Ex’s and Oh’s (17 page)

Caroline
began at the beginning, when she’d discovered the letter in her grandfather’s attic in Lake Forest. Briefly, she told Elaine, Nell, Pattie and Tori what the letter said and how it insinuated that Caroline’s mother hadn’t been Henry O’Shaughnessy’s biological child.

Looking at each of them in turn, she said, “I was at loose ends in Chicago. I thought the last of my family had died. When I discovered there may have been another branch of my family tree, I had to come here to find out if it was true. I’d hoped Karl was still healthy and coherent. He was neither, and yet I learned the most interesting things about his childhood and his life.”

“Did he know you or recognize you?” Nell asked.

Caroline touched a lock of her hair. “I don’t think he knew who I was, but now I wonder if sometimes he might have thought I was Anna.”

“So Anna and Karl were lovers when they were young,” Elaine said.

“All three of them were close. I don’t know if Anna knew it, but both men loved her. By the time Anna realized she was pregnant, Karl had shipped out and she couldn’t reach him. People didn’t have many options back then. Henry offered her a chance to have an honorable life. He married her, and gave my mother his name. In the letter she said she was lucky to have been loved by two men. She wondered if they were as lucky to have been loved by her. Anna died when my mother was a little girl. And Henry raised Elsa by himself.”

“So,” Pattie said, wiping melting ice cream off the table, “Karl never knew he’d fathered a child?”

“Oh, he knew. Shane found a letter Karl had hidden in the lighthouse. It was the letter Anna wrote informing Karl she’d married Henry. She told him she was sorry, and that she’d had no other choice. I’m sure Karl read between those lines.”

“How can you be so sure?” Elaine asked.

Caroline noticed that Tori wasn’t talking.

She understood why girls’ night usually wound up here. Tori had a knack for making a person feel comfortable and at home. Her kitchen contained just the right amount of party clutter. Uncorked wine bottles stood beside stemware and fresh flowers and cheese and fruit trays. There were sweets for Nell and spicy dip for Elaine and chips for
Pattie. Normally there was bottled water for Caroline, but she didn’t see any tonight.

She recalled the first time she’d met these four women. It had been Tori who’d invited her, but they’d all accepted her, each in her own unique way. By her very nature, Caroline was guarded and often private. She was learning that an important element of friendship was trust. Elaine had said it that first night.
What was said here stayed here.
Perhaps this was the test of true friendship.

“Because after Karl’s funeral, Shane and I found a stack of newspaper clippings in Karl’s house. I was featured in every one, from my birth announcement to piano recitals to college graduation, all the way to newsworthy cases I won.”

“If you’re Karl’s granddaughter, why haven’t you come forward with it? People here would snap that up,” Nell insisted.

Caroline said, “Karl didn’t tell anyone. And I don’t feel it’s my place to do so. It’s enough that I know he knew.”

“That halo must get tight.” Finally, something from Tori.

“How long have you and Shane been an item?”

“We started out as friends because of Karl.”

“Are you sleeping with him?” Tori asked point-blank.

Caroline wasn’t the only one who gasped.

Sharing personal information with her friends was one thing. Her sex life was private. “What difference would that make?”

“It matters to me. Are you?”

“Would I still be welcome at girls’ night if I were?” Caroline asked.

“I’m not the only person who would decide that.” Digging in her heels, Tori said, “Would you stop seeing him if I asked you to?”

Elaine, Nell and Pattie might as well have been watching a tennis match.

“Would you if the situation were reversed?” Caroline asked.

Nell nearly choked on her ice cream.

Caroline looked around the room. She and Tori seemed to have reached an impasse. This was Tori’s home, this group of friends and their weekly get-togethers her doing.

Tonight had been a test of friendship. It was too soon to know if she’d passed.

“I have one more question,” Tori insisted. “If your relationship with Shane is so damn innocent, why didn’t you tell anybody about it?”

Caroline didn’t have anything to say to that. She’d tried to tell Tori. Even now Caroline knew how weak that would sound. Caroline hadn’t planned her relationship with Shane. She certainly hadn’t planned to fall in love with him. The situation wasn’t cut-and-dried. There were extenuating
circumstances. And yet Caroline knew she should have offered Tori the same thing Tori offered all of them.

