Tia flushed, but the comment immediately put Danny at ease and he offered Glena’s his hand.
“Oh, child, don’t you shake my hand. I expect a hug.” She pulled him into a surprisingly strong hug. The scent of roses wafted from her skin.
After a round of hugs for everyone, Danny settled next to Tia on the sofa. When Tia got up to check on the casserole Glena said was still in the oven, Danny took Tristi and Glena turned her full attention his way.
“I been tryin’ to get that girl to bring you by here for ages. Why you take so long to come see me?”
“You know Tia, always cautious. She probably didn’t want to get my hopes up too much by introducing me around before now.” Or create expectations in others that they would last. He kept that thought to himself, though, along with the hurt it caused. He wondered if she was comparing him to her husband, and falling short.
“And now you won’t get your hopes up?” Glena took a sip of the ice tea she’d offered when they’d come in.
“Now I think she’s finally decided she won’t be able to shake me.” He flashed her a grin and hoped he was right. “I could have told her that months ago.”
“Good. You two getting’ serious, then? You take her dancin’ yet? That girl doesn’t get near enough dancin’. I hope you gonna take good care of my sweet granddaughter.” She shook a finger at him.
Dancing. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. Maybe it should have. “I sure hope to take care of her. She doesn’t always make it easy, but I do what I can.”
“She’s a sweet girl. I couldn’t have done better if I’d had a chance to pick her.” Glena’s eyes twinkled at him, sharing a joke.
“I did have a chance to pick her, and I happen to agree with you.”
Tia walked in. “I sure hope you’re not talking about me.”
“Sorry, you leave the room, you take the risk of being talk about.” He wrapped an arm behind her back after she sat, then he leaned in and brushed his lips across her cheek and her ear, teasingly.
She shivered, but didn’t pull away. “Is that how it works?”
“You should know that by now. After your chat with Laura at the McDonald’s, I have to say that turnabout is fair play.” Tristi pulled on Danny’s ear and giggled, and he turned his attention to her.
* * *
Though she knew it would easily be Wednesday, and possibly even Thursday before she heard anything, Claire started checking the website for results Tuesday. Every two hours while she was awake starting at five p.m., and once in the middle of the night because she couldn’t help herself.
When she finally found the results posted on Thursday morning, she felt her stomach drop. No relation.
Tears rose to her eyes and she bit her lip in an attempt to focus her attention on something else, to keep the tears from falling.
Carl came up behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Is that the results you’ve been waiting for?”
Claire turned in his arms and buried her face in his shirt. Yes and no, she thought. They were the results, but not at all what she’d hoped to see. “I guess I should have expected it,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest.
He wrapped her in his warm embrace. “I’m sorry, honey. I know how much you wanted it.”
“They were really nice to me.” She hadn’t been fully honest with Tia. Claire had said her parents were decent people, that they didn’t get along because she couldn’t stand the pressure. The truth was they’d been mean and spiteful, picking on Claire for her lifestyle and appearance. She never saw them anymore, their dirty little secret. She’d so hoped for something better, even if she never grew close to Tia’s family.
Carl held her while she sobbed into his chest. He was always there for her, supportive, loving. What had she been thinking, putting him off? She knew he’d always be there for her. So when she finished crying, had wiped her eyes with the tissue he provided, and wondered what it would take to get the eyeliner out of his shirt, she decided it was time to bite the bullet and commit to this man. For real this time.
She sniffed and looked into his face. “I told you we’d set a date when I had the results.”
He pressed the spiky hair back from her eyes. “I’d like that, but we don’t have to do it this second.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I’ve put it off long enough. You mentioned once that you thought we should just do it. I agree.” She nodded decisively. “Tomorrow after you get off work. We can go do it then.” She felt lightheaded for a moment, the terror of following through with her commitment taking over. She took a deep breath and felt the fear slide out again as she looked at him, at how happy he was.
