Echoes of Titanic

by Mindy Starns Clark

  Her mother sighed softly in reply.

  “I don’t know,” Kelsey continued, “maybe in a sense it’s just easier for me to think it was suicide than to consider the possibility of a m-murder. Listen to me. I can hardly get the word out of my mouth. I mean, come on. Murder? In the executive conference room at Brennan & Tate? If that’s really what it turns out to be, we’re talking about a whole different ballgame here. Mom, you can’t imagine how many people were in that building yesterday or the kind of chaos that was going on after everything was disrupted. Almost anyone could have sneaked upstairs and done that to her and then simply slipped back out undetected. The list of suspects would be ridiculously long. If you ask me, that detective had better hope the coroner ends up calling it a suicide. Otherwise, he has his work cut out for him.”

  “I see what you mean.”

  “And as far as the company’s concerned, I can’t even think about the possibility of murder without getting a headache. For starters, there’d be a whole host of liability issues. If she was murdered, we’d be forced to address safety concerns, security procedures—and we’d have insurance increases, not to mention the added expense and effort of trying to get around the stigma of someone having been killed right in our own office. A lot of people work in that building, Mom. From a business perspective, murder would be a nightmare. Whether it seems in character for Gloria or not, we all better hope it was a suicide.”

  Kelsey took another bite and looked up at her mom as she chewed, surprised to see that she was looking back at Kelsey with disdain.

  “Do you hear yourself?” Doreen whispered. “Can you stop for a minute and listen to what you’re saying?”

  It took a moment for Kelsey to understand what her mother was getting at, but when she did she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. What was the big deal? She’d spoken like an executive, her mind jumping first not to the human element but to corporate concerns. So what? She knew her words must have sounded harsh, but this was her reality.

  Okay, in a sense, her mother was right. Maybe she had sounded a little cold and unfeeling. On the other hand, her mother lived in a whole different kind of world than Kelsey did. Doreen Tate could not begin to understand what it would be like to be in her daughter’s shoes.

  Kelsey took in a breath and was about to speak out in her own defense when Doreen cut her off to continue her lecture.

  “When did your heart check out of the equation entirely and turn you into this, this automaton? This shell? I didn’t raise you to be this way. I taught you to have compassion. I taught you to put others first, to care about their needs. Your whole life, I tried as hard as I could to help you understand the value of living a balanced life, to avoid the tunnel vision that a big-time business career can bring. I’ve seen it dozens of times in colleagues of your father’s, and now I’m sitting here seeing it in you, and I can’t believe I didn’t recognize it before. I don’t even know who you are right now. I love you, honey, but I do not know you. What could possibly have happened in your life to bring you to this?”

  Doreen stood and turned away, busying herself at the sink as she angrily wiped away a few tears of her own. Stunned, Kelsey remained at the table, her heart pounding with guilt and grief and shame. Her mother was right. Somehow, in the past few years, she’d turned into exactly the kind of person she had never wanted to be.

  Why? What had happened to bring her to this? Even as she asked herself that question, she already knew the answer.

  Cole. Her breakup with Cole Thornton. Five years ago, she’d had at least some compassion, some selflessness, some sense of that balance that her mother had tried to instill in her. Kelsey had been so happy back then, loving her new career, dating a fantastic man, making big plans for the future. That future had been all about Cole, who was everything she’d ever wanted in a husband. Smart and sweet and funny and handsome and successful and attentive and considerate and loving, he was everything she’d ever dreamed of in a mate.

  By the time things started to go wrong, they had already exchanged the “I love yous.” They had already had the joking, flirting what-if conversations about how many kids they could see themselves having and where they would most like to live in the future and when might be the best time of year for a wedding.

  Then, in the space of a few weeks, everything had fallen apart.

  She didn’t think about that period much anymore, but back then it had consumed her every waking thought. It was her investment in Lou’s company that started it all, just one single stupid business deal that messed everything up. She knew she’d been the one to start the ball rolling by undercutting Cole’s investment proposal with a better one. In her defense, the proposal he’d put together for Lou had been poorly done and extremely insubstantial, considering the data. At the time she’d known she could do far better, and so she did. Afterward, she told herself that Cole was too timid to be good at this job, that he wasn’t visionary enough to spread his wings and really fly with it. Even Gloria had assured her that in offering Lou a better deal than Cole had she was just doing business as usual. After all, she couldn’t go easy on a coworker just because she happened to be dating him.

  But he hadn’t seen it that way.

  When her deal with Lou was announced and Cole realized what she’d done, he’d been devastated. To him, it was bad enough that she’d slipped in behind his back and stolen an investment opportunity he’d been actively pursuing. But the fact that she’d done it with neither warning nor apology had made it unacceptable. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that she’d tossed out a few careless comments about the situation to the woman who had been her administrative assistant at the time. That woman had a big mouth, and before Kelsey knew it, things she’d said to her privately about Cole had been spread from one end of the company to the other. Of course she’d fired the woman soon after, but that had been small comfort. By then the damage had already been done.

