Adrian was glad his sister had put things into perspective for him. No matter what happened in the end, Adrian believed it was his duty to find Cory, tell her everything, and beg her to find it in her heart to forgive for all the pain and grief he caused her and her family. She deserved that much. Then maybe, he could go on from there somehow.
“Anna … I’m going after her.”
Chapter 31
Adrian knew in order to find her quickly he had to start at the top. The top meaning him paying Cory’s father a visit. He had sensed Jonathan Phillips disapproval of him but he was the least of his worries right now. Cory was his only priority. She was all that mattered at the moment.
Somehow, he had to suck it up and face the man again. And he had to take what he knew was coming to him like the man he knew he was. Adrian cringed as he remembered that night when he stood up to this man, in his own house. Adrian figured if he could face the wrath of drill instructors barking commands in his face and a grueling 365 days in Afghanistan, he could face Jonathan Phillips. Nevertheless, he prepared himself mentally for the battle ahead.
Knowing Cory, Adrian doubted she would be there. Though she loved her father to death and missed him terribly, he knew just because of what he did, Cory would never be able to face him again. That was the other reason why he had to do this. He had to at least try to get this family back together because he was the major reason it fell apart in the first place.
Collin was dead because of him. Cory and her father’s now-strained relationship was because of him.
When he pulled up to the house that morning, he met Christian in the yard, busy washing down his father’s car in the driveway.
“Adrian,” Christian called out to him.
He had a big smile on his face. At least somebody was happy to see him, Adrian thought. “What’s up, man?” Adrian asked. He walked up to Christian and bounced fists with him.
“I’m all right,” Christian replied. “So what’re you doing here? And where’s Cory?”
Adrian’s suspicions were right after all. Cory wasn’t here and they didn’t know where she was. He didn’t know what to say to Christian about the whereabouts of his sister. He was supposed to be her husband. The one protecting her, yet he himself didn’t have a clue as to where his wife was.
At that exact moment, Jonathan Phillips chose to come out of the house, taking both Adrian and Christian by surprise. His hands were shoved in the pockets of the black shorts he was wearing, his bulging belly noticeably stretching his T-shirt to its limit.
“Adrian,” Jonathan greeted him politely.
“Sir,” Adrian responded.
“Could I speak to you for a minute?” Both men asked the exact question at precisely the same time. Then they stopped and just stared at each other, both wondering what the other wanted to say.
“Come inside,” Jonathan announced. Adrian followed him, leaving Christian alone.
“Have a seat,” Jonathan offered him. Adrian grabbed the one closest to him in the living room.
“Would you like a scotch on the rocks?” Jonathan again offered.
“Ah, no thank you, sir,” Adrian declined.
Jonathan poured one for himself anyway.
Adrian cleared his throat and began immediately. “Um, I have some things I need to say to you, sir. First of all, I humbly apologize for disrespecting you in your home the last time I was here.”
Jonathan raised his hand and immediately stopped him. “Wait! Before you say anything else, Adrian there is something I need to say to you first.”
Here goes, Adrian mentally prepared himself for the coming onslaught.
“That wasn’t disrespect. That was what I would call standing up to someone,” Jonathan began. “Which was well warranted. So you have nothing to apologize for. I know that decisions for war and military orders don’t come from the soldiers themselves. And believe me, if I were to ever go to Iraq or Afghanistan, I’d probably shit myself.”
Adrian smiled at Jonathan’s bold admission.
“Look, Adrian … I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re a brave young man. To do what you do or what you did on a daily basis. I don’t think I could ever grow enough balls to do any of that.”
This was another shocker for Adrian. He had come here prepared to do battle if he had to but Jonathan Phillips was taking a completely different approach to everything now. He was flipping the script just like that.
“This means a lot to me, sir. To hear this coming from you. Especially with all you and your family have been through,” Adrian was being as sincere as he could be. “But there’s something I came here meaning to tell you and if you can still say these words after, then I’ll be eternally grateful.”
He told Jonathan everything. From the fateful day he and Cory met, what really happened two years ago with the shootings, how he found out and connected the dots and how Cory eventually found out before he had told her anything, all up until the present with her disappearance.
Jonathan remained seated throughout the entire thing. He sipped slowly on his scotch intermittently but never interrupted Adrian. The two sat there with Adrian doing all the talking now but what Adrian noticed, surprised him the most. Jonathan Phillips didn’t seem surprised at all by all this or fazed even, to say the least.
“Sir, you do understand the magnitude of all these events I just told you, right?” Adrian enquired.
“Yes,” Jonathan answered simply. “Look, Adrian. I have to be honest with you here, too. Cory’s grandmother called me yesterday. She told me everything. But from what Cory had told her, of course. I honestly believe that there are always two sides to a story. And now that I have heard your side, I have come to the conclusion that my son’s death two years ago was an accident. As hard as it was and still is to take in, I have to accept it for what it is. And I appreciate you telling me all this, Adrian. Everything finally makes some sense now. I know it took a lot of guts for you to come clean and tell me this and I’m indeed thankful for it.”
