Something to Talk About (28 page)

“You don’t think I got him like that, do you? He didn’t come from the factory in that condition. His current behavior is the result of years of effort on both our parts. Honey, love will find a way. You and Adam love each other dearly. He’s your grand passion and you are his. Let Adam find his own way through this,
mija
.
Love will find a way.”

Leah spoke with such quiet assurance that Alicia wanted with all her heart to trust in what her mother was saying. But with
Adam across the country in Seattl
e, it seemed very close to impossible.

***

Benita’s fingers drummed repeatedly on the table in a rhythmic pattern that finally caused her husband to take her hand and enclose it in his. The warmth and comfort of his big hand wrapped around her own was just what she needed to calm down. He moved his chair closer to hers and
put his arm around her shoulder. He leaned over and brushed his lips against her ear, whispering, “It’s going to be fine, Peaches. Try to relax, sweetheart,”

She smiled at his words and the comforting feel of his lips on her skin. The slight thrill she always felt when he kissed her warmed her, and she did feel a
bit more serene
. “I love you so much, Clay. I’m so glad you’re here with me.”

Clay smiled and kissed her again. “Where else would I be but here with you?”

“Get a room, why don’t you? Isn’t it about time y’all started acting like a respectable married couple?” Andrew joined the couple in the upstairs outdoor dining room of Paoli’s, a fine Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor. He gave them a comic look and elaborated on his remark. “You got five kids already and this is how they come about. Can’t you keep your hands off each other for five minutes?”

Benita and Clay smiled at each other and kissed again. “No, we really can’t,” she said with a lingering glance at her beloved. “And you aren’t the one to talk about being an old married couple. I seem to have walked up on you and your wife several times in the past few days and you were doing much more than we’re doing right now.”

Andrew grinned and made a great flourish of straightening his tie. “Well, you know, what can I tell you? I just got it like that,” he said with a leer. He glanced at his watch and asked what time John was supposed to meet them.

“I told him to be here at seven-thirty,” she began and glanced up with a look of nervous anticipation. “There he is now.” She waved at John, who was standing in the entrance to the patio. Without realizing it, she tightened her hand on Clay’s and held her breath as he approached the table.

He looked the way he always did, tall and handsome with a ready smile. He was thinner than usual, but still an imposing figure of a man with his nicely chiseled features, thick black moustache, and the wavy black hair that came past his shoulders and was confined in a thick braid. He was wearing a casual outfit of a black linen shirt with a band collar and black pleated slacks, catching the eye of several female diners as he walked to their table. He looked relaxed and glad to see Benita and Clay. He shook hands with Clay and Andrew and gave Benita a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Taking a seat, he looked around the patio and smiled.

“It’s really good to see you two. How long has it been, a year or so?” he asked.

Benita was finding it difficult to speak, but she nodded. “About that long,” she said finally. “It’s good to see you, too. And I’m glad you and Andrew finally got to meet
.
We
were just saying the other day how odd it was that you’ve never met any of the boys in the family.” She blushed, hoping that her words hadn’t betrayed the secret she wasn’t yet ready to reveal.

John hadn’t detected anything amiss, however. He rubbed his chin and glanced at Andrew, agreeing with Benita. “You’re right. I met your aunt Ruth, of course, and Renee and your sister-
in-law Angelique. And I’ve met Clay’s
brothers, too, when I was in Atl
anta. But this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to meet a Cochran man.”

Andrew spoke for the first time. “It’s a privilege to meet you, John. In a way I feel like I know you, since you and I talked on the phone while Benita was in your care in California. And she’s told me some wonderful things about you over the years. This is a real pleasure,” he said sincerely and quickly lowered his eyes to the menu, fearing he’d said too much.

To Andrew’s and Benita’s relief the server showed up then, ex
tolling the virtues of the nightl
y special and taking their orders. Everyone had a glass of wine except John, who stuck to iced tea. Conversa
ti
on flowed more smoothly after that, and the evening was quite pleasant. The meal was superb and the mood was lighthearted and happy. Benita regaled John with the exploits of their children and John talked about the projects he was working on.

“Right now I’m working on a book about new techniques in therapy. Of course I can’t write worth a darn, but the publisher took care of that by sending me the greatest co
-
writer in the world. She’s a big, big help to me in a lot of ways, although she’s a bit salty from time to time. We manage to get along, though, and she agreed to come with me to Ann Arbor to finish the book. So in addition to teaching and writing, I’ll have a pretty full agenda. I’ve put my practice on hold for a while because I seem to prefer teaching right now.”

The talk faded away as the evening shadows lengthened. Benita tried hard not to stare at the man she now knew was her half brother, but it was an almost impossible task. She was searching his face for similarities between John and the rest of her brothers. Oddly, they were there in the line of his jaw, his
hairline, the shape of his nose and the crooked smile. 
Why
hadn’t she seen them before? Because she hadn’t been looking for a resemblance, because there was no reason to think there was a connection between the two of them other than as patient and doctor. And now she had to tell him, she had to say the words that would change his life, the words that might shatter their friendship forever. She took a deep breath and looked at her twin brother before speaking.

Andrew always knew what his sister was thinking, and tonight was no different. He reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was looking at Benita and not John when he started talking.

“John, one of the reasons Benita asked you to dinner tonight was that we have a story to tell you. It’s about our father and something that affected his whole life. In turn, it affects all of our lives now and we thought you should know about it. It’s not really a long story, but it’s complicated. Would you like to hear it?”

John looked interested and said of course he would. This time it was Benita who spoke, beginning with the simple words “Our father was born in
Idlewild
, Michigan.”

