“I wanted to hear your voice anyway. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just…well I wanted to talk to you about my parents. Found some things out and I just...needed to talk to you.”
“Do you want me to come over, or do you and Sophia want to come here?”
She looked up at the time. “Well, she doesn’t have school tomorrow. I’m still not sure if we are ready to sleep at your place, but she loves the beach.”
“You don’t have to explain, I understand. Come over for dinner and we’ll talk. I’m sure the waves will keep her busy while we discuss whatever it is that’s bothering you.”
She sighed, he always knew what to say or do. Sometimes she thought he was far too good to be true and often asked herself if this was really happening. She didn’t deserve someone as good as him. “That sounds good. We’ll be over in fifteen minutes.” She could not help but smile in anticipation of seeing him but her nerves of the discussion she’d have to have with him made her nervous.
“Sounds great, I’ll order out so it’s quicker. Pizza sound okay?”
“Oh, that sounds great, one of Sophia’s favorites, and mine, too. See you soon.”
Dinner was amazing, hit the spot and Sophia said she enjoyed every bite of it. All through dinner she begged her mother’s ear off to go out on the beach and finally, Marissa said yes. She squealed and jumped up, taking her shoes off and running out the back sliding door to the sandy beach that his condo stood on. They watched her through the glass doors as she ran around on the sand and water, laughing and having a great time. He took Marissa’s hand in his own and rubbed her knuckles with his thumb and looked at her admiringly.
“So, what’s on your mind beautiful?” he asked with a smile.
She felt her cheeks flush and turned her head to face him, then looked down at his thumb running absentmindedly across her knuckles. “Well, my father gave me some papers that this man signed when he made the deal about switching babies.” Looking up at him she took in a breath and continued, “At the time my parents lived in Tennessee. I was thinking of going to Tennessee to track this man down and ask him what he knows. Maybe it could lead me to finding my birth mother.”
He nodded as she spoke and shifted his weight in his chair, listening to her, “I think that’s a great idea. But my only concern is your health and I don’t just mean that as a health care provider. I’m worried about you, traveling can take a lot out of you.”
She nodded. “I know, that’s why…” She turned in her chair to swing her legs to the side and come face-to-face with him. “That’s why I want you to come with me. Having a doctor and support system can really help me. I just…I have to try. I want to know why, I want to know who she was and why she did it.”
He brought her hand up to kiss the top. “I have some more vacation time coming up soon, I can just take it early. I’m sure Danny wouldn’t mind watching my patients for a week. If this is what you need from me then yes, I’ll do it. I’ll be there in any way I can be, Marissa.”
She exhaled a breath she’d been holding and smiled. “Thank you…thank you so much, Carlos. I just need to get Dr. McKeon’s okay to skip a treatment. I’m not sure how long this will take. I’m giving myself a week, and I figured it would be a good distraction while we wait on the results of my parents’ test to see if one of them is a match.”
He nodded in agreement and cupped her cheek, running his thumb softly across her skin. “I’ll talk with McKeon, let her know the circumstances. You just let me know when and I’ll schedule my vacation. You can do this, I know you can. Sophia, will she stay with your parents?”
Marissa nodded.
“Then I see no reason not to. The treatments and medication seem to help, why not go see what we can find?”
She smiled and stood to walk over to him and take a seat in his lap, looping her arms around his neck. Kissing his lips softly, her tongue trailed his bottom lip before sliding in and giving him a deep kiss. Pressing her forehead to his she smiled with her eyes closed. “I love you. I’m so…lucky.”
He grinned and shook his head, kissing her forehead with a smile, “No, I’m the lucky one.”
Chapter Fifteen
Helen was becoming frustrated with every dead end as she looked for something, anything, to use in search of her daughter. The talk she’d had with Evelyn last week only made her question more and more of how she’d find the missing infant from over thirty years ago. Tyson had suggested going back to search her father’s office together and she knew it couldn’t hurt. She had yet to tell her sons about Audrey and the secret her father had carried all this time. Truthfully, she didn’t know where or how to start the conversation. Tyson continued to assure her that it would be okay, she’d tell them when the time was right and they’d understand.
