Retreat to Woodhaven (The Hills of Burlington Book 2)

by Jacie Middlemann

  "I imagine there're been times when you weren't sure you wanted to thank me or blast me for it." Mary teased gently.

  "You would imagine right." Jake responded back grateful for the light moment in the midst of the gravity of the rest of it. "She'd had a child. And it was mine. She wanted me to know it was mine. That she would be forever grateful to me." He stood, unable to sit any longer. Paced the short distance to the window at the back of the kitchen that looked down the alley to the house from where his sister and Carrie had come from. His grandparent's home long before his own existence was even a thought in anyone's heart. "Her husband knew, she'd told him immediately. She didn't go into any detail about that other than he understood. That he loved her. And the child, as if she were his own. They both loved her." He paused, gathered his thoughts tangled in knots that they were. Had been for months. "Over the years she sent me letters...pictures. A couple of years ago I met up with her and her husband. It was tense at first. I didn't know what to expect and realized they felt the same. By the end of it, after a couple of hours, it was just like old times. Like time hadn't ever passed. That a child that connected the three of us wasn't an issue." He ran his hand through his hair, wished he'd taken the shower he desperately needed before heading out the door and walking down here. But he'd wanted to get this over with. Needed to. "And maybe, looking back it wasn't. She was almost fifteen then. She looked just like her mother in every picture I saw." He paused, looked back over his shoulder at his sister. Held her eyes. "But you can see Mom in her too." He closed his eyes for a moment, brought up the image of his child from memory. When he opened his eyes again and looked back again at his sister he wasn't surprised when he saw the tears tracking down her cheeks. "But you can't see me in her, maybe that made it easier for them." He closed his eyes, thought about the laughter they shared in that short luncheon meeting he had dreaded going to. "Near the end, before we went our own ways again, they told me she knew about me. She'd known since she was old enough to understand and had followed me over the years through my books and anything else I did." He closed his eyes. "I was stunned. I didn't expect that. It was the last thing I expected." He remembered their pride, the heartfelt joy in their child. "I was even more stunned when they told me they'd named me her legal guardian and executor of their estate in the event anything should happen to them. They wanted someone they knew would look out for her best interests and knew I would. Believed no one else would be better suited."

  "Oh my God." It was barely above a whisper but they all heard Casey's quiet words.

  Jake just looked at her. Saw the moment of awareness, the understanding, and the anguish. And it was his sister's heartfelt grief for two people she'd never met that nearly undid him. His throat choked up and he swallowed hard to get past the pain that still ran deep in his soul.

  "Lizzie O'Hara." It was Carrie who finally spoke into the silence that had fallen over them, saying the name she too had made the connection to.

  "But she and her husband were..." Mary stopped as she realized the implications. Understood the tears Casey shed weren't just for a niece she'd never known...or known of.

  "Killed in friendly fire somewhere in the middle of some war zone in the middle of who knows where," Jake finished for her. His hands now clenched at his sides as he fought to hold back the images of what might, could have, and likely did happen to Lizzie and her husband. He'd seen it before. God knows they'd all seen it before.

  Casey rose from where she sat, moved by something stronger than she. Under any other circumstances she'd sit and wait. She certainly wouldn't be moving to her brother's side as she was now. But these circumstances were far from normal. Now standing beside him, filled with a sorrow she could only imagine couldn't come close to his own, she struggled for words to express her thoughts. What could anyone say she wondered. Then settled for simple. "What's her name?" She asked softly.

  Jake understood her struggle, understood it had as much to do with him as what he'd just dumped in her lap. "Bethany." He looked at his sister. "Bethany Leslie O'Hara."

  "Did she name her after Aunt Leslie intentionally?" Carrie asked, her own voice shaky.

  "There was never anything remotely coincidental in Lizzie's life," Jake told them, the slight amusement in his voice showed the feelings involved had never been superficial. Not for him.

  "Oh!" Casey lifted her hand to her face, terrified she was going to make a monumental fool of herself. Before she knew how it happened she was held in her big brother’s arms as the sobs took over. She wasn't sure who they were for, two people lost long before they should have been, a child left alone in a world that wasn't fair in the best of conditions, or for her mother who'd she'd never stopped grieving for.

  "I received a letter from the lawyer about a month ago. Most of it was regarding the estate but it also informed me that Bethany wanted information on how to contact me if she so chose." He shifted his sister, "Come on, Case." He moved her back towards the table. "Let's sit back down." Once he had her seated he poured another cup of coffee and set it down in front of her before sitting down himself. "I was in the midst of finishing up the now famous article..."

  "You started on it when you heard about their deaths," Carrie spoke up, it wasn't a question. She looked her cousin right in the eye. "Something happened having to do with their deaths that got you going on it."

  "You've been married to the Senator far too long." Was all Jake would say. But it shook him just how close she was to the truth.

  "Perhaps. But I'm about to fix that," she answered him with a grim smile.

  "Go on, Jake." Mary interrupted what she knew would go off into another topic entirely that none of them were prepared to deal with that night. No more so than they'd been prepared for this. "The lawyer..." she prompted.

