Secrets on Cedar Key

by Terri DuLong

  Toulouse was curled up beside me on the sofa as I sat knitting. Shortly before two, I heard a car pull up out front and looked through the window to see that Bella had arrived. “She’s here,” I called to my mother before going outside to greet her.

  Bella had just gotten out of the car and was stretching.

  “Long drive?” I called as I went toward her, pulling her into a hug.

  “Nah, it was a good trip, but I’m happy to be here,” she said, before standing back and taking a good look at me. “You look terrific. Paris must have agreed with you—in addition to maybe something else?”

  I let out a laugh and said, “Ah, yeah, you could say that. A certain Worthington Slater might be responsible.”

  That caused Bella to pull me into another embrace. “Good for you. And when do I get to meet this special man?”

  “He’s coming for dinner this evening.” I bent toward the backseat window to see Bella’s three Scotties sitting patiently. “Aww, Silas, Sammy, and Sylvia are adorable. Come on, let me help you unload the car.”

  “They have their leashes on, so you can take them and I’ll get my luggage.”

  My mother and Oliver greeted us at the front door. The four dogs circled one another and did the requisite sniffing, and then Oliver ran to get his ball, dropping it right in front of Sylvia.

  Bella came in behind me and laughed. “I think that was Oliver’s welcome. Where’s your little Toulouse?” she asked, going to give my mother a hug.

  “Welcome, Bella. I’m so glad you could come to stay with us. I think Toulouse scampered off to the bedroom. You know where the guest room is. You can go put your luggage in there.”

  I unclipped the leashes just as Bella walked back into the living room carrying Toulouse.

  “I found him,” she said. “And he’s gorgeous.” Sitting on the sofa, she called her three Scotties to her. “Now, this is Toulouse and he’s only a kitten, so I expect you all to be on your best behavior.”

  Toulouse sat quietly in Bella’s lap, allowing the dogs to sniff him, before all three trotted off to join Oliver.

  “So much for that,” I said with a smile. “I think the animal kingdom will be just fine during the coming week.”

  “I have a pork roast in the oven,” my mother said. “And dinner will be at five-thirty. Why don’t you girls get yourself some wine and go relax on the patio. I’m just going to get the vegetables peeled.”

  “Oh, can’t we help?” Bella asked.

  “No, no. You two need to catch up and have a nice visit. I’m fine.”

  I headed to the kitchen, uncorked a bottle of Beaujolais, filled two glasses, and joined Bella outside.

  “Here you go,” I said, sitting in the lounge beside her.

  She leaned over and touched the rim of my glass with hers. “Thanks. Here’s to friendship.”

  I nodded. “A very long friendship it’s been.” I took a sip and smiled as I saw Oliver romping in the yard with the Scotties.

  “So,” Bella said, drawing out the word. “Tell me about Paris. More importantly, tell me about Worth.”

  “Paris was wonderful. As wonderful as I always remembered it. And Worth.” I let out a deep sigh. “He’s pretty wonderful too.”

  Bella swiveled on the lounge to face me. “I’m so happy for you, Marin.” She reached out to touch my bracelet. “From Worth? It’s gorgeous.”

  I nodded. “My Christmas present. He wanted me to have a special memory of our time in Paris . . . but I don’t think I needed a bracelet for that.”

  “He sounds pretty amazing.”

  “I think he is. He’s a good person, fun to be with, very considerate, not to mention extremely romantic . . . and I think he knows me better than any man has.”

  Bella took a sip of her wine. “He sounds like the polar opposite of Andrew.”

  “I guess he is.”

  She reached over and patted my hand. “It wasn’t that I didn’t like Andrew, Marin. I just never thought he was the man for you. God knows, you certainly had a decent life together, you raised two wonderful sons, but . . . I always worried you had relinquished your passion when you met Andrew. That you didn’t allow yourself to be the person you were meant to be, but rather conformed to what Andrew wanted.”

