by Tina Martin
“Hello.”
“Bryson, were you able to reach Kalina?”
“No, I wasn’t able reach Kalina, but I do know where she is.”
“Where?”
“She’s in Fayetteville. Do you know why she’s in Fayetteville, Edith?”
“No. I didn’t even know she was going there and—”
“So you have no clue why she would be going to Fayetteville?” he asked her again. She had to have known why. And she knew something else too – that Kalina’s father had died, but for some strange, unsettling reason, she hadn’t bother telling Kalina. “Let me ask you this, Edith…why didn’t you tell Kalina her father died, because I know you knew. You knew and you didn’t tell her and now she’s going there to talk to him and the man is dead.”
“Oh no…what have I done?” Edith said.
Bryson shook his head in disappointment. “Edith, she’s already depressed over her mother…when she finds out her father passed, she’s going to be crushed.”
“I…I never thought she wanted to see him. She was so angry with him, Bryson.”
“You still could’ve told her that he’d died,” Bryson said, in full protective mode now. “Why keep it a secret?”
“I didn’t think she cared to know.”
“Well, just so you know, I’m on my way there to find her. I’m hoping I find her and talk to her before she shows up at Stanley’s house. I think it’ll soften the blow if I tell her versus hearing it from Stanley’s widow.”
“Okay, well do what you can. I appreciate this, Bryson.”
“Yep,” Bryson said, ending the call. He tossed his phone in the passenger seat then hit the gas, speeding to get to Fayetteville.
CHAPTER 34
Kalina checked into the hotel then used the phone book in the room to look up her father’s address, comparing it to the address she’d written down before leaving Wilmington. She grinned to herself about how old school that was – to search for someone in a phone book, but when she saw his name and his new wife’s name, Martha, she knew he had the right Stanley Dixon.
Sliding the keycard in her pocket, she left the room in a hurry, driving straight for his home. She knew she probably should’ve called first, but in the heat of the moment, she didn’t care. She only focused on getting there – on seeing her father’s face when he finally realized who she was.
She wondered how he would react. Would he be surprised to see how she’d grown up? To see that she wasn’t the little teenage girl that he left? Or would he open the front door and immediately slam it in her face?
Pulling up in front of his house, she double-checked the address from the page she ripped from the phone book to make sure she was at the right house. She was. She looked at the house again. It was fancy and looked to be in a ritzy, exclusive neighborhood. There was a silver BMW parked in the driveway.
Kalina pulled in a breath and braced herself saying, “Okay, here goes, Kalina.” She opened the door, grabbed her purse and got out of the car, walking up to the massive house. She rang the doorbell and waited. Beside the loud chimes of the doorbell, she didn’t hear much else – no TV, radio or any other sound that could indicate someone was home.
She rang the doorbell once more. This time, she heard the voice of a woman say, “Just a moment,” before hearing the click of a deadbolt lock.
The woman opened the door and said, “Hi. Can I help you?”
She lost her words. Instead, Kalina studied the woman for a moment. She was dark-skinned with gray and black hair. She had on a navy blue business suit and looked sophisticated and sharp.
“Ms., can I help you?” she asked again.
“Oh, um…yes. Are you Martha Dixon?”
“Yes I am. And who might you be, young lady?”
“I’m Kalina Cooper, your husband’s daughter and I was hoping I could speak to him if it’s not too much trouble.”
Martha brought her trembling hands to her face. Sadness filled her eyes. “Come in.”
Kalina stepped in and when she heard Martha sniffle, she said, “I’m sorry, Martha. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She followed Martha into an antique-style living room and sat on the couch next to her. She saw pictures of Martha and her father, as a couple, on the walls and on the mantel.
“You didn’t upset me dear. I’m just saddened that you don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
Martha dabbed her eyes and said, “Goodness, I don’t know how to say this.”
“You don’t know how to say what? Please, tell me,” Kalina said when she saw how disturbed Martha had become.
“Your father…he passed away two years ago.”
“What?” Kalina said out of disbelief. She didn’t feel any pain because she didn’t know her father all that well. Still, she was surprised to find out he’d died. How had she not known that before? Shouldn’t someone had notified her of his passing? After all, he was her father. He was a deadbeat father, but still…
Kalina didn’t know what to say next. Her father had been dead for two years and she didn’t know. Did Edith know? “Um…I hate to ask you this, Martha, because I know you’re still grieving, but how did he die?”
“He had a heart attack…happened while he was sleeping.” Martha dabbed her eyes more. “He battled cancer for years and finally when we thought he was making progress, the heart attack happened.”
“I…I had no idea.”
“Your father was a very troubled man, Kalina. He seemed to be bothered by his past.”
“Bothered how?”
“He often talked about you…how he regretted leaving you and your mother.”
Kalina shook her head. “If he regretted it so much, why didn’t he try to contact me? It wasn’t a difficult task. I still live in Wilmington. My mom is still there.”
