“Glad to meet you, both,” Rose said and took a seat. “You don’t look a bit like Beverly, Judson, but you’re the spitting image of Fentriss Sparkman.” She looked at Telford. “Y’all half brothers?”
“His father was Sparkman’s brother,” Cissy explained.
“I guess Sparkman loved Beverly,” Rose said. “He came back here many times looking for her after she left, but nobody knew where she was. He would’ve married her, I’m sure, if he’d gotten the chance. For some reason, Agnes couldn’t stand him. You see, he was Agnes’s age, and I always thought she had a crush on Sparkman. She really punished Beverly. Beverly would sneak out at night, and sometimes she’d stay out all night knowing Agnes was gon’ knock her ’round when she came home.
“She’d find things Sparkman gave Beverly and take ’em away from her. Nice things. Do you know that man gave Beverly a gold watch and Agnes took it from her? I never could figure out why Beverly didn’t leave home. ’Course, Sparkman could’ve been married.”
“He wasn’t,” Telford said. “He never married.”
“Well,” Rose went on, “Beverly got pregnant for Sparkman, and Agnes tried to make her get rid of it. When Beverly refused, that was the first time she ever stood up to Agnes. Agnes was in a rage, claimed Beverly had disgraced the family.”
“Where was Uncle Fentriss?” Telford asked her.
“He’d gone to Atlanta to work, and when he came back here for Beverly, Agnes had taken her to Baltimore and left the baby with her mother, Beverly’s grandmother. Far as I know, Fentriss never knew nothing about that baby. Agnes came back a couple of months later, but she never said much about Beverly, claimed she didn’t know where she was. I remember that she had the baby christened at Shiloh, but there’s no telling what kind of lie Agnes put on those christening papers.
“You ought to check that out, though, ’cause sure as my name is Rose Faison, you are Sparkman’s child, and he didn’t look at another woman but Beverly during the two years he worked here. How old are you? About thirty-four, thirty-five? Beverly had that baby thirty-five years ago this December.”
Both men leaned forward. “You don’t remember the date, do you?” Judson asked her.
“No, son. My memory’s not that good. But I remember it was the first part of December, because it was the day after… Wait a minute. Beverly had that baby the day after Agnes’s birthday, and I’m pretty sure Agnes was born on December the first. Everybody knew her birthday, ’cause she wanted the whole town to give her presents. It’s in my old date book. I’m sure. I’ll check it. Anyway, that will be correct on the christening certificate.”
When Judson slumped in the chair, Telford asked him, “When is your birthday?”
“December the second.”
Rose leaned back and folded her arms. “I rest my case.”
“I don’t see why we need more proof than that,” Telford said. He stood, put a hand on Judson’s shoulder. “Maybe we’d better try to reach the people at Shiloh Church and see if they can locate that christening record.”
“Right,” Judson said, and as if a boulder weighed on him, he managed to get up with great effort.
“I know it’s a blow, son,” Cissy said. “Knowing you lived with your mother all those years and she never ’fessed up to you. But I guess she did what she had to do, and at least you can thank her for not letting anybody else raise you.” She walked over to him, and he welcomed the comfort of her arms around him.
“I’ve accepted it for months now, and I thought I’d adjusted to it, Aunt Cissy, but… If I’d known, I would have found my father, and she probably knew that. Too bad she and Fentriss Sparkman lost track of each other through her mother’s meddling.”
“That’s about what happened,” Rose said. “Agnes got to face the Lord about her meanness.”
“Excuse me a minute,” Judson said to Telford, and took Cissy’s arm and walked with her into the kitchen. “How are you doing financially? What do you need?”
“God bless you, son. I don’t need anything right now.”
“Promise me that when you do, you’ll tell me at once. I don’t want you to want for anything. Is that clear?”
“Bless you. I promise, but all I have on me are taxes, food and utilities, and my pension covers that.”
He grinned at her. “If the house springs a leak, call me.”
They left Cissy’s house and went to the office of Shiloh Baptist Church, but the clerk there could find no record of the christening. He embraced Telford, thanked him for his help, promised to stay in touch and headed back to Baltimore. Happiness suffused him; he was almost certain of his parentage, and he couldn’t wait to see Heather and share with her what he’d learned.
Judson couldn’t know that Heather was also in Hagerstown visiting her father, roughly a ten-minute drive from Cissy’s house. She sat beside her father’s chair holding his hand. She knew she wouldn’t have him for long and shrank from the knowledge.
“I’ve been hoping for news that you’ve been appointed to a full ambassadorship,” he said. “I know it’s coming, but I want to be able to share it with you.”
“I turned down Albania, Dad, and now they’ve offered me a post in Lithuania, but I’d be so far away, I might as well be in Albania.”
“You’re young yet. Don’t be in such a hurry. You shouldn’t take the assignment if you don’t want it. You deserve better.”
She understood that, although he wanted to see her with that coveted title, he didn’t want it at the expense of her career. He patted her hand. “What about Judson Philips? What are you doing about him? I made a mistake with Annie. I should never have listened to her old-fashioned foolishness. If we’d gotten married, we’d both be happier. But she wouldn’t, because then everybody would think we’d been living in sin. So what! I never gave a damn about what people thought. Besides, we sinned, as she put it, a few hundred times these past twenty years.
