Coulson's Secret

by McIntyre, Anna J

  Kim steered her Tahoe up the long, winding drive leading up to the mansion. Towering palm trees, each perfectly manicured, lined the concrete driveway. Pinyon pines dotted the perimeter of the five-acre parcel of land while lush lawn covered any dirt areas of the property.

  The concrete drive led to a level parking area, made from red pavers, surrounding the front portion of the three-storied mansion. A six-foot-high brick wall surrounded the property at the rear of the house. Within the brick enclosure was a swimming pool, pool house, and tennis court, all of which Kim could not see. She could only guess what was hidden behind the brick wall. There were several vehicles in the parking area. Kim recognized Adam’s car.

  “She’s here,” Angela told Adam as she stood by the library window and watched Kim park the Tahoe next to Adam’s car. “I still don’t understand why your mother had to invite her.” Angela sipped a glass of wine as she watched Kim from the window.

  “Angela, I told you she is an old family friend.”

  “Daddy said you used to date her. Is that true?”

  Adam wondered why Angela was waiting until this minute to ask the question.

  “That was years ago. We were in high school,” Adam told her. He was grateful they were alone in the library.

  “Did you love her?” Angela narrowed her eyes and stared at Kim, who had no idea she was being observed.

  “Angela, her mother was just murdered. Mom didn’t want her to spend Thanksgiving all alone.”

  “That’s silly,” Angela snapped. “I’m sure she has other friends in Coulson she could spend Thanksgiving with, someone other than an old boyfriend. I’m not happy about this.”

  “That is fairly obvious,” Adam muttered. He glanced out the window and watched Kim walk up the stairs to the front door.

  “I didn’t object when you took her to Clement Falls, but that was before Daddy told me you used to date her.”

  “Are you seriously jealous?” Adam asked.

  “Not in that way. After all, she is so old. Hardly someone I need to worry about.”

  “She’s my age, Angela, hardly an old woman.”

  “Adam, don’t be silly. I certainly am not going to be jealous over someone like her. I just don’t think it’s necessary having her hang around. It’s not like she’s one of our friends.”

  “She is one of my friends.”

  “Whatever.” Angela shrugged and glanced toward the door. She heard the voices from the entry, greeting the new arrival. “Have you told your mother and Garret yet?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t you think you should before they find out on their own?”

  “I’m more concerned about Peterson finding out.” Adam took a deep breath. Life was getting too complicated.

  “Don’t be silly. There’s nothing Peterson can do. You have the perfect alibi—me.” Angela gave Adam a bright smile and kissed his cheek. Then she added, “But, I’m not sure how your old girlfriend would feel if you were implicated in her mother’s murder.”

  “Not amusing, Angela. I’m going to go say hello.” Adam turned abruptly from Angela and headed out the library door.

  Kim rang the doorbell and half expected to see a butler or maid appear in the doorway. Instead, it was Adam’s aunt, Kate Coulson, who opened the front door and enthusiastically greeted Kim with a hug. When Kim made a flip comment about expecting a servant at such an impressive estate, Kate laughed and quickly explained Harrison Senior did have a staff of servants, but she and Alex had convinced their father-in-law to give them Thanksgiving off and allow his daughters-in-law to prepare the holiday meal. Of course, that did not include Harrison Junior’s widow, Shelly.

  Being an only child and having been raised by a single parent, Kim was not accustomed to noisy family gatherings. When she had dated Adam, she hadn’t been exposed to the Coulson clan since Adam had not yet been part of that family. However, she had been friendly with Adam’s uncle, Jimmy, who was the brother to Adam’s father, along with Jimmy’s wife and daughters. Kim had also met Alexandra’s brother, Tommy, along with his family.

  Upon arriving at The Coulson House, Kim was reintroduced to the family members by Alexandra. The only two people Kim hadn’t already met were Harrison Senior and the senator’s widow, Shelly.

