The House

by Anjuelle Floyd

  “I don’t think it’s good for us to be talking,” Anna said. Immediately, she felt sorry for her brash tone. Softly, she said, “I’ve been meaning to call, but ...” Her heart sank at the thought of David and Heather’s troubles even more so now that she had started to share them with Inman.

  “I’d like to see you.” The familiar softness of his voice pushed past Anna’s resistance. “I want to explain why I agreed to represent Mrs. McGrath on the board.”

  “It was obvious. She’s your aunt.”

  “She told me you visited her.”

  “She’s a nice woman.”

  “She can also be nosy and pushy.” Inman’s tone was sharp. “I’ve found someone else who can do her bidding.”

  “Is that what you call it?”

  “I had no idea that Manning Ventures was your husband’s company when she asked me to represent her at the meeting.” Inman’s explanation seemed simple enough.

  “You wouldn’t even look at me when you gave Bryce the envelope; you seemed so invested in strengthening your aunt’s stake in the company.”

  “I tried to connect with you throughout the meeting,” Inman defended. “Neither did I want the others to think it was a setup.”

  “Was it? I can’t help but wonder whether it is,” Anna said. “Particularly when you essentially told Thompson, Dawson, and Filbert to quit the company and sell their shares. Then when they do, your aunt is conveniently ready to buy them.”

  “Manning Ventures is better off without them,” Inman said. “And so are you.”

  “That may be, but—”

  “I know how this may seem.” He gave a deep sigh. “A lot’s gone on. And with Edward’s death. Can we meet and talk about it?”

  “Edward’s death has no consequence on how I feel about your place on the board.”

  “It’s not me on the board. It’s my Aunt Helena,” Inman repeated. “Either way, I’ve found someone else to represent her. I’ve also spoken with Claiborne Rochester, Ephraim Hennessey, and Chester McGee.”

  “You did what? And who gave you permission to do that?” The three remaining stockholders and trustees had attended Edward’s funeral. During the repast at the house, Rochester, Hennessey, and McGee, had spoken with Anna and assured her that they would do all in their power to keep Manning Ventures afloat.

  Inman said, “I told them Manning Ventures was rock solid. I also said I wouldn’t be remaining on the board as Aunt Helena’s representative.”

  “Did you tell them why?”

  “I said it was for personal reasons,” Inman said.

  In an effort to plaster on an unaffected front, Anna remained silent. Inman then said, “You mean more to me ... our relationship is worth far more than representing my Aunt Helena. I would do nothing to hurt Edward’s company.”

  “You mean Manning Ventures, which is my company.” Anna was angry. Yet she could not discount that beyond Dancia, Helena McGrath was Inman’s only living relative. “I’m sorry but—”

  Inman interrupted. “Despite what you may think, Edward’s death and your ownership of the company doesn’t have to change things for us, especially 1f I leave the board.”

  “It colors everything. So much has happened in the last two months.” Anna contemplated her life without Edward. Inman could not replace him. She and Inman had slept together more times than she could count. But the night at his house after eating at Scott’s had been different. Anna recalled the way he had taken her unto him, his body warming against hers. Edward’s touch had never spoken to her like that, not even when they had reconciled. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Anna closed her eyes. How am I, a widow, mother, and grandmother, supposed to integrate and interweave what Inman has given me with Edward’s gift of Manning Ventures?

  “I love you,” Inman said. He sounded so much like Grant when speaking of Serine. Anna then considered Grant’s five-year-old daughter, his desire to create the perfect family. Things had not been as they appeared. “Call me old fashioned,” Inman continued. “But you’re the only person I’ve been with since my wife left me and Dancia.” Now twenty-two, Inman’s daughter had been seven when her mother left Inman and her.

  Anna breathed in. “I’ve enjoyed being with you.”

  “Enjoyed? I’m not suggesting we hurry and get married. But what about France? You made plans.” He had offered to accompany her. They would live there either as man and wife or as lovers. Inman had proposed marriage before Anna had learned of Edward’s cancer.

