Love Me Tonight

by Gwynne Forster

  “It’s nice of you to say that, Judson. May I call you Judson? I’m Alexis.”

  “Of course. Telford and I have already settled on that.”

  “If you’ll come with me, you can wash up. We eat at seven.” She showed him to a lavatory near a wide staircase, and he could see that the house was as elegant inside as its facade suggested. He washed up, brushed his teeth and shaved with the electric shaver that he always carried in his briefcase. He looked at his watch. Three minutes to seven, and he suspected that when she said seven she meant exactly that.

  He tried to place a call to Heather at the United States Embassy in Colombia, but couldn’t get through. Frustrated, he leaned against the wall and looked toward the ceiling. Judson wasn’t very religious, but with his need for her bearing heavily on him, he said a word of prayer for her safety.

  He stepped out of the bathroom, closed the door and saw Tara coming toward him. “My mommy said you’re having dinner with us. She doesn’t like it when you’re late.” She took his hand. “You can come with me to the dining room so you won’t get lost.”

  “Thank you, Tara. I like to be punctual. What grade are you in school?”

  “I’m in the third grade, but I have advanced classes in reading, geography and arithmetic.”

  “You also play the piano. You’re a very busy little girl.”

  “I like school,” she said, “because I make very good grades.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  They sat down to a beautifully set table, and he bowed his head when the others did. “I say the grace, Mr. Philips,” Tara explained, “except when Uncle Russ is here. He can’t stand my grace, because it’s too long. I’ll make it short for you tonight.”

  He wanted to laugh, but he wasn’t sure whether it would be appreciated. “Thanks. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.” Much to his relief, everyone at the table laughed, including Tara.

  Henry brought a tureen of soup to the table, sat down and said, “Soup doesn’t taste worth a thing when it’s cold, Tara.” She giggled and said the grace.

  “I made it short for Mr. Philips.”

  Telford raised his wineglass. “Welcome to our table, Judson. Henry Wooten, this is Judson Philips. Judson may be my first cousin. We’ll find out for sure.”

  “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised,” Henry said. “When I first looked at him, I figured he was closer kin than that. But your daddy and Sparkman looked almost like twins when they were younger. They were some fine-looking men, and the women loved them.”

  “Want some more turnip greens, Mr. Philips?” Tara asked him as she passed the dish of greens around. “If you don’t eat some of everything twice, Mr. Henry may get insulted. Then, he’ll give us cabbage stew, and I hate cabbage stew.”

  “Pshaw!” Henry said. “I never cook cabbage stew unless one of you gets on me nerves.”

  Tara beamed at the old man. “I know that, and I don’t do it.”

  “No problem, Tara,” Judson assured the child. “I like turnips, I like cabbage, and I can swear that Mr. Henry is a terrific cook.”

  “My mommy is, too. Daddy, is Mr. Philips going to have time to hear me play?”

  “Better ask him, Tara. If he doesn’t want to drive to Baltimore, he’s welcome to spend the night. In fact I suggest it.”

  “I play real good, Mr. Philips, and I just learned to play Schumann’s Waltz in A minor.”

  Judson looked around at the people he hoped would one day be his close relatives and had a catch in his throat. A short while earlier, he’d had no one. Now, he had Heather and his aunt Cissy and, God willing, the Harrington brothers and their families. If only the other two brothers proved to be as gracious and as hospitable as Telford.

  They completed what was, to him, a tasty meal topped off with warm cherry cobbler and black-cherry ice cream. He raised his glass to Henry. “This was a delicious meal. Thank you.”

  “Especially the ice cream,” Tara said. “Mr. Henry always keeps it in the refrigerator for me.”

  Judson looked at the little girl and smiled because she made him feel good. “I hope that one day I’m lucky enough to have a wonderful little girl like you,” he told her.

  “Let’s have coffee in the family room,” Alexis said. “Russ will be here soon, and he’ll want a cup.”

