Coulson's Secret

by McIntyre, Anna J

  “Maybe I should make that trip to Clement Falls alone,” Kim said at last, smiling up at Adam and taking her hands back.

  “Yeah, that might be a good idea. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I rather liked it. But you and I kinda have this history, where one of us hurts, and the other one rushes in to comfort.”

  “Why didn’t we stay together, Kimmy?” Adam asked, his eyes searched her face for some answer.

  “Because back then I was madly in love with a sweet boy who was in pain, and he confused the comfort with love.”

  “I loved you,” Adam insisted.

  “I think you did, but I don’t think you were ever in love with me.”

  “And what are we feeling now? I know you’re feeling something, too.”

  “Unresolved issues, perhaps? We have a history. We shared a loss. If it were something more, I suspect we’d be ripping each other’s clothes off about now.”

  Adam laughed then hugged Kim.

  “I’m not really sorry about the kiss. I had to see. I was feeling something, but I just wasn’t sure what. I do love you, Kimmy, I always have. I’m just not…”

  “In love with me,” Kimmy finished. She let him hold her as she leaned against his shoulder.

  “I’ve missed you. I think I was in love with you when we were kids, but I’ve changed so much since then. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed you until now.” Adam pulled away from Kim and looked down at her, a smile on his face. “We’ve gotten the kiss out of the way, so how about you let me take that trip with you to Clement Falls… for moral support.”

  “What about Angela?”

  “I’ll tell her I’m taking you up there. She’ll understand. I won’t tell her about the kiss; that she won’t understand.”

  “Okay, Adam. I’d like you to go with me. I have a feeling I might need some moral support.”

  “It’s a date, then. I’ll pick you up in the morning. I want to be there for you, like you were for me.” It was true; he was no longer in love with Kim. Love had nothing to do with what he was feeling. Lust was a more apt description, he told himself.

  Chapter 5

  When the doorbell rang the next morning, Kim assumed it was Adam picking her up for their trip to Clement Falls. She was surprised to find a young woman standing on the front porch with a notebook and camera in hand.

  “Yes?” Kim stood in the doorway, her hand on the edge of the door. She wasn’t inviting the woman in, nor was she joining the stranger on the front porch.

  “Ms. Myers? Carol Myers’ daughter?” the woman asked.

  “Yes.”

  “My name is Susan Miller. I’m with the Coulson Herald.”

  “The local newspaper?” Now Kim understood the camera and notebook.

  “Yes. First, I’d like to say I’m very sorry about your mother. I was hoping I could talk to you a moment about her.”

  “I really have nothing to say that would be of interest to your readers. I’m sure you know just as much about the ongoing case as I do.”

  “Do you know why she was at Senator Coulson’s office?”

  “Ms. Miller, I really have no idea why she was there. According to the police chief, he seems to believe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “But what do you think?” the reporter asked.

  “No disrespect intended, Ms. Miller—I understand you are just doing your job—yet I really don’t want to speculate about my mother’s murder investigation with your readers. As I said, I really know nothing about the case that might be useful to anyone. I’m afraid you’re wasting your time.”

  To Susan Miller’s frustration, she couldn’t convince Kim to discuss the ongoing case or Carol Myers. The reporter found herself standing alone on the Myers’ front porch, the door shut in her face.

  “A reporter, huh?” Adam said after Kim told him about Susan Miller. “I wonder if it’s the same one that’s been trying to talk to Garret and Russell.” They were on their way to Clement Falls.

  “It got me to thinking.” Kim looked out the passenger window. “I’m surprised there haven’t been more reporters, more coverage on this case. I really haven’t seen much about it on the news. You always see cases like this where reporters are camped outside people’s houses.”

  “Well, thank God that hasn’t happened.” Adam briefly glanced over at Kim; she was staring out the passenger’s window.

  “But why not?” Kim turned her head and looked at Adam. “I agree, I would hate all that, but why isn’t CNN parked outside our houses? After all, one of the victims is a United States Senator.”

  “Was, Kimmy. You forget, Harrison retired over a decade ago.”

  “That long?” Kim was a little surprised. “Funny, I didn’t think it was that long. In fact, I wasn’t even sure he was retired. Guess I’m out of touch with state politics.”

  They drove in silence for a few minutes before Kim asked her next question.

  “But what about who he was, a Coulson? After all, I always heard the family was one of the richest in the state, maybe the country.”

  “That might have been true when Mom married Garret, at least about the state. Not sure about the country.”

  “The family is no longer wealthy?”

  “I imagine they have as much, if not more, money than they had when Mom and Aunt Kate married into the family. But you have to remember, the idea of wealth has changed a great deal since we were in high school.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We used to be impressed with millionaires; now there are billionaires. The Coulsons have money, but nothing like the Zuckerbergs and Gates of today. Garret retired when he married mom, and since then his priority wasn’t on building wealth but on spending his time with family. I’ll confess, that’s one of the things that made me look at him differently—his priorities.”

