When Emmie awoke the next morning light was shining through a gap in the hotel curtains. She squinted and took a moment to take in her surroundings. As her world came into focus, so did the events of the previous evening. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Rolling over she noticed Ava was still asleep. Emmie had to find a way to make this right. But first she needed coffee. Lots of coffee.
Not only was she tired, she felt like her head was going to explode. After a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up and re-braid her hair she set off with two objectives. Coffee and Gabe. They were the keys to working this thing out.
Emmie’s feet padded softly against the plush carpets that lined the lobby. With the help of a bellhop she found the hotel’s restaurant. She was surprised to find it loud and busy this early. A man in a nice suit looked up from his podium where he was charting tables and numbers.
“How may I help you ma’am?” he asked, smiling at her.
“I’d like some coffee please,” she said.
The man laughed and frowned shaking his head. “Ma’am you must be seated for coffee. Are you meeting someone?”
Emmie craned her neck around him and peered into the open dining room. She saw no one she knew to join.
“No, sir. It’s just me,” she said.
“Okay, table for one then. Follow me.” He seated her near one of the windows with a street view.
She was surprised that on a Saturday morning the city was already up and bustling with people. Her coffee came quickly. She turned away the option of breakfast. One, her stomach was unsettled and she wasn’t sure she could keep it down. Two, she was splurging on the coffee. She hadn’t brought that much cash. Ironically the coffee was in the same dainty little china cup that the whiskey had been in last night. But this was coffee, just good old black coffee. After the first few drinks she found her headache had began to subside.
Emmie supposed she should have chugged the coffee and gone to find Gabe. Get to the bottom of this. Talk to Ava and Silas. Find the explanation. But something stopped her. She had no idea what to say to Gabe when she saw him. In the light of dawn she could see maybe he was right. Last night may have been the wrong time. But what business was that of Gabe’s? And for the love of Pete why had he not told them his choices weren’t about his feelings for her. How could Silas and Ava think so little of her to believe the lie so easily?
When the waiter collected her empty cup she knew she couldn’t procrastinate any longer. If she waited too long she probably wouldn’t get the chance to talk to him alone. She handed the waiter some coins and hoped that was enough to cover the beverage.
“No, ma’am. It’s been taken care of,” the waiter said, refusing the coins.
“Who?” She looked around.
The waiter turned and pointed to a table a few windows down. Emmie was surprised to see Mrs. Del Grande, Gabe’s mother, giving her a little wave. She stood and walked down to the older woman. The woman didn’t stand to greet her, instead she pointed to the chair across from her. She sat down. An awkward silence passed, giving Emmie the opportunity to take in the older woman. Mrs. Del Grande’s hair was completely grey, an almost iridescent silvery white. Emmie wondered what color it used to be because not a trace of the color of her youth remained. But when she looked closer at the woman’s face she realized she might not have been as old as she appeared at first glance. Save the light crows feet around her eyes, she didn’t have a wrinkle on her face. Her skin was a beautiful golden tan. She was no doubt of Italian decent too. Which explained why Gabe’s looks were so strikingly dark.
“Thank you for buying my coffee, Mrs. Del Grande. You didn’t need to do that,” Emmie said in an effort to be polite. She wondered why the woman had called her over.
“It’s a small gesture.” The woman looked down at her hands. “I suppose I should have done more.”
“Excuse me?” Emmie asked.
“Your dress is lovely. I used to have one similar several yesterdays ago,” Mrs. Del Grande said, reaching out to touch the worn fabric.
Emmie flushed. Was that her way of telling her the dress was outdated? Mrs. Del Grande’s dress was most obviously new. The fabric had the sheen of a dress straight from the store window.
“It was my mother’s,” Emmie said, picking at the loose thread on her sleeve.
“I know,” Mrs. Del Grande said.
Emmie’s head whipped up, meeting the eyes of the woman sitting across from her. How would she know?
