by Metsy Hingle
Kelly gasped as the implication of what she’d read hit her. Lianne had been the result of incest—fathered by her own grandfather. Lianne’s mother had borne her own father’s child. Poor Lianne, she thought. And Lianne’s poor mother. She couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like for the woman. With tears in her eyes, Kelly picked up reading where she’d left off….
Lianne finding her mother was the one thing I prayed would not happen. Even when Lianne had first told me that she wanted to find the woman who had given her life, I had tried to discourage her. I so feared what it would do to her were she to learn that she was the result of an incestuous relationship between a father and daughter. That poor girl had paid a toll because of what that evil man had done to her. She’d been unstable, not able to care for herself, let alone a child. If only Lianne hadn’t gone to look for her.
Perhaps I should have lied to Lianne, told her the woman who had borne her had died in childbirth. But I feared even more that she would then search for her father, so I remained silent. Now that decision to remain silent has come back to haunt me. I know it is a sin to lie, but surely God would have forgiven me a lie told to protect the innocent. Alas, I can only pray that Lianne will never learn the truth. I will also encourage her to move on with her life and pursue her dream of painting.
Tears streamed down Kelly’s cheeks as she finished the entry. Poor Lianne, she thought, feeling an empathy for this girl that Sister Grace had loved so much. She skimmed through several more entries and learned that Lianne had gotten a job, working in a doctor’s office and that she had met someone, a fine gentleman from a good family.
A doctor’s office in Mississippi? Gilbert had been a doctor in Mississippi. A coincidence? No. Jack had been right. There was no such thing as a coincidence. Had Lianne been the woman in the church who had killed Sister Grace? Had she been the one who’d killed Gilbert? Had Lianne discovered the truth and killed them both to keep the truth about her paternity a secret?
Quickly Kelly flipped through the pages, searching for names, places. She found none, just more reflections of Sister Grace’s daily life, the financial problems at St. Ann’s, the nun’s own sense of needing to do more. Then she spied Lianne’s name again.
Lianne called today. Except for a card and the watercolor she sent me for my birthday, it was the first time I had heard from her in months. I thanked her again for the lovely picture and told her that I’d had it framed and placed in my office at St. Ann’s. I was so glad to hear from her that it took me several minutes before I realized that something was wrong. Finally, Lianne broke down in tears and confessed. She had sinned and was too ashamed to tell me. She is pregnant and the fine gentleman whose child she carries in her belly is already married. Although she refused to tell me his name, she did say that he is a prominent figure and his name is one I might recognize. He cannot afford to be touched by the scandal a divorce would cause at this time. She intends to keep the child and when the time is right and he can leave his marriage, they are to be married. Alas, I fear my Lianne is wrong. I tried my best to reason with her, but there was no dissuading her from the course she has chosen. She has asked me to pray for her, for her and her child’s father to be together. Though it pained me to deny her, I could not in good conscious condone this match. Nor could I promise to pray for this man to break his vows to his wife so that he can be with Lianne. But I will pray for Lianne nonetheless, and beseech Our Lady to guide her and protect her innocent unborn child.
When she came to the end of the entry, Kelly poured through the rest of the pages but found no further mention of Lianne or her child. Mulling over what she’d just read, she considered the implications. Gilbert had been a physician, an occupation that many would consider prominent. He was also married. Was it possible that both Lianne and her own mother had been involved with Gilbert? Had they both borne him children? No. That couldn’t be. The killer had called Gilbert ‘doctor,’ not ‘father.’ So who was the father of Lianne’s child? Who was her father? And what had happened to Lianne’s child? Oh, God. Was it possible that Lianne wasn’t her sister, but her mother?
More questions without answers, Kelly thought. Weary, she set aside the journal and stood. She walked over to the wall where she had hung the watercolor left to her by Sister Grace. The picture itself was simple—a small wooden house painted yellow with white trim. Two huge magnolia trees sat in the yard beyond the house and a swing fashioned out of rope and a wooden seat was suspended from the branches. Kelly leaned closer to try to read the signature in the lower right-hand corner. And there it was. In small flowery letters with a heart dotting the “i” was the inscription Lianne.
So engrossed was she with the discovery that Kelly didn’t hear the knock at her door, nor did she hear Meredith calling her name until the other woman had used her key to enter the apartment.
“Jesus, Kelly! I swear, I think I may have bruised my knuckles I was pounding so hard. Didn’t you hear me?”
Kelly blinked and stared at Jack’s sister, who was decked out in a fashionable cranberry suit. “I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
“You look…strange.” Meredith frowned. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she said, and tried to shake off the lingering worries that she had picked up from Sister Grace’s journals. “Did you need something?”
“A favor. Can you watch the shop for me while I run to the bank? The idiot computer keeps saying that I have the wrong access code and I can’t get a real person on the phone. So I need to go over there. And before you tell me no…” Meredith launched into the reasons she needed Kelly to do her this favor. “So you see, if I’m not here to accept the delivery and it has to be rescheduled, there’s a chance I won’t have the merchandise in time for the preview party. And if I don’t, I may as well just close up the shop before it opens. So will you come downstairs and keep an eye out for the delivery truck for me?”
