Samantha emerged from the vehicle and followed him, stepping through wet slush and around the rear of the house.
“Wait here while I open the door.” Ben went up the back steps and into the house, reappearing a moment later through a small door on the side of the garage. “Come on in,” he said, flicking on the light switch and holding the door open for her.
She blinked a few times until she grew accustomed to the interior of the brightly lit garage. A mixture of smells hit her: the trace of gasoline fumes, new tire rubber, a hint of motor oil. A gleaming, immaculate cherry-red sports car with a black vinyl roof occupied half the space. On the other side stood what appeared to be a new, late model motorcycle. She took it all in, then turned to Ben. “Well? Don’t tell me you own the bike.”
“The car, Samantha! She’s a 1969 vintage Mustang convertible.”
She looked back at the sports car. “Yes, so it is! Nice. Is it your aunt's?” She remembered something Ben had told her once, about Mr. Swift owning a Mustang convertible before he bought the Thunderbird that Ben later demolished.
“Yes, it's Aunt Valerie's. But here’s the kicker: next year, she’s gonna be all mine.”
“No way!” Samantha walked all the way around the Mustang, trailing her fingertips over the shiny paint job. “It’s gorgeous! Is it like the one your dad used to own?”
A smile spread across his face. “You remembered! She’s a Mustang Mach I with a 428 Super Cobra-Jet engine. And, my dear, she happens to be the same one!”
“What?”
“Yep. My old man sold her to my aunt and uncle, who drove her very little over the years. Then they had kids and bought the minivan, then the SUV, and my uncle got the Harley Davidson motorcycle he'd always wanted, so they decided they didn't need the Mustang anymore. They got her fixed up, tuned up and gave her a new paint job, as a gift for my birthday next June. I got the finest surprise when they told me a couple of days ago. Amazing, hey?”
Samantha agreed, taken aback by such generosity. It was clear to her that they loved their nephew and wanted to see him happy after all the suffering he’d endured. “But what about the auto insurance? You said the premiums were too expensive for you to pay on your own.”
Ben laughed. “You don't miss a trick, do you? Well, as luck would have it, next year my premiums will drop to something halfway affordable. And this summer when I work I'm saving every cent I can to help pay for them.”
“Wow, how fabulous for you! You must be so stoked.” She tried to sidestep thoughts of Cherise, but in her mind’s eye she envisioned her and Ben driving all around Halifax in his flashy red dream-car. She remembered his saying how he’d loved the Mustang more than the T-bird and hated when his father had sold it.
“I’m supremely stoked! There you have it, my big reveal. I s’pose I better bring you home now.”
“Oh, okay. Sure.”
“Hey, I bet you're starved, and I have an idea. Remember that night years ago, when we shared a plate of chips downtown?”
“From the chip wagon? With cokes?” She grinned, her stomach rumbling. She felt famished. “I’m game.”
“Super! This time, though, you can have your own order, all to yourself.”
“Now you're talking,” she said as they left the garage and returned to the rental car. She felt as if she could eat the cardboard plate and all. “Make it an extra large. With dressing and gravy, please.”
***
Samantha squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. Considering the Janeway Hospital had discharged Henry two days prior and life had mostly returned to normal, she thought the time had come to tell Veronica about the paternity test. Ben stood beside her on Gina’s doorstep in the thickening dusk.
“Thanks for rethinking this and being here,” she said.
“No need. You were right to ask me.” He squeezed her shoulder, dropping his arm when the door swung open.
“Oh. It’s you two.” Veronica’s stare raked over Ben before she ushered them into the small living room. Gina and Mandy appeared to be absent. “So. What’s up?”
“How’s Henry doing?” Samantha asked.
“His energy is bouncing back, thankfully,” Veronica said. “I had that chat with him earlier about the difference between medicine and candy and how he is never to touch a pill bottle or anything like it ever again. I believe he understood.”