  Shelly sat by herself on one couch drinking what appeared to be a martini. She didn’t seem particularly interested in visiting with the other guests and simply gave Kim a dismissive nod upon introduction.

  Harrison Senior, Garret and Russell’s father and the namesake and father to the murdered senator, looked like a less friendly and much older version of his sons, with thick white hair and clear blue eyes. He sat quietly in a wheelchair and studied the new arrival with shrewd interest.

  Everyone seemed to be talking at once, and Kim didn’t see Adam or Angela anywhere. She was just saying hello to Adam’s sister and cousin when Adam walked into the room and gave her a brief hello wave.

  Russell and Garret were in the middle of a heated argument about sports or some such topic but paused to say hello to Kim, and each gave her a hug. Kim couldn’t help but be charmed by the two brothers.

  Alexandra popped into the room to get Kate. She needed assistance in the kitchen. When Kim offered to help, Alexandra politely rejected the offer and instructed her daughter and niece to keep Kim entertained, then told Adam to make their visitor a cocktail.

  Kim had already passed the two bottles of wine to Kate when she politely declined a drink. The two teenage girls were chattering at once when Angela walked into the room. Angela gave Kim a casual hello before firmly attaching herself to Adam’s side. Kim smiled, feeling a bit awkward and attempted to keep up with the numerous conversations going on simultaneously. In the midst of the noisy chaos, she heard a gruff voice call out.

  “Come here, girl. Let me look at you.” Kim didn’t realize Harrison was speaking to her. Hannah giggled and nudged Kim.

  “Grandpa is summoning you.” Hannah giggled again, nodding toward the angry looking man in the wheelchair. His chair was pushed to the far side of the room, away from the fray, as if he preferred to be an observer instead of a participant.

  Kim smiled awkwardly and took a deep breath before approaching the Coulson patriarch.

  “Hello, sir,” Kim said, standing before Harrison Coulson Senior. He leaned back in the wheelchair as his gaze swept over the young woman.

  “You’re wearing a dress,” he stated as if her mode of attire was in some way a mystery.

  By reflex, Kim glanced down at her wool dress. The palms of her hands brushed over the skirt as if wiping away some imaginary stain. “Why, ah… yes.” She wasn’t sure what he was implying.

  “I like that.” Harrison nodded his approval and then pointed at his granddaughters. “Silly girls, always wearing jeans like their mothers. I like to see a young woman dress like a woman.”

  Kim wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “I understand you’re a real estate broker.”

  Kim was surprised he knew anything about her. “Yes, sir. I’m an associate broker,” She explained.

  Harrison studied her for a moment, as if trying to work something out. “I am sorry your mother got herself killed with my boy,” he said, his voice gruff.

  “I’m sorry about your son.” Kim thought the phrasing of his words odd—got herself killed.

  “I had great hopes for that boy. When he became a senator, I thought I had been wrong about him. But I wasn’t. The boy was a fool.”

  Kim desperately wished someone would rescue her from the strange conversation, but everyone else in the room was preoccupied and involved with their own discussions, save for Shelly, who silently stared into blank space.

  “But those two over there…” Harrison nodded toward Garret and Russell, who were unaware they were the subject of their father’s discussion. “I always knew Russell was a keeper, smart as a whip and not a stupid bone in his body. Garret… I considered tossing him back, but he turned out to be the prize in t
he bunch.

  “That one on the couch, I’ll be glad to get rid of her. Almost as useless as her husband.”

  Kim swallowed nervously, speechless and embarrassed to hear Harrison’s brutal opinion of his dead son and the new widow.

  “But the two in the kitchen, those two minxes give me hell. Wouldn’t trade them for anything. Fresh air they brought into this family. What about you, girl? What will you bring into this family?”

  “Me?” Kim looked down at the old man in the wheelchair and began to suspect he must be suffering from some form of dementia. “Um… I’m just here for dinner, sir.”

  Harrison laughed at her response. The next moment, Alexandra returned from the kitchen with Kate and rescued Kim. Just before they led her away to give her a tour of the house, Harrison motioned for her to come closer.

