That Man of Mine (24 page)

“The guy has a police record,” he said.

Mimi blue eyes flashed with concern. “I'm not going to ask how you know that, because I can only imagine. So…how bad is it?”

He went to the briefcase he kept next to his gun and holster, pulled out the printout he'd made from his Internet search and handed it to Mimi.

She quickly read the page. “
Child support
? Zeke…your father has another child? How long have you known this?”

“I looked it up this morning. I was going to try, Mimi, I really was, but there's no way I'm letting this bastard into Allie's life. Or ours, either.”

“Baby, don't you see? This changes everything. This means more than
ever
you have to tell Allie! You have a brother or a sister out there, maybe more than just one. I agree, Sam is a loser. Or at least, if you look at this rap sheet, he is. But you owe it to yourself to hear him out, and so does Allie.”

“I know everything I need to know about him.”

“Zeke, you haven't seen the man in over twenty-four years—”

“Not true. I saw him eighteen years ago. The night before I found out you were pregnant.”

She flinched. The hurt in her eyes made him wish he could take it back, but he was tired of keeping things from her.

“Why didn't you ever tell me?” she whispered.

He took a long sip of the whiskey. It felt good going down. Hot and smooth and powerful as it filtered through his veins. He could see how it would be addicting. This feeling of false competency.

“Remember that day you broke up with me? Because I sure as hell do. You were waiting for me at my place, and I was happy, thinking you'd come to surprise me and tell me something good, but instead you told me you couldn't see me anymore. And before you left you whispered in my ear. You remember what you said?”

She went pale again. “I…”

“You said,
do something big
, Zeke. I know you have it in you to be so much more than what you are right now.”

“I never meant—”

“No, you were right. I wasn't good enough for you. I was a slacker. But I listened, Mimi. I listened hard. I cleaned up my act. Stopped smoking pot. I even tried to enlist in the army.”

“The army?” She looked at him as if he were a stranger. The story he was about to tell her was an ugly little room of his life that he'd kept hidden away from her. Not because he hadn't trusted her with it. But because telling her meant he had to relive it.

“I went to a recruiter in Panama City. And I was this close,” he said, putting the pads of his two fingers together, “to signing on the dotted line.”

“What stopped you?”

“That week Buela was diagnosed with a heart problem. She told me she was fine. To go join the military, that she was proud of me. But I couldn't leave her here alone. Allie was just a kid, only thirteen. What if Buela needed help? What if she had a heart attack and I was halfway around the world? So I did a little digging around and I found the bastard. I found him, Mimi. All that time Allie and Buela and I wondered where he was, he was just two hours away. Living in Pensacola. So I went to see him.”

He drained the rest of the whiskey and briefly thought about getting himself a refill. But he didn't need it to finish this conversation. He wasn't his father. Thank God for that.

“I thought maybe if Sam saw me, that maybe if I explained to him that we needed him, that
Allie
needed him, that he'd….fuck, I don't know. I was stupid enough to think that if I told him about Buela and how I had this chance to get out of here and do something good for myself that he'd man up. I didn't need him, but she did. I couldn't leave here without knowing there would be someone, some family that Buela could count on. But you know where I found him? In some fucking bar on the beach. Stone cold ass drunk. He didn't even know who I was at first. Then he started to cry. Right before he pissed himself.”

Her face took on that look she got whenever she saw a dead deer on the side of the road. He didn't want her pity. But he needed her to understand who Sam Grant was.

“I took one look at that worthless piece of shit and I knew what I had to do. I couldn't leave Buela and Allie. Not by themselves. And you know what? I was okay with that. Because right after I told the recruiter I couldn't enlist, I saw your brother and I followed him into some coffee shop because I was still so hung up on you that any little word about you, any little morsel of information he wanted to throw at me, I'd lap up like some starving dog. You can guess my reaction when he told me you were pregnant.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “But I never blamed you for not telling me because I knew what you thought. You were scared and you thought I wouldn't come through for you. So I made a promise to myself that day that I'd
never
be like him. That you would never have to wonder if I'd be there for you because you'd
know
it.”

