Rebecca's Little Secret

by Judy Christenberry

  “Bill, that’s not how it works.”

  “It is for me.”

  “I don’t mean about you being honorable. My parents—”

  “What about your parents?”

  “They expect a wedding. We’ve been planning it for six months already.”

  “Did you think I’d offer you an affair?”

  “Bill, you don’t understand. You’re not—you graduated from Texas A&M. That’s not a socially elite school. Jeff graduated from SMU. His uncle was well-known and had an upstanding reputation.”

  Bill froze. Then he said, “Are you telling me I’m not good enough for you and your parents?”

  “Not me! It doesn’t matter to me. But my parents—they make things difficult.” She bowed her head, unwilling to meet his fiery gaze.

  “Well, you don’t have to worry, do you, Chelsea. You’re all set, engaged to the socially acceptable Jeff Jacobs. I wish you happiness, sweetheart. That ought to be quite a marriage of socially acceptable people.” Then he waved to the waiter. “Check, please.”

  “But—sir, is there something wrong with your steaks?” the waiter asked, confused.

  “No, they’re just fine.”

  “Do you want a to-go box?”

  “No, thank you. We’re running late.”

  “I’ll bring your check immediately.” The waiter hurried away.

  “Why are you doing this?” Chelsea demanded.

  “I don’t want to risk diminishing your reputation by being seen with me.” His jaw was squared, his teeth clenched.

  “Bill,” Chelsea pleaded, tears in her eyes. “It’s my parents who believe that, not me. It’s just that to change things now will cause a big row.”

  “We have no more need to discuss our situation, Chelsea, because it doesn’t exist. I thought you were courageous, but I was wrong. Forget I ever told you I care about you.”

  “Here’s your check, sir,” the waiter said as he hurried breathlessly to the table.

  Bill looked at the check, opened his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills, including a generous tip. Then, saying thank you, he stood and waved Chelsea in front of him, but he didn’t touch her.

  In the darkness of the car, Chelsea tried to talk to Bill, but he would say nothing. They got to the arena early. When they claimed their seats, Bill sat there in silence, staring at everything in the arena but Chelsea.

  OF COURSE, JEFF WAS INVITED to dinner, as Rebecca had predicted. They ate at six so he, Rebecca and Joey could leave for the basketball game on time.

  Joey was still rather confused. “How come I can’t play ball with them?” he asked his father again.

  “You’ll understand when you see these men play. To start with, they’re very big.”

  “Bigger than you?”

  “I’m afraid so. And very skilled with the basketball. It’s time to go. Where’s your mother?”

  “I’m right here,” Rebecca said from behind him.

  He turned and stood there staring at her. “Wow. Everyone’s going to be watching you, not the game. You look terrific.”

  “Thank you. I thought this would be appropriate,” she said, waving to her outfit. She’d put on a three-quarter-length wool skirt, a red blouse and a black vest.

  “Oh, it’s very appropriate. Come on. We don’t want to be late.”

  There was a huge crowd at opening night, but, of course, their seats were reserved. Bill and Chelsea were already there. Jeff sat down beside Chelsea; Joey took the seat next to him; and Rebecca sat in the third seat. They were in the first row, almost on the basketball court. Immediately after they sat down, there was a huge roar as the home team came out for their shoot-around.

  Joey stared at the tall men with his mouth open. Then he turned to Rebecca. “Look, Mommy, they’re giants.”

  “Yes, they are, sweetie. Remember Daddy said they could handle the ball really well? Watch them.”

  After a couple of minutes, Joey turned to his father, asking him to explain the game. That explanation took several minutes, leaving Rebecca free to take in the electric atmosphere.

  She glanced over at Chelsea and Bill. They didn’t seem to be happy with each other. A minute later, Chelsea leaned over and told Rebecca she was going to the rest room. She asked if Rebecca wanted to accompany her.

  “Yes, I will.” She leaned toward Jeff to tell him where she was going so Joey wouldn’t get upset. He had his arm on the back of their seats and leaned toward her. Just then a camera flashed in their eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  “What was that?” Rebecca demanded.