“Don’t you want a dress and stuff? You said you needed time to plan things.”
She loved Carl, wanted to be with him always, so nothing would hold her back from making it all official. “What do I need if you’re with me?”
A smile curved his lips and he pulled her in for a kiss.
* * *
Tia looked at the results online and felt nothing so much as relief, followed by a pang of sympathy for Claire, who had to be upset if she’d checked already. The woman had been so excited about the possibility of belonging to a different family.
Though she knew she ought to call Claire to make sure she’d seen the results, first Tia sent text messages to Wes, Ron and Danny to let them know. When the text had gone out and she’d heard back from them all, she picked up her phone and dialed.
It took a moment for the call to be answered, but when Claire came on the line, it was clear she knew it was Tia. “Hey, you must have checked the site.”
Tia tried to decide what she heard in Claire’s voice. “Yes. A few minutes ago. I guess you did too.”
“Yes, it’s been over an hour. I meant to call, but I was running late for work and I guess I wanted to take a moment to digest it all.”
“I’m sorry. I know you wanted it to be true.”
“Don’t worry about it. Carl and I set a date. Actually, we’re getting married this weekend. We just picked up a marriage license a few minutes ago; he’s going to make arrangements and we’ll just do it. I’m excited.”
Surprised by the sudden decision, Tia tried not to sound like it. “Wow, are you inviting anyone?”
“No, but he’s really all I need. I love him so much.”
“I’m glad.” And Tia meant it. Though she and Claire were incredibly different in so many ways, she wished the woman well, and hoped Claire found the happiness with Carl that her own family seemed to have denied her.
They ended the call with promises to keep in touch, but Tia wasn’t sure if they really would. Only time would tell, she supposed. She turned her mind to Lisa and the fact that Tia would probably have to track the woman down in person if she wasn’t going to answer the letter.
Thirty-six
Lisa ran the duster around a display of ceramic dogs at her store and wondered what she should do about dinner. The bell over the door rang and she turned with a smile toward the customer. A red-head entered, looking a little tentative. Business had been slow that day, and Lisa was determined to do something about it. “Hello, and welcome to Any Occasion. Is there anything special you’re looking for today?”
The customer smiled tentatively, studied Lisa for a moment, and the smile turned more genuine, even a bit approving. “Actually, I’m looking for Lisa Lowell. You must be her.”
“I am.” Lisa extended a hand, and the woman took it. “What can I do for you?”
“My name is Tia Riverton. I sent you a letter a couple of weeks back.”
Lisa dropped the grip a tad faster than was polite, but she had thought about the letter several times. It was complete nonsense, of course. She forced a little coolness into her voice. “Yes. I received your letter. I thought it must have been a mistake. You did mention there were other letters going out.”
“One other letter,” Tia clarified. “Claire contacted me the day she received hers. We�
��ve already checked paternity, and it wasn’t her.”
Lisa’s stomach quivered, but she managed to keep her voice even. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but it isn’t me, either.”
“You were born at St. Mark’s?” Tia followed with a date. Lisa’s birth date.
“Yes, but I suppose you could have gotten that from anywhere.”
“It took quite a bit of research, actually.” Tia pulled out her driver license and presented it to Lisa. “We have the same birth date—so you know I’m not some crazy stalker.”
Lisa checked the ID. Assuming it wasn’t forged, and since nothing appeared to be off about it, at least there was a tiny grain of truth to the story. They were born the same day. “Sorry if I don’t consider that proof.”
“Then how about this instead?” Tia fumbled with the bag she wore over her shoulder and pulled out a 4x6 photo album.
As Tia flipped through it, Lisa noticed many of the pictures were undersized and had more than one per dustcover. She started to feel the grinding that always came to her stomach when her ulcer acted up. The stress of worrying about the letter, plus the slump in sales that always put her in a financial bind in the first part of the year were combining to make her sick.
