by S R Nulton
“Ha! You mean the jocks or the fringe kids? Because both of them like me a whole lot better than the deputy, which is the person who’d end up in charge if I was forced to step down. Believe me when I tell you that no one wants that. He’s gotten worse as he got older. Now what did you really call me to talk about Aggy-girl? I know it wasn’t my phone greeting choices.”
I sighed. “No, unfortunately not. We’ve been having some trouble around here and I thought you could give us advice on what to do.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can, but first I need to know who the ‘we’ is and what the trouble looks like. Just remember, I can’t give you much advice when it comes to hiding bodies or body parts. It goes with the office.”
“The we is me and my boss and there are no bodies to hide.”
She snorted. “I’ll be the judge of that. Now is this the new boss? The ex-husband of that fallen angel?”
That made me laugh. “Just cause she’s not modeling for them anymore doesn’t mean she’s a ‘fallen angel’. I’m pretty sure that they still say former.”
“Oh, girly, I know that. I was referring to her attitude, not her occupation. But you didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes.” And even as I stopped talking, I knew that it was the wrong tactic. Aunt Summer loved to sneak details out of people, whether they were suspected of a crime or suspected of throwing the Thanksgiving wishbone away instead of keeping it for the next year. She actually legally changed her middle name to ‘Tenacious’ when she was 18 because she thought it was more effective if it was more than just a turn of phrase. And someone bet her she wouldn’t. She ended up with a weird middle name and a lifetime supply of free burgers at the diner in town for her trouble.
“Well… I figured Joy would be the one living with a man before marriage, not my little Aggy-girl. Tell me about him.”
I cringed. “I don’t live with him. I live in his guesthouse. His unattached guesthouse on his very large and private property. A property that had a security breach last night while we were in a car that had its brakes cut.”
Operation distraction was in full effect.
“Excuse me? Please tell me I heard wrong.” Aunt Summer’s voice had changed tone from teasing to no nonsense and I knew she was finally listening.
So, I told her about my lovely evening on the side of the road and the nasty surprise we discovered when we got back.
“Put your boss on. I need to know more about the technical aspect than you can tell me.”
I sighed in relief and gave her a quick, “Yes ma’am,” before heading off to search for Ethan.
“Oh, and Aggy? If you won’t tell me about what’s going on between the two of you, I’ll get it out of him. Don’t think for a minute I won’t.”
And there was the other shoe, dropping right on my head.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I walked up to the main house and spotted Ethan in the kitchen. Knocking once, I let myself in and handed the phone to him.
“My aunt is on the line. She has some questions for you,” I said in response to his confused look.
Ethan nodded and took the phone, so I took over making his breakfast for him. He glanced at me once before heading out onto the back patio for some privacy.
And now she’s reaming him out for endangering her niece. Fantastic.
Sighing, I flipped the bacon and pulled out some eggs. If I knew my aunt at all, Ethan was in for a long conversation and was going to be exhausted afterward. Or that’s the way it usually went. This time, he was back within 10 minutes.
“That was remarkably quick.”
He sighed and rubbed his beard. “She now has my number and is planning on calling me later for a more in depth deposition. Apparently there was a kid caught shoplifting and she had to go put the fear of God in him. She’s quite… colorful.”
I laughed and finished making him breakfast. Well, more like brunch.
“She is at that. Never married either. She always said that she was too much for any man to handle and that they were scared by her forceful personality and her military training. My mom said that it was complete crap and that Aunt Summer had a tendency to pull a taser on men who flirted with her. Which she, of course, agreed with and then went out and bought us all some flashlight tasers before our first dates or school dances. Whichever came first.”
He nodded. “I can see that. She had a few good suggestions that I’m planning on implementing over the next few days. I did want to talk to you about what is expected to happen over then next few weeks, though.”
I blinked. “What do you mean? Do we have something on our calendars? Did I forget something? I could have sworn that I looked at it yesterday and it was clear.”
He laughed. “No, nothing like that. Traditionally, just after a very successful art show there is a bit of a flood of commissions that come in. The one in May was too diverse to bring in a lot of attention, too many artists. Yesterday’s though… Geo called me this morning and gave me a heads up that he’d already been contacted by a few of the guests. Just be prepared to see a few in your email this afternoon. They should taper off in about a week or two, but they might be pretty thick on the ground if last night was any indication. My clients are much more loyal than I ever expected.”
I assured him that things would be fine, but I didn’t think it would be as bad as he suggested.
Yeah. I was wrong. When I finally made my way into the office, I had 20 new emails and over half were commissions. The others seemed to be galleries looking to show Ethan’s work and reporters who wanted an interview with the artist. To set the record straight, of course. It had nothing to do with a wildly successful showing or the fact that he avoided interviews like a woman on a diet avoids donut shops. Well, more like a woman on a diet should avoid donut shops. That tends to be a lot more hit-or-miss in real life.
