Fireworks Over Fairfield

by Maryann Jordan

  “Sure, fire away,” Jean replied. “I honestly don’t have any secrets.”

  “I was just wondering if you were seeing someone. You never talk about dating anyone, so I was just curious.”

  “I was married once, many years ago,” Jean answered thoughtfully.

  “What happened?”

  “We were young, early twenties, just out of college. I was working in a school system and he was a contractor, building houses. We were happy, saving money and hoped to start a family soon. But life has a way of sometimes changing your plans.”

  Laurie, having told Jean her own story, was well versed in how life can throw all your plans into a tailspin.

  “He was killed on a job. One morning I kissed him goodbye, and the next thing I know I get the phone call to go to the hospital. A truck filled with wooden beams was being unloaded at the job site, and a cable snapped. The beams landed on him, crushing him.” Jean looked into the distance, as though the memory from fifteen years ago was as fresh as if it had just happened. “At least I was told that he would have died instantly and not suffered.”

  “Oh Jean, I’m so sorry. I should have never asked.”

  Jean patted Laurie’s hand. “Don’t be silly, Laurie. Talking about Rick allows me to remember him. I’ve moved on but will always remember. And no, I’m not dating anyone now. I have occasionally gone on dates, but just never found anyone that interested me for longer than a few dinner dates.” Grinning at Laurie, she joked, “But who knows? My handsome prince may come riding up someday!”

  Jean smiled as she stood, hugging Laurie. “The same still goes for me. Perhaps, one day another handsome prince will walk in my door.”

  Chapter Two

  Brock set his suitcase down inside the older, but clean hotel room. The Fairfield Hotel. What the hell am I doing here? Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his cell and sent Rob a text to let him know he was there. He had sent an email last night, but now that he was there he could feel his anxiety rising. How’s Rob going to set up a meeting with Laurie? What will she think? What will she do?

  Rubbing his hand over his face, he sat down on the bed resisting the desire to head back out to his truck and leave. Get a grip. If she hates my guts, then I’ll just have to prove to her that I want to know her.

  He unpacked his suitcase, placing his clothes neatly inside the drawers of the dresser. Afterwards, he knew that staying inside would make him crazy so he decided to go for a walk. Grabbing his jacket, he was startled by a knock on the door. Maybe Rob’s here to plan our meeting.

  When he opened the door, he stared into grey eyes that mirrored his own.

  “Sarah?”

  Laurie was startled by the man standing in the doorway who called her by her mother’s name. Slowly shaking her head back and forth, her eyes never leaving his, she heard a whispered voice say, “I’m Laurie,” before recognizing that the utterance came from her.

  “Of course. I’m sorry. It’s just…you look like…her. Do you want to come in?” he asked softly.

  She looked around hesitantly. Normally cautious, she would never consider going into an unknown man’s hotel room. Brock, noticing her hesitation but wanting to move her out of the cold, quickly said, “Or we could go somewhere public to talk.”

  With shaky determination, she walked into the hotel room. Heart pounding, stomach queasy, she made her way to the chair at the small table in the corner near the window. Deciding to sit down before her legs gave out from under her, she landed heavily in the chair.

  Brock carefully sat on the bed—near the table, but not too close. He wanted to stare at her face, but was not sure what he should do.

  She looked at the man sitting in front of her. He looked…ordinary. What was I expecting? Horns and a pitchfork? Smarmy playboy? He was tall, slender but muscular. Dark hair with a little grey sprinkled in it. Nice face. Grey eyes. Grey eyes. I have his eyes.

  Suddenly wanting to know what was going on between him and Rob, she bluntly asked, “Why are you here?”

  Brock, taking a deep breath, sighed and raised his hands in supplication. “I never knew. I didn’t know. I—”

  She interrupted, “I want to know why you’re here now. What brought you here today?”

  Anger was beginning to burn slowly under the surface and he was wise enough to see it starting to seep into her tone.