  I took another sip of wine and nodded. “I think you’re right. Being with Worth, I feel different. Everything feels comfortable and easy.”

  “And it shows,” she said, giving my arm a squeeze.

  Shortly before five, Worth rang the bell, and when I opened the door to see him wearing the blue cable sweater that I had knitted for him, I felt a huge smile cross my face.

  “Hi,” I said as he pulled me into his arms and let his lips brush mine. “You wear that sweater well.”

  “I’m glad you like it. A very special woman made it for me.”

  I kissed his cheek. “And I’m glad I’m that special woman.”

  He held out a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “For your mother.”

  “She’s in the kitchen with Bella. Come on.”

  I made the introductions between my best friend and the man I loved and smiled as he gave Bella a hug, saying, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “Same here,” she said, sending me a wink of approval.

  “Thank you for the gorgeous flowers, Worth. I’ll just get these in a vase,” my mother told him. “Why don’t we all have a glass of that nice Beaujolais on the patio. Dinner will be ready shortly.”

  Over dinner I noticed that Bella and Worth kept up a steady stream of conversation. There were no awkward lapses like had sometimes happened with Bella and Andrew. I smiled and wondered how it would go when my sons met Worth the next day.

  “So you’re all prepared to get Fiona at the airport on Tuesday?” I heard Bella ask, and I nodded.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be. Right now I’m more concerned about telling Jason and John tomorrow. After I get through that, then I’ll worry about Fiona.”

  Worth reached over to take my hand. “It’ll all go fine. You’ll see.”

  “I think Worth’s right,” my mother said. “The boys are adults now. This would be an uncomfortable situation if they were still young, but I think they’ll understand that we all make mistakes.”

  “And you don’t know how long Fiona plans to stay?” Bella asked.

  I shook my head. “I didn’t want her to think she could only stay a certain amount of time. So I figured I’d leave it up to her.”

  Later that evening after Worth had left and my mother had retired for the night, Bella and I sat curled up on each end of the sofa, sipping herbal tea, reminding me of when we shared our house in Gainesville.

  “This is fun,” I said. “Having you here. I have some good friends on the island, but nothing compares with a best friend. Somebody who knows your history. Who knows you better than any other girlfriend.”

  Bella nodded. “I agree. We do have a lot of history together over the years. But I never knew you to hold back on me.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “About Worth. You were spot-on in your description of him. It’s easy to see what a great guy he is. It’s also pretty obvious that he’s crazy about you from the way he looks at you. But you neglected to tell me how handsome he is.”

  I laughed. “Hmm, I guess maybe I did. I think he’s a keeper.”

  Bella arched an eyebrow and smiled. “You think?”

  42

  Jason and John had flown into Gainesville, hooked up at the airport, rented a car, and driven to the island, arriving at the Faraway in the early afternoon on Monday.

  I got a call from John saying they’d just checked in and would be over within a half hour.

  “The boys are here?” my mother asked, walking into the kitchen.

  “Yeah,” I said, letting out a deep breath.

  She nodded as she prepared to make a pot of coffee. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I go in my room or outside while you talk to them?”

  �
��Absolutely not. Bella didn’t even have to leave, but she insisted on taking the dogs downtown for a walk.”

  Forty-five minutes later I saw my two boys emerge from the car and smiled. They weren’t boys anymore. They were grown men. Within seconds of their walking in the door, I was scooped up in their arms, hearing their laughter and excited chatter, and I knew that they’d always be my boys.

  “You look great, Mom,” Jason said. “Paris must have really agreed with you.”

  “Yeah,” John said. “Gosh, you look younger.”

  I laughed and took that as a compliment. “Come on, Gran’s in the kitchen.”

  After more hugs, kisses, and laughter, the boys each took a stool and sat down.

  My mother poured mugs of coffee while I placed a platter of Christmas cookies on the counter in front of them.

  “Oh, I was hoping you both made these,” Jason said, reaching for one and taking a bite. “As good as I remember.”

  “The tree looks great,” John said, looking into the family room.

