Ian tapped at the keyboard just a moment before he sighed and reached for his tea. Looking around the room he said, “I know you’re here. You might as well show your face.”
Rodie tentatively peeked out from below the skirting of a chair in the corner. She blinked and slithered out, defeated and headed toward the door.
“It’s okay, Rodie.” Ian tapped his desktop. “Come here, girl. I could use the company.” The cat took a few steps toward his voice as he smiled wearily. “I’m hiding out, too. We might as well do it together.”
She hoped up on the desk and settled with one of those cat sounds. Ian leaned back and looked at her. “Do you know anything about Twitter?” He rubbed under her chin with his fingers. “Me either, but I’m trying to learn without making the whole network go down.”
Ian put his elbow on the desk, his chin in his palm and continued to scratch under Rodie’s furry gray chin. He was rewarded with a purr. “What do we do now, Fuzzball?”
The den door flew open. Rodie’s fur stood up straight as she arched her back and hissed. She shot from the desktop and out of sight.
Clare watched the gray blur with her hands on her hips. “What’s with the cat?”
“She always freaks before someone tries to kill me.” Ian went back to the laptop screen.
The woman rolled her eyes, curled her lip and waddled in the room. “We need to talk.”
“Talking would mean two people communicating verbally, Clare. That’s not how we seem to operate. You hurl threats and I sit quietly until you run out of steam and go my merry way unaffected.”
“Shut up and listen.”
“I rest my case.”
“First of all that has to go, and its uglier twin sister on the stairwell.” She pointed at the painting behind Ian’s head like one of those dogs Ronnie had in a book. “As of tomorrow I’m throwing out everything in this house and redecorating. You will not interfere.”
“Clare, you will not touch anything in this house.” Ian turned to look at “Untitled Masterpiece Part Deaux” as he liked to call it and back to the extremely pregnant woman pointing at it. “And you even look at either one of those paintings again and I will rip that baby from your womb and beat you to death with the umbilical cord. Am I clear?”
“I will not be threatened.”
Ian sat back in his chair. “You mean you’re the only one allowed to threaten?”
“I’m not threatening anything. I am simply making demands and you will adhere to them.” She squinted and rubbed her belly. “You will fire that Ripley person tomorrow morning.”
“I will not.” Ian squinted at her and leaned forward. “And I urge you not to try it yourself again. He now has a shoot to kill order.”
“Ian…” Clare plopped down in the nearest chair and did her best impression of being distraught. “He made sexual advances toward me.”
Ian laughed.
“He did and has on more than one occasion.” Clare slammed a fist down on the arm of the chair.
“Clare…” Ian managed to control himself. “Threatened to throttle, beat you senseless or fit you for cement shoes I could accept. Making sexual advances toward you…that’s just a bold face lie.”
“You are calling me a liar!” She seethed.
“Clare, Ripley is homosexual.”
“He is not!” She insisted.
“I’ve never actually seen him prove it, and really have no desire to, but I can assure you without a doubt…”
Seemingly on cue Ripley appeared at the door, Rodie cradled in one arm, the other behind his back. “Is everything alright in here, boss?”
“Fine, Ripley. Thank you.”
The mountain of a man nodded and began to step backward. He stopped in mid stride, cocked his head and asked. “Are you feeling alright, Ian?”
Ian nodded his head slightly. “Why?”
“You look a little…pekid?”
Ian bit his tongue hearing the Southernism come from the man’s mouth. “I think maybe I’m coming down with a little cold. Maybe its just stress.”
“What do you have to be stressed about?” Clare smirked.
“I’m fine but thank you for asking.” Ian ignored Clare.
Ripley shuffled the arm behind his back a moment and came in the room, dropping the cat carefully on the desk and putting his hand on Ian’s forehead. “You’re a little warm.”
Ian slapped at his hand. “I said I’m fine…mother. You’re just looking for an excuse.”
“I am not!” Ripley pouted.
The look on Clare’s face registered with Ian, who rolled his eyes at her then turned back to Ripley. “Ripley, I am fine. You deserve a night out. You’ve been my babysitter too long. I have Rodie here to protect me if the boogie man comes.” Ian finally turned to Clare and beamed. “Ripley has a date.”
Clare smirked. “I won’t wait up.”
“It’s only a late dinner.” Ripley raised an eyebrow at her. “And I don’t put out on the first date.”
“What’s her name?” Clare grinned.
“His name is Lee.”
