Never Too Late (Resetter Series Book 1)

by Brenda Barrett

  "Oh, Victoria, you shouldn't have." Ivy looked shocked at the offering. "I already did crème brûlée for dessert. To be served with homemade ice cream."

  "Okay then," her mother said brightly as if she hadn't been slaving away at the pudding. "I'll just take this back over then."

  "I am so sorry, Victoria," Ivy said not looking one bit sorry. "We'll wait for you until you return."

  She turned to them. "In the meantime, let us be seated and wait for Victoria's return."

  Addi watched the dynamics between the two women and marveled that she hadn't seen this underlying animosity before.

  She ended up sitting beside Randy as usual. He was not oblivious to the undercurrents and he raised his eyebrows at her. "This is my first time over here. It looks quite different from your house."

  "Yep. Aunt Ivy is bourgeois." Addi nodded, "Wait until you taste the food."

  "So where is Joshua?" Aunt Ivy asked pleasantly while they were all seated. "I was hoping that he would take his girlfriend with him to dinner. Like he did at your place last week. What is her name again?"

  "Ellie," Addi said politely.

  "Ellie." Aunt Ivy repeated the name. "Is it short for Eleanor or Ellen, do you know?"

  "No." Addi shook her head. "I thought it was just Ellie. I thought you would know better than me since she goes to your school."

  "That she does." Ivy smiled coldly. "Well then..." She looked at the table at large. "Our family seems to be dwindling without us even realizing. Skyler is at Colleen's and Joshua is out with this Ellie.

  "What is her surname again Addison?"

  Addi started to feel uncomfortable. She felt as if she was under some kind of inquisition. She wished her aunt would stop questioning her in that stiff fraught manner.

  Her father and uncle were quiet, both of them sipping water and not saying anything to break up the attention or to keep the conversation going.

  "Her name is Ellie Dunn," Addi said quickly. Feeling relieved when her mother entered the dining room without the pudding or anything in her hand for that matter.

  "Have a seat, Victoria," Ivy said gesturing to the chair closest to her. "We were talking about Joshua and his new girlfriend, Ellie."

  "Oh," Vicky smiled. "She's a lovely girl. Very nice."

  "I would think so, Porter men have great taste in women." Ivy looked at her husband and brother-in-law a hint of frost in her eyes.

  Her dad and uncle smiled politely. Neither of them said a word.

  "And we were discussing that her surname was Dunn." Ivy continued, "Do you know that her uncle Jerome Dunn owns Mack J's?"

  "I didn't know his name but she said her uncle owned it," Vicky said smiling.

  Ivy got up and lifted up the covers to the shiny platters off the dishes. "You should visit there sometime Victoria, quite an interesting place especially on Monday's."

  "Mondays," Vicky widened her eyes, "why Mondays?"

  "They come up with some surprising dishes after the weekend," Ivy said, "Well that's enough chatter about it, let's eat."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mack J's was a medium sized restaurant located at the corner of a plaza. The plate glass window had a huge sign on the front, followed by the words breakfast, lunch and diner. Obviously a typo with one n missing.

  The interior was large enough that they could check out Ellie and not be spotted immediately. There were a few palm plants strategically placed around the room to make the place look better and to give diners a sense of privacy.

  Addi was grateful for that because she was sure that when she and Randy arrived a little past lunch time that Ellie would recognize them immediately even though she had dressed like a boy in baggy shirt and a pants that was a size too big and she had a baseball cap firmly lodged on her head. It was pulled down almost completely covering her eyes.

  Randy was in jeans and a dress shirt and baseball cap too.

  They sat in the back of the restaurant in the seats furthest from the door. They could clearly see Ellie but she had yet to look in their direction or pay them any attention.

  So far so good. Addi thought, feeling tenser than she should.

  That morning they had started a little later than she had hoped. Her father and uncle Stan had lingered longer than she expected. They had finally gone on their way at least after eleven in the morning and then there was the rain. As it was in the time before, the rain had started in earnest. It would last the week.

