A Family Reunited

by Dorie Graham

  “Probably not a bad idea. Elevator’s here. Talk to you soon.”

  * * *

  THUNDER RUMBLED in the distance as Alex trudged after Robert to their father’s house. They followed the sound of a weather report broadcasting over the television to the back den. As they neared, Dad straightened from his easy chair and turned off the TV with the remote control.

  “How did radiation go?” he asked, turning to them as they entered.

  Robert waved his hand as he sat in the chair to his father’s right. “Radiation was uneventful. I wish I could say the same about the appointment with Dr. Braden.”

  Dad inhaled slowly and shook his head. “I’m so sorry about that.”

  Alex exhaled. “You knew?”

  His gaze met hers. “That I wasn’t Robert’s father? No, I didn’t know that.”

  “But you knew about the affair—about Mom’s affair.” Alex’s heart thudded dully.

  This time he nodded. “Yes, I knew.”

  “Shit.” Robert scrubbed his hands over his face. “Shit. So much for redoing the typing. There was no mistake. I’m screwed. I have no donor. The search of the national donor bank was a bust. This is just great.”

  “I’m so sorry, son.”

  “So am I, Dad, and I don’t care what some blood test says. I’m still calling you Dad.”

  “God, I hope so.” Their father straightened. “But what are you saying about the rest of the typing? None of them matched? I hoped we’d have a match from one of your sisters or Steven.”

  “He said it isn’t uncommon to not find a match within a family.” Robert spread his arms. “But we’re not as much of a family as I’d thought. Are we?”

  “Dr. Braden said they would keep looking. He said new donors sign on every day,” Alex said.

  “Yes, that’s good,” her father said. “We’ll have a donor drive or something. We’ll ask everyone we know to get typed. It can’t hurt to ask them. Everybody wants to help somehow.”

  “Dad, I don’t understand,” Alex said. “That was way back at the beginning when you first got married. How is it you knew she was cheating on you and you stayed with her?”

  He shrugged. “I loved her. And when she got pregnant I was so thrilled. Why would I leave her? She meant everything to me. She still does, but your mother is a hardhearted woman. When I messed up, she couldn’t forgive me.”

  Alex’s throat tightened. “But you forgave her.”

  “I did,” he said. “But so much time had passed. She wasn’t happy with me. Till death do us part is a hell of a long time for some people. I guess your mother and I couldn’t quite make it that long.”

  “She must have been losing her mind, even back then,” Robert said.

  Jacob narrowed his eyes. “You’ll speak of your mother with a little more respect than that, young man.”

  “She cheated on you!” Robert said, his face flushed. “How could she do that? And she cheated first. And now I have no idea who the hell my real father is.”

  Alex stared at her father. “Do you know?”

  He gazed back at her, his eyebrows arched. “Who Robert’s biological father is?”

  “Yes,” Alex said, excitement coursing through her. “Maybe he can be Robert’s donor.”

  “Hell, no,” Robert said.

  “Why not?” Alex said. “Dad, do you know?”

  Her father shook his head, his gaze downcast. “No. She’d go out sometimes with that Rena Bartlett, you know, she was Grace Carrolton’s sister. That’s how we met them. The three of them were friends, but then when Grace left, your mother spent a good amount of time with Rena. They were always on the phone or doing something.”

  “Wait, so Mom used to hang out with Chase’s aunt?” Alex asked.

  “They were best friends,” her father said.

  “That’s how Chase and I started being friends,” Robert said. “I don’t think his aunt had any kids, at least not when we knew her, but Mom and Chase’s mother and his aunt would go out and leave us with whoever was home, either with Dad or Chase’s father.”

  “I hadn’t realized that.” Alex frowned. Chase had been a part of their lives almost from the beginning. Did he know what their mothers and his aunt had been up to all those years ago?

  “You think she met Robert’s father while she was out with Chase’s aunt?” Alex asked.

