by Terri Osburn
Lauren’s palms began to sweat and she shoved her hands under her thighs. “Okay.”
“Does the name Van Clement mean anything to you?”
Lauren sat up straighter. “That’s the name of a family my mom worked for when I was a kid.”
“So you know about them?”
“They’re one of the wealthiest families in Boston. Everyone knows about them.”
Will blew out a breath and said, “I’m a Van Clement.”
Struggling to keep her jaw off the table, Lauren said, “You’re a Van Clement?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Though I didn’t grow up with the family. My mother ran away when she was pregnant with me and it wasn’t until I was twenty-five that she told me the truth.”
Who would run away from a life of money and privilege? “Then you’re rich,” Lauren said. “I mean, I knew you were Anchor Island rich, considering you own multiple businesses and you haven’t batted an eye at anything I’ve requested for Pilar’s, but the Van Clements are like, one-percenter rich.”
“I inherited the estate seven years ago.”
Feeling like a peasant among royalty, Lauren crossed her arms. “Lucky you.”
“Did your mother ever mention Brandon Van Clement?” Will asked.
Lauren had no idea where this was going.
“She stopped working for the family when I was five. I doubt she’d have mentioned anyone to me by name, and if she did, I wouldn’t remember them now.” The wealthy weren’t nearly as important as they liked to think. “Why are you asking me these questions? If you think Mom stole something, I know she didn’t.”
Lauren knew no such thing, but if her mother did steal something of value, she’d done it to take care of them. Maybe if the family had paid her a living wage, she wouldn’t have had to steal to feed her children.
Will remained calm. “I’m not accusing your mom of anything, Lauren. I’m asking because Brandon Van Clement, my uncle, was your father.”
That could not be true. “You’re out of your mind,” she said, bolting from her chair. “My father was a janitor who cut out before I was born. Mom told me so herself. Whoever told you this crazy story was lying.”
Holding Lauren’s gaze, Will slid the envelope across the table. “I think it’s time for you to read this.”
Looking at the offering as if it might explode, she said, “What is it?”
“A letter from your mother.”
Lauren fell back into her chair as the breath left her body. She stared at the envelope, trying to make sense of what Will was saying. Why would Will have a letter from her mother?
“That can’t be.”
“Once you read the letter, I’ll explain everything.”
There couldn’t possibly be an explanation because none of this made any sense. Mom died in October and Lauren had never even heard of Will Navarro or this island until February.
“I don’t know what’s in that envelope, but it can’t be for me.”
Will pushed it closer. “Rosemary asked me to give this to you. I understand that this is a lot, and you have every right to be suspicious, but I’m trying to honor her wishes. Please, Lauren, just read the letter.”
Hands shaking, she picked up the envelope and withdrew the paper inside, recognizing her mother’s handwriting instantly. Throat tight, she blinked away tears in order to focus on the words.
“Here,” Will said, passing her a box of tissues.
Lauren dried her eyes and read.
Dear Lauren,
I’m sure this is coming as a surprise, but I wanted to take this last chance to do for you now what I should have done a long time ago. You turned out to be an amazing woman, and I still have no idea how that happened. It sure as hell isn’t because of me. Instead of being there for you and being a real mom, I was out chasing the next man or the next high or both. I know you still have Knox, but you were always more a mother to him than I was, and he’s off playing war or whatever it is he does in that Army. He can’t be around to make sure you’re looked after. To make sure you aren’t left alone in the world like I was.
Ms. Navarro probably told you by now, but your father is Brandon Van Clement. He’s Knox’s father, too. Before you get all angry, thinking he’s some horrible bastard, know that I never told him. His family wouldn’t have let him marry a woman like me, and I made sure he thought I was out sleeping with other men so he wouldn’t get suspicious. You see, if he’d known, he’d have taken you kids away from me. Goodness knows he’d have had the right, considering what a mess I was. But I was selfish and didn’t want to be alone. Funny how that turned out.
Anyway, when I knew I didn’t have much longer to go, I looked him up and found out that he died a few months ago. Well, a few months before I’m writing this. That led me to Ms. Navarro, so I sent her a letter asking her to find a way to make sure you were taken care of. I want you to get your dream of having your own kitchen, and I thought maybe she knew somebody who could make that happen. She told me that she would take care of it, and if you’re reading this, then that means she stuck to her word. Thank her for me.
I didn’t want you to know all of this until you’d gotten your dream. The one thing we have in common is pride, and I was afraid you wouldn’t take the job if you thought I’d used some piddly last wish to get it for you. I’m sure that by now you’re knocking it out of the park, and I want you to know that I’m watching you, the proudest mom on both heaven and earth.
I love you, baby. I didn’t say that often enough, and I didn’t come close to showing it, but for my whole life, you were and will always be my greatest achievement. I hope you’re happy, and I hope you’ve surrounded yourself with people who care about you. Don’t ever take that for granted, and whatever you do, don’t make the same mistakes that I did. Laugh and love and let people see how great you are.
Have a wonderful life, my sweet baby girl.
