by Jack Dey
*~*~*~*
Chapter 58
Bethany Graham sat motionless in her easy chair with her companion—the television set—remaining resolutely silent as she contemplated the meaning of Miss Gavin’s phone call. At sixty-nine, Bethany had spent so many years hiding from Katie and now, encouraged by Miss Gavin, just maybe it was time to confront her fears. Bethany kept thinking about the baby blanket and how he’d found it. He said he knew Rebecca, but that didn’t make sense either. Was this man that Miss Gavin spoke of one of his latest ploys to trap her? Bethany’s brow furrowed, the pain in her temples pulling tight across her injury site and making her feel bilious.
A sudden knock at the door made her jump with fright and she panicked, whimpering and holding her hand over her heart. Was this him closing in on her?! The knock came again and then the soothing tone of Betty Gavin’s voice drifted into the apartment.
“Bethany, are you all right, dear?”
Bethany hurried to unlock the door and as she did, Miss Gavin could see the intense alarmed expression on Bethany’s face. Immediately, Miss Gavin reached in and hugged the frightened woman.
“Can I come in, dear?”
“Please,” Bethany suggested, as an expression of relief settled on her lined face.
“Have you thought about our conversation yesterday?” Miss Gavin asked.
Bethany offered the older lady a seat in her small lounge room and as they settled into the chairs, it took many calculated seconds for Bethany to respond. “I... I don’t know whether I am strong enough to go through another one of these games,” Bethany admitted honestly.
“Have you given any credence to the fact that this may be genuine and Rebecca may be out there, waiting to make contact?” Miss Gavin suggested.
Bethany had been so consumed with him, she hadn’t even considered that it may be Rebecca who was trying to make contact.
Bethany could still see Mr Williams’ telephone number digits in her mind’s eye, just as Miss Gavin had recited it to her in her call, but Bethany’s face displayed her fear and her unwillingness to take a chance. Bethany was good at so many things, but hiding her emotions wasn’t one of them. Rubbing the tender injury site and hoping to avoid another debilitating headache, Bethany considered the facts and the hope she wasn’t about to engage on another of his tiring and deadly games.
“I tell you what, dear... let’s make a call to this man and if he really is who he says he is, then he should be able to prove it. Your phone number is an unlisted number, so he can’t trace your call and maybe we’ll be able to let Katie rest in peace, once and for all. What do you say?”
Bethany appeared nervous, but made a concession. “Okay, but please don’t leave me,” she pleaded.
*~*~*~*
Smiley had been terminally distracted since locating Betty Gavin, finding it difficult to concentrate on his normal work and willing Bethany Graham to find the courage to put Becky out of her misery, offering what she knew of Becky’s birth parents. Smiley daydreamed and wondered how that would feel... finding out who you belong to.
Drawing the final cold dregs from the bottom of a disposable cup, his desk was littered with similar but empty and used Styrofoam coffee containers from the coffee machine. Staring blankly up at his computer screen, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his shoulders from behind and made him jump.
“This phone call is really making you tense, Smiley,” Jacqui’s voice soothed.
Smiley relaxed at his beautiful distraction as she collected up the coffee cups strewn across his desk and leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips. He chased her lips with his as she drew away, looking for more of the woman he loved.
Smiley sighed. “I guess I am living my dream through Becky,” he conceded.
“Finding your Mum...?” Jacqui coaxed.
Smiley nodded.
Jacqui’s attractive face responded with an expression of concern. “I don’t know how it feels, honey, and I wish I could make it better for you,” Jacqui empathised.
“Can I have another one of those kisses?” Smiley begged.
Jacqui smiled and leaned into a kiss that would distract his mind for hours to come. “More later,” she whispered, gazing around the newsroom and embarrassed at the spectacle they were creating. As she left Smiley to his work, a chorus of cheers went up from the people in the newsroom. Jacqui flushed red and hurried back to her desk and as Smiley watched Jacqui leave, he stood, collecting the accolades and took a bow.
