“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. How are you, Benita?”
“I’m just fine, John, and yourself?”
“Couldn’t be better. I’m just trying to get acclimated to your Michigan weather and get settled into the new office.”
“Sounds like you could use a break, like a nice meal,” she suggested. “I’m in Detroit with Clay and the children, would you like to meet for dinner tomorrow?”
“That sounds like a great idea. What time and where? Do you want to meet in Detroit? I’m still not too familiar with the area but I think it’s pretty close, right?”
“Yes, it is, but I haven’t been to Ann Arbor in a billion years, so let’s meet there. I think my brother Andrew is coming, too, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, the more the merrier,” he replied.
They agreed on a restaurant and a time to meet and John ended the call with a happy look on his face. Belatedly he remembered there was someone else in the room and asked if she had plans for dinner the next day.
She looked at him over the top of her severely chic designer glasses and sniffed. “No, thank you. There’s a track club here in town and I’m going to see about joining. If I’m going to be here in the back of beyond for the next couple of months, I don’t want to get out of shape,” she said crisply.
Wouldn’t you have to get a shape in order to lose it? John thought uncharitably and was immediately ashamed. It was just that Miss Parker was possibly the skinniest woman he’d ever seen apart from Olive Oyl and some truly emaciated models who’d participated in one of his therapy groups for eating disorders. She was rail thin, tall, and very fashionable, but she normally had the disposition of a pit viper. Always polite, always professional, but as cheerful as a funeral procession most of the time: that was Miss Parker. To be honest he was glad she’d turned down the invitation he’d offered out of politeness.
They left the office shortly after the phone call, each going in a different direction. John smiled to himself on his way to the temporary housing provided by the university. He was looking forward to seeing Benita again; he always enjoyed seeing her. Ever since their first encounter years before, she’d held a special place in his heart. He was too honorable and practical to waste time railing against fate for bringing her into his life, but he had to occasionally laugh at the irony. There was something about Benita that he couldn’t ignore, couldn’t forget.
He knew in his heart that if she’d been single he would’ve tried to get to know her on a much more personal level, but her marriage made that impossible. He’d never seen two people more in love than Benita and Clay. Still, he couldn’t deny the way she affected him. There was something there, something he’d never found in another woman. He laughed bitterly, thinking about his new circumstances. God knew what he was doing after all. Even if she’d been free, they wouldn’t have a future together. The news he’d received two months before made that a certainty. If you want to make God laugh, make plans. He laughed again at the painful irony.
***
Roxy took a deep swallow from her glass of chilled mineral water with the slices of lime floating in it. She and Alicia were getting pedicures after a long day of pampering, as Roxy made good on her promise to treat Alicia to a day at the spa. “So I was right and you were wrong,” Roxy gloated. “And aren’t you glad I was right?”
Alicia tired to look indifferent, then coy, and then gave up. “Yes, a thousand times yes, Rox. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong about anything in my life. Adam and I, we’re just... it’s just wonderful. I had no idea it could be like this between a man and a woman. My life feels like one of those juicy novels you always pretend you don’t read.”
Roxy raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be hatin’ on me. If you ask me, all Janice Sims novels should be required reading for all couples. Her books are an education, honey. And you read them too, you know you do.”
Alicia gave her a very satisfied smile. “You’d better believe it. You’re going to be my maid of honor, you know.”
Roxy wiggled her toes in excitement, something that didn’t thrill the nail technician who was caring for her feet. “Sorry,” Roxy said winsomely, “but it’s not every day your best friend gets the man of her dreams. I’ll be still, I promise.”
Claudia, the nail tech, just smiled and waved away her apology. “I feel you, girl. When my sister got engaged I screamed so loud I lost my voice for three days, so you go ahead. Just let me know when you want to holla so I don’t snip you with these nippers,” she said, brandishing a sharp and ominous-looking tool.