  “I’ll be watching you, girl,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Is there something wrong with Mr. Coulson? I mean, is he senile or something?” Kim asked as she walked up the stairs with Kate and Alex.

  Kate laughed at the question. “Hardly. That man is a sharp old coot.”

  “He’s a bit ornery,” Alex explained. “He loves to get people rattled. Don’t let him bother you. I’d say he was harmless, but…”

  “Harmless! Now, that is funny. One thing about our father-in-law, he is not harmless. Lucky for Alex and me, we’re in the old man’s good graces.”

  “You shouldn’t call him the old man. Sounds terrible,” Alex scolded.

  “Oh, pooh. I call him that to his face. But if you are talking senile, you have the wrong Harrison.”

  “I don’t understand,” Kim asked, but they had finally reached the second floor of the mansion, and the subject abruptly changed as Alex began giving Kim her unofficial tour of the house.

  Thirty minutes later, they all sat down for Thanksgiving dinner. Eleven places were set around the large cherry wood table in the formal dining room. They served the meal family style, and cleanup was a family affair, except for Shelly, who disappeared when Alex brought out the pumpkin pie and Harrison, who directed traffic from his wheelchair. Kim assumed Shelly had gone upstairs to her bedroom for the evening. It was obvious Shelly had no relationship with her husband’s family.

  Later, while looking for the bathroom, Kim took a wrong turn and walked into the library off the hallway. Impressed with the book-lined walls, Kim wandered farther into the room. This is my dream room, she thought as she walked through the library, allowing her fingertips to trail lightly over the leather book covers lining the shelves.

  Noticing the view from the window, Kim walked toward the floor-to-ceiling glass panes. Trying to see what was to the far left of the drive outside, she stepped behind the window coverings, unintentionally concealing herself.

  “You could have at least waited until I moved before you started making yourself at home and inviting strangers here. I sure as hell don’t appreciate spending Thanksgiving with that woman’s daughter.” It was a woman’s voice. While she had only heard Shelly speak a few times during the evening, Kim was certain it belonged to the widow.

  “Don’t be such a bitch, Shelly,” Garret snapped.

  Kim was horrified. Garret and Shelly had just entered the library and assumed they were alone. She held her breath and prayed they wouldn’t find her lurking behind the curtain.

  “It’s true. You all invited yourself here, and you drag along your wife’s son, girlfriend, and even some odd acquaintance. Just because that woman had the misfortune to get herself blown away with Harrison, I don’t see why I have to entertain her daughter.”

  “No one is asking you to entertain anyone. And while you may have lived in this house during your marriage to my brother, it’s my father’s home.”

  “I don’t know how you did it, Garret, but you got exactly what you wanted. Because Harrison is dead, the house now goes to you after the old bastard dies. It should go to me. I stayed married to your idiot brother all those years, so I should get the house.”

  “Shelly, you made the choice to stay with Harrison. And you always knew the house would go to me if Harrison died before our father.”

  “No. Harrison promised me he would convince his father to change the will, and then I would inherit the house if he went first. He told me last year your father finally changed his will. The house is supposed to be mine!”

  “And you believed him, Shelly? Good lord, you’ve known for the last few years that Harrison was not completely rational. My dear brother has not been in his right mind for years.” I sometimes wonder if he ever was, Garret added silently.

  “Another thing. My father is still alive, so even if he had changed his will to appease Harrison, which he didn’t, he could easily change it back. But I tell you what, you go on out there, and you get the old man to change his will and leave you the house. If you can convince him, I won’t stop you. He’s still alive, still kicking and unlike his eldest son, has his full mental capacities. If you can get him to change his will and leave you this house, more power to you.”

  “Bastard,” Shelly hissed.

  “Okay, Shelly. What did you want to talk to me in private about? Our family is waiting for us. What did you want? Or did you just want to continue railing over this house.”

