by Lori Leger
“Will it make me happy or sad?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Maybe both, but it may help you to understand some things.”
“I think I have the time right now, Dad,” she said, tucking her photo album under her arm. “Let’s go out to the pool house where we can talk better.”
Daniel nodded and followed his daughter outside. Once they were inside, he took the album from her and found the page with the snapshot of Tiffany with her grandmother.
“You do see the resemblance between the two of you, don’t you, Tiff?” he asked.
Tiffany looked closely at the photo. “Yes, definitely…the hair…the eyes…the mouth…as an adult, I’m even shaped like her.”
Daniel smiled and nodded. “From the day you were born, you resembled her. It gave me great satisfaction that you looked like my mom, but your mother…God, it really ate her up.” He shook his head sadly. “She hated Mom. I mean, really loathed her, because she was everything that Monica wasn’t. She was a wonderful mother, a wonderful wife, even though my bully of a father didn’t appreciate her, and treated her badly until the day he died. Mom spent a lot of time with us the first two years of my marriage.”
“Did she live with you?”
“No, I’d purchased a small, but comfortable, home for her not too far from us. We already had Monica’s mother living with us, and she and my mom were like oil and water. Those two clashed something fierce, and my mother never backed down from an argument. Between Monica and her mother, they never gave poor mom a moment of peace when she was around. But, after you came, she put up with them so she could see you. I’ve already told you how she was responsible for me hiring Melinda. Had she lived longer, you and Drake would have known more happiness as children. She doted on you for a year.”
“Dad, why haven’t we seen pictures of her before now?”
“Monica wouldn’t allow it. She hated when my mother came around. She hated that every day you grew more to look like her while Mom celebrated the fact. You had her big brown eyes, when Monica’s were ice blue. You had a head full of beautiful golden brown curls, when Monica’s hair was blonde and straight as a board. It ate at her, Tiff…infuriated both her and her mother.”
Tiffany looked puzzled. “Why would they care when they obviously felt so little for me? Why would they begrudge an infant someone…anyone who would show it tenderness and love?”
“They couldn’t relate to someone like her. Neither of those women had ever been capable of loving anyone but themselves. Hell, they didn’t even like each other, Tiff. The only time they ever got along was when my mother was around to give them a common enemy. They joined forces just so they could hate her together, because she forced them to see everything they weren’t.”
Tiffany nodded in understanding. “What happened to her?”
“One morning she didn’t show up. I called, and didn’t get an answer. I waited until late that afternoon, thinking she had a doctor’s appointment or something, and called again. I went over to her place and found her dead on her kitchen floor. She’d had a massive heart attack. There was absolutely no warning.”
Tiffany took her father’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “I’m sorry, Dad. That must have been horrible for you.”
“Oh, I won’t sugar coat it—it was a bad time for me. All I had to turn to was a shrew of a wife, and a mother in law who reminded me at every turn how thrilled she was that woman was out of her life for good. That’s what she called her…that woman. Monica never allowed photos of my mother to be displayed in our home, but Melinda and I had always taken plenty of snapshots of her holding you, giving you a bath, washing your hair, with you sitting up for the first time, crawling for the first time, taking your first steps...my mother was in every one of them. We had an entire photo album full of snapshots of her with you. Mom and Melinda are the ones who took you for your studio portraits.”
“Where are they? Are they at mothers put up somewhere?”
“No honey, I’m sorry. After my mom died, Monica found the album and tried to burn it—threw it in the fireplace.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” Tiffany asked, horrified. “All she had to do was put it away and never look at it again.”
“That’s just not her style, hon.”
“Where did these photos come from?” she asked.
“Melinda pulled the album from the fireplace as soon as your mother left the room. She even burned her hand badly. Your mother actually fired her when she found out, but Melin knew what would happen to you if she wasn’t around, so she came to me. I told Monica that she couldn’t fire you. I also threatened to kick her mother out of the house.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I could barely stand to be in the same house with her after that. I guess Monica started getting worried that I’d boot her out, or leave. We had a party one night, some society thing that she was so fond of. Monica cozied up to me all night and made sure my drink was constantly refreshed. As a result, Drake was conceived that night. Once she gave me a son to carry on the family name, she felt like she’d done her duty. We never slept with each other again after that night. Once I met Leah that was it for me.”
Tiffany put her hand on her father’s shoulder. “I’m sorry dad. I wish I’d known growing up.”
“I wish I’d had enough gumption to tell you, but the whole point of this story is Monica couldn’t stand to treat you like a daughter because every time she looked at you, she saw my mother. She seemed to transfer her hatred for my mother to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t do what I could to get you out of that place, but you did have Melinda. She loved both you and Drake like her own. It’s a real shame she never had any children.”
Tiffany shook her head in confusion. “But Drake and I look so much alike, the same curly hair, brown eyes, the same mouth. Why didn’t she hate him as much as she hated me?”
“My guess is because my mother wasn’t around to fall in love with him like she did you. She didn’t resent Drake the way she did you…she was just…indifferent to him. She wasn’t capable of showing him any more love than she was you, or me, or anyone else, for that matter. She’s a cold, heartless woman, like her mother before her.”
