The House

by Anjuelle Floyd

  Chapter 50

  Millicent was released from the hospital and sent to the Manning home with strict orders to adhere to stay in bed. “You have a weak placenta,” Dr. Amy Hilliard had said. “You can’t travel for at least three weeks. Once you arrive back in Chicago, I’m sure your obstetrician will prescribe same as me, complete bed rest.”

  Theo waited on Millicent hand and foot while Inman remained constant at her bedside. The two of them discussed topics that ranged from the Genesis of her life to the Revelation of his life since she had last seen him. Inman and Millicent had not seen one an other since a few months before Millicent’s marriage. This differed greatly from what Millicent had told Theo, that she had not seen Inman since adolescence.

  Inman had exited her life during her teenage years. But the two had kept in touch by phone, letters, and e-mail. Millicent had wanted the mysterious godfather, Inman, to meet and grant approval of Theo as her life mate. But something stopped Inman from returning to Chicago. The mysterious godfather had not made his appearance at the wedding. In fact, Millicent had never shared with Theo her wish for him and Inman to meet. Though having met In man prior to Edward’s death, Theo had not learned that Inman was the mysterious godfather, whose name Millicent resisted divulging and about whom her parents detested speaking. Neither until four days ago when Millicent found Inman waiting in the hallway outside her hospital room did Theo learn and witness the depth of her bond with the mysterious and until then unknown godfather.

  Two days after Millicent’s release from Berkeley General Hospital, Anna met with Bryce and revealed all she had learned about Inman and his role as godfather to Millicent, who continually referred to him as Papa Inman.

  Bryce said, “I did some checking and he seems above board. Concerning Manning Ventures he’s come through on everything he promised regarding his work for Mrs. McGrath as one of the trustees.” Inman had relinquished his seat on the board.

  But Anna remained yet convinced. “She’s his aunt. Did he tell you that?”

  “He mentioned it. But that didn’t seem to have any effect on Dawson, Filbert, and Thompson’s asking price for the shares.”

  “Why would it?”

  “They tried to get higher than market value, more than we would have asked had Manning Ventures been selling the shares.” Bryce explained, “Inman was about to pay it, but I told him to hold off. I didn’t think it was right. That they were asking for a higher price further substantiated what Inman asserted. They had no problems with the company itself, rather who was running it.”

  “Did Inman pay what they asked?”

  “He called me. Filbert was trying to bully Inman. I called Filbert and he backed down. Mrs. McGrath purchased Dawson, Thompson, and Filbert’s shares at fair market price. I facilitated the sale with Inman only as spectator.” Bryce’s ability to work smoothly with In man unnerved her.

  Anna then asked, “Has he or Mrs. McGrath convinced you to represent her on the board?”

  “That would be Victoria Thompson. Inman was ahead of me on that.” Bryce averted Anna’s doubts of his loyalty. “I was going to insist they choose a woman.” Bryce’s words indicated his awareness of Anna’s fears. “If Inman or Mrs. McGrath had asked me to represent her, I would have told them what I’m telling you. That it would present a conflict of interest. And my interest is in working with you.” Bryce’s demeanor and tone softened, the transition from hard line bargainer to confidante both shook and awed Anna. “Understandably, you have questions about Inman. So did I.”

  “Who answered them?”

  “Colleagues at the companies he’s worked with, past and current clients he’s represented since going out on his own. They all say he’s great.”

  “Great can mean a lot of things to many people. Just what were their words, particularly those of past clients?” Anna had lost count of how many times she had thought of how Millicent had risen from her despair of nearly miscarrying to gleefully embracing Papa Inman.

  “I initially spoke with people who are no longer his clients. All of them lamented how they had not taken his advice. They had thought they could do better. Some wanted a lower consulting fee. Inman Hayes doesn’t come cheap,” Bryce said. “They lost their money.” Anna’s heart sank. Could Inman be that honest, and she unable to see it? “What was even more interesting was what they said when I told him of the work he’d done for us.”

  “He was representing his aunt,” Anna retorted.

