Coulson's Secret

by McIntyre, Anna J

  “I don’t know. I guess because her damn father told her about the baby.” Adam then turned and looked directly at Alex. “And tell me, Mother, how in the hell did Joe Carter know about the baby?”

  Alexandra seemed surprised. “I don’t know. I certainly didn’t tell him, and neither would Garret.”

  “What about Russell? They’ve been friends for years.”

  “No, we all agreed it was no one’s business. I don’t know, but this is a small town.”

  “Whatever,” Adam shrugged.

  “If Angela is jealous over Kimmy, why did you go over there this morning?” Alex asked, still paying close attention to Adam’s reaction.

  “Mom, this really isn’t any of your business.”

  “Is something going on between you two?”

  “Come on, Mom, you aren’t going to start lecturing me, considering you and Garret. At least I’m not married.”

  “You slept with her?”

  “So what? Like I said, this really doesn’t concern you.” Adam took a sip of his water.

  “I can’t believe you would do something like this.”

  “I can’t believe you would judge me. You, of all people.”

  “You have no clue why I’m upset, do you?”

  Adam just looked at his mother, a blank expression on his face.

  “Tell me, Adam. Do you love Kimmy?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Adam asked.

  “Answer me, do you love her?”

  They were both silent for a few moments before Adam answered. “No, I’m not in love with her, but I care deeply for her.”

  “Kimmy just lost her mother. And from what you told me the other day, even her father is rejecting her.”

  “Well, apparently she saw him yesterday, and it went better.”

  “That’s not the point. She is very vulnerable right now.”

  “I know that, Mom. Why do you think I wanted to see her? I remember when Dad died, how she was there for me.”

  “And you think this is how you give her emotional support? Adam, I remember how that young girl used to look at you. She adored you! You never once looked at her in the same way. And when she got pregnant and you told me you two were getting married, I don’t remember you ever telling me you wanted to marry her because you loved her—I mean, really loved her.”

  “I care about her,” Adam said guiltily.

  “You are going to break that girl’s heart again!”

  “No, I’m not,” Adam snapped. “I feel comfortable with Kimmy. Hell, a lot more comfortable with Kimmy than I do with Angela, now that I think about it.”

  “Adam, if you aren’t happy with Angela, if you don’t love her like you should, then don’t marry her. But don’t rush into another relationship just because it’s comfortable. It isn’t fair to you, and it certainly isn’t fair to Kimmy.”

  “I would think you would be happy, Mother.” Adam set his empty glass on the counter. “I know you never really cared for Angela.”

  “That’s not true,” Alex lied.

  Adam let out a bitter laugh. “Mom, you’ve never been terrific at hiding your feelings. I know you weren’t thrilled when I told you I was going to ask Angela to marry me.”

  “I just thought Angela was a little young for you,” Alex said quietly.

  “Really, Mom, the age was the thing?” Adam asked.

  They were both quiet for a few moments, before Alex responded.

  “Okay, it wasn’t just the age. Angela… Damn, I don’t want to say this. I just thought she was a little spoiled, and I wondered sometimes…” Alex hesitated, wondering if she’d already said too much. As far as she knew, Adam and Angela would be patching things up, and then the words she spoke against his future wife would always be between them.

  “You wondered what? What, Mom?”

  Alex considered her son’s question. After a moment, she decided she owed it to him to give an honest response. “I thought Angela felt she was marrying into the Coulson family not the Keller family,” Alex blurted out.

  “What are you saying? That she wanted to marry me so she could in some way be part of Garret’s family?” Adam hadn’t expected his mother to say that.

  “Yes. I got that impression. Haven’t you ever noticed that when she and you are with your Uncle Jimmy or Tommy and their families she is very cool? When Jimmy first met her, he told me he thought she was a snob.”

  “Uncle Jimmy said that?” Adam was surprised.