When the cheering finally abated, the coffee room caught his eye, taking a step toward making his desk a parking area for used Styrofoam cups again. About to take a second step, his mobile phone vibrated in his pocket, making him aware of an incoming call. Fumbling for the phone and checking the screen to identify the caller, he noticed no number displayed and it made him suspicious.
“Hello, Smiley Williams.”
A female voice stammered on the other end and then shyly offered, “M..Mr Williams, my name is Bethany Graham. I believe you spoke to my mentor, Miss Gavin, yesterday and would like to discuss some information regarding a deceased friend's family?”
Smiley excitedly responded to her question, “Yes, that’s right, Miss Graham.”
“I have to tell you, sir, that I am a little apprehensive about talking to you, as my friend's information is extremely private and may have far reaching consequences for me and Rebecca if the wrong people get my—or her—information.”
Smiley cottoned on quickly. She was asking for some identification. “I understand, Miss Graham. Well, I am a newspaper journalist for the Mainline Times and Rebecca is a close friend of mine. In fact, my boss is her husband,” Smiley wondered whether that information was enough to scare her off on its own.
A long pause punctuated the phone conversation.
Smiley had an idea. “If I give you the number of the paper, you can easily look it up then prove that I am who I say by asking to speak to Smiley Williams. They’ll put you through to my extension and I will be waiting to hear back from you.”
Smiley wondered whether she would do it, but she agreed. After a long, nervous wait, Smiley’s desk phone rang and he almost dropped it in the haste to pick it up.
“Smiley Williams.”
“Thank you, Mr Williams. At least I know you are who you say you are,” Bethany’s voice had relaxed a bit. “Why do you want information on Rebecca?”
“I am sorry, Bethany, I don’t want information on Rebecca. I already know Rebecca and her whereabouts. I am looking to confirm you and I know the same Rebecca, born June 12th 1986, Landon County Hospital and for any information on her birth parents.” Smiley figured he had just been handed a cleverly disguised question designed to trip him up.
Again, there was silence.
“Listen, Bethany. I have Rebecca’s phone number and maybe you’d prefer to talk to her, but I have to warn you, she’s heavily pregnant. Although she is aware I have spoken to Miss Gavin and that I am expecting to talk to you, she’s apprehensively waiting to hear anything about her birth family and perhaps the shock of hearing from you directly and out of thin air may not be good for her, either.”
Smiley waited as the pause extended and thought he’d heard a sniff, like someone crying and trying to gain composure.
Then Miss Gavin’s voice came over the phone, “Mr Williams... Betty Gavin. I need to end the conversation for the moment. As you may have supposed by now, this situation is very complex and is not only about finding Rebecca’s birth family. You can rest assured I will call you again in a couple of days and let you know of any further developments. Goodbye for now.”
Smiley’s phone clicked as Miss Gavin terminated the call, leaving his mouth hanging open in mid objection, shocked by the curt abruptness and the conclusion to the conversation.
The coffee machine bubbled and groaned as Smiley fed the coins into its open slot, followed immediately by a Styrofoam cup appearing below the spout and hot black liquid filling it to the br
im. He stared at the steaming coffee with its pleasant, strong aroma drawing him out of his thoughts, watching the final drips falling to his cup and then with a determined grasp, wrapped his hand around the cup and removed it from the machine. Walking back to his work station, Smiley placed it gently down on his desk and after a tense few moments, reached for the phone, dialling Becky’s number. By the time he’d filled her in on the details, she was crying, too. He did his best to console her, but he was out of his depth and then decided to ring Brett, who was good at tempering raw female emotion... especially Becky’s.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 59
Smiley’s days had been distracted by a breaking news story that Brett had assigned to him, keeping him out of the office. He was following a disturbance at a remote mining camp as miners clashed with protesters, incensed by an ecological disaster. By the time he had wrapped up his story and submitted it to Brett, a week had passed with the constant action and frenetic pace keeping Smiley on the move, leaving little time to reflect, let alone attend to anything else. Facing a new week, Smiley flopped into his office chair, exhausted, perusing his computer screen and checking his emails. His forefinger scrolled the usual junk mail until something caught his eye and when his mouse hovered over the name Betty Gavin, he excitedly clicked it open.