  Judson tried to explain to himself his contentment, his comfortable feeling of being at home with total strangers. He didn’t want to take advantage of Telford Harrington’s hospitality, but he believed the man was sincere, and he considered himself a good judge of people. He didn’t reply to Telford’s suggestion that he spend the night. He’d decide after meeting Russ and Drake.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The doorbell rang seconds after he took a seat in the family room. Tara dashed to the door. “Wait, Tara,” he heard Telford say. “I’ll open the door.”

  “I was waiting for you,” he heard Tara say. “We have company, and Uncle Drake, you’re going to get a surprise.”

  “How’s my girl?” He heard the happy giggles.

  The doorbell rang again. “Hi, Uncle Russ. We have company. Did you bring my kite?”

  “Hi, sweetheart. You bet I did.”

  As Judson had begun to expect, he’d encountered a warm and loving, closely knit family. He stood as the three men entered the room. Shock spread throughout his nervous system. He didn’t have to be told that he was looking at Drake Harrington. The man’s similarity to himself was so stunning that he had to check himself to avoid gaping.

  He gathered his aplomb and extended his hand to Russ Harrington, who stepped in front of his younger brother. “I’m Russ, and I’m sure you are as surprised at your resemblance to us as we are. I’m glad you found us.”

  “This is almost overwhelming, Russ. Fortunately, I’m a sober man. If I wasn’t, I’d consider it appropriate to get stoned.” He reached out to Drake. “If I have to look like another man, I’m certainly glad you’re the one.” They all laughed at that.

  “Thanks,” Drake said. “You don’t happen to be an architectural engineer, do you?”

  “Good Lord, no. I’m an attorney.”

  “Thank God for that. At least I still have my identity,” Drake commented drily and brought laughter to everyone present.

  “Yep,” Henry said. “When I first saw Judson here, I thought Mr. Josh had slipped up somewhere.”

  “Our father was named Josh,” Drake explained to Judson.

  Judson nodded and sipped his drink. “I gathered as much.”

  Alexis stood and took Tara by the hand. “I may be back later. Judson, feel free to stay the night with us. We have plenty of room.”

  He stood, thanked her, bent down and kissed Tara’s cheek. To his surprise, she kissed him back. “Good night, Mr. Philips. I hope you’re here when I get up in the morning.”

  Judson stood and looked at Telford. “That little girl is the reason why a man ought to get married. But duplicating her would be impossible.”

  “Thank you,” Telford said. “My brothers and Henry have had a lot to do with the way she’s developed. She was never spoiled, but she got a lot of love. Well, here’s where we are.” He summarized for them what Judson had told him earlier. “Our father had no sisters and no other brother, and it’s clear from all he’s told me and from his stunning resemblance to us that Uncle Fentriss was his father. But he wants proof and so do we.”

  “What more proof do you need?” Drake asked Judson.

  “I’ve never seen my birth certificate. For nearly all my life, I’ve longed to know. I don’t want to guess or suppose. Can you understand that?”

  “I certainly can,” Russ said. “You want to know not only for yourself, but for your children’s sake. I can imagine that not knowing is a terrible weight on you. Not to worry. We’ll do everything we can to help.”

  They talked long into the night, telling tales of their youth, comparing experiences, attitudes and ideas. “When I was small, I consoled myself with the thought that I
was probably better off with my adoptive parents than I would have been with my birth parents,” Judson said. “But as much as I loved my father, sitting here with the three of you tells me I would have been a different man growing up with Fentriss Sparkman. I must look very much as he did at my age.”

  “I imagine you do,” Telford said. “Henry can tell you about that.”

  “I have to start early for Philadelphia Monday morning,” Drake said, standing. He looked at Judson. “We’re putting the finishing touches on some housing units that we’re dedicating to our father and Uncle Fentriss. We have another one, the Josh Harrington/Fentriss Sparkman Houses, in South Baltimore. Drive over to Pickney and turn north on Trainer. You’ll be there.”

  “It’s late to be driving back to Baltimore,” Russ said. “Why don’t you stay here?”

  “You beat me to it,” Telford said. “Unless you have a pressing reason to be back in Baltimore in the morning, we can go over what you’ve done in Hagerstown and figure out what else we can accomplish there. So stay. You may have our guest room down the hall, or you can stay upstairs with us.”

