The Complete Legacy Series: Books 1 - 6

by Paula Kay

  “Jemma, I said not now.”

  Jemma sulked in the back of the car while Blu drove the few blocks to the motel in silence. Her mom sat looking out the window, her face turned away and unreadable to Blu.

  Blu’s mind was racing. She had to end this once and for all. Get her mother out of their lives for good. It wasn’t going to be easy now with Jemma. The fact that she’d already met her grandma was going to make it that much harder to explain anything to her that would make sense. And she wasn’t ready for the truth. It was way too soon for that.

  Blu pulled the car up to the motel parking lot and turned off the ignition. She grabbed her purse from the backseat, looking at Jemma as she did so. “Stay here,” she ordered. To her mother, “Let me walk you inside.”

  “But Mom, no. I wanna come too.” Jemma was already outside of the car and around to where her grandma had gotten out.

  Blu took a deep breath and shouted. “Jemma, please listen to me.”

  Jemma looked at her, her eyes wide at the tone of her mother’s voice, which Blu knew was getting increasingly more agitated.

  “Give your grandma a hug goodbye and then I want you to wait for me in the car.”

  Jemma looked at her with defiance on her face for a few seconds, before she finally put her arms around her grandmother’s waist again, letting the woman squeeze her tight before untangling her arms from her waist.

  Blu’s mother looked at her, while Blu waited impatiently for them to finish.

  “Go on now, Jemma. Listen to your mother,” she said, throwing a look in Blu’s direction as if to let her know that she was trying.

  Jemma gave one last squeeze and then stomped back around to the other side of the car.

  “Lock the door and stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Blu said, completely out of patience and just wanting to get this whole thing over with.

  She motioned for her mother to start towards her motel room. “I’ll be right there.”

  Blu’s mother started walking away, and Blu saw her look back one last time at Jemma before she got into the car.

  Blu waited until after Jemma had climbed into the backseat, shutting the door with a loud slam and clicking the lock as she glared at her mother.

  She turned to make her way to the motel room then, each step more determined than the last, her hand in her purse, ready to make this final.

  She barely glanced at her mother as she entered the room and made her way to the small table in the corner, whipping out her checkbook and grabbing the pen that she found in the table drawer.

  Her mother sat on the edge of the bed watching her, and Blu couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking about how sly she’d been making this trip, about how she’d gone about it and how everything would end up working out just the way she had planned.

  Blu gritted her teeth, the pen poised above the check she was writing. What would it take? What was the magic number? She knew, even as she was writing it, that it was way more than her mother would have ever asked for—an amount of money that would solve any problem that her mother could have. It would do it—seal the deal. Blu was sure of it as she ripped the check out, stood up and walked over to where her mother sat.

  Blu handed the check to her, determined to say what she had to say, walk out, and never see the woman again.

  Her mother looked down at the check and back up at Blu with a question on her face. “What—”

  “This should be more than enough money to fix any problems that you might have,” Blu said, cutting her off.

  “Blu, I—I don’t want your money.” She handed the check back towards her daughter.

  Blu pushed her hand away. “Take the money. All I ask is that you stay out of our lives for good.” She felt her face pinch, her heart beat as she worked hard to get her point across. Don’t you get it? I don’t want this. I don’t want you. I—we don’t need you.

  “Blu, there’s been a terrible misunderstanding. Harold—all of this. What I told you the other day was true. And I don’t want your money. I never wanted anything from you. I was being honest with you when I told you that during our first meeting.” Her mother was crying hard now, tears rushing down her face, pleading with Blu. “Please, you have to believe me—to give me a chance to show you.”

  Blu felt her resolve weakening just the tiniest bit as she looked at her mother, crumpling before her—at least appearing to be heartbroken. God, she really did want to believe her. Why did she want it so badly? They’d been fine without her all these years. But as she looked out the only window of the small motel room towards Jemma sitting alone in the car, she knew that she was making the right decision.

  “Please, Blu.”

  Her mom was still trying to make her understand, but there was no use prolonging it a moment longer. She still had Jemma to deal with, and it was going to be a long night.

  She stood in front of her mother to say what she knew would be her final words to her.

  “Jemma is my whole life. She has been since the day she was born. Since the day I took her away from you to make a better life for her. I love that child as if she were my own daughter.”

  Blu’s mother was sobbing on the bed, and Blu was brushing at the tears that threatened to stream down her own face as she went on.

  “But she’s my daughter, Blu.” Her mother said the words quietly, as if she was trying to convince herself of it more than Blu.

  There was silence in the room. There it was. Blu gulped, the fear threatening to overtake even the intense rage she was feeling now.

  “You say that you understand what I did, that you want the best for me—for Jemma.” She looked at her mother, waiting for the acknowledgement that came with a nod of her head.

  “I do,” she said, crying and Blu knew that she wanted to say more but her mother seemed to shrink before her, the earlier truth of her words disappearing in an invisible cloud of guilt surrounding her as she waited for Blu to finish.

