A Father's Promise

by Marcia Evanick

  "Afraid not."

  "Were you one of the guys who asked her out?" Ellis was staring directly at Josh.

  Sydney glanced between the two men and couldn't imagine them being father and son.

  Josh chuckled and shook his head. "You obviously never met my wife, Paula. We've been together since we were fifteen. Paula would have cut my … ah … ears off if I so much as thought about asking out another girl."

  Thomas chuckled along with Josh. "How is Paula and the family?"

  "Good, good. Paula's out in Pittsburgh with Bethany, our youngest of six daughters. Bethany just had her first baby last week, another granddaughter." Josh shook his head in wonder. "That makes our eleventh grandchild, and not a grandson among them. A man can get tired of buying pink frilly dresses and dolls." A big grin split his face. "But they sure are cute when you hold them."

  Josh nodded to a waitress who was trying to get his attention. "I've got to go see what the problem is now." He laid a big hand on Thomas's forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze as he stood up. "It's sure good to see you getting out and about now, Tom. Don't make yourself so scarce in the future."

  "Thanks." Thomas seemed moved by Josh's words.

  Josh released her father's arm and smiled at her and Ellis. "It's good to see you too, Sydney. I don't know what all the questions about Cathy have been about, but I do know one thing. If she had a secret boyfriend, the boy had to be either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. Her parents would have roasted him in Hades for just talking to her."

  Sydney watched as Josh disappeared into the kitchen. He hadn't been able to shed any light on who Ellis's father might be. The only thing he had done was confirm what she had been beginning to suspect. Cathy's parents, Ellis's grandparents, hadn't been very supportive. They were dominating, severe and uncompromising. No wonder poor Cathy had fled when she had discovered she was pregnant.

  "Well, that was interesting," Thomas said to no one in particular.

  "What was so interesting about it?" Ellis finished his coffee. "He didn't say anything that we didn't know before."

  "He confirmed what I was beginning to suspect. Your parents hid Cathy's liaison very well. Too well, in fact." Thomas's thumb continued its journey back and forth over his jaw. "I was away at Penn State during Cathy's last year in high school. I got home for summer vacation right before she graduated. I didn't remember her having a boyfriend, but it was possible I might not have heard about it."

  "I still don't see what's so interesting?" Ellis looked discouraged.

  "I think we might be looking in the wrong place. I don't think her friend was in high school with her."

  "What makes you think that, Dad?" She gave Trevor a curious glance, to see if he had finally started to pay attention to the conversation. He hadn't. He reached for a blue crayon and started to color in the sky on his picture.

  "I don't think they could have kept it such a secret in front of the whole school. One thing I have learned in all my years of police work is that high-school students don't keep secrets."

  "What secret?" Trevor was done with the picture and his attention was finally drawn to the adult conversation at the table.

  Thomas looked startled, as if he had forgotten about Trevor's presence. Ellis looked guilty. She took pity on them both and answered Trevor's question. "The secret is dessert." Trevor didn't need to know that they had been discussing his grandparents' affair.

  "Dessert?" Trevor appeared quite interested now. "What kind of dessert?"

  She leaned in closer and whispered, "Do you like chocolate cake?"

  Trevor licked his lips and nodded.

  She forced herself not to smile. "I happen to know that this place has the best chocolate cake in the whole town."

  "Really?" Trevor looked around the room at the other diners.

  "Really." She moved in closer and kept her voice low. "But there's one thing you have to do when you order it."

  "What?"

  "You have to ask for a glass of milk with it." She licked her own lips and rolled her eyes, causing Trevor to giggle. "Trust me on this one, Trev, it just doesn't taste the same without the milk."

  Trevor nodded his head, folded his hands in front of him and gave the outward appearance of being a little angel. His gaze was glued to the waitress two tables away.

  Ellis chuckled and motioned for the waitress. "What are we waiting for? Let's order some chocolate cake."

  "Milk too, Dad." Trevor grinned at Sydney. "Don't forget the milk."

