“Jeff – Morgan is your daughter. Years ago, Kelly – she showed up at the house, all drenched in the rain, and –”
“Margaret, I didn’t know that you set up this party as some sort of elaborate trap.”
She took a step back. “It’s not a trap, and at the time I didn’t even know that Morgan was your daughter.”
He laughed. “This is ridiculous, I have three kids. With you. Why are you doing this?”
Margie cleared her throat. She knew that tone, but she didn’t fall for it anymore. He couldn’t make her second guess herself.
“Jeff, please don’t. I know the truth. Morgan has a picture of you and Kelly – more than one picture, actually.”
He crossed his arms and stared at her for a moment.
After what felt like an eternity, he spoke. “What does it matter? Do you want me to take this girl under my wing or something now that her mom is dead?”
Margie sighed. “Jeff, this isn’t a joke, this is real. Morgan is real. She’s a lovely girl, and –”
“No.” He said pointing a finger at her. “No, you don’t get to do this. We’re not even married anymore, why should I have to answer to you?”
“It’s not that – it’s not about answering to me, this girl is your flesh and blood. She’s a half-sister to Connor and Jade and Tiffany. I thought it would be…”
Jeff scoffed. “You thought what? That I’d be happy about this? Happy that you dug up a ghost from twenty years ago?”
“She’s not a ghost, she’s a real person. And she’s your daughter.”
He stared at her but didn’t say anything.
“Don’t tell me that you knew about this.” Margie’s voice rose. She couldn’t stop it. “All this time, I thought that you must not have known, that Kelly didn’t tell you, that she was too ashamed after she came to our home and saw that you were married.”
“I need to rejoin the party.”
He turned and walked back up the hill to the barn. Margie tried to take a deep breath, but it caught in her throat.
No – don’t cry. Your makeup will run, and everyone will know you were crying. She looked out onto the ocean, trying to focus on the dark water glistening in the moonlight.
How was this possible? How could he be so callous? He wasn’t surprised at all, it was like…he knew. He knew, and he didn’t care.
He didn’t care!
Margie had no illusions about Jeff, or at least she thought that she didn’t. She always thought that deep down, under the mood swings and the critical comments, that he was a good man. A good person. Maybe a little rough around the edges, but…
A sob escaped from Margie’s mouth. She hardly recognized it as her own voice. Her hand darted to her face. How could she have been so wrong about the man that she married? How could she have been such a fool?
She took a deep breath and collected herself before walking back up to the barn. As soon as this party was over, she needed to figure out what to tell Morgan. The kids needed to know the truth, too – the entire truth. That Kelly was right for all these years to not tell Morgan about Jeff. That Jeff was not a man worth knowing.
Margie went to the back of the barn and slipped into the bathroom. Her hair looked fine, but her makeup was running a bit. She was able to fix it well enough with her fingertips and was about to leave the bathroom when she heard Jeff’s voice booming over speakers.
“Thank you all so much for coming out, it means the world to me. This is the best birthday party that I have ever had.”
The crowd applauded. Margie stood inside the bathroom, gritting her teeth. She couldn’t stand to go out and look at his face.
“I’d like to thank my beautiful girlfriend Tammy for organizing this party, and of course my lovely ex-wife Margie, and our three beautiful children. How about a round of applause?”
The partygoers obliged. Margie pulled the door open. How dare he use their children as some sort of trophy in front of his business friends? Was that all they ever were to him? A cover story to make him look like a decent guy?
Margie walked to the edge of the main dance floor. She didn’t care that she was glaring at him in front of everyone. She didn’t care what these people thought. All that mattered was that her kids knew the truth, and Margie was going to tell them everything.
Just as he finished his speech, Jeff went to hand off the microphone to Brandon, but someone else stepped in and took it. Margie couldn’t quite make out who it was until the crowd dispersed. She gasped.
It was Morgan.
Chapter 21
He didn’t even look at her face before handing off the microphone. He was already busy with shaking hands and taking pats on the back.
Morgan forced herself to smile. She knew that her face could look mean when she was angry – but she felt like she had a pretty good funnel for her anger at the moment.
She cleared her throat. “That was a beautiful speech, can we get another round of applause?”
The party guests politely clapped and Jeff took a mock bow. He turned to mouth a falsely humble “thank you” to Morgan when they locked eyes. She winked at him and watched as the smile faded from his face.
He recognized her. Good.
“I am so thankful that you could all make it here today. I know that I’m glad I could.” She spotted Margie at the back of the barn, wide-eyed.
She continued. “Many of you may not know me, so I feel like I should introduce myself. My name is Morgan. I am twenty-two years old and twenty-three years ago, Jeff had an affair with my mother, Kelly Allen, and brought me into this world.”
There were a couple of nervous laughs, but everyone stood still. Except for Jeff – he was headed straight for her.
In one swift movement, she hopped onto a table, sending some dishes shattering to the floor.
“Now the Cliftons certainly don’t want you to know about me, because it really ruins the image of Jeff being a wonderful guy with a great family, complete with three beautiful children – not three and a half.”