Honesty.

“I’m sorry,” she said. And she meant it. No one seemed to know what to say.

With quiet dignity, Caroline bid everyone a good-night.

Wasn’t this just peachy, Tori thought snidely after Caroline left.

“One thing I’ve noticed about Caroline,” Elaine said. “She knows how to make an exit.”

Tori grunted a reply.

No matter how covert they were trying to be, she noticed the glances the other three cast one another. They let the subject drop. Tori appreciated their sensitivity and discretion. It didn’t do anything to alleviate the ugliness at the core of her. It went so deep no plastic surgeon’s scalpel could reach it. Tori didn’t now what to do about it. She never had.

“Caroline! Look at you,” Elaine exclaimed. “You’ve bloomed.”

Tears gathered in Caroline’s eyes. She could hardly believe how good it was to see Elaine.

She hadn’t been back to girls’ night. This would be the third consecutive week she’d missed. Nell and Pattie had
stopped by the summerhouse last week and again yesterday. Today, Elaine was here to talk about her imminent divorce.

Taking a seat in her inner office, Caroline said, “Yesterday Pattie told me I’ve popped. I prefer your terminology.”

“The last trimester is always the most uncomfortable. It’s good to see you. I read about you in the local paper. Former Chicago Attorney Makes Harbor Woods New Home. That was good publicity.”

“Free publicity,” Caroline said. “Thanks to Shane, who has a friend at the paper.”

Elaine met Caroline’s eyes. “How is Shane?”

“He’s Shane.” But she smiled, and somehow she had a feeling that said it all. She and Shane spent most nights together during the week when Andy wasn’t staying with his father. Shane had offered to fill in for Tori in her parenting classes, but Caroline went alone.

She hadn’t called Elaine in to discuss her relationship with Shane, and nothing new had developed between her and Tori. She’d been officially open for business for a week. Off his crutches now, Andy had given all the walls a fresh coat of paint. Shane believed his son was making progress. The boy could do almost anything. He was polite to a fault. Too polite. Caroline wasn’t sure she agreed with Shane. She hadn’t called Elaine in to discuss Andy, either.

“I believe I’ve discovered a loophole in your prenup,” Caroline said.

“You have?”

“It’s about the size of the eye of a needle, but I’ve won cases for clients on less.”

Elaine leaned ahead. “I’m listening.”

Caroline outlined her plan. She referenced every legal document, bank statement and tax form Elaine had supplied. Citing other cases, she said, “I can prove you helped Justin build at least two of his businesses, both of which were started after your marriage. That’s our loophole, the
i
that wasn’t dotted. If you decide to proceed, we’ll have to move quickly, freezing his assets, tying his hands, so to speak, so he can’t transfer funds or hide figures in any way, shape or form. Be forewarned. This isn’t going to be pretty. And his attorneys will go for our jugulars.”

“Will it be worth it, Caroline?”

“I believe it’s worth it to get you what you deserve. I don’t feel we’ll gain anything by attempting to give Justin what he deserves. As long as we leave vindication out of it and remain focused on what you’ve accomplished for the businesses, not on the affairs Justin has had, I believe we’ll come out ahead.”

By the time Caroline showed Elaine to the door, they’d outlined a plan.

“Next stop is my hairstylist’s,” Elaine said. “I’m biting the bullet and going short. You may not want vindication, but I do. Justin hates short hair.”

Noting the expression of satisfaction in her friend’s eyes, Caroline said, “I’m going to have to drive to Charlevoix tomorrow to see the new you.”

“You could come to girls’ night instead.”

“I miss you, too, Elaine, but I don’t think Tori’s ready for that.”

“I don’t understand her. Nobody understands her.”

That, Caroline thought as Elaine left her office in downtown Harbor Woods, was the problem.

Caroline made sure Tori’s car was in the parking lot before she ventured into the real estate office in Charlevoix. The receptionist smiled the way all receptionists did when greeting potential clients. “May I help you?”

“I’m here to see Tori Young.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

And give Tori the opportunity to refuse to see her? Caroline didn’t think so. “I’m afraid not. Does she have a few minutes free?”

