by LS Sygnet
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“You? Definitely not. I know there will be at least two women in attendance with their hearts in the right place.”
“Three,” I said. “Celeste’s mother is on the board of directors for the charity. She really cares about the children in this city too.”
He kissed the side of my head. “Then I stand corrected. Now, let’s see how the jacket looks open instead of buttoned.”
“Worse,” I groaned. “I could barely get the pants zipped.”
Johnny chuckled. “What about the eight bags of clothing you brought home the other day? Surely there’s something in there that’ll work for this little event.”
“Those are all very casual, Johnny. Too casual for something like this. I can’t show up looking like I’m ready to dash out and chase the bad guys.”
“I always found that look rather sexy.”
“Well I’m having lunch with a bunch of stuffy old women who aren’t looking for sexy from their donors.” I swatted his hand away from my waist. “If you’re not going to help, just go.”
“Fine, I’ll help. Surely there must be something in this overstuffed monstrosity you call a closet that will work.” He spun around the room until he spotted something I hadn’t seen or even considered wearing for almost a year. He made a beeline for it.
“Johnny –”
“I’ve always wanted to see you in green. And this…” he pulled the deep green suit off the rack, “looks perfect. Mmm-hmm. Low hip slacks, longer jacket, the world will see my beautiful wife pregnant with my very handsome sons and not look like she poured herself into her clothing for some hoity-toity-tea.”
“I hate green.”
“‘Cause it makes your eyes leap out like a cat’s?”
“I can’t possibly wear that this time of year.”
“It’s springtime. Don’t be ridiculous, and stop wearing black all the time. Let a little bit of that sunshine you painted all over the nursery out, sweetheart. C’mon now. Give it a whirl.”
I muttered under my breath about my sincere hope that he misjudged the suit – one of two I purchased before I left Washington last June that wasn’t destroyed when Jerry Lowe’s corrupt detectives blew up my car – and peeled off the old. I wadded the pants and threw them at Johnny’s head.
He laughed. “Does that mean we’re throwing these away, or would you prefer that I hang them up for you?”
I shoved one leg into the pants and mimicked his question in a high-pitched sneer. Damn him anyway. They fit. A little baggy in the legs and butt even, since I haven’t approached my normal weight again yet.
Yet. Ha. I should’ve resisted the weight gain from the get go. I could’ve reasonably pulled of a subtle weight gain if I had.
“Mmm,” Johnny purred. “I was right. Now slip into the jacket, no, no, leave it unbuttoned.” He curled one hand around his chin and surveyed the damage. “I don’t know.”
“See? I look horrible in green.”
“I think we should take it off again and let me play with you for about an hour and then–”
“Shut up,” I swatted playfully.
“You look beautiful. If we don’t leave soon, you’re going to be late, and I know how much you hate making grand entrances.”
“Speaking of which, I’ll probably be the first one there while they all compete for the latest and grandest entry. Remind me why I agreed to do this.”
“Because you care about the children in this city. And you want to see Celeste again, and the baby, and because it’ll be good for you to do something positive for kids instead of remembering all the monsters that weren’t caught soon enough.”
I turned slowly in his arms. “You’re a very wise husband, Johnny Orion.”
“And you are a very magnificent wife. On that note, I think I’ll tell you why I came sneaking up behind you a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, then you admit that you enjoy scaring the crap out of me?”
“It would seem that we got so carried away yesterday, and last night… and during the night, and, well, I don’t have to remind you,” he nibbled my neck. “You started it after all.”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well, in all the excitement, I forgot to keep my end of our reconciliation.”
“You did? I seem to recall that you were adequately conciliatory.”
He swatted my backside lightly.
“Johnny, tick tock. Don’t have all day.”
“Your ring,” he said. “I forgot all about it. Would you like it back now or later?”
“Definitely now.”
He slipped the gold band on my ring finger and kissed my hand. “All better now?”
“Better than before. Are you sure you won’t come to this thing with me? You can’t possibly be the only guy to show up.”
“Oh no you don’t. You’re not dragging me in to that luncheon, Doc. You already weaseled an agreement out of me to take you, to wait for you there. I’ll be in the bar, having a man’s lunch, not a peanut and a quarter of a cucumber sandwich, thank you very much.”
“I’m gonna starve.”
“You’ll nibble with all the other ladies, and when you’ve made your donation, I’ll take you anywhere you’d like for real food.”
“Onion rings. With lots of honey mustard. Oh, and some of those foot long hotdogs smothered in chili and –”
“Perhaps I agreed to move back into the bedroom a day or two early,” he grinned.
I slugged him in the arm.
“I’m kidding. Can we please leave now?”
Anxiety climbed the back of my throat like monkeys scaling trees by swinging from vines while Johnny drove to Hennessey Island. My palms grew damp. My mouth was dry. The stomach churned.
“You’re very quiet all of a sudden.” Johnny drove under the portico at the Island Hotel Resort and Casino.
“Please come to this thing with me.”
“Baby, I’ll be right outside in the bar having lunch with Crevan and Dev. You’ll be fine.”
The valet opened the door for me and helped me out of the Expedition. “Good afternoon, Dr. Eriksson.”
