“You’ve got quite a bit,” Jean told Kim as she handed her a stack of mail.
“Thanks, Jean,” Kim said as she wandered back to her office, thumbing through the pile. By the assortment of size and colors of the envelopes, it was obvious most were greeting cards and not typical business mail.
When Kim started opening the envelopes, she was surprised to discover most were not holiday cards but sympathy cards. Apparently, many of her clients and fellow real estate agents had just recently learned of her mother’s death. While she appreciated the thoughtful gesture, opening the cards proved too painful, and she decided to leave the task for later. Tossing the unopened envelopes on her desk, she grabbed her purse and decided to get some lunch.
“Are you coming back?” Jean asked, when Kim told her where she was going.
Kim paused for a moment at the front desk. “I should be back in about an hour. Will you be here?”
“Yes, but I will be leaving around three,” Jean told her.
“Okay, I’ll be back before then,” Kim promised as she pushed open the door and exited the office.
“Have a nice lunch!” Jean called after her.
Kim found herself driving around for about thirty minutes, unable to decide where to go for lunch. While she knew she needed to eat something, the idea of food was no longer appealing. Finally, she turned into a supermarket parking lot, pulled into an empty space, and turned off her car engine. Instead of getting out of the vehicle, she kept her hands on the steering wheel and just sat there, staring ahead blankly. Kim closed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her forehead against the steering wheel. She began to cry.
She sat there for a good twenty minutes, silently crying. Occasionally, someone would walk by her vehicle and glance in, wondering briefly what was wrong with the woman in the car. None stopped to ask but instead continued to walk on, seeing no reason to get involved.
Finally, she pulled herself together and reached for her purse, searching for a clean tissue. After she found one, Kim wiped away the tears, blew her nose, and took a deep, cleansing breath. She started the engine and drove back to her office.
After parking the car behind the real estate office, Kim turned off the engine and looked into the rearview mirror. She used her fingertips to wipe away any makeup smudged during her recent crying spree and then she straightened her hair and sat there a moment.
Kim admitted to herself that coming home to Arizona had not made things better. If anything, she felt more alone and isolated than before. She couldn’t think of a single girlfriend she would feel comfortable calling to discuss intimate matters. The relationships she had established over the last sixteen years were superficial at best. Feeling depressed, Kim got out of the car.
“You have a client waiting for you in your office,” Jean announced the moment Kim walked into the building. “I offered to call you, but when I told him you would be back within the hour he said he would just wait.”
“I wasn’t expecting anyone. Who is it?”
“I don’t know; I’ve never seen him before. But I think he might be a little hard of hearing, because when I asked him his name, he didn’t answer, and considering his age…” Jean then shrugged.
“An older man?”
“Yes. He’s in a wheelchair.”
“Wheelchair? Is he alone?” Kim immediately glanced to her office door, which was closed.
“Yes, he wheeled himself in here all by himself. I have no idea who brought him.”
“Thanks, Jean.” Kim smiled weakly and then walked to her office. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
Harrison Coulson sat in his wheelchair, looking at the various framed awards and certificates on the wall behind Kim’s desk. When she opened the door, he turned his head and looked in her direction. He wasn’t smiling, but neither was he frowning. His expression was unreadable. Harrison appreciated the fact she was wearing a tailored dress instead of sloppy jeans like the girl who had greeted him at the front desk.
“Hello, Mr. Coulson,” Kim said politely. “This is a surprise.” She walked into the office and closed the door behind her.
“I don’t know why you’d be that surprised. I imagine you were expecting me.”
“Actually, I wasn’t. Of course, when Jean said I had someone waiting for me in my office and that he was in a wheelchair, I thought it might be you. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee perhaps?”
“So, no one warned you I was coming?”
“No, Mr. Coulson, no one told me.”
“First, young lady, stop calling me Mr. Coulson. I’m your grandfather. And sit down. I want to talk to you, and I don’t like you standing over me like that.”
Kim smiled wearily and took the seat behind her desk. She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but she figured if she let the old man have his say, he would leave and she wouldn’t have to see him again.
“Have you been crying?”
Kim took another deep breath before answering, “Yes, sir, I have.”
“Well, I suppose you have a reason to cry. You are a female, so go ahead and get it all out, and then we need to move on. You have your entire life in front of you.”
“Sir, why are you here?” Kim asked, feeling incredibly weary. All she wanted to do was go lie down and take a nap.
“I was hoping I could convince you to come back with me and spend Christmas with your family.”
“No disrespect intended, sir, but we aren’t really family.” Kim didn’t sound angry when she delivered her words, just tired.
“I understand why you might prefer to ignore the fact that we are your family. Unfortunately, we can’t choose our family. We simply must take the good with the bad.”
“What I don’t understand, sir.” Kim paused a moment before continuing. “From what you said the other night, it was pretty clear you’ve known for some time that I’m your granddaughter, yet never once did you try to reach out to me. Now, suddenly, you expect me to come back with you and think of you as my grandfather? I really don’t understand.”
