Bianca's Joy: Rose Island Book 3

by Kristin Noel Fischer

  He picked up one of the packages and read the ingredients. “You haven’t been drinking these, have you?”

  “That’s all I’ve had for the past few days. Well, I had a banana at lunch because I felt like I was going to pass out.”

  He shook his head. “No wonder why you’re acting so crazy. These things are horrible for you. I could probably mix them with water and use them to plaster the wall.”

  “Be my guest,” I said, smiling.

  “No, just get rid of them.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Throw them away, then come outside with me to eat some real food.”

  I did as he said, and we sat side by side on the balcony sofa. As we ate, I told him how grateful Keith and Jillian were for his help with their flood the other day.

  He shrugged. “I was happy to help.”

  “Jillian’s been such a basket case since having the baby, but I think she’s doing better. She told me Linda Faith smiled for the first time this morning.”

  “That’s good.” Daniel’s phone dinged with a text, and he quickly typed out a response. “It’s Joy. I assume you’re okay with her sleeping on your couch tonight while I finish up the kitchen?”

  “Sure, but she can sleep in my guest room. You can sleep there, too. I have twin beds, and I just cleaned the room for Claudia in case she changes her mind about spending the night. I’ll be at the ranch with my parents tonight, so please, make yourself at home.”

  “Thanks. I don’t think I’ll sleep, but I’m sure Joy will appreciate that.”

  “You’re going to stay up all night?”

  He nodded. “I’m not going into work tomorrow, and I’m determined to finish your remodel so it will be ready for tomorrow’s special guests.”

  I smiled. “Thank you, Daniel. That means a lot.”

  “I’m happy to do it.”

  I dipped a chip in the mango salsa I hadn’t thought I’d like but was now considering eating with a spoon. “And you’re still happy with our deal? You don’t feel cheated or taken advantage of?”

  “By you? Never.” Leaning over, he kissed me, his lips tasting like salt, lime, and mango.

  I rested my hand against his cheek, remembering what my sisters had said about Daniel’s scruffy beard. As though reading my mind, he winked at me and kissed me again.

  Chapter 30

  Daniel

  As Bianca and Daniel sat on the sofa, finishing dinner, she turned to him. “Do you mind if I ask you something about Joy’s mom?”

  Daniel’s entire body tensed. “Go ahead.”

  “Well, you told me that Libby suffered from mental illness. Can I ask what it was? If that’s too personal, you don’t have to tell me. It’s just something I’ve been wondering about.”

  “No, it’s okay.” He took a sip of his drink. “Basically, she was a pathological liar. It took me a while to figure that out because she was really good at lying. But her inability to tell the truth was her main issue.”

  “What kinds of things did she lie about?”

  “Everything. Honestly, I still have no idea what was true and what was made up, so I probably don’t even know half the lies she told.”

  Bianca was silent for a moment. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy being married to someone you couldn’t trust.”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Did you ever think about leaving her?”

  “Every day.”

  Bianca smiled sadly. “Why’d you stay?”

  “Well, I kept thinking I could fix her. If I just confronted her with the evidence or found the perfect psychiatrist, she’d realize what she was doing and change.”

  “But that didn’t happen?”

  “No.” Daniel looked down. “The day she died, we had a horrible fight over the phone. I’d caught her lying about some charges on the credit card. She denied them, of course. Then she went to pick up Joy from school and never made it home.”

  “Oh, Daniel.”

  “I’ve always regretted that last fight.”

  “I understand that, but you don’t feel like the accident was your fault, do you?”

  He shrugged. “I guess I just wish I would’ve handled things better. I’ve always felt guilty that I didn’t find a way to reach her.”

  “You shouldn’t feel guilty. It sounds like you tried.”

  “I did, but . . . I just didn’t realize the extent she would go when protecting a lie.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Daniel licked his lips. Maybe if he told Bianca his secret. . . No, he needed to tell Joy first. He owed that to his daughter.

  “It was just tough,” he said.

  Bianca nodded. “I think the fact that you stayed in the marriage, trying to work it out and trying to help her, says a lot about your integrity.”

  Daniel smiled sadly. What would’ve happened to his integrity had he found out earlier the secret Libby had kept from him? The secret he couldn’t seem to find the strength to tell Joy?

  Chapter 31

  Bianca

  When Joy came over after dinner, I made her drive me to the ranch. “I thought you could practice parallel parking in the driveway.”

  She groaned. “I’m horrible at that.”

  “I know, but the more you practice, the better you’ll get.”

  “I don’t know if that rule applies to me in regard to parking. Besides, I heard you can flunk that part of the test and still get your license.”

  “Really? I hadn’t heard that, but I don’t think that’s the best attitude to have, do you?”

  She laughed. “Probably not, but I did hear they’re eventually going to eliminate parallel parking from the test since it’s practically irrelevant these days.”

  “I guess that would make sense. I can’t even tell you the last time I had to parallel park.”

  She shot me a sideways glance, before quickly returning her gaze to the road. “Do you still remember how?”

