4 The Ghosts in the Attic

by SUE FINEMAN

  He needed to talk with his mother about her mother, but not when he was this steamed. Why did he have to find out about his grandmother from a man like Vinnie Porcini? Why couldn’t his parents have told him?

  Mom never talked about her childhood except for the summers and Christmas vacations she’d spent with her father and grandparents. The Taylor side of the family. When anyone asked about her mother, she said simply, “She’s dead.”

  There had to be more to the story, and he was determined to hear it.

  He filled a trash can with the old flooring and dumped the can into the dumpster. The carpet in the bedrooms was stained and worn. Wondering if there was hardwood underneath, he pulled a corner loose to look. “Something’s going right,” he muttered to himself. He’d much rather have hardwood floors than wall-to-wall carpet.

  He had half the carpet out of the middle bedroom when his cell phone rang. His mother said, “The hospital called. Alex wants to see Taylor, and I think it’s a good idea.”

  “Why? Alex is a mess.”

  “The last time Taylor saw her mother, she was unconscious and covered in blood. I assume they have her cleaned up now.”

  “Yes, they washed the blood off her, but her eyes are swollen closed and she has stitches in her face. She looks like hell.”

  “I know, but Taylor needs to see her, Charlie. She needs to know her mother is still alive, and she needs to see her without all that blood.”

  “Okay, all right.” At this rate, he’d never get the house finished.

  Charlie cleaned up and drove home, where he found Taylor in the kitchen with Mom, putting cookies into a baggie. “Mmm, it smells like cookies in here. Can I have some?”

  “Okay,” said Taylor, “but we have to save some for Mommy.”

  The kitchen was a mess, and so was Taylor, but the kid looked happy. He picked up a cookie and took a bite. “Mmm, snickerdoodles. I love snickerdoodles.”

  Taylor’s eyes sparkled. “Me, too. I never get to make cookies at home.”

  “You did a good job,” Mom told her. “Mommy will be proud of you.”

  The kid beamed, and Charlie wondered how much attention she got from her other grandmother. Did she praise and encourage her? Did Vinnie play with her?

  Charlie cleaned up the messy kitchen while Mom got Taylor ready to go. Then the three of them left for the hospital.

  As he walked into the hospital lobby with his mother and Taylor, Charlie said, “Taylor, Mommy’s face is all swelled up, so she looks funny, but I know she’ll be glad to see you.”

  Taylor carried her baggie of cookies into her mother’s hospital room. Charlie was relieved Vinnie wasn’t there. Mom didn’t need a run-in with Vinnie today.

  Alex was sitting up in bed. Although her bruises had darkened, her right eye had opened a little. “Hey, you can see. Looks like the swelling is down.”

  “A little.”

  Taylor stood back and stared at her mother’s battered face. Alex held out her arms. “Taylor, come over here, honey.”

  Charlie shoved the chair up close to the bed and lifted Taylor into it. The little girl sat on her knees. “You can hold her hand, Punkin.”

  Alex brushed Taylor’s knee. “Do you like staying with Charlie?”

  “Alex, I told her I was her daddy.”

  “She already knew, didn’t you, Taylor?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you tell her?”

  “I didn’t have to. She’s psychic, although she doesn’t always know what things mean.”

  Stunned, Charlie stared at Alex. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not kidding.”

  Taylor grinned. “Me and Grandma made cookies, and I got to play with Wilma. She slept on my bed last night.”

  Alex chuckled. “Don’t tell Grandmother. Are those cookies for me?”

  “Yeah.” Taylor handed them over.

  “Hey, where’s my cookie?” Charlie said.

  “You ate your share before we left,” said Mom.

  “But I’m still hungry.”

  “You’re always hungry.”

  They were all laughing when Vinnie Porcini walked in.

  Vinnie saw Taylor sitting beside the bed, holding her mother’s hand. Charlie Kane was there, along with a woman he would have recognized anywhere, even though he’d only seen her in person a couple times thirty years ago. Hannah Taylor Kane. Monique’s daughter. His enemy’s wife.