  “Last week, a man named Rob MacDonald came to my apartment. I live outside of Richmond, near the Army base. He told me about you and that you were ill. I explained the situation surroundin’ my meeting Sarah.” Saying her name again, he looked away from Laurie’s face, shaking his head. “Sarah,” he whispered. “I never knew.”

  “Since I have not been included in any of these conversations, perhaps you should enlighten me,” Laurie said with barely concealed anger. Anger at whom, she could not say. Anger at Brock, anger at her mom, and certainly anger at Rob. Earlier that day she had found an email between Rob and Brock, detailing their previous meeting. Her chest began to ache, as though her heart breaking over Rob’s secrecy was an actual physical feeling.

  “I can only imagine how upset and confused you are right now. I felt many of the same feelings last week,” he admitted.

  “I can imagine,” she said truthfully, realizing that his world had been rocked as well. “Mr. Sinclair, I just need to know what happened. Don’t leave anything out. Don’t try to make it any different than what it was.”

  Nodding, he said, “I can do that. You deserve at least that. But may I ask first what your mother said about your father?”

  Taking a deep breath, she agreed. She told him of the stories her mother would tell her every year on her birthday. “She always described you as a prince that she fell in love with but said that you had to go away. I used to imagine that one day you would come back.” She continued to explain her grandfather’s death and then the death of her grandmother and mother. When her eighteen-year-old aunt and she became orphans, they lived together, creating the only life they could.

  At that, he dropped his head into his hands and sat for a moment. Her chill towards him thawed just a bit. If nothing else, it did seem as though he hated to realize that she had been left parentless.

  “When I was eighteen, I found out the prince my mom fell in love with only considered her to be a fling. She did keep your shirt; that is how I knew your last name.”

  His head jerked up at the word fling. “She was never a fling. Never,” he spat out vehemently.

  Brock and Laurie sat looking at each other in stony silence for a moment.

  Sighing, he said, “Laurie, if you don’t believe anything else, believe this—she was never a fling.”

  Laurie, looking as pale and forlorn as she felt, said, “Perhaps you could give me your side of the story.”

  He nodded in agreement and began his saga. “I was on leave and in Richmond with some buddies of mine. I was twenty years old. Thought I was a man of the world, but lookin’ back I was just a young, arrogant dick. I’d been with several women from the bars and was out prowlin’ around for the night. Looked across the bar and saw an absolute princess walk in. Long brown hair, a natural beauty, definitely not in the right place. I was drawn to her. And felt the most unusual protectiveness. I knew if I didn’t get to her quickly she would be taken advantage of, and I wasn’t having that.” He shuttered as he remembered that his buddy had wanted to go after her.

  “We ended up talking for hours. She was smart as well as pretty, funny, and had the most delightful laugh.” Looking up into Laurie’s eyes, he confessed, “I won’t lie to you, Laurie. I was attracted to her like I had never been attracted to a woman before. I wanted her and I wanted to make her mine. I had no idea she was only sixteen. I had no idea she was a virgin.”

  At this, Laurie looked uncomfortable. Even after all these years, it was hard to imagine her mother being intimate with anyone.

  “We went back to my hotel. Honest to god, I never meant to take advantage of her. I just wanted to
spend more time with her, but that was us being naïve. It didn’t take long for it to get out of hand and, well, we had sex. She did tell me about being a virgin, and I was so careful with her. I held her and I swear that she had my heart from that instant on.”

  Brock stood up and went over to the mini refrigerator that was in the room. Opening the door, he pulled out a couple of water bottles. Offering one to Laurie, she agreed and he brought it over, handing it to her.

  Taking a long swig, he went on. “I planned on wakin’ up with her the next mornin’ and tellin’ her that I had fallen in love with her. When I woke up, she was gone. I couldn’t believe it. My princess was gone.” He paused, taking another swig.

  “Laurie, there are times in life when one act can change everything. And you can’t go back. You can’t change things back. Oh, how I wished I could have gone back to that evening and told her then.”