  “Take the guest room,” Drake said. “If you like the water cold, you can step outside and skinny-dip, but I warn you Henry’s up at five-thirty.”

  “I’m not concerned about Henry’s innocence. What time do the ladies get up?”

  “Alexis gets up at seven, and Tara gets up when we drag her out of the bed,” Telford told him.

  “Thanks. I’ll take the guest room, but I’d rather not take a chance. Do you have a pair of bathing shorts I could borrow?”

  “You bet. I’ll walk you down there.”

  “Do you happen to have a washer and dryer?”

  “Right dow n those steps. If you need anything else, let me know.” He showed him the guest room, came back a few minutes later with a selection of swim trunks and said good-night.

  Judson looked around the large and elegantly furnished room, then walked into the smaller sitting room that adjoined it. A door to what proved to be a bathroom revealed a shower stall, Jacuzzi tub and a room-length marble-top counter with two porcelain sinks, all in beige, brown and yellow. He looked out the window. In the bright moonlight, he could easily see the Olympic-size swimming pool. Telford Harrington lived well, and he imagined that his brothers did, too.

  He laundered his underwear and dried it in the dryer. Then he put on Telford’s swim trunks and the white terry-cloth robe he found in a closet, opened the door and stepped barefoot on the lawn. Seconds later, he threw off the robe, filled his lungs with the clean, late-night air and dived into the pool. After swimming three laps, he put the robe back on and went inside. There, he took a quick shower, dried off and got into bed. What he wanted most right then was to talk with Heather and share with her the joy he felt and the feeling he couldn’t shake that at last he’d found people who were his own flesh and blood and with whom he belonged.

  He awoke the next morning after a comparatively short but restful sleep, dressed and found his way to the kitchen where Henry mixed biscuit dough. “Good morning, sir. I’m up, so what can I do to help you? I’m a firm believer in the principle that a man eats, therefore he should cook.”

  “It’s a principle worth following,” Henry said. “You telling me you know how to cook?”

  “I can’t pull off the kind of meal you cooked last night, but I’ll never starve for want of a cook. What can I do?”

  “You can fry up some bacon and sage sausage, if you want to.”

  “Sage sausage, eh? Are you going to cook grits?”

  Henry stared at him. “Unless I want Tel to get a hangdog look and keep it for the rest of the day, I will. You like grits and sausage?”

  Judson nodded. “You bet I do. I could eat it at every meal.”

  “Then cook about a pound and a half of sausage and two cups of grits, provided you can do that without getting lumps in ’em.”

  “I can do that, friend.” He put the sausage on a griddle pan to cook, measured the grits and water in a saucepan, found a wooden spoon and leaned against the kitchen counter.

  “You knew my father. Am I so much like him?”

  “The spitting image of him at the age you are now.” He cocked his head to the side and let his gaze travel over Judson. “Yep. Ain’t no way he could’ve disowned you.”

  “What can you tell me about him?”

  “I expect you know he was an architect and builder. He designed and built buildings throughout this region to me knowledge. When Tel, Russ and Drake finished college and got into the building business, Sparkman saw ’em as rivals and he did everything he could to put them out of business.”

  He didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you serious? Then why are they so nice to me?”

  “Telford and the boys always played fair, even when they nearly killed themselves getting the better of Sparkman. They didn’t even know that he was their uncle, but I had always suspected it. Tel beat him on the last job they fought over, and Sparkman congratulated him. He got terribly ill and revealed everything. It didn’t cost much imagination to believe the man, because he still looked just like Mr. Josh. The boys rallied around him, and when he passed on, they were on great terms with him. He was one smart man. Hard-working and generous. His father had refused to marry his mother, thinking she wasn’t high-class enough, and Fentriss suffered for it. He had a hard time till he was out of college. Josh didn’t, because he had his father behind him. But when Fentriss Sparkman left this world, he had everybody’s respect. Better turn those sausages.”

  “I did that a minute ago, sir. I just can’t get over the way Telford and his brothers have received me.”