“Tell me, Kim,” Harrison said with a steady voice. “Exactly how would you have reacted if I had came knocking on your door and introduced myself to you as your grandfather? Would that have been better?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Kim was having difficulty thinking straight and her stomach began to grumble. She was both hungry and tired.
Harrison heard the rumblings of hunger coming from his granddaughter. “When was the last time you ate? I thought you just came back from lunch.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Young lady, don’t you know how to answer a straight question?” Harrison sounded a bit irritated.
“I skipped lunch. Well, I ate….” Kim rubbed her forehead. She had skipped breakfast and dinner the night before. “I guess I did skip a couple meals. Yesterday at lunch, I had a ham sandwich.”
“I’m taking you to dinner,” Harrison announced.
“No, that’s not necessary,” Kim began to argue. Before she knew what happened, Harrison was calling someone on his cell phone.
Thirty minutes later, they were sitting together at a private booth in an upscale restaurant. Harrison took it upon himself to order for Kim and instructed the server to bring a basket of rolls and a glass of milk for his granddaughter to hold her until they brought dinner.
“Milk?” Kim questioned with a smile after the server took the order and left the table.
“I was afraid if you had any wine, you’d fall over.” Harrison chuckled.
Kim didn’t argue and accepted the basket of rolls and glass of milk when the server brought them to the table a few minutes later.
“You asked me a question back at your office,” Harrison began as Kim finished one roll and helped herself to a second. “You asked why now.”
“Yes, I did wonder that,” Kim replied before taking a sip of milk.
“I found out about the house Harrison bought for your mot
her. I naturally assumed she was his mistress and that you were his illegitimate daughter. I was furious, not because of the money but because he was keeping his daughter from her family. But he insisted you were not his daughter.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believed him when he told me your mother had been his mistress, yet I wasn’t sure about you. I recognized long ago that Harrison had problems, but for him to do what he did to your mother… that I never expected. He was wealthy, outwardly charming, and handsome. The thought of him forcing himself on a woman never entered my mind.”
“Do you believe he forced himself on my mother?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“What about me? Why do you believe now I’m your granddaughter?”
“Harrison always had a problem with the truth. While I suspected you might be his daughter, I wasn’t sure it was in your best interest to pursue the issue.”
“My best interest?”
“I’ll be candid. After I found out about you and your mother, I hired a private investigator. The things Harrison told me about your mother didn’t quite fit with what the private investigator uncovered. I assumed he had seduced her, taken advantage of her and gotten her pregnant and then for whatever reason, abandoned you both. Since she never pursued him for support and found employment, I assumed she no longer wanted anything to do with him.
“I decided to honor your mother’s wishes,” Harrison explained. He failed to add there was also that little matter of his son’s political career, which was just taking off, and an illegitimate daughter didn’t fit into the picture at the time.
“So, now it’s convenient to acknowledge me?”
“There is nothing convenient about any of this. But a man changes as he comes to the finishing line. He begins to see things differently than he did in his youth.”
“I don’t want to be a Coulson. It’s not because you refused to acknowledge me when I was a child. I simply want nothing to do with your son and your family name.”
“Fair enough. Considering that my son is dead, you never have to deal with him. As for the family name, I won’t expect you to start using it now. But as much as you hate Harrison and what he did to your mother, you can’t change the fact we are your family. Do you think you are really the only person in the world who despises a parent? Is the hatred for a single parent reason enough to walk away from others in your family who want to love and support you? Your aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandfather?”
“How can you honestly say you love me? You don’t even know me.”
“You have a point. And I can understand why you might hate me, considering Harrison was my son, and I must accept a portion of responsibility for how he turned out.”
“I don’t hate you,” Kim told him.
“Well, good. That’s a start. What are your plans for Christmas?”
“I, I plan to have dinner… with Jake.” Kim smiled brightly, her cheerfulness forced.
“Spending Christmas with your cat? No, a better idea is to come back with me and spend Christmas with your family.”
“How did you know Jake was a cat?” Kim asked with a frown.
Harrison just laughed, then reached over and patted her hand briefly, before saying, “Jake is welcome to come. He might as well get used to the house; it will be yours someday.”
“No… wait… I don’t want your house.”
“Well, don’t worry. You can’t have it now.” Harrison chuckled, before taking a bite of food the server had just set before him. “It’s yours after I kick the bucket. But don’t be rushing me girl. I’m feeling mighty good these days.”
“No, the house should go to Garret.”
“Why? The house is supposed to go to the oldest child and if that child is deceased, his oldest child, which is you. Garret understands that.”
“But I don’t want the house.”
“Well, young lady, we don’t always get exactly what we want. Anyway, I don’t think you’re telling the truth. I saw how you were looking over the house on Thanksgiving.”
“But, I want nothing from Harrison.”
“The house isn’t from your father. Technically, it isn’t even from me. It’s from your great-grandfather. Harrison contributed in no way to the house. Even the furnishings that he and Shelly purchased went with Shelly.”