  Laurie, entranced with the rendition of her parents’ story coming from his perspective, asked, “What happened the next morning? Why did Mom think she was just a fling?”

  Brock, looking past her shoulder, focused on a point beyond her as though he could see himself twenty-five years ago right there in the room. “My dumb-ass buddy came over to our room and sent Sarah on her way, saying shit about how I didn’t ever want to wake up to one-night stands.” He paused again, as though not able to believe what he was remembering. “I was fast asleep in the room, and Sarah took off. I never knew her last name, and thought she never knew mine.”

  Looking back into the eyes that mirrored his own, he said, “I wanted to find her, but our leave was cancelled and we were called back. But I never forgot her. I never forgot her. And if you don’t believe anything else, believe this. If I had known her last name, I would have come back for her. And if I had known about you, I would have come back for you.”

  The lump in her throat kept her from speaking, knowing that if she did the tears threatening to fall might not ever end. Her hand pressed up against the ache in her chest and she squeezed her eyes tight, wanting to shut out the memory of her mother each year repeating the story of her father, knowing now that her mother never knew the whole story.

  “Laurie, I’ve missed twenty-five years of your life. I have no idea if you have any place for me now or if you even want to go there. But Rob told me about your illness and he was desperate for you to have all the pieces of your medical history. So I came. I’ll do anything to help.”

  Laurie continued to sit, not speaking for several minutes. Her mind whirling with thoughts, emotions, feelings.

  “I don’t actually know if there is anything you can help with. They have already tentatively diagnosed me with Lupus. I think they wanted to see if anyone else in the family had it.”

  Brock dropped his eyes again, staring at his hands for a long time. He spoke so softly that Laurie wasn’t sure she heard him. “My sister had Lupus.”

  His sister. My aunt. I had an aunt besides Emma. My aunt. Had. He said had. There is no cure for lupus, so “had” means...oh my god.

  “What happened to her?” she whispered, her voice choking in her throat.

  “She died about twenty years ago. There were no drugs for it then as there are now.”

  Laurie stood up quickly, hands gripping the edges of the table, her voice catching in her throat. “I have to get out of here. I can’t breathe,” she said, gasping. She took two steps and faltered, Brock jumping up to steady her. He held her by her upper arms momentarily then found himself pulling her towards his tall frame, circling his arms around her, cradling her head against his chest. Sob after sob ripped from her chest. Her world turned upside down once again.

  She had a father, other relatives she never knew, a family history that had been hidden. She cried for her mother who had lived for almost thirteen years loving a man that she thought betrayed her.

  Brock just held her. The daughter that he had never known about. Never held. Never comforted. How strange, he thought...it seemed so natural to have her in his arms, rubbing her back, rocking her back and forth, murmuring soothing words.

  Finally, the sobs subsided and the tears ran their last tracks down her cheeks. Moving away on shaky legs, she looked up into his face.

  “Thank you for everything you have told me. I…I…It is a lot to take in…for both of us. I need to go now, but I want you to know I…well, I’m glad you came.”

  “Laurie, I’m not going anywhere right now. I don’t know what you need from me, but I’d like to stay a bit as we figure it all out.”

  She nodded in appreciation as she walked out of the door.

  Several days later, Rob had sent Brock a text telling him that Laurie was ill and Brock dropped everything to drive to the address he was given. The voices raised in anger were not what he had expected although, if he were honest, he had no idea what to expect. Sitting in a stranger’s living room filled with high tempers and accusations being tossed about, he wondered if he should have come.

  They were at the home of one of Laurie’s friends, Jean, since Laurie had moved there until she could settle things with Rob. Laurie was resting in the bedroom of this house and all around him were the angry voices of her worried friends.

  “What on earth were you thinking, Rob?” Carol said in whispered anger.“No offense, Mr. Sinclair, but meeting the father that you never knew existed after twenty-five years must have been a real shock to her system!”

  “I did what I needed to do, can’t you get that through your head?” Rob retorted. “I wanted to make sure the doctor has all the information and was gonna make that happen.”