  "I didn't respond until just before I headed here. I wanted to get the story submitted and get a few other things taken care of first." He looked at Mary with only the barest of apology in his expression. "I gave him your name and number as the means of contacting me, that no matter where I might be you were in a position to be able to get in contact with me as you were a close relative that I kept in contact with, etc...etc...etc."

  At her questioning look he shrugged and explained. "I knew there'd be interest in this story, knew too that I needed a place where the odds of being tracked down were not as risky as elsewhere." He rolled his shoulders stretching them out as he did so. The drive hadn't been any longer than what he was used to but the stress that had built up over the last month and more was catching up with him. "I could care less if a brigade of reporters show up. I can handle them and would dearly love to go a couple of rounds with them. Morons." He got riled every time he thought of the lives destroyed and careers flushed down the toilet all in the name of a story and the money that came with it. "But the timing simply sucked. The lawyer is tied up by confidentiality this and that and knowing Lizzie and Jett they would go with a lawyer they trusted to play by all he rules when it came to their daughter. But that doesn't speak to the trustworthiness of the office staff." He looked at Casey, then Carrie, hoping for understanding, knowing he was asking for that and more. "I knew they might recognize Mary's name, but with her cell number that's about all they could figure. If I'd handed out either of your names, the ease of tracking me down through either of you would have become significantly less difficult."

  "It's okay, Jake." Casey spoke quietly, softly, and as she did she moved her hand to lay on top of his. "I think we," she looked to Carrie and saw the same understanding, "are a little bigger than that when it comes to something like this." She smiled, trying to soften the words that never came out like she wanted, especially when it was important.

  Jake looked around the table again. "I'd rather not include Aunt Charlie or Mallie in this just yet." He shrugged. "It's not a matter of trust, I just don't know where anything is going at this point and until I do I'd just as soon keep it between us."

  "I think that's completely understandabl
e." Mary spoke into the silence.

  "Jake," Casey spoke quietly with obvious hesitation. "Do you need a new cell phone?"

  "Yeah." He shook his head as his quiet rumbling laughter spilled forth despite his efforts to stop it. He continued to shake his head in disbelief as his sister quietly slid a small but top of the line phone along the table to him after removing it from her pocket.

  At the questions she read in his expression she shrugged as she spoke. "It will be easier for me to get a new one than it would be for you at this point. It's not a big deal."

  "Thanks."

  Carrie looked from brother to sister. "Why do you need a new one? What happened to your old cell?"

  "I pitched it somewhere along the Pennsylvania Turnpike." Jake could tell from the expression on both Mary and Carrie's faces that they had no clue as to why. His sister, he realized quickly, was sharp as a tack. He waited to see if and how she would explain it.

  Casey sighed, realized he wasn't going to explain further than he had. "Most cells can be tracked. In the big scheme of things it's a good thing for numerous safety considerations." She watched her cousins, waited for them to click in to where she was going. "There's also numerous controls over who has access to that information but reporters have been known to..." she paused, searching for the right word.

  "Sweeten somebody's pot in order to get information they wouldn't otherwise be able to." Carrie said just a tad too sweetly.

  Casey sighed. "Pretty much, yes."

  "So they think you're in Pennsylvania?" Mary asked, a smile on her face as a scenario played out in her mind.

  "If they're dumb enough to think so." Jake leaned back, almost enjoying the image it brought as much as he saw his cousin was.

  "I can't believe anyone who knows you, believes you're not three steps from brain dead, would waste time following that route." But Casey thought of a couple of die-hards that were that dumb even as she spoke. She caught her brother's smile which widened as he guessed her thoughts and wondered if they were both thinking of the same people. It never ceased to amaze her how often they seemed to know each other’s thoughts. Even over the last years when...she put those memories aside. They would need to be dealt with but not now.

  "You don't think if there's someone out there willing to go that far they wouldn't be keeping an eye on your account for that same reason?" Mary asked Casey even though she couldn't believe they were even having this discussion.

  "Maybe." Casey thought about it. Thought about what Terry had told her. "But I don't think it's going to come to that." She explained the conversation with Terry, about Mark's efforts to connect some dots that brought the story back to what and who Jake had reported on and away from Jake. "Even once they expand on Jake's story they'll still want to find Jake, talk to him but not with the mindless resolve they've got going now." She held her hand up to her mouth to disguise the yawn that slipped by. "I'm sorry." She stretched, thought about another cup of coffee but decided not. "Pete offered his but you'd be getting calls left and right from people wanting to look at houses. Besides I really think by tomorrow sometime once WNO comes out with their story naming even more names the interest in you won't be as rabid."

  "Who's Pete?" Jake asked, quick to pick up on a name he hadn't heard from his sister before. Especially with the easy confidence of someone who knew the other well enough that they could speak for them without worry. Getting a cell phone wasn't a difficult thing. Jake knew that better than most but it also wasn't something a person who barely knew you would easily give up.

  "A friend," Casey replied automatically, almost defensively before she caught herself and the looks directed at her from both Mary and Carrie.

  "A friend she spends lots of evenings with," Carrie added dryly.

  "And cooks for on a regular basis." Mary smiled at her cousin as she spoke pleased the conversation was taking a lighter turn.

