Just Desserts

by Barbara Bretton

  “Because he was twenty?”

  “Yes,” Jane said, “partly because he was so young and had his entire life ahead of him. Even I could see he was heading toward something wonderful. He needed the freedom to follow his path.”

  Hayley rolled her eyes. “How noble of you.”

  Jane bristled. “I meant it as an act of generosity.”

  “You meant it as a way to keep control for yourself.”

  “That’s a very perceptive observation.”

  “You should hang out with us right-brainers more often, Mom. We might surprise you.”

  “You’ve never been anything but a surprise,” Jane said. “And a delight.”

  “And a bit of a disappointment.”

  “A puzzlement, but never a disappointment.”

  “At least now I know why I’m the way I am. I have rock and roll in my veins, not academia.”

  Jane didn’t laugh often but when she did, her daughter took it as a personal triumph. Hayley was one of the few people on the planet who could reduce her serious mother to helpless laughter and she enjoyed every second of it.

  John popped his head around the curtain.

  “Ladies, is everything all—”

  Hayley watched as his lined and serious face split into a smile as wide as the Atlantic beyond the hospital windows. He locked gazes with Jane and the look of love in their eyes was so real, so intimate, Hayley had to look away.

  “Clearly all is well,” he said with a smile for Hayley. “I’ll leave you to your conversation.”

  “I like him,” Hayley said after he left. “I can see why you decided to come home early and show him off.”

  Jane’s smile faded then reformed itself into a weaker facsimile of the original.

  “What did I say?” Hayley prodded. “That is why you came back to the States early, isn’t it?”

  Given a choice, Jane would have kept her secret to the grave. But her daughter had asked her a direct question and in light of all that had happened and was still happening, only the truth would serve.

  “No, it isn’t,” she said. “I came home because my cancer is back.”

  Her daughter flinched but said nothing. She had taught her well.

  “I found out a few weeks after I met John. It was, as you would imagine, a bitter discovery.”

  Hayley nodded but still said nothing. Her blue-green eyes were swimming with tears.

  “I’m a scientist. I understand the importance of family histories, DNA testing, genetic counseling. I know all of that but I still willfully kept you from learning about half of your DNA.”

  “That’s it?” Hayley sounded amazed. “All of this just so I can blame my cellulite on the Stiles side of the family.”

  “The implications extend far beyond cellulite.”

  She forced a smile. “I guess the humor gene comes from the Stiles side too.”

  “You’re deliberately missing the point.”

  “I wish I could, Mom,” Hayley admitted with the bluntness characteristic of all Maitland women. She took a deep, shuddery breath. “What’s your prognosis?”

  Jane’s candor failed her and she looked down at her hands. “I’m almost eighty. This is all icing on a very wonderful, very old cake.”

  “A cake metaphor,” Hayley said, clearly struggling with her emotions. “I like it.”

  She met her daughter’s eyes and saw the beginning of forgiveness in them.

  “I like it too,” Jane said. “Very much.”

  Hayley hesitated for only a second before she fell into Jane’s open arms and cried like her heart would break.

  “You surprised me,” Finn said as he rode back to Lakeside with Hayley in her borrowed minivan. “I didn’t think you’d take Tommy up on his offer.”

  “I surprised myself,” she admitted. “The last few hours everything has been a surprise to me.”

  “You made the right decision. A couple of days in the news cycle and then something else will come along to take its place.”

  “That sounds cynical.”

  “It’s a cynical business. You have to learn how to protect what’s important and let the rest go.”

  She checked her mirrors, then changed lanes. “I’ve never been very good at the letting-go part. Worriers never are.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  She was silent for a moment. “It still seems pretty surreal to me. With all the drama around my mother, I haven’t really had a chance to think much about Tommy.”

  “Willow kept him pretty busy at the hospital.”

  “I noticed.” She shot him a sideways look. “Not to mention his mother.”

  Finn started to laugh. “CeCe doesn’t like giving up center stage to anyone. She was seriously disappointed the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her.”

  “My grandmother,” Hayley said with a shake of her head. “The mind boggles.”

  “Did you have a chance to talk to the rest of the crowd?”

  “Not really. Two of his exes chatted me up for a few minutes but the kids kept their distance.”

  “You don’t sound very concerned.”

  “You sound disappointed. This isn’t a fairy tale, Finn. Just because we share some DNA doesn’t mean we’re going to share our lives. My life is with Lizzie and Fee and the bakery. Nothing’s going to change that.”

  “What about your ex?”

  “What about him? This isn’t any of his business.”

  “Lizzie is his business.”

  “What exactly are you trying to tell me?”

  He wished he could take a step backward into last Sunday afternoon in her bed with the setting sun streaming through the windows and her naked body in his arms. Reality was definitely a bitch.

  “Your ex-husband isn’t exactly a great guy.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “Hayley, we ran some basic searches on you after Willow’s lawyer first turned up the original birth certificate. The information about Michael Goldstein wasn’t good.”