“You look just like her. Except your nose. Hers was longer, thinner. You’re more beautiful than she was.” Mrs. Del Grande said.
“Oh, well I don’t know about that…” Emmie said, subconsciously touching her nose.
“But still, the resemblance is uncanny. When you walked in last night…” The woman grabbed her chest and took a deep breath. “I thought she was back…” The woman trailed off, her voice cracking.
Emmie was astonished at this woman’s grief over her mother. She’d never even heard her ma mention her.
“I miss her everyday.” Emmie heard her own voice crack as the truth escaped her lips.
The woman’s face fell. Pity. Empathy. Sympathy. Emmie couldn’t exactly say what emotion clouded the woman’s features.
“I am sure you do. Losing your mother at such a young age. I am sorry for your loss, child. How old were you when she passed?” Mrs. Del Grande asked, genuinely concerned.
“Barely fourteen,” Emmie answered. Her heart pinched as she thought of the last time she’d seen her mother. Ma had opened her eyes unable to talk and squeezed Emmie’s hand. A tear had fallen down her right cheek. Emmie held her until the angels received her. The nurse had come in and been so upset that Emmie had been in the room. Fear that the flu was going to spread to her. They had kept her in home-quarantine for a couple weeks before she was allowed back at school.
Emmie blinked opened her eyes breaking the memory from her mind. She couldn’t go there. The woman handed her a handkerchief. That’s when she felt the tears on her cheeks.
“God, I don’t know what’s come over me? I’m sorry.” She was embarrassed at her show of emotions.
“You’ve lost your mother child. Please don’t apologize.” Emmie tried to hand the handkerchief back.
“Keep it. We have plenty. Marco always has too many made.” She smiled.
Marco? Was that Mr. Del Grande’s name? Emmie tried to remember. She had only ever called him Mr. Del Grande. Emmie nodded and wadded the handkerchief in her hands.
“So, you and my mother, you were friends?” Emmie asked.
“No. We weren’t.” Mrs. Del Grande answered honestly.
Emmie frowned. She had spoken like she knew her mother? She even recognized the dress.
“But, I thought you said…” Emmie started but wasn’t sure how to finish.
“Just a couple of women with star-crossed paths I guess…” The woman stared straight ahead looking at nothing. She was lost in her own thoughts. “I’ve tried to avoid it all these years. Like it didn’t exist. It didn’t happen. Then when I found out you would be here…” Mrs. Del Grande grabbed her head and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. My head. I’m not feeling well.”
Emmie stood to help the woman who was hastily pushing in her chair. “Can I do something for you?”
She and Mrs. Del Grande were almost the same height. The woman’s dark chocolate eyes whaled up with unshed tears.
She reached a cold hand forward and touched Emmie’s cheek. “A part of me wanted to hate you. But how could I?” Her voice trailed off. “He’s in you too. I can see it. The way you quirk your eyebrow up, like it is now.” She smiled and repeated, “How could I? When I always loved him.”
Chapter Nine
And with that she left. No further explanation. She just left. What did this mean? Her mother. She looked like him. Her father? She loved her father? Not Ronnie. Her real father. Oh God. Emmie’s shoulders rose and fell viciously as she considered each detail. She turned to fo
llow the woman but by the time she reached the lobby Mrs. Del Grande was no longer in sight. Emmie turned a corner and headed for the stairs only to be pulled back.
Gabe grabbed her arm. She frowned as he pulled her to a nearby couch that was hidden under the shadow of the stairs.
“Gabe. I have to find your mom,” she said.
“Leave her alone,” Gabe said quietly.
“No. You don’t understand. We didn’t finish our conversation. She knows my dad…” Emmie tried to stand.
He pulled her back down and handed her the handkerchief that had fallen to the ground. Emmie noticed something black on the corner.
Perfect stitching. A monogram. Initials.
M.V.G.
Oh dear God. She was a fool. The answer was in front of her all along. Emmie put her shaking hands over her mouth.