Tia stopped at a page and turned the album so Lisa could see it better. “This is my mother, Mona, holding me when I was a few months old. She would have been a little younger than we are now.”
The picture sent a shock through Lisa’s system. The face was so much like her own that the resemblance couldn’t be mistaken. She turned away, found a chair, and slumped into it. Her heart pounded and she heard the blood rushing in her ears. Feeling a little lightheaded, she leaned forward, putting her head between her knees so she wouldn’t pass out. “It can’t be true. It’s a fake. You had it altered to look like me.”
A pair of white sneakers appeared in Lisa’s view and Tia touched her shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you so much. I was hoping it would be you, just so the search would be over, but until I actually saw you up close, I didn’t think it was possible.”
“It’s not possible. It can’t be.” Lisa’s head began to clear and she tried sitting up again. Her vision swam a moment before coming to a stop and she touched her forehead. “You’ve got to be crazy.”
Tia grabbed another chair and pulled it over. “I’m sorry. Maybe I was a little hasty in how I told you. This is so weird. I mean, I thought it was the other woman until a couple days ago. Or rather, she thought she was the one. She was so excited, and when she found out it wasn’t her, I think she was really hurt.” She shook her head. “I needed a few days to deal with everything when I found out too. It’s crazy, after looking for all these months, I almost didn’t believe that I’d ever find the truth.”
Lisa held up a hand, hoping to quell the woman’s nervous chatter. She couldn’t think with all that talking, and right now, thinking was absolutely necessary. “Wait. Please.”
“Sorry,” Tia apologized again. “I’m not normally like this.”
After a long moment of silence, and feeling a lot better, Lisa rose and walked to the counter where she had a picture of her mother. At least, she’d always believed Rose had been her mother. Now she didn’t know what to think.
Rose had been a redhead too, before she’d gone gray. And though the resemblance between Rose and Tia wasn’t nearly as strong as between Lisa and Mona, it was there. Lisa remembered the few pictures she’d had of her dad. It had been so many years since he’d died, there weren’t many. Tia favored him.
The thought had Lisa groping for a chair again.
Another customer walked in and Lisa looked at Tia desperately. Tia popped up and greeted the buxom woman with the two children in tow. “Hello, and welcome to Any Occasion. Is there something special you’re looking for today?”
“No, I’ll just have a look around,” the woman said.
Tia appeared relieved. Lisa was grateful she had taken the initiative, if only because it provided an extra few minutes to get her bearings.
The customer browsed, let her children run wild, and left without buying anything. By the time the store emptied again, Lisa felt more in control.
Tia turned back to her after having spent the previous ten minutes distracting the customer’s children from anything breakable. “Caught your breath yet?” she asked.
“Maybe.” Lisa sucked in a breath, then took charge of the conversation. “You need to realize I’m not happy about this, and I’m still not sure I believe it. I have a family of my own.”
“I knew it was possible this wouldn’t be welcome,” Tia said. “While I was looking for you, I spent a lot of time considering whether I should bother you. When it came right down to it, I decided that despite the fact that I love the parents who raised me, I would want to know if our circumstances were reversed and you’d found out first. It doesn’t make your family any less important to your history, or your future, it just opens a few possibilities.”
Lisa moved behind the counter and pulled out her secret stash of chocolate truffles, taking one for herself, and offering one to Tia, who took it with alacrity. “My dad died when I was still really young.”
Tia nodded. “I read that he’d passed away. I couldn’t find his obituary, but there was a mention about it online. I wasn’t sure when it happened.”
“My mom’s in a home. She has a genetic disease. Huntington’s disease. You’ve probably heard of it. The symptoms started when she was forty-two, forty-three, but we didn’t realize what it was at the time. Her father was probably the carrier; he died young, in Vietnam. Mom’s been in a nursing home for a few years now. I couldn’t take care of her anymore.” The cost of the nursing home was mostly covered by Medicare, but there were a lot of expenses still falling on Lisa’s shoulders. She felt tears prickling her eyes as she handed the photo to Tia.
