A Perfect Forever (Leap of Love Series, Book 1) (3 page)

Amelia sat her drink down, and waited to see if Alfred would do the right thing.

"You know that I am engaged to be married, yet you are always trying to find a suitor for me. I am capable of making decisions."

Mrs. Sharp froze. She clasped her hands together so tightly that she felt her nails digging into her skin.

"Mother, Amelia will be my date for the evening."

Amelia smiled. It was not only great to see Alfred standing up to his mother, but it gave Amelia hope that at some point, things would change for the better.

"I am not exactly sure that there will be enough space there for all of us to bring someone else."

"Mother," Alfred interrupted.

Mrs. Sharp stood back for a moment trying to decide what she should do about the manner in which she was being addressed.

"Mother, Amelia is going to be my wife shortly. What better way for a man to celebrate than to bring his loving, caring, fiancée to dinner?"

"Very well. I will send word that we have one more at the dinner. I hope that it is not too late to make the calls after all that they have done preparing for this meal."

"Mother, trust me. From now on, we have got to work together on this. We are about to be a family. There is no reason for us to go at each other like this."

Amelia counted down until Mrs. Sharp would decide that she had had enough of being reprimanded.

"Very well," was all that Mrs. Sharp said as she walked away.

Amelia tried her best to maintain her exposure, but it was almost impossible when Mrs. Sharp was so over the top.

"I am sorry my love. I will handle my mother."

Alfred took her hand in his and squeezed it with reassurance.

"I hope so. I am not sure how much more I can take."

"We will be married soon. That is all that matters, my sweet Amelia."

He leaned over and kissed her. The blood rushed to her head, and when his lips let go of hers, she felt lightheaded and woozy. A kiss from Alfred was starting to ignite a spark in her, something it had not done when she originally met him. Maybe love could actually happen for her after all.

*

Strolling along the sidewalk, many thoughts ran through Amelia's mind. The excitement of opening the finishing school was mounting. She only had a few days left, and there were several students already ready to enroll. Of course there would be many onlookers there simply looking for social stimulation.

Amelia had gotten used to being the talk of the town. She was one of many who ventured west to start life over again, so her story was not unfamiliar. But people were simply enamored of the fact that she was a woman living there alone who was trying to make her own way. She was not a widow. She was not a woman with an estranged husband whose money funded her lifestyle. She was a former socialite who was orphaned, and was a bit more wayward and free-spirited than some thought a woman should be, even those out west.

Her biggest fear was that no one would take her seriously. This was her dream, and all she wanted was for it to come true and to be successful. Alfred seemed to be supportive, but he never wanted to discuss much more than the financial outlook. Alfred Sharp was born and raised in Kansas. His father was a farmer with dreams of making it big out west. His mother was the daughter of a shop owner who provided a comfortable existence for his family. That left her always wanting more and bigger and better.

It was the kind of yearning that left her husband destitute and drained before his death, and left her son feeling that he had some type of goal or dream that he could never measure up to.

Amelia and Alfred met one day down at the pier. Amelia had been there watching the ships come and go when Alfred approached her. She did not immediately notice him strolling around the pier. He was the kind of man who was not strikingly attractive. A long thin but sloping nose, dark mousy hair, and steel blue eyes, but Alfred Sharp made up for what he lacked in the looks and appearance department with intelligence.

He’d recently graduated from college, and worked as a junior accountant for a local chain of grocery stores. It was a job that was just as unassuming as he was. A job that allowed him to stay safely in the background. Amelia was never quite sure if he wanted more out of life, or if he was content to work for the store chain. He never mentioned wanting to travel and never really mentioned any other goals.

It was a fact that Amelia left alone. When she did mention it, Alfred would get a look across his face that told her it was a topic he preferred not to discuss.

The day they met was beautiful. The weather was perfect, and it was a gorgeous day for a stroll. Amelia sat watching the ships go by, throwing crumbs to the seagulls. It reminded her of being at home in Boston. She had not missed Boston prior to that point. All of a sudden, the feeling of homesickness washed over her. It had been relatively easy to forget about the place she previously called home, but today, sitting there with the sounds of the ocean, she felt close to the place where she had grown up.

"I see that you love the ships."

She had not heard him at first. So when he walked up near where she was seated, his presence startled her.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

When she looked up, there was a man with a slightly muscular build standing there before her. His smile was inviting.

"Yes. I was remarking on the ships. I love coming down to the pier to watch the ships come in. How about you?"

Amelia regarded him for a moment. What made him feel comfortable enough to simply walk up to her and strike up a conversation? She had been sitting there, daydreaming about her childhood in Boston. Her thoughts switched between childhood memories with her parents and the life she needed to build for herself here in San Francisco.

"I have had a fascination with the shipyards since I was a child. Being here just makes me feel free."

"Me as well."

Amelia remembered the moment that Alfred took a seat beside her. She had not been expecting to sit with him for hours and talk about nothing in particular. The conversation flowed freely, and nothing about the interaction felt forced.

It was in that moment that Amelia decided that Alfred would have to do for marriage. He seemed harmless enough and when they met, she only had a few months to spare to make her father's wishes come true. If she was going to choose someone, she decided that Alfred would have to do.

Her plan was not one that she spoke openly with Alfred about. She just made herself available enough that he would choose on his own to ask for her hand in marriage. He did so within the first thirty days of courting. It seemed that her life would work out the way that her father, the illustrious William Smith, intended it to after all.

The only problem was that after dating a few months and getting to know Alfred and her shrewd mother in law to be, Amelia was not exactly sure that the plan would go off without a hitch.