  I grinned. “Of course, I remember how. I wouldn’t exactly be the best driving instructor if I didn’t remember.”

  She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Be honest. How many YouTube videos did you watch this afternoon to refresh your memory?”

  I laughed. “A lot, but that’s beside the point.”

  She smiled and put on her blinker to turn into the ranch. After keying in the gate code, she drove toward the house. Right away, Lady and Duke came out to greet us, barking like crazy.

  I unrolled the window so they could see it was me. In response, they wagged their tails and held their heads high as they escorted us down the driveway.

  At the house, I climbed out of the truck and said hello to the dogs who returned the gesture by covering me with dog hair and slobber. “Where are Mom and Dad?” I asked, seeing only my dad’s truck in the driveway. Maybe they’d driven my mom’s car to go out to eat or something.

  After setting up the garbage cans to act as markers for Joy, I climbed back in the passenger’s seat and offered a few tips I’d learned from one of the videos I’d watched. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded and pulled the car forward. At first, she was horrible, knocking over the garbage cans every time she backed up. Eventually, however, she improved.

  When my dad came out of the house, Joy waved at him, and he waved back. I pushed open the truck door and told Joy to keep practicing.

  “You’re going to let me drive by myself?” she asked, sounding nervous.

  “Yes. I want to talk to my dad. Plus, it’ll be a good experience for you to park without me.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t sound too confident, but I told her she’d be fine. Then, I climbed out of the truck and joined my dad on the front porch.

  “I was watching from upstairs,” he said. “It looks like she’s getting the hang of it.”

  “She is.”

  A beat of awkward silence fell between us. My dad and I hadn’t really talked since I told him about deciding to look for Claudia.

&
nbsp; Of course, I hadn’t known Claudia’s name until a few weeks ago. Now, she was coming to see me, and I was nervous about how my dad would act around her.

  “Where’s Mom?” I asked.

  “She went out to eat with the mah-jongg ladies.”

  I nodded as Joy executed the most perfect parking maneuver in the history of parking maneuvers. “Oh, wow. That was great,” I shouted, clapping.

  “Bravo.” My dad gave Joy the thumbs-up and grinned his special grin he reserved for people he really liked. Why couldn’t he grin at me like that?

  Maybe I hadn’t always made the best choices in life, but I went to church and was a law-abiding citizen. I paid my taxes, ran a successful business, and led a Bible study. You’d think he could be a little more supportive of my desire to meet the daughter I’d given up for adoption.

  My dad cleared his throat. “You’ve done a good job teaching Joy how to drive.”

  “Thank you,” I said, surprised by the compliment.

  A beat of silence followed before he said, “I watched the video of Claudia playing the violin again. I’ve never heard or seen anything more beautiful.”

  My heart lifted. “She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?”

  “She is.” He turned to me and offered a sad smile. “It was my fault.”

  “What was your fault?”

  “The reason you went to that party and got pregnant. The reason you had to go through the pain of giving away a child.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He swallowed hard. “I was supposed to take you out of town for a horse show that weekend, but I canceled because of work. You were so mad at me, and I get it. I’d promised to take you.”

  “Dad.”

  He shook his head. “In hindsight, I should’ve kept my promise. If I had, you wouldn’t have gone to that party and—”

  “No, Dad. Getting pregnant was my fault. I was mad about that weekend, but I never blamed you for what happened. Never. And giving her away—”

  “You wanted to keep her.”

  “I did, but I was young and didn’t understand what that meant.”

  He looked down at his hands before lifting his face and meeting my gaze. “Did I do the right thing, insisting you give her up and not raise her on your own?”

  “Yes,” I said, and for the first time, I realized it was true. “I wanted to keep her, but if I had, she would’ve had a different life. I would’ve had a different life. We can’t second-guess that decision, especially when she’s obviously thriving where she is.”

  He nodded, then he said something so random that I didn’t understand at first. “Your Aunt Wynona and I had an older sister.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes. She drowned before I was born.”

  “Oh, Dad.”

  “I don’t think my mother ever got over it.”

  “Of course not.” I thought about my own brother’s death and how it continued to haunt my mother, especially on Marcus’s birthday.

  His hand slightly trembling, my dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny silver, heart-shaped pendant on a chain. “My parents never talked about the daughter they lost, but after they passed away, Wynona and I found this in our mother’s jewelry box.”

  I looked down at the delicate necklace in my father’s beefy hand. He offered it to me, and as I examined it closer, I was shocked by the inscription. “Claudia.”

  “That was her name,” my dad explained. “Claudia.”

  “Oh, wow. No wonder you acted so strangely when I told you the Cavenaughs named her Claudia.”

  “It was a shock since it’s not the most common name these days. Anyway, I don’t know why I kept this necklace. Most of my mother’s jewelry went to Wy or your mom. Some of it we sold, but I’ve kept this piece in my dresser drawer for years. Your mother even asked me last year if I was ready to let it go, but something told me I should hang on to it. I guess there was a reason for that.”

  “I guess so.” I blinked hard, filled with emotion.