  “If you really mean that. If you really love her—” She looked intently at her mother, who was still crying and seemingly pleading her with her eyes to stop. “—then you’ll take this check, go away from here, and leave us both alone.”

  It wasn’t a question really and Blu didn’t wait for an answer. “I never want to hear from you again.” She waited for the slow nod of her mother’s head before she walked out the door of the motel room, not looking back until she was in the car, turning it around to head towards home.

  Blu turned her head slightly to see her mother standing in the window of her room, her hand raised in a wave towards the car, her face plastered in what Blu knew was a smile just for Jemma. She caught a glimpse of Jemma in the rearview window crying, her face pressed against the window of the car as she waved towards her grandma. You’ll never know that she’s your mother, Blu thought, as she drove away more determined than ever that the past was behind them now for good.

  Chapter 26

  Blu drove away from her mother in silence. There were things to be said, but Blu was so angry and Jemma still looked so upset that she didn’t think speaking about it now would do either of them any good. She caught a glimpse of Jemma looking out the backseat window, tears still streaming as she wiped them away roughly. She’s tough like I was at her age. Blu’s heart plummeted as she had the thought. She’d tried so hard to raise a little girl who would be happy, have a happy life. But there was nothing about Jemma now that conveyed anything but a deep sorrow. Blu would make her understand one day. She knew she was doing the right thing by her.

  Then why was she suddenly having such doubts about it? Her greatest fear was that Jemma would hate her one day when she found out the truth about her—when she found out that Blu was not her real mother.

  Jemma looked away from the window now and Blu could see her staring intently at her from the backseat.

  “I hate you,” she said quietly, but with such venom in her voice, it shocked Blu.

  “Honey. I’m so sorry. I know this doesn�
��t make a lot of sense right now but—”

  “It makes no sense. I don’t understand what the big deal is, what my grandma did that was so bad?”

  Blu got the sense that Jemma was calming down just a bit, wanting answers now. She pulled in the driveway, turned off the car, and twisted in her seat in order to look the child in the face. “Honey, there are things about your grandma—and—and that man we saw there earlier today—”

  “Who was that?” Jemma interrupted. “Was that my grandfather?”

  That lowlife is your father.

  “No, Jemma, he’s not. He’s just—he’s a bad guy that your grandma can’t seem to get out of her life. The two of them together don’t do well. And I don’t want you around that—around them.”

  Jemma was silent.

  “Can you understand that?”

  More silence from the young girl.

  “Jemma, please look at me.”

  She obeyed, turning her tear-stained face towards Blu.

  “Honey, can you just trust me with this?”

  Jemma looked like she was deep in thought for a minute before she spoke. “Is it okay if I think that you’re wrong?”

  Blu smiled, despite the grim conversation. “Yes. It’s okay if you don’t agree with me, but—” She wanted to be sure that she had her full attention. “You have to promise me that you’re never gonna pull what you pulled today—taking off like that by yourself. That was not okay at all.”

  Jemma looked down. Blu knew that she was well aware that she’d be in trouble for her actions earlier. She looked at her mom and nodded her head. “I know. I won’t do it again.”

  “Okay, good, now that we have that settled, you are also grounded—”

  “Mom, no!”

  “Yes, for two weeks, and you’re lucky it’s not for a whole month.” Blu was firm; she knew that Jemma would know better than to argue with her about the punishment.

  Jemma didn’t say another word as she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Blu followed her into the house as she stomped up to her room, giving a weird sense of déjà vu to the whole scene for a second time that day.

  This time I am parking myself downstairs, Blu thought, as she went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

  She called Jemma on the intercom. “Shall I order us a pizza?” An olive branch to the young girl. She waited for several seconds. “Jemma?”

  “Okay, sure.”

  Blu took a deep breath. Jemma will be okay. She will.

  “Okay, I’ll call you when it’s here.”

  She took her tea and her phone over to the breakfast table. God, the day I’ve had. She really needed to be with Chase, but she knew he was working tonight. She sent him a text, trying to say in as few words as possible everything that had happened to her today—but more importantly letting him know that she needed him.

  She smiled when her phone dinged right away with his text back.

  God, babe. Sounds like an awful day. Do you want me to come over late to spend the night? I promise I’ll sneak out before Jemma wakes up. I love you.

  Blu smiled. Yes, that was exactly what she wanted—what she needed.

  Yes, please. I love you too.

  She had made such huge strides recently when it came to trust. First with Chase, then opening up to her mother—to the idea of letting her into her life again. That had been a mistake, and it had made her doubt herself once again. How could she have been so wrong about how she was feeling? The thought irritated her because she’d always been someone who wasn’t run by her feelings. It was what had caused her walls to form, but for good reason, she knew.

  But even after everything that had just happened, she knew that she had turned some corners, knowing that her trust in Chase was different. It was earned, and she’d not let him down by allowing those same walls to go up and hurt their relationship, the strides that they’d made in being open with one another. He was worth more than that to her. And he kept showing her over and over again what his love for her was like. It felt complete in a way that Blu hadn’t been loved before. She was incredibly grateful that after the pain of the day, she’d have Chase’s arms to settle into that night. He’d make it seem less awful than it was, and she’d allow him to help her to feel better.