“Oh my God, Gabe. It’s the M.V.G from my letters isn’t it?” Her eyes met his as she struggled to put all of the pieces together.
Gabe pulled a folded photo from his pocket. It was the picture of the young man and her mother. He handed it to her. “Your ma, my pop.”
“That means… you’re my brother?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“I guess so.” He rubbed his hands on his pants like he was nervous.
Brother. She had a brother. And it was Gabe. Hadn’t she always wondered what this would be like? Gabe was an only child too. She wondered if he had wondered what it would be like to have a younger sister… younger sister. Younger? How could this be so? She had assumed their parents had gotten together before Mr. and Mrs. Del Grande married but how could it be? She flipped the photo over and read the date.
“Gabe what year were you born?” she asked.
“1901. Two years before that was taken,” he said with no sign of emotion in his voice.
Emmie stood from the couch, dropping the photo on the ground. “Were your parents married when this photo was taken?”
Gabe nodded.
“So…” she wrapped her arms around herself, “so, that means, my ma and your pa, they were together when your parents were still married?”
Gabe looked down and nodded again.
Emmie stood stone still, reflecting on her interactions with Mr. Del Grande. He had always been so reserved but watchful when she was around. No wonder Mrs. Del Grande never accompanied him on his trips to Kentucky. No wonder she left last night. The pain in her eyes when she saw Emmie. Her mother. All these years her mother had known her father was out there. She hadn’t kept Emmie from him because he was some horrible man. She hadn’t told Emmie about him because she was an adulterer. How could her mother have down this? How could she have kept it a secret? Emmie thought of all the times her mother had seen Gabe at Ava’s house. The whole time her mother had known Gabe was her brother. How could she have done this?
She hugged her arms tight around her chest and sat down on the couch. As she took her place next to him she took in the expression on Gabe’s face. “I’m sorry. This must be a shock for you too Gabe. I’m sorry my mom did this to your family… sorry I did this to your family,” she whispered.
He put his arm around her. “Yeah. Well, it’s not your fault, is it? I’m sorry too. I mean clearly my pop had a part in this too. And all these years he just… he just did nothing.”
Emmie nodded. “I found letters from him. My folks never gave them to me. He sent money. I can’t say how much over the years or how often but I think he must have tried.”
Gabe shook his head. He wasn’t letting his old man off that easy. “It’s about more than money, Emmie.”
Emmie nodded.
Gabe spoke quietly, “I’m sorry too. I mean if I had known… Emmie you were always so alone out there on that farm. You never had any money. Living with that good for nothing alcoholic stepfather. Working for that man. Depending on that old farmer next door to help you with things.”
“Gabe.” She pulled back from him and shook her head, “Is that how I looked to you? It’s not true. I’ve had a good life. So, don’t you go feeling all sorry for me now.” And she meant it. She didn’t need his pity.
“I guess it made you tougher than you would have been had you been raised in my family.” He grinned and rested his chin on her head. Gabe laughed for the first time all day.
**********
Silas had looked everywhere, her room, the courtyard, and the restaurant. She was nowhere. Had she gone home? Would she leave without even telling him bye? No. He looked at his watch. Shit. It was already past nine. He only had a half hour until he had to go to a meeting with the boys. Of all days for things to blow up in Bardston, a small town about an hour from here. Some half-cocked revenuer had shown up and busted up a pretty large moonshine still that Silas’s family had offered protection. One of their men had been shot in the process. It was the second time this had happened in the last few weeks. A new family of bootleggers was now offering to take over the business in both towns. Something was fishy with the whole situation and Silas was being sent to work it out.
But right now, he didn’t care about the revenuers or the bootleggers. He had to see Emmie before he went into that meeting. He hadn’t been able to close his eyes last night without seeing her bright blue ones staring back at him. When he left she was upset. He could kick his own ass for how he’d treated her. He’d had too much to drink. He’d been a jerk. She deserved more.
