“I doubt it. He’s dead.”
Jessica said, “Daddy, how in the world did you ever sire such an uncouth child. Ashley and I are not like that.”
“There’s no way I can answer that question, when I can’t even answer why I let you kids talk me into coming to this concert in the first place. It’s noisy and loud and I’m too old for this sort of thing.”
“That’s not so, Mr. Armstrong,” Jimmy Littleton said. “Look at the couple two rows down. They’re at least twenty years older than you.”
“I guess you’re right. Country music fans come in all ages and sizes, but I still think it would’ve been better to give Ashley this extra ticket instead of me.”
“She was afraid she’d get the call from the department store. I haven’t been able to drive her away from the telephone for two days.” Jessica sighed. “I sure hope she gets that job. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her want anything as much.”
“Well, Mrs. Singleton’s not going to call her tonight.”
“How do you know that, little brother?”
“Because she’s here at her son’s concert.”
“Do you mean Andrew Singleton is part of the department store family?”
“He is, and that’s going to be my headline tomorrow. It’s one fact the public doesn’t know. He told me it was fine if I let it out because the only reason he’s never said anything about it is that it hadn’t come up in an interview.”
The lights began to lower, and people began to clap and shout. Again, Seth wondered what in thunder he was doing here.
By the middle of the concert, Seth knew exactly what his reason for being here was. It was meant for him to see the singer on stage. There was no denying he looked like a clone of Hunter. He’d decided there was no way anyone other than him could have fathered Andrew Singleton. Now, he had to figure out who the mother was. He tried to recall the woman he’d slept with around the time this kid was born and his heart lurched when he calculated Andrew’s age. There was only one woman in his life at the time. Andrew had to be Julia’s child. But why didn’t she tell me about him?
The concert ended, and he talked very little. He knew he had to get to the bottom of this situation. He’d make it a point to see Mrs. Singleton, someway, somehow. He had to know if it was Julia.
They were going out with the stream of people when he saw her. She was in the throng on the other side of the lobby. She was dressed all in white and her golden hair circled her head like a halo. She looked like an angel. For some reason she glanced up and for an instant they stared at each other. He knew she recognized him because the love and devotion that had always been there for him sprang into those beautiful blue eyes he used to get lost in. She smiled a slight smile and was then swept out the side door by the crowd. He was pushed out the opposite one. When he got to the street, he couldn’t find her anywhere. He rode home in almost complete silence. He was hatching a plot to tell his children all about Julia and their brother.
Hunter stopped to drop Brooke off at her house because she said she had an early morning appointment. They all watched as he gave her a quick good night kiss under the porch light. Again, Seth wondered if Hunter and Brooke were right for each other. There didn’t seem to be a lot of passion in their relationship.
Hunter came back to the car and they continued home. Going in the door Seth said a quick good night to them and rushed to his office. He planned to get on the phone and find out where Julia was staying. The message light was blinking, and he decided to listen to it first.
“Hi, Seth. Kay here. I hate to leave all this on the answering machine, but Jude and I are going away for a few days, and I understand you went out tonight. I knew you’d want to know what I learned. When Julia Halsey left you, she went to Whitfield and eventually got a job at Singleton’s Department store. Three years later she married the store owner, Woodrow Singleton. The store has been successful, and they now have four about the state. She runs them since her husband died of pneumonia six years ago and she’s planning to open one in Asheville. This is the thing that will shock you Seth. They had a son—or rather, she had a son—seven months after coming to Whitfield. His birth certificate states that his father is unknown. When he was four years old Woodrow Singleton adopted him and changed his last name from Halsey to Singleton. He’s a country singer now. In all likelihood, you’re this man’s father. There are a couple of other notes you might be interested in. Sources say Julia was a wonderful mother and a devoted wife, but she was never in love with her husband, though she did hold him in high regard. She couldn’t get over the loss of Andrew’s father. By the way, she named her son Andrew after you. She knew that was your middle name. Andrew knows he was adopted and he knows his mother loved his birth father, and he hopes to meet this man someday. His big question is, if they loved each other so much, why did they go their separate ways? That’s about it, Seth. I hope you’ll forget about your crippled leg and call this woman. It seems she’s been thinking of you all these years same as you have been her. Will talk to you when we get back.”
As Seth replayed the message he thought his heart would beat out of his chest. Was it possible? Did Julia still think of him? Then he remembered those eyes which looked back at him at the concert. They were filled with love…or were they? Was it pity? Maybe she’d heard about his disability and only felt sorry for him. Could he handle the rejection if she took one look at his mangled leg and turned from him?
He didn’t have time to ponder longer. A piercing scream came down the hall. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his cane. The scream came from the vicinity of Jessica’s room.
CHAPTER 18
“How the hell did this get in here?” Hunter looked at the raccoon cowering in the corner.
“I have no idea, but get it out.” Jessica was crying.
“I have a trap in the garage. Think it would help?” Seth asked.
“I’ll get it, sir,” Jimmy said.