“Oh, come on Ripples.” Clare crossed her arms highlighting her huge belly. “No one is swallowing your gay.”
“Pardon the pun.” Ian chortled.
“I can assure you.” Ripley looked down on the woman. “I have seen the mountains but never once had the urge to slide into the valley below.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “I don’t believe you. There is nothing about you that screams gay.”
“Just because I am homosexual doesn’t not mean anything about me has to be screaming, just as you’re being Southern means you dip snuff and carry a shotgun. Quite frankly, I found your comment to be rude, offensive and bigoted, but I take into consideration you’re only exposure to such things have been stereotypical and ill-informed thus giving you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Did you just call me an bitch?” She managed to find some hips to put her fists on.
“No.” Ripley smiled and turned to leave. “I just called you an idiot.”
“Did you hear that?” Clare’s head spun around.
“I have no problem with you being called either.” Ian smiled at her. “A spade’s a spade.”
“I will not sit here and allow you to…”
“Clare, shut up and sit down.” Ian shot Clare a look that made her do instantly as told. He turned to Ripley and smiled. “Ripley, you and Lee have a great time. I swear if I have one sniffle, I’ll call 911 first and you second.”
“I’m faster.” Ripley said.
“That’s why I always give 911 a head start.” Ian shooed him with his hands. “Go…put on the blue shirt and have a great time.”
“Blue shirt?” Ripley stopped and asked.
“The one with the Chinese collar, I think that’s what they call it. It brings out the color of your skin and stretches across your chest in just the right places.”
The mountain blushed. “Night boss.” He turned to leave.
“Use protection!” Ian yelled as Ripley disappeared.
“I don’t put out on the first date!” He yelled back.
“Maybe Lee does!” Ian cupped his mouth to make sure Ripley heard.
There was a thump. “Who put that wall there?” They heard Ripley say.
Ian turned his gaze to Clare. “How are you doing?”
“Like you care.”
“Of course I care.” Ian leaned back in his chair again. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Look, I know you’re scared, frustrated and upset, but quite honestly Clare, you’re not making it easy.”
“Easy?” Clare lumped forward. “I’m pregnant and broke. How can that be easy?”
“You’re right.” Ian picked up his cup and took a deep drink, then wiped his hand across his forehead. “This isn’t easy, but I meant the stress level. You haven’t done anything but screech, snipe and threaten. Granted you’ve always been a bit…abrasive, but you used to be human. What happened?”
“You knocked me up and tossed me on my keyster, that’s what happened.”
“If I had known, everything would have been very different, Clare.” He said very calmly and quietly.
“How could I tell you, Ian? You had a restraining order out on me.”
“Actually, I didn’t. You busted your way into the HRT offices and threatened people. HRT put out the restraining order. I’m the one who got it rescinded.”
“So I can come to your office?”
“Not a chance. It was dropped provided you never set foot on the premises again.”
“Well, that’s just peachy…”
“Focus here, Clare. That’s what I am seriously attempting to do. Let’s both try to calm down, let me get past the shock and then maybe we can make some rash decisions about what’s best for this baby.”
“I know what’s best for this baby, Ian, but you won’t listen.” She dropped her head and mumbled. “Like that should surprise me.”
“Can we just talk a minute? Please…” When Clare sighed Ian tried relaxing. “Now do you know whether it’s a boy or a girl?”
“I don’t really care.”
“Excuse me?”
“Wrong choice of words.” Clare bit her lip nervously. “I mean I didn’t ask anything except whether or not it was healthy. That’s all I care about.”
“Of course. When is your next appointment? I’d like to go with you.”
Clare’s head shot up. “No.”
Ian tilted his head and looked at her. “Clare, you claim this is my baby, too. I want to be there. We should do this together.”
“I thought you didn’t want us to be together.”
He sighed. “I’m not sure that getting married is the best thing, but like it or not we are both parents to this child, and I want to be a part of every aspect of it.”
Clare did her best to lean in. “It’s all or nothing Ian. Either we get married or you have no part in this baby’s life…ever…and I go to the media and tell my story.”
“This is all about you getting your way. Isn’t it?” Ian looked and Clare who sat there determined and smug gripping the arms of the chair, knuckles white. “If there’s one thing I have learned since coming to Hollywood, ironically, is that that’s not what family is all about. And like it or not, Clare, that’s what we have got to become if nothing else for the sake of our child.”
In respond she leaned forward and hissed, “I’ll sue you. Don’t think I wont!”