  It did look great, and it had been fun getting it all decorated with Worth helping us.

  “So bring me up to date on your news,” I said, joining them at the counter.

  “No. First we want to hear all about your trip to Paris,” Jason said, and John nodded.

  I looked over at my mother and cleared my throat. “I had a wonderful time. It was exactly as I remembered it. The apartment was great.” I neglected to make any mention of Worth being more than just somebody who allowed me to stay at his place. “I visited museums, sat at the sidewalk cafés, did Christmas shopping . . . and, well, it was everything I hoped it would be . . . and more. But . . . there’s something I need to tell you. To talk to you about.”

  I stopped to formulate my thoughts and saw the boys exchange a glance.

  “Anything wrong?” Jason asked.

  “No, no,” I said, attempting to reassure them, then let out a deep sigh. “Gosh, I’m not sure where to begin. Ah, well . . . a couple of months ago I got a call from Mail Boxes in Gainesville telling me that your father had a box there—a box that I knew nothing about—and I was told there was a letter that had never been picked up. They had no idea your father had passed away, but he had given them my cell number as an emergency contact. So that’s why they called me.” I stopped for a moment to take a breath.

  “Did you get the letter?” John asked, his expression full of curiosity.

  “I did, and it was from an attorney in Boston. Actually, it had been sent last May.”

  “Two months after Dad died?” Jason said.

  I nodded. “Yes. And this is the part I’m finding difficult to explain . . . It seems . . . that in nineteen-ninety-three, when your father was teaching that summer at Amherst College . . . he met somebody.”

  “Met somebody? Like a woman?” John said, clearly surprised.

  “Yes. A woman. Her name was Bianca Caldwell. She passed away in April of this year. A fatal car crash. And . . . they had a daughter together.”

  “What?” John’s surprise had now notched up to shock. “You mean Dad was screwing around on you?”

  “Did you know about this?” Jason asked, always my more sensitive son.

  “I did not know. Not until I got that letter, called the attorney in Boston, and had him explain everything to me. Their daughter, Fiona, was born in April of nineteen-ninety-four, and . . .”

  John leaned across the counter. “So I was three when she was born?”

  I nodded again. “Yes, you were.”

  “Did Dad have contact with her or her mother? Did he see them after she was born?”

  “I don’t think so, but I don’t know for certain.”

  “So why was that letter being sent to Dad?” Jason questioned.

  “Because your father had paid monthly support for Fiona, year after year, till she was eighteen. However, most of the money had never been withdrawn by the mother, so the balance remains in this account. Your father’s stipulations were that if anything happened to the mother, any money in the account was to revert to the daughter at age eighteen. He was to be notified of this and sign the appropriate documents.”

  Jason shook his head. “Oh, wow! And since Dad is now gone . . . you are next of kin and that’s how you were drawn into all of this.”

  I nodded as he got up and came around the counter to pull me into his arms. I looked over his shoulder at my mother, who had been sitting quietly, and saw a gleam of moisture in her eyes.

  “Are you okay, Mom? How are you dealing with all of this?” Jason asked as he stepped back to look at me. “God, I can only imagine the shock it must have been for you to discover all of this.”

  Leave it to my firstborn to consider my feelings first. “I’m better now. I’ve had time to think about all of it. I couldn’t tell either of you about this when I first found out. I needed time to deal with it and figure everything out.”

  Following his brother’s lead, John said, “Yeah, I can sure understand that. No wonder you went to Paris.”

  I smiled before saying, “I was pretty angry. Hurt, betrayed, and angry, but over these two months, I’ve come to see that your father was simply human and humans make mistakes. I’ve now been able to forgive him.”

  Both boys nodded in understanding.

  “So now what?” John said. “Did she get the money in the account?”

  I went on to explain that, no, I hadn’t signed the documents yet. Then I took a breath and said, “We did speak on the phone . . . and she wanted to meet us. Before I just signed the money over to her, I thought that might be a good idea.”