  “Just ignore it. They take random pictures of the audience.”

  Rebecca stood and joined Chelsea. When they reached the rest room, they found it almost empty. When Rebecca came out of her stall, Chelsea was powdering her nose in front of the mirror.

  “You look very nice tonight,” Rebecca said.

  “I like your outfit, too,” Chelsea said with a slight smile.

  “We’re just an admiration society, aren’t we?” Rebecca said with a laugh.

  “Rebecca,” Chelsea said, her voice serious, “did you ever do something your parents didn’t like? I mean something important?”

  Rebecca looked at Chelsea and realized her reason for asking was important. “Yes, I did. When I discovered I was pregnant with Joey, my parents were very upset. They wanted me to get an abortion, and when I said I wouldn’t, they refused to have anything to do with me ever again. So I left them to set up my life alone with Joey.”

  “Oh. That’s really serious.”

  “Yes, it was, but I don’t regret my decision.” After a moment of silence, Rebecca asked, “Does that help?”

  “Yes. I just have to find some courage.”

  “Chelsea, do you remember saying you didn’t realize you could relate to four-year-olds? Well, I think you have a lot of courage in you, too. You just haven’t looked for it yet.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Yes, I do. I didn’t want to like you, you know. But I do. I think you’re a terrific person, and I wouldn’t think that if you were a coward.”

  Chelsea hugged her. “Thank you, Rebecca. You’re a wonderful person and the best friend I’ve ever had.”

  She wiped her eyes with a tissue and the two ladies returned to the basketball game.

  AS SOON AS REBECCA LEFT his side, Jeff was approached by the man with the camera.

  “Mr. Jacobs, mind telling me your companion’s name? The picture will probably be in the Park Cities News.”

  “No, I’d rather not. And I think it would be better if the picture didn’t appear in the paper.”

  “A secret, Mr. Jacobs?”

  “Go away and leave us alone,” Jeff ordered.

  Bill, who had been ignoring everyone to his right, turned and looked at his friend. “Is there a problem?”

  “That jerk took a picture for the local paper and wanted Rebecca and Joey’s names. I refused to give them to him. Chelsea’s parents may get upset if they see that picture.”

  “Can’t you just explain you were taking your son to a basketball game?”

  “You’ve never met them.”

  “No, I haven’t. What’s wrong with them?”

  “They’re rigid, difficult, and they also happen to be snobs.”

  Bill stared straight ahead. “I figured that out tonight. Did you know they don’t think much of a Texas A&M graduate?”

  Jeff laughed. “They obviously don’t know anything about your family, if you’re referring to yourself.”

  “I am. I figured they wouldn’t know. You know I don’t go around bragging about my family’s finances or the fact that my father is a senator.”

  “Why are we talking about this? Did Chelsea—I didn’t think she—”

  “I gather she’s afraid of disappointing her parents.”

  “That would be hard for Chelsea.”

  “Not if she has any courage,” Bill said, his jaw firming.

  “Chelse
a’s just learning to live outside their restrictions. She doesn’t start with giant steps,” Jeff said softly.

  “Daddy, look. There’s more giants.” Joey was pointing to the other end of the court.

  “Yes, son, that’s the other team.”

  Just then, Chelsea and Rebecca returned to their seats. Jeff looked at the serious expression on Rebecca’s face. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, fine. When does the game start?”

  He gave her another long look, but he said nothing else.

  When the game ended, after a rousing win by the home team, Jeff turned to Chelsea and Bill to say good-night.

  “Jeff, may I beg a ride home?” Chelsea asked.

  Jeff stared at Chelsea and then Bill. Neither of them gave a clue about what was wrong, but Jeff noted Bill didn’t make a protest.

  “Of course you can,” Rebecca said, preempting Jeff’s answer.

  “Sure,” Jeff added, but he was watching his friend.

  Bill simply said, “I’ll see you Monday, Jeff. Good game tonight.” Then he turned and walked away.