  “Don’t take this out on Carol,” Tom answered back. “She’s just worried.”

  “Oh, fuck off, Tom. You thought it was a good idea until now!”

  “Tom! You knew about this? I can’t believe that you knew about this mess and didn’t say anything to me!” Carol was no longer whispering as her voice crept higher.

  “What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?” Rob answered back.

  “Everyone calm the fuck down,” Jake added.

  Brock’s head spun with the voices from all around, everyone conveying their opinion. He could tell they cared greatly about Laurie, but if he was confused he wondered how she must feel.

  A woman walked from the kitchen into the living room, capturing his attention. He had noticed her when Rob first brought him into the house, but with so many other people around, he lost sight of her. Now, he wondered how he could not have focused on her from the start.

  She was older than Carol, who seemed to be about Laurie’s age. Jean. That was her name, he remembered from the text that Rob had sent him. Her thick, brown hair was cut to just below her shoulders and it waved softly about her face. She was beautiful, with just a hint of make-up. Her deep, chocolate eyes had gentle laugh lines coming from them, but instead of making her seem older, they made her seem even more beautiful. He watched as she quickly looked around the room and suddenly took charge.

  “Stop! Jake is right; everyone here needs to take a deep breath and sit down.” Jean decided that a voice of reason was needed. “Here’s what everyone needs to focus on. We’re all here because we love Laurie and want her safe. Right now is not the time for blaming or accusations. Right now is the time for calm reassurances.

  “Carol, we cannot say that she never knew her father existed. She knew he was out there somewhere, but she never felt a reason to try to find him.”

  Jean turned her gaze to Brock, latching onto his eyes for the first time. Jean felt Brock’s eyes on her, his gaze piercing into hers making her heartbeat quicken. She had never spent any time thinking about what her friend’s father would look like. Somehow the word Father led to thoughts of an older, gray-haired man. The man in the flesh was anything but an older, gray-haired man. Tall, dark hair sprinkled with a touch of gray at the temples, he was the most attractive man she had seen in a long time. Almost as tall as the other men in the room, he was leaner but his muscles were well defined. Lic
king her lips, she had to pull her thoughts back to the matter at hand.

  Speaking softly to him, she said, “Brock, in the past seven years that she knew your name, she never tried to find you because she felt that you wouldn’t have wanted to know about her, and she always said that she didn’t miss what she never had. But don’t imagine that she didn’t think about you, because she did. We talked about it. We talked about you.”

  Jean felt Brock’s eyes on her as well and for the first time in a long time, felt as though she had run a race. Just his gaze piercing into hers had her heartbeat quickening. Blinking, she tried to squelch her attraction. She had everyone’s attention now and decided to make sure everyone focused on the woman sleeping in the other room instead of on their individual points of view.

  “Rob, I understand why you searched for Brock. You love her and you’re afraid for her. When those two things combine, love and fear, we often act in ways that we might not act otherwise. I truly believe that Laurie will forgive you, but it may take time to earn her trust back. Tom, Jake – all I have to say to you two is how lucky Rob is to have friends that will support him no matter what. And once Laurie forgives Rob, she’ll value that friendship as well.”

  Brock looked around the room, realizing that he was in the presence of people that loved Laurie and was awed that there was so much support. “I have to say, I have no intentions of going anywhere,” he said to the group. “I will fit my life into whatever place Laurie wants to give me.” He got up and walked over to Rob, whose head was resting in his hands. “And son, while you may have messed up on the secret keeping, what you did for my daughter, well… you have my eternal thanks.” At this Rob stood up, weary himself, and embraced Brock.

  Brock looked over at Jean, feeling a desire to stay in her presence for a while. She was not only beautiful, but she knew how to read people, read situations, calm anger, soothe wounded souls. She looked up at him as well, a smile playing on her lips. The friends all left, leaving just Brock with Jean. Having checked on Laurie, only to find her still sleeping, Jean rejoined him in the kitchen.