Samantha nodded. “That’s good. Are you alone? There’s something important we need to talk over with you.”
They sat down. “Alright,” Veronica said. “Say what you came to say. Gina and Mandy are out, and Henry’s gone to sleep.”
Ben leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his fingers steepled, his focus steady and unflinching on Veronica's questioning face. “Samantha has already told you I'm not filing for custody anymore.”
“Yes, she did, and naturally, I'm pleased with the news. I made it quite plain I wanted to raise my son by myself all along. But you and everybody already knew that. So why the sudden reversal?”
Running a hand through his thick hair, he paused. “The paternity test results came in, Veronica.” He glanced at Samantha before continuing. “I'm not Henry's father.”
Veronica gaped at him, unblinking, as if someone had knocked the wind out of her. “There has to be a mistake! Or you're lying!”
“No. There's no mistake, and I'm not a liar, so don't go there. I had them run the test twice to make absolutely sure.”
“So, it comes out,” Samantha said. “Nearly five years later. You're the liar, Ron.”
Veronica sat speechless for a moment, staring at the floor and shaking her head.
“Who else did you have sex with?” Samantha asked. “And why did you pin it on Ben when we now know it could have been, and in fact was, someone else's child?” She heard her voice rising and she quivered with rage.
“I didn't—”
“Save it!” Samantha jumped up from the couch and glared down at her. “All along you knew there stood a chance that Henry wasn’t Ben's baby, but you kept your sneaky mouth shut and let him believe he was. You tried your best to tear us apart, and when that backfired and we ran away together, we had the car crash. We barely escaped death, Ronnie, and if we hadn’t, our blood would have been on your hands. But we survived, with our lives derailed completely, mind you, all because of your selfish lies.”
Ben reached for her arm. “Calm down, Samantha. We said what we came to say, and we can't go back in time. Veronica is going to have to live with the consequences of her actions.” He stood up.
“Wait a second! Were you out with Andrew?” Samantha demanded. “While he still dated Crystal? You two were hot and heavy until you dumped him last year. Did you make yourself available for Andy in those days as well?”
“Absolutely not!” Veronica's eyes grew wild and unfocused. “I didn’t go out with Andy until after I had Henry.”
“Are you sure? Knowing you, you screwed him to get revenge on Crystal. We all knew there was no love lost between the two of you. She despised you even more than she despised me.”
“No! I mean, yes, I hated that girl, or anyone who acts so high and mighty she thinks she shits Dixie cups. But I swear I didn’t sleep with Andy back then!”
“Then who in the hell are you protecting?” Ben said through clenched teeth. “I think we have a right to hear the truth, but it's obvious you're not about to come clean with me.” He turned to Samantha. “Come on, let's get out of here.”
“You go on,” she told him. “I'm staying right here until I get some answers.”
“Okay, but keep your cool, alright?”
She nodded, turning to her sister after he left.
Veronica's expression pleaded with Samantha as she wrung her hands in her lap. “I was so sure it was Ben's. You have to believe me. He was my steady boyfriend! We were together numerous times.”
“But it only takes one single time and one little sperm. Who was it?”
“Leave it be
, Sam.”
“Who did you have sex with?”
“Stop!” Veronica begged. “You'll wake Henry.”
“I'll stop as soon as you tell me. Who, Ron? Oh, no! Is it worse than I thought? Were there so many possibilities you haven't got a clue?”
“No! There was only one other.” Stricken, she covered her flushed face with her hands, peeking over them at Samantha. Tears squeezed out into her eyelashes and she mewled like a wounded feline. “I went to a party. That stupid, lame party. Without Ben. He didn't want to go, but I did.”
“Hold on. Are you referring to the same night you guys had a fight, and he and I ended up playing pool?” Though nothing had happened beyond talking and enjoying each other’s company that warm July night, the memory of her and Ben in his rec room was seared on her brain forever. “Wasn’t that the night of the party at Andrew's house?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t have sex with Andrew, nor did I have any interest in him then. He and Crystal were solid all that year. Remember, it was the same month he got her name tattooed on his chest for his birthday.”