Her voice was so low he had to strain to hear her. “I wanted to tell you, Zeke. I really did…”

“I told you. It's all right. But now you know why I can't let that man into our lives, Mimi. I just can't.”

She sighed. “I get it. I really do. He hurt you, Zeke. He's an asshole. A piece of shit, everything you called him, he's that and more. If I could spit in his face right now I would, because of the way he made you feel. But…like I said, this thing about a brother or a sister, it changes everything. You need to let Allie decide for herself what to do with this information. And…if you don't tell her, I will.”

It was like the earth stopped spinning on its axis or the all oceans had suddenly dried up. He must have heard wrong. “What did you just say?”

“I know you think you know what's best for everyone, but believe me, in this case, you don't. Allie will
never
forgive you if she learns about this. And she will, Zeke. Maybe not today or even next year. But one day, she'll find out you knew everything and you never told her. And that's the day you're going to lose her. And I love you too much to let that happen.”

White hot anger streaked through his gut. Not at Mimi. But at
him
. Even when he wasn't in their lives, Sam Grant was still fucking everything up.

“Haven't you heard anything I just
said
to you?”

She briefly shut her eyes. “Believe me, I heard every word.”

“I don't think so. Because if you loved me then you wouldn't ask me to do this. You wouldn't want to change who I am.”

“That's emotional blackmail, Zeke.”

“Call it whatever you want. I just know I would never ask you do something like this. Not if I knew how strongly you felt about it.”

“So what? That's it?” she croaked.

“Yeah. And I have to tell you I'm getting pretty damn sick of having this conversation. You want me to come back home? It's your choice, Mimi.” He put his hands out to his side. “This is who I am. If you don't like it, then maybe we're better off apart.”

O
f all the people
in all the world that Mimi chose to talk to about Claire, it was beyond irony that she would go to her mother. It wasn't that they had a bad relationship. They had their moments. Their ups and downs. And while she knew her mother loved her and vice-versa, they'd never gotten to that “good friends” stage that so many adult daughters had with their moms.

But she had to talk to someone, and the way she'd left things with Zeke the other day, he wasn't a viable choice. She'd never seen him so angry. Or so sad, either. Which in turn made her sad.

He might not recognize the emotion as sadness, but she did. Why were men so out of touch with their feelings? She hadn't told Allie about Sam Grant. She'd threatened Zeke with it in hopes that he'd do the right thing, but she could never go against her husband that way. It would be a betrayal she wasn't sure Zeke would ever forgive.

Momma was watching an old episode of
Downton Abbey
in the family room. Her legs were propped up on the recliner and she was sipping an iced tea. “I didn't hear you come in! What are you doing here in the middle of the day?” Then she stilled. “Is your daddy all right?”

“Daddy's fine. I came here to talk to you.”

Her lips pursed in disapproval. Her mother was in her early sixties, and still an attractive woman, but that scowl made the little lines around her mouth stand out. “I'm not sure I'm going to like what you have to say to me, Mary Margaret.”

“I'm sure you won't, Momma.”

She sighed and picked up the remote to turn off the T.V. “Are you and Zeke getting a divorce?”

The question shouldn't have taken Mimi off guard. But for a second, it did. “No, this isn't about me and Zeke.”

“It's not? I just assumed when…” she shrugged. “All right, what's this about, then?”

“It's Claire. She got into FSU after all.”

“She did!” Momma clapped her hands in glee. “I knew it! I told your daddy there was something wrong there. That girl's smart as a whippersnapper, just like you. What happened? Did they make a mistake? I tell you with everything done on computers nowadays—”

“Momma, Claire never got rejected. When she told us that night at dinner that she wasn't accepted, it was a lie.”

“What? But, I don't understand.”

She told her mother about Buttercup being trapped in a drawer, and how she'd found the letter by accident.

“Why would she hide it?” Momma asked.

If Mimi knew the answer to that, she probably wouldn't be here. She filled her in on Zeke's theory about Adam.

Momma's blue eyes got a knowing look in them that Mimi instantly recognized. “And before you say anything, she's not pregnant. She's not
me
, Momma.”

“You're sure about that? About the pregnancy, I mean?”

 “I haven't actually confronted her about any of this yet. That's why I came to you. For advice.”