In a short while they were ready to leave the spa, although Roxy confessed that she’d like to move in. “Can you imagine getting a massage like that every day?” She sighed.
Alicia agreed absentmindedly and her lack of attention didn’t escape Roxy’s keenly observant eye. “Your mind is a million miles away, isn’t it? You’re all caught up thinking about Adam and the lost Cochran, aren’t you? You have to take a step back, Alicia; you can’t let this consume you. If you go all mushy in the head you won’t be a bit of good to Adam. He’s going to need you to have a cool and neutral perspective. This is a lot of drama for any family, even one that’s used to the limelight like the Cochrans.”
“Drama is probably the right word.” They were in the Mini Cooper, driving in no particular direction. “Are you hungry?”
Roxy laughed. “Is fat meat greasy? Have you ever known me to not be hungry? What do you suggest?”
“My mother’s house. Papi is off the road for a couple of days and I know she has something wonderful to eat; she always does when her boys are home.”
Alicia was right, her mother indeed had a wonderful spread, succulent baked chicken, succotash made from peaches-and-cream corn and lima beans with sweet onions, okra and tomatoes, a luscious cucumber salad with a tart vinaigrette and sour cream, and best of all, collard and turnip greens and hot-water cornbread. Roxy sighed with repletion.
“Mrs. Fuentes, I haven’t had food this wonderful since the last time I ate at your house. Can you adopt me?” she asked, completely serious.
Raphael and Carlos, Alicia’s big handsome brothers, were sitting on either side of Roxy at the long dining room table. Both of them said “no” in loud resounding voices.
“Can’t do it, Foxy Roxy. That would make you our sister,” Raphael explained. “And as soon as I get through sowing my wild oats I intend to marry you, so sorry, adoption is out of the question.”
Everyone laughed except Carlos, who frowned at Raphael. “Excuse me, but I’ve had my eye on Roxy for years and you know it. I told you years ago that she was the woman I planned to marry. This,” he said possessively, putting his arm around Roxy, “is the mother of my future children, so you can forget it.”
Roxy looked from Raphael to Carlos and smiled widely. They were both well over six feet, big, dark brown muscular men with thick shoulders and huge arms. They looked a lot like their father, Jose, with wide, handsome faces, thick black hair, thick eyebrows, and big pouty lips.
“You two need to quit I have witnesses and I plan to hold you both to those proposals. You won’t find it so easy to wriggle out of them in a court of law,” she said demurely.
While her brothers flirted outrageously with Roxy, Alicia helped her mother clear the table and clean the kitchen. Leah waited until they were alone in the kitchen and took both her daughter’s hands.
“What is it, sweetness? You must want to talk to me about something; you know the boys would have cleaned up the kitchen for me. Come and sit down, let’s talk,” she said, drawing Alicia over to the breakfast table.
“Adam is closing me out again. After he went over to talk to his father, he packed his bags and left town,” she said sadly.
Leah’s pretty face creased into a frown. Alicia looked very much like her mother, even more so since she’d cut her hair. Leah looked much the way she did when she was a college student at Spelman in Atlanta, where she swept a certain brash minor league baseball pl
ayer off his feet with one look. She had the mature sexiness of a woman who is completely loved and completely happy, while still maintaining a youthful charm. But she also had the wisdom her daughter needed at the moment.
“He left town? Without a word to you, mija?”
Alicia explained that this was a scheduled business trip, but under the circumstances Adam could easily have delegated someone else or rescheduled the trip. “He needed to be alone, Mami. He had too much too deal with and he needed to put some space between him and his family. It’s all just too much for him to take in.” She sighed.
“Alicia, mi corazon, it seems like you already know what’s going on in his heart. You can’t torture yourself like this, you have to let him come to you in his own time and his own way,” Leah counseled.
