by ANDREA SMITH
“Okay - why should I care, Dad?”
“No reason, I suppose, other than he seemed to think your husband may have arranged it.”
What??
“What? Are you serious? Trey would never ---"
“That’s neither here nor there Tylar. He asked that I pass along a message to you at my earliest opportunity. His message was very precise. He wanted me to make sure I said it exactly the way that he instructed me to convey it. He said that he's deeply sorry he took advantage of you. He knew full well that you were grieving, confused and vulnerable; he'd no right to touch you, or any other man’s wife for that matter and he'll never do so again.”
Oh my God . . . that is sooo Trey!
“Wow. Okay, Dad; thanks for passing that along, I guess.”
“You'll make sure that Trey's made aware of the apology?”
I looked up at him my confusion evident.
“Apparently, Mr. Duval is concerned he'll be paid another visit by some hired goon if the message didn't reach you. He acted extremely . . . paranoid.”
I nodded. “Yes, I'll make sure I let Trey know.”
“Good,” he said smiling. “Now give your old man a hug. I'll see you and my beautiful granddaughter tomorrow.”
When we returned to the house, Nigel, Tess and the baby had returned. Susan was feeding Reese a bottle; Preston was sitting on a woman’s lap. I presumed that she was Trey’s cousin Brenda. She was reading a book to Preston.
Seeing that Preston was totally comfortable where she was, I turned my attention to Tess who was holding Royce.
“Tess, congratulations to you and Nigel,” I said. “May I see your son?”
“Of course,” she replied, moving the receiving blanket back off of his face. “He’s fallen asleep again. I think we wore him out today.”
It didn’t matter that his eyes were closed. He was a carbon copy of Reese when he was a newborn. I smiled at him noting that he didn’t have the chin dimple Trey had and that Tristan didn’t.
“Oh, Tess, he's beautiful,” I said realizing I meant it. “Gina, come see Royce.”
Trey took me by the arm and led me over to the corner where his cousin was still reading to Preston. He wanted to introduce me.
Brenda looked to be in her mid-forties. She was extremely beautiful with dazzling green eyes, dark blond hair that was shoulder length and a very congenial personality.
“I'm so happy to meet you, Tylar,” she said smiling. “Aunt Susan just went on and on about you. Your daughter's quite adorable. She's been chattering away since I got here. She's extremely intelligent. I work as a pre-school teacher in Birmingham; and I can tell you her speech and vocabulary both, are at an advanced level for her age.”
I could feel Trey beaming as he stood beside me. I felt proud as well.
“Well thank you, Brenda. It’s nothing I can take credit for; I read to her and she seems to enjoy it.”
“That's the best thing you can do, Tylar. She's utterly precocious which makes learning something that gives her satisfaction. I'd bet she's a bit of a perfectionist at ordinary things she does?”
“Well, yeah. I’ve noticed how she arranges her stuffed animals in a circle when she plays. She gets extremely upset with herself as we go through the whole potty-training thing if she has an accident.”
“Yes,” she said delightedly, “she sets high expectations for herself already. Just make sure you reinforce to her that everyone makes mistakes, has accidents, and occasionally makes bad choices. She'll work it out.”
“Do you have children?” I asked.
“I have a son, Jackson. He's a sophomore at University of Alabama. He plays football for them. He's also a Psychology major.”
“Well, you must be very proud as well.”
“Oh, I am; I’m only sad that his daddy can’t be here to see his achievements. He died a year ago next week. He suffered from a rare form of blood cancer. Unfortunately, he suffered for the last seven years. I still miss him though.”
My heart went out to this woman. She'd endured a lot yet remained so positive and outgoing. She clearly had bonded with Preston and I bet she bonded with most children.
As Trey and I got Preston ready for bed my heart suddenly felt light. I was happy and content. I couldn’t explain it yet I knew what it was.
We got her settled in her crib for the night. Trey and I then showered together. It was very intimate for us. It was hard to explain. We got dressed and cuddled in bed.
Trey put the flat screen on finding ESPN to watch. I was all over him. I kissed him, fondled him and basically wouldn’t allow him to do anything but pay attention to me. He finally broke away from my umpteenth passionate kiss looking at me with laughter in his eyes.
“What the hell's gotten in to you?”
“I’m just happy, Trey. I know and don’t ask me how, that I'm the ONLY mother of your child.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me as he lay back on the pillow watching me.
“May I ask how you've come to this conclusion?”
“Mother’s intuition,” I answered him plainly. “It’s always right.”
Trey and I made love that night and if by magic it seemed as if all of the worrisome baggage was finally lifted. He was mine, I was his, and Preston was ours. That’s where it began; and that’s where it ended for now.