Love,
Mom
Lauren held the wadded-up tissue against her lips as she stared at the letter in her hand. She was crying hard enough to give herself hiccups so the words were a blur, but she couldn’t put the paper down. This was her last connection to the most important woman in her life. The woman she’d known to be imperfect, but still loved more than anything. The woman who had been Lauren’s only anchor is a world full of chaos and confusion.
It hadn’t mattered that Mom was the source of that chaos. That, as she admitted, she hadn’t been the greatest parent. She’d been the only parent. Who else was Lauren going to look up to? Take her life lessons from?
…don’t make the same mistakes that I did.
Was she doing that? Lauren didn’t bounce around from man to man, but she’d left one job after another. She didn’t twist herself into a person she wasn’t to get attention, but she had suppressed every facet of her personality so as not to be noticed. Different methods, but the same result. Like her mother, she was alone.
“When did she give this to you?” Lauren asked once she was able to breathe again.
“It arrived a few days after our last phone call. She wanted to make sure I would do as she’d asked.”
“She says to thank you.”
Will smiled for the first time since they’d entered the room. “She’s most welcome, but I should be thanking her. She gave me an amazingly talented chef to run my restaurant.”
“Did you buy Pilar’s for me?”
“No. Randy and I had already put in an offer, but before your mother found me, we had no plans to revamp it. I’m glad that changed.” Reaching into the bag beside her chair, she pulled out a small satin pouch and slid it toward Lauren. “This came with the letter. She told me during that last phone call that she was sending something that had belonged to her mother. I assume this is it.”
Not sure how much more she could take, Lauren eased the pouch open and a cameo dropped onto her palm. The background was a rich mustard yellow, and the delicate and feminine silhouette looked to be cut out of ivory.
There was no way to tell the age, but the bauble was well cared for and made to be worn as either a broach or on a chain.
“I’ve never seen this before.”
“I’ve seen something similar,” Will replied. “Most likely nineteenth century. It’s very valuable.”
Lauren twirled the trinket in her hand, wondering why Mom had never mentioned it. And then a realization dawned. All those years of barely getting by, working multiple jobs just so they could eat, Mom had held on to something that could have easily been pawned for a quick meal. She must have truly cherished the delicate heirloom to keep it through so much struggle.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you before now,” Will said, “but she made me promise to wait. I was surprised out there when I first came in because your brother looks exactly like Uncle Brandon. Not that I doubted your mother, but if I had, seeing him would have convinced me.”
“Wait,” Lauren said. “Does this mean that we’re cousins?”
Will nodded. “It does. Welcome to the family, Lauren.”
20
Nick tossed the chicken into the garbage with a muffled curse. He’d trashed three in the last hour and was seriously considering not entering the damn Best of the Fest contest. He’d won it twice. What would it matter if he let someone else have it this year? With two days to go, he still had no idea what he was going to cook, and backing out would make his life that much easier.
“The packet for the food festival is here,” said Patty Dempsey as she stepped out of the back office. “We’ve got the layout for the tents so we can see how the diners will move through.”
The order of the tents was very important. Too close to the front and the diners were likely to forget your food by the time they tasted all of the others. Too far in the back and there was a chance their palates would be blown out before they reached you. A dish could be the best food ever, but that didn’t matter if the diner couldn’t taste it.
One spicy dish could put every vendor after out of the running.
“Did we get our regular spot?” Nick asked.
Patty slid reading glasses onto her nose. “We did, and it’s even better this year since it’s right next to Pilar’s.”
Not what Nick wanted to hear. “Do you think they’d move us?”
The older woman stared over her glasses. “Why would we want to be moved? Pilar’s is the most popular eatery on this island right now. Everyone in attendance will want to check them out, especially since getting a table is nearly impossible. That will bring even more people our way.”
And put Lauren directly in his path. After Mia left that morning, Nick had pulled up Lauren’s number in his phone. He’d written and deleted four different messages before once again staring at a blank screen. And then he did what he should have done a week ago. He deleted her number.
“Sounds more like we’ll get overshadowed,” he said, searching for any excuse she might accept.
His boss arched a brow. “Are you suggesting our food isn’t good enough to compete with Pilar’s?”
The two menus weren’t even in the same ballpark, and Nick had no insecurities about his food. He also had no intention of telling Patty the real reason he wanted the tent moved.
“This isn’t about the food. The draw for Pilar’s is that they’re new and have a lot of buzz. Their like a novelty act at a circus. Once the fascination dies down, the crowds disappear, but by the time that happens, they’ve overlooked the acts that are actually worth their while.”
“What exactly are you saying?” Patty asked, brows drawn.
Nick had no idea. “Forget it,” he said, swiping the towel off his shoulder and wiping his hands. “I’ve decided to skip Best of the Fest this year and let someone else have a shot.”
“Since when? We’re days away and the entry fee has been paid.”
“I’m sure you can get the money back. If not, take it out of my pay.”
He didn’t want to compete knowing that Lauren wouldn’t have the same opportunity. The truth was, she deserved the prize. Pilar’s was popular for a reason, and that reason was her food.
