"Ah, but Jay comes with a high value attached," Zack said cheekily, "partnership, children. A husband for the head and not the heart."
"I am sorry I came in here," Amoy muttered spinning around. "Besides, head relationships last longer than heart ones."
"Sometimes." Zack passed her and gave her a fleeting kiss on the cheek. "I want you to be happy, sis."
"I know." Amoy’s voice cracked. "I know."
Chapter Eighteen
Slater spent the three days before the wedding in a kind of daze. He had spoken to Reuben, who confirmed his attendance, and while they chitchatted he acted completely normal. Obviously Zack hadn't told him about the possibility that they were related.
And why would he? Zack had no idea what the results of a DNA test would be and he didn't either, so why was he still so excited?
He couldn't in all of his existence on earth remember ever being this excited about something. He had a chance to belong somewhere, to at least know something about himself, his family history. His origins were no longer shrouded in a cloud of mystery.
He was getting ahead of himself.
Because now he was thinking that if he really knew his family, he could have a legitimate last name to use, a family history that he was sure of, hence the whole issue of children would be settled in his head.
But Amoy had already moved on and, as Edwin kept hammering on and on, inequality in money was going to be an issue. He had nothing financially to offer in a relationship with Amoy. And he still thought that he had a chance with her, despite her seeing Jay. She didn't look very happy.
And that was why after dropping off Edmond from the airport and handing him the car keys, he started telling him about his business plan.
Edmond nodded throughout the whole thing. "Give it to me in writing as soon as possible," he said. "I like that you are looking toward your future, Slater."
That sounded encouraging enough.
Slater went over to Edwin's side of the house. "I need a ride home," he said to Edwin after he got off the phone with one of his church friends.
"What did you say, Kane Scarlett?" Edwin teased him, a twinkle in his eye.
"Ah, don't get my hopes up," Slater muttered as if his hopes were not already up and sky high.
"Let me get my keys." Edwin cleared his throat. "I had the truck fixed last week. It should be gliding by like a new car."
It took them four minutes for the truck to start.
Slater grinned at Edwin. "If I am ever blessed with excess money, one of the first things I am going to do is buy you a new car."
"Buy yourself a car." Edwin chuckled. "Betsy and I can putter along just fine."
"Betsy is not even fit to be sold." Slater laughed as the car backfired. "I would much prefer if you had a reliable car driving around; it would give me peace of mind."
"And it would give me peace of mind if I knew you weren't riding that bicycle around the place. Any crazy driver can knock you off. That is why I pray for you every day. I say, ‘Lord, please guide and protect Slater on the road.’"
Slater glanced at him. "Thanks."
"Somebody has to do it," Edwin said gruffly. "I would give you old Betsy but she's a money drainer."
"I spoke to Edmond about the business; he said he wants it in writing." Slater grinned. "When you get back home you should speak to him too, about upgrading your side of the house."
"Okay. All right," Edwin muttered. "I'll speak to him."
"And you should try to be a bit nicer to him. He loves you."
"Since you found out that you might have brothers, you feel that you should give me advice, eh?" Edwin chuckled. "Wait until a will is read and you find out that your wealthy brother wants a piece of your inheritance, though he has much more money than he can ever spend."
"He just wanted to get close to you," Slater frowned, "and aren't you the Christian who likes to throw around the phrase forgive and live?"
"Okay. Okay." Edwin cut his eyes at Slater. "Can't believe you are using my own phrase against me. When are your DNA results going to be ready?"
"Tomorrow, Friday," Slater said. "I'll be traveling with Zack and his wife Terri down to Treasure Beach. I will be staying for the weekend at the Treasure Beach Hotel. I'll call you as soon as I hear what the results are."
"You do that." Edwin nodded. "So are you planning to reconcile with the lovely Amoy while you are there?"
"Anything can happen," Slater said nonchalantly but he was feeling anything but that; the stacks were high against him.
