They ran into his embrace. "Oh, God. You're all right. You're all right," he muttered, showering kisses over their small faces. "I love you so much."
Rose and Lily stared into his face with somber eyes. They glanced at each other, then back at him.
Rose's lips trembled. Lily cleared her throat. Joanna held her breath.
"We love you, too," they said together, a stunning chorus that broke the dam of emotion.
"I can't believe it," he said in amazement. "You're talking to me."
He squeezed them tight, and when he let go Joanna saw tears on his cheeks. He gazed over their heads at her, and for the first time all day she saw a gleam of hope.
"I'm sorry. Daddy," Rose said. "We didn't mean to make you sad. We promised Mama we wouldn't talk to you until she came back."
"She said if you found out she went to see the man with the black mustache, she wouldn't be able to come home," Lily finished. "But even though we kept our promise, she still didn't come home."
It made such perfect, simplistic sense, Joanna realized. Having spent a week with six-year-olds, she now had a better understanding of the way their minds worked. Lily and Rose had taken their mother's words to heart. If you talk to your father, I can't come back.
"Your mother didn't come home because she died," Michael said. "It wasn't because of your promise. It wasn't because of the man with the mustache. Your mom died in a storm. It was an accident. It wasn't anybody's fault."
"I wish she could have come back," Rose said.
"I do, too," Michael replied, hugging them again as if he couldn't get close enough.
She took a step back, his unguarded words cutting deeply. He was still in love with Angela. He wished she could come back. She felt an arm come around her shoulder and turned her head in surprise.
"For them," Tony said quietly. "He wishes she could have come back for them."
"How do you know that?"
"Because he's in love with you."
"How do you know that?" she repeated.
He smiled. "Because he's my best friend. We've been through a lifetime together."
"She was your sister."
"So apparently are you. I loved Angie, but she's not here anymore, and you are. If Michael loves you, it's okay by me."
"That's pretty generous of you."
He shrugged, offering her his trademark grin. "I'm a nice guy."
"And modest, too."
"Yeah. So, Sis, do you know any good-looking girls who want to sail around the world with a really nice guy?"
"Not a one. Sorry."
"Maybe I should ask Mariah."
"Maybe you should."
Michael stood up, his arms filled with children, his eyes filled with happiness. "Let's go home," he said. "All of us."
* * *
Caroline picked up a photograph of Angela from the mantel in the living room and studied it closely. She'd had plenty of time during the day to explore the house, and she'd done just that, snooping unashamedly, wanting to know more about the man who seemed to be in love with her daughter.
Michael had won dozens of basketball trophies and judging by the paperbacks in his bedroom, he was a reader. She also knew he ordered a lot of pizza and Chinese food, because those delivery numbers were taped above every phone extension. A man after her own heart, she thought with a smile. Then her smile faded. He wasn't after her heart; he was after her daughter's.
She was afraid for Joanna, afraid that her daughter would only be filling another woman's shoes. She wanted Joanna to have a grand, passionate love, one that belonged only to her. Could this Michael Ashton truly love Joanna, or was he simply attracted to the image of his wife?
Maybe she just didn't want to believe in their love, because if Joanna and Michael got together, then Joanna would become even closer to the De Lucas. There might not be room for her in Joanna's life, and Caroline couldn't stand the thought of going through the next twenty years alone.
"Oh, Edward. How could you do this to me?" she asked. She set the photo back on the mantel and walked over to the window. Deep down in her heart, she knew Edward was Joanna's real father. She'd always known it.
He'd been unhappy with her for months before Joanna came along. They'd fought over everything, battling the little things so they wouldn't have to think about the big thing -- their lack of a baby. Although they constantly had sex, because she desperately wanted to conceive, they'd lost their teasing playfulness, their passion for each other. Sex had become a job, a commitment.
She didn't want to believe he had turned to someone else, but she wasn't stupid. He'd brought Joanna home. He'd given her the birth certificate and assured her there was no record of adoption.
Of course there was no record. He hadn't needed one -- not when he was taking his own child home, but not to her real mother, only to his wife.
The front door opened and Caroline whirled around, expecting to see Michael and Joanna. Sophia stood in the hallway. Sophia De Luca, the woman who had stolen her husband but given her a child, the woman she wanted to hate, but it wasn't that simple.
"They're not back?" Sophia asked.
"No."
"We need to talk."
"Yes, we do," Caroline agreed. She took a deep breath, then plunged ahead. "Edward was Joanna's real father, wasn't he?"
Sophia nodded slowly. "It was only one time."
"Oh, God." Caroline put a hand to her heart as once again her fears were realized. Edward and this woman had made love.
"I thought he might have told you once -- once he gave you my -- the baby." Sophia's words thickened with emotion, and she looked weak, so weak that she had to sit down on the chair by the door.
"I didn't want to know," Caroline admitted.
"I wanted to keep Joanna, but I had to choose between her and my family. I had no education, no job. I couldn't lose my family. I would have been nothing without them."
She saw herself in Sophia's eyes, heard her own fear in Sophia's voice. She didn't want to relate to this woman. She didn't want to understand her. "I burned your letters," she said abruptly. "Joanna never saw them and she never will."