CHAPTER 19
Trey and I were finishing up getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner in our suite. Preston was already dressed up frilly, spending time with Brenda downstairs. I was tying Trey’s tie when I remembered what my father had told me the night before.
“Trey, I meant to tell you something last night and it slipped my mind. My father told me he had a visit from Danny Duvall.”
I looked up into Trey’s face. His expression was totally impassive; almost too impassive.
“Dad said that it looked as if someone had roughed him up.”
“Really?” Trey replied, “I can’t imagine anyone having cause to do that. Maybe it was merely a bar room brawl.”
I gazed up at him my suspicion clearly evident.
“Anyway, Dad said he delivered a carefully worded apology for taking advantage of me in my vulnerable, grieving state, acknowledging he shouldn’t have touched another man’s wife and promising he'd never do so again.”
“Hmm,” Trey remarked turning from me now so that he could slip his suit jacket on, “it appears Mr. Duvall may've received a well-deserved lesson in manners and comportment.”
“Trey - you didn’t--”
“Come sweetie,” he said, taking me by the hand, “let’s join the family downstairs.”
My father had already arrived and I regretted not being down earlier to make the introductions. I hurried over to him giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek. From the other side of the room I could hear Preston as she spotted him from Brenda’s lap.
“Papaw!”
Brenda carried her over to where Dad and I stood; Susan hurried over to us, anxious to introduce Brenda to my father.
Hmm... Not too obvious, Mommy-in-law…
Preston was leaning in to him, her hands clasping and unclasping for him to take her. “Papaw,” she whined as my father took her from Brenda’s arms.
“Hey sweet angel,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.
“I can see she's crazy about her grandparents,” Brenda acknowledged after parting with her.
Susan introduced my father to Brenda, explaining to him that Brenda was staying with them for a couple of weeks and then returning to Birmingham.
Letting Dad know that Birmingham isn't all that far from Baton Rouge I suppose.
I could tell right off the bat my father liked Brenda. I saw him smile as he shook her hand; his smile reached his eyes this time. That was a semi-rare occurrence. It usually involved interaction with Preston.
I noticed Susan had set name placards at the large dining room table; she'd placed Brenda next to my father. Trey and I were seated across from them. They talked to each other
during most of the meal. Brenda scored points with all of us with her interest in Preston.
After dinner I took Preston upstairs to get her settled for her nap. She was extremely restless after all the attention she'd endured throughout the day. She finally fell asleep sucking her thumb. Trey came in looking for me just then.
“Your father's looking for you; he wants to speak to you in Dad’s study.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Honey, he asked to speak to you; he didn’t mention needing me there with you. Maybe it’s private.”
I couldn’t imagine what exactly Dad might want to talk to me about unless he wanted to make sure that I'd given Trey the message about Danny’s apology.
I went down to the study where my father was waiting for me. I joined him shutting the door behind me.
“Am I in trouble, Dad?”
He smiled nodding his head negatively.
“No - nothing like that, darling. I just feel the need to make you aware of something.”
“Sounds serious . . .”
“It’s probably nothing, but I think I need to make you aware of it in case it becomes something later on.”
He had my attention now as I took a seat beside him in front of Clive’s desk.
“I went to the memorial service at the cemetery for Matthew Renaud as planned. I suspected that Ms. Deeny would be there and she was. She attempted to avoid me, however, I pressed her as we were leaving to either talk to me or I'd see that the District Attorney brought her in for questioning. She rambled on some very unintelligible statements. I have cause for concern.”
At that point I interrupted my father.
“Dad, why would the D.A. be interested in questioning her?”
“He probably isn’t, but I wanted to put a little fear in her so that she'd clear up some details for me.”
“What details?”
“The details surrounding your mother’s death as well as the matter of Preston’s abduction. I needed to know if she'd somehow master-minded it all.”
I looked at my father; I saw his angst.
“What was in it for her?”
“I discovered Ms. Deeny lives very well for a woman without obvious means. I know what her salary was while she was in my employ. She lives well beyond that from what my investigator uncovered.”
“Dad, we know that Olivia was supporting me through the LLC that Matthew set up. I’m sure that he kept a portion of it for himself and maybe shared it with his mother. All that ended when I turned eighteen though, right?”
“That’s something we'll never know,” he replied. “Olivia’s financial wealth was hers to manage. I didn’t interfere or even ask to be privy to it. All I know is what I inherited upon her death. I've no clue as to what her financial dealings were prior to that.”
“Dad, we’ve already established that when Olivia died, the cash cow for Matthew did as well. Are you saying now you believe Matthew along with Karen Deeny were behind Preston’s abduction?”
“I think it's possible.”