Rodie laid back her ears, stood on her claws and did the same. Ian stroked her tufts and she immediately responded to his touch with warmth. When the cat was calm, they both looked back at Clare.
“You know, for someone with no money, you sure seem to suing a lot of people. Where’s the cash flow coming from that is going to let you do that?”
“Don’t worry.” Clare smiled. “The law is on my side.”
“Fine.” Ian opened up the drawer in the desk, pulled out a business card and looked at it. “You want to play it that way, here.” He frisbeed the card to her. “Call this number.”
Clare picked up the card that landed on her belly. “What’s this?”
“My lawyer’s phone number. Have you lawyer call mine. We have nothing to say to each other now except through them.”
Ian started to shut the drawer and noticed an opened pack of Marlboro Gold 100s. He slipped one out and reached for the lighter.
“Don’t smoke around me!” Clare snapped. “I’m pregnant!”
Ian looked at her. “Then don’t be pregnant around my smoke.” He hoisted himself up and reached for his cane. “Never mind, I’ll go outside. Com’mon Rodie, let’s get some fresh night air. Maybe we can find a nice fat mouse for you.”
Clare watched him head toward the door, Rodie following closely behind. “You hate cats.”
Ian stopped and turned to her. “Right now I feel safer and more loved with a cat than you.” He started to go, Rodie at his heals but turned back to Clare for just a moment. “You might want to think about that.”
And he was gone. Clare pounded on the arms of the chair a moment and then burst into tears.
“I’m not sure I like you being involved in this.” Billy said with a slight scowl on his face.
“I have a new job. That’s it.” His sister looked up from the files and paperwork piled on Kellen’s desk.
“It’s more than that, and we all know it.”
She turned to face him. “Look at it this way, Billy. I’m enjoying being here. I love the work, and I’m a little extra ears and eyes for the Scooby gang. I’m a reporter…deal with it.”
“I’m dealing with it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Billy kissed Sparky on top of the head. “Your kind of blind eyes and deaf ears and that’s what bothers me the most.”
“And that’s why I’m here trying to get all the information I can find so maybe I won’t be so deaf and dumb.” She looked back over her shoulder at him. “And thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I’m not real thrilled about it myself.” Kellen added to the conversation. “But Ian’s was right, dangle a wide eyed innocent with a connection and the shark is gonna circle the bait trying to figure out what the game is. That will give the real hired gun a chance to catch him off guard.”
“Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Billy said.
Reese put his arm around Billy. “There are a number of us who know what’s going on. The more the better, safety in numbers, blah buh blah buh blah.”
“Is this everything?” Sparky looked up and asked.
“Every scrap I have.” Kellen affirmed, pointing out piles. “Ian’s case, files on everyone who works at HRT and that pile are the files with the info on all the connecting crimes.”
“Just the one pile?” Sparky looked up.
“And the three boxes at your feet. Six connected cases in all.”
Sparky pursed her lips together and checked her notes. “My question is the missing connection.”
“I thought if we knew the missing connection the case was solved.” Reese said.
“What I mean is, do we know for sure who the perpetrator in each case is. Is that a positive?”
Kellen sorted through the stacks of folders finally pulling one out. “Here is the one person from each scam that disappeared with no trace; pictures, names, stats everything we could find. Each person has no past and disappears off the face of the earth.”
Sparky took the file from his hands and started leafing through. “I don’t see any notes as to how the bank accounts were closed.”
“Bank accounts?” Kellen looked at her.
She nodded. “Did they walk into the bank and withdrawal the earth shattering sum of cash they’d swindled? Did they have it transferred?”
Reese sat up a bit on the couch. “Yeah, that makes sense. You can’t just walk in a bank, close an account with hundreds of thousands of dollars in it, tuck it in your pocket and walk away. Sometimes you have to wait at least thirty days or more.”
“Where did all that money go?” Billy said out loud.
“It’s not like some one who went to all the trouble to skim that amount of money from a business is just gonna leave it all in a bank account and move on…empty handed.”
“Unless he was afraid he was going to get caught.” Billy said.
“Not a chance.” Kellen said. “This guy is too good. He gets several others involved to do all the dirty work. He disappears when the work is done and disposes of the accomplices. He’s cool, calculated and has the timing down to an art form.”
“And yet somehow he leaves a little trace of something behind.” Sparky said as she turned the next page.
“It’s always something minute and stupid.” Kellen said.