"I probably would have done the same thing," Sophia admitted. "To protect my child."
"Yes, that's why I did it." This woman understood what Joanna did not. Perhaps because both Caroline and Sophia were mothers in every meaning of the word.
"I'm grateful to you for taking care of Joanna, for loving her as if she were your own," Sophia said. "It takes a special woman to do that. I said I hated you before, but I don't."
"I don't hate you for giving up Joanna, because if you hadn't, I never would have had a baby." Caroline's eyes narrowed. "But I may never forgive you for sleeping with my husband."
Silence fell between them.
"I want a chance to know Joanna," Sophia said after a moment. "If you'll allow it."
"It's not up to me." In that moment Caroline truly let go. All the secrets were out. Joanna would have to decide for herself what came next.
A car door slammed outside. Caroline and Sophia looked at each other, then rushed to the door.
Joanna carried Rose in her arms, while Michael carried Lily, Tony was left to follow with Peter Panda Bear and the green backpack.
When Joanna saw Caroline and Sophia together, she instinctively stopped. "Who's that lady?" Rose asked.
"She's -- she's my mother," Joanna said with a sigh. "I'll explain everything to you later, okay?"
"Okay." Rose jumped out of Joanna's arms and ran to her grandmother. "We got lost, Grandma."
"And we had to hide behind a big trash can, and we thought this man was chasing us, but he really wasn't," Lily added as she joined her sister.
Sophia smiled at them. "It sounds like you have lots of stories to tell me, but you worried your father a great deal. I hope you told him how sorry you are."
Lily and Rose ran back to their dad. "We're sorry. Daddy."
Sophia's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Oh, my."
<
br /> Michael looked at Sophia. "Everything's okay. It's finally okay."
Joanna smiled. Michael hadn't just found the girls, they'd found him. Father and children reunited. She thought her heart might break with the simple beauty of their embrace.
"We knew Joanna would find us," Lily said to her grandmother. "Mariah said so."
"Mariah. Yes, I knew she would bring us all back together," Sophia said.
"You did?" Joanna asked.
Sophia nodded. "I asked her to bring my daughter home. I hoped one day I would be reunited with my child -- with you, Joanna."
Reunited. Joanna swallowed hard as she looked from Sophia to Caroline.
Tony cleared his throat. "You know, I have a few questions to ask Mariah."
"Like what?" Michael asked.
"Like where to find a pretty woman who wants to take a long sail." He turned to the girls. "Why don't we go upstairs, and you can tell me how to turn her on?"
"She doesn't have a switch, Uncle Tony," Lily said. "She's magic."
"That will make it easy."
The room grew quiet after Tony and the girls left. Joanna looked at the woman who had fed her, bathed her, sung to her, and watched every event in her life. Caroline Wingate, for all her lies and all her flaws, was her mother, and she loved her. Whether they could ever recapture the close relationship they had once had would have to be determined.
She turned to Sophia De Luca next, to the woman who had carried her in her womb, labored to give her life, then given her away to her father. She didn't know how she felt about Sophia, or about the idea of Sophia and her father together. Perhaps in time she would figure it out.
A little distance, a little history, would bring clarity, she thought.
"You can stay here tonight, Joanna," Michael said.
"Or you can come home," Caroline offered.
"You could even come to my house," Sophia interjected.
Three offers. Three people who said they loved her. Three choices to make. Three impossible choices.
"Thank you, all of you. Tonight I think I'll stay in a hotel. Maybe the Stratton -- before they tear it down."
Michael gave her a concerned look. "Are you sure?"
"I can't be with any of you right now. It's too much, too fast. I need time to work things out."
"Joanna." Caroline considered her with the calm steadiness that was endearingly familiar. "Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."
"Thank you."
"If you would prefer not to see me, I will also understand," Sophia said. "I'm just happy that I finally got a chance to meet you." She smiled through teary eyes. "It's enough to know that you're all right."
Joanna walked to the door with Michael at her side. "Will you call me a cab?"
"I'll drive you."
"No. Stay with the girls. Talk to them, listen to them," she said with a smile, touching his face in a tender gesture. "This is your time together. I'll wait outside for my cab."
"You can wait in here."
"It's a little crowded," she said, tipping her head toward Sophia and Caroline, who were still standing in the living room.
"All right. I'll let you go now, but I'm not saying good-bye to you. I'm not letting you go, and I can be very persistent when I want to be."
"I've noticed."
"You taught me to believe again."
"In magic?" she asked with a whimsical smile.
'In you. In love. This is a new beginning for all of us."
* * *
Three days later Tony lifted a bottle of beer to his lips and offered up a silent prayer of thanks that everything had worked out for his family, Michael and the girls were on speaking terms. In fact, Michael could barely get a word in edgewise now that the girls had decided to share every moment of their lives with him. Frank and Linda had made plans to go away for the weekend, and Sophia and Vincent were baby-sitting Frank and Linda's children -- together.
As for Joanna, Tony had spent most of Monday with his half sister, taking her sailing and out to lunch. After about five minutes in her company, he'd stopped comparing her to Angie, because there really was no comparison. They were two very different women, and he was proud to call both of them sister.