“Sure.”
Meredith beamed, reached over and gave her a little hug. “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”
After grabbing another journal from the box and her camera, Kelly locked up her apartment and followed Meredith downstairs to baby-sit the shop.
Alex didn’t notice her until he’d passed the shop a second time. That’s when he spied the blonde slouching on a chair next to a jungle of red-and-white poinsettias and a mess of frilly things with her nose buried in a book. Much to his disappointment, she wasn’t Meredith.
He looked at the prettily wrapped box he held in his hands that contained the charm bracelet he’d purchased for Meredith. A token gift to wish her good luck with the shop, he’d told himself when he’d picked it out at the jewelers’. Standing there on the sidewalk under the awning while the rain teemed down in the streets only inches away, he felt like an idiot.
Admit it, Kusak. You miss Meredith. You bought the gift and came by to deliver it because you want to see her.
It was the truth, he admitted with a scowl. Since that scene in the gardens at her mother’s he hadn’t been able to erase the memory of that bruised look in her big green eyes before she’d walked away. He’d felt lower than the belly of a snake and had been in a piss-poor mood ever since. And he was sick of feeling like someone had ripped the heart right out of him.
So he’d come by with the gift and a trumped-up reason to see her.
And hoped for what?
He didn’t know. He only knew that there had been no late-night phone calls from Meredith. No surprise visits to his office. No coming home to his apartment to discover her waiting for him on his doorstep with a bottle of wine, a slab of cheese and French bread and wearing nothing beneath her coat but skin.
Obviously Meredith had taken him at his word this time and had accepted the fact that they had no future together. After all, he’d meant it when he’d told her that it was over, that she needed to move on with her life. It was what he’d wanted, what he’d been trying to get her to do, Alex reminded himself. So why in the he
ll was he so damned miserable?
Deciding he’d made a mistake by coming there, he was about to walk away when the blonde looked up. Her eyes met his through the window. And before he had a chance to take more than three steps out into the rain, she was at the door. “Alex? Alex? It’s Kelly. Kelly Santos. If you’re looking for Meredith, she’s not here right now.”
Heedless of the rain pelting him, he made no attempt to get under the awning again. “Oh well, I’ll come back then.”
“Is that for Meredith?” she asked, indicating the wrapped box in his hand.
“Yes. Just a little something to wish her good luck with the party this weekend. I’ll catch her later.”
“But you’re getting soaked and so is Meredith’s gift. Why don’t you come inside and dry off?”
“I really should go. I have a ton of work waiting for me back at the office.”
“And I’m sure it’ll still be there when you get back. Come on,” she said, waving for him to come inside. “Meredith just ran to the bank. She’ll be back in a few minutes. In the meantime, we can keep each other company.”
Seeing no polite way to refuse, he let her urge him inside the store. “Okay, but I’ve only got a few minutes.”
“That’s fine,” she said as she locked the door behind him.
“Meredith’s not going to be too happy with me if she discovers I’ve dripped all over her floor,” he joked.
“Something tells me that she’ll forgive you,” Kelly said. “Why don’t you take off your coat and dry off a bit while I see if I can revive the ribbon on your package?”
“Thanks,” he said, and handed her the package. Then he hung up his wet coat on the rack next to the door.
“There are some towels in the bathroom out back. Just go through those doors and you can’t miss it,” Kelly told him, and motioned him in the direction of the rear of the shop.
When he exited the bathroom a few minutes later, Kelly was in the working area at the back of the shop where a small kitchen had been set up with a refrigerator, tables and chairs and a microwave.
“You look like you could use this,” she said, handing him a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thanks.”
“Meredith has one of those fancy cappuccino machines, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to use it. So you’re stuck with my bad coffee.”
He took a sip. “Tastes fine to me.”
“Glad you approve,” she said as she walked over to the countertop and began blotting the red ribbon on the box with a dish towel.
Alex drank his coffee in silence and watched her. He noted, as he had when he’d met her at the party, that she was not much for small talk. Apparently she didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. Neither did he, so he sipped the hot brew and regarded the back area of the shop that had so occupied Meredith during the past few months. He noted the tidy desk with fresh flowers atop it, a file cabinet, a computer and fax machine. It was much more businesslike than he’d expected from Meredith. “This is quite a setup Meredith has here.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I guess I am. I didn’t know she was taking this so seriously. When it comes to a career path, Meredith tends to have a short attention span. I’m not saying that to be critical,” he offered, not liking the way that sounded. “It’s just that she’s so talented. She could do just about anything she sets her mind to do and succeed. I guess that’s why she keeps switching direction.”
“Maybe she keeps switching direction because what she wants hasn’t been available to her,” Kelly told him as she looked up from her ministrations to the ribbon.
Alex shifted, suspecting she was referring to his and Meredith’s relationship. And no way did he intend to discuss that. “Well, I know her family would like to see her stay, so I hope this shop works out for her.”