  "She cooks for him or he cooks for her?" Jake asked easily, enjoying his sister's moment in the sun.

  "Both." Casey answered for herself before anyone else could for her. "Why don't you come over to his place with me tomorrow night." She looked at her watch. "Tonight," she corrected. "And have dinner with us so you can find out everything you want to know for yourself." She took a deep breath, knowing she'd taken a huge step but one she wanted to and wanted to do on her own before someone else nudged her into it.

  "Sounds good." Jake smiled at her, knowing full well she'd hoped he'd make some lame excuse. "Maybe you'll cook."

  "Maybe I can." Casey smiled back as she rose to put her dishes in the sink.

  "Maybe we should all get some sleep and see what comes of tomorrow considering all that might." Carrie pulled her robe together as she headed for the back door, hoping like Hades no one was out walking their dog or any other such thing at this time of night.

  

  Court Gordon stood at his kitchen window nursing a beer when he saw the change in lighting spill over the yard next door. Vigilant because he knew Mary lived there alone now he watched for anything to be concerned about. He heard their voices before he saw them. Especially her voice.

  He watched them walk down the alley. He could barely see Mary standing on the back stoop of her house. Could almost make out the shadow of someone else standing with her. He wondered if Daniel, her husband, was in town again. But before he could think any further along those lines he realized she was in her robe. He looked closely at Casey as she walked through the light cast from the street lamps that were sporadically placed down the alley. He couldn't tell for certain but she looked to be in jeans and a sweater of some sort. Not Carrie though, she clutched her robe so close to her to that he could easily see she'd lost weight since the last time they spoke. If that's what you could call it. In his mind conversations consisted of more than two word sentences which was the best she seemed to be able to conduct. At least with him.

  Just to be on the safe side he continued to watch the alley until he saw the lights in the Marshall Street house kitchen come on. Almost in sync the back door light next door went off casting the alley back into darkness and telling him Mary and her guest had gone back inside, also assured the two women were safely home.

  He stood at the window another moment with the forgotten beer in his hand. Thinking. He'd done that a lot in the last couple of months. Since she'd arrived. He'd also spent a lot of time reminding himself the lady was married. Not just married, but married to one of the most powerful Senators in the U.S. Congress. It didn't matter who. She was married. And with that thought he guzzled the remainder of his beer and wondered if it was enough to help him find sleep that night.

  He doubted it.

  

  CHAPTER SIX

  "You're up and about early." Jake took in his cousin's state of dress as she breezed past him, confident as always or at least good at putting on a darn good show of it. He wasn't always certain which it was. Like his sister Carrie was an expert at concealing what she was really thinking. "I think I like last night's outfit better," he teased knowing it would amuse and irritate equally.

  Carrie sighed as she walked through the house to the kitchen where she had spent much of her time as a child. There was no doubt in her mind that her late night foray in her robe would make the rounds and before the week was out she'd be surprised if at least one and more than likely all of her brothers somehow found a way to work it into a conversation. "I was elected to bring you back for breakfast. I have no doubt that as we speak Mallie is picking at the muffins and hogging the best for herself."

  "What kind of muffins?" Jake leaned back against the door frame and watched her take in the room. Watched her expressions ebb and flow with the memories that he knew had to be playing back through her mind like a slow moving video. How could they not?

  "Real ones. Mom and Mary are making them which is a good thing since neither Casey or I are half as good as they are in the kitchen. We're passable...they excel."

  "I can do muffins." And he waited,
figuring there had to be something else since she wasn't rushing out the door or rushing him towards it.

  "You're in luck. Since the two of them are ripe with concern that you've lost weight they're going all out. With Mallie's help, in between picking at the muffins and slurping down muffin batter, we are going to be treated to an eclectic variety. When I left they'd already made blueberry, banana, and chocolate chip. I believe the menu is also going to include lemon and cherry muffins as well." She smiled briefly remembering her mother's parting words. "And because I've made my mother's life considerably easier in recent weeks we're also going to be treated to some banana chocolate chip muffins, my personal all time favorite."

  "Sounds interesting ..." He tilted his head slightly, took in what looked to be a case of nerves. He couldn't remember the last time nerves showed on Carrie. At least that you could see. "How did you make your Mom's life easier?" It wasn't what he ultimately wanted to know but couldn't help from asking.

  "I talked Jack and Jase into waiting a couple of months before springing a visit on us. They'll still come but not next week like they had originally planned."

  "She doesn't want to see her own sons?" Jake asked innocently. He and everyone else in the family knew the situation. For them it was entertaining though he knew it was far from that for his Aunt Charlie. And probably even less so for her daughter.

  Carrie couldn't stop the undignified snort that escaped her. "She would probably love to see them if it stopped there." She looked out the side window of the kitchen into the back yard. She couldn't begin to count the number of times she'd done the same as she nagged her mother for just five more minutes of play time outside. And, she remembered, she most often got them. "They've already decided she needs an elevator in the carriage house. She doesn't want one. She doesn't go up and down the steps often but claims the exercise is good for her legs." She looked back at Jake, smiling wryly. "She's probably right."