  “Most likely, but Rena would have known everything that was going on. They were thick as thieves.” Her father inhaled slowly. “I can’t believe it. I just didn’t want to think...”

  “Dad,” Alex began, but then she stopped. Did she really want to ask?

  “Yes?”

  She inhaled slowly, then blew out the breath before continuing. “How long did Mom’s affair last?”

  Her father frowned. “It went on for some time, I’m afraid, but to be honest I tried not to pay too much attention. I remember at some point I realized it was over and she was all mine again and then I just didn’t think about it anymore. I tried to put it from my mind.”

  “I see,” she said.

  “Oh,” he said, nodding, his eyes round, “I understand. You’re wondering because you and your brother favor each other.”

  “We do look more alike than anyone else,” Robert said.

  “I don’t know, honey.” Her father gestured toward the row of family photographs lined up along the mantel. “We had some dark-haired, fair-skinned relatives on my side, too. It’s hard to say.”

  She nodded. What did it matter, anyway? Whether or not her father was her father, he’d still cheated on her mother. The fact that her mother had cheated on him all those years ago didn’t make his actions any more forgivable. It only made Alex see her mother in a new light. She hadn’t been the woman Alex had thought.

  What good was marriage, if this was what came of it?

  “It’s okay.” Robert rose and patted Dad’s shoulder. “We can’t change any of this, right? So, we’ll just have to figure it out from here. But for now, I’m going to go kick back for a little while. I’m starting to feel a little puny.”

  “Robert, why don’t I make you one of those smoothies you like?” Alex asked.

  He turned to her, frowning. “I’m fine.”

  “You haven’t eaten,” she said. “I can make it the way you like with just a little bit of the kale, and I know to wash it, and any fruit, but nothing with seeds. They hurt your mouth.”

  She shrugged at the surprised look on his face. “Dad showed me how to do it last night when he made you one,” she said. “Go ahead and lie down. I’ll bring it to you.”

  Robert shrugged, still frowning. “Suit yourself.”

  As he headed out of the room, Alex turned to her father, refusing to let her brother’s bad mood affect her. “Would you like a smoothie, too?”

  Her father stood. “Actually, I think I’m going to have something a little stronger.”

  She followed him into the kitchen, where he pulled a bottle out of the cabinet over the sink. He poured the golden fluid into a shot glass and held it toward her. “Would you like one?”

  “Tequila?” she asked as she took the glass.

  He nodded and poured another one for himself. He raised the full shot glass to her. She clinked her glass to his.

  “Cheers,” he said and tossed back the shot.

  She drank hers, swallowing quickly. The alcohol burned its way down her throat. Setting the glass on the table she asked, “What ever happened to Chase’s aunt Rena?”

  “I’m not sure. They moved years ago. I don’t know, honey, I’m sorry. It was a long time ago. I wasn’t really in the loop.” A soft chuckle escaped him. “Not that I was in the loop while we were married.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I was just wondering.” She moved to the refrigerator. “Let me make Robert’s smoothie.”

  Ten minutes later she knocked lightly on her brother’s bedroom door. When he didn’t answer, she quietly entered, his smoothie in hand. A strong wind gusted around the house an
d the rafters moaned overhead. The sound of the TV in the den drifted from below. Robert’s soft breathing floated through the room. He lay on his side, curled into as small a ball as a five-foot-eleven-inch guy could fold into.

  She hesitated for a moment, then placed the smoothie on his nightstand. The floorboard creaked as she turned to leave. Robert stirred, uncurling enough to peer at her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” She pointed to his nightstand. “I brought your smoothie.”

  He offered no thanks, but merely grunted as he rolled to sitting.

  “I added some peaches from the stash Chase brought.”

  Again, he made no comment in reply. She hesitated for a moment and then turned again to leave.

  “Alex.”

  “Yes?” she asked, facing him again.