“Morgan, give me the microphone,” Jeff said in a low voice. He was now standing at the table, arm outstretched, a stiff smile frozen on his face.
“What was that Jeff? You don’t want all of these people to know that you’re a cheater and a child abandoner?” She turned around and made eye contact with Margie. “What about you Margie? Inviting me into your home, pretending to care about me and my dead mom just so you could control the situation? Do you not want people to know that either?”
Margie shook her head but said nothing. She seemed frozen.
“And you Jade, where are you?” Morgan squinted, looking around the room. Jade was standing by the DJ booth, mouth hanging open.
“I really thought that we were close. I almost felt like you were a sister – before I even knew you were! But even you didn’t want me around. Could having me in the family really be worse than your rude, controlling, loser DJ of a husband?”
Jeff had his hands clamped around her ankle now – and he was slowly pulling her leg. She tried to kick him away, but he was quite strong.
“I’m sorry, do you want me to get down or something?”
“Stop this or I will call the police,” he said through gnashed teeth.
“You want to call the police on me Dad? Please do. Chief Hank almost arrested me once before, I’m not really worried about it.”
There was a lot of murmuring in the crowd now, and Brandon was also at the base of the table, grabbing at her. Apparently, insulting his in-laws was okay, but insulting him was too much.
He was not as gentle as Jeff and leapt to snatch the microphone from her hand. Morgan raised it above her head so neither of them could reach it, but she realized that her time was limited.
“Is this your microphone DJ Brand?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Give it back.”
Morgan leaned down as though she were going to hand it to him, but at the last second, she chucked it across the barn. There were gasps
from the crowd, and the horrible noise it made when it landed gave her a chance to jump off the table and sprint back to her car.
She got there quickly and then fumbled with the keys to open the door – why did she even lock the car in the first place? It wasn’t like she planned to stay long. She was just about to open the door when someone grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
“What do you think you’re doing?” said Jeff, and a bit of spit sailed from his mouth and onto her forehead.
She pulled away. “What’s wrong? You don’t want all your friends to know that you abandoned one of your children? Is that not the look you were going for?”
“You’re going to pay for this,” he said. “When I get my –”
“Stop it!” Margie’s voice rang out behind them.
Jeff spun around to look at her, but he didn’t release his hold on Morgan. For the first time, Morgan felt frightened – Jeff wasn’t a big guy, but he was aggressive. Her shoulder throbbed underneath his grip.
Margie walked up to him and pried his arm away. “Take your hands off of her.”
“Did you plan this entire party just so you could ambush me?” He was now leaning into her face, talking in a low growl. “You’ve always wanted to sabotage my business, but I never thought you’d go this far.” He jabbed a finger into Morgan’s chest.
“Ow!”
Margie grabbed his hand and ripped it away. “If you lay one finger on that girl again, I swear on my mother’s grave that I will make you pay.”
He laughed. “Oh yeah? What’re you going to do? Do you think that I’m joking? You’ve done irreparable harm to my reputation and –”
“No Jeffrey. I think that you must be joking. The only one who’s hurt your reputation is you. I’ve done nothing but support you for your entire life. And finally, I realize what a fool I’ve been. You are a bitter, greedy, and cruel little man, and you always have been. I am sorry that I ever helped anyone think differently of you.”
“You’re a real piece of work,” he said. “I never thought your nastiness would come to this. What is it? Jealous of Tammy?”
They stared at each other for a moment, and Morgan took the chance to hop into her car, pull the door shut, and start the engine. She didn’t need to be involved in their weird post marital problems.
She had problems of her own, including the fact that she told her dad that she was just going to get something she’d forgotten at Margie’s place – and if she took much longer, he was going to be suspicious.
Morgan reversed down the driveway. At least she would never have to see any of their stupid faces again.
Chapter 22
Morgan took off and Margie turned to rush towards her car. She couldn’t lose site of Morgan – she needed to explain. But Margie was stopped when a hand grasped her wrist.
“Let me go Jeff,” she said. Why was he so handsy all of a sudden?
“No. You to go back in there and explain to everyone –”
Margie used her other hand to grab her fist and pull, breaking out of Jeff’s hold. She learned that in a self defense class and felt a momentary joy that it worked.
“No Jeff. There’s nothing to explain. Everything that she said about you was true. I’m not going to protect you anymore. I’m done making excuses for you. You’re not a nice person. I don’t know why it was so hard for me to admit. So guess what?”
He rolled his eyes. “What?”
“You get to explain this one!”
His face contorted into an angry scowl. Margie smiled to herself before turning to get into her car. She didn’t know where Morgan was staying, but she had to find her – they couldn’t end things like this. Morgan was angry, and understandably so – but she deserved to know the truth. The whole truth.
Margie got into her car and zipped down the driveway, but Morgan was nowhere to be seen. She knew that they were staying in Friday Harbor, so Margie turned left, guessing that Morgan must’ve gone that way.
Margie didn’t like speeding, but this was an emergency. It paid off – in just a bit, Margie caught up to Morgan’s bright white rental car.