“You came to
me
. For advice about Claire?” Momma cleared her throat. “I see.” She took a sip of her iced tea then gingerly laid it down on the side table. “Would you care for some?” she asked, pointing to the tea. It was a stall tactic. Mimi must have really thrown her a curveball. In all her years of being married, she'd never once gone to her mother for anything really, let alone advice.

Mimi shook her head. “No thanks, I'm good.”

Momma seemed to pick her words carefully. “First off, I have to ask you, why haven't you spoken to Claire about this already?”

“Because then she'll know I was snooping in her room!”

“
Snooping
? I thought you just said you were trying to get the cat to come out.”

“Of course that's what I was doing. But she'll see it as spying on her.”

“You'll just have to live with that. It's your home. You were only trying to help the cat that
she
insisted
you get her. You innocently came across this letter, and I for one, am proud of you for opening it.”

“Boy, I could use you in the mayor's office. The way you spin things, Momma.”

“Mary Margaret, did you really think I didn't know you were pregnant before we went shopping for your graduation dress?”

It was a good thing Mimi had declined that iced tea or she'd be choking on a slice of lemon right now. In eighteen years they'd never spoken about it. Why was she bringing it up now? “You knew before that day that I was pregnant? Why didn't you say something?”

“Let's say, I knew intellectually. You never had nice monthlies. You always used to complain about those cramps. And you think I didn't notice that you had the same box of tampons in your bathroom for over five months? Plus the morning sickness! I'm no idiot. But, emotionally, I didn't want to believe it. That's why I insisted on coming with you in that dressing room. I had to see with my own two eyes. And afterward, all I could do was kick myself for not confronting you sooner.”

“I would have never gotten rid of my baby, Momma.”

“And I would
never
have asked you to. But all those months you hid that baby…you suffered alone. Worrying about what you would do. Don't you think I haven't thought about that? Even now, I can't help feeling that I let you down all those years ago. That sometimes…I'm still letting you down.”

“You think
you
let me down?”
This was incredulous
. “I'm the one who let
you
down! I didn't go to Duke or join a sorority or do any of the things you wanted me to do. I was a teenage mother with a high school education! That's not what you and Daddy wanted for me, and believe me, I knew it.”

“But you did go to college, didn't you? And you raised a beautiful daughter and a sweet young son. And now you're mayor of this town! And Zeke. Well, I don't mind admitting I was dead wrong about him. All my friends who still have unmarried daughters would kill for a son-in-law like Zeke Grant. He's hard working and he loves you and those kids more than anything.” Her blue eyes sharpened. “And don't think I don't see the way you still look at him after all these years. Makes me want to fan myself sometimes.”

Mimi felt her cheeks heat up. Her mother made her sound like some lovesick gazelle.

“What you have is a once in a lifetime love, Mary. Don't throw that away.”

“Is that why you're so keen on Zeke all of a sudden? Because you don't want to see me fail?”

“If I seem overly keen on Zeke, it's because I realize that if I don't make you see what's right under your nose, then as your momma, I've failed you again. All any mother wants is to see her children happy. And if that means that sometimes you have to take the low road, then so be it. I'm sure confronting Claire about this letter will put a temporary strain on your relationship. But you're not her friend, Mary, at least, not right now you're not. You're her
mother
. Get to the bottom of that letter. Find out what's really going on. Then help her fix it, because like it or not, that's your job. And it's the most difficult, but important one you'll ever have.”

*~*~*

A
ll Mimi could think
about for the next few days was Momma's advice. Deep down, she knew her mother was right. She needed to confront Claire. She also needed for Zeke to come to his senses about his father, and for the florist to stop calling her with complaints about the church hall. But mostly, right at this very second, she needed to talk to Doug.

He'd been to a city managers' conference down in Miami all last week and this morning he'd been out of the office. They were a week away from the
Spring Into Summer
festival and she needed to make sure she got the check to pay the final retainer to Fatback Bubba and his band.

She went to Doug's office but the door was closed. She knocked, but he didn't answer, so she made her way back to the front lobby. Doreen was eating a piece of key-lime pie that Mimi had made last night in a late hour baking frenzy that should have had a calming effect, but only managed to make her even more frantic. Between Claire, the festival, Allie's wedding, and Zeke, Mimi was heading straight into an ulcer. Her stomach hadn't felt right in weeks.

