When the Sun Goes Down

by Gwynne Forster

  “Sure,” she said. “Won’t take me but a minute.” She walked off after barely sparing Edgar a glance. “Same old, same old,” he heard her mutter. But as promised, she was back within a few minutes with a large, heavy bag. “That ought to keep you for a couple of days.” She headed back to the kitchen without waiting to hear of Edgar’s gratitude.

  “What’s with her?” Edgar asked Gunther.

  Gunther flexed his shoulder in a quick shrug. “Edgar, the Lord promised to pull you up as many times as you fall down, but Mirna’s like the rest of us humans. After a while, we don’t give a damn.”

  “Well, thanks, old man. See you Monday at Riggs’s office. I gotta look for a gig.”

  Shirley hung up the phone after her conversation with Gunther and gazed into the distance. Could Carson possibly have found that will, talked with her almost daily, and not said one word to her about it? When he told her that he’d be in Atlanta on a job for about a week, she should have known that he’d either found the will or quit trying. She dialed his number and hung up at the first ring. Damned if she’d ask him about it. He wouldn’t be in Ellicott City when she got home Sunday night. Well, she’d find out along with Gunther and Edgar, and it would be a late day in the thirteenth month of the year before she forgave Carson.

  She switched her phone to the operator and took the elevator up to the top deck. The feeling of being confined, of needing fresh air and open spaces, closed in on her as if she were claustrophobic. She rushed out of the elevator and sat on a deck chair beside the pool. But immediately a man dressed only in a five-inch bathing suit climbed out of the pool, sauntered over to her, and sat on the edge of her chair. She got up, walked toward the rear of the boat where she knew she’d be alone, and sat at an empty table, watching the vast ocean.

  “I can live without him, and I will. Just because he can love me out of my senses doesn’t mean I have to let him mistreat me.” She blinked rapidly, turned her cell phone on, and went back to her office. He’d been everything to her, but he was just a man.

  “You mean Carson still hasn’t told you anything about this?” Gunther asked her as the two of them ate breakfast together before going to Riggs’s office that Monday morning.

  “Not a friggin’ word,” she said, “and as far as I’m concerned, he’s history.”

  “Don’t be foolish. The fact that the two of you are in a relationship is not a reason for him to behave unprofessionally. How could you expect that of him?”

  “You don’t understand. We’re ... we’re really close, or we were. He could have told me and asked for my confidence.”

  “Oh, yeah! That would have been even worse, because you have a stake in this will. If he’d told Mirna and asked her to keep it to herself, I could accept that, but confiding in you would have been a mean thing to do. My respect for him mounts continually. Let’s go, or we’ll be late.”

  “What the ... what the hell?” Gunther and Shirley heard Edgar exclaim as they followed him into Donald Riggs’s office. Gunther’s gaze landed on Frieda Davis and a woman who had to be her mother. He didn’t speak to Riggs but walked over to Frieda.

  “I’m surprised to see you here. How’s the job going?” He could see that she was nervous and as mystified as he was. He’d added the question about her new job because he wanted to sound casual.

  “Mr. Farrell, this is my mother, Coreen Treadwell. I don’t know why I’m here, and from the way Coreen reacted to seeing Edgar when he walked in here, I’m scared I’m gon’ hear somethin’ I don’t want to hear.”

  He shook Coreen’s hand. “How do you do?” he said, and took a seat beside Shirley, who sat near the door. He wouldn’t say he was glad to meet Coreen until he found out why she was there.

  “Man, do you have the will, or don’t you?” Edgar asked, his tone belligerent.

  Donald Riggs draped his right ankle over his left knee and made himself comfortable. “Mr. Farrell, Edgar, I mean. If you disrupt me once or behave in the least disorderly fashion, I will have you arrested.” He reached over to his desk and pressed the intercom.

  “Yes, Mr. Riggs.”

  “Get a security officer up here and post him at my office door.”

  Gunther’s head snapped up. That meant Riggs was about to read the will and that Edgar wouldn’t like what he heard. But what did Frieda and her mother have to do with the will?