  “That’s not the way they saw it,” Bryce said explained. “When I described how Inman had stood up for you in the board meeting, both his past and former clients were shocked.” Anna was too as she listened. “They knew. Or rather they had heard rumors.”

  “What rumors?” Anna said.

  Bryce leaned in. “I never said anything, but when Edward was sick... “ Bryce paused. “When it became apparent he wasn’t going to make it, and that he wasn’t going to sell the company, I grew concerned that someone would get wind of what he was going to do, give you the company. I was afraid someone would instigate a takeover.”

  Anna’s heart pounded.

  “The world of business is like the Serengeti, Anna. Eat or be eaten. Edward knew that.” Bryce said. “He also had debts to pay. He wanted to make things right before he died. Right with you.” Anna met Bryce’s gaze. “I agreed to stay on and help you. But I’m no Edward Manning.” Bryce’s sorrow over losing Edward stirred her emotions. Anna felt ashamed that she had ignored Bryce’s hurt, still gaping and raw. “Like you, I’ve been worried about a takeover,” Bryce continued. “All the people I spoke to about Inman were not only shocked at how helpful he had been, they also expressed awe at his silence about the company. He said nothing concerning his representation of Helena McGrath on the board. I didn’t know Mrs. McGrath was Inman’s aunt at the time. None of those with whom I spoke seemed to either. Which explains why his current clients were surprised they hadn’t received a call. Many of them were waiting for Inman to inform them of a newly formed company with value and startups that held great potential. Manning Ventures was a company without strong and knowledgeable leadership.”

  “A company ripe for takeover by eager investors.” Anna shivered.

  “Inman Hayes did want Dawson, Thompson and Filbert to sell their shares in Manning Ventures. But not because he wanted to maneuver a takeover for his aunt, or anyone. And believe me he could have started one. Easily.” Bryce looked at Anna. “What puzzles me is why he would do all of this. We’re certainly better off without Dawson, Filbert, and Thompson. But why would Hayes clear them out and then stop working as Helena McGrath’s representative? He hasn’t prepared Manning Ventures for a takeover by outsiders. Mrs. McGrath’s got too much of her husband’s work and money invested in the company. From what I can see Inman cares about her. They seemed to be on the outs right now.”

  Feeling sheepish, Anna sank further into shame. She was not ready to tell Bryce of her relationship with Inman. Bryce said, “Do you have any idea what’s going on between them—Inman and Mrs. McGrath? You spoke with Mrs. McGrath, right before Edward died. Did she say anything?”

  “We talked about the company, that I was eager to make no changes.” Anna omitted Helena McGrath’s admission that Inman had thought her nosy and that he was annoyed she had not told him that Edward, then Anna Manning owned Manning Ventures. “She’s his only living relative,” Anna said of Helena McGrath. “Other than his daughter.”

  “That would be Dancia,” Bryce said. He glanced at the sheet of notes he’d made on Inman. “Over the years several corporations have offered him the chance of being CEO. Inman turned them all down. One guy I spoke with speculated it had to do with his daughter. He worked with Inman at the firm in San Francisco where Inman started out. This guy knew Inman when he was married.

  “He was there when Inman’s wife died. The man took the call. Inman’s wife had left him and Dancia two years earlier. He said In man took it hard, his wife dying. After that, Inman made Dancia�
�s care his sole purpose. He went out on his own so he could be more available to her. Trouble is he didn’t count on so many clients following him. Turned out good for Inman. He could call his own hours and price. But he never went beyond consulting for what many in our field would have killed to have. He’s got talent, expertise, experience, and the contacts.”

  Moments of silence passed. Anna was astonished at what Bryce had uncovered about Inman in the face of her questions, and all she had missed. Inman had suffered a lot. And yet he had retained the ability to give. He had also renewed within Anna the ability to believe in herself. She recalled how he had entered the board meeting and spoken up for her. Yet questions remained concerning his relationship with Millicent, the texture of which was as visible and viable to Anna as Inman’s arms enfolding her when they had made love.

  She said to Bryce, “We’re missing something. And it’s right be fore our eyes.”