  They were silent for a few moments. Finally, Kim said, “I suppose I shouldn’t overanalyze the lack of media coverage and be grateful I’m not fighting off reporters and cameras. I certainly wouldn’t want any trailing me today.”

  “Are you nervous?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know what you’re going to say?”

  “Last night, I kept going over it in my head. But I have no idea what I’m walking into. I was thinking I’d like it if you let me go up to his house alone. Would you mind waiting in the car for me?”

  “No problem, Kimmy. You tell me what you want, and I’ll be there for you.”

  “Thanks, Adam. I really appreciate it. What did Angela say when you told her you were taking me up to the falls? What did you say? You did tell her?”

  “I just said you had family at Clement Falls you were estranged from. But I didn’t say it was your father. I said you wanted to see them before your mother’s funeral. She was okay with it.”

  “She doesn’t know about our history?”

  “No, she only knows we were friends in high school.”

  “When are you getting married?”

  “I don’t know.” Adam shrugged.

  “What do you mean you don’t know? You haven’t set a date?”

  “No, we were discussing next Christmas, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”

  “What do you mean? Are you having second thoughts?”

  Adam didn’t answer immediately. Finally, he said, “I’ve been wondering if this marriage is the right thing.”

  “Adam, please don’t tell me it has anything to do with me or that kiss.”

  “Yes and no. I think seeing you again made me rethink my relationship with Angela. You reminded me how great it was having a lover who is also your best friend. I may love Angela, but I don’t feel as if she’s my best friend.”

  Kim felt a little uncomfortable discussing Adam and Angela’s relationship.

  Adam glanced over at Kim, who sat quietly looking out the car window and watching the landscape as they sped down the highway. He sensed her
discomfort and wondered if he could fall in love with Kim again. She said he had never been in love with her, but he didn’t agree. I loved her, he told himself.

  Kim’s cell phone began to ring. It was in her purse, and it took her a few seconds to find it. When she did, she glanced at it to see who was calling before answering. “Hi, Ed…Do you miss me?” Kim laughed at his response.

  Adam listened, wondering who Ed was.

  “No, nothing new… Really?... That’s terrific. How much?... No, Ed, a normal referral fee. Ed! You are too sweet… I don’t know when I’m coming back. Mom’s funeral is Wednesday… No, it’s too far for you to come, but sweet for you to offer… Yes. Love you, too. Bye.” Kim shoved her cell phone in her purse.

  “Ed? Boyfriend?” Adam had assumed Kim didn’t have a boyfriend. He realized now it was a foolish assumption, and the thought she might be in a relationship unsettled him. Just because she had kissed him back did not mean she was single. Adam certainly wasn’t single, yet that hadn’t stopped him from kissing Kimmy.

  “Ed?” Kim laughed at the thought. “No, my broker and a very dear friend. I asked him to help some of my clients, and apparently, he wrote an accepted offer for them. I told him I only want the normal referral fee, but he insists on splitting the commission in half.”

  “Is that good?” Adam asked.

  “In our office, the normal referral fee is twenty-five percent. Since Ed wrote the offer for my clients, I’d expect twenty-five percent of the commission. He isn’t required to give more. He also wanted to come to Mom’s funeral, but it’s too far.”

  “Did he know your mom?”

  “No, they never met. Actually, I didn’t see my mother much since I moved. We were never that close.” Kim sounded sad.

  “I’m sorry. Your mom was still working for the county?”

  “Yeah, but she’d been talking about retiring. I always wondered what she would do then. She never really had many friends or hobbies. She never traveled, other than the few times she visited me. And then she didn’t want to go out and do anything.”

  “Have you talked to anyone about her will yet, like an attorney?”

  “No. But I have a copy of the will. She left everything to me, which is no surprise. I assume there isn’t a mortgage, since she’s had the house so long. There might have been something in the files that were taken—I don’t know. When I looked through them the other night, I didn’t see anything, but I could easily have missed it.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I plan to meet with her attorney. I suppose I should have done that today.” Kim sighed. “Mom didn’t have a computer, so I don’t imagine she paid any bills online. I can always have the title company run a title search on the house to see what’s owed. I’ll work it all out. I’m not too concerned about it.”

  “Are you sure you want to sell?” Adam hated the thought of Kim leaving again.

  “Why would I keep it?” Kim asked.

  “Don’t you ever miss Coulson?”

  Kim thought about Adam’s question a minute and almost said there was nothing for her in Coulson, but felt it might sound a little rude.

  “Sometimes,” she answered, since it wasn’t completely untrue.

  “Kimmy, you say Ed isn’t a boyfriend, but do you have someone back in Arizona?”

  “You mean a boyfriend?”

  “Or girlfriend,” Adam teased.

  “No boyfriend or girlfriend.” Kim laughed at his suggestion.

  “Why?” Adam regretted the question the moment he asked and quickly retracted it. “No, that really is none of my business. Sorry, inappropriate question.”

  “No, that’s okay.” Kim considered his question before responding and shocked herself with her answer. “I guess I’m a bit like my mother. I tend to be reclusive. Ouch, kind of scary thought.” I really don’t want to end up alone like Mom, Kim told herself.