“It’s on the shelf in the storage closet on the right, Jimmy.”
“I’ll be right back.”
The raccoon scampered under the bed.
Ashley and Jessica both jumped back and let out little screams.
“Why don’t you girls wait outside?” Seth looked at them. “We’ll get the thing out of here.”
“What if it runs out when we open the door?”
“It won’t, Jessica. It’d have to come toward us, and I don’t think it’s going to do that.”
“Mommy!” A cry came from the room across the hall.
“I better check the children.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Jessica followed her out the door.
“I wonder how that thing got in here, Dad.”
“I don’t know, Hunter, but I think I know who brought it here.” He told Hunter about the phone call.
“Damn, Dad. Who could be doing this and why have they chosen our family to terrorize?”
“I wish I knew, son. I’m going to hire someone to guard the house. When they start trying to hurt my children…” Seth’s voice trailed off.
Jimmy came through the door with the trap. “I picked up an apple in the kitchen to bait it with.”
“Good thinking. Why don’t we set it and then slip out? He’s probably not going to come out from under the bed with us in here.”
“You’re probably right, Mr. Armstrong. I remember when I was a kid, a prairie dog got in the house at the ranch. It took all day to trap the thing.” He chuckled. “Mama refused to stay there until the house was thoroughly cleaned to make sure there was nothing to make us sick. They tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t listen. She went into town and rented a hotel suite for three days. Made me go with her, but I gave her a hard time. I wanted to be there were all the excitement was.”
“It’s amazing what mothers will do to protect their babies.” Seth said.
“Some mothers, don’t you mean, Dad?” When Jimmy looked at him, Hunter added, “In our case, it was alw
ays Dad who hovered.”
“Do you know how to set this thing, Jimmy?” Seth changed the subject.
“I sure do.”
“Good. It’s kind of hard for me to squat down so I’m going to let you do it.”
Jimmy knelt down. “I’ll be happy to, Mr. Armstrong.”
“Why don’t you start calling me Seth, Jimmy? I think we know each other well enough since you’ve been coming around here.”
“Thank you, sir. I will.”
“You don’t have to call me sir, either.”
“That would be a harder habit for me to break, Seth. I guess it’s the military training. I still say sir to Jude most of the time.”
“In that case, say whatever makes you comfortable.”
“You know, this might make a good story. I’m going to get the camera out of my car. Be back in a minute.”
Hunter slipped out the door.
“Do you miss the military, Jimmy?”
“Not really. I like the farm and I’ve always been happy when I’m around horses. I guess I do miss flying the jets sometimes, but after my experience in the Middle East, I doubt they’d let me fly one again.”
“Why’s that?”
“After being in the POW camp, they’d be afraid I wasn’t mentally capable of thinking like a machine instead of a human.”
“I see.” Seth looked at the young man as he worked on the trap. It was hard to imagine what he went through in that camp. Though he’d been interviewed many times, he talked very little about his actual experiences.
“I think it’s time I thought about settling down and maybe starting a family.”
Again, Seth said, “I see.”
There was a slight pause then Jimmy said, “Mr. Ar…I mean, Seth, I know this probably isn’t the right time or place, but I have to ask. Would you have any objections if I asked Jessica to marry me? If you don’t, I’d like your permission to propose to her.”
He could tell the young man was a little nervous. He would probably be, too if he were in this situation. He grinned. “Jimmy, if you love my daughter and she loves you, I have no objections at all. I do feel love is the only reason two people should get married though.”
He looked up at Seth. “Oh, I love her, sir. I love her so much it makes me ache inside sometimes.”
“From what I can tell, I think the feeling is mutual and, yes, you have my permission to ask my daughter to marry you.”
Jimmy grinned. “If she says yes, I promise you I’ll take good care of her, sir. I have a little money, and Jude gave me a section of land where we can build a house. We’re getting ready with our set up to rescue abused animals. I’m looking forward to that, and of course, I’ll continue to work on Jude’s place if he’ll let me.”
“I’m sure he’ll let you, if that’s what you want to do.”
“It is. I guess I’ve still got enough cowboy in me to know I’d never be happy unless I can be around horses.”
“I’m not from out west and I feel the same way.”
The door opened and Hunter came back in. He made a few pictures of Jimmy working on the trap. “I’ll get another one when we catch the thing. It’d be more impressive to have the animal in a cage.”
Jimmy finished, and the men came out of the room. As they started down the hall, Seth realized he had the whole family together tonight as well as the one he was sure would be future family.
“Kids, I know it’s almost midnight, but I have something I need to tell you. Let’s go in the upstairs den. That way we can hear the children and the trap if it goes off.”
“You sound serious, Daddy.” Ashley looked at him.
“It is serious, honey. It’s something that will affect all of our lives.”
“Maybe I’d better go, sir. I don’t want to horn in on family business.”
“No, Jimmy. I want you to hear this.”
“Is this going to take long, Daddy?” Jessica asked.
“It might take a little while.”