“Go on,” Samantha urged.
“I felt so pissed off with Ben, I couldn’t see straight. When I threatened to go there without him, I thought for sure he would change his mind and come along, or at least show up later. But no. He called my bluff. I went alone, and he never showed up first nor last.”
“And?”
She wiped her tears away with the back of her wrist. “And I wish I’d never gone. I had a miserable time. Gina and Mandy went outside for a smoke with a few others and ended up staying out by the fire pit in the backyard. I got contrary and stayed in the house. Then I drank too many shots of B52's and lord knows what else, trying to drive Ben from my mind. When that didn't work, I started flirting with the nearest guy to me. He kissed me, and one thing led to another, until we…” She paused, avoided her sister’s penetrating scrutiny. “We ended up in one of the bedrooms upstairs.”
“Do I know him?” Samantha asked.
“I made a colossal mistake, Sam. And to make matters worse, the condom broke. He said it was his first time.”
“Tell me.”
“It was Kalen O’Dea.”
Samantha froze. Kalen? Her guts clenched and her throat constricted. “It couldn’t,” she managed to whisper.
“Yes.” Veronica studied her hands in her lap. “I banished the whole ugly business from my mind, like it never happened.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Ron! Sweet, honourable—” She jumped to her feet. “And you're telling me he was the only one besides Ben? After you kept a secret like that from us for so long, why should I believe anything you say?”
“Believe it.” Veronica exhaled audibly with a look of helplessness. “I swear he was the only other one, and we only had sex that one time. But he must be Henry's f-father. Dear God.”
While Samantha had dated Kalen these past few months, he hadn't breathed a single syllable about his one-time tryst with her sister. Likewise, Veronica had kept quiet about it. First the terrible business with their grandfather, and now this shocker. Ronnie had a downright knack for burying enormous secrets!
She’d been duped, right along with Ben. She felt like a stupid little fool. In the wake of this appalling confession, she thought of her nephew's blond hair. His blue eyes. The old photograph of Kalen as a child with his grandparents. All at once, she could visualize the resemblance. “You're a real piece of work, you know that, don't you? Now you're gonna have to tell him.”
Veronica remained tight-lipped.
“It's the right thing to do. You must tell the truth. As shocking as all of this is to me and Ben, Henry has a right to know his father.”
“But what good will it do? Kalen doesn’t want to hear this.”
“Whether he wants to hear it or not, you’re telling him, Ron!”
She nodded. “I guess so.”
Samantha zipped up her hoodie and headed for the hallway.
“Sam?”
She turned around with her hand gripping the doorknob.
Tears shone in Veronica’s eyes. “I'm sorry. For everything.”
Without gratifying her with an answer, Samantha slammed the door behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mid-May, 1998
Samantha sat upright at her easel, absorbed in her work. With practised brush strokes, she dabbed thick swabs of indigo blue paint onto the 36 x 48-inch canvas in front of her. The vibrant, sweeping seascape of tumultuous waves she fondly remembered from Calmer Cove, the extra-curricular project she hadn’t finished by semester’s end, was gradually taking shape into something worthwhile and could prove to be a dramatic and valuable addition to her growing portfolio. If it turned out the way she hoped, it might even become her first serious piece of saleable art.
The heady though pleasant smell of her oil paint palette hung in the air. She’d set up her afternoon workstation in her mother’s living room for the most favourable light, hoping to make good progress before sunset and before the inevitable interruptions ensued.
It had been an eventful week. First, her father had called with the news he’d booked a flight to Newfoundland on the weekend to see them all, rather than wait until August for his visit this year, because of what had happened to Henry. He told Samantha on the phone he wanted to make sure his grandson was alright after the scare he’d gotten, and to be certain everyone else was okay too. Samantha knew he worried about Darlene and her part in the near tragedy. Besides all of this, he said, he intended to check out “this Kalen character” now that they knew he had fathered Henry.