  “I don’t know what it could be.” Bryce shook his head as if in doubt of Anna’s intuition. Everyone I spoke with described Inman as personable, trustworthy, eager to serve, all the things you never hear about in our line of work.” Anna smiled in response to Bryce’s use of the word our. That he had included her, underscored his commitment to working with her, even if it were rooted in his relation ship with Edward. “They also said he was no pushover.”

  “And that’s what bothers me.” Inman knew the ins and outs of what constituted a financially solid company and what kind of person was needed to keep it that way. But his acumen at assessing whether a person possessed the qualities befitting a loyal and loving mate needed honing. Anna had her doubts about Inman’s wife, Marilyn. Having been at the receiving end of betrayal, Anna had concluded Marilyn to have been hewn out of the stock from which people like Edward emerged. Those like Edward, Thelonius, and the class of people to which Anna had concluded Millicent be longed. Despite the certainty of her judgments, circumstances of the last three days had caused Anna to reassess her ability—or lack thereof—in sizing people up.

  Anna had grown confused. Still facts remained. Inman’s wife had abandoned him and their daughter, Dancia, to be with another man. Yet when learning of her death, he had felt even more sorrowful. With that, Anna identified only too painfully.

  She said to Bryce, “Find me every scrap of information you may have missed about Inman Hayes. There’s more here than meets the eye.”

  Bryce screwed his face, appeared truly bewildered.

  “Call it mother wit, or the intuition of a betrayed wife. I’m not comfortable.” It would be foolish to pretend that Bryce had no knowledge of what kind of man Edward had been. Not if Bryce’s relationship with Anna was to grow into full maturity. “I need to know everything about Inman Hayes. Everything.”

  “I’m on it,” Bryce appeared energized by Anna’s honest skepticism.

  She reached out and touched his hand. As if proud of having pleased her, he smiled. Anna then realized why Edward had placed so much trust, or rather how Bryce had earned such deep respect, from Edward—no small feat. Perhaps Serine might come to see that, too.?

  Chapter 51

  Anna drove home, her mind meandering back to the afternoon of Theo and Millicent’s wedding in Chicago. Edward, as best man for Theo, had trekked back and forth between a room off the church narthex where Millicent, her family, and bridesmaids had gathered. Anna had been sitting on the right front pew when Ed ward, returning from one of his trips, had slumped onto the seat and said, “Millicent’s a wreck.”

  “What’s changed from last night? You said she was all smiles and beaming.” Feigning jet lag, Anna had not attended the rehearsal dinner.

  Edward sighed. “That was before she found out her godfather isn’t going to make it.”

  “Her godfather?” Anna was mortified. The look on Edward’s face had said Millicent wasn’t far from calling off the ceremony. Millicent wanted to marry Theo. He was a good catch, everything Thelonius Regarde was not, and never could be.

  “I’m going to see if I can help.” Edward left again.

  Edward could have a calming effect on Millicent, another thing that frustrated Anna about Millicent’s entrance into their lives. The daughter-in-law Anna least cared for served as a walking mirror reflecting all that lay unclaimed, lost, and hidden not only in Anna and Edward’s marriage, but also in Anna. Anna had closed her eyes and prayed that the wedding would take place. She also asked for protection over Theo, and that despite becoming the husband of Millicent Regarde, divine powers would prevent her from transforming him into some variation of her father, or Edward.

  On Edward’s last return, he was smiling, something he rarely did. With one hand grasping the pew in front of them and the other to the one in back, he bent down and whispered, “It’s happening.” His smile brightened. He left one last time to serve as best man in their younger son’s wedding. Anna never asked Edward what words, if any, he had spoken to Millicent. Nor had she asked Millicent what her father-in-law had said and how or if his words had transformed her mood. Questions lingered. During the ensuing five years of Theo and Millicent’s marriage, the closeness between father-in-law and daughter-in-law evidenced something having taken place.

  Guided on the arm of her father, Thelonius Vincente Regarde, Millicent proceeded down the center aisle of Trueblood African Baptist Church of Chicago and toward the altar where Theo waited with joyous expectation brightening his face. Edward stood behind him. His hand lay upon Theo’s shoulder. It had been a momentous image, one reflecting the joy and ecstasy upon Millicent’s face despite the absence of her godfather, what Anna had wished to experience with Edward.