Tia took it, studying the picture. “She’s pretty. What does the disease do?”
“It depends on the person. With Mom it caused paranoia, hallucinations, moodiness. Facial ticks, her movements are jerky sometimes. Her dementia and confusion seem to be getting worse lately.” Lisa explained. “The doctors believe she has several years left, and some days are better than others.” She lifted her eyes to Tia’s which were full of worry.
Lisa took back the photograph, studied it. “We didn’t know about it until after dad had been gone for years. I have no idea if I might develop it someday.” She stopped herself, realizing that if what Tia said was true, then there was no chance Lisa had the disease. It would be Tia’s problem. She almost felt bad for the relief that poured through her. Seeing her mother suffer had been so difficult, but knowing it could happen to herself was one more thing she had to worry about. But not anymore.
“I haven’t had the money to be tested, to see if I have enough copies to be affected. It’s not covered by insurance—especially not what I can afford, but there’s only a fifty-percent chance that you’ll be a carrier, and even if you are, there’s a slight chance that it might not present itself, though the symptoms tend to get worse with each generation, not better.”
Tia covered her mouth with her hand and nodded. After a moment her hand slid down to her neck, her face was pale. “I have two daughters. They’re everything to me.”
“Do you have a husband?” Now she’d had time to regroup, she was curious about Tia.
“He was in the military and died in action. Before my youngest was born.” A smile teased her mouth, though worry and sadness clouded her eyes. “I’ve been seeing a great man, however. Maybe. Someday.”
“He must be special.” Lisa grabbed the two chairs and ushered Tia back behind the counter as some more women entered the store.
Tia stayed the rest of the day, and they chatted about their families and lives. Lisa felt an incredible bond with Tia right off the bat, though she was more than a little nervous about the thought of actually meeting the parents and brother they would now share—if Lisa was interested
.
And that was the crux, wasn’t it? Was she actually interested? She didn’t know.
After she locked up for the night, Lisa suggested they grab dinner down the street, and the two of them continued to talk through their meal.
When Tia insisted it was time she head home—she did have a three-hour drive still ahead of her—Lisa thought once she adjusted to the idea, she might be able to live with this new paradigm. Before she considered meeting Tia’s family, however, Lisa decided she needed to discuss it with her mother.
Thirty-seven
It was nearly ten when Tia opened her front door. She felt wrung out from her meeting with Lisa, from the worry and tears that had plagued her all the way home. She’d tried to wipe away the smeared makeup before stepping inside and hoped the redness of her eyes didn’t show as much as she thought. However, when Danny’s bright smile melted into a look of concern, she knew she would have to explain.
“What happened? You said the meeting went well.” Danny flipped off the TV with the remote in his hand, then set it down before crossing the room to her. He drew her into his arms, tipped her head back and studied her face.
“It did. Lisa’s great. She’s confused, upset, worried. Of course. But she’s genuinely nice and I think she’ll take the tests, want to meet everyone.” Her stomach churned as she tried to put on a neutral expression.
He wasn’t fooled. “So what’s wrong—and don’t tell me you’re fine. Obviously, you’re not.”
A tear escaped and Tia buried her face in his chest. His arms tightened around her as she tried to force back the emotions pouring into her.
He waited for a couple of minutes, his patience infinitely longer than hers would have been, before he asked again. “What’s wrong, Tia? Please tell me.”
She felt her breath catch as she sucked in some air. “I’m sure Lisa’s the one. She even looks like my parents, and I look like her mom.” Her voice cracked. “Her mom has Huntington Disease. I could have Huntington Disease. So could my babies. My girls, Danny, what’ll I do if my girls get sick?” The fact that she was unlikely to live long enough to see them get sick was beside the point. She could barely speak as she fought for control. Hadn’t she gotten all the tears and hysterics over with when she’d pulled to the side of the road two hours earlier?
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