  “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “You know.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “I don’t want to know who my biological father is. I don’t give a damn who he is. Whatever happened between him and Mom, it’s done. For whatever reason, he was never a part of my life. I certainly don’t want him to be a part of it now.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay? I really mean it,” he said with surprising force.

  “Yes.” With a shake of her head, she left, crossing the hall to her bedroom.

  She sank to the bed. Though most everything else had changed, Megan had kept the same mint-green comforter and white eyelet pillows Alex had used in high school. Either that or Dad had pulled them out of storage for her. She preferred to think the former, otherwise she’d have to acknowledge that her father had been thoughtful and that didn’t quite fit the image she held of him.

  It was so odd to be back here again, to be back amid the family drama that had consumed her when she was last here. Why had she thought it would be any different this time around? No, this was infinitely worse. Robert had cancer, with little hope for a cure and, evidently, she had no idea who her mother really was.

  And very possibly, her biological father was some guy her mother had cheated with.

  Was anything what she’d thought it had been? All she wanted was to get Robert better, so she could go home to Baltimore and start her life over again, away from all of this insanity.

  Alex stroked the soft green fabric of the comforter. This, at least, had remained the same. She’d lost her virginity to Chase in this bed. A vision of him standing on the front porch that morning with the sun shining behind him flitted through her mind. She’d sent him away and that was a good thing.

  She pulled his business card from her nightstand. Did he know how to reach his aunt, though? She could call and ask him for just this one favor, to put her in touch with the woman who’d known her mother so well, back in the early days of her parents’ marriage, during the time when her mother would have been having the affair. All Alex needed was his aunt’s phone number, maybe an address.

  Before she could change her mind, she picked up her phone and unlocked it. She just wanted to talk to the woman. She needed to understand why her mother would do such a thing. And, whether Robert liked it or not, finding his biological father might be his best chance of finding a donor for the transplant.

  Yes, Robert had made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with the man. Chances were, she might not find him, and if she did, he might not be willing to be a donor. But she wouldn’t be looking for the man just for Robert. Maybe she’d also be doing it for herself.

  CHAPTER NINE

  GRAVEL CRUNCHED UNDER Chase’s tires as he maneuvered along the private road on his way to Paula Dixon’s country estate. He’d only been here on two other occasions, first to view the original collection and then a year later to pay his respects after Albert Dixon’s funeral.

  Mrs. Dixon normally stayed at her Ansley Park home. Her story that she’d found the newest additions to the collection in a storage room at the country estate could very well be true. The place was large enough for a small mountain of crates to go missing. Albert had been so adamant about sharing his treasures with the world, though. It wouldn’t have been like him to keep a special stash of treasures hidden for his own pleasure.

  Ten minutes later, Paula herself answered the door. Normally her butler was always on hand. Had she given the man the day off?

  “Well, good afternoon, Chase,” she said. “I thought I was never going to get you out here.”

  “Mrs. Dixon.” He took the fingertips of the gentle, ring-adorned hand she offered. “I’m sorry, my schedule has been impossible.”

  She gestured him in and then hooked her arm through his as they walked past the magnificent drawing room toward a back hallway. “You do so much, not just at the museum, but with still going to school to get your PhD. How is that coming along?”

  “I’m close. I’m fortunate the university promoted me before I finished the program, but I’m almost there.” He patted her hand. “And how are you doing these days? I see you’re still very involved in all of the museum’s fund-raising efforts.”

  “I do my best to keep busy. The gala should be spectacular.” She sighed. “Things have never been the same for me since my Albert passed.”

  “I’m so sorry. I know you were together for a very long time. You must miss him.”

  They stopped before an all-white door in the all-white hall. “I do and when I found these artifacts I knew he would want me to use them to the best advantage. You know how he was. He’s still taking care of me, even from the grave.”