  Anna turned the corner and drove onto the street where she lived in the house that Edward had built. Now in the wake of his death last week Anna once again pondered why five years earlier Inman had not attended the wedding. Millicent clearly loved him. Despite her misgivings of Inman concerning his role as representative for Helena McGrath, Anna also recognized that Inman cared deeply for his goddaughter. This became Anna’s obsession. She wanted to understand Inman’s connection to Millicent. She also needed to piece together why he had so easily relinquished his role of representing his aunt on the board of Manning Ventures.

  Could he have been telling the truth when stating why he had taken the role in the first place? I had no idea when she asked me. Amid ample opportunities to benefit himself, and others, Inman had done nothing to hurt the company. His love for Millicent, clear and evident, pulsated to the same depth as Edward at the wedding five years earlier when trying to calm Millicent’s disappointment and hurt in the face of her godfather’s absence.

  In light of his affection for Millicent, Anna found it particularly odd that Inman had not made it a priority to attend Millicent’s wedding. It seemed so strange now as Anna considered how close she and Inman had come to meeting each other. Had she possessed the ability to foresee future events, Anna would have sworn Inman had avoided the wedding to prevent her from learning of his connection to Millicent whom Anna did not like.

  Anna entered the kitchen and found Theo preparing tea. He poured two cups, and with Anna following, walked to the table and settled down for what she knew would be a discussion of Millicent and Inman.

  “It’s like they’ve rediscovered each other,” Theo said.

  Relieved that Millicent and the baby were holding their own, Anna gave thanks and tried listening without judgment. She prayed that the recent scare of miscarriage was hopefully on its way to becoming a disposed memory. Theo would be crushed should the worst happen.

  “I can’t believe she never told me how much he meant to her,” Theo said. “Yet again, her parents always get nervous and hush-hush when she mentions the word godfather.”

  “I suppose that’s why she never told you Inman’s name,” Anna said mulling over her tea.

  “Yeah, but I’m her husband. And we don’t live with her parents.” None of the recent events seemed to explain the reunification of Millicent’s relationship with
her father. Rather, they stood in stark contrast to what Theo had described. The connection binding the affairs of Theo and Millicent’s wedding to the surprises that arose from their recent dilemmas bore an exceptional oddity. “I don’t understand it,” Theo said.

  Anna’s mind flipped back to the reception following Millicent and Theo’s wedding. Unaware of Anna’s identity, certain guests had spoken of how the wedding had come close to not taking place. Millicent insisted the godfather give her away, one had said. Another had whispered that Thelonius had been obscenely offended by Millicent’s behavior. So much so that he, not Millicent, had threatened to call off the wedding, and not pay the vendors, who, in Anna’s mind, had lacked the good sense to require payment up front.

  Theo sipped his tea and said, “I like Inman. He’s good for Millicent, better than Thelonius could ever be.”

  Like Edward, who had written the letters that Father Richard and Linda read at the gravesite, Thelonius Regarde wanted to be at the center of events even when those not celebrating the milestones of his life nor feting him, or his achievements. For them it mattered little or none that some of those occasions commemorated the joy and happiness for others, even their children.

  Feigning her acquaintance and intimate knowledge of Inman, Anna said, “I wonder where Inman has been all this time?

  “Right here in Oakland with you.” Theo looked to her. “He told Millicent and me that the two of you have been dating.” Anna slowly sat her cup upon the table. She had hoped not to have her life further exposed, rather to gain more information about Inman from Theo as yielded by Millicent. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Theo said.

  “I didn’t think it was the correct time, particularly with your father—”

  “Daddy’s dead. And you need to get on with your life.” Having momentarily abandoned his concerns, Theo aimed his attention upon Anna, and her happiness.

  “I have the company, Manning Ventures.” Anna held her breath wondering what else Inman had told Millicent, such as his now-defunct position on the board. In Anna’s worry, Helena McGrath’s words came to mind. I’m Inman’s only living relative besides Dancia. After us there’s no one. Anna wondered what, if anything, Helena knew of Millicent.