  “I can’t up and sell the house,” Anna said. “Edward’s bequeathed it to the children.”

  “But you have the company. Surely, money is not the issue. I’ll do whatever you want or need.”

  With Edward dead, Inman off the board as Mrs. McGrath’s representative, and Thompson, Dawson, and Filbert gone, there was no one to fight, not even the olive branch Edward had offered in giving her Manning Ventures.

  “I’m free,” she said. “And I’d like to stay that way.”

  “I’ve never wanted to enslave you.”

  “Most men don’t set out to. But many of us women are still shackled.”

  “Only you can remove the chains.”

  “I need time,” Anna said.

  “I can wait.” Yet, Inman sounded desperate, unlike himself. Anna made no promises. “I’ll call you.”

  Bryce called later that day. Careful to ask how she was doing, and then of Serine, he then said, “When can we meet to talk about the company?”

  “How about tomorrow at noon?” Anna was not ready to visit Edward’s office. “Where would you like to meet?”

  “Would Scott’s be okay?” Bryce’s tone held urgency. “I’ll be finishing up some business at the Embarcadero around 11:30.”

  Anna was hesitant. Bryce had been Edward’s one employee. Could she trust him to accept the totality of who she was? And what kind of business had he at the Embarcadero? Still, he had been honest about Edward’s decision not to tell Anna about Mrs. McGrath being a board member and trustee, and why.

  Anna needed to tell Bryce about her relationship with Inman; she needed for him to hear it from her and no one else. She couldn’t run the company without Bryce and she wanted him to remain loyal to her as he had to Edward. Should Bryce falter due to judgments concerning her relationship with Inman, there was David. But that was a last resort.

  Then again, what would David do, never mind Serine, upon learning about her and Inman? By that time, Inman and her relationship would be a thing of the past. Still, with David licking his own wounds and Heather hurting, Anna did not want to risk having to turn to David. Until now, she had found safety in knowing that Edward Manning was out there somewhere. Despite his propensity toward philandering, he had not let anyone attack his family. She ached to tell Inman her woes and fears.

  Anna returned to her conversation with Bryce. “Scott’s tomorrow at noon. I’ll be there.”

  Scott’s was quiet for lunch on Monday. Life without Edward was taking on a melody and rhythm of its own. Seated at the table by the window, Anna observed the yachts docked on the other side of the harbor. She contemplated her last moments with Edward. He had felt so light in her arms. His body had shrunken to a mere feather of what he had once been not that long ago. Illness had brought him back for death to whisk him from her. That had been the theme of their life, Edward’s eternal leaving and Anna perpetually mourning his absence and yearning for his return.

  Edward had uttered, I was scared, Anna. She would hold onto those words. Anna too was afraid. Edward’s words had carried an unblemished truth. They had revealed the real Edward Manning and exposed him for the child he had remained throughout life, a son yearning for his mother. He had wanted her to have been more able and strong. In the wake of what his mother lacked, Edward had become the man he wished for her to have. Except for his propensity for maintaining relationships with women beyond his marriage, he had been successful. Edward had given Anna all the material things any man, or son could wish for his
wife and mother.

  Anna’s decision to accept ownership of Manning Ventures—Ed ward’s peace offering, his penance and alms—was her act of forgiveness for the truth that stained their marriage. It was Anna’s way of saving his soul, and hers. None are saved until all are secure. Edward Manning had loved his company. It had been his life’s work. He had put his heart and soul into it. From its profits, he had yielded the one thing he had never experienced as child: a house and home, safe from poverty and threat. Anna would handle it with care.

  Through the restaurant window, Anna watched a yacht leave the marina and set sail for San Francisco Bay. The man and woman aboard walked to the aft of the vessel. Grasping and accepting the other’s hand, the man and woman looked out upon the water. Anna could not see how young or old they were. Through the eyes of wishful thinking she saw herself and Edward. On hearing Bryce approach and call her name, she turned to greet him. Beside him stood Inman.