This was the fourth day in a row that Jonathan heard his mother crying. He could not take it any longer. She had done her best to hide it from him, but at this point, Jonathan was ready to explode. His mother was a relatively strong woman and he had never seen her at her breaking point. But no man could resist a woman's tears.

"Mother. Please tell me why you are crying?"

Jonathan never set foot in his mother's bedroom before. But this was a desperate situation. She beckoned him over to where she sat on her parlor chair. She was holding an envelope in her lap.

Jonathan did not ask permission to take hold of the paper. He simply slid it from his mother's fingers. Flipping the folded paper open, he read the script.

The words stung as they imprinted in his mind.

"What is this?" His question was more of a demand than anything.

Her reply was simply a sniffle.

"Mother, what is this?" He clutched the paper in his hands so tightly that he could have pummeled it and turned it the dust.

"Your father has passed away."

The words took the wind out of Jonathan's chest. "My father?"

The words he spoke were twofold. He knew that his mother was about to tell him something that was going to change his life.

"Your father has passed away." This time when she spoke, her tone was low and she looked him directly in the eye.

Jonathan waited as patiently as he could for his mother to reveal the information she was withholding. She placed her hand on top of his. Looking at her with her soft green eyes, Jonathan could not help but calm down a bit.

"I'm listening, Mother."

There was a dull pain in his temples from his clenched jaw.

"I have not been completely truthful with you about the identity of your father."

She paused, closing her eyes, as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek. Jonathan felt her squeeze his hand.

"I was so young then. So very young. I had no clue what I was doing. Running around with this man. Our love was a secret. I was just a shopkeeper's daughter. There was no way that society would approve. We were just too different for society to allow us to be together. So I agreed to keep everything a secret. Every meeting. Every dinner. Every walk we took holding hands. I thought that it was for the best. I did not want to disturb his life and I certainly did not want to make anything difficult for myself.

"I kept everything a secret. Even you for a while. That is, until I could no longer hide my pregnancy. I was happy to feel you growing inside of me, but I was not married and well-…"

Jonathan was trying to piece it all together.

"Mother, I just do not understand. What are you saying?"

The look of agony on her face was something that Jonathan could never get out of his mind.

"Your father is William Smith."

Her head hung low.

Jonathan jumped out of his seat.

"Please repeat that."

"You heard me correctly. Your father is William Smith."

"No. No. This can't be." He shook his head furiously.

His mother rose from her seat, begging and pleading with her son.

"Jonathan, please. I was so young. I fell in love with a man who did not truly love me. I thought he did. But he didn't. He ran off with Lulu la Rue and married her. They even had a daughter together. And there I was, an unwed mother with no prospects. My mother sent me away for three years. So when I came back, the story was that I had gone away, married, had a child, and that my husband had died and left me a widow. Being a widow was more respectable than being the mistress of a married man."

Holding his hands to his head as if it would calm his headache, Jonathan tried to make sense of all of what he had just heard.

"So you are telling me that my father was actually the wealthy and illustrious William Smith? That my name, Jonathan Montgomery Smith was not a coincidence?"

His mother simply nodded.

Jonathan walked out of the door, and nothing else was said.

*

He was sure that roaming the street he looked like a madman. It was taking everything in him not to scream at the top of his lungs. One second, he wanted to smash the nearest thing to pieces. The next moment, he felt a bit of empathy towards his mother's plight. There was no way that a woman could enjoy any type of respect if she openly carried on as the mistress of a married man.

But his mother had not been with just any married man. She had fallen in love with William Smith. A man who could have afforded him a better life than the one he’d had.

Jonathan's mother made sure that he had all of the creature comforts that were necessary in life. He never went to bed hungry, and he knew that his mother loved him. His grandparents had been an integral part of his life until they passed away a few years ago, leaving himself and his mother as their only family unit.

And now to find out that all along, his father had not been more than twenty miles away and that he could have possibly had a relationship with him. Or could he?

There were so many questions that would never be answered. He had just heard the news that William Smith and his wife Lulu la Rue had been tragically killed in a carriage accident. He was not sure if they had any children or not, but he heard that they had a daughter. A daughter who had lived a life replete with luxuries that he had never known.

His chest swelled with anger. Had William even known that he had a child? Jonathan wondered if the man even cared what had happened to his mother. Did he think she was a shrinking violet who simply disappeared when he told her that he was marrying another?

There were way too many questions, and not enough answers. And unfortunately, he would never get the opportunity to ask his father any questions. If he wanted information, Jonathan's only source was his mother.

The only thing right now that would cool his thoughts was a beer. He stopped at the pub, hoping that having a little libation would help wash away the pain that he felt right at that moment.

The pub was loud and distracting, just what he needed to drown out all of the questions that were driving him mad.

The barkeeper poured the ale, and slid the mug across the counter.

Jonathan gulped down the brew, and almost immediately felt some kind of relief.

He was not sure what would alleviate the anger and pain that he felt right now. All he wanted was answers, and right now there did not seem to be a clear way to get them.

*

After searching for a place to begin looking for answers, Jonathan found out that his father had a personal lawyer with an office in the heart of Boston. That had to be the first place to start.

His carriage ride to the city was mired with churning thoughts of what he could possibly ask the lawyer that would be most effective. The one thing that he knew was that the lawyer's time would be short, and there was a good possibility that he would not get the information he needed because he was, after all, a stranger.

Before long, Jonathan arrived at the building where he was told the lawyer could be found. His mother had finally cracked and told him everything that she knew about his father, and she mentioned that William had talked about a meeting with his lawyer Mr. McGill. It was the one nugget that Jonathan had to hold onto because he really did not have anywhere else to start his search.