Love in Catalina Cove

by Brenda Jackson

  He shifted his thoughts to what Vashti had said, what she’d all but accused his wife of doing. Obviously, she had gotten overwhelmed by yesterday’s events and was going through some kind of emotional shock. He could accept that and considering all she’d had to deal with lately, the stress of reopening the inn and then finding out how her parents had betrayed her, he could understand her feeling pushed somewhat to the limit. But that didn’t give her the right to slander his wife’s name and make up stuff that simply wasn’t true.

  However, on the other hand, Vashti was not a woman who gave into dramatics of any kind. In fact, she had to be the most logical person he knew, although from being in law enforcement he knew that even logical people could experience meltdowns. But then being in law enforcement had also taught him not to take anything at face value. Not even the reputation of the wife he’d fully trusted.

  Bottom line was that Vashti was right. He hadn’t been there when Jade was born. But did that matter when he’d been with Johanna up to her fourth month of pregnancy before deployment? Jade had been born a few weeks early. The cause of the premature birth had been due to placental problems Johanna had encountered during the pregnancy. At least that’s what she had told him.

  He tightened his hand into a fist. And did it mean anything that Jade also had a rare blood type, something Vashti didn’t know? And was it just a coincidence that the two girls shared the same birthday?

  Damn it. Why was he questioning any of that? It wasn’t fair to Johanna. But then, was it fair to Vashti for him not to question it when she totally believed what she’d seen? Her claim was way too farfetched to make up, even while under the influence of some type of emotional shock.

  He lifted his head when the lady at the counter called his name. He walked over to where she stood. “I’m Sawyer Grisham.”

  “Good news. We can get you on the next flight to New Orleans.”

  It would have been good news if Sawyer hadn’t suddenly made up his mind about something. He knew what he had to do. “Thanks, but I’ve changed my mind about going to New Orleans. I want a ticket to Waco, Texas, instead.”

  An hour later he was boarding a plane to Waco. He needed to see Erin. She’d been with Johanna through her entire pregnancy. Erin had even been her birthing coach in his absence. She would know the truth.

  * * *

  “HE DOESN’T BELIEVE me, Bryce,” Vashti said, trying to hold it together while talking to her best friend on the phone. She’d just finished telling Bryce everything. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  “Yes, as bizarre as it sounds, I believe you.”

  “Then why can’t Sawyer? Why would he think I’d make something like that up? All he had to do was go to the hospital with me. Once he saw Kia he would have known I was telling the truth.”

  “Yes, but think about what you were accusing his dead wife of, Vash. A wife he loved, adored and trusted. A woman that he believes is the birth mother of his child, like he is the biological father. You were trying to get him to believe all of that is a lie.”

  “But it is a lie,” she said. “Don’t you think I’d thought about it? Wondered how I would break the news to him? What I would say? Maybe I should not have told him anything. Just let him walk into Kia’s hospital room to see for himself.”

  “You did the right thing by telling him whether he wants to believe it or not. Sawyer is a cop and they have suspicious minds. The cop side of him will eventually begin questioning some of those things you pointed out to him.”

  Vashti drew in a deep breath, not so sure. Bryce hadn’t seen the way he’d looked at her before walking out the door. His goodbye had been final.

  “How do you think his wife got to adopt your baby?” Bryce interrupted her thoughts to ask.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. It had to have been through the Smithfields, Johanna Grisham’s grandparents. They attended our church and were well acquainted with my parents. Mr. Smithfield was a federal judge and he had the money and the means to do it and keep it quiet. Of course, my parents, who were all too eager to rid me of two babies, would have jumped at the chance for him to do so.”

  “You’re probably right. I guess my question is what happened to Johanna Grisham’s baby? The one she was pregnant with when Sawyer was deployed? At some point he’s going to have to realize and accept that baby isn’t Jade. Are you going to tell the Harrises about her?”

  “I have no choice. Kia has a life-threatening condition. It won’t be fair not to be totally honest with them.”

  “I agree,” Bryce said. “You’re no longer an eligible kidney donor for Kia. What if Mr. Lacroix isn’t either?”

  A lump formed in the back of Vashti’s throat. At that moment she didn’t want to think about that possibility. She couldn’t.

  * * *

  SAWYER KNOCKED ON Erin’s front door. He had rented a car at the airport and during the drive here he had contemplated how he would question her. He knew how close Erin and Johanna had been. Best friends since high school and if Johanna had made her promise anything Erin wouldn’t break that promise, no matter what. He would have to resort to one of his interrogation techniques. Let them think you knew something when you really didn’t.

  A surprised look was on Erin’s face when she opened the door. “Sawyer? What are you doing here? I wasn’t aware you were in Waco,” she said, moving aside for him to enter.

  “I just flew in from Sacramento.”

  “Oh,” she said, smiling. “You were in California on business?”

  “No.” He refused to tell her any more than that. Glancing around, he asked. “Where are Damon and the boys?”