  “I left my car in the garage and was on my way up the steps when I ran into him,” Bryce explained his chancing upon Inman. “This seemed to be as good a time as any to talk about Ms. McGrath’s offer to purchase the stocks, so I invited Inman to join us.” Both men took a seat. Bryce sat in the chair beside Anna and placed his briefcase on the table. Opening it, he withdrew two documents. “You’ll want to look over this.” He handed one to Anna then another to Inman. “It would seem that Thompson, Dawson and Filbert are deter mined to sell,” Anna said in a lamenting voice. She turned to Bryce in avoidance of Inman across the table.

  “Seems that way,” Bryce murmured in continuance of the charade, albeit for different reasons. Bryce seemed hesitant in appearing too eager or thankful of Mrs. McGrath’s most timely offer.

  Furious at the hand of cards fate had delivered her, Anna turned back to the window on her left. The trail left by the vessel on the water had all but disappeared. Unlike earth overturned by the wheels of a car, the water over which the yacht had traveled seemed bereft of memories. It lacked any evidence that the vessel had passed that way. Things were settling in the wake of Edward’s passing. At times, Anna felt that her life held the same qualities as the water. Had Edward really been in her life? Had they had a marriage? Manning Ventures evidenced that they had.

  No longer able to continue the charade, Anna looked across at Inman. He lifted his head from reading the documents.

  “What had you and Helena McGrath planned to do with my company had I not gone to see her?” Anna asked.

  From the side of her right eye, Anna could see Bryce squirming. Obviously, Inman hadn’t told Bryce that he had left the board.

  Inman met her gaze, his eyes saying, We discussed this earlier. He said, “I want nothing but to support you. And now that I’m off the board—”

  “Support me?” Anna said. “It seems more like a takeover. I can’t believe it was a coincidence that Thompson, Dawson and Filbert pulled out just after you showed up as Mrs. McGrath’s representative. You practically dared them to sell and leave. In fact, I think you went to Harrison Filbert with a proposal to buy him out before the meeting.”

  “Anna—” Inman started.

  “Don’t Anna me.” She snatched a breath. “Leaving Bryce with this bogus packet and wanting to buy more shares should they become available. It was all drama. Just one more movement in your plan to take over Manning Ventures.”

  “I can’t believe you think that I—” Inman knitted his brows, ones Anna had once loved to stroke.

  Bryce touched Anna’s hand. “I think we might want to reconsider—”

  “Manning Ventures doesn’t need your help.” Anna said surprised at her own words. Her cell phone rang. Any other time she would have ignored it, but

  “Hello.”

  “Where are you?” It was Linda.

  “I’m downtown at Scott’s for lunch.”

  “You need to meet us as the hospital. Millicent’s bleeding. Theo’s afraid she might lose the baby.”

  “I’m on my way.” Anna clicked off. She stood.

  Bryce and Inman joined her.

  “It’s Millicent. She may be having a miscarriage.”

  “Let me drive you.” Inman offered. The care in his voice spread across his face.

  “My car’s in the garage,” she said.

  “Please.” Inman seemed in genuine anguish to accompany her.

  Anna turned to Bryce who was wearing a sense of surprise and wonder concerning the familiarity peppering Anna and Inman’s way with each other.

  “Give me a call when everything’s settled.” Bryce said. He closed his briefcase. “Tell Serine I’ll call her this evening.”

  “Thanks.” Anna reached over and kissed his cheek, all the while hoping that Serine would take his call and not push him away as she had at the pool during the repast.

  Outside the restaurant she turned to Inman.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “I want to,” he said. Again his eyes shone with sincerity, but this time with intense worry and fright. Recalling that Inman’s loft that served as an office two blocks away, Anna wondered what business had brought Bryce down to the Embarcadero.?

  Chapter 49

  Linda, Brad, Serine, David, and Heather were in the waiting area outside the emergency room when Anna entered with Inman. “How is she?” Anna asked of Millicent upon reaching Linda. “The emergency room physician’s examining her,” Linda said. “Theo’s with her,” Brad added.

  Anna caught David eyeing Inman.