  Sydney glanced across the table and met Ellis's gaze. There was a fire burning in the depth of his eyes that had nothing to do with chocolate cake. That fire was directed solely at her and it not only warmed her blood, it warmed her heart.

  She had to swallow twice before she could manage to say any words at all. Then she only managed a foolish "Yeah, Ellis, don't forget the milk."

  * * *

  Ellis knew he was in trouble. Deep trouble.

  He pulled the blanket up higher and tucked it under Trevor's chin and around a sad-looking Winnie-the-Pooh who was sharing a corner of his son's pillow. Trevor had fallen asleep on the way home from the restaurant and he had barely stirred when Ellis had carried him upstairs and changed him into his pajamas.

  Trevor was exhausted, but it was a good kind of tired. It hadn't been caused by endless rounds to doctors and batteries of tests. His son was tired from working at the nursery with Sydney. The fresh spring air and the excitement of helping out had put a rosy glow into Trevor's usually pale cheeks. Diner out had furthered the excitement and the huge slice of chocolate cake the waitress had placed before him had done him in. Trevor had done a remarkable job of trying to finish off the entire slice.

  Ellis brushed back a lock of his son's hair and gently kissed his forehead. He loved Trevor beyond life itself and would do anything to try to save him. Right now he didn't know if he was doing the right thing or not. The odds were heavily stacked against them.

  He felt sleazy and disrespectful poking around in his mother's past. He knew there had to be a very good reason she never told him about his grandparents. The more he heard about his mother's parents, the more he understood why she had chosen to raise him on her own. He was also beginning to understand why his mother never stepped foot into a church the whole time he had been growing up. The picture he was getting about her childhood wasn't pretty. But that still didn't explain why she had named Thomas St. Claire as his father.

  He had DNA proof that Thomas wasn't his father, and that his mother had lied. Somewhere out there was his biological father, if the man was still alive. There was no guarantee that the man would be in good physical condition if they did locate him. The odds weren't even that good that his father would still be in town.

  Then there was the fact that this man would have to step forward and claim him as his son, after thirty-three years of silence. Then this fatherhood dropout would have to agree to be tested. When Ellis added on top of all those insurmountable odds that there would have to be a match, the whole thing seemed just about hopeless.

  If all that wasn't depressing enough, he had come to care for a woman—really care—at the worst possible time of his life. Just as Trevor didn't deserve this disease, Sydney, poor innocent Sydney, surely didn't deserve all the emotional baggage Ellis would be bringing into any relationship they might have.

  But when he had glanced across the table at her in the restaurant, he had known he couldn't walk away from her. His heart wouldn't let him. Just as his heart wouldn't let him give up on Trevor. There was a miracle out there with his son's name on it. All he had to do was search hard enough and he would find it. Bringing Trevor to Coalsburg showed him just how far he was willing to search.

  He reached out and turned on his son's night-light by the side of the bed. He never wanted Trevor to wake to total darkness. His son might not be afraid of the dark, but he was, and with good reason. A couple of nights he had awoken in total darkness and was seized with such fright that he had
panicked uncontrollably until he had reached his son's bed. He knew that if Trevor succumbed to the disease invading his body, the darkness would control the rest of his life.

  He felt his fingers tremble as they reached out and lightly caressed his son's soft cheek. "I won't allow the darkness to touch you, Trev, I promise." He closed his eyes and silently prayed to the God his mother had shunned. No brilliant light or heavenly trumpets answered, but he did feel the strength to go back downstairs and see what else Thomas might have come up with.

  Thomas had been awfully quiet both during dessert and the drive home. The man had been thinking, and thinking hard. Maybe he had come up with a new plan to locate Trevor's grandfather. If not, the trip downstairs wouldn't be wasted. Sydney was down there. He needed to see her and there lay his other problem—his growing feelings for this woman.

  He had been handling Trevor's illness on his own, with the support and concern of Rita, his employees and his small circle of friends. Their support had always been enough to see him through whatever rough patch he had been facing. Now it wasn't enough anymore. He needed someone to lean on, someone to share this terrible ache within his heart. He needed Sydney.