~
Things went like that for about another week, and I was constantly surprised by the type of commissions we were being offered. Most of them were actually double commissions. The main one was always for a piece of artwork in Ethan’s new line. The other was for a collaborative piece of jewelry. And not all of them were for women. A lot of men were hoping that they could get an Ethan Black original to wear. That’s what they called it, “an Ethan Black Original”. And they wanted me to help him. As in, they actually asked for me by name.
I was completely blown away.
And overbooked. I was outrageously overbooked.
Ethan would just laugh whenever I expressed my amazement and set-aside time to look at the new commissions. Ever since Rosa’s intervention and our discussion about his mother, he seemed to feel freer, more relaxed than I’d ever seen before. His new attitude seemed to help his workload, mostly because he wasn’t working himself into poor health. It seemed slower at first, but his recovery time and his creativity were increasing as he got more accustomed to having a schedule and interacting with other people. Rosa made sure to tell me that it was the happiest that she’d ever seen her cousin’s son.
About two weeks after the client showcase at the vineyard, I was working on some filing when the front gate’s bell interrupted me.
I frowned, wondering who it could be. We weren’t expecting any shipments and everyone who worked there had a special code or a button to let themselves in. I walked over to the intercom and hit the button.
“Yes? Who is it?”
“Candace. Is Ethan there? I’d like to speak with him.”
Candace. As in Ethan’s mother, Candace.
I turned on the security cameras on my monitor and checked out her car, just to be on the safe side. It was a new protocol with all guests so we could make sure no one was sneaking in. But it was empty except for a very nervous looking woman in the driver’s seat.
I had a decision to make and I was almost certain that any way I went was going to be wrong.
Taking in a deep breath, I hit the open button and told her to drive on up.
He
is going to be pissed, I thought as I walked to the front door. Ethan had left to pick up lunch for us and was due back in about 15 minutes. I could entertain his mother for 15 minutes, right?
A hesitant knock pushed me out of my own head and I moved to answer.
“Hi, come on it. Ethan’s going to be back soon, but I figured you two were better off having the conversation here than in front of his gate.”
She blinked at me in shock but took my offered hand and shook it. “I’m Candace, Ethan’s mother. I… I didn’t know he had a girlfriend living here. I’m sorry…”
I laughed. “Oh, we aren’t dating. I’m his assistant. Would you like some tea?”
When she nodded, I directed her into the kitchen and started the kettle on to boil. Then, I examined Ethan’s mother a bit closer.
She looked different than the last time I’d seen her, which was a while back and on television, but still. The polished makeup was gone and instead, she’d done her face up as naturally as possible. Her hair was down and slightly wavy, but no longer were those waves perfectly done. She still seemed nervous, but now she seemed… I don’t know, rested.
It was odd seeing where Ethan got his features though. So much of him had come from this woman. Her dark hair, face shape, the tilt of her lips when she smiled, and even her eyes resembled her son’s. It also explained why he looked so different from his father, which, again, was probably a good thing.
“How are you doing?” I asked as I pulled out the various types of teas that Rosa had stocked for me.
“I’m better. I mean, I don’t think I’ll ever be perfect, but I’m better. Actually, trying to be perfect is what got me in so much trouble.” She seemed a bit surprised that I’d asked, but happy about it too. “Thank you. No one really asks. They all dance around the subject like it’s shameful.”
I shrugged. “I get it. It’s a part of your life. You need it acknowledged because you are trying to change and talking about it helps. The experience has shaped you and ignoring that almost negates the changes it brought. Also, people avoiding subjects gets real annoying, real quick.”
She laughed, but didn’t deny my suppositions.
“So, what type of tea do you want?”
After getting our refreshments squared away, we proceeded to have the most awkwardly silent tea. Ever. Like ever, ever. Seriously, they could have made a new substance for soundproofing rooms with the tension in the air.
Finally, she asked the question that seemed to have been bouncing around in her head for about five or ten minutes. Mine too, for that matter.
“Why did you let me in?”
I sighed and set my tea mug down. “You left him. Ethan. You left him when he was helpless and in desperate need of a mother. And you left him. But you’re still his mother and you two need to have a chance to talk. Not dance around answers, but to get down to the nitty-gritty of things. I have no idea why you showed up, but you looked nervous and uncomfortable and totally unlike the person I’ve seen in the press. You looked like a mom who needed to talk to her son about something important. And he needs that.
“I don’t know if you realize just how broken up he was about you being hospitalized. But he was. Not necessarily because you were hurt, although that seemed to have quite a bit of impact on him. No it was the fact that his family needed support and he knew that he couldn’t help them because they didn’t know him. It killed him. He was nearly mindless as he tried to work the pain away. And you caused that. Not by being sick but by pushing him away when he didn’t have a choice in the matter. You made him unable to be a big brother to his sisters. Not that you’re the only one to blame. That’s not the case. But you had a big hand in it.”
Candace looked at me with wide eyes and started sobbing.
Fantastic. I made his mother cry after she was in rehab for alcohol and hospitalized, and Oh! And I let her into his house. Yeah. Ethan’s going to be thrilled.