  “He took them biking in the park. They should be back soon. Would you like something to drink?” she asked, leading him from the foyer into the living room. “Several cans of your favorite beer are still in the fridge from your last visit.”

  “No, I don’t want anything to drink. What I do want, Erin, are answers.”

  She stopped walking, turned around and lifted a brow. “About what?”

  “About how Jade is not my biological child.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  ERIN DROPPED DOWN in the nearest chair. “How did you find out after all this time?”

  Sawyer felt like he’d been punched hard in the gut. His head was beginning to spin. So it was true. Vashti had been right. Jade was not his biological child. Johanna had betrayed him in the worst possible way. He drew in a deep breath, knowing he had to keep the facade going for now to get all the information he could out of Erin, while keeping his pain and anger at bay. She couldn’t even look at him. Instead she was studying her hands and speaking in a low tone.

  “I found out the truth when I saw Jade’s identical twin sister today,” he said, lying.

  Her head jerked up. “Jade has a twin?”

  So, she hadn’t known that. Had Johanna known? “Yes, they were separated at birth and adopted by difference couples.”

  “And they are identical?” she asked, as if making sure she had heard him correctly.

  “Yes. Do you think Johanna knew Jade had a twin?” he asked, needing to know.

  “No. She would have told me if she had.”

  Erin went back to staring at her hands again, and then she finally lifted her head and said, “I tried to get Johanna to tell you the truth, especially before she died. But she refused. I think she was afraid to admit to what she’d done by then. She didn’t want to die not knowing what would become of Jade.”

  Sawyer frowned. “Did she think I wouldn’t take care of my daughter?”

  “I guess she wasn’t sure how you would feel once you discovered the truth, Sawyer. She made me promise if you found out after her death and didn’t want Jade anymore that I would take her and raise her as my own.”

  Sawyer’s loud expletive ripped through the room, making Erin jump. “If she
actually thought something like that then she really didn’t truly know me at all.”

  He drew in a deep breath, trying not to let more anger overtake him. “Why did she do it?” he asked, needing desperately to know. “Why did she deceive me that way?”

  Erin’s mouth trembled and he could see tears forming in her eyes. “Johanna lost her baby at five months.”

  Sawyer swallowed as pain ripped through him. “How?”

  “All I know is that during one of her routine doctor’s visits, he couldn’t pick up a heartbeat. He performed more tests and it was determined the baby had died and they had to induce labor.”

  “My God! Why didn’t she tell me?”

  Erin paused a moment and then said, “Because she believed the only reason you married her was because she’d gotten pregnant, and without a pregnancy there was no reason for you to stay married to her.”

  Sawyer’s expression hardened. “How could she think something like that?”

  “How could she not?”

  Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Erin stiffened her spine and met his glare. “It means that Johanna never believe you loved her during the first few years of your marriage. The two of you had a one-night stand that resulted in her getting pregnant. You married her because of that pregnancy. When you became deployed and would write or call, the first person you would ask about was the baby. You always asked how the baby was doing before asking how she was doing.”

  Sawyer’s lips formed a grim line. Had he? “I don’t remember doing that, and if I did it was out of habit and nothing else.”

  “Well, she didn’t see it that way. To her way of thinking, it was an indication of who was more important. She got so distraught over losing the baby that she went into a state of depression fearing you would find out and that she would lose you, too. That’s when her grandparents stepped in.”

  When Erin stopped talking, Sawyer said, “Please continue.”

  Erin nodded. “They knew a couple whose sixteen-year-old daughter was expecting, and the baby was being put up for adoption. If you recall, Johanna’s grandfather was a federal judge. He took extra steps to make sure those adoption papers were sealed and were never to be opened. The baby Johanna lost was a boy, but since—”

  “A boy?” he interrupted to ask.

  “Yes. Since neither you nor Johanna had wanted to know the sex of your child beforehand,” Erin was saying, “the Smithfields figured switching babies would work.”

  And it had. Anger consumed Sawyer in every part of his body. Who gave Johanna and the Smithfields the right to do what they’d done? Deceiving him that way. He held Erin’s gaze and asked, “Would you have ever told me the truth?”

  She shook her head. “No. I promised Johanna that I wouldn’t, and I would have taken her secret to the grave.”

  Sawyer stood. “Johanna was wrong. I did love her. I might not have in the beginning, but over time I fell in love with her. I honestly thought she knew that.”

  “She did know it, Sawyer. Johanna died knowing you loved her. By then the two of you had been married over twelve years. She feared telling you the truth at that point. And once she discovered she had cancer, telling you was no longer an option for her.”

  “There are always options, Erin.”

  He turned and moved toward her front door but she stopped him. “Wait! You didn’t say how you ran into Jade’s twin?”

  Sawyer stopped and turned around. “The woman I’m seeing gave—”

  “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Jade never mentioned it.”