Please contact me when you have time, regards Betty Gavin.
The email had been sitting in his inbox for three days.
Smiley’s heart raced as he dug into his pocket and switched his phone back on, scrolled through his address book and located her number then reading the digits, he picked up his desk phone and dialled.
*~*~*~*
Bethany Graham began to worry at the absence of Smiley’s reply and became suspicious when he hadn’t answered his mobile phone, even though when she’d contacted the newspaper office, they had warned her he was out of town. Miss Gavin, too, tried to convince her that he was on an assignment and that journalists often disappeared from the office for extended periods of time. Bethany was beginning to wonder about Smiley and whether there were any ulterior motives. She kept thinking about the pink blanket and Rebecca and him. Miss Gavin had convinced her to confront her fears and try to make contact with Smiley and in turn maybe even Rebecca, and in so doing, breaking Katie’s stranglehold on her life... once and for all.
She sighed heavily, speculating about Rebecca and what sort of woman she’d become. Her hands began to shake as she remembered that day, wondering whether she could relive the painful past, even if it was to bring closure for Rebecca and healing to her own life.
The sudden interruption from her telephone made her jump and shook her out of her thoughts, forcing her to move quickly from her easy chair in time to intercept the voice she was expecting to hear.
“Hello?”
“Hello, dear, you can rest easy now. He’s just made contact and he was on assignment and responded immediately he got back. It’s all arranged. Are you sure you want to go through with this now?”
Bethany nervously sighed and then managed a shaky, “Yes.”
“Okay, then, I’ll be around early about 6 am. I’ll organise a taxi to take us to the bus and then Mr Williams will meet us at the bus stop at the other end and take us to meet Rebecca.”
There was a long pause as Bethany gathered her courage and then confided with a feeble whisper, “I’m scared, Miss Gavin.”
“Take courage, my love. This day has been coming for many years and I have a feeling things will turn out, one way or the other.”
After the phone call ended, Bethany counted her steps and stood in front of a tall, thin inbuilt wall cupboard, pondering all that she would need. Above that was a smaller cupboard, also built into the wall and that was where her life had been hidden for many long and frightening years. Turning to face the kitchen table, Bethany felt for a chair and finding what she had expected, lifted it into place, positioned in front of the cupboard and cautiously climbed onto it. Standing above the ground, she felt for the cupboard handle and pulled it, and with a thunk the cabinet opened, assaulting her strong sense of smell with the intense scent of musty mothballs. Groping into the tiny hideaway, Bethany felt into the cupboard opening and removed a cardboard box.
“My, it has gotten heavier over the years, or maybe I have gotten weaker,” she chided.
Stepping down off the chair cautiously and clutching the box, she felt inside and when they brushed against her sensitive fingers, she relaxed, knowing they were still there. Carefully she packed the contents into her suitcase and covered them with her clothes for the trip.
*~*~*~*
Becky flopped down into a kitchen chair and then struggled up again, not knowing whether to sit or stand, to jump and sing or fall on the floor and cry. Smiley’s call had filled her with so much joy and so much fear at the same time, realising they would be here tomorrow and finally, she would learn about her birth mother and maybe some of her family background, too. Bethany had been so close to Katie, but soon the thought turned her world upside down, realising she had no idea who Katie was... or Bethany, for that matter.
Becky’s face was a mass of tension with so many questions chasing each other across her mind. She searched through drawers and dug out photograph albums and the documents that had started the mania, leaving the pink blanket with the tag sitting on top of it all, while she gathered anything of significance that may help establish the connection to her birth mother and make it easy to prove she belonged.
Emma’s frightened face flashed across her mind and her heart sank; but she wasn’t going to shut her parents out of something so important, even if it was painful for them to witness, acknowledging she still needed to include them. Becky waddled determinedly to the phone and punched in her mother’s number, listening to the ring tone and when it connected, Emma’s voice met her ear.
“Hello, Emma speaking.”