“Miss Millie told you this?” Adrian asked dumbfounded.
“Yes. Cory is with her now.”
“Cory is in Tobago?” He was glad he now knew where she was. And that she was safe.
“Yes. She told me how Cory came to her. Let me warn you, she’s really in a state. She really took this hard, her grandmother said.”
“I know,” Adrian answered quietly. “I have to go, sir. I have to talk to Cory. This is something I should’ve known better to do from the beginning.” He immediately got up off the chair.
“Adrian, before you go. Just so you know my daughter is a very stubborn person. She took after her father,” Jonathan added and smiled.
This was absolutely the very first time Adrian saw the man soften and smile. But he had no time to stay and chit chat anymore. He had to go after the most important thing in his life at the moment. He was heading straight to the airport. He had no ticket or clothes or a hotel reservation but none of that mattered right now. As long as he reached Miss Millie’s house and speak to Cory, to get to see her, he didn’t need anything else.
“Sir, thanks for your understanding in all this. I really hope there could be a fresh start for all of us,” Adrian said to Jonathan as he turned to walk out the door.
“I was only trying to protect my daughter, you know,” Jonathan announced. “But in the end I also only caused her pain. Hence, I’m a lonely man today. I lost my wife, my son and now my daughter because of my stubbornness and stupidity.”
“You haven’t lost your daughter. I’ll personally make sure of that, sir. You also have Christian. And if all goes well, you’ll have gained another son,” Adrian offered.
“Well, good luck, Adrian,” Jonathan said as he shook hands with him. “I hope things work out between the two of you. I really do. My daughter needs a man l
ike you to love her unconditionally.”
“Thank you, sir.” And before Jonathan could say another word, Adrian was out the door.
Chapter 32
The heavenly smell of freshly baked ham filled her nostrils. Cory took a deep breath of the divine aroma as she opened the gate to the small house. The place smelled like Christmas. Only it was July. So maybe it was Christmas in July.
She followed the smell from down on the beach where she had gone to clear her head early that morning. She was feeling much better today. Her appetite was back because her stomach was viciously growling at her. And this was just the right kind of comfort food she needed.
When she entered the bright yellow kitchen, her grandmother was taking out some freshly baked loaves of bread she had in the oven. Cory’s mouth was salivating, knowing fully well it was going to have a piping hot meal of bread and ham in a minute or so.
The majority of islanders would normally have ham only at Christmastime, as was the tradition. But Cory and her grandmother would soon be having it in the middle of July. This was just one of the many reasons why Cory loved her grandmother so dearly. She was so unconventional. A classic nonconformist. To hell with traditions and customs. Her grandmother ate and wore whatever she liked, whenever she liked.
She would be the one to wear another color besides black at a funeral because of her belief that a funeral was supposed to be a celebration. A celebration of the life of the person who passed. Everyone couldn’t understand why she hadn’t shed a tear at her only child’s funeral. But Cory understood. That was just who she was.
Her grandmother had to deal with so many deaths in her lifetime. Her two husbands, her only daughter, her first grandson. She probably was fed up with all the tears. Yet, she was still here, living life to the fullest. Cory wished she could draw some of her grandmother’s strength and courage to go on now. Her love of life. Her free spirit.
“Hi, Gran.” Cory kissed her grandmother on the cheek.
“Hi, sugar. You’re finally back from the beach? I thought you didn’t want any breakfast again this morning.”
“Nah. Somebody was baking and I couldn’t resist anymore.”
“Are you finally hungry, sweetie?”
“Famished! How did you know I was craving this, Gran?”
“Oh, lucky guess,” her grandmother winked at her. “Sit, let me make you a sandwich.”
“I’m so lucky.”
“Don’t be silly. Who else do I have to do all these things for? Besides, I love having to cook when I do have guests.”
“Boy, I need to come visit you more often, then,” Cory said as she pulled out a chair from the small dining set in the kitchen.
“Now why would you want to leave that handsome husband of yours and come all the way up here to see little old me?”
Cory’s cheerfulness quickly vanished from her face. She grew serious now. “Gran, I told you what happened. What he did. He lied to me. And I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.”
“You know you can mention his name, Cory.”
“I don’t want to, Gran.” Adrian broke her heart. No. Her heart was shattered in a million tiny pieces and Cory didn’t know if she would ever find all the pieces or how long she would take to pick them all up and mend it back together again.
“That’s not going to make you not think about him or forget what you two have together for that matter,” her grandmother added knowingly. “So are you going to stay mad at him forever?”
Cory sighed heavily and sank further into her chair. “Look, Gran, everything he and I had together was all driven by his guilt. His proposal, the gifts, the flowers, everything, okay.”
And she was so stupid to believe it all. She got herself so wrapped up and lost in all the nonsense. This unbelievable, whirlwind romance. She never once stopped to think or ask a question. Maybe it was his charm or his damn accent. His gentleness. Or was it the way he made love to her like no other man could. The way he protected her. What the hell was it that made her fall so damn hard for this man?