“I doubt that.” Sparky flipped another page, tossing the file on the desk and making a note in her pad. “I think it’s his calling card. This dude is a serial killer disguised as a scam artist. He’s rubbing it in everyone’s face. What he leaves behind for a connection is his calling card.”
“He’s brilliant.” Kellen began looking over her shoulder. “That’s for sure.”
“Do you know if all the social security numbers and names have been run through the FBI data base?”
“They’ve been thorough.”
“No connections?”
“None as far as anyone can tell.”
“I have a question.” Billy piped in. “How is this guy getting all the names and the social security numbers? Especially if they all seem to check out.”
“Stole them?” Reese answered the question with a question.
“It’s easy to do. Identity theft is the biggest crime in the country.” Kellen confirmed.
Sparky shook her head. “Too easy.”
“What do you mean?” Kellen asked her.
“This guy is too…uhm…layered…one of the things that makes him so brilliant and so hard to catch is every nuance seems so well thought out. Identity theft is too easily caught.” Sparky corrected Kellen.
“But only if they use credit cards. Social security fraud can take years to trace.”
Sparky nodded in agreement. “But that just seems out of character.” She pointed to her notes. “Everything is orchestrated in a definite framework, right down to the people he incorporates to use. Sometimes even the names are…wait…” Sparky leafed quickly through the papers.
“Did you find something?” Kellen leaned over her shoulder and the men on the couch in closer.
“That’s it.” Sparky said simply. She took her pencil and began to point. “Look at this.”
Kellen smiled. “Bingo. I’ll call Yancy. Maybe they saw this, maybe not.” He flipped open his cell phone.
“What?” Reese blinked. “What?”
“Okay just a possibility here, maybe leading to nowhere but…” Sparky turned around and showed them a sheet of paper with a series of typed names. “Here’s a list of all the identities we suspect to be the actual orchestrator.”
Billy and Reese looked closely. “So?”
Sparky smiled and laid a second typed list on top so both lists could be read. “Here’s a list of the people that were used and disposed of to scam the companies he/she worked for.”
Reese looked up from the list. “There seems to be a pattern of name combinations.”
“Huh?” Billy said.
“It looks like our Master Thief christens his new identity with variations of his former accomplices.”
Kellen put his hand over the phone. “Yancy’s running the names through his computer right now to see if by chance he’s using one of the victims social security number or id numbers of any kind.”
“Ask him if he has pictures on disk of all the identities.” Billy said.
“What for?” Sparky asked.
“We can put them on a program, run them all together and see if they’re all the same person. There’s a program that can match bone structures and check for facial features that are similar enough to be the same.” He said smiling.
Sparky smiled. “Oooh. I like that. I think there’s a photocopy of all the IDs here. Can we scan them all tonight?”
“I can scan them in and blow them up, but I’ll have to buy the program.”
Sparky frowned. “You’ve probably got to be police or something to get hold of that and it’s probably expensive.”
Reese grinned. “Not with my little brother around. I got the looks, he got the hacker gene.”
“Daddy? I’m bored.” Vonnie popped in the room. “Can I play with Ralphie?”
“Of course, honey.” Billy said, a little nervous that she’d popped in the room. “Give us a few more minutes and we’ll go home and get you ready for bed.”
“Okey Dokey.” Vonnie sighed and looked toward the corner to the dog. “Com’mon boy. Let’s go downstairs and play.”
Ralphie’s head perked up. He wagged his tail and eagerly followed the four year old out of the room.
“So what do you want to do?” she asked as they took their time going down the stairs. “You need to talk to Uncle Kel and tell him to get a TV. You must be bored outta your skull.”
Vonnie sat on the bottom step, Ralphie curling up beside her looking her straight in the eyes. “Granny and Poppy are out having a date night an’ ever one else is over here. I thought you didn’t date once you got married.” Vonnie sighed and put her chin in her hands. “Old people are confusin’.”
Ralphie snorted in response.
“I’d rather be over at Uncle Ian’s but that mean fat lady is there. She’s creepy.” The little blond turned to look at the dog. “But she did gimme a quarter to shut up an’ go away. I figure if I can stand it, I’ll be rich by the end a the week.”
The tot put her arm around Ralphie and hugged him close. He put his chin in her lap. “Hey, I’ll split it with ya if ya teach me your walkin’ through walls trick. Are you a ghost or somethin’?”
Ralphie bolted up and ran to the set of sliding glass doors. He snorted again and wagged his tail.