Chapter Eighteen

Long after the dinner at h
er parents’ house, Alicia was sti
ll feeling res
tl
ess. She’d said good night to her parents and brothers, taken Roxy back to her car, which she’d left parked at the spa, and returned to the condo, all with the same uneasiness plaguing her. Her niece and nephew were asleep and Marielle was going over her schedule for the next day. They exchanged a few words before Alicia went up to her room. She got ready for bed, cleansing her face taking a hot shower and slipping into a short, feminine peach silk gown, courtesy of her shopping spree with Roxy. Somehow her old collection of T-shirts and boxer shorts no longer had any appeal as sleepwear. She liked the feeling of sexy sophistication the pretty lingerie gave her.

She said her prayers before climbing into her four-poster bed, praying as always for the health and well-being of her family and friends, but especially for Adam’s peace of mind. The rest of his family seemed remarkably sanguine about the revelations about his long-lost relatives from
Idlewild
and his father’s long-denied son. They were accepting the news extremely well, given the circumstances, but Adam’s anger was taking over his life. He was remote and reserved, even though they talked on the phone every day. Alic
ia tossed back and forth restl
essly while wondering what she could do to help Adam, and while her thoughts were in turmoil, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Some time
later she awoke, her eyes popping open like one of those wake-and-sleep baby dolls. She sat straight up in bed and with one sure movement threw back the covers and got up, going to her closet and taking out an overnight bag. She tossed in underwear, a couple of tops and a pair of casual flats, and rolled up two pairs of slacks to add to the bag. She was taking out a matching tote bag for her toiletries when a soft tap sounded. Marielle, still fully dressed, entered the room with a puzzled look on her face.

“
Chica,
what are you doing? You just went to bed an hour ago. Now what are you up to?”

“I’m going to Seattle, Marielle. Adam needs me. I know it’s not my cat, but he’s my man and he needs me,” she said resolutely.

“Oh. Okay, well, call me when you get there,” she said with a yawn.

Alicia stopped her packing to stare at her sister. “Aren’t you going to tell me this is crazy and I shouldn’t interfere? Aren’t you supposed to tell me to let him come to me if he needs my help?”

Marielle sprawled across the foot of the bed and laughed at the look of shock on her sister’s face. “Alicia, sweetie, you’re a grown woman and you make your own decisions. You’ve done pretty well so far. The only serious error in judgment was getting engaged to that idiotic pretty boy Preston, and you were smart enough to get rid of him. As far as you and Adam are concerned, well, you two seem to be doing just fine. You know him better than anyone and you know yourself. Who am I to be putting my two cents in? This is not
my
cat,
chica,
this time it’s all yours. Do you need me to call the firm tomorrow and let them know you won’t be in?”

Alicia told her
no
as she quickly dressed in jeans, a black scoop-necked sweater that buttoned with tiny jet buttons, and black leather ballet flats. “I was taking tomorrow
as another personal day anyway;
I’m just putting it to better use. She put her small leather purse over her shoulder and picked up the two bags. “I’ll let you know when I get there. Just keep us in your prayers, okay?”

Marielle rose from the bed and gave her sister a fierce hug. “You never have to ask for that, you’re always there.”

She went downstairs after Alicia, ready to close the door behind her. Alicia opened the front door and gasped as she looked into Adam’s face. His hand was raised to ring the doorbell and he looked just as surprised as Alicia. “Where were you going?”

“I was coming after you,” she said breathlessly.

Adam took the bags from her hands. “Then let’s go.” With a nod to Marielle, he transferred both bags to one hand and put his arm around Alicia’s slender waist. In minutes they were in the Range Rover, driving through the night-swept streets of Detroit.

***

John lay on his bed, fully clothed. He’d left the restaurant and driven around Ann Arbor for a while, then returned to the university-provided housing that was his temporary home. He took off his shoes and socks and piled the pillows at the head of the bed and just lay there, staring into space. Finally he picked up his cell phone and punched in a familiar number. He was relieved when the line was answered after three rings.

The voice on the other end said hello, and John responded in kind. “Abe,
it’s
John Flores. I’ve just found out something that will solve part of a mystery. I had dinner with an old friend tonight and she told me a pretty amazing story. It seems that besides being a good friend of several years, she’s also my half sister. I was adopted as an infant, can you believe it?”

Abraham Gold, besides being a good friend of John’s, was a physician to whom John had turned in recent months. He was rendered speechless by John’s words, but he soon found his tongue.

“Damn, John. We knew something was off, since your father’s blood type made it impossible that he fathered you, but this explains it all. It also explains a few other things. So how are you taking the news?”

John laughed, more from the need to relieve
tension than from mirth. “I’m sti
ll pretty stunned right now, to tell you the truth. Benita’s family lives in Detroit and she’s visiting up here with her husband and children. Her father decided to make this big announcement that he’d fathered a child out
side of his marriage, and I,
ap
parendy
, am the bastard prince.”

“Whoa. That’s pretty deep, fella. So this guy, your friend’s father, well, your biological father, I guess . . .” Abe’s voice faded but quickly regained its composure. “So the father told you all this? What did you say to him?”

“No, Big Benny wasn’t the bearer of the glad tidings. He coerced Benita into doing it. He’s always had a huge influence on her and he ca
n still wrap her around his littl
e finger, I guess. Anyway, she and her husband and her twin brother were the messengers. They did it quite nicely, as a matter of fact. They told me the story their father told them and it just so happened I was the punch line to this huge cosmic joke.”