“I know. He talked about going back, but every time he got close he would back out. He really did want to see you though. He tried to keep track of you the best way he could. He went so far as to make a fake profile so he could follow you on Twitter. He was happy when you graduated from college and he used to brag to anyone who would listen about your blog.”
Kalina frowned. Confused. He was bragging about her, but he didn’t have the courage to come back to Wilmington to face her? She shook her head and said, “You know what, Martha…I’m not buying any of it. If he really wanted to see me and follow me, he knew exactly where I lived. He could’ve visited me and my mother. Instead, what did he do? He left us. Did he tell you why? Did he ever tell you that?”
“He told me he had to get away from it all. He didn’t go into any details about why he left you and Edith. He just—”
“Me and Edith?” Kalina asked, frowning. “You mean Madeline. My mother’s name is Madeline.”
Martha dabbed her eyes and said, “Sorry. I must’ve got it mixed up. Like I said, he didn’t talk much about it, but I knew it bothered him greatly. He had a guilty conscience until he died.”
“Well, I guess this was a huge waste of time on my part and a great inconvenience for you.” Kalina stood up and said, “I’m sorry to have disturbed you with all of this.”
“No disturbance at all dear. I wish you would’ve come years ago.”
“Why?”
“Maybe you would’ve gotten the chance to talk to him and get the answers I know you’re seeking.”
“In life, I guess some questions are not supposed to be answered,” Kalina responded, thinking about the illness that was taking her mother’s life. That was a question she’d never get answers to. Maybe scientists didn’t have a clue where the disease came from and maybe that’s the way it was supposed to be.
Kalina reached for the knob at the front door. She could slap herself for making this trip to Fayetteville. The idea, after the fact, sucked big time because she should’ve taken her time and done some research before jumping up and taking off. But she hadn’t done so. She just left.
“Wait, Kalina,” Martha yelled out of the door.
“Hold on a minute…I have something to give you,” Martha said before walking back inside of the house.
Kalina walked back to the door again and waited for Martha to return. Where did you go, woman, she thought when she’d been standing there for nearly five minutes. While she waited, she took out her cell phone and saw that Edith and Bryson had been trying to call. Between the two of them, they had called over twenty times, most of those being from Bryson. Why was he blowing up her phone?
“Here we go,” Martha said, pushing the door open to step outside holding an envelope. “Your father put a will in place before he died. He wanted you to have this envelope.”
“Why didn’t someone mail it to me?”
“Because Stanley left instructions for it not to be mailed. He didn’t want to risk it being lost, and he didn’t want it to be intercepted by anyone. So, here it is and it’s yours.”
Kalina took the envelope from Martha’s grasp, noticing that it was taped closed. “Thank you.”
“Good luck, Kalina. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“Thanks, Martha. I appreciate this.”
Kalina headed to her car again. She doubted she’d find what she was looking for now that she knew her father was deceased. She wanted to know why he left her and her mother. Seemed she was a little, too late.
CHAPTER 35
Back at the hotel, Kalina parked her car and sat there, thinking about her father and her mother. This was an absolute mess. Her father was dead. Her mother was near death. And she was…
What was she?
Kalina rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t okay, so what was she? Alone in the world? Lost? Forgotten? A woman without a purpose? A family? Even though she had her aunt, she still felt alone. She leaned back in her seat.
What was she?
Kalina shook her head, got out of the car with the envelope Martha had given her, and continued on into the front entrance, through the lobby and when she turned the corner heading for the elevators, she saw Bryson standing there.
What is he doing here, she asked herself as she walked towards him. And how did he know to find her here? Did he come here specifically to see her? Surely he didn’t make the drive to Fayetteville with the sole purpose of tracking her down because she was avoiding his phone calls. Would he do that?
She looked him up and down as she got closer. He wore a green work shirt, one that had his company’s name printed on it, and his hands were hidden inside the front pockets of his khakis. As she approached, he shamelessly stared at her with a keenness that made her uncomfortable for a moment, like he wanted to question her. Like he had a right to do so.
Steps away from him, she asked, “Bryson, what are you doing here?” There was no other way to ask the question, although she would have preferred not to ask it at all. Besides, he should not have been there.
“I could ask you the same thing, Kalina.”
“You could, but you wouldn’t get an answer because it’s none of your business.”
“That may be true from your perspective but it has no merit from mine.”
Kalina blew an angry breath and pushed the elevator button. The elevator doors immediately slid open, allowing her to enter.
Bryson got in behind her and the doors eased closed.
Kalina pushed the button for the third floor then stood on the right side of the elevator, away from him.
Bryson had his eyes on her the moment the doors closed, silently analyzing her as they moved up to the third floor. “Where’s your phone?” he asked.
Kalina looked at him and looked away, leaving his question unanswered.
“I’ve been trying to get in contact with you. Edith has been trying…where’s your phone, Kalina?”
When the elevator opened to the third floor, Kalina brushed pass Bryson and continued on to her room.