  When it was all over, Cole had ended not just his relationship with her but with the company as well. He broke up with her, quit his job, and walked out of her life completely. From what she heard, he’d even stopped going to the little church they had been attending together, though she could have told him not to bother. Once he was gone, she never went back there anyway.

  Kelsey wished she could explain all of that to her mother, that she could help her understand how the loss of Cole from her life and the pain that came with it was the thing that had started her down the wrong road she’d been on ever since.

  In the wake of her breakup with Cole, she had buried herself so deeply in her work that over time she had become this person she was now, one who could witness the gruesome death of a beloved friend—a tragedy of monumental proportions—and process it in terms of damage control.

  This was not who she wanted to be.

  Before Kelsey could articulate any of these thoughts, her mother surprised her by turning around and apologizing for her outburst.

  “I’m sorry, Kelsey,” she said, leaning her hip back against the counter and drying her hands on a towel. “We all have different coping mechanisms. You’ve been through a horrific trauma, and if you need to focus on the business side of the situation to get you through this, you have every right to do so. It’s certainly understandable. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Her eyes filling with fresh tears, Kelsey stood and went to her mother and wrapped her arms around her and told her that no, she was right. Everything she’d said was true. “I don’t want to be this way, Mom. I really don’t.”

  “Oh, honey,” her mother cooed, once again stroking her hair. “Maybe this can be a wake-up call for you then, you know? One that helps you get back on track.”

  “Maybe.”

  The two women shared a long embrace, and when they pulled apart Kelsey excused herself to go repair her makeup. Once she’d fixed the damage and had a solid hold on her emotions, she emerged from the restroom and went in search of her father. She found him right where
she’d expected, in what used to be the living room but now served as pretty much the extent of his limited world.

  This space that used to be the very heart of the home was no longer a plush, inviting gathering place. Gone were the custom couches and the big wooden coffee tables and the Hubbardton lamps. Instead, now the decor centered on a hospital bed, a portable toilet, and an old man who could usually be found slumped in a corner in his wheelchair.

  Refusing to think about all of that right now, Kelsey put on a brave smile, pushed the door open further, and leaned inside.

  “Hi, Dad,” she said, trying to keep her voice light.

  He looked up to see her, his reaction subtle but definite, a shifting of the shoulders and a brightening in the face.

  “Somebody’s glad to see you,” the aide said, giving her a warm smile.

  “I’m glad to see him too,” she replied, crossing the room and giving her father a big hug.

  By the time she pulled away, the aide had discreetly left them alone, for which she was grateful. These days, it was hard enough to talk to her father about regular, day-to-day kinds of things, but harder still to do so when someone else was there. She couldn’t imagine trying to have this particular conversation with an audience present.

  She pulled up a chair to sit facing her father and asked how he was doing.

  “Gloria,” he mumbled in reply, tears filling his eyes.

  Blinking back her own tears, Kelsey placed a comforting hand on his arm. “I know, Dad. It’s just awful, isn’t it?”

  They sat together in silence for a long moment, both of them acknowledging the passing of their dear friend. Across the room the grandfather clock ticked loudly, the pendulum swinging back and forth, counting away the minutes of her day. Kelsey had never liked that clock, but at the moment something about its steady rhythm felt calming to her soul.

  “Dad, I need to talk to you about something else,” she said. “It’s about the other bad thing that happened yesterday.”

  He grunted. “Liar liar man?” he replied, causing her to smile.

  “Yes, the disruption by the man who yelled out ‘Liar! Liar!’ Listen, I’ve kind of looked into things and had some conversations, so I have a general picture of what that was all about. I know this matter has come up twice before. Is that correct?”

  He managed a nod. “Cor-rect.”

  “And I believe it ended with a settlement the first time and some legal threats the next?”

  He nodded again. So far, so good.

  “Okay, then. I just wanted to ask if there’s anything about this situation that I ought to know, anything I need to say or not say, you know? Do you remember much about the specifics? Can you give me any guidance here at all?”

  Since her father’s stroke, his speech was slow and often disjointed. Sometimes he seemed confused, but Kelsey wasn’t sure if he was really lost temporarily or just couldn’t string words together to express himself. Often she sensed frustration as he tried to get his thoughts across.

  It also took a long time for him to respond, as if all input had to work its way through a faulty computer before it could kick back out on the other side. Breathing deeply, she practiced patience and waited for what he might say.

  “Always thought…” he said slowly, and then he shrugged. “Dunno.”

  “Don’t know what?”

  He shrugged again. “Might be true.”

  She blinked, studying him.

  “Might.”

  Kelsey narrowed her eyes.

  “Wait a minute. What? What might be true?”

  Her father shrugged. “Adele.”

  She thought for a moment.

  “Are you saying Rupert’s claims might be true, that Adele was actually her cousin Jocelyn just posing as Adele? Are you kidding me?”

  “Can’t prove. Settled.”

  “Adele’s identity couldn’t be proven or disproven, and that’s why they were willing to sign a settlement? Is that what you’re saying?”

  He nodded.

  “What about DNA testing? Did you try that?”