  “Well, I am. She recently moved back to Catalina Cove and discovered her parents gave away her babies for adoption when she was sixteen. Instead of telling her the truth, they told her that her lone child, a son, had died at birth. She found out the truth when one of the adoptive parents contacted her because their daughter is in need of a kidney transplant. Imagine her reaction when she arrived at that hospital in California and walked into the room and came face-to-face with a girl who looked identical to Jade. She had wondered what happened to the second child, then she knew—I had her.”

  Sawyer turned and walked out the door.

  * * *

  LATER THAT NIGHT Sawyer’s plane landed in New Orleans. Jade had to be told the truth immediately.

  But how was he going to tell her that the woman she thought was her biological mother really wasn’t? That the man she assumed all this time was her biological father wasn’t either. That the woman she’d come to know first as an employer and then as the woman her old man was dating, was her biological mother? But then the real icing on the cake was that the one man Jade detested, due to his strong opposition to change in the cove, was her grandfather.

  He released a frustrated breath, not sure how she would handle any of it. But then Jade was strong and her sense of doing the right thing was astounding. But that was still a lot of crap for any kid to have to deal with. Like him, she would be confused and hurt by Johanna’s deceit, but it would be up to him to convince Jade nothing would ever change the dynamics of their relationship.

  A part of him wanted to believe that no matter what, Johanna would always be her mother and he would always be her father and that his role in Jade’s life wouldn’t change. More than once he’d been tempted to call Vashti and tell her that he now knew the truth. But considering all the things he’d said before leaving her, he needed to tell her face-to-face and apologize for not believing her. Right now, his main concern was Jade. Then he would fly back to California to talk to Vashti and hope that she would forgive him for letting her down.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  “YOU OKAY, VASHTI?”

  She glanced across the table at Mr. Lacroix. They were enjoying breakfast in one of the hotel’s restaurants. “Yes, I’m fine.” Okay she was lying because she really wasn’t fine. How could she be when yesterday the man she loved had walked out on her?

  He nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. “I take it you haven’t heard from Sawyer.”

  No, she hadn’t and honestly, she hadn’t expected to either. “No, I haven’t talked to him since he left.”

  “Have you made a decision as to whether you’re going to tell the Harrises about Jade Grisham?”

  “Yes, I will tell them when I see them today. It’s only fair that they know, although I can’t promise them what, if anything, Sawyer will do as long as he’s in denial.”

  Reid took a sip of his coffee. “Sawyer is a good man. As a cop he will begin questioning things. Besides, even if he doesn’t, pretty soon it will become obvious you were telling the truth.”

  She lifted a brow. “How so?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I invited Kia to come visit me in Catalina Cove. Her parents said it would be okay and Glo has agreed to bring her. You know what that means don’t you?”

  Vashti nodded. There was no doubt in her mind Mr. Lacroix would let everybody know Kia and Jade were his granddaughters and Vashti’s daughters. When that happened, the townspeople would finally know the name of the person who fathered her babies.

  “Yes, I know what it means. Secrets aren’t meant to last forever. I’m not worried about me, but I am about Sawyer and Jade—especially if he refuses to accept me as Jade’s biological mother. It will be a brutal awakening for him when he sees Kia.”

  Deciding to change the subject, she asked, “How did your test go this morning at the hospital?” His test had been scheduled at six that morning.

  “Fine. Dr. Telfair said it will be late today or tomorrow before I get the results. I hope I’m a match. Glo was there this morning. She knew because of the test I hadn’t eaten anything since midnight, and she had a doughnut and coffee waiting to give me afterward.”

  “Gloria seems like a nice person.” It hadn’t gone unnoticed that he and Gloria had been s
pending a lot of time together for the past couple of days. And now he’d mentioned Gloria would be the one bringing Kia to Catalina Cove.

  “Yes, she’s a nice person. Always has been.” He paused a moment and added, “We have a lot in common and enjoy reminiscing about old times. She loved Martin like I loved Roberta. Losing spouses and being alone at our age is difficult.”

  Vashti nodded while thinking of her own love life. The one she no longer had since she was back to square one. This time she intended for things to stay that way. It would mean less pain and heartbreak.

  * * *

  “GOOD MORNING, DAD, when did you get back?”

  Sawyer glanced up from his coffee to look at Jade when she walked in the kitchen. “Late last night. You were asleep so I decided not to wake you.”

  He studied his daughter and recalled that day when she and Vashti had been outside practicing her baton twirling. That day when he’d seen them interacting together he had noted their similarities. At the time he thought it was just a coincidence. Now he knew that hadn’t been the case.

  “How is that person Ms. Vashti went to see in California? The one who is sick?”

  He blinked, realizing Jade had asked him a question. Before leaving town he had told her where he was going and why. He just hadn’t told her the sick person’s identity.

  “She’s somewhat better.”

  “I’m glad,” Jade said, joining him at the breakfast table with several pancakes loaded on her plate. Trudy had gotten up early and fixed breakfast before leaving. “Ms. Vashti seemed pretty upset about it.”

  He placed his fork down, knowing Jade had given him the opening he needed. “We need to talk, Jade.”

  She glanced over at him. “I didn’t do it.”