Driving back out to the home where she spent her childhood, she looked out the windows at the passing trees as she thought absentmindedly about the last few weeks. It had been so much to learn in one day, and her whole life was suddenly turned upside down. What if her daughter didn’t want anything to do with her, or would rather be left alone and not give her a chance to explain? What if she thought that Helen hadn’t wanted her? Who was she and what did she look like? Was she close by or far away? So many questions filled her mind and she had no answers.
“Are you okay, love?” Tyson’s voice made her blink and turn to face him.
She smiled softly and nodded. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”
He placed his hand on top of hers and gave a gentle squeeze with a return smile.
As he pulled into the drive, she took a deep breath and nodded, “I’m ready, maybe with your help I’ll find something I’m missing.”
He nodded in agreement which gave her a sense of hope for finding the answers she sought.
Once inside her father’s home office again, she stood by the door with her hands on her hips and looked around. There had to be something she was missing. Running a hand through her hair, she exhaled and walked to a filing cabinet and began to sift through the folders.
Tyson walked over to the bookshelf and began searching for anything out of the ordinary. “How old would she be now?” he asked trying to make small talk.
She did a mental estimate in her head and squinted her eyes. “Well, I suppose she would have just celebrated a birthday last month and that would put her at thirty-four.”
He smiled and chuckled at his own thought before sharing it with her. “Tyson II would be upset to learn he isn’t the oldest after all. His half-sister has five years on him.”
Helen smiled bigger than she had in days, at how he referred to her as their half-sister. His being totally accepting of it all made her heart swell with even more love for this man. Walking over to her father’s desk, she spoke. “Thank you for being here with me today and thank you for being so…understanding and accepting.”
He turned to meet her eyes, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Searching through the drawers of the desk and tapping away at the computer yielded no results. In frustration she slammed her hands down on the top of his desk and sighed. A loud popping sound filled the room and Tyson turned to look at Helen as they exchanged curious looks.
“What was that?”
“I must have broken something, I’m just so frustrated.”
“No, not that sound…the one after it.” Tyson stooped down and ran a hand along the bottom of the desk opening. His hand caught some kind of pull handle and tugged on it making a hidden drawer open. Helen looked at Tyson in awe.
“How did you…”
He grinned and shook his head, “Modern Marvels TV show, don’t ask.” She chuckled and pulled the small drawer out, revealing a few documents and photos. She picked up a black and white Polaroid of a baby girl in Helen’s arms and one of the baby being held by Joseph with Anne by his side. She brought her hand up to her mouth in shock at what he’d kept. Having forgotten all about these photos, she felt the tears run down her cheek
as Tyson rubbed her back soothingly.
“It’s her…” she turned the photo for him to see and he took it from her hands and examined it.
“Was there anything else with it?” he asked as he flipped it over to check for more information, finding none. She reached into the compartment and pulled out a document that had names blacked out with marker. Slamming them down on the top of the desk, she sighed and sat back in her chair.
“None of this helps me to know who he gave her to. No names to go on, nothing. I have nothing. It’s pointless, Tyson.” She let out an exasperated sigh.
He shook his head and squatted down to her eye level. “Now, we can’t give up, Helen. We’ll find something or your dad may remember something, but you cannot give up.”
She smiled and let out a frustrated breath, giving him a nod. Promising him to hold on to her hope that they would find more out, she stood with him and hugged her husband.
He held her to him in his arms and continued to give her hope by listing things they could look for and try to find next.
* * * *
Marissa held Carlos’ hand tightly as they finally crossed the line into Tennessee. It wouldn’t be much longer now to get to Knoxville. The GPS in the truck said that it would be about six hours until their final destination. So they had a name and a town, now they just had to go through the six Joseph Burrows from Knoxville, Tennessee looking for the right one.