  Jeff wanted to ask Chelsea what went wrong, but he couldn’t do that in front of Rebecca. “Do you mind if I take Rebecca and Joey home first? It’s past his bedtime.”

  “It won’t take much longer to drop Chelsea off. Joey can manage,” Rebecca said from the back seat.

  Chelsea said, “I’d prefer to be dropped off first, if it’s okay.”

  Once he’d dropped Chelsea off, walking her to the door, he got back in the car, noting that Joey was asleep. “What happened?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. She asked me if I’d ever done something my parents didn’t approve of. Something important.”

  “And your answer?”

  After a moment in the darkness of the car, she gave her answer. “My parents wanted me to get an abortion. They were willing to forgive and forget if I did so. I refused, so they kicked me out.”

  Jeff parked the car in front of Will and Vivian’s house and sat there in the darkness. “You have a lot of courage, Rebecca.”

  “No, I had a lot of love, for you and for the child we’d created. I couldn’t do what they asked and continue to live.”

  “And do you still have any of that love left?”

  “I love Joey with every ounce of my being.”

  “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

  “And you know that you have no right to ask that question when you’ve promised to marry someone else.” She opened the door, got out of the car and pulled Joey up into her arms.

  “I’ll carry him,” Jeff said, getting out of the car.

  “No. Tonight I’ll take him to bed. You can go.” She turned her back on him and left him standing there.

  SUNDAY MORNING, Rebecca found out who had taken the picture at the game. The small local paper put out a Sunday edition with a section about who had been seen where. There, at the bottom of the first page, was the picture of her and Jeff, leaning toward each other, with Joey between them.

  Underneath the picture the paper wrote, “Local lawyer Jeff Jacobs seen at the opening of the pro basketball season with an unknown beauty and a little boy.”

  “Oh, my,” Vivian said when she first saw the picture. “This is a nice picture of the three of you, but it completely cuts out Chelsea.”

  “Yes, it does. I hope it doesn’t cause trouble for her,” Rebecca said solemnly.

  “It could. Her parents are rather difficult.”

  “I gathered that from something Chelsea said. She’s such a nice person. She deserves better parents.”

  “So did you,” Will said.

  “Yes, but they weren’t my real parents. Chelsea’s not adopted, is she?”

  Will laughed. “No, she’s not. But she is a nice person. I thought she might be like them, but she’s not.”

  “No. Joey likes her very much.” Rebecca smiled at her son, sitting beside her eating his breakfast.

  “Well, we’ll hope it won’t cause any difficulty. I’m sure Jeff can explain that Chelsea was on his other side.”

  “Yes.” But Rebecca was thinking about the trip to the rest room with Chelsea, and the unhappiness between her and Bill. What had she been asking? Did it have something to do with Bill?

  Jeff called a short time later. He’d seen the picture and wanted to know if she’d seen it.

  “Yes, Vivian showed me.”

  “You’re not upset about it, are you?”

  “No, but I’m worried about Chelsea.”

  “I’m going to call her now.”

  “If there’s anything I can do to help her, please let me know.”

  “Rebecca—yes, I will.” Jeff hung up the phone.

  Rebecca didn’t hear from him again. She guessed either Chelsea wasn’t upset, or there wasn’t anything she could do.

  JEFF CAME TO WORK MONDAY morning, feeling uneasy. He’d talked briefly to Chelsea, but she said nothing to him and refused any offer to speak to her parents.

  Bill was already in his office and Jeff stopped by the door. “Bill, have you talked to Chelsea?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see the picture of me, Joey and Rebecca in the paper?”

  “Yeah, I saw it. Did you think it would upset her parents?”

  “I’m pretty sure it would, but she wouldn’t talk to me about it when I called yesterday.”

  “I can’t tell you anything.”

  “You could tell me what happened Saturday night when you went to dinner.” Jeff stood there, staring at his friend.