“Don’t be a fool where Philips is concerned. He’s a first-rate man, and he’s in love with you.”
“I know. And I love him. But he’s not focused on me right now. If I go to Lithuania, that may finish it, though that’s not why I’m turning the offer down. The problem is that a post in Lithuania will also finish my career. Nothing happens there, so State will forget about me, and the next president and his staff won’t know or care who I am.”
Annie brought tea for Heather and cocoa for her father. He sipped the drink, put the cup down and looked at Heather. “Then why would you consider the post?”
She hugged him. “I love you, Dad.”
“I know. And that means everything to me.”
At around three that afternoon, she started the drive to Baltimore, hoping to beat the rush-hour traffic. The sound of a siren behind her got her attention and, when she glanced at the side-view mirror, she slowed down on the chance that the state trooper wanted to pass her. He didn’t. He signaled for her to pull over and stop.
She hadn’t realized that she was speeding and told the trooper as much. When he questioned her, she told him of her visit with her father and how happy she was as a result of it.
He took his book of tickets away. “Enjoy your dad while you have him, miss. But with that kind of driving, you’ll be gone before he is. Don’t let me catch you again.” He returned her license.
“I won’t. Thank you, sir.” Eighty miles an hour in a fifty-five-mile zone! Was she crazy?
She drove on at a comparative snail’s pace. Her cell phone rang, but she didn’t even glance toward it. One brush with the law and with fate was sufficient for a day. But when she got home, she found the red light on her house phone blinking. A check of her answering machine revealed a call from Scott and two from Judson.
She phoned Scott first. “Hi. What’s up?” she asked after greeting him.
“Nothing. Judson called and asked if I knew your whereabouts. He sounded excited, but you bet he wasn’t going to tell me what was going on.”
“But aren’t
the two of you buddies?”
“Sure we are, but he’ll tell you first, and if he has any excitement left, then he’ll tell me. He cares a lot for you, Heather, and right now he’s really vulnerable. You know what I’m saying?”
“I think so. I’ve been with my dad in Hagerstown and had a wonderful visit with him. He’s about as good as could be expected.”
“Glad to hear it. You gonna phone Judson?”
“Of course. See you.”
She hung up and dialed Judson’s cell number. “Hi, honey. You called me?”
“Three times. How are you, sweetheart? I’ve been at my aunt Cissy’s with Telford, Aunt Cissy and Aunt Cissy’s sister-in-law, Rose.
“After hearing what Rose had to say, it’s crystal clear to me who my birth parents were, but I need the proof. Rose said I look exactly like Sparkman, but that wouldn’t stand up in court, and it won’t mean anything to my children. They’ll want proof of their lineage, and I’m not going to stop until I get that proof.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Are you upset?”
“Definitely not. Why?”
“While you were with Aunt Cissy, I was at my father’s place. He asked about you.”
“You mean…I thought of going by to see him, but then I decided it would be presumptuous of me to do that, so I came home. I’m sorry I didn’t follow my hunch. Can we see each other for dinner? Nothing lavish because I spent the day in Hagerstown when I should have been working. Suppose we eat in Little Italy? The service is excellent, and the food never disappoints.”
“Fine with me.”
“See you in thirty minutes.”
When she opened the door for him later, he handed her a yellow calla lily. She was neither a crybaby nor any other kind of weakling, but she looked at the flower he held, shifted her gaze to his face and to the love she saw in his eyes and stared at him, speechless, while tears rolled down her cheeks. He closed the door, picked her up and carried her to her bed. An hour later, he dressed, phoned an Italian restaurant that he favored and ordered their dinner.
She dragged herself to the bathroom, showered, put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and padded barefoot into the living room where he sat in the dark. “It’s too late now,” she said to herself. “I’m head over heels in love with him.” After switching on a light, she sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Will you agree not to see other men?” he asked her. “I need a commitment from you, and I’m willing to give you the same.”
“I thought we were already committed.”
“Not in the way I mean. I’ve been holding back because I’ve needed to know who my parents are. I’m not absolutely positive now, but I feel certain enough to start putting my life in order. If we can work out our problems, such as your career and where we’ll live, I want us to get married and start a family.”
“It makes sense,” she said softly.
“Sense? I need more than that, and please don’t tell me you haven’t given it any thought.”
“I love you, Judson, and I cannot conceive of any other man in my life. Nor do I want any other. Is that good enough for now?”
“No, it isn’t. But until I can make it more definite, I’ll accept it.”
She didn’t want to be without him, but how could she commit herself to marriage, knowing how tenuous relationships could be? Yet, she knew he wasn’t going to let her string him along. Eventually, she knew it would be marriage or lose him.
The following day, she made an appointment with her superior, told her that she couldn’t leave her terminally ill father and recommended Scott for the ambassadorship to Lithuania.
“I’ll miss you,” she told Scott, “because you’re the first real friend I ever made.”
“Thank you for recommending me. You won’t be alone, because you have Judson now, so you won’t need me. I’m depending on you to see that I don’t stay in that outpost for longer than two years.”