Just then Daniel’s cell phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket, looked at the ID on the screen and grinned.
“Yes,” he answered. He listened as the caller spoke then he broke out in a broad smile. “See you in a minute."
Tiffany looked curiously at her father. “Who’s that?”
“Come on, the second half of your Christmas gift is here. It’s actually the best part of it.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the pool house and back into her home. “Drake!” he called to his son, who was sitting at the island talking to Red and Chad.
“Yes sir?”
“Come here, Son! You have an interest in this, too.” He pulled them both to the front entrance and threw open the door. Tiffany and Drake peered at the emptiness of the doorway, exchanging puzzled looks. A woman stepped into the entrance and Tiffany cried out in excitement.
“Melinda!” Tiffany pushed her father out of the way to get to her. She threw her arms around her and began to cry. “Oh my God! How did you get here? Why didn’t you call and let me know?” she sobbed. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Daniel wouldn’t let me call. He wanted it to be a surprise,” the pretty green-eyed woman told her, hugging her tightly. “How are you, baby girl?” she asked, stroking Tiffany’s soft curls.
“I’m wonderful, especially now that you’re here! How long can you stay?”
“We’re staying for the entire week through next weekend.” Melinda beamed up at Drake. “Marcus Drake, get over here and give me a hug!”
Drake leaned over to wrap her in his arms and spun around, causing her to scream with joy.
Drake planted a big kiss on her cheek. “It’s good to see you Melin. You’re as beautiful as ever, and you look happy.”
Greg Hart’s dee
p voice answered unexpectedly from the doorway. “You can blame me for that.”
Drake put Melinda down and reached a hand out to the man who had spoken. “It’s good to see you, Greg! You must be taking excellent care of her.”
He nodded. “We take care of each other, Drake. It’s good to see you both,” he said, giving Tiffany a hug as well.
Tiffany placed one hand on her chest. “You can’t know how much it means to me to have both of you here for our wedding…and Christmas, too.”
“We never would have been able to make it here on time if it hadn’t been for Daniel,” Melinda said. “We were supposed to come in early tomorrow morning. Your father called me two days ago, begging us to come in for Christmas and stay the entire week to be with you for the opening of the club. By then every flight was booked solid, so he sent us a private jet.”
“How was the flight?” Daniel asked Melinda.
She closed her eyes in blissful appreciation. “Wonderful, but I believe it’s ruined me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fly commercial again after being so pampered on that flight.”
Tiffany pulled Red forward. “Melinda and Greg Hart, I’d like you to meet my husband Red McAllister.
“Have we heard some stories about you,” Melinda exclaimed. “You keep my baby girl happy, you hear, or else you’ll have to deal with me.”
Red pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her forehead. “I intend to, Melinda.”
Tiffany and Red sat at the dining room table enjoying coffee with some of their guests, while others watched a movie on the living room’s huge flat screen. “Okay, Melinda,” Tiffany began, “I know you two were high school sweethearts. I never heard the story of why you broke up in the first place. Did you catch him with a cheerleader behind the school bleachers or something like that?”
Greg turned his gaze toward Melinda and gave her a sad smile. “No Tiffany, it’s worse than that. Our parents got in the way, and I was a fool to let them.”
Melinda nodded at her husband. “You see, I got pregnant the beginning of my senior year. My mom was devastated the night we discovered it, and I was terrified. She told me to stay in my room and went out to speak to my dad. They never raised their voices, and by the time the two of them came back up to my room, they had everything all planned out. McCray is a very small town, still under 1,500 people, and they didn’t want anyone to know the situation I’d gotten myself into.”
“We left before I could even talk to Greg, so he had no idea I was pregnant. They drove me all the way to a home for unwed mothers in Dallas, and that’s where I stayed until my baby was born. I had no phone privileges, no letters that weren’t read first, no privacy, and no way to run away. I had it all planned—I was going to grab my baby when it was born and run out of there then call Greg to pick me up.” She shook her head sadly at her husband. “But of course, it didn’t happen like that.”
Tiffany sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Melinda…I had no idea. All these years I thought you couldn’t have children.”
Melinda swallowed with some effort and looked as if she were lost in the past as a memory took hold of her. “I heard the nurse say it was a girl, and I begged them to let me hold her, but they wouldn’t. They took her out of the room and I started to scream. I kept on screaming until they finally brought her back so that I could hold my daughter one time. She had my nose and her daddy’s chin. I couldn’t see her eyes because they were closed, but I always thought they would be green. For years I looked for little girls with curly hair, green eyes, my nose, and Greg’s chin.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell us, Melin?” Tiffany asked.
“It was too painful to talk about. After they pulled my daughter from my arms I got hysterical and had to be sedated. When I woke up hours later, they told me that I’d hemorrhaged and they had to remove my uterus. When I left that place I had no baby, and no hope of ever having another child. The only thing I had was the diploma I’d received while I was at the home, the name of the orphanage they’d sent my baby to, and the bus fare my parents had left for me to go back to McCray. When I walked out of there, I went straight to a pay phone. I called Greg’s home and they told me he’d joined the Marines. His mother wouldn’t give me his address to get in touch with him.”