“Don’t be a fool, Cory. Did you stop to think for one minute that he could have been driven by love? You know, I’ve been thinking about this all of last night. That man loves you, Cory. In fact, he wouldn’t have done what he did if he didn’t love you in the first place. He could have easily just dumped your ass and never see you again and move on with his life and left it at that.”
“And you really believe that?”
“Yes, I really do. I think he only did what he did because he didn’t want to lose you, Cory. And at some time or the other, you’re going to have to talk to him. But most importantly, you’re going to have to listen to him. Hear what he has to say, Cory.”
“But he should’ve told me the truth, Gran. Let me decide what I wanted to do. Not take matters into his own hands.”
Her grandmother looked up at her for a moment. She stopped slicing the juicy red tomato on the cutting board and looked at her intently. “And if he did tell you everything Cory, would you have stayed with him? Would you still love him and even married him?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’d have done, Gran.” Cory was still trying to figure out the real reason she ran away from Adrian in the first place. Was it because he was actually there when her brother was killed or the fact that he knew all the while and deceived her?
“My point exactly,” Miss Millie stated and went back to her cutting board.
“All I know is that I trusted him with my everything and he abused and betrayed that trust. He deceived me, Gran. And it’s just amazing to me that out of the one point three million people on these two islands, Adrian had to be the one to be there that night.”
“Because he was supposed to be there, Cory,” her grandmother stated quite matter-of-factly. “I honestly believe he made a mistake, Cory.”
“Well, this mistake cost somebody their life. My brother’s life was wrongfully taken in all of this. Then the facts of that were hidden from me.”
Her grandmother handed a plate to Cory. On it was a thick juicy ham sandwich with lettuce leaves sticking out of its sides. “Mistakes are made everyday by everyone but lessons are supposed to be learned from them. Besides, it wasn’t like he alone deliberately did it. So if I was you, Cory, I wouldn’t let my brother’s life go for naught.”
Cory couldn’t resist taking a bite in the sandwich her grandmother just prepared. She finally sank her teeth into the warm bread. “What do you mean by that, Gran?” she asked.
“You have found true love. Don’t let this come between you and Adrian. Without Adrian, you would have probably still been with that boring fool in his skinny suits.”
“Granny?” Cory laughed despite the seriousness of the conversation. “That’s an awful thing to say. Preston is a lawyer. He has to wear suits.”
“I know, but they’re too small!”
“So Gran, if you never liked Preston, how come you never told me anything before now?”
“Oh, I never said I didn’t like the boy, Cory. I just didn’t like him for you, sweetie.”
“And what about Adrian? Do you like him?”
“Oh yes. Without a doubt, you two were meant to be together. You can see so much love with you two.”
“So you have no problems with him being a soldier, then?”
“Why should I? That’s the man’s job, baby. What’s better than having a man who’s willing to give his life to protect you everyday? Besides, by the looks of him, I’m sure he’s incredible between the sheets, too,” she winked at Cory with mischief in her eyes. “Child, anytime that man looks at you it’s as if he wants to … .”
“Okay, Gran. That’s enough,” Cory raised her hand in protest, shaking her head. They both burst into loud laughter. Talking about her relationships with her grandmother was one thing. Cory wasn
’t about to discuss her sex life, too, even though her grandmother was right on point. Adrian was giving it to her just the way she wanted it, needed it and liked it. That was another thing. How could she ever find her way back into another man’s arms again? Certainly not after the way Adrian possessed her body and it responded to him in a language all of its own.
“So what do I do now, Gran?” Cory sighed heavily.
“Sweetie, I can’t tell you what to do. You have to feel it … from your heart. Maybe you should listen to your heart for a change.”
“Well, there isn’t a question about it. My heart tells me I love this man more than anything. My heart, my soul, my body … my entire being loves Adrian so much,” Cory said as the tears started again.
“So there you go. Sweetie, I think this is your biggest lesson you’re to learn yet. Forgiving the one you love.”
“But how could I ever forgive him, Gran? Love alone just isn’t enough sometimes.”
“Then sometimes, it’s all we may ever need, Cory. All this old lady knows is that your brother was taken so that you and Adrian could have a chance at real love and make each other truly happy. Both of you needed to find true love in order to heal from all your past heartaches.”
“You really think so, Gran? That all sounds like a fairytale to me.”
“Trust me, sweetie. The Lord knows what He’s doing. He may work in mysterious ways but He sure knows what He’s doing, Cory,” she laughed.
And somehow, these crazy words coming from her grandmother just made perfect sense to Cory. If she had half as much faith as her grandmother did, maybe she just might make it through this mess sanely.
“By the way … when are you going to tell the man you’re having his baby?”
Her grandmother’s question completely threw her. Her eyes widened in surprise. The ham sandwich she was eating slipped from her hands, landing on the floor. How did her grandmother find out? She must have found the pregnancy test in the trash.
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