A Fortune Wedding

by Kristin Hardy

  In the window behind where Frannie and Josh sat, he could just glimpse the first rays of the rising sun. Frannie turned to look out at the rose-stained horizon, and the light turned her hair into a glowing nimbus.

  And as he had done on a dawn nineteen years before, Roberto Mendoza turned away and started walking.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “All rise.” The bailiff stood at the front of the courtroom. “Court is now in session, the Honorable Justice Constance Hamel presiding.”

  The Red Rock County Courthouse had been built in the 1920s, with the soaring ceilings and marble floors of the days before air-conditioning. There was a grandeur to the oaken paneling and bronze light fixtures, the burgundy velvet drapes that bracketed the tall windows. Over the course of the trial, Frannie had come to know them all well.

  It seemed like a lifetime since that frozen tableau in Lyndsey’s living room, but in reality only three months had passed, half of that spent waiting for Lyndsey to heal. By the standards of a city like Los Angeles or New York, perhaps, to go from crime to sentencing in the remaining six weeks was blindingly quick. To Frannie, it felt like forever that her life had been bounded by these four walls, bracketed by the morning announcements of the bailiff and the smack of the gavel at the end of the day.

  It felt like forever since Roberto had been gone from her life.

  “In case number eight-oh-eight, the State of Texas versus Pollack, Lyndsey, we are ready for sentencing,” announced Judge Hamel, a brisk, no-nonsense woman who’d nonetheless shown surprising compassion in dealing with both Josh and Lyndsey. “We’ve already heard opening statements and character evidence. Prosecution, would you like to make your closing statement?”

  “We would, Your Honor.”

  Had Frannie once told Roberto that her life made her feel like she was in a cement mixer? It didn’t, it felt more like being trapped in an avalanche, taking blow after blow while never knowing precisely where she was. There had been a moment of the gunshot, followed by the blind gratitude of knowing that both Josh and Roberto were safe. And then the police and the EMTs had descended.

  And somewhere during the endless hours in the hospital, Roberto had slipped away. He sat now, farther down the row from her in a blue suit and burgundy tie, looking heartbreakingly handsome. And all it did was hurt.

  “Would the defense like to make a closing statement?” Judge Hamel asked.

  “Yes, Your Honor.” The public defender, a pretty brunette in a sober gray suit, rose to her feet.

  Frannie had heard through the grapevine that Roberto was back in Denver. Oh, sure, he’d shown up for court dates, but he’d always managed to keep his distance and always managed to slip away without speaking to her. As the weeks had gone by, it had become increasingly difficult for her to convince herself it was anything but intentional.

  She supposed she could have picked up the phone and called him. If she’d been a different kind of person, perhaps she would’ve flown to Denver. But she’d done neither.

  Maybe he blamed her for what Cindy had done. Maybe Frannie had driven him off with what she’d said the night they discovered the truth about Josh. Maybe he’d just decided it was all too much. Or maybe he’d simply lost interest. He’d always been a man who knew what he wanted, and maybe, after the excitement of the reunion had faded, what he wanted was no longer her.

  What was hardest was that she’d never had a chance to tell him how she felt. And now sentencing was here, perhaps the last day that she would see him. Even though they shared a son, Josh was an adult and perfectly capable of pursuing his own relationship with his father.

  And so she sat and concentrated on the closing statements and tried not to let the misery well up.

  Judge Hamel cleared her throat. “In the case of the state versus Pollack, Lyndsey, we are ready to pronounce sentence. Will the defendant please stand?”

  In the end, it came out perhaps better than they could’ve anticipated. Donna Pollack was sentenced to a total of sixteen years in prison and thirty-thousand dollars in fines for her counts of arson, and attempted murder in the case of Cindy Fortune’s car accident. For Lyndsey, though, there would be no prison. Instead, she would see the inside of a psychiatric hospital, and Josh and Frannie would have custody of the child after it was born.