“Orion,” Johnny corrected. “She’s Dr. Orion now.”
I smirked and rolled my eyes. “Don’t mind him, he’s in a bad mood because I won’t let him come to this luncheon with me.”
“Mrs. Datello is expecting you. She’s waiting in the lobby.”
“Thank you, Chad.” Thank God for nametags in the service industry. I slipped my hand into Johnny’s.
“Won’t let me come, now, is that the way the lies swing these days?” he grinned.
“Oh hush, before I see Celeste and tell her that you insisted on joining us and I didn’t have the heart to tell you no.”
“You would, wouldn’t you. Alright, Mrs. Orion. Let’s go meet your hostess.”
Celeste’s eyes widened when we stepped into the sparkling hotel lobby. Everything that wasn’t glass or crystal was marble, shined to a painfully bright gleam.
“Helen!”
It had been at least five weeks since I’d seen her, almost six. A lot had changed in that time.
She rushed forward and clasped my hands. “Then the rumors are true! Congratulations!”
“Thank you, Celeste. Where is Sofia? I was hoping to see her today.”
“Upstairs. She’ll be making her grand appearance later. Mother is bringing her down after we’re sure she’s got the fussy wiggles out. You must tell me when you’re due. It looks like four, maybe five months?”
“Late September, if we’re lucky,” Johnny piped up.
Celeste wilted a little bit. “Hello, Commander Orion.”
“Just Johnny now,” he said, “and it’s wonderful to see you looking so well. Motherhood clearly agrees with you.”
Her eyes roved from Johnny to me. “You must be carrying a giant, though that doesn’t surprise me considering… well, neither one of you are what I would call average height.”
“I’m having twins, Celeste. Boys.”
“That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you, Helen. I’d like to believe that Danny would be too.”
I heard the words in Johnny’s head. He can be as happy as he pleases – from hell.
Our eyes met, his filled with innocence, mine filled with reprimand.
“I know that’s hard for you to believe,” she said softly.
“Nonsense, Celeste. Given everything I’ve been through recently, it has occurred to me that Danny and I had more in common than I realized before.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “Family means everything. We have a responsibility to protect those we love. And it isn’t fair to be judged by the actions of those who brought us into this world.”
She squeezed my hands. “Thank you for saying that, Helen. It means so much to know that you understand that the man who died wasn’t the one who loved me.”
Celeste glanced at Johnny again, “Will you be joining us?”
“He’s meeting his former employees for lunch while I go with you, Celeste,” I said.
“Detective Mackenzie? He’s already here. I had a chance to say hello to him when he arrived. I think he’s waiting for you and someone else in the bar.” She tugged one of my hands. “Shall we, Helen?”
Johnny snagged my arm and pulled me back for a thorough kiss. “I love you, mommy.”
“Love you too, daddy.”
Celeste blushed when I turned around and caught her watching.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have intruded.”
“Nonsense. You should see how he kisses me in the grocery store.”
“You’re very happy then? In spite of what happened last month, I mean. I was sick when I learned what those monsters did to you, Helen. You’ve been so good to me.”
“I’m fine now, and yes, extremely happy. I was so touched by your invitation today.” Happy if I continued to ignore my doubts, the truth of who I really am, the threads that keep tugging me back into the middle of something heinously ugly.
“Some of these women aren’t here for the right reasons,” she said. “I should’ve told you yesterday, but I thought maybe this is something that you and I have in common. It doesn’t matter so much why they donate to this cause, as long as they donate.”
“I’m with ya, Celeste.”
“There are a few ladies I’d like to have you meet. They’re good people who really care about the children in this city.”
“What a refreshing change for me,” I said. “I’d love to meet them.”
“One called me shortly after you brought my Sofia home. I’d never met her before then, but she seemed to understand everything I felt while Sofia was missing so well. I asked her if she lost a child too. She told me she had, only no one had ever been able to ease her pain. I guess she didn’t have an angel like you to help her.” Celeste urged me forward. “That’s her, right over there in the pink suit.”
My eyes wandered to the imposing figure not softened by the pastel disguise. Had losing a child hardened her?
“Kathleen?” Celeste said softly. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is my angel, my hero Helen. She’s the one who brought my Sofia home safe and sound. Helen, this is my new friend, Kathleen Conall.”
My eyes met the same bright green gaze I saw every time I looked in the mirror.
Would it be impolite to recoil and run away? Too late. Much too late.
Kathleen extended one thin hand. “I believe I’ve seen your picture in the papers, Ms. Eriksson. And you’ve worked quite closely with my son Crevan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“It’s Orion, now, Kathleen,” Celeste said while I numbly shook the hand of my biological mother. “Helen and Johnny Orion were married last month. Remember? It was in the newspaper.”
Kathleen touched her forehead and smiled. “Dear me. I must’ve forgotten. It was in that article where that odious reporter interviewed the governor and made allegations that my son wasn’t a fine police investigator.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard. Was she pretending some close relationship with Crevan for public benefit, or was she truly unaware that everything had changed in his life?
“Mrs. Conall.”
