by Fifi Flowers
I laughed. “Get back here. I’m fine. Really. And besides, I have to go pick up Veeta soon.” Thank God, I had kept Skeet and Veeta apart. I could only have imagined the devastation of him leaving if I had let her get attached to him. She would’ve. There was no doubt in my mind. “I need to go fishing!”
“You are the strangest girl ever,” James stated, walking into the cellar and added, “What girl likes to go fishing as much as you?”
I had to laugh and I had to get out of there. They all had work to do and I was just throwing off everyone’s schedule. “That’s me a strange girl and fortunately for me, I have a little girl who loves it just as much. See you guys later and I am fine...I will be fine.”
I had Veeta. What more did I need?
The only thing was... I didn’t have Veeta.
When I got to school, they told me that a family member had picked her up. They weren’t sure who it was since they switched shifts and the other morning teacher was gone. I tried to figure out who would come and pick her up. I had been tired that morning and was trying to remember if anyone said they were going to pick her up. I couldn’t recall any mention and began to worry a bit.
I was really worried when my mother greeted me and no Veeta.
“Where is Veeta? Do you know who got her from school?”
“I wasn’t supposed to get her and your dad had a meeting with Conrad...so it wasn’t them. Clancy was having a meeting with her private investigator.”
I was officially worried. “That rules everyone out. They wouldn’t give her to anyone but us...” I heard the roar of a motorcycle and lost all focus as I expected to see Skeet coming up the driveway. It wasn’t him.
“Oh my gawd! What the hell?”
Veeta was riding on the front of a vintage motorcycle with Clancy.
“What are you thinking? You did not pick her up from school with that and—” I was yelling over the idling motor until she turned it off.
“Relax. I got her in my car and we came back and went for a little cruise around the property—”
Veeta cut her off in an excited voice, “Weeeeee Vroooooom Vroom. We had fun, Mommy.”
No helmet, are you crazy? I wanted to scream at Clancy as my girl rattled on with a big smile gracing her adorable face.
“My hair blows in the wind, Mommy.”
I finally got a word in edgewise when Clancy removed Veeta and herself from the bike. “I don’t need you teaching her your wild ways...” My mother called Veeta inside for peach pie as I laid into Clancy. “And she’s still not safe. You should’ve told me you were getting her from school. I was worried and then panicked when she wasn’t in the house... Remember the locket. I don’t know what’s going on with you lately.” I was nearly in tears.
“I’m sorry, Celeste, about the bike...but it was my day to get her from school. You mentioned inventory and I usually get her unless you say otherwise.”
Shit! I was losing it. Losing control of things. I was letting my love life or what I had thought was love override my duties. Forgetting all about my responsibilities. My obligations.
“I’m sorry, Clancy... Please make her wear a helmet next time... I did mention the wine and I... I’m going to go down to the fishing hole and fish a bit.” I wasn’t even letting her respond as I turned and walked away, heading for the barn to grab my equipment.
I needed to unwind and, most importantly, I needed to pull it together.
Veeta needed a good mommy more than I needed to worry about Skeet leaving town. Again.
Chapter Sixteen
Skeet
“Hey, you’re the man from the ballpark! I remember you!” That was the greeting I received when I knocked on the Archer Family’s front door and it opened. “I’m Veeta... You look kind of like a boy in pictures around the house. Are you a relative?”
“Veeta!” I heard a boy yell for her before he appeared at the door alongside of the little dark haired girl who reminded me of someone... I just couldn’t think of who it was. “Who are you?” He looked me up and down and moved Veeta behind him, protectively.
“What is going on here?” Conrad joined the two at the door. “Oh, it’s you.” His similar tone and looking between the boy and Conrad, I realized it had to be his teenaged son Cord. “She’s down at the lake fishing again today...” Something about the way he said “again today” seemed to have some kind of meaning behind it and he didn’t sound thrilled about it. “You know where it is.”
I knew it well and I knew Conrad well enough to know that he was not happy with me being at the farm. I couldn’t blame him. He knew I left his sister after being accused of cheating on her. But, I thought coming back and making her happy again should’ve helped my status. Although, in all fairness, I wasn’t sure what he knew about us other than I kept coming around even after he told me that Celeste was dating that asshole Dale Kensmore.
“Okay.” I was getting nowhere just standing there. “I guess, I’ll head down there then.” Nothing more to say, I began to back up and turn around.
“Hey, Mister, ask Mommy if I can come down and fish too?”
“Let’s go, Veeta.” Conrad pulled her back and shut the door.
Alone on the porch and a bit stunned, I uttered the same word over and over—Mommy—before I went down past the old orange barn in the direction of the fishing hole as Celeste always called it. It was much bigger than a hole.
It was big enough for boating.
I remembered one summer her father’s friend even launched a motorboat down one of the tall grassy banks for all of us to ski behind. He had tons of life vests in all colors and sizes to go along with double skis, single skis and some inflatable toys to attach to lines. Thinking back, I had a feeling he was more of a salesman than a friend and was most likely trying to sell the boat to Mr. Archer, Henry... Whatever it was, it brought great joy to Conrad, Clancy, Caprice, Celeste and me...and fucking Dale. Oh, and Martina.