“Mami, Adam asked me to marry him. I can’t see how a marriage can survive if he’s going to keep doing this. He gets cold and distant and uncommunicative and I can’t imagine living in the same house with him when he does it. I’ve known him for ten years and I know he’s this way, but we haven’t been living under the same roof twenty-four-seven. When he’d be brooding about something, he’d go one way and I’d go another and we’d hook up again when he was over his mood. How am I supposed to live with that distance all the time? How am I supposed to handle it without driving myself crazy, or him?” she asked passionately.
Leah smiled sympathetically. “Honey, do you think your father is a good man?”
Alicia looked startled. Her father was the sweetest, most considerate, attentive husband in the world. What was her mother asking? “Of course he is, Mami. Papi is wonderful,” she began, only to be cut off by a roll of her mother’s eyes.
“You don’t think I got him like that, do you? He didn’t come from the factory in that condition. His current behavior is the result of years of effort on both our parts. Honey, love will find a way. You and Adam love each other dearly. He’s your grand passion and you are his. Let Adam find his own way through this, mija. Love will find a way.”
Leah spoke with such quiet assurance that Alicia wanted with all her heart to trust in what her mother was saying. But with Adam across the country in Seattle, it seemed very close to impossible.
***
Benita’s fingers drummed repeatedly on the table in a rhythmic pattern that finally caused her husband to take her hand and enclose it in his. The warmth and comfort of his big hand wrapped around her own was just what she needed to calm down. He moved his chair closer to hers and put his arm around her shoulder. He leaned over and brushed his lips against her ear, whispering, “It’s going to be fine, Peaches. Try to relax, sweetheart,”
She smiled at his words and the comforting feel of his lips on her skin. The slight thrill she always felt when he kissed her warmed her, and she did feel a bit more serene. “I love you so much, Clay. I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
Clay smiled and kissed her again. “Where else would I be but here with you?”
“Get a room, why don’t you? Isn’t it about time y’all started acting like a respectable married couple?” Andrew joined the couple in the upstairs outdoor dining room of Paoli’s, a fine Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor. He gave them a comic look and elaborated on his remark. “You got five kids already and this is how they come about. Can’t you keep your hands off each other for five minutes?”
Benita and Clay smiled at each other and kissed again. “No, we really can’t,” she said with a lingering glance at her beloved. “And you aren’t the one to talk about being an old married couple. I seem to have walked up on you and your wife several times in the past few days and you were doing much more than we’re doing right now.”
Andrew grinned and made a great flourish of straightening his tie. “Well, you know, what can I tell you? I just got it like that,” he said with a leer. He glanced at his watch and asked what time John was supposed to meet them.
“I told him to be here at seven-thirty,” she began and glanced up with a look of nervous anticipation. “There he is now.” She waved at John, who was standing in the entrance to the patio. Without realizing it, she tightened her hand on Clay’s and held her breath as he approached the table.
He looked the way he always did, tall and handsome with a ready smile. He was thinner than usual, but still an imposing figure of a man with his nicely chiseled features, thick black moustache, and the wavy black hair that came past his shoulders and was confined in a thick braid. He was wearing a casual outfit of a black linen shirt with a band collar and black pleated slacks, catching the eye of several female diners as he walked to their table. He looked relaxed and glad to see Benita and Clay. He shook hands with Clay and Andrew and gave Benita a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Taking a seat, he looked around the patio and smiled.
“It’s really good to see you two. How long has it been, a year or so?” he asked.
Benita was finding it difficult to speak, but she nodded. “About that long,” she said finally. “It’s good to see you, too. And I’m glad you and Andrew finally got to meet. We were just saying the other day how odd it was that you’ve never met any of the boys in the family.” She blushed, hoping that her words hadn’t betrayed the secret she wasn’t yet ready to reveal.
John hadn’t detected anything amiss, however. He rubbed his chin and glanced at Andrew, agreeing with Benita. “You’re right. I met your aunt Ruth, of course, and Renee and your sister-in-law Angelique. And I’ve met Clay’s brothers, too, when I was in Atlanta. But this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to meet a Cochran man.”