****
Amoy bumped into Yuri at Cassandra's. He was eating alone. She had on a whim decided to eat at the restaurant because of the off chance that she might see Slater there. The specialties for the day were Dennis Brown Stew, Bob Marley Veggie, and Jimmy Cliff Loaf.
She smiled at the selections and joined Yuri at the table after he beckoned her over.
"What's wrong?" Yuri asked her before she could even situate herself properly. "The spark is missing."
"It's that obvious?" Amoy shrugged. "Friday Blues."
"Never heard of it," Yuri said, looking her over intently. "Monday Blues, yes. Friday Blues, no."
"Here is some advice," Yuri said. "I know it is unsolicited but it has worked for me in the past. It's pretty effective. You listening?"
"Sure," Amoy said. "However, I don't know how this advice is going to help me since you don't know what my problem is."
"It's a universal fixer," Yuri grinned. "Trust me."
"Okay, get on with it," Amoy said grumpily.
"So that you can go back to being miserable?" Yuri chuckled at her expression.
Amoy dredged up a half-hearted smile. "All right. Didn't realize I was that transparent."
"Put your problem to God first and the rest of it will be okay." Yuri patted her hand. "The maker can fix it. He can fix everything."
"Ah, you sound like my granny." Amoy chuckled. "She cornered me at church last night and told me that I should seek ye first the kingdom of God, not babies, not partnerships—God first, and all other things will be added unto me."
"Godly grandparents are important," Yuri mused. "They know the thing. They've lived the life, gone through the battles. Gosh, I miss Pops so much it is not funny."
"Ah Yuri..." Amoy sighed. "How do I seek God first?"
"Just tell him your problems and stop dwelling on them. Seek to have a relationship with Him before you have it with anybody else." Yuri paused. "Organized worship has its place, doctrinal debates and all of that other stuff that is so important to some Christians may have its place, but the absolutely first thing to do is get to know God. Ask Him how. He'll show you."
Yuri grinned at her. "I just helped you bypass hours of psychotherapy."
"Oh shut it," Amoy grunted. The waiter came for her order and she ordered the Dennis Brown Stew, because he was Slater's favorite artist. How pathetic was that?
"How is Marla?" she asked aloud. Dwelling on Slater was never good; it made her more depressed.
"Already in Treasure Beach," Yuri smiled. "She went down with Malik earlier in the week. She is Lola's chief wedding planner, and she has tackled it with such enthusiasm. I am wondering if we shouldn't have waited till Malik was born and then had something elaborate too… Wait a minute…" He sat up straighter in his chair. "Isn't that Ricky?"
Ricky? Amoy raised an eyebrow and turned around to where Yuri was staring, as if he had seen a ghost. There was a very good-looking guy in the line reading over the specials. He was in a charcoal colored shirt and jeans pants.
She swung around and looked at Yuri in horror. "Marla's first husband, the guy who kidnapped her?"
"Yes," Yuri whispered.
Ricky straightened up and headed to an empty table right across from them.
Yuri was obviously pole-axed and Amoy was too. He looked across at them with not a shred of recognition in his eyes. He didn't look like an evil, spoilt monster; he looked like a regular guy
"Ricardo Mills,
" Yuri said loud enough for more than one person to look around. The guy looked too.
"Yes," he smiled at Yuri. "Do I know you?"
"Do you know me?" Yuri repeated the question in astonishment. "Well, er, I guess. We grew up together. We were friends."
"Ah," Ricky came over to their table and looked at the two of them intently. "I must apologize. What is your name again?"
"Yuri." Yuri breathed it with a kind of disbelief. He looked at Amoy and she shook her head.
What could she say? Obviously Ricky did not know Yuri. This was no acting.
"I, ahm," Ricky cleared his throat, "I did therapy a couple of months ago; an unfortunate side effect was that I lost some of my memory—most of it, to be honest. My mother, whom I did not remember either, said I wasn't a very nice person. But at least I had one friend, that's great."
"No, wait!" Yuri swallowed and looked at Amoy helplessly and then back at Ricky. "We were not really friends in the latter part of our lives."