  “Yes. But when she is with Garret’s family, she turns on the charm. I swear she acts like Harrison is her grandfather as well as your sister’s.”

  “I honestly never noticed that,” Adam said with a frown.

  “Well, I didn’t want to tell you who to love.”

  “But you seem to have an issue with me seeing Kimmy again. I thought you liked her.”

  “I do like her. And if I thought you were in love with her and not just comfortable with her, I would be thrilled with you seeing Kimmy again.”

  “Mom, I don’t want to hurt Kimmy. And I do care for her.” Adam wasn’t about to tell his mother that he’d never had a sexual partner that satisfied him in quite the same way as Kimmy. He wondered sometimes if it was because she had been his first.

  Adam could vividly recall his first time with Kimmy, those many years ago. He had always known she had a crush on him; everyone knew. It wasn’t that he didn’t find her attractive; she had always been a beautiful girl, but he had never considered her his type. Unlike the other high school girls, she didn’t know how to flirt and her manner of dress did nothing to show off her physical attributes.

  That long ago evening, he’d had one too many beers, and it didn’t take much to get him crying over the recent loss of his father. Kimmy held him in her arms, and he was surprised to notice the soft curves of her body hidden beneath the boring clothes.

  He didn’t know why he had kissed her that night; it was a spontaneous kiss. What surprised him was how she had responded. Unlike the other girls, she hadn’t pushed his hand away when he slipped it under her blouse. Nor had she protested when he roughly tugged her bra upward, releasing her breasts. She hadn’t stopped him when he tugged down her panties and shoved her thighs apart.

  He had expected her to stop him, to say something, but she didn’t. For a brief moment, he had wondered if she had done it before. Until that night, he hadn’t actually had sex. Yet, he’d tried often enough with other girls to know how all the parts fit together. When he had finally pushed into her, the evidence of her virginity was obvious, and although she had clearly been in pain, Kimmy never told him to stop. She offered her body up to him like a sweet sacrifice.

  Adam found it quite intoxicating to be able to take control of a woman’s body and do whatever he wanted. Angela certainly would never do it. Sex was always on her terms. With Kimmy, her body was his. When they had dated in high school, Kimmy never told him no when it came to sex. For a high school boy, it was a heady experience.

  The girls he dated after Kimmy were never as accommodating. She might look like a buttoned-up librarian, but he could snap his fingers and she would obediently fall into bed with him.

  Kimmy hadn’t changed. It took very little effort to get her to open to him. Just the memory of the kitchen table made him hard. It wasn’t something he wanted to think about while his mother was in the same room. Maybe he didn’t love Kimmy, but no other woman ever gave herself as completely as she had. He did care for her, he told himself.

  “Adam, I don’t want you to settle. When you get married, I want you to love her. I want her to love you.”

  “Mom, I never said I was going to marry Kimmy.”

  “Adam, leave her alone. I know she is an adult and she can make her own decisions, but if you really care for her, like you say, you won’t take advantage of her.”

  “Okay, Mom, I will think about what you said. Can we please end this? I have to go back to work tomorrow, and I’ve some things I need to ge
t done today.”

  “Actually, I didn’t come over here just because of Angela and Kimmy.”

  “What do you mean? You said Angela stopped by to see you.”

  “Yes, last night. But I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday morning.”

  “What was so important?” Adam looked at his mother. She looked worried about something.

  “Garret has been going through Harrison’s papers,” Alex began.

  “I assume you’re talking about his brother.”

  “Yes. He came across the agreement you made with Harrison.”

  Adam visibly tensed. “Oh, that,” he muttered lamely.

  “Adam, why in the world didn’t you come to me and Garret?”

  “I didn’t want to come to your husband for help.”

  “So, you went to his brother? Harrison of all people!”

  “I didn’t know what kind of person he was.”