  “I don’t think you’re anything like your mom. Nothing against your mother, but you’re nothing like her.” Adam remembered Kim’s mom, a cold and bitter woman who seemed unable to connect with people. In contrast, Kimmy had been his shelter during a time he had most needed someone’s comfort.

  “I wish I understood my mother better,” Kimmy said after a few seconds of silence. “I want to meet my father, and I’d like the opportunity to get to know him. But this isn’t just about him. It’s also about my mother. I want to understand her, and perhaps he can help me. Does that make any sense?”

  “Yes, Kimmy. It does.” Adam reached over with his right hand and placed it over Kim’s, giving it a brief squeeze.

  Chapter 6

  “So that’s it?” Kim asked, looking out the car window at the large Victorian house on the other side of the street. It was much larger, older, and seemed more authentic when compared to Carol’s house. Adam had pulled off the pavement and parked on the dirt along the side of the road. The car windows were down, and Kim could smell the thick scent of pine. A cold breeze moved through the open windows of the vehicle. It was a good twenty degrees cooler than in Coulson.

  There didn’t seem to be anyone around. No other cars passed by and no vehicles were parked in front of the house. Kim wondered if anyone was home. If it wasn’t for the sign in the front yard with the words “Clement Falls Bed & Breakfast,” one would never guess the large home was actually a place of business.

  “I wonder if he’s there. Maybe it was foolish to assume I could just knock on the door and he would be home.”

  “If he isn’t there, we can always go have something to eat and come back later. We have all day. Strange. I’ve driven by this place a lot over the years, when going to Garret and Mom’s cabin. I never imagined.”

  “Even if you knew the proprietor’s name, Myers isn’t that unusual of a surname,” Kim told Adam as the two stared at the house.

  In the next moment, the front door opened briefly, and a man walked out on the front porch. He picked something up off a table before going back into the house and closing the door behind him.

  “I guess that answers your question. Someone is there. You ready?” Adam asked.

  Kim took a deep breath. Her heart was already racing. “I suppose,” she answered in an unsteady voice. She was nervous.

  “Are you sure you want to go alone?”

  “Yes, but you will wait here for me?” Kim already knew the answer, but she was frightened and wanted assurance.

  “Of course, Kimmy. I’ll wait right here.” Adam leaned over and kissed Kim’s cheek. She smiled at him and then unhooked her seatbelt before exiting the car. She grabbed her purse and then shut the car door. Nervously, she walked toward the front porch of the large Victorian house.

  Standing before the front steps, she took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and walked up the stairs leading to the double-door entrance. She pressed the doorbell and heard a series of chimes heralding her arrival. Kim waited patiently.

  A few moments later, the door opened. She faced the man and knew instantly he was her father. While he was much older than the man in the picture, she knew it was him. He started to say hello, but when he looked at her face, he paused and just stared.

  “Carol?” His voice was barely a whisper. The man looked as if he had seen a ghost.

  “Hello, Father,” Kim greeted in a terse voice.

  “You’re Carol’s daughter,” he finally said as if suddenly realizing who was standing on his front porch.

  “I’m sorry for barging in without calling first. I was hoping we could talk.” Kim felt awkward. For some reason, she half expected her father to throw his arms around her and give her a welcoming hug and then offer up some plausible explanation as to why he had avoided his daughter for her entire life. Instead, he looked like a man who was searching for a polite way to get rid of the Jehovah Witness standing uninvited on his front porch.

  He didn’t say anything immediately, just stared, and then he finally opened the door so that she could enter.

  “Of cours
e, of course,” he muttered, standing aside to make room for her as she walked through the doorway. She looked around as he closed the door behind her. The home’s interior looked as if someone from Queen Victoria’s era had professionally decorated it.

  “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting anything,” Kim found herself apologizing. “I understand this is your place of business.”

  “No, no, it’s okay. Our next guests aren’t arriving until Wednesday evening. Please, come into the front parlor. Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee, tea perhaps?”

  “No, thank you.” Kim followed her father into the parlor and looked around. He showed her to a chair. After she sat down, he took the chair across from her. They looked at each other. He seemed as nervous as she did.

  “I was sorry to hear about your mother,” he told her, glancing down at the floor as if he was unable to look her in the eyes. Then he looked up and asked, “Your name is Kim, right?”

  Kim found herself nodding, startled that her father wasn’t certain about her name.

  “Please, call me Franklin,” he told her in a kind voice. His words stung. It was as if they were complete strangers, without any connection, and he was generously asking her to address him by his first name instead of by his surname. While it might have been a kind offer, if she weren’t his daughter, she found the gesture insulting. Apparently, he did not want her to call him father.

  Fine with me, Kim told herself. You never earned the title, anyway.

  They sat there a moment in awkward silence as if neither one knew what to say. Finally, Franklin broke the silence.

  “Why exactly are you here?” Franklin asked.

  “Well…” Kim felt as if he had just slapped her. “To begin with, you were married to my mother.”

  “Yes, but that was a long time ago,” Franklin told her. Once again, he was looking down at the floor and not at her face.