  She turned toward him and all the color drained from her face. Thirty years had passed and the woman was just as stunning as she was back then. Older, more graceful, but just as beautiful. He should have married a classy woman like this instead of a woman who couldn’t stay faithful.

  Charlie cleared his throat. “I believe you’ve met my mother, Vinnie. If you want to apologize, this would be a good time.”

  “Apologize for what?” Alex asked.

  Propping his hands on his hips, Charlie said, “For a mistake your father made a long time ago.”

  “Charlie, please,” said Hannah. “Excuse me.” She bolted out of the room.

  Vinnie followed Hannah down to the waiting area by the elevators. “I can’t apologize for something I didn’t do. I believed my cousin when he said you were going into the business, but I didn’t touch you. Hell, I had enough women back then without forcing myself on you or any other woman. That Irish bastard you married had no right to lock me up.”

  “He was angry, just as I’m sure you’re angry at the man who hurt Alex.”

  “Hell, I made a mistake believing my cousin, but I didn’t touch you.”

  “You would have if Donovan hadn’t found me in time.”

  Yes, he probably would have. Hannah was a wholesome beauty who attracted him more than the glitzy, high-priced whores like Monique.

  She looked him in the eye. “You made a mistake, but don’t take your anger out on my family. Especially Charlie. You’ve kept Taylor from us for years, but that has to stop. Taylor loves her daddy, and we all love her. I don’t want things to be uncomfortable between our families because you and Donovan hate each other. Taylor deserves better. So do Alex and Charlie.”

  Vinnie felt old and tired, beaten down by the memories of the past, a wife who cheated on him, a wounded daughter who’d survived a brutal attack, and sons he could no longer trust. Charlie Kane would no doubt steal Taylor away from him, and if Taylor stayed with Charlie, Vinnie could lose Alexandra, too.

  He could lose everyone.

  <>

  After Papa left the room, Alex pushed the covers back and sat on the side of the bed. The backless hospital gown didn’t allow for modesty, but it couldn’t be helped. She needed to use the bathroom.

  Without asking, Charlie pushed the chair out of the way and helped her to her feet. He pushed the IV pole behind her, and she knew he was watching flashes of her bare backside. That side of her probably looked better than her face. She hadn’t looked in a mirror since the attack, and she was half afraid to see how much damage Scott had done.

  She used the toilet and washed her hands, then opened her right eye as far as she could and peered into the mirror. “Oh, my God!” She had stitches beside her left eye and by her hairline. Although the doctor had put the stitches under the skin, she knew she’d have scars. Both eyes were surrounded by swollen, black bags, and her head was wrapped in a big, white bandage. It would be a long time before she’d look normal again, if ever. She wanted to cry. Why did this have to happen to her now? She couldn’t go out job hunting looking like this.

  She opened the door. “I look like a creature from a horror movie.”

  Charlie took her IV pole. “When the swelling goes down, you’ll be beautiful again.”

  “No, I’ll be scarred and ugly.” She played with a piece of hair that stuck out of the bandage. It was considerably shorter than it was a couple days ago. “They chopped off my hair.”

  “They had to clean out the blood and get your scalp put back together.”

  “I
suppose,” she said on a sigh.

  He cocked his head. “Haven’t you heard? Short hair is sexy.”

  “And scars? And stitches? And black eyes? Are they sexy, too?”

  He put his big hand on her shoulder and gently turned her to face him. “Don’t fall apart on me now, Alex. You can get your hair styled after you heal, and if you need plastic surgery to erase the scars, your brothers can pay for it, since they set you up with the creep in the first place. For now, you have a little girl who needs her mommy to get better.”

  Tears spilled down her face, and Charlie held her gently, tenderly, as if he still cared about her. If only she could believe he did.

  “Did they say how long you had to stay in the hospital?”

  “I can leave tomorrow, after I see the eye specialist, but I can’t drive like this. I don’t even have any clothes to wear home.”