  Ellis left the bedroom door slightly ajar before heading down the stairs and for the den. Thomas was in his usual chair and, also as usual, Sydney was curled up at the end of the sofa. But tonight, instead of poring over paperwork, she was leafing through a magazine. He stepped quietly into the room and took a seat at the other end of the couch.

  Thomas turned his head in his direction. "Did you get Trevor settled in for the night?"

  "He never woke back up. He mumbled a couple of words about chocolate cake and dandelions, but nothing made much sense."

  Thomas frowned. "We didn't tire him out too much today, did we?"

  "No, Trevor's fine. It was just a busy day for him, that's all." He slid closer to Sydney and held out his hand. He wanted to touch her. Today had been a lesson in futility. He had only managed to sneak in two kisses since leaving her bed before dawn. Finding her without Thomas around had been easy. Finding her without Trevor around was proving impossible.

  Sydney tossed the magazine back onto the coffee table and reached for his hand. "He did a pretty good job of trying to polish off that slice of chocolate cake."

  "Can't blame the boy there," Thomas said. "It was great cake."

  "Yes, it was." He squeezed her fingers and smiled a promise of things to come. Last night had only been an appetizer where Sydney was concerned. Tonight he wanted the main course.

  "I've been giving this a lot of thought, Ellis," Thomas said as he made himself more comfortable in the chair. "I think we should continue going through the yearbooks eliminating everyone we can, but I also want to pursue a new avenue."

  "What avenue's that?" He knew Thomas had been hatching another plan.

  "The church." Thomas's thumb rubbed at his jaw. "I think her parents' church might hold the key. Everyone we've talked to so far mentioned that Cathy was only allowed to do things that were church related. It stands to reason she would have spent quite a lot of hours not only at the church, but with some of its members."

  "That's true, Dad." Sydney squeezed his hand lightly. "Maybe someone from the church would remember who she might have been spending a lot of time with."

  Ellis felt his own excitement level rise a notch in response to Sydney's. "How are we going to find out who went to that particular church thirty-three years ago?"

  "Membership records. All churches keep membership records. All we have to do is look up the right year." Thomas rubbed his hands together as if the matter was settled. "First thing tomorrow morning we go to the church and look up the records." Thomas stood up, stretched and yawned. "Ellis, I'm going to need your eyes again."

  "No problem." He was curious about the church that both his grandparents and mother had gone to. Maybe there would be some photographs of his grandparents or even one of a young Catherine Carlisle.

  "Drop Trevor off at the nursery on the way." Sydney seemed to be watching her father as he made his way toward the door. "I think he enjoyed himself immensely today and all the employees fell in love with him."

  Ellis sighed. Trevor was his son, his responsibility. He didn't want to burden Sydney with watching him all morning long. Five-year-old boys contained nothing but energy and questions, especially after they had a good night's sleep. "Trevor can come with us, Sydney."

  "I don't mind, Ellis. Trevor's such a big help and I don't know of one little boy who would want to spend the entire morning poring over old membership records in some stuffy church office."

  "She has a point there, Ellis," Thomas said. "We'll pick Trevor up when we're done at the church and take him into town with us. I'd bet he would love to see the inside of the police station."

  He knew when he was beat. Between Thomas and Sydney he didn't have a chance. "Okay, but if he becomes too much for you, Sydney, I want you to call me. I'll give you my cell-phone number."

  "Good. Now that that's settled I'm heading for bed myself," Thomas said. "I'm an old man and I need my beauty sleep. Good night, you two."

  "Good night, Thomas."

  "Night, Dad." Sydney smiled and scooted closer to Ellis as her father walked out of the room. They listened in silence as Thomas made his way up the stairs and then closed his bedroom door. Delicate fingers that were capable of planting begonias or driving him to the brink of ecstasy started to toy with the buttons on his shirt. "Alone at last."