“What’s up Ralphie?” Vonnie asked as she followed him, putting greasy fingerprints on the freshly cleaned glass.
Ralphie barked and ran up the stairs.
“You gonna show me your trick?” She smiled as she watched him.
The dog stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to look at her. He walked in a circle wagging his tail. Vonnie’s eyes popped as Ralphie promptly showed her his trick. Being a four year old, she promptly did the same thing.
Ian sat at the table, Rodie in his lap, staring into the bottom of the pool. The silence of the early night was broken by a sharp voice from across the stonewall.
“Vonda Kay Jarvis, you get your behind back in this house!” Ian heard his friend yell.
“But Daddy! Ralphie just…” Came the whining retort.
“I don’t care if Ralphie twitched his nose and made you appear out here. You don’t leave the house without letting someone….”
Ian chuckled to himself and stopped listening to Billy’s scolding. “Me thinks there’s a little blond rug rat in some hot water.” Ian stroked the cat’s back, making her purr even louder. “Guess we’ll have another little one to worry about around here soon.”
The familiar slap of happy paws on the staccato made Ian look up and smile. “Ralphie! Have you come to visit? Come, join the party.”
Ralphie put his front paws on the table and gave Ian’s face a swift lick. Ian scruffed Ralphie’s ears who panted happily and them gave Rodie a big lick as well. The cat stopped long enough to tolerate it, going back to softly purring as Ralphie danced in a circle for a moment and then plopped at Ian’s feet, nose in what was left of his lap.
“I see the Ian Justyn Fan Club Fur Ball Division meeting is in full swing.” The familiar voice coming toward the entwined group said. “I shaved earlier, but can I join in any way?”
Looking up, Ian smiled. “Colton, join us any time.”
Colton Shores nodded his head, pulled out the chair directly across from Ian and took a seat. The two simply smiled and stared at each other a moment.
Not knowing quite what to say, Ian finally managed. “I had a nasty tasting Q-Tip rubbed all over the inside of my mouth today. Thank you for that post Father’s Day gift.”
The older man grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. I had a matching one myself.” Colton looked down at the table. “They say they’ll have the results in about two weeks.”
Ian nodded his head and looked down at the two heads in his lap he was stroking. “Thank you…and I’m sorry.”
“You’re welcome and what for?” was the reply.
“I feel like I should be jumping up and down for joy and kissing everyone. Instead I’m kind of sitting here trying to get the ping pong balls in my skull to settle down long enough to concentrate on every possible emotion at once.”
“Does it help to know that I don’t really need to know the results to know the truth?” Colton looked his newfound son in the eyes.
Ian smiled. “Oddly enough, I really don’t need some lab tech to confirm it either.”
“Looking back over the last few months, and believe me I have TiVo'd every moment, it all makes perfect sense. There was this odd connection from moment one. I do connect quickly with people, but you there’s always been this sense like I had the moment I first looked into Reese and Jesse’s eyes, a keen awareness of responsibility.”
“Colton…” Ian wiped the sweat from his forehead a moment. “I am happy about this, honestly.”
“But?”
“But for the past twenty four hours I’ve had this clock going off in my head every hour on the hour and instead of chimes it’s a sock full of rocks whapping the left side and then the right side.”
“For that I’m sorry.”
“It’s not the fact that I’ve found my father, Colton or the fact that I’m about to become a father again. I want so badly to put it into words, but all I can think of is…” Ian verbalized a series of diphthongs that made no sense.
Colton smiled. “Don’t think, Ian. Just answer this question with one word.”
Ian nodded and Colton asked, “How do you feel?”
“Manipulated.” Ian’s eyes went wide as he heard himself say it. His body almost shivered with relief. “Colton, doesn’t it feel sort of some how arranged that I just happened to buy the house next door to the man who is the father I never knew? I’d love to say it was good karma or whatever finally dealing a hand in my favor and maybe I could have had that same karma allowed the stork in one heck of a bad mood to dump a load before I had a chance to savor the first news.”
“Ian, I swear I had no idea.”
“I believe you.” Ian wiped his brow with his sleeve. “And I even understand Jesse’s struggling with how to deal with the knowledge he had given the circumstances.”
”Jesse feels awful. He just wasn’t sure how to…”
Ian interrupted. “I’m not upset with Jesse, and as soon as I get the chance to speak with him I’ll make him understand I probably would have reacted exactly the same way. Granted, I plan on kicking his butt, but that’s what big brothers are supposed to do to little brothers, aren’t they?”