“She took all your furniture?”
“No, they only purchased furniture for the rooms they used personally, primarily located in their wing on the second floor. There are a few rooms upstairs that have been stripped, but you’ll notice no change downstairs.”
Kim silently finished the rest of the food on her plate, aware that her grandfather’s keen eyes were watching her. Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that she didn’t think of Senator Harrison when she thought of the mansion he had lived in. For one thing, she had never met the man in person nor seen him in the house.
Her personal experiences and memories of Coulson men included Garret and Russell, beginning when she was just a teenager. Both had been supportive and nice to her. The only other Coulson male she had met personally was the elder Harrison, who she begrudgingly found charming in his own curmudgeon way.
“I think I should have a DNA test,” Kim said at last as she stared at her dinner plate and took a bite of food.
“Whatever for?”
“Before we pursue…” Kim paused, trying to find the right words. “…any type of relationship, I’d like to dispel any lingering doubts regarding my parentage.”
“I have no doubts,” Harrison insisted.
“Still, it’s what I’d prefer.”
“Okay, I’ll have my people arrange it. Will you agree to come back with me in the morning and spend Christmas with the family? You can bring Jake along and stay at my house.”
“Don’t you want to wait for the test results?”
“Not particularly. I have no doubt you’re my granddaughter, and neither do you. This request for a DNA test is nothing more than your attempt to stall for time.”
“Stall for time?”
“Yes. I can tell there’s a part of you that wants to spend Christmas with your family in Coulson, yet another part that just wants to go home and hide. But I’m not getting any younger, and I have no idea if this will be my last Christmas. I want to spend it with my family around me. I want my three granddaughters with me.” As he continued to talk, he became more emotional, yet the plea seemed a bit forced from Kim’s perspective.
She looked up into Harrison’s face and noticed the mischievous gleam in his twinkling eyes. She began to laugh. “Oh, please, don’t try the poor old man and the last Christmas with me! It really doesn’t suit you!”
“Too much?” Harrison chuckled.
“Just a tad.” Kim smiled. He really was a spunky old coot, she thought. “Okay, I’ll go. You’re right. I do like the rest of the family.”
“And me?” Harrison asked with a smile.
“The verdict is out on that.”
Harrison chuckled and then took a sip of water.
Sometime during the dinner, Kim came to the realization that bitterness no longer tinged her feelings regarding the senator’s relatives. While she continued to loathe the younger Harrison, those feelings no longer spilled onto the other family members, and she could almost think of them as her family.
Kim wasn’t sure how Harrison had convinced her to fly back to Coulson with him in the morning. Yet, she was actually looking forward to seeing the familiar faces of those she used to consider Adam’s family, not her own.
After leaving the restaurant, the driver took them back to Kim’s offices so she could pick up her laptop computer and car. It was dark outside, so Harrison insisted he and his driver accompany her into the office so she could retrieve her belongings.
Kim was surprised to find the office lights still on and her broker inside, who stood at the front desk filling the fax machine with copy paper.
“Hi, Ed. What are you doing here so late
?” Kim asked as she entered the office.
“I’ve an offer coming in,” Ed started to explain, and then he noticed the elderly man in the wheelchair being pushed into the office behind Kim. Ed smiled and walked up to the new arrivals, waiting for Kim to make introductions. When she seemed reluctant to do so, he extended his right hand first to Harrison before acknowledging the man pushing the wheelchair.
“Hello. I’m Ed Jameson, Kim’s broker,” Ed greeted as he shook Harrison’s hand.
“I’m Harrison Coulson, Kimberley’s grandfather. And this is my driver, Smith,” Harrison stated in a no-nonsense manner.
Kim stood there speechless. She didn’t know what surprised her most, the fact that he introduced himself as her grandfather or that he called her Kimberly. It was her real name, yet one she hadn’t been called since she was a little girl.
“Grandfather?” Ed asked. He was a bit confused. He glanced from granddaughter to grandfather as he released the elderly man’s hand. Ed was certain he’d heard the old man correctly; he did say Harrison Coulson. Wasn’t that the senator’s name?
As if he’d read Ed’s mind, Harrison added, “Yes, the late Senator Coulson was my son, Kimberley’s biological father. You will have to excuse my granddaughter. This is all very new to her. You see, my son was quite obsessed with her dear mother and shamefully seduced the girl. Of course, Kimberley’s mother was much too smart to stay in a long-term relationship with a married man, so she sent him packing and raised Kimberly herself. She did a fine job, I might add.
“Unfortunately, my son could never quite deal with the rejection, and in a fit of jealousy, he shot Kimberley’s poor mother. My granddaughter has just recently learned the truth regarding her father’s identity. Of course, her aunts and uncles have known and adored Kimberly for years and want to support her during this troubling time. As do I. It’s what family is about.” Harrison smiled, quite pleased with himself for creating such a dramatic and somewhat true depiction of the recent events while leaving out the unsavory elements of rape.
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