She followed Morgan all the way into town and sat in her car and watched as she disappeared into a little house on the top of a hill. Luckily Margie was able to find street parking nearby and ran up to the front door, knocking forcefully.
There was no answer, but she could hear voices inside. She sighed and knocked again.
Clearly Morgan was trying to convince her dad not to check who was pounding like a crazy person, but it didn’t work. A moment later, he opened the door.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi, are you Mr. Allen?”
“Yes. Do I –”
Margie stuck out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, I’m Margie. Morgan has been staying with me for the past several weeks.”
“Oh! It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Ronnie Allen.”
“Don’t let her in Dad!” called Morgan’s voice.
He gave Margie a puzzled look. “Is something going on?”
“Yes, there’s been a big misunderstanding. Well – partial misunderstanding. I’m Margie Clifton – Jeff Clifton’s ex-wife.”
It took a moment before the recognition settled in on Ronnie’s face. “Oh. Oh!”
He looked back into the house then back at Margie. “I don’t know that I can…”
“Please, just let me come in and explain. To both of you. And I promise that I will never bother you again.”
He shrugged. “Alright, come on in.”
Margie took a deep breath and walked into the house. Morgan was nowhere to be seen.
“Please, have a seat,” Ronnie said, motioning to the couch.
“Thank you.” Margie sat down and looked around. “It really would be better if Morgan were here too. Do you think that you could convince her to hear me out?”
Ronnie smiled. “I can try.”
He returned after only a few minutes, Morgan silently following behind him. Ronnie took a seat across from Margie, but Morgan remained standing, arms crossed.
“Well first off, I want to thank you both for giving me a chance to explain,” said Margie. “I promise that I’ll make it quick.”
Ronnie’s eyes darted between Morgan and Margie. “Okay. I’m all ears.”
Margie smiled and began. “A few months ago, my brother invited me to San Juan Island as a surprise, and he sold me his property – the house and the barn and everything. For a dollar. And, long story short, it was because I really wanted a place to reunite my family. I mean – I guess I wanted to make a place that they could call home.”
Morgan scoffed.
“I know,” said Margie. “I know how that sounds. But you have to believe me – Morgan, I didn’t know anything about you. Well…sort of.”
Margie searched for her purse but realized that in her haste, she hadn’t brought it with her.
“I was going to show you something, but I forgot all of my stuff. I keep a newspaper clipping of your mom with me at all times. When I was on the ferry, I saw the story about your mom passing away. And all of a sudden, it came back to me. Twenty-three years ago, your mom showed up at my house.”
“So you did know,” snapped Morgan.
Margie sighed. “Kind of. She was all – disheveled. And so was I, really. Connor was just born, and Jeff was away on business, as always. I invited her in, and she told me that Jeff was the father of her baby. And then she just ran off!”
“Yeah right,” said Morgan. “My mom would never do something like that.”
Ronnie cleared his throat. “It’s true Morgan. Your mom – she didn’t know, of course, that Jeff was married. When she met Margie – when she showed up at the house that night – it was just after she found out.”
Margie’s hand darted over her mouth. Poor Kelly – she was just a young girl then. How shocking it must’ve been for her – no wonder she behaved as she did.
“I never saw her or heard from her again,” M
argie said. “I had no idea what happened. I didn’t even know her full name.”
Margie paused before looking to Ronnie. “Did Kelly ever tell you if she reached out to Jeff?”
Ronnie nodded. “Yes, she did. He completely stopped responding to her – her calls, visits, letters. He acted like she never existed.”
Margie’s heart fell. She believed it – perhaps twenty years too late, but she knew it was true.
“So Mom just let him do that? She just – gave up?” asked Morgan.
“It wasn’t really like that,” said Ronnie. “You have to understand – your mom always had her pride. She didn’t want anything from Jeff. She went back to her parents, and they promised to help her, and she finished school. And that’s when we met. That’s when I met you, and I fell in love with both of you. I never wanted you to have to know another father, especially one like him.”
Morgan stared at him, eyes filled with tears. “But he didn’t want me.”
“He didn’t know what he was missing,” Ronnie stretched out, cusping Morgan’s hands in his. “You are the best daughter that I could ever hope for. And you know that I can’t have kids –”
Morgan groaned. “I know Dad.”
“But you’ve always been my daughter. I love you. You always will be my daughter.”
“I know,” Morgan said, her voice softening.
Tears welled up in Margie’s eyes. “I’m so sorry Morgan. I didn’t even know until recently that you were actually Jeff’s daughter – I promise that I was going to tell you everything. I wanted to talk to Jeff first, because I was sure that Jeff could not have possibly known you were born. I thought that if I told him, he’d be shocked and that he might…”
Morgan stared. “He might what?”
Margie sighed. “That he might behave like a decent human being. But he isn’t a decent human being.”
“Don’t act like you were going to tell me all along. I know what you were doing.”
Margie cocked her head to the side. “No sweetie, I didn’t have a plan – that was the problem. I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t until I accidentally found a picture of Jeff in your things that I knew the truth. And then I tried to call Jeff, but he wouldn’t answer, and then –”
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