  Hannah stood in the doorway. “Charlie can get your things from the inn and you can stay with us while you recuperate. Taylor will love having her mommy there.”

  Alex looked up at Charlie. “Oh, no, Charlie. You can’t keep her.”

  “We’ll talk about Taylor’s living arrangements after you recuperate. For now, you’ll come home with us, where we can help with Taylor until you can handle things yourself.”

  “My father will disown me.”

  Charlie helped her into bed. “That’s a bad thing?”

  “You may not like him, but he’s still my father.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Charlie said under his breath.

  Chapter Five

  Long after Charlie left with Taylor and Hannah, Alex lay in bed thinking about what might have been if she’d been strong enough to defy her father and stay with Charlie seven years ago. She’d just graduated from college, and her parents had given her a trip to Italy as a graduation gift. Then she met Charlie and didn’t want to leave him for a three-month trip anywhere. Weeks later, after Papa broke up her love affair, he had a travel agent book the plane and hotels, but by then she was too sick to go anywhere. Morning sickness the doctor called it, only hers lasted all day.

  No matter what Papa wanted, no matter how unsettled Charlie was back then, she should have told him she was carrying his baby. Seeing the hurt and anger in his eyes now made her feel worse about what she’d done. Every time he touched her, she wanted to cry. Charlie was the only man she’d ever allowed herself to love, and she’d betrayed him, taken Papa’s side against his enemy’s son. She loved her father, but she loved Charlie, too. Seeing him with Taylor tore at her heart, and she was filled with remorse.

  Because of the choices she’d made in the past, she’d already lost Charlie, and with her face scarred and her hair chopped off, he wouldn’t want her back. No man would want her now.

  Alex was still wallowing in self-pity when Mother came in. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. “Mother, what’s wrong?”

  “Your father wants a divorce.”

  “Oh.” What did she expect? Mother made no effort to be discreet about her affairs. Did she think a man with Papa’s ego would look the other way forever?

  “You’re not surprised?”

  “Not really.”

  Mother dropped into the chair beside the bed. “I don’t know where he thinks I’m going to live.”

  “With Rory? Or are you with someone else now?”

  Her eyes widened. “You know?”

  “Everyone knows, Mother.”

  “I don’t want to move out of the house.” She fiddled with the strap on her purse. “Maybe if you spoke with your father—”

  “Oh, no! Don’t put me in the middle of this. I have enough problems of my own.”

  “But he’ll listen to you, Alexandra.”

  Yes, he probably would, but Alex couldn’t defend her mother’s cheating. Her parents had both been unfaithful over the years. She couldn’t figure out why they’d stayed married this long, unless Mother was waiting for him to die of old age, so she could inherit his estate. As if he’d leave it all to her. Papa would undoubtedly leave the Porcini family home to Antonio, his oldest son, so Mother would have to move anyway. So would Alex, because there was no way she’d ever live with either of her brothers. Antonio and Mario were teenagers when Papa divorced their mother and married Vanessa Spalding, and they’d resented Alex from the day she was born five months later.

  “Have Mario and Antonio been in to see you?”

  “They were here last night.” Alex didn’t care if she never saw them again, especially Mario. He was the one who told Scott where to find her. He probably didn’t know about Scott’s temper, but he knew the man wanted sex. Did Mario think she’d sleep with anyone?

  The business was in deep trouble, and they needed Scott’s company to sign that contract. To get Scott’s signature, Mario played games with her life. If Mario and Antonio lost the business, Papa would be livid. Papa had owned the trucking company, the food distribution business, and the cannery for nearly forty years, but instead of investing some of the profits into the businesses, Mario and Antonio gave themselves huge bonuses. The machinery in the cannery was wearing out, they needed a new computer system for the food distribution business, and the trucking division bled money.

  The only way out now was to sell at least one of the businesses and use that money to shore up the others, but when she suggested it, Mario accused her of being stupid and Antonio stuck up for Mario, as always. Maybe she was stupid, stupid for working for those two losers.

