with gin.”
“Two? But we’ve already ordered Taddy’s drink.”
“Those are both for me. I like doubles. The glasses here are small.” Vive’s eyebrows rose as if telling Warner he should know better than to ask questions.
“Right.” He walked over to the bar to order. A tall GQ-type came in from outside. “Blake?”
“Warner Truman. I recognize you from the photo with Taddy in the paper,” Blake confirmed with a handshake. “It’s nice to meet the man responsible for my best girl’s new smile.” Taddy’s friend stood tall, an inch or two shorter than Warner. He pulled Warner to the side after he’d placed Vive’s order.
“Yes?” Warner asked.
Rolling his shoulders back, Blake warned, “If you ever hurt Taddy, you’ll leave me no choice but to sick Vive on you. Understand?” He grinned, but there was an element of seriousness in the threat.
Warner laughed, putting his hand on Blake’s shoulder. “You have nothing to worry about. I love Tad
dy. I’m looking forward to spending time with you guys.”
“Great, let’s drink.” Blake headed over to Vive, sat beside her, and chatted.
Taddy glanced at him as he picked up Vive’s drinks. The natural warmth had returned to her face. She was beginning to relax after the morning’s fiasco. “Thank you again for coming with me.”
“Any regrets seeing Irma?” Kissing her, Warner took his place by her side.
“No, just sadness. I’m not sure why I expected today to go any other way. I should’ve known better.”
Warner held her hand, playing with her fingers. “I can’t imagine how you feel, but I’m here for you. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She crossed her legs. “My talk with the countess may help me move forward. Am I making any sense?”
“Perfectly.”
“There she is.” Vive pointed to the door.
Warner followed Vive’s direction, catching a glimpse of an elegant woman making her way over. She motioned a hello to the barmaid. He was taken aback at how much she resembled Taddy. She had honey-blonde hair instead of fire-engine red locks, but both their faces were picturesque and striking.
The woman held her arms wide as Taddy stood and hugged her. Warner didn’t approach at first. The lady cried and Taddy wiped her tears then pulled her hair back behind her ears. “Irma’s in my past,” he heard Taddy say. Nodding in agreement on something, they faced him and stood side by side.
“Lex Easton, pleasure.” Her handshake was firm. Similar in their sophistication yet different in their mannerisms, Taddy and Lex could be sisters.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lex. You were a major topic this morning.”
“My ears have been ringing since I woke up.”
Taddy held her hand. “Lex, I’d love to see Birdie today. Please invite her. I need to tell her a few things.”
“Such as?”
“I want to give her an apology for starters, followed by a thank you. And I could use a Birdie hug.”
“I’ll make the call. Be right back.” Lex smiled as if she understood.