Carlos had been so supportive of her and had taken off of work for the week to accompany her on the trip there. Dr. McKeon wasn’t too thrilled about the trip and how it would affect Marissa’s health. Once the purpose of the trip was explained she mentioned it wouldn’t hurt having a blood relative tested.
The thought had crossed Marissa’s mind but it wasn’t like she’d find this woman and say, “Hi, I’m your daughter…can I have a kidney?” It didn’t work that way, maybe this woman had given her up for a reason, and maybe she didn’t want her. To have a fancy lawyer do it for her meant that maybe she came from money, or maybe the lawyer was Marissa’s father. No, that didn’t add up, but these days you never knew. Her mind was racing at the speed of light when Carlos touched her shoulder and she flinched, being startled out of her private thoughts. She smiled and placed her hand on top of his which rested on her shoulder, then pulled his hand down to her lap and looked over at him.
“Thank you so much, again.”
He smiled and nodded, looking back at the road as he drove. “No need to thank me. I wanted to be here and I want to do this.”
He continued to drive as she looked out at the sights, never having been back to Tennessee even though it was where she’d been born. Her family had moved when she was still an infant and there wasn’t much talk or photos of their life in Tennessee. She had no personal memories of it since she was so young when they lived there, so all she had now were stories that her parents told her.
After the second Joseph Burrows turned out to be a bust, she started to doubt herself. But they had four more names, so she couldn’t just give up. The third Joseph Burrows’ address was now listed as the town cemetery and she questioned whether that could have been him and she’d never know. Moving on to number four she called the number listed.
“Burrows and Hartwell Law Firm, please hold,” the woman on the other end said before she heard the sound of music. Her eyes widened and she looked at Carlos who sat in the driver seat listening to the call. It was a law firm, maybe this was it. “Thank you for holding, how may I help you?”
“Um, yes I’d like to speak to Mr. Joseph Burrows.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, Mr. Burrows has retired, are you still one of his clients?”
“No, I’m not. I just needed to speak to him about a case.”
“I wish I could help you, but I can tell you that Mr. Burrows has retired and is now residing in a nursing home. He may still be able to speak with you.”
Her heart almost stopped, maybe there was a chance. “Oh, thank you so much. Yes…do you know the name of the home?”
“No, ma’am, We aren’t allowed to give out personal information, I’m sorry. Is there something I can help you with instead?”
Marissa sighed and nodded, “Thanks, I understand.” After hanging up she sat and thought for a minute. This Joseph Burrows just had to be the one, she had to find the nursing home he was in. They pulled into the parking lot of a local diner and Carlos suggested they check into a motel so that she could rest before going on a search. “But what if…”
“He’ll still be there tomorrow, I’m sure of it. It’s getting late, it was a long drive. You need rest. You shouldn’t argue with me, I’m a medical professional.”
She laughed and shook her head, “Fine. You win this time. But tomorrow morning I’m calling every home in this town until I find Joseph Burrows.”
He parked the truck and ran in to get some food and then they headed for the local motel for a room. Stretching sounded like heaven right about now, and she knew that with driving for six hours straight with only two stops, Carlos was probably ready to sleep for a day, maybe two.
Marissa had a restless night with so much going on in her head, so many thoughts, worries and concerns. She had almost psyched herself out of following through with her search, but Carlos reassured her and pushed her to continue. The aroma of coffee and biscuits hit her nose and caused her to turn over in bed to see Carlos standing there with breakfast from the nearby diner. She sat up and made room for him to take a seat next to her, extending her hands to take her coffee and food. Looking at him with a smile she said, “Good morning. Thanks for breakfast.”
He kissed her forehead and nodded. “I couldn’t resist, it smelled so good that I had to sneak out and get some. I figured what better way to start our day?”