  "Why did you think your aunt was so insistent on your mom coming here?" Randy asked looking at the menu. "There is nothing on the menu that is unusual, curry chicken, stewed chicken, baked chicken, it's all chicken."

  "I know." Addi nodded. "She was acting weird yesterday. And in the timeline before this, we never had a Sunday dinner."

  Randy nodded. "It was a bit cold and stuffy over there but the food was good. It's the first time that I was having crème brûlée."

  "She does it all the time." Addi shrugged. "It is supposed to be hard to do or something. I had a piece of my mom's bread pudding after and I have to say that it was better."

  Randy chuckled.

  "Can't remember it tasting that good." Addi shook her head. "My mom must have really been practicing."

  "What does she do in the future?" Randy asked as they settled in, watching Ellie as she attended to several customers.

  "She who?" Addi pulled her cap lower over her eyes.

  "Your aunt Ivy," Randy said, following her gesture and doing the same.

  "We migrated in 95, after the fire."

  "Fire?" Randy raised an eyebrow.

  "Yes, the warehouse, where the hardware store is, burnt to the ground. My grandma was filing for us before that. My dad had not wanted to go but Uncle Stan wasn't around anymore, the business was up in flames. I had just finished high school and I got a very high SAT score and my mom was depressed.

  "We packed up and left. Aunt Ivy was still living at the house. Sky got a scholarship and went to Harvard Business. Her grades in the SAT were exceptionally good."

  "Wow, you serious, your cousin is a Harvard graduate?"

  "Yep." Addi nodded, "she has a scary knack for figures and what will make things work.

  "Sky was the one who sent for Aunt Ivy. Who lived with Sky in New York for several years. She worked for a catering firm for a while. Sky made some investments for her and she was living comfortably.

  "We never really saw her much unless Sky dragged her to a family gathering. If it weren't for Sky we wouldn't have seen her much over the years."

  "So what did you do in the future?" Randy asked lazily. After a pause.

  They watched Ellie at the cash register for a while. She was very popular with the customers, that much was obvious. Many of them greeted her by name.

  There was one particular guy, who the girls at the counter greeted as Ray when he walked into the restaurant. He was a construction worker, he had on a yellow hard hat and had a pencil behind his ear and he was shamelessly flirting with Ellie as well as with the other girls who were serving.

  "That may be him," Addi whispered.

  "Why?" Randy asked puzzled.

  "Because she is flirting back," Addi said taking out her little notebook which she had carried just for this very purpose and wrote down the name Ray. "She doesn't flirt back with anyone."

  Randy chuckled. "But we've only been here for what, thirty minutes? Maybe she flirts with a guy every thirty minutes."

  "Maybe," Addi murmured. "But this guy is going on my list. He looks suspicious."

  "You didn't answer my question." Randy leaned closer to her. "What do you do in the future?"

  "I had a bachelors in sociology, went on to do my masters in political science and then doctorate in the same sociology. I chose different emphasis each time. I did a brief stint in advertising after the first degree. Then I worked as a Research Director after the masters and then after the doctorate I worked as a professor at a university."

  "So you are a doctor?" Randy o
pened his eyes wide, "like an honest to goodness PhD?"

  Addi nodded. "Yes. But now I have to redo high school. How is that for irony?"

  "High school should be a breeze for you." Randy chuckled. "Imagine all the scholarships you can get. You could get to go anywhere! Harvard! Oxford! Anywhere!"

  He pulled his cap lower on his head and sunk down in the seat as Ray came closer to them with his tray of food.

  Addi followed him making sure her face was not visible behind the plant.

  Ray sat at the table closest to them. And started eating his food.

  They watched him as he watched Ellie.

  He had it bad. It was obvious that he had an enormous crush on her. Addi felt like crowing I told you so.

  When Ellie left the cash register and came over to their end of the restaurant, Addi almost gasped aloud. This was too easy. She had anticipated stalking her for at least a week and maybe some guess work. But here she was gliding toward Ray with a small smile on her face.

