Her Secret Daughter

by Ruth Logan Herne

  “I concur. Think about it. Digest it. It’s a lot to take in. And Josie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you in words how sorry I am because you did nothing wrong and everything right. It wasn’t you that failed. It was the system. And I’d be lying if I pretended that the legal side of me doesn’t want the system to pay.”

  “I know. Thank you, Cruz.” She hung up the phone. If she was home, she’d have plunked herself onto the couch and had a good cry, but she wasn’t home. She was here, working under the same roof as Addie’s father, having her heart wrenched more every day.

  Focus on faith and work. On the good and not the bad. You can do this. You’ve done it before, remember?

  She did remember, and she could do it again. She would do it again, because saving face for Addie meant more than getting even ever could. It meant everything.

  * * *

  Jacob watched his father taste the various foods on his plate, bite by bite, and when his father finally grinned and doffed his baseball cap in Josie’s honor, Jacob breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I hereby name you the Queen of Barbecue, Miss Gallagher. Whatever it is you’ve done, and whoever you’ve worked with or studied under, this is an exemplary job. If I was running a restaurant business at this moment, it would revolve around your food.”

  “Oh, you’re a Southern schmoozer.” Josie laughed as she swiped a napkin to little Davy’s cheek. “Jacob didn’t prepare me for that.”

  “Except he’s not,” Sheila assured her. “If there is one credit and one fault in my husband, it’s that he speaks his mind, sometimes when the occasion does not warrant a spoken mind.”

  They all laughed.

  “But he’s right about this, Josie. This brisket, these ribs.” She pinched her thumb and forefinger together and raised them to her lips. “Perfection.”

  “Well.” Josie managed to look pleased and bothered by the accolades. “Thank you.”

  “You’re most welcome. What’s your thought on corn bread or spoon bread?”

  Jacob watched as Josie and his father discussed the merits of menu choices. Josie’s mother hadn’t eaten much, and when Addie was done, she and Cissy Gallagher had taken a walk up the beach. Addie had been dashing back and forth through the sand, searching for beach treasures, but as they drew closer, his daughter paused, reached out and clasped Cissy’s hand.

  Addie looked up at the older woman.

  Josie’s mother looked down. And in that moment, their profiles reflected one another, as if made from the same mold. And it wasn’t the accidents of coloration, the strawberry blond hair, green eyes and freckles.

  The shape of their heads, gazing at each other, made them look more alike.

  Then Addie released Cissy’s hand so she could race their way. “Wait till you see what we found on the shore, it’s so cool! And Mrs. Gallagher said if we drive up to Lake Ontario sometime, there’s all kinds of treasures on the beach because big waves come crashing in and throw stuff onto the shore. Can we, Dad? Can we go to that beach sometime?”

  “It’s only an hour’s drive,” his father added. “Your mother and I created a list of things we’d like to see while we’re here, and the Great Lakes are beautiful.”

  “And very different from this,” Josie told them. She stood as her mother drew closer. “I’ve got to finish the kitchen cleanup so Mom and I can take Davy home before he goes into meltdown mode. And hopefully we’ll soon be hearing about another little one joining the fold.”

  “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Sheila asked, and he was surprised when it took Cissy a few long beats to answer. Josie jumped into the gap.

  “A girl this time.”

  “Oh, how sweet.” Sheila beamed. “It’s a joy raising both, of course, but there is nothing like shopping for a little girl, is there? The colors? The frill and the fluff?”

  “I expect it’s amazing, Sheila.” Cissy shifted her gaze from Addie to Jacob’s mother. “Absolutely amazing.”

  “I’ll help get things in order.” Jacob stood, and when Josie began to wave him off, he wouldn’t let her. “I said I’ll help.” She tried not to meet his gaze, but then she did, and there it was again. The background sadness in her eyes, the hint of something wrong. So wrong. But when she pitched a towel at him in the kitchen, she’d masked the look, and that made him wonder why she had so much practice masking the look.

  She’d done the major cleanup before they sat down to eat, and once the food had been stowed and the last pots washed, she surveyed the kitchen around them. “This is like a dream come true, Jacob. This kitchen. This setting.”

  “I’m glad you like it, Josie. But—”

  She looked up, expecting a more businesslike thought than he was about to offer.

  “I wish I knew what was making you sad. I wish I could help. I’d like to help,” he finished. He didn’t touch her, but he wanted to touch her. He wanted to draw her into his arms, against his heart, and tell her everything would be okay, but these were uncharted waters for him.

  She shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Just tired. Busy days, a lot of planning and too much thinking. But thank you.”

  She started to move away.

  He paused her with one hand. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here. Okay?”

  She didn’t look up this time. She kept her gaze down and nodded, then moved forward, away from his touch, his words. Away from him.

  She’d warned him off earlier for good reason. He was moving on with his life, with his job, and she was staying here, but as she walked outside, another emotion jabbed him.

  He didn’t like seeing her walk away. It took a strong will not to chase after her, to walk side by side.

  A call came in from a downstate supplier, and by the time he’d handled business, Josie and her mother had taken little Davy home.