“Have you seen Doug?” she asked Doreen, who was slurping down the last of her pie.

“
God,
this is like heaven,” she moaned. “He went home early. Said he was sick.”

“Oh. Gee, I hope it's nothing serious.”

Doreen made a face.

“What? You don't think he's really sick?” Mimi asked.

“Let's just say he seemed perfectly fine until Bruce came to see him at lunch.”

“Bruce was here? What did he want? Did he need to see me about something?”

“Nope. Just Doug. Said it was something about finalizing the city budget.” Doreen said it casually, but Mimi got the impression that the other woman was holding something back.

“You know, I'm really good at being discreet,” she said.

Doreen raised a brow.

“Maybe not about my sex life. I know everyone in town knows the armadillo story but it couldn't be helped. City services were involved.”

“And about getting caught at the bridge. Don't forget that,” Doreen pointed out.

“Okay, so yeah, my sex life is an open book. But when it comes to this town and my job as mayor, I take this all very seriously.”

“Oh, I know you do. You're the best thing that's happened to Whispering Bay in a long time.” Doreen covertly glanced around the empty lobby. “Did you know that Bruce was directly responsible for hiring Doug?”

“Didn't the entire city council have a hand in hiring him?”

“Yes, but that was after Bruce went out of his way to make sure none of the other candidates who interviewed were seriously looked at. It's like he made it his mission to get Doug the job, which I thought was kind of strange, because he'd already lost the election to you. And believe me, he was bitter. I figured he'd stall on hiring anyone till you officially came into office, so that everything would be a mess when you got here. But instead, he goes and gets this
hot shot
manager who single handedly saved Old Explorer's Bay. It just didn't make sense. For someone else, maybe, but not Bruce.”

“What are you saying?” Mimi asked.

“I'm not saying there's anything fishy going on, because I don't have any proof, but my cousin Ellie lives in Old Explorer's Bay. She owns a pastry shop right in the middle of town, and let's just say, she isn't a fan of Doug's.”

Mimi digested this.

“Maybe she didn't like some of his fiscal policies? I know the town was almost in bankruptcy when he took over and now it's financially stable. That couldn't have been easy to do. Or even popular if he cut some city services to make it happen.”

“He raised taxes, that's for sure. It put a big burden on small business owners like my cousin. As for cleaning up the town,
that's
a matter of opinion. According to Ellie, he was
kicked
out of town. Then he shows up here throwing that school boy charm of his around like it's gold dust. I don't trust him farther than I can throw him. And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.”

*~*~*

I
t wasn't that Mimi
didn't trust Doreen. The receptionist had turned out to be a fledging friend. She'd backed Mimi up on the festival committee and was doing a bang up job with the Facebook page. They'd even gone out to lunch a couple of times and Mimi had recommended her as a sub for the Bunco group. There was absolutely no reason for Doreen to mislead her about Doug. On the other hand, Mimi knew first-hand how malicious idle gossip could be. It spread like wildfire until you couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.

She liked Doreen. But until she had some concrete reason to suspect Doug she'd take Doug at face value, and so far, he'd been a good ally to her.

As mayor, however, it was her duty to investigate Doreen's story. As the city's manager, Doug was entrusted with a lot of responsibility and it was up to Mimi to protect the people of Whispering Bay. If he really had been “kicked” out of his last position, Mimi needed to know.

It took her a few phone calls to get the number she was looking for.

A pleasant male voice answered the phone. “Mayor Truett's office.”        

“Hello, this is Mimi Grant, I'm the mayor of Whispering Bay. I'd like to speak to Mr. Truett, please.”

“I'm afraid he's out for the rest of the day. How can I help you?”

“I wanted to speak to him in regard to a reference for Mr. Douglas Wentworth.”

The line went silent for a few long seconds.

“Mr. Wentworth put Mr. Truett as a reference in regard to what, may I ask?”

“I'm not sure if he actually listed him as a reference, although I assume as a past employee of the city, Mr. Truett would have been listed as one. I'm just looking for a little clarification.”