“Something else, Sam,” he’d said before hanging up. “I miss you and Veronica so much. This crisis with Henry makes me realize just how much you all mean to me.”
“I wish you could come home and stay for good, Daddy.” She wondered aloud about his finding work in Newfoundland again. He had his job, his wife and his stepson in Fort McMurray, but might he relocate back here with them if he found something to do? Not necessarily in the fishing industry, but something else?
“I would love to do that, honey,” he’d said. “Beth Anne and I both earn good salaries, so we hope to retire early and move home in a few years. Start up a small business or open a store, maybe. We’re tossing around a few ideas.”
She could hear the smile in his voice as he talked. “Really? That’s wonderful! I wish it could be sooner than a few years, though.”
He chuckled, telling her that, like him, she would have to be patient a while longer.
To her family's collective relief, Darlene had quit drinking. Though she'd attended AA meetings regularly only for the past week and had now acquired a sponsor, Samantha had an intuition she wanted to give it her all, this time. Without question, she and Cash had accepted the counselling recommended by Child Protection and the authorities on poison prevention and child safety. Her relationships with Veronica and her grandson were at stake, if they weren’t already beyond salvaging. But more than that, it became clear to Samantha she meant to overhaul her entire lifestyle, telling Cash she’d finished with the bartending gig. She had already begun an active search for clerical or retail work.
“I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired,” she'd told Samantha during breakfast this morning.
“I imagine you are, Momma.”
“For most of my adult life, I’ve felt youthful, as if I were still twenty-something, you know? The timid but unshakable optimist, the hopeful young woman imagining herself on the verge of something big.” She let out a deep sigh as she stirred her tea.
“And now?”
“I’ve lost her, Sam. I’ve lost that optimism, that spark, and I despise the old crone I've become, going through the motions of a blurred existence. And out of control! It must change. It’s my only real choice.”
“It won’t be easy, though.”
“I know. Believe me, I know it in spades. But it's the only choice I have left if I want to take charge of my life and to
be a fit mother and grandmother. That need is stronger.”
Samantha studied her mother’s profile, thoughtful for a moment. “Hey, have you ever considered returning to nursing school? To finish your training?”
Darlene smiled at her. “Funny you should mention that! It has occurred to me, but I think I should wait and see how my sobriety goes first. When I find a new job, perhaps I can save up for it.”
“Yeah. Sounds like a plan. Something for you to aim for.”
Cash gave her one hundred percent of his support. His love and his reassurance could help bolster the strength she needed to beat this thing, Samantha mused.
She knew Darlene had wanted to go with her to visit Henry yesterday. One day, Momma. You will be that boy's grandma again, one day soon. Ronnie will forgive you at some point, won’t she?
But the awful reveal from Veronica remained, concerning their deceased grandfather. Their momma’s father. Might her sister and mother’s relationship be beyond all repair?
Sitting with Henry and colouring with him at Gina’s last evening, while Veronica and Kalen looked on, a rush of love for her nephew washed over her, along with fresh gratitude for his recovery. The biggest surprise was how Kalen had taken the news last week of his sudden paternity.
His transformation astonished them. Both sisters could see how deeply it affected him to learn he had a son. He stepped up, accepting it as a new opportunity to make good of his life; as if, all at once, the universe had granted him the supreme chance to become the man he'd always dreamed of becoming.
Samantha suffered odd feelings tinged with jealousy at first, but when she witnessed Kalen and Henry together, it swiftly dawned on her that she was truly over him.
“I told Veronica my big news, Sam,” Kalen had said when she first arrived. “And it’s both good and bad.”
“Oh?”
“And now I’ll tell you. First, the bad. Cold Plate has broken up.”
Calmer Secrets: Calmer Girls 2 (Calmer Girls Series) Page 21