“Call me Kathleen, dear. I insist. Come sit with me so I can get to know one of my son’s dear friends. He never has time to come home these days it seems. Perhaps you can tell me how he’s doing.”
I nodded. “I saw him two days ago, Kathleen. He’s very happy right now.”
“Oh I’m so relieved. What happened to Belle had to be difficult for him, even though the marriage was over. He told us at Christmas, you know.”
“Yes,” I said softly. “He mentioned it.”
“My husband was not happy at all. I’m afraid that the two of them haven’t had much to say since then. But I do miss him, Helen. Would you give him my love?”
“Of course.” Aidan Conall leapt to a monster of epic proportions in my estimation. Not only did he make his only son feel like crap, he deprived him a relationship with a mother, who as far as I could tell, loved and missed her son very much. Inspiration – for better or worse – struck hard. “But Kathleen, Crevan is meeting Johnny here for lunch. Wouldn’t you rather see him yourself?”
“He’s here? Right now?”
I grabbed her hand. “Come with me. We’ll be back before anyone misses us.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she hesitated.
“It’ll be our secret.” She didn’t have to explain the source of her furrowed brow or the reluctance. “I’ll never tell him, Kathleen. And you know that Crevan won’t.”
Such a heavy sadness shrouded her eyes, it hurt to see it, but she followed me out of the banquet hall. We made our way to the bar where Johnny sat with Dev and Crevan.
“Crevan, I ran into someone who would love to say hello.”
Not in a million years would I have imagined what happened next.
Chapter 31
Crevan’s face hardened to stone.
His mother gripped my arm harder. “I’m sorry, Helen. I – this was a mistake.”
“No, it wasn’t.” I shot Crevan a reproving glare. “Crevan, aren’t you going to say hello to your mother?”
Johnny was shaking his head as unnoticeably adamant as possible. His hand made a slight slicing motion over his throat.
“I suppose that depends on why she’s pretending that she wants to see me,” Crevan’s icy tone was one I’d never heard from him before. It struck me as odd that it sounded familiar just the same. Maybe because he sounded like me.
“I’ll go,” Kathleen said softly. “I shouldn’t have –”
Whatever else fell from her lips was lost on my ears. The only sense functioning at the moment was visual. Crevan’s eyes narrowed, crinkled at the edges. He looked from his mother to me, like he couldn’t quite decide where to direct the glare.
Kathleen let go of my arm. She said something else, directed at me, I guess, since Johnny’s reply on my behalf finally registered.
“She’ll be back to the benefit in a few minutes, Kathleen. It was good to see you again.”
By the time I was aware of anything but my twin’s stare, Kathleen was long gone and Johnny blocked my view of Crevan.
“Helen, are you all right?”
“Huh?”
“Honey, I know you were trying to help, but this –”
“Unbelievable,” Crevan reappeared in my field of vision.
“Crevan –”
“How long have you known? Why didn’t you tell me, Helen?”
I swallowed a wad of grit that materialized around my vocal cords. “Tell you what?”
Maybe paranoia runs in the family. Crevan’s was clearly off the chart. Instead of eyes darting between Kathleen and me, they shifted to Johnny and me. A moment later, he included Devlin. “You all knew. Jesus.”
“Oh boy,” Johnny said.
“Knew what? What’s g
oing on? I told you that I wanted to help facilitate a conversation between you and your mother.”
“Crevan, think about what you’re saying, specifically where you’re saying it,” Johnny admonished. “We can talk about this later.”
“Who put the idea in your heads first, Briscoe?”
Dear God. Crevan wasn’t the only one who noticed that I apparently have our mother’s eyes.
“He just couldn’t leave it alone.” One agitated hand raked through Crevan’s hair.
“Stop it, Crevan,” Johnny spoke sharply. “We cannot have this conversation here.” He turned to me. “Helen, write your check for Celeste’s charity. Devlin, I want you to take Crevan over to the house.”
“I’m not going anywhere!”
Johnny impaled his best friend with sheer will. “Yes, you are. We’ll explain everything to you in a room without prying eyes and walls without ears. This is bigger than what you think at the moment.”
Incredulous eyes focused on my husband. “Don’t be ridiculous. If Helen figured all of this out, the least she could’ve done was tell me, rather than trying to ambush me with our mother!”
His words seeped slowly into my brain. My heart leapt into the back of my throat and twisted painfully. My jaw dropped, and I tried to suck breath into my lungs. Reality sank to a pinpoint around Crevan’s face. Tiny words hissed around the obstruction. “You knew? For how long?”
Crevan’s head rolled forward. He muttered a curse under his breath.
“What was that?” I caught my breath on a heated rush of fury.
“Johnny’s right. We can’t have this conversation here.”
“Like hell we –”
Johnny silenced the oncoming tirade. “Not here, Helen. Think before you say another word. We’ve already garnered far too much attention.”
I turned on my heel and stalked away from the lot of them. Johnny caught me before I hit the threshold of the luncheon. His fingers manacled my arm.
“What are you doing? We need to talk about what just happened, Helen.”
“Screw it. Screw him. Screw all of you.”
His eyes narrowed. “This is suddenly my fault?”