  His father came to meet him once he’d locked up. “We had a nice day, son. Real nice.” He smiled as Jacob’s mom and Addie blew bubbles and chased them along the sand. “I haven’t seen your mother this happy in a long time. Not since we lost your sister,” he added. “Ginger had her faults, and your mom was quick to get her out of scrapes, but when you love a child it’s hard to sit back and watch them suffer. Even if it’s from their own choices.”

  “I’ve come to realize that parenting looks a lot easier than it is, especially when you have good parents setting the example,” Jacob admitted. “But it’s also more rewarding than I ever imagined.”

  “There’s that, for certain. Although I look back and wish I’d been around more. Sometimes a man needs to just kick back and be a dad, but in our day, if the man was working and the woman took over, it generally worked out.”

  “It did work out, Dad. You were an awesome father,” Jacob assured him. “We understood you needed to work, and Mom was always on board. Honestly, two kids couldn’t have asked for better parents. Ginger was just—” He wavered and chose his words carefully. “Needier.”

  “And more conniving,” admitted his father. “With you, I always knew where you stood, what your plans were, what direction you aimed for. Your sister would say one thing and do another, and while it wasn’t anything I’d call sinister, she wasn’t afraid to double-deal folks, either. I think we spoiled her when she was young, when she had that bad bout of illness, then kept on spoiling her because we were so glad she lived.”

  Now that he was a father, Jacob understood how easily that could happen. “I thank God for Addie every day,” he confessed. “Knowing what she went through, knowing what her life could have been like with a drug-using mother, and seeing how everything came together to bring her to us. We’re blessed that she survived the cancer, that she’s ours and that she’s so gifted. Her life could have been so different if she hadn’t become part of our family.”

  “It took a lot of courage for that mot
her to have her, then give her up,” his dad said. “That’s got to be about the hardest thing there is, don’t you think? Especially when some people make other choices these days.”

  Jacob couldn’t cut Addie’s birth mother that kind of slack. “There’s not much nobility in taking drugs while you’re pregnant, Dad. But I’m glad Addie’s okay. I mean, she’s better than okay. She’s amazing. And time to change the subject because our gals are heading this way.”

  “Agreed.” They walked forward to meet Sheila and Addie, and when she leaped into Jacob’s arms, he pretended to be overwhelmed by her size, and staged a pratfall.

  She laughed and hung on tight, and that’s how it had been from the first time he held her. He’d recognized the precious gift from God right away, almost as if it was somehow meant to be...and he’d been cherishing that gift every day since.

  Chapter Ten

  The five-day countdown was on.

  Josie posted lists on the restaurant wall to prepare everyone for their quiet opening, three days prior to the grand affair. The quiet opening would help catch glitches in the system, in food, in production, to ensure the true opening would go off without a snag.

  Her kitchen staff was in place, wait staff was being trained and the take-out shack had been busy from the day it opened, which meant she’d been back to work full-time and organizing the game plan for the new restaurant part-time for two weeks.

  It kept her busy, and being busy had kept her sane.

  She thanked God for that every day, because when she was busy, she didn’t spend time thinking of the quickly moving calendar, racing toward a time when Jacob and Addie would move on to another place, another time.

  Drew had given Jacob the all clear from a law enforcement perspective, but she hadn’t needed his official report to know what kind of person Jacob was. Seeing him with her daughter, with his parents, with coworkers—she not only witnessed the good, kind, faith-filled actions, she admired them and liked them. Too much, actually.

  She steered clear of him deliberately, but when Addie was around, she couldn’t help staying nearby as their time together grew shorter. When she spotted Addie hunched on an outside bench that morning with red-rimmed eyes and damp cheeks, she couldn’t just walk by. “Hey. What’s up, Miss Weatherly?”

  Addie said nothing as more silent tears rolled down her sweet, fair cheeks. Josie sank down onto the bench next to her as Jacob approached with a handful of tissues. “What’s going on?”

  “The school is hosting a mother/daughter event this morning. It’s an annual tradition for the last week of classes and my mother was going to go with Addie, but she came down with that stomach bug during the night, so Mom isn’t in any shape to go anywhere. Addie’s really disappointed.”

  “But you can go. Right? I know you’ve got a lot to oversee, but—”

  “Daddy always comes to stuff, Josie. He likes coming.” Addie lifted watery eyes to Jacob and tried to smile. “But whenever there’s something for a mom, I never have one. And all the other kids do. I was just so excited that Memaw was coming because it would be almost like having a mom with me.” Twin tears slipped down her cheeks, onto her calico peasant shirt. “Because then I’d kind of be like the other kids.”

  Oh, her heart.

  How could she take this barrage on a vital organ? She stared into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever known, the sweetest face she’d ever seen, and couldn’t help herself. “May I come?”

  Addie’s eyes went wide as she lifted her brows in surprise. “Would you do that?”

  She shouldn’t. Every internal warning system a woman possessed was going off inside her, but when would she ever have such a chance again? Never. “It would be my pleasure. Just let me brief Terry on what’s going on today. He needs to fly solo as backup manager, and this would give him the perfect opportunity. And, of course, all of this depends on if it’s all right with your father...”