  “Chelsea and I were talking about my schooling and she made the comment that I wouldn’t be an acceptable person in the husband category because I graduated from A&M and that’s not as classy as SMU.”

  “I’d hate for your father to hear that opinion.”

  A bark of laughter broke from Bill. “Yeah, me, too.”

  Just then, Harriet entered the office. “Morning, Harriet.”

  “Good morning. Nice picture of you and Rebecca and little Joey in the paper.”

  “Thanks,” Jeff said with a wry grin, and went into his office.

  An hour later, Jeff was immersed in paperwork when he heard Harriet say, “Why, good morning, Rebecca. What are you doing here so early?”

  Jeff immediately headed for the outer office, where he could see Rebecca standing there, dressed more formally than she usually dressed. He wondered what was up.

  “Rebecca, what’s wrong?” Jeff asked, even as he noted Bill coming to the door of his office, too.

  “Well, first of all, I’m not Rebecca,” the woman said, and Jeff knew at once it wasn’t a lie. There was a slight difference in her voice.

  “I beg your pardon, ma’am. You look a lot like her.”

  “I assume she’s the person in this picture?” the woman asked, showing the photo in the folded newspaper.

  “Yes, that’s Rebecca. May I ask your name?”

  “Rachel Morgan.”

  “Rachel,” Jeff said, excitement building in him. “I’m sorry. You look remarkably like someone else we know. Were you adopted, by any chance?”

  The question bothered her. “How dare you ask such a personal question? Why do you ask?”

  “Because Rebecca, the woman in the picture who looks just like you, was adopted. She recently discovered she had a twin who was split up from her and went to another family.”

  “Her twin?” Rachel said sharply.

  “Yes. Harriet, call Will and ask him to get over here as soon as he can.”

  Rachel looked at Harriet and then back at Jeff. “Who is Will?”

  “He’s the stepfather of Vanessa, your youngest sister, if you’re who I think you are. She was adopted when she was only three months old. Her mother wanted her to have more family, so she hired Will to find Vanessa’s siblings. So far he’s only found Rebecca and Jim, but—”

  “How is he her stepfather?”

  “He married Vanessa’s mother.”

  “How—tidy.
How—how many siblings were there?”

  “Three girls and three boys. One of the brothers is dead. He was serving in the military and was killed serving his country. His name was Walter, but they called him Wally.”

  There was a flash of something in the woman’s eyes that made Jeff wonder if she had a distant memory. He continued to bring her up to date. “The oldest boy, Jim, is still in the military, too, on assignment in the Middle East, but he and your—I mean the other girls have been corresponding with him—they think he’ll be home in six months.”

  “The other boy?”

  “They haven’t found him yet. His name is—was David.”

  “Can I—I meet this Rebecca?”

  “Yes, she works here in the afternoons. But I think Will will want to invite you back to his and Vivian’s house. If he does that, I’ll go get Rebecca. She’s in class right now. And they can call Vanessa.”

  “May I sit down?” she suddenly asked.

  “Right here, dear,” Harriet said. She gestured to a chair against the wall.

  “I’ve often suspected that I was adopted and confronted my mother about it a couple times, but she’d always denied it. She told me I wasn’t—that I was always her child.”

  “Why did you ask that question?” Will asked as he heard her words upon his entry.

  “Rachel, this is Will Greenfield, the P.I. Vivian hired and later married.” Jeff shook Will’s hand.

  “I asked that question because she didn’t have any pictures of me until my third birthday. She said she couldn’t afford film when I was a baby.”

  “And what did your father say?” Will asked, sitting down beside her.

  “By that time they had divorced. He never called or came back after he left. He never paid any child support, either.”

  She sounded bitter, and Jeff and Will exchanged looks. Then Will leaned toward her. “I’d like to take you to meet my wife. We’ll get Vanessa and Rebecca home as quick as we can, and Jeff can join us for lunch.”

  “I don’t want to cause any inconvenience.”

  “Rachel, we went all the way to Arkansas to find Rebecca. Adding an extra plate at lunch isn’t an inconvenience.”