The receptionist scanned the screen of her computer. “I believe she does.”

Caroline felt a little sorry for the reprimand the unsuspecting
receptionist was going to receive from Tori for this. Pushing a button on the intercom, she said, “There’s someone here to see you, Tori.”

“Who?”

I’ll take it from here,
Caroline mouthed, already on her way to Tori’s office.

“It’s me, Tori,” she said, opening the door.

She entered without waiting for an invitation.

Tori’s eyes widened and then narrowed slightly. “What brings you to Charlevoix?”

“You look good. Is that a new suit?”

Tori shrugged.

And Caroline said, “My lease will be up on the summerhouse soon.”

“I’m fairly certain the owner will be happy to extend it on a monthly basis.”

“That’s good to know,” Caroline said, taking a seat. “Meanwhile I’d like to begin looking for a house to purchase.”

Silence.

“I’d like you to be my buyer’s agent. I also have my last parenting class tonight. Everyone’s been asking about you.”

“I figured Shane’s been going with you.”

“He hasn’t. Do you still have feelings for Shane, Tori?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then what issue are we dealing with here?”

“Please don’t try to psychoanalyze me. It’s bad enough you’re seeing my ex-husband, who seems to be wrapped around your little finger. Now my son follows you around like a lovesick puppy. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad Andy is better. Of course, you’ve heard all about that.”

Caroline wasn’t going to pretend that Shane hadn’t kept her apprised of the progress Andy was making in his outpatient therapy with Dr. Avery.

“I guess it’s pretty tough on Andy,” Tori said, “but he’s started to talk about Brian in therapy. And he likes
you.
”

“He does?” Caroline asked.

“Of course he does.”

This was news to her. “Andy works diligently at whatever task I give him, but he rarely says more than two-word sentences.” Caroline watched Tori closely to see if she would gloat. She didn’t.

Her intercom buzzed, and the receptionist informed her that her two-o’clock appointment was here.

Caroline’s attempt to heal the rift in the friendship or even to make the slightest progress in that direction failed. As she left the real estate office, it occurred to her that getting anything out of Tori was as difficult as getting information out of her son. The two were alike. Maybe that was the problem. Or maybe therein lay the answer.

But what, exactly, was the question? Maybe Tori was right. Maybe it would be best if Caroline left the psychoanalyzing to the proper professionals.

Caroline was doing laundry on Saturday when Andy arrived. He’d been coming regularly these past few weeks and had nearly worked off his fee. She would have been happy to have called them even, but Shane was adamant that Andy needed to pay it back in full, for his sake, as well as Caroline’s.

When it came to what was best for Andy, Caroline never argued. She hadn’t slept well. Who could sleep with a little foot pressed on her bladder all night? Placing a hand lovingly on her stomach, she opened the door. “Good morning.”

“Hey,” Andy said.

Stepping back to let him enter, she said, “Your dad says you’re good with directions and blueprints and assembling things. Do you think you can figure out the proper assembly for the baby’s crib?” She gestured to the parts littering the living-room floor. “Because I can’t tell the difference between slot A and C or the left side and the right.”

He got to work. And she returned to the amazingly tiny baby clothes she’d been folding when he arrived. Andy was extremely bright, and sensitive beyond belief. She wondered
if it was possible he was what they called an Indigo Child in the child-development articles she’d been reading. Before she’d become pregnant, she would have dismissed the idea that some children were born with a special gift and an aura that appeared dark blue to people who claimed they could see auras. Now, she didn’t dismiss anything as impossible. She questioned everything and she devoured all the literature she could find on the subject of parenting and child development.

She noticed Andy looking at her speculatively. “Something on your mind?” she asked, placing something called a onesy on top of a stack of sleepers.

He seemed embarrassed. Although they’d spent time together since the accident, they weren’t easy around each other. Something was holding him back. When he returned to the crib assembly, she assumed he wasn’t going to reply.

Out of the blue, he said, “Are you and my dad going to get married?”

She proceeded with caution. “We haven’t talked about marriage. Your dad is a wonderful man. I’ve only known him for a few months.”

“So it’s not his kid?”

Ah. “No, Andy, it isn’t his child.”