Before I could go too far down that rabbit hole though, I heard Candace say something.
“Thank you.”
I turned and raised a brow.
“I mean it. Thank you for calling me out. You didn’t coddle me or make excuses. You just said what you saw. And you saw his pain. You didn’t blame me for everything but you told me that I still had a responsibility to do something about it. So thank you. So few people are honest with me. It hurts, but it was needed. Thank you.”
And before I could say anything more, Ethan showed up with lunch.
At which point he saw his mother.
His crying mother. His crying estranged mother. In his kitchen.
Yeah, his face was not exactly radiating good cheer.
~
“Candace? What are you doing here? How did you get in?” he asked stonily.
“Um, I let her in,” I admitted. And, yes, I basically whispered it, but his eyes were practically glowing with emotion and it wasn’t a good emotion! You try being brave in the face of that.
“Oooo! Tacos! You got tacos for lunch! Sweet.”
And I am highly distractible when it comes to food. And uncomfortable situations. I stood and grabbed some plates and the bag of cheap Mexican food from his hands before gesturing for him to talk to her.
“What are you doing here?”
Candace rubbed the tears from her face quickly and sat up a bit straighter.
“I came to check on you. I just heard about your car and I go worried. How are you doing? Are you okay? Has anything else happened?”
He frowned at the obvious worry in her voice. “Yeah, we’re doing just fine. Nothing more to report. How did you even know?”
She sighed. “Your father isn’t the only one with spies. I have a few listening ears in his office. It was mostly to make sure he wasn’t having another affair, but it was also to keep tabs on my children.”
“So you spied on Neil? How did he find out?”
She looked at him incredulously. “Really Ethan? I thought it would be obvious. Cayden’s lawyer informed him after Cayden was interviewed by the police.” She paused. “Is it really true that he’s been trying to destroy your name and career? I mean, I know that he doesn’t like you, but I didn’t think he’d go this far.”
Ethan sighed and took a seat. “No one did. I still don’t understand why though. And he isn’t the only one acting oddly. JJ showed up one day and started complaining about money to me, claiming that she needed more and that she was going to get it out of me because of alimony.”
Candace snorted. “That girl is one banana short of a bunch if she thinks she’s getting anything more from you. I made sure that your divorce was final and binding myself. The judge was going to cave into her pleading and try to split your assets between the two of you before I made it very clear that the law did not support that and that his wife would not support him when she found out about his affair three years before.”
We both blinked in shock. “You blackmailed the judge so he’d side with me?” Ethan asked.
“Don’t be silly. I blackmailed the judge so that he wouldn’t be swayed away from his duty to justice. If the law hadn’t backed you, I would have left it alone, but it did, so I didn’t.”
She sighed and looked down at her tea. “I should have backed you up a lot sooner and a lot more regularly. I have tried to, but it had to be done quietly. Always quietly.”
I winced and stood. “I’ll just go eat in my office so you two can catch up in private.”
“No, please, stay. I think it will be easier if we have someone unbiased listening,” she pleaded.
When I looked at Ethan, he nodded so I sat back down and stared at my hands.
Again with the awkwardness! Gah! I railed silently in my head.
“Ethan,” Candace began again. “I think it’s time we talked. I need to apologize and explain what happened when you were born. To do that, though, I’m going to have to go back a bit.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but your father and I are actually stepsiblings. M
y mother married his father when I was about 14 and your father was 19. He was handsome and charming as always and he… well, I was pregnant by the time I was 15. It was wrong and I didn’t know what was really going on. I just knew that I didn’t want to tell him no and then we were being forced into marriage.
“I’d always wanted a big family, and when I had Cayden, I couldn’t wait for more. I felt broken inside, and like I had to be the perfect mother and wife to keep your father’s interest. By the time I was pregnant with you, your father had decided to stop trying to hide his affairs from me. It was right around then that he got Geo’s mother pregnant, but what you might not know is that he also had another three women on the side. It wasn’t a good time for me and then I went into labor and it was so much harder than your older siblings.
“When they showed you to me, I saw that injury on your face and knew that your father wouldn’t accept it. Wouldn’t accept you. I also feared that he wouldn’t accept me. He was so obsessed with us looking perfect at all times, refusing to show any flaws to the world, that I feared it would be the excuse he needed to get rid of me. It wasn’t like he actually wanted to be married. It was just expedient to have a wife to show off. It was like my whole life was ending because you weren’t as perfect as he expected you to be. Almost as if everything that was wrong with me had been projected onto your little body. And I hated myself because of it.
“Then they told me you had a clubfoot and I just couldn’t deal with it. Yes, it was treatable, but he would look down on you for it, I just knew. So, I ran. I ran and I left you there and I raged at your father for hours. And when he heard about your injury and your foot, he actually had the gall to ask if you were his son. So I lied. I lied and said no. I told him I’d had an affair, just like he had so many times before. Needless to say, he was furious and refused to let me keep you.”
Ethan sat there like a statue up until that point. “You told him I was someone else’s son? Why?”