“And what about you, Alex? Do you want her to stay?”
“Sure. I like having Meredith around.”
“You should tell her that,” Kelly said nonchalantly as she poked at the ribbon.
Deciding to ignore the remark, he said, “Jack said you work in fashion. Do you think this shop of hers has a shot?” The last thing he wanted was for Meredith to be disappointed again.
“Well, I’m a fashion photographer. I’m not in retail, but from what I’ve seen Meredith’s got a real feel for the market, for what’s hot and selling. And my personal opinion is that she’s going to clean up.”
“Really?”
Kelly nodded. “She’s a smart, savvy businesswoman. I almost feel sorry for the people who come through the doors once this place opens. Like lambs to slaughter.”
“No kidding.”
“No kidding. I’ve seen Meredith in action. She could sell snow to an Eskimo.”
Alex laughed for the first time in weeks. He was as proud as could be of Meredith. “Sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience.”
“I am,” she told him. And as she refilled his coffee cup and poured one for herself, she explained how Meredith had conned her into trading her photography services for merchandise.
He wasn’t surprised. He’d always known that Meredith was bright. It had simply been a question of whether or not she would stick with something, or grow bored and move on to another venture. The only reason their relationship had probably lasted as long as it had was because she’d never stuck around for very long. Sooner or later she would move on again, he told himself as he took another swig of black coffee.
“You’re wrong, you know. She’s staying this time.”
Alex jerked his head up, narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he remembered the stories at the dinner table a couple of weeks ago, about how Kelly had this ability to see things, know things.
“That was very rude of me. I’m sorry. But it’s obvious that you love Meredith. What I don’t understand is why you haven’t told her.”
“Because she deserves better,” he confessed, and put his coffee cup down with a slap.
“You’re what she wants. She loves you.”
“Meredith only thinks she loves me. She’s always had a wild streak in her, a tendency to want what’s not good for her. In this case, it was me. I’m not going to let her throw her life away.”
“Actually, you don’t have a say in the matter,” a familiar voice said from behind him.
Alex jerked his attention over to the doorway, where Meredith stood looking beautiful and polished in a snug red jacket, short skirt and matching heels. She also looked angry as hell.
“I better go back out front and wait for that delivery-man,” Kelly said. She picked up the still-damp box, and shoved it in his hands. “Nice seeing you again, Alex.” And within moments, she was gone, leaving him alone with a none-too-happy-looking Meredith.
Meredith removed her jacket and hung it up neatly by the door. She brushed past him in the tiny kitchen and went over to the cappuccino machine. As she did so, he caught a whiff of some exotic floral scent mixed with rain as she moved by. She measured coffee, fed it into the fancy machine, then walked past him again, as she made her way over to her desk. She picked up a stack of mail and began to peruse it. “Was there any particular reason you came by?” she asked.
Alex stared at her, noted the way the red-silk top flowed over her breasts like water. Three shiny ribbons held the edges of fabric together and he found himself hoping for a glimpse of skin.
“Alex?”
Alex snapped his gaze back to her face. “What?”
“Did you come by for a reason?”
He looked down at the package in his hands. “Yes. To bring you a little gift to wish you good luck with the shop,” he said, and held up the package in his hands.
“Well, are you going to give it to me?”
He walked over to her and handed her the gift. “Congratulations on the shop, Meredith.”
She smiled at him and the twitch of those red lips made him ache. Like a kid at Christmas, she oohed and aahed over the wrapping, and when he would have ripped
the thing open, she took her time. By the time she finally got down to the jewelry box, he was almost as anxious as she was. “Oh, Alex, it’s lovely,” she told him as she removed the charm bracelet from the velvet box. He’d selected three charms—a star, a champagne bottle and a high heel—and had them anchored to a rope of gold. She held out her wrist. “Will you put it on for me?”
He worked the clasp around her delicate wrist, keenly aware of the feel of her soft skin, of her scent. “There you go.”
She held it up to the light and laughed in delight. “Oh, it’s simply wonderful. Thank you,” she said, and kissed him smack on the lips.
“You’re welcome,” he told her, and forced himself to ease her away from him. He moved to the opposite side of the desk. “Well, I’d better be going. I’ve got a lot of work waiting for me. And I’m sure you’re busy, too.”
Her smile disappeared. So did the light in her green eyes. “So you really did come by just to bring me a gift.”
It was a statement, not a question. “To bring the gift and to make sure that you were all right,” he confessed. “I was worried about you after that last time we spoke.”
“As you can see, I’m fine,” she told him, her voice as serious as her eyes. “I didn’t fall apart, and obviously I didn’t run away like I did the last time you tossed my love back in my face. So if this is a guilt gift, it really wasn’t necessary. You have nothing to feel guilty about,” she assured him, but there was no mistaking the anger and hurt behind her words.
“Meredith—”
“It was sweet of you to be so concerned about me, Alex. But I already have two brothers to worry about me, I don’t need a third.”
“I know that,” he snapped. “And my concern for you isn’t brotherly.”