  “Wait a second. You investigated me?”

  “It’s a standard part of drawing up the prenup. As one of his potential heirs, the other side had run a search on you. We needed to do the same.”

  “I’m not too happy about that.”

  “Neither was I once I met you.”

  “How much do you know?”

  “Basic stuff. Birth date. Schooling. Your Social. Credit rating.”

  She groaned.

  He laughed. “Marriages. Divorces. Offspring.”

  “Shoe size?”

  “Some things I want to find out on my own.”

  “You have me at a disadvantage, Rafferty.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Before we met it was just part of the job.” He started rattling off his own vital stats starting with his birth date. By the time he reached the balance of his 401(k) she had thrown her hands up in surrender.

  “Enough! We’re even.” She gave him a funny look. “Did you really say you were arrested when you were in college?”

  “We were protesting the faculty’s refusal to recognize rock as a viable music form. The charges were dropped.” He grinned at her through the darkness. “I like to think it added to my street cred.”

  “Michael was arrested twice during our marriage,” she said. “And the charges weren’t dropped. That’s one of the reasons why I divorced him.”

  He drove his point home a little harder. “The guy’s bad news and he’s going to become worse news when he finds out Lizzie is Tommy’s granddaughter.”

  “Tommy’s her grandfather, not an ATM. Michael’s going to be very disappointed if he thinks there’s some kind of financial reward in this for him.”

  “Be careful, that’s all I’m saying.” He told her about the time a distant relative tried to shake down Zach and Winston for start-up money. “The kids were a little younger than Lizzie. They actually fell for the guy’s line about hospital bills and swiped Tommy’s platinum AmEx
card.”

  “That’s a scary story,” she admitted, “but—and no offense meant, those kids are my half brothers—we’re talking about Lizzie here. She would never fall for a hard-luck story like that, not even from her father.”

  “Her life is about to change,” he reminded her. “That could make her vulnerable.”

  “I think I know my daughter, Finn.”

  The conversation was over. He had done his best. Now all he could do was hope it was enough.

  MKG329302 is online

  MKG329302: r u there lizzie

  MKG329302: emailed u 2X but no answer

  MKG329302: ok

  MKG329302 has disconnected

  TO: rainbowgirl@goldysbakery.biz

  FROM: mkg329302@stealthmail.biz

  SUBJECT: u

  Lizzie pls answer this email asap. I’m in bad trouble.

  They want the full amt. I swear I’ll pay u back as soon as that annuity from gpa stan kicks in next month. Help me lizzie pls

  23

  Tommy bumped into Hayley on the third-floor landing early the next morning.

  “Are you settled in?” he asked, trying to pretend this was a casual encounter when he had been stalking her door for over an hour.

  “We’re getting there,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “Rhoda and Fee thought the stairs were too steep so they’re going to be spending the nights at Finn’s place for the duration.”

  “Rhoda and Fee?”

  “My dog and my aunt. They have very specific requirements. Poor Finn doesn’t know what he’s in for.”

  “He’s a good man. They’ll be fine. How about the rest of your crew?”

  “Well, our cats are jockeying for position with your cats. Mr. G claimed one of the curtain rods in Lizzie’s room. Lizzie—” She stopped. “We’re getting there.”

  “She’s not too happy about this, is she?”

  “No, she isn’t. It’s a pretty big gulp of information to swallow.”

  “I think we both know how she’s feeling.”

  “Fourteen is a dangerous age,” she said. “A few years earlier, a few years later, it would be so much easier on her.”

  “Maybe she needs to talk to someone she isn’t related to about this.”

  “I thought about that,” Hayley said. “I don’t believe counseling is necessarily the answer to everything life throws at you but this might be an exception.”

  “How about you?” Tommy asked. “How are you handling this new situation?”

  “The truth? Everything’s happening so fast that I haven’t had time to process much of it.”

  “I’m a week ahead of you and I’m still trying to figure out why we didn’t find you sooner.”

  “Jane made that decision for all of us.”

  He looked for signs of bitterness but to his surprise he saw none. “No point fighting a thirty-eight-year-old battle. We’re better off moving forward.”

  Her eyes widened. “You really feel that way, don’t you?”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “Most men would be angry.”

  “Are you angry?” he countered.

  “I was,” she admitted, “but—” Another shrug. “Life is short. What’s the point?”

  “Lizzie will work this out,” he said. “She won’t stay angry with her grandmother forever.”

  “The thing is we don’t have forever.”

  “Your mother is a vibrant woman. She’ll be around a long time.”

  Hayley shook her head. “No, Tommy.”

  He listened as she told him about Jane’s two previous battles with cancer.

  “We thought she had it beat,” Hayley said, “but it’s back and this time the prognosis isn’t good.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, trying to put a lifetime into the words. “For all of us.”