  “It would be wonderful to have you there with us, Josie,” Jacob assured her.

  “Us?”

  Addie nodded as she hopped off the bench and clutched both of their hands. “Dad’s coming, too. He likes to be at things with me, but Josie, that would be so special. Thank you!” Then she let go of their hands and threw her arms around Josie in the biggest, sweetest hug Josie could imagine. “I’m so glad you’re coming!”

  “Me, too.”

  Nearly two weeks of avoiding him, and here she was, spending the morning with him and Addie. She gave Terry a quick rundown and then settled herself in Jacob’s front seat.

  The cushy car wrapped itself around her. Leather seats felt cool despite the rising outdoor temps, and as he drove toward Addie’s school, his scent wandered her way. Woodsy, tangy and a hint of citrus, maybe? A marvelous scent that invited further inspection, a temptation she resisted.

  The morning flew.

  Josie wanted it to last forever.

  It didn’t. The teacher had orchestrated crafts for them to do together. They colored construction paper bookmarks and planted bright pink petunias into wide, foam coffee cups. They played silly games, then had a fairly minor-league tea party at the end, but Addie loved every single minute. And when it was over, she clasped onto Josie as if she’d never wanted to let her go, a sentiment Josie reciprocated. “Thank you so much for coming! Wasn’t it the best day ever?”

  More than she would ever know, and far more than Josie could ever put into words. “It sure was, and I’m so glad you guys let me come. It was by far the best day ever.”

  “Then let’s not end it here.” Jacob took Addie’s hand as they crossed the parking lot to his car. “It’s a gorgeous day and I promised Addie a trip to Lake Ontario. Let’s do it now, before the resort opens, school closes for the summer and the beaches get crowded. Terry’s got the Bayou kitchen covered, I can handle anything I need to via phone for the day, and we’ve already played hooky for the morning. Why not make it a whole day? I do believe there’s custard at the Charlotte beach up in Rochester.”

  “There is,” Josie admitted. “And there’s a carousel, too. It’s over a hundred years old, and so old-fashioned and pretty.”

  “Can we go? Please?” Addie implored as she reached for Josie’s hand. “Will you come with us, Josie? That would make it even more special.”

  What kind of mother could resist a daughter’s sweet plea? “I’d love to.”

  “Do you think Terry will be set for the day?” Jacob lifted a brow in question. “I don’t want to push you into something you’re not comfortable with, Josie.”

  She added kind and considerate about work-related stress to the already long list of reasons to like this man. “I’ll double-check, but he should be fine. Nothing like being in the thick of things to get a handle on how stuff works. And I do tend to take over when I’m there, so this is probably a good thing.” She made the call, decided everything was fine for a few more hours, then settled back into her seat as they drove north. And when they’d parked the car and crossed the narrow streets to the wide, spreading beach at Charlotte, Addie kicked off her shoes and spun in the sand. “This is huge, Dad! It’s not like our lake at all.”

  “Last time I looked we didn’t have a lake, Addie.”

  “You know the one I mean.” She scolded him with the cutest face. “The one I love so much where I want to live forever and ever!”

  He didn’t sigh, but he looked like he wanted to, and Josie couldn’t blame him. Addie wasn’t afraid to stand her ground or make her wishes known, and there was no denying the sensibility of her choices. Why leave when you’ve found the perfect place? Except, of course, it wasn’t perfect at all. Nothing about their current situation was ideal.

  “Look that way!” Addie pointed north, across the huge lake. “You can’t even see anything on the other side! How come it’s so big?”

  Jacob made a face, so Josie answered. “There are five
huge lakes like this, Addie. The Great Lakes. And what you can’t see across the water is Canada, another whole, huge country.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She whirled, delighted by this new fact. “We could be in another country if we swam over?”

  “That would be some swim, kid, but if we were to take a boat over, we’d hit Canada. But it has to be a fairly big boat because I expect these big lakes can get rocking.”

  “They sure do.”

  “Can I dig in the sand? Please?”

  “Absolutely, except we didn’t exactly come prepared.” Jacob lifted his shoulders.

  Josie spotted driftwood up the beach. “Nature provides.” She pointed to the wood and headed that way. They traced roads into the sand with the sticks, and while they had no buckets to form castles, they mounded damp sand from below. Addie searched the beach for decorations. Shells, twigs, dried seaweed... And when they’d finished a fairly crude-looking castle, Jacob called her over, reached out his arm and took a selfie of all three of them.

  A family photo.

  Josie tried to push the thought aside, but that’s what it felt like, sitting there with Jacob behind her, and Addie to her right, leaning into her sand-dusted arm.

  Normally she hated the feel of sand in her clothes, and on her skin, but not today. Because today was all about Addie, and that made everything better.

  “How about that carousel, kid?” Jacob pointed east. “It’s pretty cool-looking.”

  “Yes, and I want to ride the wildest horse, the kind that go up and down, not the boring kind that just sit there. Okay, Dad?”

  “The beach is pretty quiet today, so I think we can make that happen.”