“Unbelievable,” she hissed in an angry, yet low tone and when she arrived to her room, she swiped the keycard and pushed the door open, not waiting for it to close before continuing inside and throwing her purse on the bed.
Before the door could completely close, Bryson had caught it and invited himself into her room. “Kalina—”
“Why are you here?” she asked, sitting in a chair at a small, round table near the windows, resting her elbows on the tabletop and massaging her temples.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She frowned and looked up at him. “Make sure I was okay? Since when have you ever known me to be okay? I’m not okay. I’m never okay! So why would you come here to make sure I’m okay when you already know I’m not?” Kalina returned to massaging her temples. She was too frustrated to deal with him right now.
“First of all, you need to stop yelling.”
“This is my room…I’ll do whatever I want in it. I didn’t invite you here. You took it upon yourself to show up. So if you don’t want to hear me yell, leave!”
Bryson walked to the table where she was sitting and sat in the seat across from her. He inhaled a deep breath, got his thoughts together and said in a calm, soft tone, “I didn’t come here to make you angry, Kalina.”
“I know. You came here to make sure I was okay…like I believe that. You weren’t worried about whether or not I was okay when you uninvited me to dinner.”
Bryson shook his head. Was she angry about dinner? “Look, the bottom line is, I took time out of my day to come here to check on you. I was worried.”
“Worried?” she said, a tear running down her face. “That would imply you actually care.”
“I do care!”
“No you don’t,” Kalina snapped. “Nobody does. I could drive my car off a cliff right now…you know who would be at my funeral? My aunt. That’s all.”
Bryson frowned. He never seen her behave this way before and he could recognize what it was – she was upset. Apparently, she had received the news he was rushing there to give her. So instead of irritating her any further, he sat there, looking at her as she sniffled and wiped her own tears away. He wanted to console her. He fought with himself to stay seated because, in this condition, she would only push him away.
Kalina dried her reddish, puffy eyes as best as she could with the backside of her hands, looked at him and asked, “Why did you not want me to come to dinner?”
“Now is not the time to discuss that, Kalina.”
“Why did you not want me to come to dinner?” she repeated.
Bryson sighed. He didn’t want to tell her the real reason he had changed his mind about her coming to his home for dinner. He had told her that he did it because he didn’t want to take up her time – time she could spend with her mother and while that was partially true, it wasn’t the whole truth. That’s what she was seeking.
“Why?” she asked.
“Kalina—”
“Why?” she sniffled.
He grimaced, shook his head and finally responded, “I didn’t want you to come because I didn’t want to introduce my family to a woman who doesn’t love, and who never would love me.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning exactly what I said,” he fired back. “It was a bad idea for me to invite you anyway, Kalina.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I wanted my family to meet you. At the last minute, I decided not to go through with it because, why should I put myself through the torture of bringing you into their life only for you to walk right back out of it?”
“And yet, you’re here.”
“Yes, I’m here because I care about you, but you know what, Kalina…I’m not going to sit here and listen to you belittle my feelings for you, just because you’re incapable of having any for me.” Bryson stood up and paced the floor for a few seconds trying to calm himself down. “I’m going to go get some air. Why don’t you take a minute to get your thoughts in order? Take a shower to help yourself relax. Call your au
nt. Why don’t you do that instead of trying to think of clever ways to insult me?” Bryson walked towards the door and before exiting the room, he said, “I’ll be back in an hour. If you don’t open the door for me, I’ll take the hint, but you can’t say I wasn’t here for you. That’s for sure.”
He walked away angry, the door slamming and locking behind him.
CHAPTER 36
The taps at the door took Kalina out of her nap. She had intended on taking a calming, warm shower, but she was so tired from the day’s activities, she laid on the bed and went to sleep. At any rate, the little rest did her body good because her mood was better, even though her problems remained.
Boom, boom, boom.
A second round of knocks at the door had her scooting up from the bed and squinting through the peephole, she saw Bryson standing there with a white, plastic bag. She opened the door, watching him quietly walk in.
He walked to the table, set the bag there, then turned to her and said, “I brought dinner.”
“Okay,” she said softly.
He noticed she was a lot calmer than she was earlier. “Do you want to come and eat with me?”
“Sure.” She walked over to the table and sat down. Before she opened her tray, she looked him in the eyes and said, “I’m sorry for the things I said earlier. I’m under a lot of stress, as you are very well aware, but that’s no excuse for me to be rude to you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, Kalina. It’s already forgiven.”
She smiled and watched his lips slowly form into a smile as well. She opened her tray and saw a pulled pork sandwich, fries and coleslaw. “This smells really good.”
“It better be good. I asked the locals what to order and they recommended it.”
Kalina took a bite and mumbled, “Mmm, yes. Very good.”
Bryson took a bite of his sandwich, agreeing with her. After a few more bites, he said, “I was trying to get to Fayetteville before you made it to your father’s house. From our previous conversations, I knew you had no idea he had passed and I didn’t want you to be devastated to find out on your own. I wanted to tell you.”