  Chapter 27

  The next couple of months flew by as Blu settled back into her work, making some real progress finally with the latest designs that she had to have ready for the upcoming European shows. Jemma was doing well in school; but there was a constant nagging thought in Blu’s mind that she really needed to start doing some planning for her upcoming travel and how that would affect Jemma.

  Chase nearly had her convinced that she needed to sign up with a local agency and let them find someone who could act as both nanny and tutor, allowing her to take Jemma away with her. Well, it wasn’t really a question of not doing so. Blu would never leave Jemma behind without her for that length of time. It was just that she was dragging her feet because she’d always been so resistant to having outside help in general when it came to Jemma.

  Thinking about Chase made her smile. He hadn’t moved in yet—they weren’t quite ready for that step, or rather she wasn’t quite ready for it—but he spent the night several times during any given week, and half the time he was there in the morning making breakfast when Jemma woke up. So really her reluctance over the change that moving in together would mean had more to do with how Jemma might feel about it; but in reality Blu knew that Jemma loved Chase as much as she herself did, and she suspected there wouldn’t be much resistance to the idea.

  She looked up from her desk when she heard the light tap of a knock from the open door, grinning before she saw Chase’s face. She’d given him a key a few weeks ago, and he’d surprised her on several early-afternoon occasions by turning up for a little alone time before Jemma arrived home from school.

  He crossed the room to bend down and give her a warm kiss on the lips before flopping onto the comfy couch against the wall. Sometimes he’d sit there for hours while she worked, content to listen to music and stare out at the ocean. He said that the sound of her sewing machine relaxed him, which made her incredibly happy. Today, though, she was busy on her laptop, her latest designs put away while she worked on getting her finances in order for the month. She kept vowing to hire someone to help her with it, as it really wasn’t something she enjoyed very much; ironically, the vast increase in her bank account hadn’t changed this fact over the past few years.

  “What are you doing?” Chase asked as he lay back against the sofa cushion to study her.

  “Oh, you know—balancing my bank statement, paying bills—all that fun stuff that I love so much.”

  They both laughed, knowing that nothing was further from the truth than that statement.

  “Hmm.”

  “What’s hmm? Forgot about one of your many shopping sprees?” Another statement that was completely ironic, because Blu rarely spent big amounts of money on herself, unless it was absolutely necessary. Chase blew her a kiss, teasing her as he waited for her reply. He was constantly trying to get her to treat herself or to learn to graciously accept the many lavish gifts that he liked to buy for her.

  “So it’s another month that’s gone by that my mother’s not cashed the check.” She looked in her checkbook as if she had to double-check that her spoken statement was true, even though she’d been checking her bank records online every day after the first month that the check hadn’t been cashed. She shut her checkbook and walked over to snuggle in next to Chase on the small sofa, enjoying the feel of his arm coming around her, pulling her close in a way that she’d grown very used to.

  “And what are you thinking about this?” Chase lowered his face to kiss her on the top of the head.

  “I dunno exactly what to think,” Blu said, not quite sure if she was willing to get into a big discussion about it, but knowing that Chase could help her to wade through her own emotions, as he always had a way of doing. “
What do you think it means?”

  Chase was quiet for a moment, always thoughtful with his opinions and advice, a trait Blu had come to really appreciate about him. “How long has it been? Since you gave her the check?”

  Blu already knew the answer—to the day. “It’s been two months and five days.”

  Chase tilted her face up to meet his eyes. “I think it means that your mother is not going to cash that check.”

  Hearing someone else say it out loud caused the little glimmer of hope that she’d been nursing somewhere deep inside to flutter to the surface. Dare she think it?

  “But why? Why wouldn’t she cash it?” She was voicing the question out loud but it had been in her head for days; over and over it played in her mind, begging for an answer. She sat up now, pulling herself away from Chase so that she could see his face.

  He leaned over to kiss her quickly on the lips. “Maybe because what she told you about not wanting money from you was the truth?”

  “But then what else does that mean, Chase?” She was trying to wrap her head around the idea that if she was wrong about the money, then might she have been wrong about everything?

  “Honey, I think it might mean that your mom was being genuine about just wanting to get to know you.”

  “But what about Harold—I mean, I know what I saw and I definitely saw him at her motel. Do you really think it would be that much of a coincidence that he just showed up here at the same time?”

  Chase was quiet for a few seconds, considering her question. “Well, it’s quite possible that he saw you on TV also and figured out the rest for himself—in terms of following your mom here. I mean, from what you said, she told you about him trying to contact her once in awhile; that’s not a crazy idea, is it?”

  “No. I suppose not.” Blu was quiet as she thought back to that last conversation with her mother. She had been very adamant that it was over between her and Harold—that she never wanted anything to do with him again. She’d been adamant about a lot of things during that last day, and Blu had been so enraged that she didn’t bother to seriously consider that anything she was saying wasn’t a lie. But now—the fact that her mother hadn’t cashed the check—it was all weighing heavily on her.