  “Now, if I may have your attention, please. As executor of Leon Farrell’s estate ...” Gunther jerked around at the gasp he heard. It had come from either Frieda or her mother, and his curiosity about their presence escalated.

  “I have the responsibility of disposing of his worldly goods with the aid of his last will and testament, which I have before me.” Gunther didn’t look at Shirley but reached over and held her hand.

  “ ‘I, Leon Edgar Farrell, declare that this is my will, and I revoke all prior wills and codicils.

  “ ‘I bequeath one hundred thousand dollars to the Severn Sanctum for Injured Pets and one hundred thousand dollars to Coreen Holmes Treadwell.’ ”

  Edgar’s oath did not escape anyone present. Neither did Coreen’s loud gasp.

  “ ‘I divide the remainder of my property and monies equally among my children, Edgar, Gunther, and Shirley, plus the firstborn child of Coreen Holmes Treadwell, provided that the child passes a DNA test with matches to Gunther or Edgar.’ ”

  Edgar was standing now with his fist balled as if to strike.

  “ ‘And a birth certificate showing that the child was born not more than nine months after Coreen’s high school graduation. Edgar is to receive his share, that is his total inheritance, after he has held the same full-time job for one solid year and not before. If he has not accomplished this within fifteen months from the reading of this will, his share is to be divided among my three other children.’ ”

  The door slammed, and Gunther didn’t look toward it; he knew that Edgar had left.

  “There’s more,” Riggs said, wiping his brow and continuing to read.

  “ ‘All of the estate’s expenses are to be paid before the distribution of inheritances. The child born to Coreen Holmes is the product of a rape, which I perpetrated upon Coreen, a virgin, at a time and place when she was defenseless and when she trusted me. I’ve regretted it ever since, and I have prayed that I did not ruin her life and that she has found happiness with her husband and stepsons. Yes, Coreen, I have known your whereabouts for years.

  “ ‘I direct my attorney, Donald Riggs, to effectuate this will to the letter of my stipulations. Leon Edgar Farrell.’

  “That’s it. As soon as I have all claims against the estate, including the cost of locating the will, I will contact Frieda, who is the eldest, and Edgar, Gunther, and Shirley as to the disposition of the family home. Within a week or two, my accountant will advise me as to your other entitlements. I suggest that the house and its contents should be sold and the proceeds divided equally among you. Any questions?” Hearing none, Riggs stood. “That’s all.”

  Gunther couldn’t move. His hand gripped his sister’s hand so tightly that she attempted to remove it. Realizing that he’d hurt her, he turned to Shirley and stroked her hand. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was not it.”

  “No,” Shirley said, “but we’d better go over and talk to Frieda. Do you realize she’s our sister?”

  “Damn. You’re right. Come on.” Still holding Shirley’s hand, he walked over to Riggs and thanked him.

  “I’ll have an estimate of the total value of the estate in a few days. My accountant is working on it.”

  “That’s no problem,” Gunther said. “I’ve just learned that I have another sister. Let me go over there and speak with her.”

  Frieda stood as Gunther and Shirley approached her. “Could you beat this?” she asked them. “I’m in shock, and I know you are, too. I never had any idea who my daddy was, and Coreen refused to tell me. I’m glad she didn’t, because I’d a done something terrible.”

  G
unther opened his arms and brought her to him in a hug. “That’s all in the past, sis. I’ll take the DNA test as soon as we find a clinic or diagnostic service that does that kind of work. I expect the results will have to go to Riggs.” He turned to Coreen. “Can we get Frieda’s birth certificate?”

  “I know where to get a copy if Frieda doesn’t have it.”

  “I have one, but it doesn’t have my father’s name on it.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Shirley said. “All Mr. Riggs needs is your date of birth. How old are you?”

  “Thirty-seven.”

  “That’s about right. Edgar’s almost thirty-six.”

  “He’s upset,” Coreen said. “Is he going to be trouble for Frieda?”

  Gunther looked to the ceiling. “He’s going to be trouble for all of us, including Donald Riggs.”