Good times at the farm...on the lake.
I was letting my mind wander off to every memory I had of the lake to keep my mind from thinking about Celeste having a baby with someone else.
Her list.
If I let her tell me about her list...would he be on it? Veeta’s dad? Strange that she wouldn’t name her something that started with a C. Everyone but her father had a C and they all had the same middle name after her mother’s maiden name to link them to the Corday Farm.
Just as I was reeling and ready to lose my mind with my breaking heart, I saw my girl sitting on the old wooden dock with her bare feet dangling above the blue water and a familiar pole in her hand. She was the prettiest sight ever. No matter what she was doing, anytime...anywhere.
“Be quiet. You’ll scare the fish.” She half-smiled at me. Something was wrong. “I have another pole to the side there.” She pointed to the bank where she had a small child’s size pole—turquoise with mermaids on it.
What the hell? I took off my shoes, rolled up my pant legs and grabbed the pole.
“I’ll bite.” Pun intended. “What’s got you so down?” I sat next to her and nudged her shoulder like I used to as we sat on the dock, side by side, fishing. I figured it had to be something small with her work or maybe...maybe her daughter got in trouble.
God, I hated to think about her having a daughter with someone else.
Thank God she wasn’t Dale’s!
“I heard you’re not happy being back here and that you’re planning to leave again.” That was true to a point, but I was going to tell her myself.
“Where did you hear that?”
“It doesn’t matter. It just matters if it’s true.”
“I thought we had gone through this once before. People telling stories that drove us apart. Stories that you know aren’t true or I should say that they weren’t accurately told and were flawed... You said you knew what happened. You said you forgave me... How could you listen to people again and... Dale. It was fucking Dale this time.”
“He heard you ta
lking to Dean at the bar.” Celeste’s voice was full of sorrow.
“Dale doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. I want stability. To be in one place. Not at the vineyard in California. I want a family with you.” I had planned my speech out much better in my head. I hadn’t expected a confrontation... More of a proposal.
Nor did I expect her to turn me down. “It’s not just me I have to think about... I can’t just run off with you because you don’t like it here anymore.”
I had no intention of having her runaway. But I also didn’t think about the little girl I had seen her with since I only saw her the one time at the ballpark in the last couple of months that I had been back. She never even mentioned her and she never wanted to speak about the past with us or what happened after I left.
Why? I needed answers. It was time to talk.
“Is Veeta your daughter?” I noticed a total uneasiness in Celeste’s movements as she lowered her head—I had never seen her nearly lose a fishing rod. “You have been purposely hiding her... Why do you keep her away from me?” I watched her slowly reel in an empty line without saying a word. “How old is she?”
I wondered what was going on in her head as she set her prized pole on the dock and turned to face me. “She turned five this year.”
Math calculations were suddenly running through my mind. She was older than I had thought... She was the right age to be... Mine. “Is Veeta my child?”
I watched Celeste’s body tremble a bit. She swallowed hard. “She is yours... She’s not mine.”
Those were not the words I expected.
Chapter Seventeen
Celeste
It was time to put it all out on the table. It was time to revisit the past. It was time to tell him the truth behind Veeta. It was time because it appeared that the coast was clear. While Skeet was gone for a couple of weeks, a locket had mysteriously arrived at the Corday headquarters.
“Chinese food containers were delivered to my office today and no one had ordered it.” I had no idea why Clancy was telling me about her lunch and I hoped that it wasn’t a story that involved Pete Remington. The thought of her with Skeet’s father was not appealing.
“Finding it a bit strange, I contacted my spy friend and he popped over to investigate.” Spy friend? What the hell was Clancy involved in?
“Inside of a large carton was a smaller one and then another, then one more until we were down to one small takeout carton. Inside the box was two fortune cookies. Mercer...” I assumed that was her James Bond guy. “...had special equipment to test each one—as he had done with the containers—before we cracked them open.”
She stopped and left me hanging to grab two champagne flutes, Corday liqueur and a couple of Champagne splits—my mother bought them by the case.
“Why are you being so dramatic? What are we celebrating? Was there an engagement ring in one of them?” Please don’t let it be from Pete, I silently wished.
“Oh God, no! Who could handle me? Raising Clancy is only reserved for our parents.” I laughed at that. “Focus,” she demanded, handing me a peach Bellini that I had watched her make and clinked her glass to mine. “So are you ready?” I nodded. “In one fortune cookie was a gold heart locket.” I was sure my eyes had widened. “In the other was the same message as before ‘If a locket is to appear the coast is clear.’ It has to be the one for Veeta.”
“What was in it?” I imagined a photo of Martina in it.
Another surprise. “It didn’t open but there was a definite hinge.”
“You look worried?” I hated the frown on her face and wondered why she would have us drinking and toasting to the locket.
“We were both a little concerned. Mainly, Mercer. He was worried about it containing a tracking device...”
“You told him the whole story?” We usually kept it within our family and lawyers.