  <>

  Charlie strapped Taylor into the backseat, then slid into the front seat beside his mother. Seeing Alex left him with mixed feelings. He couldn’t hate her for hiding Taylor when she was hurting like that. The guy who’d attacked her wore a ring and the ring cut into her face and scalp. He hadn’t seen that much blood since he left Iraq. “They cut off most of her hair. The nurse said the doctor did his best, but Alex may need plastic surgery at some point. I don’t think she realized how bad it was until she looked into the mirror this afternoon.”

  Charlie glanced at Taylor in the backseat. She seemed subdued after seeing her mommy.

  After learning he had a daughter, he didn’t think anything could shock him. Until Alex said Taylor was psychic. The night he met her in the hospital, when she said he looked fuzzy, she’d seen his aura. The kid wasn’t just adorable. Taylor was psychic.

  Charlie stopped at the Whippoorwill Inn to pick up Alex’s car. The police had finished with their crime scene investigation, and the manager of the inn had packed up Alex’s things. Charlie put the suitcase on the backseat of the BMW and followed Mom home.

  As angry as he was with Alex over hiding Taylor, his heart ached for the pain she’d suffered and the torment she’d endure in the weeks to come. It would take time for her to recover from the attack and months for her hair to grow out. Her beautiful face had been marred, and she’d always been proud of her looks. Maybe the scars wouldn’t show too much after she healed.

  He emptied Alex’s car and carried the suitcases and box of toys inside. He and Taylor got the guest room ready for her mommy. He felt a little funny unpacking Alex’s suitcases, touching her silky underwear and lacy bras, but he couldn’t ask his mother to do any more.

  One suitcase was filled with Taylor’s clothes, and they put them away in Ginny’s room. And then he opened the box of toys. “Hey, Taylor, look what I found.”

  While Taylor dug through her loot, Charlie went down to the kitchen to help Mom with dinner. “We need to get Taylor back in school tomorrow. I’ll take her in the morning and then bring Alex home, if she still wants to come. Mom, are you sure you want her here?”

  “Do you want Taylor to move back to Vinnie’s house?”

  “God, no. If she goes back there, I might never see her again.”

  “Then bring Alex here. When she’s better, you two can work things out. If you all need to live here until you get your house finished, that’s okay with me. We can always give Alex and Taylor the apartment in the atti
c, so they’ll have some privacy.”

  He nodded. But would Alex stay? Would he wake up one morning and find her and Taylor gone?

  Something else had been nagging at him since his conversation with Vinnie. “After dinner, I want to you to tell me about my grandmother.”

  “What grandmother?”

  “Monique.”

  “There’s nothing to tell, Charlie. She’s dead.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to have to hear about my family from Vinnie Porcini. I want the truth – the whole truth – and I want to hear it from you.”

  <>

  Donovan came home from work and found Hannah crying in the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

  “Vinnie told Charlie about Monique. Now he wants to know everything.” She threw the dishtowel down on the counter. “I thought if we didn’t say anything to the kids, they’d never have to know.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back until the tension left her body. “We’ll tell him tonight. Ginny knows. She did some investigating as part of one of her college classes.”

  “But she never said anything.”

  “Because she didn’t want to upset you. Billy knows everything, and Andy knows a little. Charlie is old enough to handle the truth. They all are.”

  She snuggled closer. “I wanted them to have normal lives. Stable lives. Not like me. I didn’t want them growing up under that black cloud.”

  “They didn’t. They’re all well adjusted and happy because they had you for a mother. Knowing about Monique won’t change that.”

  She looked up at him. “What if it changes the way Charlie thinks about me?”

  “He might be angry because we didn’t tell him sooner, but he’ll deal with it and move on. I know he’s been in trouble for one thing after another, but deep down, he’s a good person. A good man. A Kane. I’m proud of the way he’s handled Alex and Taylor. He’ll be a good father to that little girl.”

  “I know he will.”

  Charlie walked into the kitchen. “Talking about me?”