  Coreen regarded him carefully. “You don’t seem to resent this. Why?”

  “All I ask is the opportunity to make a good life for myself and anybody I’m responsible for. I’m doing that, and I am not depending on what my father accumulated. I would have been happier if he’d spent more time with me and less on his pursuit of wealth.”

  Coreen looked from Gunther to Shirley. “When I realized that Frieda was working for a man named Farrell, I was terribly uncomfortable, even though she told me what a wonderful person you are and that the two of you got her such a prized job. I didn’t expect anything like this when Mr. Riggs called me. At last, Bates and I will have a real nest egg, and we can take a decent vacation. I’d better be going, Frieda.”

  “I’ll take you home, but I have to be back at work Thursday,” Frieda said. She looked at Gunther. “Can we get the DNA test while I’m up here in Maryland?”

  He turned to Riggs. “Can we?”

  “Sure. I’ll make the appointment. Somehow I have a feeling that it isn’t necessary, but that’s what the will requires.”

  Gunther looked at his watch. “It’s twenty minutes past twelve. What do you say we all go to lunch?” He looked at Donald Riggs. “Will you join us?”

  “Thanks, but I have a few things to attend to, including making an appointment for that test. I’ll call you as soon as it’s set. By the way, Gunther and Shirley, I know how unsettling this has been for you, and I’m proud of you both for dealing with it as mature adults.”

  “We already liked Frieda, so now we’ll try to develop closer ties like siblings. I feel sorry for Edgar,” Shirley went on, “but he deserves that reprimand. The problem is that Father should have made him shape up when he was a kid.”

  Riggs nodded, almost as if lost in thought. “There are many things that Leon should have done but didn’t. I’ll phone you about the appointment, Gunther.”

  Outside, Gunther noticed Frieda’s protectiveness of Coreen. “You two stay right here, and I’ll get my car. It’s parked in the next block.”

  “It’s all right,” Frieda said. “I drove.”

  “Leave your car here. I’ll bring you back.” He looked at Coreen. “I hope this hasn’t been too much of a shock for you. We’re all in the same boat. You probably made a wise choice to get on with your life. My father was not an easy man to live with, and after our mother died, he became neglectful and uncaring. I hope you at least live in a loving environment.”

  “I hated him so long for the pain he caused me,” she said. “But until today, when I saw Edgar, he’d become a blur that I rarely thought of. I can thank my husband for that. You ... You’re a very kind man. I’m glad Frieda has you in her life.”

  Gunther drove the short distance to the restaurant, and as they were about to enter, Cory stepped out of the adjoining delicatessen carrying what appeared to be his lunch. “Hey there,” he said to Gunther, who detained him with a hand on his arm.

  “Hi. Meet my sisters and my older sister’s mother.” At Cory’s quizzical expression, he added, “Not to worry; it’s as clear as mud,” and they enjoyed a hearty laugh. “My sisters, Frieda Davis and Shirley Farrell,” he said. “And this is Coreen Treadwell, Frieda’s mother. Ladies, this is Cory Benjamin, one of my associates.” He noticed that Cory’s gaze lingered on Frieda, and considering her sudden and uncharacteristic shyness in accepting the introduction, he made a mental note to follow up on it. Cory headed for the office.

  In the restaurant, they placed their orders, and he marveled that they didn’t seem ill at ease. Watching Frieda’s protectiveness of Coreen, adjusting her jacket, asking the waiter to exchange her napkin when it slid to the floor, and observing her hawklike, Gunther wondered if Frieda realized that she loved Coreen. He meant to have a conversation about it and tell her it was time she addressed the woman as “Mother.”

  However, Frieda’s thoughts were elsewhere, and her entire nervous system seemed to have unraveled. When Gunther asked her whether anything was wrong, she realized that she couldn’t blow him off, and she didn’t want to. He was her brother. Unable to control the shaking of her hands, she put them in her lap.

  “Calling you Gunther is gon’ take some adjusting,” she said. “I was just thinking how I’d love to tell Edgar a few things. He told me the biggest lie. Fortunately, I didn’t believe him. Knowing what I know now, if I’d followed through on his lie, we wouldn’t be sitting here.”