  “Even if he was the nicest guy in the world, why did you ever sign that loan agreement? What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking I was about to lose the restaurant. Dad’s restaurant! Mom, you’ve been out of the business for years. You have no idea how rough it’s been since the economy tanked. I swear, we lost half of our regular customers overnight. They either lost their jobs or moved from Coulson to find work. Who could afford to go out to dinner?”

  “But, why didn’t you come to us?”

  “I know I was stupid, but if you think about it, it all worked out.”

  “Yes, because Harrison is dead. If the police find out about what was in that agreement and what Harrison was up to, you’re going to be the prime suspect.”

  “You know I didn’t kill Harrison.” Adam had foolishly hoped none of this would come out. “What is Garret going to do?”

  “For the moment, just Garret and I know. Garret is still wading through Harrison’s private papers. I’m not sure what information the police have. It’s entirely possible there is a copy of the agreement in the documents they confiscated.”

  “Mom, I can’t believe they would seriously consider me a suspect. After all, what motive would I have to kill Kimmy’s mother?”

  “The police speculate that Carol was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “So, I shoot Harrison and then blow away my old girlfriend’s mother when she walks in on us? I don’t think so!”

  “Calm down. We’ll figure something out.”

  Chapter 15

  Kim and Nick sat on the floor in Carol’s living room looking through the box of photographs. They hadn’t made it to the attic. Kim took a detour at her mother’s home office to show Nick the pictures she had found. She thought he might be interested in the wedding photographs.

  The sky was getting darker outside in spite of the fact it wasn’t yet noon. It looked like rain, a good day for a fire in the fireplace, which was why Nick suggested taking the box downstairs. Nick held a wedding picture in his hand, inspecting it. The fire he’d built was starting to crackle, the flames growing.

  “This is amazing.” He stared at the picture.

  Kim had a pile of photographs on her lap that she flipped through. She looked over at him when he made the comment.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I didn’t realize how much I look like my father.”

  “Yep. I always noticed it.” Kim focused her attention back on the pictures on her lap.

  “And you, you look just like your mother. Actually, this is kind of creepy,” Nick said with a grimace.

  Kim looked up again. “How so?”

  “This could be you and me in the picture,” Nick said, handing it to her. She took it and had a closer look.

  “Yeah, I can kind of see what you mean,” Kim agreed, then added, without considering what she was saying, “They made a cute couple.”

  “Yeah, we do.” Nick chuckled, taking back the picture.

  Kim found herself blushing. “Thought you said it was creepy.”

  “Well, creepy and cute.” He laughed.

  “You’re a lot darker than your dad, though.”

  “It’s the Italian from Mom’s side of the family.”

  “What was your mother like?” Kim asked and then added, “You know, I realized on our drive home from Clement Falls yesterday that I’ve been living all these years as Kim Myers, but the fact is, I’m not a Myers. I wonder how your mother felt having us live so close, you and me with the same last name. If you think about it, it would have been entirely possible that our paths would have crossed by now. Heck, our schools used to play each other in sports. I wonder why your parents decided to stay at the falls or why Mom decided to stay in Coulson.”

  “Well…” Nick set the photograph back in the box and looked at Kim. “I’m not really sure why your mother stayed, but I imagine my folks stayed because of Papa and the business.”

  “Papa?”

  “My mom’s dad, my grandfather. My mother’s mom died from breast cancer, like my mother. Mom was pretty young when my grandmother died. My grandmother had other medical issues, which is why they only had one child. I imagine, being from a good Italian Catholic family, they wanted more kids. I suppose it made it more difficult for Papa when Mom married Dad.”

  “Your grandfather didn’t like your father?”

  “It wasn’t just that he got her pregnant, but he was a divorced man. Not the son-in-law a devoted Italian Catholic wants for his only daughter. Plus, I suspect the divorce may not have been final when he got Mom pregnant. We’ve never discussed it. It’s something I’ve always wondered about, but I guess it really doesn’t matter now. Papa must have gotten over whatever issue he had with the marriage once I came along, because he doted on me.” Nick grinned and added, “I was quite the most brilliant child, according to Papa.”