“I had to and that’s why I gave it to him. He took it to work and had it x-rayed. He let me know that it wasn’t a tracking device. The iffy part is that it appears to be some kind of micro-chip and he’s using a trusted partner to recover the information.”
I had so many questions. “Why did they send it to the company? Do you think they are trying to mess with us? Trying to get to Veeta?”
“I think you need to relax. The message was if it appeared things were good... For all you know it’s a message from Martina.”
I hadn’t thought about that possibility which was dumb of me since the note about the locket was in Martina’s handwriting in the first place.
Martina. It was time to talk about her and Skeet.
I took a deep breath in and let it out before casting out the first part of the story. Back to the scene that tore us apart. Back to the night that Conrad removed me from the crazy party at the plantation.
“Martina was with you in the room that night...” I bit my lip as a tear fell down my cheek. “She woke up before you did and saw you lying next to her in the bed...” I couldn’t look at Skeet. I just stared straight ahead over the cloudy blue sky reflected in the water’s surface. “She grabbed for any clothes she could find on the floor and got out of the room.”
Martina hadn’t even planned to tell me what had happened—not that she had any recollection of the night before—until she found out she was pregnant. It hadn’t been her in the photos of Skeet kissing other girls so she thought she was safe. She did know that something had taken place between them because she had been a virgin and her blood was on him, as well as the bed.
I saw the blood drain from Skeet’s face as I finished telling him what my best friend had told me. “It wasn’t your fault.” He looked like he was going to be sick and I reached out to rub his arm. “As you know, drugs were floating around in drinks... When Conrad found me, he said I was rattling on about weird stuff and that I even cuddled up to him. He took me straight home.”
Skeet’s voice was cracking as he spoke. “I’m so glad he found you. I’ve already told you that... Why didn’t you believe me...but then... Oh my God! I fucked up so bad.”
“I didn’t know about the drugs or anything else until you were gone.”
“I should’ve stayed and... Veeta looks exactly like Martina. You two always looked like you could be sisters because of your dark hair and light eyes, but that’s where it ended.” Skeet was looking off into the distance like he was trying to remember something. “Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
It was time for me to tell him the next half of the story. How I was at my best friend’s side as her baby was delivered and how she begged me to take care of Veeta as my own if anything ever happened to her. “Of course, I promised her I would.” As he knew I had...was...
Then I followed up with the brief history between Martina and Veeta staying at the farm before I stepped in to care for her daughter... My daughter. I had her longer and she never knew of her biological mother. I had to keep her safe from others that might try to harm her and say that she was mine.
“The rumors about Martina’s family were true. Once they found out about her parents’ car accident being orchestrated, her grandfather Vito learned that his brother had retaliated. It seems that the two feuding families were slowly exterminating each other and Martina was caught in an explosion.”
“I’m sorry.” Skeet had tears rolling down his face the same as me.
“There’s a bit more...” I stated and then told him about the diaper bag and locket along with its recent appearance. We were caught up at that point when I told him about a private investigator’s findings.
Mercer Everett, Clancy’s friend had dug up far more information than I wanted or needed to know since the locket-reappearing situation. He was supposed to come out to the farm and that was why I was in need of a bit of fishing—it always calmed my nerves and made me happy.
“This was not what I ever imagined you saying.”
“It’s pretty crazy...” It was my turn to apologize. “I’m sorry that things went the way they d
id, but then again... I often wondered if you could’ve been caught in the crossfire with Martina. I’d rather you were alive without me than dead.”
Chapter Eighteen
Skeet
I was completely shocked by everything Celeste had said. She left me damn near speechless. How could she put herself in danger to raise someone else’s child... My daughter. She loved my little girl as her own. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her even more...and I wanted to be able to tell Martina how sorry I was for what I had done to her.
I took away her innocence. Part of me felt like a monster.
Celeste had nothing to apologize about and I told her as I stood up on the dock and helped her up. I was the one that had to apologize to everyone. At that moment, I just wanted to hold her in my arms. I wanted to thank her for being brave. I wanted to make up for so many things and my heart nearly broke at her words that made me feel like she still didn’t trust me or believe how much I loved her.
“I was afraid to tell you about Veeta...besides the dangers. I love her and I was afraid you’d be angry and take her away from me... She only knows—”
I immediately cut her off. “You’re her mother. I would never do that to her or you. Celeste, I meant it every time I said I loved you.” I held her closer, tighter.
I never wanted to let her go or leave her side again.
“Hey, you two! Give it a rest! And get up to the house! Clancy’s friend Mercer’s up at the house along with our family lawyers.” Conrad was shouting at us from the end of the dock with his hands on his hips—very fatherly, as usual.
“We better go.” She released her arms from around me and I, reluctantly, pulled back. “Can you grab Veeta’s mermaid rod?” She was gathering up her own stuff.
I was reminded of the little girl calling me Mister and I was trying to keep my wits about me. She had just told me so many shocking things and I didn’t have time to tell her my feelings even though I wasn’t sure what they were. It was probably best to focus on my daughter and her future...her happiness.