  “I taught me boys to be gentlemen, and to respect and care for other human beings. They’re all good judges of character, and especially Drake. He can spot a phony a mile away.”

  “I gathered that Russ is retiring, Drake is outgoing and Telford, the leader, is somewhere in between.”

  “Looks like you’re a fine judge of people yerself. And you’re to quit calling me sir and Mr. Henry. Me neck is getting tired of looking around to see who else is in here. You’re to call me Henry.” He put a big pan of biscuits in the oven.

  “Thanks, Henry. I’ll do that if you’ll call me Judson.”

  “Good morning, Henry, Judson,” Alexis said, walking into the kitchen. “I hope you rested well last night, Judson.”

  “I did indeed. After three laps in that pool, I wasn’t fit for anything but sleep.”

  He couldn’t believe his eyes. How could Alexis look like a beauty queen at seven o’clock in the morning? “She looks as if she’s ready to go dancing,” he said to Henry. “I wish I could manage that. It takes me a good fifteen minutes to open my eyes, and another forty-five to get my mental adrenaline flowing.”

  “She’s been like that since I first laid me eyes on her,” Henry said in Alexis’s presence. “She never stresses about anything, drinks hardly any alcohol—none while she’s nursing—and gets eight or nine hours’ sleep as often as the sun goes down. That’ll keep you good and fresh.”

  “I don’t drink much because I’m usually driving in the evening, but I’ll start work on an important problem at eleven o’clock and work till an hour or so past midnight.”

  “I know you’re a busy man, but if you don’t get yer rest, you won’t be busy long. Mark me word.”

  “I’m listening. Can I set the table? For how many people?”

  “Alexis is setting the table. You can start the grits now.”

  He put the sausages and bacon on paper towels to drain, got a spoon and prepared to stir grits.

  “What can I do, Henry?” Alexis asked.

  “Pour some milk for Tara and as soon as she and Tel get down here, this’ll be ready. Judson here is stirring the grits. He’s already cooked the sausage and bacon. There’s a bowl of mixed fruit in the refrigerator, and I’ll scramble some eggs as soon as you all sit down.”

  “Can I have a bowl for these grits?” Jud
son asked Henry as Telford and Tara entered the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” Telford said. “Henry, you mean to tell me Judson is cooking?”

  “That he is, and he’s good at it. Where’s Tara? We’re ready as soon as these eggs cook.”

  “Here I am, Mr. Henry. Hi, Mr. Judson. I was quiet ’cause my mommy said I talk too much.”

  He couldn’t help laughing at that. After breakfast, Telford drove Judson around his property, and as he drove, he talked. “When can you and I visit your aunt Cissy?”

  “I’ll call her this morning. What’s a convenient time for you?”

  “Saturday afternoon is probably best, although there isn’t much else we can accomplish in Hagerstown on a weekend.” He opened his appointment book and studied it. “I could meet you there Friday around noon. Would that work for you?” Telford asked.

  “Of course. I’ll make it work.” He went back to the Harrington house with Telford, said goodbye to Henry, Alexis and Tara and got into his car. “Give my regards and thanks to Russ and Drake,” he said to Telford, “and please accept my gratitude for your uncommon graciousness to me. See you Friday.” He headed for Baltimore and home.

  Two hours later, he walked into his house, threw his jacket across the nearest chair, sat down and dialed the United States Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.

  Heather’s mission to Colombia had not proceeded as smoothly as Judson’s trip to Eagle Park. She had little patience for the exchange of genteel smiles and gentlemanly handshakes with adversaries who had as their primary goal the wreckage of her efforts and all the work she’d done for the previous twelve months.

  “But you can’t lower the boom on him,” her local counterpart had argued. “He’s from one of the best families here.”

  “Yes,” she’d said, “and where does their wealth come from?” Her guess was that he’d taken the job to protect his family. She sprawled out on the floor, raised her knees, clasped her hands around them and tried to figure out what to do next. That man was a part of the problem, and he had to go. “They can lay the blame on me,” she said aloud, “but tomorrow will be his last day working here.”