Colton grinned. “Yes. Yes, son. They are.”
“Look, there is so much off with the timing of everything right now. This whole hello I’m your neighbor and your father welcome to the family is actually the best thing I’ve got to deal with right now. Please understand…” Ian grabbed his tea and slugged down most of the glass. “Crap, I can not get used to California heat…”
“You’re sweating an awful lot. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“A little overwhelmed, and we’ve cut back on the dosage and times of my meds, so maybe I’m going through a little withdrawal. I’m physically doing fine. Mentally, I’m six explosions past the train wreck at the beginning of ‘The Fugitive’”.
Colton nodded as Ian tried to get his mind back on what the whole point was. “What was I trying to say? Yes, please understand the priority I have to deal with right now I Clare and the baby. You and me, we’re ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ complete with cement pond and critters that’s not an issue I need to worry about. Okay?”
“Okay.” Colton nodded. “Now, what can we…what can I do to help with Clare?”
“I wish there was something. Unfortunately, this is my bed and I screwed up in it. If I could just get Clare to calm down long enough to talk sensibly maybe this whole irrational extreme wouldn’t seem so hopeless.”
“Are you at least happy about the baby?”
“I want to be.” Ian looked so desperately into his father’s face. “I so want to be. When Taylor was pregnant with Ronnie, it was such an emotional roller coaster I promised myself that the next time, if there ever was a next time it would all be so different.”
“Would it help if I told you that’s how all father’s feel with their first?”
“Only if you told me it was even more of a nightmare for the second.”
“Well, usually for the second you’re a little more prepared than ‘Happy Father’s Day, you knocked me up you bastard.’ At least, this time you’re more financially solvent and more mature.”
“Yeah, well, I’m nor so sure about either of those. Clare claims she broke and seems determined to make sure I end up that way, too. If she thinks I’m gonna pay her to sue me, she’s got another thing coming.”
“She’s still determined it’s her way or nothing.”
“Just a few minutes ago, I let her know that unless she’s willing to compromise we have nothing to say to each other except through our respective lawyers. Fortunately, I already have meetings scheduled with mine, as well as with my accountant tomorrow.”
“Your accountant?”
“He’s finally got my portfolio together for me to look at. The timing is prefect. I can now see in black and white what my assets are before Clare starts to chip away at them.”
“Welcome to Hollywood.”
“Yay!” Come out of Ian’s mouth as sarcastically as possible. “Colton, there is one thing you can do for me.”
“Anything.”
“Tell me about my mother, if it doesn’t hurt too much. Please tell me something good.”
“You really don’t know much about her. Do you?”
Ian sighed. “Just what a kid hears the town saying thinking a kid staring directly in their face can’t hear or understand what they’re saying, and my Uncle Nate who referred to her as the Black Haired Devil Whore.”
“What about Jude?”
“Jude has so much pain and guilt. He tries so hard but every time the subject comes up I can see that tremendous smile holding back an equally tremendous tear. He loved her. You loved her. Tell me about the woman two of the greatest men I’ve ever known fell in love with and then broke their hearts.”
Colton looked at the tabletop and then back up to Ian. At first there was nothing in his face until he nodded his head. Then for the first time when someone thought about his mother, Ian saw this warm gentle smile. It was love. It was truly love.
He was just getting used to being twenty when the woman who called herself Beth wafted into his life. Wafted was the best word. She just sort of appeared and lingered in his senses. She got close enough for him to smell her perfume that first time, he breathed her in and his senses locked on then he couldn’t get her out of his system.
She was standing outside the drug store in his little town, just looking up and down the small streets, suitcase beside her and her dark hair pulled back away from her face. He and his buddy Chester walked by her on their way to wherever they were going. She smiled at him, not them, but him. Chester was chattering away about guns or cars, and Earl Wayne, as that was who he was then, was letting the chatter sink in, and smiling now and then enough to encourage his buddy to prattle on.
He never knew the name of that perfume, but the scent and her smile lingered on for two days until she turned up to take his lunch order at Pratt’s two days later. That’s when she stole the rest of his heart. His mother warned him to stay away from her. His father told him to fuck her and forget her, but it was too late.
The whirlwind courtship lasted barely two weeks and Earl Wayne found himself standing in front of the town judge with Laura and hearing the words “You may now kiss the bride.” It was quick, and it was against everyone’s warnings, but he didn’t care. She was a dream come true.