  Frannie sighed, rising. It was done.

  She didn’t think she could bear it.

  She rose and began to walk toward the aisle then stopped. Roberto stood there, his eyes steady on hers. “Frannie, how are you?”

  It hurt to even look at him. “I’m fine, how are you?”

  “Better now, I think. How’s it going, Josh? You okay with the verdicts?”

  Josh shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  They waited for long minutes in silence as the courtroom emptied out. There had been a time they’d talked for hours. How was it possible that now she could think of nothing except the words she couldn’t say?

  Roberto glanced down at her as they started to move up the aisle to the door. “Are you going to need help with the reporters?” he asked.

  “We’re parked out back. We should be fine.”

  “I guess you’ve gotten good at avoiding the media circus.”

  She let Josh walk a little way ahead of her. “We’ve learned a few tricks. None as good as leaving town, but they work.”

  There was a beat of silence. “I guess maybe I deserve that,” Roberto said quietly.

  Frannie shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. It’s just been a long trial. There were times it seemed like it was never going to end.”

  “Everything does, sometime.”

  Everything does.

  “Look, maybe you and I need to go talk, get things settled,” he said.

  It had the sound of a close. Frannie sped up, suddenly desperate to get out of the room and into the open air and away from all the mistakes she’d made in her life. She shoved open the doors and strode out into the hall. And for the second time, came to an abrupt stop.

  “Hello, Frances.”

  Cindy Fortune wore a demure black suit, probably a first for her. Next to her stood Josh, white-faced.

  “Need some help?” a voice asked quietly behind her.

  Frannie turned to see Roberto. He seemed so solid and reassuring, but this wasn’t his fight. “I’m fine. Maybe…maybe you and Josh could go to the back doors and wait for me. This won’t take long.”

  She watched for a minute to see them go and then turned back to Cindy. “What do you want, Mother?”

  “The trial’s over. I thought we could at least talk. Try to mend fences.”

  “Why would I want to talk to you?” Frannie asked. “You lied to me for nineteen years. Worse than lied. There aren’t even words for what you did. You manipulated everyone.”

  “I don’t want to fight,” Cindy protested, “not over some stupid mistake I made a long time ago.”

  “You make it sound like you forgot to pack my lunch,” Frannie said incredulously. “You stole from us, you stole our lives. Josh could have had a father who loved him, Roberto could have had a son. And they didn’t, because you took that from them, you took it because in your twisted mind somehow it would benefit you.”

  “But I—”

  “In your own way you’re just as deluded as Lyndsey. She thought that whatever she did was okay as long as it gave her what she wanted. The end justified the means. Well, you know what, Mother? Some means can’t be justified. What you did was unforgivable.”

  Cindy’s defiance wobbled. “What do you want from me?”

  “I want you to admit it. Just once I want to hear you take responsibility, to say ‘I was wrong, I blew it, I screwed up. I wrecked your life and never lost a single night’s sleep over it.’”

  Cindy stared. “That’s not true,” she whispered. “Give me a chance.”

  “I gave you a chance,” Frannie flared, “over and over again when I was a kid, every time you’d come back from disappearin
g, making promises about how wonderful everything was going to be. I always believed you because I couldn’t imagine that you wouldn’t be there if I just gave you one more chance. And every single time you broke my heart.”

  Frannie turned to walk away.

  “Wait.”

  Frannie kept walking.

  “Frannie stop, please.”

  Frannie turned around. “What?” she asked wearily.

  “I was wrong.” Cindy swallowed. “I screwed up. I thought I was…I thought of me,” she said simply. She paused a long time. “There’s no excuse, and the hell of it is, there’s not a thing in the world I can do to fix it. All I can do is say I’m sorry and I’ll be here for you, if you let me.”

  Frannie stared at her, feeling the familiar mix of emotions. Words had deserted her.

  Cindy moistened her lips. “What can I do?”