His hair blew in the wind as he sailed past Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge. He was leaving San Francisco behind him. Ahead of him was the rest of his life, whatever he chose to make of it. He'd decided not to sail back to the Caribbean. It was too far away. He could be free down the coast in Santa Barbara or even farther south in Newport Beach, but still close enough to see his family.
Freedom was no longer a distant spot on the map, but a state of mind.
The joy stayed with him as he maneuvered the boat out of the bay. Afternoon turned into dusk, and once he reached the Pacific Ocean the solitude of the water brought even more peace. The only thing missing was someone to share the sunset with.
Not even Mariah could give him that. When he'd jokingly asked the wizard how to find a good woman, she had muttered something about finding true love in a closet. True love. He believed in that about as much as he believed in wizards in crystal balls.
He took another sip of his beer, then started abruptly as he heard a crash come from below, followed by angry mutterings and a dozen swear words. Before he could move, Kathleen Shannon appeared at the top of the companionway. Her face was red and flushed, her hair a brilliant fury of tangles.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I'm hitching a ride."
"Excuse me?"
"You owed me one, remember?"
"For what?"
"For letting you sweet-talk that blonde."
Tony frowned. "That doesn't mean you can stow away on my boat."
"I had to get out of town."
"Why?"
"I'd love to tell you, but I think I'm going to throw up."
"Not on my new boat, you're not."
Kathleen ran to the stern and leaned over the side, taking big, gulping breaths of air.
"Are you all right?" Tony asked as he set the boat on automatic and walked over to her.
"It was hot in that closet."
Closet? He groaned, remembering the reckless wish he'd made with a wizard just a few days earlier. Mariah, what have you done to me? I didn't mean this woman.
"Yes, it was the only place to hide," she said.
"What am I going to do with you? We're in the middle of the ocean."
"I know. That's why I waited as long as I could, so you wouldn't be able to take me back," Kathleen explained. "I'm not looking for a joyride, Tony. I need to get out of town."
He looked at her thoughtfully. "Are you in trouble?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"My ex-boyfriend ran up a stack of debts in Vegas. He maxed out all my credit cards. That's why I was working double shifts at the restaurant, trying to pay everything off. Now it turns out he used me for collateral on a loan. Two very scary men broke down my door last night. They gave me twenty-four hours to come up with twenty thousand dollars."
"And you don't have that kind of cash lying around?"
"Of course not."
"Where's your boyfriend?"
"Ex-boyfriend," she corrected. "He's in L.A., I think. I have to find him before they find me. That's why I didn't take a plane or a bus; I thought they'd follow me." She paused. "I just need a ride down the coast. You said you were heading that way. If you take me as far as L.A., I promise I'll never bother you again. Will you help me?"
Help this outspoken, gorgeous woman who had two loan sharks chasing her and a gambling addict using her as collateral? He had to be crazy to even consider it. Then he looked into her beautiful blue eyes and threw caution to the wind. "Oh, hell, why not."
* * *
A new beginning -- Joanna felt a sense of hope as she pulled her car in front of the Seacliff house early Wednesday evening. After spending three days considering her options, she had made some decisions. She
wanted to get to know the De Lucas, including Sophia. She'd already forged a tenuous relationship with Tony and hoped that Frank would be willing to meet her halfway. She also wanted to keep her relationship with her mother intact -- with a few changes. They would respect each other's time and privacy. She would not be her mother's crutch, but she would be her daughter.
As she turned off the engine, she thought about her father. He would approve of her choices, she thought confidently, especially her decision on how to spend the money he had left her. He had told her to save it for her future. Her future was starting today, with this house.
Checking her watch, she got out of the car. She had scheduled an appointment to meet with Jeremy Gladstone. His real-estate agent had assured her the house was still available. Apparently Michael's client had changed her mind about making an offer, saying something about her architect not liking the idea of tearing down a piece of San Francisco history.
She smiled to herself. She hadn't seen Michael since Sunday night, but she'd thought of him often. He'd called her hotel a few times, but she hadn't returned his calls, wanting to give them both some time to figure things out. He'd gone along with her obvious need for space by asking Marlena to pick up the girls from school, thereby saving her from any awkward meetings with Sophia or himself. As for the girls, they acted as if nothing had changed -- the innocence of youth.
A car pulled up behind hers. Startled, she glanced into the rearview mirror. Apparently Michael had decided she'd had enough space. She got out of the car and waited on the sidewalk, her heart quickening as Michael stepped out of the car, looking strong and handsome in his finely cut suit. Lily and Rose tumbled out of the backseat, big smiles beaming across their small faces.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I was expecting Mr. Gladstone."
"I know. He told me."
"When did you speak to him?"
"This afternoon. You see, I was talking to Mariah about you, and -- "
"You were talking to Mariah?" she asked in astonishment.
"I needed some advice. She is a wizard." He paused. "By the way, did you know that there is no battery compartment in that crystal ball? There are no openings anywhere, no motor, no prerecorded tape, nothing. I cannot find any reasonable explanation for why she talks."
Ask Mariah Page 30