  “Oh! Wow!” John said, as the realization hit him. “She’s our sister, isn’t she? We have a sister.”

  “You do, although technically she’s your half sister, but she very much expressed a desire to meet both of you.”

  “So when is she coming, Mom?” Jason asked, and I laughed for the first time in the conversation.

  “I know you,” he said. “You wouldn’t deny her the chance to meet us. You’re not that kind of person.”

  I glanced over and saw the tears in my mother’s eyes.

  “She’s coming tomorrow,” I said with a smile.

  “I’m really sorry that you had to go through this,” Jason said. “I know it couldn’t have been easy. But I’m glad you told us, and just so you know . . . it doesn’t make me love Dad any less. He was always a good father to us . . . and like you said, he made a mistake.”

  My eyes were now stinging with tears. Andrew and I may not have had the perfect marriage, but we had certainly done something right in raising our sons. We had two boys who had grown to be men we could both be proud of. Men who understood, at a fairly young age, that humans had frailties, but that didn’t diminish the fact they were still good people.

  John confirmed this by saying, “I agree with Jason. I know this couldn’t have been easy for you, but . . . I always did want a younger sister.”

  I smiled as I brushed away my tears, because I was certain that was a definite expression of excitement I saw on his face.

  43

  Worth had offered to drive with me to the airport to pick up Fiona, but I felt perhaps it might be best to meet her for the first time alone. Although he extended the invitation, he agreed and said Fiona and I would probably need that hour on the drive back to talk. Jason and John also felt that I should go alone to get her.

  Driving along Archer Road, I thought about the conversation with the boys the previous day. I really was fortunate. It had gone way better than I’d hoped for. I’m not sure if it was because they were boys and that might cancel out any jealousy factor, but they had accepted the situation just as my mother and Worth had predicted.

  Worth. I felt a smile cross my face. I’d figured I was on a roll after telling them about Fiona, so before the afternoon was over I plunged in and told them about Worth. That he was more than a friend, that we had fallen in love in Paris—that we were a couple. I’m not sure what I
expected their reaction to this news to be, but again, it was more than I’d hoped for. Both of my sons seemed genuine in their happiness for me. When they found out he was staying at the Faraway, they insisted I invite him over so they could meet him. We’d spent the previous evening together, and when I’d glanced at Worth talking to my boys and laughing away, it seemed so natural. Before the evening was over, both of my sons made a point to let me know that they approved.

  By the time I turned into the short-term parking area at the airport, I was feeling mighty good. I had hit some major bumps during this past year, but I had weathered the storm and come through the other side a much different person. A person who had learned and grown. Somebody who was in her element and felt that all was right in her world.

  I walked into the small airport, saw I still had about fifteen minutes before Fiona’s flight would arrive, and got myself a cup of coffee. I stood sipping the liquid, my eyes glued to the doors where arriving passengers would enter, and found that, like John, I felt excited about meeting Fiona. Any nervousness I previously had was gone. I felt confident that having her come to stay with us was a good thing.

  And then . . . I glanced up as the doors opened, and one of the first people through was a tall, slim young woman with long dark hair and a face that closely resembled Jason’s. I’m not sure how she recognized me, but I saw her walk in my direction, and that was when I saw it. Despite being slim, she had a bump that protruded from her stomach. My gaze flew from her midsection back up to her face as I heard her say, “Marin?”

  I nodded as a million thoughts raced through my head. My God, she was pregnant? This young woman was carrying Andrew’s grandchild? Why hadn’t she said anything to me? Where the hell were we going from here?

  She looked like she was about to hug me, but I’m sure the expression on my face halted her.

  “I know,” I heard her say. “I’m sorry. I guess I should have told you, but . . . I was afraid you’d say I couldn’t come, and I only found out for sure a few weeks ago.”

  I nodded. Okay, Marin, get it together, I thought. The first thing I needed to do was move us away from the people exiting the aircraft. I took her arm and steered her off to the side.