"You were awful," Amoy helped him out. "You would stop at nothing to get what you want; you even broke the law."
"More than once," Yuri said bitterly.
Ricky's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yes," Amoy was warming up in her role as revealer to Ricky, "I understand why you had that treatment; you were pure evil."
Ricky looked visibly shaken. "I must apologize if I have hurt you in anyway, Yuri. What was your surname again?"
"Scarlett." Yuri's voice was filled with disbelief.
"Well, I, ah, I am going to get something to eat." Ricky spun around and left them, choosing another table farther from them.
Yuri was still shaking his head.
Amoy started her lunch and was halfway through before Yuri dragged his eyes away from an uncomfortable-looking Ricky, who wolfed down his Jimmy Cliff Loaf like he was starving and then sipped his drink, all the while giving Yuri an uncomfortable side eye.
Amoy grinned when Yuri pulled out his phone. "It took you almost fifteen minutes to react. Who are you calling first, Marla, your mom and dad, your sister and brother or Reuben?"
"Terri and then Marla. Terri will tell the rest of the family and then Marla will freak out when she hears this."
****
Slater took half the day off on Friday. He waited on tenterhooks for Zack to call him though. He was at Mrs. Perry's house in her kitchen while she baked raisin bread. The kitchen was filled with the scent of yeast and dough. He inhaled it gratefully; he would always associate this scent with Mrs. Perry and home.
She was asking him questions as she kneaded the dough and shaking her head in disbelief.
"God is good, Mr. Slater, everything seems to be working in your favor. I think this is a blessing."
"Wait, I haven’t heard whether they are my family or not."
"I believe they are," Mrs. Perry said. "I say this is your season. You have had such a tough childhood. I think this is it. I declare it in Jesus' name. Amen."
"Ah, Mrs. Perry, now I am feeling nervous."
His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket quickly. When he saw that it was Zack his heart skipped a beat and he forgot to exhale when he said hello. Even to him his voice sounded nervous.
"Hello Slater." Zack was solemn. "Your results came in today. It was matched against the DNA we have on file for Peter Scarlett. You are a 99.9% match."
Slater gripped the phone tighter. He didn't know what to say. Family at last. Mystery solved.
"Which means," Zack continued, "that you are the brother of Reuben Scarlett, Noah Scarlett, whose DNA results were confirmed a few days ago, Oliver Scarlett, and we are trying to find your sister, Alicia Scarlett."
Slater cleared his throat. "There were so many of them?"
"Oh yes," Zack said, "since you are Kane Scarlett, I will have to discuss your inheritance with you."
"Inheritance?" Slater could barely get the word out; he had barely absorbed the news about family.
"Your grandfather, Dolby Scarlett, left an inheritance to all his grandchildren, and that includes you. I will have to read the terms of the will for you on Monday. Can you make it to the office at nine?"
"Yes," Slater croaked. "Of course. I wasn't expecting anything, though."
"Well then," Zack sounded pleased, "I am happy that this is done. We will pick you up in an hour for Treasure Beach. This trip should be a really emotional one for you, I am sure."
"Yes." Slater cleared his throat. "See you in a while."
Chapter Nineteen
When Zack and Terri drove up to the house, Slater was still in shock. He knew he responded to Terri's playful greeting. "What's up, cuz?"
Terri told him that she had canceled his reservation at Treasure Beach Hotel. Her parents, his uncle Lloyd and his aunt Daisy, wanted him to stay at home with them. “Is that okay?"
"Yes." He heard his voice but he couldn't remember saying it.
"And I was tasked with the huge responsibility of updating you on your Scarlett family tree."
He heard Zack chuckle beside her and saw the way he squeezed her leg in affection. "Give him time, Terri. He is still in shock."
"Did you tell him about the inheritance?" Terri asked.
"Yes, I alluded to it. I will officially tell him everything Monday."
"Now that should be a shocker." Terri laughed. She glanced back at him. "Now the Scarlett family tree is long and varied and complicated but really, who knows everything about everyone? I think the safest place for us to start is with our grandfather, Dolby Scarlett, otherwise known as Pops. I wish you could have met Pops. He was the best."