She nodded in agreement as she chewed and stared at the white wall in front of her, deep in thought. The reality of how close she was to possibly finding the woman who gave her up thirty-four years ago was almost unbelievable. After they were dressed and ready for the day she closed her eyes in the passenger seat of his truck and exhaled slowly. She nodded then turned to him with a smile. “I’m ready. I think,” she laughed nervously and fiddled with her hands. Today she’d find answers…maybe.
* * * *
Helen sat with her father all morning waiting for the perfect time to bring up Audrey and the photos she and Tyson had found in his desk. There wasn’t much information from the documents as they had been marked out with permanent marker. After he’d eaten lunch, he seemed to be in good spirits. She patted his hand gently and started the conversation she almost dreaded having, due to fear he’d not remember or worse, he’d remember but she’d get another dead end.
“Dad, I found something in your desk I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Oh? What did you find, cupcake?” he said as he wiped his mouth and took a drink of his sweet tea.
“I found a photo of a baby.” She wanted to ease him into it slowly since it might make a difference.
A knock at the door interrupted his answer and she turned to see Brent and Abby walk in carrying Olivia. Smiling brightly at her son and his wife, her eyes went to the infant in her arms.
“We came to see you Grandpa, and brought a little visitor,” Brent said as he walked over to the bed and offered Olivia to Joseph.
Surprising Helen, her father accepted and held his arms out to hold the baby. It was making her emotions skyrocket and she needed to get out of there for now.
“I’m going to let you visit with Grandpa while I run some errands, okay?”
Brent smiled and nodded. Abby placed a hand on Helen’s shoulder and asked, concerned, “Are you okay, Miss Helen?”
Helen smiled and nodded, leaving the room before tears could fall from her eyes. Leaving Brent and Abby to visit with her father, she headed into town to do some shopping that would hopefully take her mind off of everything. As she drove into town, she went through many scenarios in her mind. Maybe her daughter was better off
with someone else, maybe everything happened the way it was meant to. If she was raised by a mother and father who gave her unconditional love, then who was she to want to take her back or ruin the way she viewed her parents. She wondered though, what she grew up to look like. What her name was. If she had Tommy’s eyes, her hair? What did she grow up to be, was she a doctor? A nurse? A lawyer? A wife and homemaker? There were so many possibilities, and there was no guarantee that she would ever know or find out. As much digging and searching as she had done in the last week or so, nothing but a photo and some documents that had names marked out. Her father wasn’t much help, being in and out of confusion. It was hard to pinpoint when he would be in the best mood to ask the questions she needed. Tyson told her to have patience and he continued to see what he could find in Dr. Parker’s old case files. There was nothing documented on the night that Helen gave birth, a lot of the files had gone “missing” and the fire of 1975 was the cause. Of course the coincidence and convenience of that was even more frustrating.
She pulled into the parking lot of the law firm her father had helped build and grow, debating on how she would approach this situation or if it was even worth it. After all, if the hospital had no record, she was certain her father had destroyed anything relating to that adoption. For one, it was an illegal adoption, falsifying death records, switching children, medical misconduct, and the list went on. It made her wonder if Dr. Parker was a willing participant or just a friend who vowed to help in any way he could, getting caught up in the middle of such a situation. Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, she thought about her brother Elijah and her sister Lorraine. It had been a while since she’d spoken to either of them. She and Elijah had been so close until he went away to college and met Naomi. He had since married and become a lawyer just like their father, practicing in upstate New York. She wondered if he knew the truth, or if he was as clueless as she was. Lorraine was too focused on getting her Bachelors in Psychology to ever call or worry about her sister that often. They were almost six years apart. After she lost the baby, Lorraine had told her to count her blessings and move on with her life. She hadn’t spoken to her sister since their mother had passed. Last she heard, Lorraine was still studying Psychology and divorced but happy. Maybe it was time to call her siblings and ask some questions. Either way, one day she would have to tell them.
Circle of Secrets Page 22