  “I had the jewelry store replace the chain. I thought maybe you could give it to your Claudia when she comes tomorrow.”

  “I’d like that.” Fighting back tears, I unfastened the necklace and put it around my neck.

  Clasping the pendant, I smiled. “Thank you, Dad. Thank you so much.”

  He grinned his special grin. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

  Chapter 32

  Claudia

  Claudia had been nervous about meeting Leland’s grandmother, but it turned out that Mimi was wonderful. Yes, the older woman was hard of hearing and somewhat of a hoarder. Yes, the pot roast she served tasted like leather, but her shortbread cookies and lemonade were wonderful.

  Plus, Mimi herself was so sweet and interesting. If Leland wanted inspiration for a film project, he needed to look no further than his own grandmother.

  Every object in her home had major sentimental value and represented someone she loved or a major turning point in her life. Fascinated, Claudia followed her through the house, listening as Mimi told story after story.

  At some point, Leland excused himself to lie down because he wasn’t feeling well. An hour later, Claudia heard him throwing up in the bathroom.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, standing on the other side of the closed door.

  “Not really.”

  She waited until he finally emerged, his face red and sweaty. “I’m sick.”

  “I’ll call the doctor,” Mimi said.

  Leland shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine. It was probably something I ate. Let me sleep, and I’ll be better in the morning.”

  Leland was planning on sleeping on the couch in the living room, but Claudia suggested he take the bed in the guest room so he could be more comfortable.

  “No, that’s okay.” He staggered down the hallway, lay down on the couch, and immediately went to sleep.

  In the guest room that night, Claudia scrolled through her phone as she lay in bed. If Leland didn’t feel better in the morning, she’d probably have to cancel her trip to Rose Island. Leland drove a stick shift, something she’d never been able to master. No way could she navigate Houston traffic and make her way to Rose Island on her own.

  If she were honest, part of her felt relieved. Her stomach had been in knots all day at the thought of meeting Bianca and the Morgan family. Maybe Leland’s illness was a sign she shouldn’t go right now.

  Her phone rang with a call from her mother. While she’d told her parents about driving down to Houston to meet Leland’s grandmother, she’d left out the part about Bianca and Rose Island. Unable to face her mom right now, she sent the call straight to voicemail.

  A few minutes later, Mom texted, “Just wanted to see how everything was going. Hope you had a good trip and arrived at Leland’s grandmother’s house safely. Have fun, and we’ll see you soon. Love you.”

  Claudia swallowed hard and texted back the words, “Love you, too, Mom.”

  *

  In the morning, Claudia awoke to the smell of bacon and pancakes. Hopefully that meant Leland was feeling better. Eager to start the day, she jumped in the shower and dressed before heading toward the kitchen.

  To her relief, the blinds in the living room were open, and Leland wasn’t on the couch. Expecting to find him eating breakfast, she wandered into the kitchen where Mimi was setting a plate of pancakes on the table.

  “Well, good morning, dear,” the older woman said. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “I’d love one.” Claudia glanced outside, looking for Leland, but he wasn’t anywhere among the garden trolls and hummingbird feeders.

  “I sent him to sleep in my room,” Mimi said, handing Claudia a cup of coffee. “I think he’s really sick, and I’m worried. He told me about wanting to take you to Rose Island, but I think you’ll have to reschedule. I don’t see how he’ll be able to do anything but lie in bed today.”

  After eating breakfast with Mimi, Claudia went into th
e dark master suite to check on Leland. He was sound asleep, but she sat on the bed beside him and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

  “Hey,” he murmured, opening his eyes.

  “You’re burning up.”

  “I’m so cold.” He burrowed deeper in the covers. “I don’t know what to do about today. I think I’m too sick to take you.”

  “I know. Mimi and I are going to drive her golf cart to the grocery store. Does anything sound good? Do you want me to bring you some ginger ale?”

  He shook his head. “Just let me sleep, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She started to leave, but he reached out and patted her leg. “You should take my car to Rose Island though. I know you don’t like to drive it, but you came all this way to meet your birth mother, so you should go.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You should.” With that, he rolled away and went back to sleep.

  Claudia sat in the dark until her phone dinged with a text from Bianca. “So excited to see you, I hardly slept last night! What time do you think you’ll arrive? Feel free to come as early as you’d like! I’ll be ready!”

  Instead of answering, Claudia sighed and turned off her phone.

  Chapter 33

  Bianca

  After texting Claudia, I reread my message, hoping I didn’t sound overly excited. Maybe I shouldn’t have used so many exclamation marks.

  When she didn’t respond, I read my text again, knowing I’d come on too strong. Should I try again by sending a different message that said she could come whenever she wanted?

  Reminding myself that Claudia was a busy teenager with a serious boyfriend, I decided to let it go. Who cared if she didn’t return my text? She was coming to the island today, and that was all that mattered.

  In my apartment, I found Daniel passed out on my couch. Seeing him sleeping so soundly stopped all the noise in my head. Mesmerized, I stood there, watching his chest rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.