"Me too." Slater nodded. "He was a fisherman?"
"Yes, and a very loving and caring man. I inherited his red hair and his hazel eyes."
Slater settled in as Terri told him about Pops and about Treasure Beach and the little that she knew of his father.
"Pops' family in Pedro are a large clan," Terri said after a while. "They are all going to be at Reuben's wedding. I had mine up here, so they couldn't all make it. I will feel the wrath of the old ones. But you'll meet them all on Sunday and they'll be happy to meet you. The Scarletts are family collectors; they love when people join their family."
She winked at him.
And before he knew it, they were at Treasure Beach. It was quieter than he expected. Zack drove them to a place called Great Bay Road, and they stopped in front of a modest house with a yard that was filled with cars.
Before he could step out of the vehicle properly he was greeted by a man who looked vaguely familiar and a lady with a warm, welcoming smile.
And then a cousin named Troy, a tall guy with a son who looked like Terri, introduced himself as Terri's brother and his wife Chelsea, who whispered that he'd get used to the attention. And then a little girl, Dahlia, who had red hair and a cheeky grin, who followed him everywhere. Terri relinquished her introducing responsibility when Dahlia took over.
And family kept pouring in and he couldn't keep names straight or who was who; it was late before everybody left and the house settled down.
Terri and Zack and his uncle Lloyd were the only ones left in the living room after the stampede.
"Are you guys going to do the same thing for Noah?" Zack asked Lloyd lazily.
"Sure, why not?" Lloyd grinned. "Though I hear that Noah is something of a celebrity."
"He is?" Slater asked.
"Yes," Zack yawned sleepily, "he is the writer Noah Ess--ever heard of him?"
"Yes!" Slater almost shouted it. "He is my brother?"
"One more surprise, eh?" Terri said sleepily. "He is also recovering from a successful heart transplant."
"Oh wow." Slater rubbed his hand over his face. "Wow."
"Hope you can sleep tonight, Slate," Terri grinned, pulling up Zack with her. "Do what I do when I am here: listen for the waves and let the sounds lull you to sleep. Ooh Dad, remind me to tell you tomorrow about Ricky."
*****
Sunday morning before the wedding, Slater
concluded that he could happily live in Treasure Beach for a while. He went walking on the beach alone to set his head straight. He walked to a sign that said Jake’s and kept walking up the sands.
He was still a bit overwhelmed by the attention and the new family members he kept meeting. The day before was a whirlwind of activity for everybody. In the night Yuri had arrived and he and Troy and Reuben had gone to the barbers together and then they had roast fish from a little hut that looked unassuming but sold some of the best food he had eaten. He had gotten to know his cousins and his brother a little more.
Reuben said they should visit Noah together while he recuperated. Slater thought it was a good idea.
For the first time in a long time, in forever, he had never been so happy. Except when he was around Amoy.
Amoy. He dreamt about her last night. He had asked Zack if she knew he was Kane Scarlett and Zack had said no. Slater asked him not to tell her. He wanted to tell her himself and let her know that he was fine about children now, since he knew where he was from. Now that his history had fallen into place, they might be able to work, but they were still not equals. He could tick off all his faults one by one, but he couldn't tick off money.
He had none but she had a lot.
He sighed and dug his foot into the sand. Was he overthinking this?
No. He wasn't. He sat on a log and looked at the sun sparkling over the water and inhaled the salty air.
He did not hang around beaches often. He wished he had a camera to take photos of the various birds diving into the water and the fishermen coming in with their multicolored boats.
He heard the slapping of the sand heading toward him and he saw a lady jogging on the beach in the far distance, at the entrance to one of the beach cottages he had passed before. It was a lady whose profile looked very much like Amoy's. She was clicking away at the scene with a camera.
She was now looking down at the screen. He hurriedly got up and walked toward her cottage.
Scarlett Love (The Scarletts Page 15