  “Fuck you and your family. I plan to move out by the first of next week. I’ve arranged for the movers to arrive next Wednesday. If you want to come supervise the move, just to make sure I don’t run off with some precious Coulson heirloom, then be here at 8:00 a.m.”

  Kim waited patiently for Shelly and Garret to leave the library. She heard what she thought was Shelly stomping from the room, slamming the door behind her. Kim held her breath and could hear Garret moving around the room. She tried not to make a sound but found herself trembling and leaned into the window, away from the curtain. If she made the curtain move, it might attract Garret’s attention.

  Kim heard Garret’s footsteps moving closer and closer. Facing the curtain, her back to the window, she watched in horror as the curtain was pulled to one side. She found herself looking into the smiling face of Garret Coulson. Kim’s face flushed red from embarrassment.

  “I wasn’t hiding, honest,” Kim began to sputter. She wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. “I was looking out the window when you both walked in and didn’t see me. And then…”

  “Hey, I understand, but I’m deeply sorry you heard all that.” Garret held the curtain and moved to the side so Kim could step out from her hiding place.

  “This is so embarrassing,” Kim muttered.

  Garret only laughed and then gave her shoulder a little pat. “It’s okay, honest, Kim. When Alex first met my parents, she did practically the same thing. She was so busy looking out the window she didn’t realize my father had entered the room, and when she stepped out from behind the curtain, she about had a heart attack.”

  Garret laughed again, but it didn’t make Kim feel any better. She felt like a fool.

  “Come on over here and sit down. I’ve wanted to talk to you anyway.” Garret led Kim to a leather chair by the fireplace. She sat down and glanced around the enormous room.

  “This is really a great room,” Kim said, praying Garret really did understand it was all an accident.

  “Yes, this was always Alex’s favorite room, too.” Garret leaned against the large oak desk and faced Kim.

  “Are you going to be moving here? Kate told me the house would be going to you now.”

  “The house still belongs to Dad, and there is no way I’m going to move Alex and Sarah in while he’s living here. My father raised sons; I can’t imagine how he’d fare with a teenage girl in his house.” Garret chuckled.

  “I’ll confess, I was surprised you and Alex had a daughter. I never kept in touch with my old friends from Coulson. I assumed you two were still traveling the world.”

  “It came as quite a surprise to Alex and me, too.” Garret smiled. “But neither of us would have it any other way. Seventeen years ag
o, I never imagined the life I would be leading today. I’m a very lucky man. So, what about you, Kim? What are your plans?”

  “I plan to put my mother’s house on the market. I’ll be talking to a real estate agent next week.”

  “You’re an agent, so why don’t you list it?” Garret asked.

  “I don’t know the Coulson market. My broker is hooking me up with a local agent. I’ll be getting a referral, but I’ll let someone else handle it. Garret, has there been anything new in the investigation?”

  “No. But, I’ve started going through Harrison’s papers and business transactions. One reason Shelly is so annoyed with me is that my brother’s estate is wrapped up with Coulson Enterprises. She isn’t walking away with what she thought. I would appreciate it if we kept that between us.”

  “Of course.” Kim nodded, wondering why Garret was telling her all this.

  “I did want to ask you something. Do you remember your mother ever mentioning my brother Harrison?”

  “No, not that I recall.” Kim had been asking herself that same question, repeatedly, since her mother’s murder.

  “Then you didn’t know your mother used to work for my brother?”

  “What?” Kim couldn’t believe that was true. As far as she knew, her mother had worked for the county since before Kim’s birth.

  “Yes. He was just getting into politics and running the non-profit organization our family set up. Apparently, she worked for the public relations department writing press releases.”

  “Wow, that’s news to me.”

  “Well, it could explain why she was there that day. Perhaps your mother was considering donating some time to the charity or asking Harrison for help with some charity she was involved with.”

  “I don’t know of any charity my mother was involved with. And I find it hard to believe my mother ever wrote press releases. Her job with the county has always been clerical in nature. I really can’t imagine why she was there that day.”