For six months they lived in the little shack on the edge of town that she had rented with a small fistful of dollars from her pocket when she got off the bus. She told him she was from North Carolina, that she had no family and that she was on her way to California to be a movie star.
She was convinced that her mother was Marilyn Monroe and she was going to find her and reunite with her. Colton would just smile and kiss her. He knew that was one of her little imaginative stories, but they did no one any harm. They saved their money, her tips from the diner and as much of his salary as a ranch hand, determined to get to California and make her dreams come true. If that’s what she wanted, that’s what Earl Wayne would provide for her.
What she gave to him filled his heart. She smiled, and made him laugh. Most of all she loved him. She submitted to his every need, physically and emotionally. Each time they made love it was like fire and velvet. They had both been virgins until their second date at the drive in, and she just attacked him. At first it was hot and awkward, but it didn’t take long until they loved the awkwardness away.
Beth kept an eye on finances, daily updating them on how much they needed for bus tickets to Hollywood. Every night after they lit the hot coals of passion and lay naked in each other’s arms, they would dream of what they would do when they got to California. Sometimes she would get the little tin box they kept the cash in and they would count it, earmark the meager little stacks, counting on the fact that they would immediately become movie stars.
Earl Wayne had never even thought about being a movie star. His dreams until that time had been small, a wife and kids, a few horses and a piece of land to ranch, but Beth had convinced him that he was movie star material. She made him think about taking care of his body and what she called his cowboy star looks. She wouldn’t let him drink beer, “You don’t want one of them bellies honey…John Wayne don’t have a gut, and you’re better lookin.”
Spring was just beginning to pop. Laura had told him that by summer they would have enough to be on their way. She was so excited. Their first anniversary would be spent in Hollywood and they would be superstars by then.
He had a bad feeling all day, which became a pounding in his chest when Chester pulled his old truck into the shack’s yard and a yellow cab was there. Chester pulled off and Earl Wayne went in. Beth was sitting there tears running down her beautiful face sitting on that battered little suitcase he first saw her with.
Before she could speak a hard woman with a thick accent popped out of the kitchen. “Now say your goodbye’s girl…” she ordered. The woman grabbed Beth by the arm and made her stand up.
“Bethie, baby, what’s going on?” Earl Wayne asked as he reached for her.
“Bethie?” The woman snorted scowling at his wife. “You are the devil’s child, as usin’ that name.”
Beth, or whatever her name was, cowered as though she were about to be struck. The woman turned back to Earl Wayne. “Boy this girl done lied to you ‘bout ever thang.” She shoved Beth. “You bess be apologizing, too. Hurry now, we gots to go.”
And Beth broke down in sobs.
“Leave it to me to clean up yer mess, girl.” The old woman shoved his bride out of the way. “Look boy, this little girl goin home where she belongs. Sorry for any trouble she cause you, it’s best if you just move along.”
“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but you can’t take her with you. She’s my wife and I’m her family now.”
The woman laughed. “Yer wife? Aw buddy, how old she tell you she wuz?”
“Nineteen” Earl Wayne blinked.
“Honey, you bes be a little more careful about beleivin anything that purdy girls tell you. This girl barely seventeen. Iif you was fool enough to marry this lying little whore, you bes hope the po-lice don’t be arrestin you for shackin up wif a baby.” The woman smacked Laura on the ear, hard enough to have the ring echo throughout the whole little shack. “Come on girl. We be leavin' now…” She snatched up the suitcase and grabbed his sobbing bride’s arm and yanked her in the direction of the door.
Beth broke away long enough to grab Earl Wayne and sob on his chest. “Bethie, honey…” he held her as tight as he could. “I don’t care…I’ll find you baby….”
“Oh no…” the woman broke them apart. “You bes just get that thought right out ya head boy. This girl ain’t nothing but trouble…you find you a good woman…a decent woman” She grabbed and twisted Beth’s arm, forcing her to head to the door. Earl followed them every step of the way to the taxi.
As the cab driver put the battered little suitcase in the trunk, the old woman allowed Beth to kiss her husband one last time. Beth put her arms on Earl Wayne’s shoulders and kissed him. As she was pulled away she whispered “I’ll meet you in California…”
I took two days for Earl Wayne to stop his own sobs, then another to stop the anger. On the fifth day he marched down to the courthouse and told the judge the story. He was told for all intents and purposes his marriage was invalid and that he should just get on with his life. His original thought was to that someone would track down his wife and he could get her back.