“I promise, friend.”
“Marry him, Heather. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“I know. Too bad you won’t be around to make me think straight.”
“Not to worry,” he said. “We can talk every day. I’m going to try and stay focused on what’s important, and you do the same. “
“Just tell me this—in your opinion, is Judson a very vulnerable person?”
“You mean fragile? No, he’s got enough self-assurance for three men. With one exception. He has always lacked confidence about his parentage, what kind of stock he comes from and whether he’d be proud of his mother and father.”
“He’s about to resolve that, because it appears his father was Fentriss Sparkman.”
“Yeah, but until he sees proof of that, he’ll agonize over it. That’s why he’s a helluva lawyer.”
Shortly thereafter, Judson phoned Scott for lunch. “It doesn’t have to be special, Scott. A barbecue sandwich will suit me. What about you?”
“Man, you know I go for the barbecue every time.”
Scott was seated at the table when Judson arrived. “What happened to you?” Judson asked him. “In over thirty years, you didn’t go anyplace early. What’s up?”
“Heather turned down an appointment to Lithuania, pleaded her father’s illness and recommended me in her place. You’re looking at the chief diplomat at the U.S. consulate in Lithuania. She didn’t have to do it, but she did, and I’ll never forget it.”
“Well, I’ll be. I’d adore her for that if for nothing else. She’s a classy woman. I couldn’t be happier for you, Scott. But won’t she damage her career? That’s the second opportunity she turned down.”
“Trust me, she hasn’t done herself any harm. She has a hell of a record at State, and they owe her a better post. Between you and me only, there could be some reluctance to send a single woman her age to a high post. I’m not sure, but I’ve thought about it a lot. Don’t mention the idea to Heather, man, because she’ll freak out.”
They placed their orders, and Scott included in his a bottle of beer. “Don’t I know it,” Judson said. “She’d have a fit.”
“What more have you learned about Aunt Bev and Sparkman?”
He recapped the day and the information. “I don’t doubt that Mom was my birth mother and that Sparkman was my father, but I want to see the proof, and I am going to get it. I want to be able to tell my children who their grandparents were. When are you leaving for Lithuania?”
“Two or three weeks. I have to have a lot of briefings, lease my condo and take care of some other personal things. I’ll miss you, buddy.”
“Same here. It will be the first time we’ve been separated since we met.”
“Yeah,” Scott said.
After a moment, Judson broke the silence. “I’d better go. I’m meeting with the D.A. on a case of criminal negligence tomorrow morning, and I have to be on my toes.”
“I’ll see you before I leave. Remember that Heather isn’t as tough as she seems.”
“I know that, buddy, probably better than you do. Not to worry. I’ll take care of her, if she’ll let me.”
“She won’t want to think that you’re taking care of her, Judson, but she needs it. Not where her work and the management of her life are concerned, but she needs caring and she’s just realized it.”
Judson raised an eyebrow. “Since when?”
“I’d say, six or seven weeks at the most. I suspect she’s just now learning that she’s not all brain and smarts. You’ve had a role in that.”
“Yeah. I have. But she possesses awesome self-control and determination. I can only hope that she’ll decide I’m worth it.”
Chapter 10
Judson could hardly contain his surprise when he received a call from Russ Harrington. “We’re all going for a spin on my cruiser this weekend, and I’d be delighted if you’d come. We’ll spend nights at Drake’s house in St. Michaels—and bring Heather.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll ask Heathe
r if she’d like to join us. Where is your boat?”
“On the Chesapeake. It’s about an hour-and-a-half drive from here, and about fifty minutes from you. We could hook up in Baltimore and drive over together. Telford and Drake will drive their cars. Henry hates big boats, but he’s coming because he loves to fish, and he wants to try out the gear you gave him. We’ll have a great time.”
“After I speak with Heather, I’ll phone you. Thanks so much for thinking of us, Russ. And please give my regards to Velma.”
“It’s a family outing, Judson, and that automatically includes you.”
They said goodbye, and he hung up. He dialed Heather’s number and waited, anxious to hear her say she’d go with him on the cruise. When he heard her voice, his heart skipped a beat.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Surely that calm voice was not his. He relayed to her Russ’s invitation. “I want to go, and I’ll be miserably lonely if you don’t go with me.”
“I’d love to go. Maybe Henry will teach me how to fish.”
“Henry, huh! What about me? I’d think you’d look forward to spending a weekend in my company.”
“You poor baby. Of course I will.” She practically purred.
“Why do you get kittenish when I’m nowhere near you? I’d like to curl up somewhere with you right now.”
“But, honey, I’m in my office.”
“Don’t I know it! If you were at home, I’d be halfway there by now.”
“Honey, tone it down. I’ve got a lot of work to do today.”
He sucked in his breath. “At least I get to you the way you get to me.”
“I didn’t think that was in question,” she said.
“It isn’t, but when you get fresh with me, I’m never sure how serious your teasing is.”
“I’m honest, Judson. You can depend on that.”
“I know, and that’s important. I’ll call you when you get home. In the meantime, I’ll let Russ know we’re joining him and the family on the cruise.”
Love Me Tonight Page 17