  Her father blinked, trying to form an answer with his lips. Finally he blurted something that sounded like “mothers down to fathers.” She took it to mean that there was some DNA complication because of the way the lineage played out. Then again, the science of DNA was growing more sophisticated all the time. Perhaps what couldn’t be done five or ten years ago was perfectly doable now.

  He let out a loud sigh and ran a hand over his face.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. You’re tired. I shouldn’t wear you out.”

  “Sean’s will,” he said.

  “Sean Brennan’s will? He left everything to Adele, didn’t he?”

  Her father nodded, but tentatively, as though there was more to the story—which there certainly was. He went on, but his words were a bit garbled now. Kelsey leaned close.

  “Settlement within.”

  She puzzled over that, repeating it back to him. “A settlement within? Within what? The firm, maybe?”

  “Settlement,” he said again. “With eee-un.” He pulled his lips back and bared his teeth. “Eeeee-un.”

  She thought for a moment then said, “Ian? You reached a settlement with Ian.”

  Looking deeply relieved, he nodded.

  Oh, great. Now they were caught in a loop. They had already covered this. “Right. Yes. I knew that, remember? I mentioned it a minute ago?”

  He just stared at her, his jaw slack. Feeling bad for having snapped at him, she went with the repetition, hoping it might bring up other memories for him of that time. “So neither you nor Ian could prove anything conclusively about Adele’s true identity, but there was enough of a question there that you offered the family some money to go away and keep quiet. A settlement. A payoff in exchange for a gag order—at least until Ian died and Rupert tried to stir things up again. Right?”

  Nodding, Nolan seemed to be trying to say something—either “right” or “Rupert”—but finally gave up and mumbled instead, “Liar liar man.”

  Kelsey realized he was smiling, and she grinned at him in return. “That’s right. Rupert’s the liar liar man.”

  She had so much she wanted to learn, but she could tell she was quickly wearing her father out. “I know this isn’t easy for you, Dad. I appreciate your trying.”

  He nodded, running a hand over his face again.

  “Just one last question. It’s about bonds, the bonds that were part of the legend of Adele. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

  “Bonds,” he repeated.

  “Right. The bonds. Did Great-Grandma Adele ever actually have any bonds, or was that just a myth?”

  He pursed his lips for a long moment, almost like he was trying to whistle. Finally, she realized he was attempting to make the sound of a “t.” After a moment, he got it out. “True.”

  “It’s true?” she asked, her pulse surging. “There actually were bonds, really valuable bonds, that Adele used to get the company through tough times?”

  He nodded. “T-true.”

  “Did she use them all up or were there some left?”

  He tried to answer but mostly sputtered in frustration.

  “Sorry, Dad, let me try that again. Did Adele use the bonds all up?”

  After a beat, “No.”

  “Are there any left?”

  A longer pause. “Yes.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, Kelsey took a moment to let that word roll around in her mind. There had been bonds, yes. There still were bonds.

  Yes.

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  April 10, 1912

  ADELE

  Within an hour, all irritations and frustrations faded away in the excitement of boarding the ship. Adele couldn’t believe she was actually stepping aboard the finished Titanic at last. For three years she and her fellow citizens of Belfast had watched the vessel go from a steel skeleton on dry land and then a shiny, floating shell on the water to a fully appoi
nted ship here at the White Star docks in England. And though their little group would be staying in the ship’s second-class cabins down on the F deck, she was excited to learn upon boarding that for a short while they were welcome to tour the upper portions of the ship if they desired, as apparently the first-class passengers would not be arriving for at least another hour.

  They started by heading down to their staterooms to take a look. Adele and Jocelyn eagerly took in every detail of the gorgeous ship as they went, though the two men adopted an air of sophisticated indifference. Adele found their attitude both amusing and irritating, knowing full well they had to be as excited and impressed as she and Jocelyn were.

  Truly, the ship was the most elegant thing Adele had ever seen. From the oak-lined passageways to the well-stocked second-class library to the elegant second-class smoking room, Adele and Jocelyn were dumbfounded and impressed by it all.

  They especially loved their stateroom, once they found it, a small but graciously appointed space with two beds bunked along the left wall, a convertible sofa on the right, and in between a fold-up washbasin cabinet that the steward said would supply fresh water from a holding tank. The room also featured two mahogany wardrobes, each fitted with drawers and a mirror, and under the sidelight was a small but comfortable-looking upholstered chair. All in all, the room was quite impressive, far better than one might normally expect from second class. As the two girls stood in the doorway gazing in at it, Adele commented that they were the first passengers to ever use this berth.

  “You’re right,” Jocelyn whispered reverentially. “What a historic moment for us both!”

  They shared a smile. Many others would use this room over the coming years, but they could always say they had been the first.

  “Ready for our tour?” Uncle Rowan asked, appearing behind them in the white-walled hallway. His room was on the same deck, not far from theirs. Apparently Tad was also on F deck, though his room was down a completely different corridor.

  The four travelers made their way back upstairs and began their tour on the promenade deck, a first-class-only area that ran the entire length of the ship. As they were standing there admiring its length and appointments, they were joined by another gentleman, one Uncle Rowan seemed to have been expecting.