“Mum, it’s Becky.”
“Are you okay, sweetheart?!” Emma asked, fearing something was wrong.
“I’m fine, Mum, but I have some news that may not be welcome, however, I need you and Dad to be there anyway.”
“My goodness, Becky, what is it?!” Emma chafed.
“I’m meeting a woman at home tomorrow morning,” Becky hesitated. “Sh...she knows some of my birth Mum’s story and maybe she might have the key to finding Evelyn.”
Emma hesitated. “Of..of course, we’ll be there. Are you sure you want us there?!”
“It doesn’t matter what we find, Mum. You and Dad are still my parents and no one is going to change that or how I feel about you. Okay?!”
“Okay, Becky, we’ll be there. What time?”
*~*~*~*
The Reddens' lounge room looked like a cinema, with chairs laid out and fresh coffee and sandwiches waiting on tables. Brett had taken the day off on such an important occasion, along with Smiley and Jacqui who’d gone to meet the bus, while Emma and Jacob hovered around like two sacrificial lambs about to learn their fate. Becky’s face was red from nervousness, with Brett ordering her to take a nap while she waited for their guests to arrive, but he knew she wouldn’t sleep. Brett tried to calm Becky by rubbing her back while she lay upon their bed, but a loud knock at the apartment door announced Smiley’s arrival, sending Becky into a tailspin as Brett helped her up from the bed.
“Calm down, Becky, please!” he pleaded.
Jacob opened the door and met two elderly women flanked by Smiley and Jacqui. The smaller, rotund lady had a shock of white hair and she had the thinner, younger one holding onto her arm. The thinner one had an ugly looking indentation in her skull above her right temple, giving a grotesque disfigurement to her body. Long grey hair fell to the middle of her back and the lines across her face indicated she had seen her fair share of troubles. She carried a cane in her spare hand to help her feel her way around.
“Welcome, ladies,” Brett announced. “I’m Brett Redden, Becky’s husband. This is Emma Forest, Becky’s Mum. This is Jacob Forest
, Becky’s Dad. Smiley and Jacqui you’ve already met..."
Smiley waved as he placed the ladies' bags in the room.
"...and this is the lovely Rebecca,” Brett introduced proudly.
The ladies warmly responded to the welcome. “I’m Betty Gavin and this is Bethany Graham,” Betty announced nervously, eyeing Becky.
An awkward silence settled over the lounge room until Becky offered the women a seat and coffee.
“I know this is a strange request, dear, but you know Bethany is blind?” Betty Gavin explained.
Becky and Brett nodded in unison.
“Bethany can get a better picture of your face if she can feel it. Would you indulge her?” Betty asked apologetically.
Becky silently appealed to Brett and Brett nodded. Then Becky stepped over to Bethany and she traced the features of Becky’s face gently with her fingers.
Bethany smiled. “You’re very pretty, Rebecca. You have your dad’s mouth and nose and your mother’s ears. I assume you have your dad’s soft black hair, too?”
Becky gawked, awestruck. Her mouth hung open and she was speechless at Bethany’s comments. “M..my dad and mum? Did you know Evelyn?” Becky weakly offered.
“May we sit now, dear? It’s been a long journey from Landon County and neither of us sleep on buses,” Betty Gavin pleaded.
*~*~*~*
Chapter 60
The atmosphere inside the Reddens' lounge room rippled with tension and expectancy as all eyes focused in on Bethany. Emma fidgeted nervously, holding onto Jacob’s hand, while the others held their breath.
“Yes, Becky. I may call you Becky?” Bethany enquired.
Becky nodded, forgetting Bethany couldn’t see her gesture.
“Rebecca has nodded her assent, Bethany,” Miss Gavin interpreted.
“Sorry, Bethany,” Becky corrected herself. “Becky is what everyone calls me, so Becky is fine.”
Listening intently to the atmosphere, Bethany tried to gauge the feeling in the room. Satisfying herself a threat or a trap wasn’t lurking, she nervously continued, feeling terribly exposed, “I..I knew... arr... Evelyn.”