“Then why don’t I go to the kitchen and make some coffee and bring up some snacks. Family business is always handled better with food.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I’ll help you, Jessica,” Ashley put in. “Why don’t you guys go on in the den and we’ll be back shortly.”
•♥ •
Twenty minutes later, they reappeared with sodas, a coffee urn, cups, six bottles of beer, a selection of nuts and crackers and a big platter of the chocolate chip cookies that Norma had made for Lance and Lilly.
“Looks like a party,” Hunter said reaching for a beer. Ashley had a soda and a cookie. She sat on the sofa. Jimmy was in the big stuffed chair. He took a beer and a handful of nuts. Jessica made her coffee with lots of cream and sugar and snuggled in beside him. He popped all the nuts in his mouth at one time and put his arm around her.
Seth poured himself a cup of black coffee and settled back in the other pull up chair. He looked at the family for a moment and he couldn’t help feeling proud. They were a good-looking bunch, and were all looking at him, waiting for him to break the silence.
“The story I want to tell you begins when I was a senior in college. I was like most guys. I studied enough to make passing grades, but my main interest was in partying and chasing women. I knew what my career was going to be, and I didn’t see a need to make more than a ‘C’ or ‘D’ in Ancient English Literature and the like. I knew I wouldn’t need it to run a horse farm. I was having a good time and doing what I pleased.
“Then this student from England transferred to campus and ended up in a couple of my classes. Eve was beautiful, and I was captivated by her accent and her coy ways. I made the decision I was going to sleep with this girl one way or another. I think Jude had the same thoughts at the time, Jimmy. We played on the same basketball team in high school and college. It was after one of the games that she came up to me and told me how much she enjoyed my performance. Of course, I was flattered, and soon, she and I were an item.
“Jude backed off when I kind of lost interest in other girls. I think Eve had me bewitched. I thought I was in love with her. It was getting close to graduation when she told me she was pregnant. I admit I had mixed emotions. I was excited about becoming a father, but I’d begun to see some of Eve’s selfish ways and wondered if I wanted to spend my life with her. When she suggested an abortion, I was appalled and told her she wasn’t going to kill a baby of mine. She said the only way she’d keep the baby was if I married her, so I did.”
He paused, and Ashley said, “I’m glad you didn’t want an abortion, Daddy. I wouldn’t be here.”
“It wasn’t you, honey. She actually lost that baby, but by that time, we were married and had come back to the farm. She wasn’t crazy about living in the mountains, but she saw how much it was worth and decided maybe she could put up with being married to me because of the money. She got into the country club set and liked her society friends and I had my horses so somehow the marriage survived. It wasn’t long until you were born. I was so proud of my little girl. I think your mother was jealous of us, but she never interfered with our relationship.” He smiled at Ashley. “We had some good times, didn’t we, girl?”
“We sure did.”
He turned to Jessica. “The marriage had never been a good one, and I was about ready to give up on it when, four years later, you came along. You were the cutest thing. It made me doubly happy to have my girls, so I decided to stick it out. We trounced all over these hills.
“I think your mother was disappointed neither of you turned into the prissy little girls she wanted. She took it out on me by spending money and having an affair. I was on the verge of tossing her out when she came to me and said she was going to England for a visit. I was happy about it until she told me she was taking you two, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She was your mother, and she wanted to visit her family.
“She’d only been there a couple of weeks when she called to tell me she wasn’t coming back a
nd she was starting divorce proceedings. I was furious. I told her there was no way in hell she was taking my children away from me, and I threatened to come get you and bring you home. She did stop the divorce, but said she was going to stay longer than she’d first planned. A little later, I learned she was being moved around by her family so I couldn’t find her. At the time, I didn’t know it, but she intended to divorce me anyway.”
He paused and set his coffee cup aside and picked up a beer. Nobody said anything. They were hanging on his every word.
Sitting back down, he told the story of his love for Julia much the way he’d told his friends on Christmas Eve. When he finished, they asked questions and they told him he needed to find Julia. Neither of his three children seemed to care what Eve thought or how she could’ve been affected by the loveless marriage. He realized she’d never really loved them and they sensed it. They were only giving back to her the nothing she had given them.
“Dad, I have one question.”
“Sure, son.”
“You said Mom had an affair before she went to England, then she came back with me. Are you sure I’m…you know what I mean.”
“I do know what you mean, Hunter. And yes, I’m sure. I admit I had a paternity test done and there’s no question. You are my son.”
“Good.” He took a deep breath. “That makes it all okay.”
When they quieted down, he said, “There’s one more thing and this is going to be the biggest shock of all for you. It was for me.” He stood. “Kay Winslow has been helping me track down Julia and I want you to listen to the message she left. It’ll answer a lot of questions we’ve been asking around here.”
“What, Daddy?”
“You’ll see, Ashley. Come with me.”
They stood around Seth’s desk and listened to the message from Kay. There was silence when it ended.
“So, there’s a reason Andrew looks like Hunter. He’s your brother.” Seth looked at them trying to judge their reaction.
They all seemed to talk at once. “Does he know?”
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