He turned to head up the stairs again, deciding to check her room one more time before heading to the meeting room. Something made him freeze. It was Emmie. He heard her voice, she was whispering but he was sure it was her. He spun around and checked the couches by the door but they were empty. He walked down the stairs and followed the sound. Glancing to his right he heard her voice get louder.
“What the hell?” he said under his breath as he took in the sight of Emmie curled into Gabe’s shoulder. “Well, don’t mind me…” Silas said to the two of them.
Gabe looked up but didn’t change his position. It was Emmie who moved first.
“Silas.” She walked forward and threw herself on his chest. Her shoulders slumped into him. This was not like her. He wondered what in the world was going on.
He turned to Gabe. What had he done to her? Gabe never stood up… never looked up at him. “Emmie,” Silas said, keeping his voice level and calm. “Emmie tell me what’s happened.” He would not jump to conclusions. He would stay calm.
She pulled back from him looking up into his eyes. “I’ve figured it out,” Emmie said.
He took a look at the handkerchief and frowned. “What? I don’t understand. You’ve figured what out?”
Gabe stood and squared his shoulders. “It’s what I meant last night. It wasn’t about you. It was about her… and me.”
Silas’s eyebrow cocked up to the side but he didn’t react or say a word. He kept it calm. He could tell that was what Emmie needed right now.
“Pop told me to protect her. See that she didn’t end up like her mother. Broken-hearted and left with a baby by some distant man from Chicago,” Gabe said to Silas.
Emmie spun and made eye contact with Gabe. “He said that to you?” she asked quietly.
Gabe nodded.
“What’s it to you and your pop?” Silas shouted, his nostrils flaring.
Gabe swallowed hard for a moment before he spoke. “Because… Emmie’s my sister.”
Chapter Ten
Silas wouldn’t have been more surprised if pigs had flown through the room. He was speechless. After an awkward pause he asked, “How can that be?”
Emmie pulled away and looked up at him. She shrugged. “I don’t know the details of it but I just spoke to Gabe’s mother… and she said some strange things and gave me this.” She handed him the handkerchief.
Silas nodded. The initials did match the letter she’d found from her father. Well, he had actually found the letter when searching her house a few months back. But initials. That wasn’t exactly enough to incriminate someone. His defense attorney r
ationalization kicked in.
“Em, I know you are grasping at straws here but initials on a handkerchief aren’t exactly enough solid evidence. I mean there must be hundreds of people with M.V.G. in their name?” He made the last statement a question.
“Yeah, but this is a little more solid.” Gabe picked up the photo and handed it to Silas.
“I’ve seen this. It was in the box I got from the barn.” Silas nodded.
Emmie pointed, “My mom and…”
Gabe finished her sentence, “my father.” After a moment’s pause Gabe continued, “I confronted Pop about it last night after mom left the dinner. He admitted it. That’s when he told me to watch out for her.”
Silas frowned. “After all these years he actually told you to watch out for her. When he’d left her alone all this time? That’s what he actually said? Unbelievable.”
Gabe shrugged and a grin played on his lips before he spoke. “Well, his actual words were more along the lines of, ‘The boy’s had his drunk Irish hands all over her tonight and she’s just as smitten with him. Don’t let him do to her what I did to her mother.’”
Silas flexed and released the muscles of his jaw as he took in the comment. Even if the old man was right, he had no right to feel protective of her. He hadn’t earned it.
“So that’s why you came in last night.” Silas said as all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
Gabe ran his hands over his face and nodded. His eye was still black but not quite as angry-red as it had been last night.
Silas nodded, thinking of what to say. But he didn’t have to, Emmie spoke first.
“Gabe I don’t want to talk about this again. It’s awful embarrassing. But it’s for me to decide about Silas and his hands. You understand?” She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. She looked confident as she looked at him straight on… that was until she bit her lower lip while she waited for his reply.
Gabe cocked his eyebrow. He had promised his father. “It’s just you’ve had no one to take care of you.”
Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) Page 5