“I don’t do this very often,” Patty said, “but I’m overruling you. Dempsey’s is going to compete this weekend, even if that means one of the other cooks has to take the lead. Is that what you want?”
This was his kitchen and if a dish went into that contest, he would be the one to make it.
“No, ma’am,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ll do it.”
“Good.” She dropped the packet on the corner of the prep station. “We have until tomorrow afternoon to submit the name of the dish. Fill this out and I’ll email it over.”
Nick nodded and Patty returned to her office. So much for saving himself the hassle. Ignoring the packet, he stomped off to the cooler to see what he had available. When he spotted the fresh tuna delivered that morning, an idea bloomed. He knew the perfect way to follow his boss’ order and appease his own conscience.
“I can’t believe she kept this secret our whole lives,” Knox said, staring at the letter in his hand.
Once they’d shared the story with her brother, Will had suggested Lauren take the rest of the day off so the two of them could spend some time processing what they’d learned. She’d been through something similar in her twenties and knew how overwhelming this revelation could be. The sky was the perfect shade of blue as they sat on Lauren’s small back deck and tried to take it all in.
“At least she didn’t take the secret to her grave,” Lauren replied. “Not that this does us much good now, since he’s gone too, but it’s nice to know the truth.”
“She told us we had two different dads. I’ve never thought of you as anything less than my full sister, but how could you tell your kids a lie like that?”
Lauren and Knox were having very different responses to the news. Where she understood now how much their mother’s choices revealed what her children had meant to her, Knox was angry that she’d deprived them of knowing their father and of having a better life.
Lauren couldn’t blame him. There’d been days when they’d struggled to scrounge up a single meal, yet one phone call would have meant never going hungry again. There was a selfishness to Mom’s actions that was hard to forgive. But she’d also worked her fingers to the bone to make sure they were never homeless, that they had clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads.
The clothes were threadbare and the roof had a hole from time to time, but they’d never had to live in a box or sleep in a shelter. That isn’t a high bar to set for a parent, but somehow knowing that Mom’s life might have been easier without them in it said a lot about how far she went to keep them close.
“You read the letter. If she’d told us the truth, she might have lost us.”
“If she’d told us the truth, we could have had a real childhood. Think of what she took from us. Our own rooms. Regular meals. I could have played ball and been a normal kid.”
He was right. And yet Lauren couldn’t help but defend her.
“Do you think growing up as a Van Clement would have been normal? Especially if the other rich kids found out that our mom had once been the help?”
Knox ran a hand over his short hair. “I’d rather have food in my belly and be an outsider than go through what we endured.”
Lauren hadn’t realized how much their experience had affected him. Her little brother had been an easygoing kid. As happy as any child could be in their situation. He’d kept his head down in school, gotten good grades, and planned a future in the military from the age of fourteen.
“I wish things had been different for both of us,” she said, taking his hand. “But we can’t change the past. I think her goal with all of this was to maybe change our futures. We have a family now.”
Saying the words helped Lauren realize that she’d found a family even before Will had given her the letter. The staff in the kitchen had all become important to her. Roxie, who’d barreled into her life and declared t
hem friends that day in the office, no longer had to coerce her to go places. The restaurant kept her busy, but Lauren had managed to keep up with the Tuesday ladies’ nights. She even liked playing with the little ones.
Then there was Nick.
“Am I repeating her mistakes?” Lauren asked.
“Why would you ask that? Of course not.”
She wasn’t so sure. “In the letter, she said she doesn’t want me to be alone. All this time, I thought that was the goal.”
Knox leaned forward. “What are you talking about? You aren’t alone. You have me.”
Lauren offered a crooked smile. “I know I do, but you can’t be around all the time, and you shouldn’t have to be. You have your own life to live.”
“But you have people around you, right? Friends?” He twisted the hat in his hands. “I haven’t even asked if you have a boyfriend. Is there someone I get to meet while I’m here? Someone I get to scare into taking good care of you?”
There could have been. Ten days ago.
“I have a few friends, but only because the people on this island have a way of pulling you in. I did my best to keep them at a distance, but they wore me down, I guess.”
“Why would you want to keep them at a distance?”
Clearly, they’d gotten two different messages growing up. “Do you remember Mom saying never to depend on anyone?”
“No” he said, shaking his head. “All I ever got was don’t be an asshole.”
Annoyed that he didn’t remember, she scooted to the edge of her seat. “She said it all the time. Don’t depend on anyone because they’ll always let you down. That was like, her mantra.”
“Then she should have practiced what she preached. Every time one guy left her, she’d hop to the next. That one would steal all of our furniture, and she’d have another loser by the end of the week.” His eyes scanned the horizon. “If anything, she depended on too many people. She just couldn’t pick a good one to save her life. Or ours.”
How had Lauren never made that connection? The slew of men moving in and out of their lives wasn’t the problem. It was a natural result of the real problem—that Mom couldn’t stand to be alone, even if it meant dating complete jerks. Or lying to her children about who their father was.