  “Right now? Leave it be for now. Go away for a while—you’ve always been good at that. Go to your friends in L.A. or London or wherever it is. Let some time go by.” Frannie let out a long breath. “And maybe when you get back, we can try it all again.”

  “Are you relieved to have the trial over?” Roberto asked Josh.

  They stood in the echoing marble hallway around the corner from the back doors of the building. Above them, the high ceiling threw down echoes. A few yards away were the closed doors of a courtroom; Roberto couldn’t help wondering whose fate was being decided inside.

  Like his fate was going to be decided now.

  “Yeah,” Josh said. “It’s good to have it over.”

  “Good for everyone. Lyndsey included.”

  Josh bit his lip and focused on the floor. “You know, the hard thing was seeing her day after day, looking at me like it was all pretend, like we could go home and have pizza and laugh about it. But we’re not going to laugh about it, are we?”

  “I think you know the answer to that.” Roberto studied Josh. The boy—man—had lost more weight over the course of the trial and his skin had turned sallow as he’d stayed inside to avoid the media. “Did you decide what you’re doing about school?”

  Josh shrugged. “I figure I’ll take a couple years off. If I go to A&M now, people are going to be after me all the time with all the stuff about the trial. And there’s the baby.” He hesitated. “I was thinking maybe I’d volunteer for one of those charity groups that builds houses and schools and stuff. You know, do some good. Get the bad taste out of my mouth.”

  “This has been hell for you, hasn’t it?” Roberto asked quietly.

  “It’s been kind of weird. It’s like nothing’s what I thought it was, not me and Lyndsey, not anything. My whole life I have a dad and now I find out he wasn’t my dad after all.”

  Roberto was shaking his head before Josh even finished. “He was your dad, for better or worse. You had a life with him. Just because you don’t have his blood doesn’t negate it. There had to be some good times, some decent things he did. Remember that and let all the other stuff go.”

  “Yeah.” Josh watched him. “So what happens with you and me?”

  The $64,000 question that he’d been wrestling with for three months. When he wasn’t wrestling with himself to keep from jumping on a plane and coming to find Frannie. “I guess that depends on you. I know what I want. I’d like to get a chance to know you. I’d like for you to get a chance to know me and my family. They’re a good bunch of people.”

  “That so?”

  Roberto nodded. “The first thing you should know is that no matter what, even if we never talk again, if you ever need anything, all you have to do is call. That goes for me or anyone in my family. Although I have to warn you, if you call and my mother answers, you’re liable as not to get a lecture, depending on why you’re calling.”

  Josh’s lips twitched. “So, it’s kind of like Mendoza AAA? With a twenty-four-hour hotline I can call?”

  Roberto grinned. “Something like that. You’ll be getting your membership card in the mail. It’s also good for dinner on the house any time you want to stop by Red. Of course, I should also warn you that as a member of the family, any time you stop by Red you also run the risk of being press-ganged into busing tables.”

  “Live by the fajitas, die by the fajitas?”

  Roberto clapped a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I thought you should know.” He hesitated. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Shoot.”

  “It’s got to do with your mom.” And it was all he’d been able to think about.

  “She’s been pretty quiet since you went back to Denver.” Josh studied him. “You planning to do anything about that?”

  “That depends on what she decides she wants.”

  “Yeah? What do you want?”

  Roberto met his gaze. “I want your blessing. I’ve loved your mom for a long time. I guess maybe you know that. I’m a pretty traditional guy. Normally, I’d talk to her parents, but she hasn’t got any worth speaking of. I figure you’re her people now.”

  “You going to ask her to marry you?”

  “That depends on her. You’re not the only one who’s been through the mill. I figure I’ll ask something and if she says no, ask something else, and just keep on asking until I find a question she says yes to. After that, I’ll just work my way up the ladder over time.”

  Josh thought about it for a minute, pursing his lips. “That’s cool.”

  “Yeah?” Roberto asked.

  Josh grinned. “Yeah.”

  “Good.”