His heart barely beat, but his mind raced a thousand miles an hour. There had to be some way he could find her. She had obviously run away once before, this probably wasn’t the first time. Why should it be the last?
He checked to make sure she hadn’t taken their little box of dreams, as they called it, with her. It was still there, not a cent missing as far as he knew. After tearing the little shack apart, in search of any clue as to where she came from or even what her real name was, he packed what little he had and bought a bus ticket to Hollywood. He would meet her there.
To Earl Wayne’s surprise, it wasn’t easy to become a movie star. There weren’t people lined up impressed with his looks eager to give him his first lead role in a movie. In fact what he found was that Hollywood was lined up with good looking young men and women, all with the same dream and not enough lead roles in movies to go around. But he was determined; his best chance at finding his wife was for her to find him, so he stuck to it…and look at him now.
The only thing missing was his Bethie. She was a twinge in his heart from a distant long ago. He never heard from her again. Six months after arriving in L.A. He got a job working for a production company that needed people with experience as ranch hands.
He used that as a stepping stone to actual acting classes and much quicker than it ever should have happened, he began to get work in television. Within two years he landed a lead in a really bad western that didn’t last as long as his marriage, but it lead to a hit a year later.
Then along came Miss America. He was the hot new man in town when the pageant officials contacted the network and asked for a judge for that year’s program. Wanting to promote the network and the new series, they insisted that Earl Wayne, now known to the world as Colton Shores, fill the position. It was just a week he thought, what the hell.
What the hell was right. To this day he can’t remember any of the contestants or who won for that matter. All he could see the entire time was the Southern belle who was giving up her crown after a yearlong reign, Mamie Rae Tipton. Of course, she didn’t even know he existed. Oh she had smiled at him, and was so pleasant and cordial when they were introduced, but to his knowledge he was just someone on the other side of all those matrons that kept her at a distance.
Like a government orphan who turned eighteen, as soon as the new winner was crowned Mamie Rae was turned loose in the streets. Colton was at his hotel room, packing his bag ready to sit there all night until it was time for the limo to take him away when he heard the knock at his door. When he opened it, there she was…Miss America.
She smiled that bright smile that has won her the title the year before and pushed her way right into his hotel room. She shoved him back on the bed and looked him in the eye. “I’ve always been a good girl, but you Mister Colton Shores make me wanna be bad.”
Colton saw no reason to lie. “We’re gonna get along just fine then…”
And that was that until the limo arrived to take him away. Unlike Beth, Tippy was on a flight to L.A. later that day. They never looked back, and by spring they were married.
Now his life was complete and Beth was just a sometimes painful memory relegated to a brown manila envelope whose contents were a picture, a faded marriage license and now a birth certificate Bethie, now identified as Lylah Justyn.
Colton assumed it for years it had been purchased somewhere. The latest shock upon shocks was that it had not been a forgery. It had been stolen from her home in Virginia; Beth Ann Ransom was Ian’s Uncle Nate’s sister, who had died of scarlet fever at the age of three. It was the last piece of evidence they needed to prove to themselves what they all knew. It was coincidental, but the coincidences were far too great to be ignored.
Ian’s own birth certificate was now in that envelope. Jude knew the real father’s name was on the original. None of them doubted the name Earl Wayne Grayson was the man now legally known as Colton Shores. Had Colton stayed in Splintersville just another few short weeks, he would have known he was to be a father.
As hard as Lylah’s family were, they weren’t about to deliberately have a bastard born in the world, but he had left without even saying goodbye to his folks. In fact he had had no contact with them, out of shame and anger until Chester tracked him down in Hollywood to tell him his father had passed.
His mother was not a forgiving woman, but had told him that if he give up the Hollywood nonsense and come home where he belonged all would be forgiven. Colton was the star of his own series by then and was about to become a first time father, so he thought. His answer to her was simple and direct, “Go screw yourself Mama”, and that was the last contact he ever had with anyone in Splintersville.
Although he was grateful now that his Beth had been taken away from him, he was also so grateful that she had been ushered into his life. She was the first of a thousand sweet surprises, the greatest being his beloved Tippy. She never ceased to amaze him. Being alone after the shock of truth subsided. She just took his hand and squeezed his heart with her smile. “Nothing’s changed love, nothing it all. Now we just know why.”
No comments:
Post a Comment