  She sat down beside him, her side view visible to Addi.

  "Hey," Ellie was speaking low but Addi could hear, so could Randy.

  He gave Addi a shocked look.

  "Where is my thing?"

  "Here it is," Ray took out a broad white envelop and set it down before her.

  "How are you doing?"

  "Fine." Ellie took the letter folded it in two and tucked it in her jeans pocket.

  "You know I can take care of you." Ray reached over the table and touched her hand. Ellie pulled it away.

  "No thanks, Ray. I am fine."

  "He doesn't deserve you." Ray grunted. "You could do better. He's married. I am not. What do you find so attractive about him? The Monday morning money? I can do that. Because he's the boss? I can get my own jobs; I can do anything he does."

  Addi looked at Randy sharply. She was right! But not about Ray!

  A married man? Ellie was seeing a married man? Somebody who gave her money on a regular basis. Ray's boss? No wonder she hadn't wanted anyone to know who was the father of her baby.

  "You should ditch him, be with me," Ray offered grinning. "I can be good to you."

  "No thanks." Ellie got up. "Not interested. And who says we are involved?"

  She got up and pushed in her chair.

  Ray shrugged. "I am just the messenger telling it like how I see it. By the way, compliments to the chef. Tell your uncle that he is the best damned cook in the entire Jamaica, if not the entire world!"

  Ellie smiled. "I'll tell him."

  Randy waited until she was a distance away before he got up. "Let's go, Addi."

  "But why?" Addi pointed to Ray. "He is still eating."

  "Come on," Randy was almost through the door before Addi reacted.

  "What was that about?" Addi ran into the car and swiped the cap from her head. "Start talking."

  Randy turned his head to look at her and then sighed. "I know who Ray is."

  "So tell me." Addi could barely contain her excitement. "Does that mean you have an idea who Ellie's married man is?"

  Randy looked at her sadly, "Maybe, maybe not."

  "Who is he?" Addi pinched him, "just say it. Don't leave me in suspense."

  "I think it would be better if we confirm it before I jump to conclusions." Randy nodded seeming as if he had come to a decision. "We should follow him to work."

  Addi settled down in her seat. Watching the restaurant door intently. Her curiosity was now more than stoked especially as Randy had gone all mysterious on her.

  So Ellie was a two timing slut who was sleeping with a married man along with her brother, or would be sleeping with her brother.

  "You can't judge her." Randy piped into her thoughts as if he were a mind reader. "Weren't you with a married man for twenty years?"

  "You were the married man and you are right, I shouldn't judge her. But please note you and I won't happen again," Addi hissed. "And because it won't happen. I was never an adulteress. I am so sorry I told you."

  "Nope you were quite happy to tell me." Randy chuckled. "You couldn't wait to blurt it out the minute you saw me. I thought you were Josh's mad little sister with a hell of an imagination. But you aren't...no one could make up this kind of thing."

  He said it grimly.

  Randy started the car when Ray walked out of the restaurant.

  Ray got into a battered green truck and drove out of the parking lot.

  Randy followed him at a steady pace as he drove out of town toward Ingleside.

  Addi always loved coming to Ingleside, it had a lot of gorgeous houses and superb views of the surrounding hills. It was also the place where her father and uncle were building an apartment complex.

  Ray turned into a marled driveway, into what was obviously a construction site and stopped.

  Randy turned in with him.

  "What are you doing?" Addi hissed, "he is going to see us."

  "I know," Randy said grimly. "He is supposed to. I am supposed to check up with him everyday. You know he is the foreman in charge while your father and uncle are away."

  Addi gasped. "What? No!"

  "Yes." Randy nodded. "Your father said that I should speak with Ray. His full name is Raymond Byfield. I should know, I did the payroll roll last week, and this is the site."

  Addi was shaking her head and she didn't even know she was doing it. "No way."

  "Yes," Randy nodded. "I guess you can narrow Ellie's list of married men to two men. Your father or your uncle. They are Ray's bosses."