“I guess I’m confused then. There was never a ransom demand; Maggie moved about freely with the baby and ended up in Wheeling, West Virginia. This makes no sense.”
“We don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. In the meantime, I just needed to let you know that you're legally Matthew’s next of kin. In the absence of a will, you're set to inherit his estate in perpetuity.”
“What?”
“Everything was in Matthew’s name; the house where Ms. Deeny lived, the bank accounts were all under the LLC. The estate lawyer will be in touch with you.”
“I don’t understand. Karen Deeny was his mother. Doesn’t that take precedence over a half-niece as next of kin?”
“Actually, because the courts awarded custody of Matthew to your grandfather, and your grandmother legally adopted him as her son, the mother-son relationship between Ms. Deeny and Matthew was legally severed. I’m sure she didn’t count on that which is why we're having this conversation.”
I waited for several moments as my father chose his words carefully. Did he think I was in some sort of danger?
“Tylar, there's no doubt in my mind that Karen Deeny's a sociopath and potentially dangerous. While I don’t believe she ever intended to cause physical harm to anyone, the situation has now changed. She's desperate and quite frankly, she may be looking for some sort of vindication. I’m just asking you to be vigilant until such time as we know whether she poses any threat to you or Preston.”
“If you meant to frighten me Dad, you've just succeeded; first with Maggie, then with Matthew and now Ms. Deeny? I just want out of this tangled nightmare. I don’t want anything from Matthew’s estate; I'll simply refuse it.”
“It’s not that simple; refusing it wouldn’t make Ms. Deeny the beneficiary.”
“Well then, I’ll just gift it to her or something. How much money are we talking about, Dad?”
“The probate inventory lists it as more than $1.5 million.”
Holy shit!
“It’s nothing you have to decide right now,” he continued. “Probate doesn’t move quickly, but I wanted to make you aware of it at any rate.”
“I’ll discuss it with Trey, Dad. Please don’t worry though?”
“I’m a father,” he said with a shrug. “It’s what we do, I'm learning.”
When my father and I rejoined the family in the great room, Landon and Caroline had arrived. All of the grandbabies were in the room and seemed content being the center of attention. My father went and sat next to Brenda who was holding Preston again.
Trey had seen me enter the room and brought me a glass of white wine.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, studying my face.
“I hope so,” I said. “We can talk about it later.”
Gina came over to us then, having imbibed a few alcoholic beverages herself it seemed.
“Girlfriend, where the hell have you been keeping yourself?” she asked giggling.
“Where’s Tristan?” I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
“He’s with Reece, Royce, Tess and Nigel,” she replied, waving the glass of whatever alcoholic beverage it contained over her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” I asked watching her closely.
“What? Oh - hell yes, I’m just fucking fine and dandy,” she replied almost slurring. “Hey, don’t you think Royce looks like Reese?”
“Oh Christ,” Trey mumbled as he took his leave from both of us.
“Gina - what the hell's wrong with you?”
The words had no longer left my lips when Caroline sauntered over, a full glass of Merlot in her hands, displaying the ever familiar drunken stagger. It was getting old.
“Gina! Tylar!” she gushed, swaying. “Happy Thanksgiving to you both.”
“You too, Caroline,” I said. Gina merely grunted.
“Well actually, Tylar - I guess it isn’t so much for you considering you lost a child.”
I went numb. I couldn’t believe that Caroline, even in one of her drunken stupors, could be that insensitive. I wanted to lash back at her with something nasty and hurtful but I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I stood silently by letting the hurt sink in deeper.
Gina started to say something on my behalf but I shook my head at her. I wasn't going to be the cause of another family scene. Caroline had turned her attention to Gina now.
“But for you Gina, well I guess you've had a double blessing,” Caroline slurred.
I could feel Trey at my side now, ever vigilant where Caroline and I were concerned.
“What do you mean?” Gina asked her tone was pure ‘no nonsense’.
“Well,” she giggled, “you've been blessed with Reese and now his half-brother Royce. They could pass for identical twins. I guess we know your big brother Tristan has the fastest little swimmers now, don’t we, Trey?”
Caroline gave Trey a wink.
“You obnoxious bitch!”
In a flash, I saw
Gina toss her drink into Caroline’s face, drenching her. Caroline stumbled backward a few steps and then gained her balance and tossed her glass of merlot at Gina.
Holy shit!
Trey pulled me aside just as Gina launched herself at Caroline. I heard Caroline’s screech as she hit the floor; her empty wine glass still in her hand.
The sound of Caroline hitting the floor and the glass shattering next to her was enough to bring Tristan to the forefront. By this time, Gina was on top of her, slapping her face with the open palm of her hand. Caroline’s head rolled back and forth with each slap.