  “This is Inman Hayes,” she said to David. “You remember.” In man moved to extend his hand, but David’s hand remained at his side. Anna introduced him to Heather.

  “Please to meet you,” Inman said.

  “Same here.” Heather smiled and shook his hand.

  Anna turned to Linda and Brad. As with David, Anna recalled how Linda, Brad, and Theo had met Inman when he had visited the house a month before Edward died.

  “Nice to see you again,” Linda said. She and Brad shook his hand. Anna eyed Serine and said, “Inman, this is my daughter, Serine,” and to Serine, “This is Inman Hayes.”

  Like David on that initial meeting at the house, Serine cautiously extended her hand all the while staring at Inman as if trying to remember from where she had last seen him, that he was a criminal whose true identity she was attempting to recall from either a crime scene photo, or mug shot.

  Anna said to everyone, “Inman’s aunt, Helena McGrath, holds stock in your father’s ... , I mean Manning Ventures. She’s on the board of trustees.”

  Serine spoke to Anna. “Bryce said you three were having a meeting.

  He wanted to know if there was anything he could do,” Serine said. “I’m calling him after everything’s settled here.”

  David drew near Inman and said, “Are you always so friendly with the owners of companies whose board members you represent?”

  Serine shifted from Anna, and again, as if an eagle zeroing in on its prey, sharpened her inspection of Inman.

  “I try to help where I can,” Inman said to David.

  Fearful of where David’s questioning might lead, Anna rushed to Theo as he entered the waiting area. The others followed.

  “They’re admitting her,” Theo explained as the others gathered around him and Anna. “She’ll be in Room 312.”

  “How is she?” Anna asked.

  “She still has the baby.” Anna touched his arm and gave a light smiled. “She wants to see you,” Theo said.

  “Me?”

  “Yes.”

  Anna proceeded with Theo to the third floor; the others were right behind them. On reaching the doorway, Anna and Theo entered the private room to find the bed empty. Linda, Brad, David, Heather, and Serine followed them inside. Inman remained in the corridor.

  “Where are they?” A worried look had consumed Theo’s face. He started for the door when a nurse exited the bathroom.

  “The orderlies are bringing her up,” she assured him.

  Anna felt David�
��s heated and interrogating stare upon her back as she moved to the window. Though Bryce was first on her list of those due an explanation, she would at some point have to tell David who Inman actually was.

  Voices rose in the hallway. Everyone was headed toward the doorway when Anna heard Millicent’s voice.

  “Oh my God! Papa Inman! I can’t believe you’re here.” Millicent lay on a gurney. The orderlies standing beside her were waiting for everyone to step aside so they could push her into the room. “I can’t believe this.” She grasped Inman’s hand. “My godfather is here.” She looked to Theo then to Anna, and back again up at Inman. “I’ve known him since ... I can’t remember when.”

  “Your godfather?” Anna turned to David on her left and met his simmering stare. “You’ll have to call Daddy,” Millicent said to Inman, “Tell him I’m okay, and that he won’t need to come.” Millicent turned back to the rest of the family. “Inman’s like a second father to me,” she said.

  “So we meet again,” Theo said to Inman, “As almost relatives.” Theo extended his palm. The worry of possible miscarriage appeared to have momentarily lifted.

  With an anxious smile, Inman shook Theo’s hand.

  Everyone stepped aside and the orderlies pushed the gurney carrying Millicent into the hospital room. Linda, Brad, and Heather entered into a dialogue of their own as Theo and Inman moved to see about Millicent.

  Serine drew close to David. His focus unchanged, he remained intent upon Anna.

  “I suppose we’re to be happy,” he said. “Millicent certainly is. A stroke of luck that her godfather’s here.”

  “At least for Millicent.” Serine pouted. She joined Heather and Linda speaking with Millicent, who was now lying upon the hospital bed.

  David observed Inman, who was by the window. His arms folded, he speaking with Theo and Brad.

  David said to Anna, “Care to tell me who this man really is? Or do I have to find out for myself?”

  Anna sent him a heated stare. “I thought you were no longer my son.” ?