  He wanted to pull her into a hug, but in all the important ways they were still strangers to each other.

  “I’m glad you decided to stay with us for a few days,” he said as he walked her down the hall to the suite of rooms she was sharing with Lizzie. “If there’s anything you need or want—”

  She gave him a look that made him laugh. “Hello,” she said. “Have you seen this place? You have an indoor pool! We’re fine, Tommy, believe me.”

  “Lizzie doesn’t seem very happy about the arrangement.”

  “Like I said, she’s fourteen. I think she wanted to stay home with her friends and be the center of attention.”

  “This has been—” He stopped as emotion started to overtake him.

  There was a deep well of kindness inside his oldest child. She waited patiently, eyes averted, while he pulled himself together. She had his smile and his eyes and so far she hadn’t asked him for anything else. No hints about her circumstances. No veiled references to the ex-husband whose problems continued to dog her business. She talked about Lizzie, about her mother, about music and art and baking, but she never touched on the fact that he was rich and she wasn’t.

  There was also a certain wariness about her that hurt him to see. He had the sense that she was always looking over her shoulder, ready to duck for cover.

  “I’m glad you and Lizzie are part of my life.”

  She thanked him warmly, but she didn’t echo his words.

  He looked forward to the day when she would.

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  Lizzie’s room was on the other side of a beautifully decorated sunshine-yellow sitting room that Hayley shared with her. Not that Lizzie had spent any time in the sitting room yet. So far she had stayed closeted in her room, tapping away on her laptop. Hayley knocked softly on the door. “Hey, Lizzie,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

  She waited a moment, then poked her head inside. Lizzie was sitting in bed, propped up by a mountain of down-filled pillows. A schoolbook rested, wide open, on her lap. Her computer, lid closed for a change, sat on the nightstand. Its little green power light blinked rhythmically.

  “I’m okay,” Lizzie said, casting a quick glance toward her laptop, then back again at Hayley.

  “No fever,” Hayley said, “and you’re not coughing or sneezing. I think you’re good to go.”

  “Home?”

  “I meant downstairs.”

  “I don’t want to talk to her.”

  “Listen, honey, I know you’re angry with Jane. I was too but what’s the point? What’s done is done. Why don’t you come downstairs with me and get to know this brand-new family we seem to have found ourselves part of.”

  “Why?” Lizzie asked. “They hate us.”

  “They do not.”

  “His mother hates us.”

  Hayley sighed. “Okay, so maybe CeCe isn’t all that thrilled but who cares? She lives in Florida. We don’t have to see her again if we don’t want to.”

  “You don’t care that she’s your grandmother?”

  It was a good question. It deserved an honest answer. “Right now, this very minute?”

  Lizzie nodded.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Lizzie giggled. “Really?”

  “Have you seen that red hair?” Hayley rolled her eyes. “Whatever happened to aging gracefully?”

  “He colors his hair too,” Lizzie said. “Zach told me.”

  “I
didn’t know you talked to Zach.”

  Lizzie shrugged. “Zach and Winston rang me on the house phone and asked if I wanted to go out to a movie but I said no.”

  “I don’t care if they are your—” She stopped. “What are those boys to you anyway?”

  “My uncles,” Lizzie said, which set the two of them laughing.

  “Okay,” Hayley said. “I don’t care if they are your uncles. You don’t go anywhere with anybody without telling me first. Understand?”

  Lizzie nodded. “Why did she do it? I mean, how could she not tell you that you had a real father?”

  “Jane thought she was doing the right thing for everyone.”

  “But she lied. How could she think that was right?”

  “I don’t know,” Hayley said. “People tell lies. They keep secrets. Life can be pretty messy at times.”

  “He must hate her.”

  “You mean Tommy?”

  Lizzie nodded.

  “Actually he doesn’t. He says he’s just glad he found us.”

  Lizzie pretended to stick her finger down her throat.

  “I think he really means it,” Hayley said, feeling surprisingly protective. “He seems like a good man.”

  “You mean you like him?”

  “Yes,” she said. “There’s a lot to like about him.”

  “Do you like him like a friend or like your father?”

  “Friend,” Hayley said. “I’m thirty-eight years old. I don’t think I need a father at this point.”

  “I don’t need a grandfather either.”

  She leaned forward and took Lizzie’s hand in hers. “I have an idea,” she said. “How about we both keep our options open when it comes to Tommy Stiles. We’ve only known him for a day. Let’s give the guy a chance.”

  Lizzie didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no either.

  Hayley took it as encouragement.

  RAINBOWGIRL is online

  MKG329302 is online

  MKG329302: r u there lizzie

  RAINBOWGIRL: sorry mom came in i had to shut down

  RAINBOWGIRL: i tried to transfer $ to yr acct but it wouldn’t go thru whats up w/that?

  MKG329302: computer glitch my accts down for maintenance

  MKG329302: ill need cash instead