  Kim laughed. “I remember reading on your business website that the bed and breakfast was started by your grandfather.”

  “Yes, but in those days it was really more of a boarding house. That’s how Mom and Dad met. After Dad left your mother, he didn’t go too far. He went up to Clement Falls and took a room from Papa. That’s why I speculate the relationship began before the divorce was finalized. Dad had just been released from the service, so I’m not sure what he was thinking at the time. Perhaps he wanted to stay in the area until the divorce was finalized or maybe he wasn’t prepared to walk away from his marriage entirely.

  “But like I said, Dad hasn’t given me all the details, and I don’t feel that comfortable asking. The end result was that Mom got pregnant, they got married, and they stayed at the boarding house. Dad took a mechanics job at the local garage, and eventually, the house was turned into a bed and breakfast.”

  “While your dad never gave you details, he did tell you about me.”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t something he planned to do. I was a freshman in high school and came home earlier than they expected and walked into an argument between my parents. They were discussing you and your mother. You were right; it did bug mother having you live so close and sharing our last name. She was afraid you and I might meet, and she really didn’t want to open that can of worms.”

  “Wow, how did she react when she realized you overheard?”

  “I guess it kind of solved the problem. They sat me down and explained the situation.”

  “Did your mother ever wonder if I was really your father’s daughter?” Kim asked. It was something she hadn’t considered before.

  “No, I don’t think so. For one thing, he never paid child support. I suppose your mother could have gotten it, considering you were legally his daughter. At least, I think that’s how the laws worked back then, but your mother didn’t ask for any support.

  “I think my mother was always a little jealous of yours. I don’t think Dad really got over his first marriage; he carried a lot of guilt. We discussed it a few times over the next few years, when Mom wasn’t around. It was typically during one of those conversations involving how to treat women
and telling me not to make the same mistakes he made.” Nick failed to add that his mother had doubted Kim was the result of a rape. His mother believed Carol had been unfaithful to Franklin.

  By the time they got to the attic, they realized it would be difficult to get up into the small storage space without a ladder, and Carol didn’t have one. The small ceiling crawl hole was located in Carol’s bedroom closet and not in the hallway. Nick managed to peek into the area by standing on a chair and using a flashlight, but he would need to get inside to see if there was anything hidden in the space.

  “It’s really not built for storage,” Nick explained, stepping down off the chair. “If I’m not careful when I go up there, I might go through the ceiling. I don’t know why, but I always expect these Victorian houses to have bigger attics.”

  “Well, this house isn’t that old. From what I remember, this neighborhood was new when mom moved in. Hardly a traditional old Victorian. After all, these are track houses.”

  “I can bring a ladder from home. Why don’t we check out the rest of the house? It’s possible your mother put the ledgers somewhere else, maybe even the garage.”

  Kim agreed, and the two began looking through the house, leaving the attic for another day. They searched through the garage, looked under furniture and through all the closets and dresser drawers.

  By the time they finished going through the house, it was just getting dark outside. Nick convinced Kim to go out for some pizza with him. She agreed but first changed her clothes, replacing the sweat suit with denims and a blouse.

  “I appreciate your help today,” Kim told Nick as she took a bite of pizza. They sat together in the booth of the pizza parlor.

  “Sorry we didn’t find anything,” Nick said but added, “Hopefully we’ll have better luck with the attic. I’m afraid I can’t get back up here until Tuesday. I’ve got some work I have to do at home.”

  “That’s okay. I’ve waited this long. Anyway, I was hoping to see the real estate agent tomorrow.”

  “You’re still planning to sell?” Nick asked.

  “I at least want to get an idea what the house is worth. I’m assuming there’s not a mortgage on it, considering mom lived there for over thirty years. I can’t imagine she took a second on the property; she never added onto the house and drove the same car for years. She really wasn’t the type to use the house as a piggy bank.”