  Shirley leaned forward. “Go ahead and tell us if you want to. You will learn that integrity is not one of Edgar’s character traits.”

  “He told me more than once that Gunther was attracted to me and that I was a fool if I didn’t encourage him. I told him he was lying, that I knew when a man wanted me and that Gunther liked me only as his nurse. I realized that he was trying to foment trouble. I need to ask him how he became so unprincipled and to tell him how close I came to indicting him for that hit-and-run. If I can just tell him those two things, I can start to see him as my brother.”

  Coreen picked up her glass of water, put it down, and turned to Frieda. “I’ve learned the hard way that when there are people around you who are in the dark, you have to provide the light. Don’t be too hard on him. You never know where your blessing will come from.”

  Frieda stared at Coreen. Maybe a mother’s wise counsel was what she’d missed after she ran away from her adoptive parents’ home. Coreen hadn’t tried to counsel her, perhaps because they both acknowledged that she didn’t have the right, but maybe Coreen hadn’t attempted it because she was afraid of losing what she barely had. She patted Coreen’s shoulder. “I know you’re right, but telling him off would be better than punching him.”

  Suddenly, she laughed. “When Gunther was sick, Edgar came to the apartment and tried to throw his weight around. I put my hands on my hips, glared at him, and asked him if he wanted me to toss him across the room. He tucked his tail in so fast that I could hardly keep from laughing. I couldn’t throw a basketball across Gunther’s living room.”

  “I think we should help Edgar all we can,” Coreen said, with the wisdom of an experienced social worker. “Sometimes all a person needs is a chance.”

  “That’s just it,” Shirley said. “Edgar gambles away what he makes and what he borrows, and we keep on lending him money. But he knows we won’t do that anymore. He’s older than Gunther and me, and we are not going to support that awful habit of his any longer.”

  Frieda nodded. “That’s right, because you will wind up right where he is. With absolutely nothing. It’s a pity.” Suddenly, she changed the subject. “Shirley, I meant to tell you that I’m taking classes at the university, and I can get my RN in two years studying evenings. And the cruise line is paying for it. My ship has really come in.”

  Gunther looked at Coreen. “You and I have experienced Frieda’s wonderful nursing. Want to bet that ten years from now, she’ll be head nurse for the Paradise Cruise Line?”

  Coreen’s face softened into a smile. “I sure wouldn’t bet against it. She’s a wonderful nurse. I’m so proud of her.”

  “So am I,” Gunther said. They finished lunch, and he took Frieda and
Coreen back to Frieda’s car. “I want to have a talk with you when you have time,” he said to Frieda. “Where are you staying?” She gave him the name of her hotel. “You can stay at my place if you want to. Get there in time for dinner. See you later.” He hugged Coreen. “It’s been a very good day.”

  “Are you going to stay at Gunther’s house tonight?” Coreen asked Frieda when they were alone.

  “I might, since he asked me to. Imagine that. He’s my brother and that trifling Edgar was trying to get me to start an affair with him. I’ve seen the time I’d have made a play for him just because I figured I could. But I thought about my stupidity with Glen, and that was enough to make me use some sense.”

  “You’re over Glen, I hope.”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t easy. I had so much guilt about it that the feeling for him eventually faded. Glen said the same. We’re a lot alike. We attract the opposite sex, and we exploit them. We’ve both screwed up. I’m through with that nonsense.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, because that man Cory, who we met before lunch, looks like a decent guy, and he’s interested in you.”

  “He sure threw me for a loop. But that’s life. I’ll probably never see him again.”

  “Ask Gunther if he’s married. If he isn’t, tell Gunther you’d like to see him again, and I’ll bet he’ll arrange it.”

  “I didn’t think of that. Thanks. Now I know I’m spending the night at Gunther’s place.”

  She arrived at Gunther’s apartment at about six o’clock, and Mirna answered the door. “Girl, I heard all about it. You gon’ be such a big shot you won’t sit up in the movies with me and eat popcorn no more.”