  He captured her hand before she got to the bottom button on his shirt, and every ounce of control he possessed went flying out the window. "You're a wicked women, Sydney St. Claire."

  Sydney smiled a devilish grin as she brought her mouth closer. Temptingly close. "You have no idea."

  He laughingly hauled her the rest of the way into his arms. "Show me how wicked you can be."

  Sydney wrapped her arms around his neck and proceeded to do exactly that.

  Chapter 10

  « ^ »

  Ellis glanced at his jailbird son, who was peering at him from behind thick iron bars, and grinned. Trevor waved and grinned back. The visit to the police station was a hit with Trevor, at least. As for Thomas, the jury was still out on that one.

  Pete and Harvey were back, and this time they brought Harvey's younger brother, Paul, and two other men who Ellis had heard Thomas mention in conversation. He had always been under the impression that females were the ones who knew everyone and, usually, everyone's business. He was wrong. He was most humbly wrong. He should go out immediately and offer every woman who crossed his path a sincere and heartfelt apology.

  Between Thomas, the two officers and the other five men, there wasn't a person, place or thing within a fifty-mile radius that wasn't known. Catherine Carlisle's life was open for discussion, at least the part of her life anyone could remember. Apparently his mother could have doubled as a wallflower.

  Paul did remember asking her out once during their senior year. The young Catherine had politely declined, saying her parents wouldn't allow her to date. Though Paul had honestly seemed embarrassed about telling Ellis he had asked his mother out, he had respectfully told him that Catherine had been cute, in a different sort of way. She hadn't been allowed to wear the same type of clothes that the other girls wore. Makeup was also forbidden, and her long brown hair had always been severely pulled back away from her face.

  "Hey, Charlie," Paul said, "you were in our class. Don't you remember anything about Cathy?"

  Charlie, a bald man with a belly that hung over his belt, seemed startled by the question. "She was in a couple of my classes, but I don't really remember too much about her at school. She was always quiet and sat at the back of the room." Charlie gave a shrug. "She always got good grades and wore white blouses."

  "White blouses?" He couldn't prevent himself from asking. He couldn't ever remember seeing his mother in a white blouse.

  "Yeah, you know, the kind that buttons down the front. She wore
one to school every day."

  "That's right, she did," Paul said.

  Charlie beamed as if he had just solved the energy problems of the world. "Most of the time she wore them to church too, but sometimes she wore other colors."

  "You went to church with her, Charlie?" Thomas sat up a little straighter.

  "Every Sunday." Charlie, clearly warming to the idea of being the center of attention, leaned back against a file cabinet and balanced his chair on its back two legs. "We were in the same bible-study class on Monday nights and youth group together on Friday nights."

  "You spent a lot of time with my mother, didn't you?" He looked at Charlie with renewed interest. Was it possible…?

  Charlie gave a rough laugh that sounded like a bark. "I spent time in the same places as your mother, Ellis, but I was never with her. She didn't hang around anyone except for her parents and a few of the deacons and elders."

  Ellis saw Thomas tilt his head in his direction, but he was already ahead of the man. He had pulled out the list of members of his grandparents' church and was skimming the names of the four deacons and the four elders. "Do you remember which deacons or elders in particular?"

  "She liked Hal Remson."

  "She did?" Hal Remson had been the head elder at the time. Maybe they were finally getting somewhere.

  "Scratch that one, Ellis." Thomas sadly shook his head. "Hal Remson must had been what … eighty-three, eighty-four at the time. Everyone fawned over Hal. Every year the church had to take up a separate collection to buy him a new pair of dentures. Hal kept losing them."

  "Yeah," remembered Charlie, "he used to have this brass walking stick."

  "He did have an eye for the ladies," Harvey said.

  "He wore the same suit to church for twenty years, and he never missed a Sunday." Charlie placed both his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "Yes sir, Cathy was constantly fluttering at his side. Come to think of it, so was every other woman in that church. Hal loved all that attention. Sure do miss the old coot." Charlie looked over at Harvey. "He passed away what, twenty years ago?"