  Addi could not wrap her mind around it. She couldn't. It wasn't shocking. that was too mild a word. It was mind-boggling.

  She was literally confused. One didn't want to think of her beloved father or uncle cheating.

  ****

  Her mattress came later in the evening, and she watched the deliverymen and Josh as they put it on her bed frame.

  She felt as if she was watching from a distance. The news had finally sunk in. One of her dear loved ones had cheated on his wife, her mother or aunt, with Ellie, her brother's girlfriend.

  One of them, either her father or her uncle had conspired to get Josh take the responsibility for their child.

  She had spent most of the afternoon shopping for sheets and material for her bedspread and curtains. She did not want to think about it. Randy had been her silent shadow, not seeming as if he wanted to speak about it either.

  Now the knowledge of what she learned today, suddenly and brutally grabbed her and wouldn't let go. She spread the bed with her new sheets and then laid on it looking up into the ceiling.

  The bed, it felt good.

  Perfect. Not a squeak as she turned in it. No more sleeping in settees for her.

  She had to sort through this conundrum though. All that she had thought that she knew about her time this summer had been a lie. She didn't know squat, but it seemed as if her aunt Ivy knew something. All of that barely controlled hostility yesterday and those broad hints about visiting Mack J's and bringing up Ellie's name doggedly was a message to one of the men.

  But which one?

  Both of them had gone silent when Ivy had started on her Ellie questions.

  A two-tap knock on her door had her rolling over and closing her eyes she didn't want to talk to anyone. Not now.

  "Come in," she mumbled closing her eyes.

  "Mom said you wanted to move a sewing machine next door."

  Addi cracked her eyes open. Josh had been treating her cold lately and it was spilling over into his voice now.

  "I'll have to clean out the music room," she said closing her eyes again. "Maybe tomorrow."

  Josh nodded but she could still here him standing there.

  "What you said about Ellie was really hurtful," he said stiffly. "I mean I like your guess the future games, I really do, but Addi, this is Ellie we are talking about. She is my girlfriend. We are getting serious."

  Addi grunted. "It's not a future game."

  "Well whatever you want to call it. Don't say a
nything about Ellie, okay."

  "Fine," Addi said feeling drained of energy. She felt like shrieking at him but this was not his fault. He was a patsy for either his father or uncle and she had a sneaky feeling that Ellie had singled him out in the past couple of weeks for just this reason.

  She took one of her pillows and covered her head.

  Josh left the room and she heard the door click shut.

  She removed the pillow and went back to staring at the ceiling. Stanley Carlos Porter and Nathan Robert Porter.

  The Porter Brothers.

  Stanley was barely a year older than Nathan. They were both close. They built their houses in the same yard. They ran the same business. They both married their college sweethearts.

  Stanley married Ivy Richards in June 1974, and Nathan married Victoria Wallace in June 1975.

  They had children at almost the same time too. Ivy had a son, Leroy in October 1975 who died from sudden infant death syndrome in 1976 and Victoria had Joshua Oneil the same year, who was still alive.

  They both had daughters in 1977. Ivy had Skyler Simone in January 1980 and Victoria had Addison Monique February 1980.

  The wives lived beside each other but they managed to keep out of each other's space. Her mother had once told her that Ivy had never forgiven her for having a son who was still healthy and alive when hers died.

  They had old baggage. Even in the future, Aunt Ivy pretty much kept to herself, only attending family get-togethers if Sky insisted.

  One of these two women had a cheating husband. Addi breathed in tremulously. She hoped it wasn't her father.

  She crossed her fingers in a childish gesture of hope as if that would change anything. But if it wasn't her father it would be her uncle.

  Her uncle who had met an untimely death in a couple weeks time. His death had caused a void in her father's life that had been painful to watch.

  She flipped on her belly and tried to piece together any clues from the past that would point to Ellie being attached to any of them. She was drawing blanks.

  But wait, her mind started to feverishly tick.

  Before, when Josh had found out that the child wasn't his, her father had readily offered to bail him out.