Andrew spoke for the first time. “It’s a privilege to meet you, John. In a way I feel like I know you, since you and I talked on the phone while Benita was in your care in California. And she’s told me some wonderful things about you over the years. This is a real pleasure,” he said sincerely and quickly lowered his eyes to the menu, fearing he’d said too much.
To Andrew’s and Benita’s relief the server showed up then, extolling the virtues of the nightly special and taking their orders. Everyone had a glass of wine except John, who stuck to iced tea. Conversation flowed more smoothly after that, and the evening was quite pleasant. The meal was superb and the mood was lighthearted and happy. Benita regaled John with the exploits of their children and John talked about the projects he was working on.
“Right now I’m working on a book about new techniques in therapy. Of course I can’t write worth a darn, but the publisher took care of that by sending me the greatest co-writer in the world. She’s a big, big help to me in a lot of ways, although she’s a bit salty from time to time. We manage to get along, though, and she agreed to come with me to Ann Arbor to finish the book. So in addition to teaching and writing, I’ll have a pretty full agenda. I’ve put my practice on hold for a while because I seem to prefer teaching right now.”
The talk faded away as the evening shadows lengthened. Benita tried hard not to stare at the man she now knew was her half brother, but it was an almost impossible task. She was searching his face for similarities between John and the rest of her brothers. Oddly, they were there in the line of his jaw, his hairline, the shape of his nose and the crooked smile. Why hadn’t she seen them before? Because she hadn’t been looking for a resemblance, because there was no reason to think there was a connection between the two of them other than as patient and doctor. And now she had to tell him, she had to say the words that would change his life, the words that might shatter their friendship forever. She took a deep breath and looked at her twin brother before speaking.
Andrew always knew what his sister was thinking, and tonight was no different. He reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was looking at Benita and not John when he started talking.
“John, one of the reasons Benita asked you to dinner tonight was that we have a story to tell you. It’s about our father and something that affected his whole life. In turn, it affects all of our lives now and we thought you should know about it
. It’s not really a long story, but it’s complicated. Would you like to hear it?”
John looked interested and said of course he would. This time it was Benita who spoke, beginning with the simple words “Our father was born in Idlewild, Michigan.”
Chapter Eighteen
Long after the dinner at her parents’ house, Alicia was still feeling restless. She’d said good night to her parents and brothers, taken Roxy back to her car, which she’d left parked at the spa, and returned to the condo, all with the same uneasiness plaguing her. Her niece and nephew were asleep and Marielle was going over her schedule for the next day. They exchanged a few words before Alicia went up to her room. She got ready for bed, cleansing her face taking a hot shower and slipping into a short, feminine peach silk gown, courtesy of her shopping spree with Roxy. Somehow her old collection of T-shirts and boxer shorts no longer had any appeal as sleepwear. She liked the feeling of sexy sophistication the pretty lingerie gave her.
She said her prayers before climbing into her four-poster bed, praying as always for the health and well-being of her family and friends, but especially for Adam’s peace of mind. The rest of his family seemed remarkably sanguine about the revelations about his long-lost relatives from Idlewild and his father’s long-denied son. They were accepting the news extremely well, given the circumstances, but Adam’s anger was taking over his life. He was remote and reserved, even though they talked on the phone every day. Alicia tossed back and forth restlessly while wondering what she could do to help Adam, and while her thoughts were in turmoil, she fell into an uneasy sleep.
Some time later she awoke, her eyes popping open like one of those wake-and-sleep baby dolls. She sat straight up in bed and with one sure movement threw back the covers and got up, going to her closet and taking out an overnight bag. She tossed in underwear, a couple of tops and a pair of casual flats, and rolled up two pairs of slacks to add to the bag. She was taking out a matching tote bag for her toiletries when a soft tap sounded. Marielle, still fully dressed, entered the room with a puzzled look on her face.
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