“You left without trying to find her?” Tiffany asked Greg.
He shook his head, seeming angry. “This is where the real deceit from our parents comes in. Hers told me she wanted to get away from me, and she’d gone to live with a relative in California. They said she didn’t know how to tell me to my face. At first I didn’t believe them, so I sat back and waited for her to contact me…a phone call…a letter…something. After six months I accepted it, quit my job at the mill, and joined the Marines.”
Melinda looked sadly at her husband and put her hand on his face. “I later learned his mother had never told him I’d called or forwarded any of my letters to him. Of course, the orphanage wouldn’t give me any information without a lawyer. I knew she could have been anywhere, but for some reason, I felt this need to stay near the home. So I stayed in Texas, and began to look for her in every child I saw. I worked in cafes, at restaurants, in fast food joints, and as a cashier. I ended up around Houston eventually, and answered an ad for a live in babysitter. I didn’t think I had a chance at that job, but when I spoke to Ms. Mary, your grandmother...” She paused as she looked over at Tiffany and Drake, “I broke down into tears, and told her all about my pregnancy. She gave me a chance.”
“Mary spent a lot of time with me at first, to make sure I could handle you. Once Drake came along, I had enough money saved up to start the search for my baby, but when I tried to contact the orphanage again, it had burned down and all the records were destroyed. By then I was so attached to you and Drake that I couldn’t leave you. Mary was already gone, and Daniel, well he wasn’t around to watch out for you two. I knew damn well I wasn’t going to leave the care of you to your mother and grandmother. Ugh—those horrible women! Between the two of them, they didn’t have one iota of motherly tendency. So, I stayed on. My mother passed away right around the time Drake left for college, so I went back to McCray to stay with my dad.”
“You still kept in touch with your parents after what they did to you and Greg?” Tiffany asked.
“Time has a way of lessening the anger and hurt. Good or bad, they were my parents. They made a bad decision, but it didn’t mean they didn’t love me. They both regretted it later.”
A hesitant voice spoke from the doorway. “Melinda…”
Everyone turned to see Giselle standing there, looking a little lost and unsure of herself.
“Yes?” Melinda asked her.
“Giselle, are you feeling all right?” Tiffany asked, getting up to check on her friend. She checked her pulse and frowned. “Your heart rate is sky high, are you feeling any pressure?”
“No, stop being a doctor, Tif, I’m fine,” Giselle said, waving off her friend’s hands. “Melinda, did I hear you say the orphanage they’d brought your daughter to was destroyed by fire?”
“Yes, along with all the records and files,” Melinda said. “Why?”
“Was it in June of 1977?”
“Y…Yes,” Melinda said.
“Was your daughter born in 1975?” Giselle asked, clutching Jackson’s arm.
“April 24th,” Greg answered.
Everyone gasped as Giselle’s knees buckled out from under her. Jackson scooped up his wife and sat her on one of the dining room chairs. He looked at Melinda. “That’s her birthday. She’s adopted and we’ve been trying to find her birth parents but the orphanage burned down…along with all the records. All we have is her birth certificate.”
Melinda crouched to her knees in front of Giselle and stared into her eyes…green eyes…dotted with specks of gold. “Like Greg’s,” she said, absently.
“Wh…what?” Giselle asked.
Melinda shook her head, unable to believe there could be a chance. “It’s just that
the gold specks in your eyes…Greg has those.”
“Their chins are very similar,” Vivienne added.
“My God…her hair is just like yours, Melin,” Greg added as he leaned down next to his wife. They faced each other. “Is it possible?” he asked.
Giselle rose slowly from the chair, with Jackson’s help, took Melinda’s arm and brought her to the mirror in the foyer. The stood there, the two of them and their husbands.
“My God,” Melinda breathed, “Can this be possible?”
Jackson pointed out the freckles across Giselle’s nose. “Melinda has the same spattering of freckles.”
“She does have my chin,” Greg said.
“My hair,” Melinda added.
“Our faces are shaped the same,” Giselle sniffed, and rubbed her belly.
“Is everything going well with the pregnancy?” Melinda asked.
Giselle nodded. “Very well.”
“We’re having twins,” Jackson said.
“Every third generation woman in my family has twins.” Her and Giselle’s gazes locked in the mirror. “You’re third generation. They’ll be identical, not fraternal.”
“Excuse me, do you mind?” Vivienne said, pushing gently through the two men. “I noticed something earlier,” she said, moving next to Giselle.
“What is it, Mrs. Vivi?” Jackson asked.
“Giselle’s ears,” Vivi said, checking the shape of the cartilage. “Look at that little projection she has on both ears, and the shape of the lobe,” she said to Jackson as he nodded. “Now look here,” she said, pointing out the exact same thing on Greg’s ears. “Those are both very unique genetic traits. I have eight children and I’ve always been amazed how certain features get passed down from parent to child.” She stood back and crossed her arms while smiling at the two couples. “I say you need to have DNA tests done right away, to confirm it, of course, but I’d bet my last cent even without it that she is your daughter.”