  Down the hall, they heard the tapping of heels and saw Frannie heading toward them. And Roberto felt something squeeze in his chest.

  “Hey,” Josh said, “you play basketball?”

  Roberto blinked. “Yeah, a little pickup. I’ve got a half court in my construction yard. Sometimes on Fridays some of the guys and I have a few beers and shoot some hoops. Why?”

  “Stop by the house next time you’re in the neighborhood. We can play a little one-on-one.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  Frannie came to a stop in front of them. “What are you two grinning about?”

  “Basketball,” Roberto said. “We’re talking about basketball.”

  “How did your conversation with your mother go?” Roberto asked as they drove down the highway.

  He’d suggested coffee, Frannie thought, but they’d breezed through Main Street and out into the open land beyond Red Rock.

  She clasped her hands together. “It was good, I guess.”

  “You don’t sound convinced.”

  “It was just different. Life with Cindy usually is. I said some things that were a long time coming. Nothing’s fixed, but who knows, maybe things will be better. In a way, I just feel better for having said it.” She looked at him. “Does that make any kind of sense at all?”

  “Sometimes just saying the words makes all the difference.”

  How could he understand her so well and yet be so far from her? “You and Josh seemed to be getting along all right.”

  “I think so. We’ll see. He’s a grown guy. He doesn’t need someone coming in and suddenly trying to be his dad. I’d like to just be his friend.”

  “Did you tell him that?”

  “In between talking about basketball.”

  Silence fell. Once, they’d been able to talk effortlessly. Now, despite everything that lay between them, she couldn’t come up with anything to say.

  Because the only things on her mind mattered too much.

  Instead, she looked at the surrounding landscape. The afternoon was clear and warm, the way it had been weeks before when they’d lain beneath the oaks.

  “I’ve always loved the hills this time of day,” Roberto said, watching the highway carefully. He slowed and pulled off on a side road.

  Frannie started. “Where on earth are you going? You said coffee.”

  “I know.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I just felt like being outdoors
for a little bit after being stuck in that courtroom.”

  All around them were grassy slopes and trees. They bumped down through the ford of a stream bed and back out to the open field on the other side. Just beyond that, the road rose and rose farther until they came out on the crown of a hill. Roberto pulled the truck to a stop and turned off the engine.

  “You’re going to feel funny if whoever owns this place comes along and boots you out for trespassing,” Frannie said as they got out.

  “Relax, I know the guy who owns it.”

  She could hear the rustle of some burrowing creature in the grass. In the distance sounded the shrill piping calls of a killdeer. On the horizon, the sun blazed out, turning everything to copper. Roberto walked around to the back and lowered the tailgate so that they could sit.

  Get things settled, he’d said. But he wasn’t saying anything. Frannie tried to ignore the roiling in her stomach. “What a beautiful view. I don’t think you could ever get tired of this,” she said. And saw him tense. Something sank in her stomach. “I mean, just the hill country. I’ve always loved it out here.”

  She shifted to move away, but he caught her hand. “Yeah? You could maybe get used to this?”

  Frannie moistened her lips. “What are you asking?”

  “See that stake over there?” He pointed. “This property is mine. I closed on it yesterday morning. Six hundred some-odd acres, a couple of creeks and a natural aquifer that’ll supply good, sweet well water. We can run some cattle, grow alfalfa, maybe raise horses.”

  “We?”

  He took her hands in his. “We, Frannie. So what if we lost eighteen years? I don’t give a damn. I spent every second of them missing you.”

  Her heart hammered. “But what about Colorado? You have a life there, a business. A home.”

  “My home is where you are,” he said simply. “I was gone for so long because I was closing up my business. And because I wanted to give you space. The night all hell broke loose, you told me I wasn’t listening, that I was pushing too hard. I thought about that in the hospital. I thought about that a lot. And I realized you were right. And I figured the best thing I could do was just walk away, leave you alone so you could work things out.”