  She opened the door. Sunlight streamed in through one long window at the back of the narrow room. Boxes, crates and sheet-draped objects filled the space. She moved to a large crate that sat on a pallet off to the left. The top had been removed and wrapped items sat nestled inside strawlike filler.

  She pulled out one of the objects and, being careful to touch only the soft outer cloth and not the actual artifact, gently unwrapped it, to reveal a long wooden object with the body of an animal and head of a human. The body was long and slightly curved, likely carved from a tree branch in that shape.

  “It’s a neck rest.” Chase pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on before holding out his hands for the object. “May I?”

  “Of course.” She handed him the neck rest. “And there are ritual headdresses and ceremonial masks, as well. Some of the pieces are quite interesting, though I admit I’m not familiar with what all of them are.”

  She unwrapped a number of the items for him to inspect.

  “I’m sure I can help you to identify them all,” he said as he examined them.

  Chase’s curiosity was piqued. The neck rest, as well as the ritual mask and bowl, were well preserved. If all of the items were in a similar state, they could, indeed, bring in a good price for the widow.

  “I don’t understand why these are just now coming to light, though,” he said. “Albert wouldn’t have kept a stash of artifacts for himself and if he did, why would they have been left in a crate all this time?”

  Mrs. Dixon waved her hand in dismissal. “He had so much stuff at one point, I don’t think he knew what all he had. These simply got lost in the shuffle.”

  Chase frowned. Albert would never have lost track of a find like this. It didn’t make sense. “You have the provenance?”

  Her gaze flitted away in a manner that had Chase’s alarm bells ringing again. Her lips curved into a familiar sweet smile. “I’m sure it’s around. I’ll look through Albert’s papers.”

  “Let me know when you find it. I’ll be happy to help you find someone to do the appraisal, but you can’t do anything with these, no matter how exquisite, if you don’t have the ownership history.”

  “Of course,” she said and laughed lightly. “It’s not like I’d be involved with anything illegal. Of course I have the provenance.”

  She rewrapped the neck rest and tucked it back into the crate, then again looped her arm through his. “Now, Chase, I�
��m going to need all of these cataloged. You’ll help me with that, won’t you?”

  He gritted his teeth. “I’ll see what I can do to fit that in.”

  “And you did submit that exhibition proposal to Yale, didn’t you?”

  It was all he could do not to groan out loud. “Actually, I began the proposal this week.”

  “That’s my boy,” she said and patted his gloved hand. “And you will save me a dance at the gala?”

  The gala. He groaned inwardly. He still had to find a date. He plastered on a smile and did his best to subdue the image of Alex that flashed through his mind. The woman had made it very clear she didn’t want him around. “Of course, it’ll be my pleasure.”

  * * *

  EARLY THAT EVENING Chase swallowed and turned down the volume on his sound system. Coldplay should be a good choice. Straightening, he smoothed his hands over his slacks and button-down shirt. He inhaled slowly as he surveyed the area. He’d cleaned and scrubbed the way Tony had instructed, but had he missed something?

  The doorbell rang and he jumped. His heart pounded as he hurried to the door. He’d been stunned when Kara’s caseworker had called to say the home assessment was scheduled that afternoon. He’d left the museum early and rushed through getting his place in order.

  A tall man in a gray suit stood on the front step, clipboard in hand. He extended his hand. “I’m Justin Harris with Children Services. Are you Mr. Chase Carrolton?”

  “Yes,” Chase said as he shook the man’s hand. “Please come in.”

  The man nodded and gestured over his shoulder with his pen. “You have a loose board on your steps. One of the nail heads is protruding and needs to be resecured.”

  “Oh, of course. I’ll take care of that right away.”

  Justin Harris nodded again and stepped across the threshold. He turned to Chase. “I usually speak with the entire family first. Is your stepsister here?”

  Chase glanced at his watch. “She should be here shortly. She’s coming from work. I can call her, but I’m sure she’s on her way.”

  “Do you mind if I just look around while we wait for her? I’ll do the tour first.”