Ice pellets bombarded Sophie’s windshield on her way to Duncan’s house. She’d spent the entire afternoon mulling over Jay’s find. Had Duncan kept this crucial part of his family’s past from her or would this be news to him?
She followed the town sander truck as it threw a dusting of salt and sand on the slick roads. The truck went straight when she turned toward Duncan’s place. The tail end of her car swerved. Sophie regained control of the vehicle and continued along the road as the Subaru wipers batted away hard pellets hitting the windshield, like bullets warning her to stay back.
Sophie played out the possible scenarios that might unfold tonight, none great. This news tested her trust in Duncan, gave him every reason not to trust her, and, if true, would deliver a walloping punch to his reality.
What the hell was she doing?
Maybe the Jamieson brood preferred their dirty business kept tucked away in the vaults of history. Who wouldn’t? A tidal wave of caution knocked her over, the kind where you second guess an idea that seemed perfect only seconds earlier.
She approached his house. Bright headlights peeked out from his driveway. A car pulled out and headed her way. She immediately recognized the extended front end and barred grill of the 1998 Buick Park Avenue. As it passed, she caught a shadowed glimpse of the driver, Buzz Harris, behind the wheel. A silhouette in the passenger seat looked like Marion. Sophie’s palms tingled, the way they always did when a lead on a story dragged her under its tow. Any other day, she’d have thought Buzz’s visit might be about the resort or zoning matters.
This wasn’t any other day.
At the end of his long driveway, she parked next to an Audi she recognized as Trent’s car. She hurried from the car to the walkway, covered by a salt-sand mixture. The sleet assaulted her as she took careful steps. She pressed the doorbell and made every effort to ignore the panicked voice inside her head urging her to flee before it was too late.
Duncan opened the door. Right away, his face broke into a smile. “Hey. What a nice surprise.” He led her inside, planted a quick peck on her lips, then stole a glance toward the driveway.
“They’re gone.”
“Oh, you passed the Harris’ on their way out?”
“You can’t miss him in that big sedan.” The welcoming aroma of a baking pie or cake with coffee reminded Sophie he had guests. “Sorry to barge in unannounced. I didn’t realize you had company.”
“Just my brother. I was going to call you later.” He gently cupped Sophie’s cheeks and gave her a tender kiss. “Should you be driving in this ice? They left because of the weather.”
“I won’t stay long. Are you social friends with Buzz and Marion?”
“Not really. They stopped by to say hello to Trent.” The words came out fast. “They met during our summer visits.”
“Oh.”
The strange facts from Jay stood on more solid footing. Trent’s deep voice carried from another room, followed by Patrick’s laughter.
“Can we talk in private?”
“Sure.” He pressed his hand to her lower back. “Let’s go to my office.”
He led her from the spacious foyer, down a hallway and into his study. Oversized, like most rooms in the McMansions in this part of town, oak panels against light cream-colored walls created a cozier than expected space. This trip served as a reminder they lived in different worlds, her house quite small by comparison.
He shut the door partway and drew her close. “Listen, I was going to call you. Yesterday morning, you said something very personal to me. About how you felt when we’re together.” Worry lines creased his face.
“Sorry I came on so strong.”
“No. I’m glad you did. You bring out feelings in me, too, but they’re not easy for me to share.” Duncan tapped his chest near his heart. “They’re in here, though. Please don’t give up on me.”
“I’ll never give up on us.” She meant every word.
His shoulders relaxed. “Buzz wasn’t here about zoning, you know.”
“I didn’t think so.” She stepped away from his embrace but still felt trapped by circumstances.
“There are some things you should know about my family situation here.”
Tension in her body, present since she’d left her house, disappeared. Duncan’s offer to share the details Jay found meant she wouldn’t be the bearer of sordid family news.
He lowered his voice. “Marion Harris is Trent’s birth mother. That’s why they came here tonight. Trent wanted to talk to her, now that I’ve returned to town.”
She studied Duncan’s face for any signs he might have more, but he only stared back and seemed to wait for her reaction. Did he really not know what happened with the gunshot or his father’s possible involvement?
“Anything else?”
Duncan tipped his head. “What do you mean?”
Sophie went to his desk and dropped her bag on top. She removed the two pieces of paper that had started her chase. “Before you moved here—before we got close—someone left this for me at the newspaper.”
He went to her side and picked up reading glasses off his desk. Slipping them on, he studied the first note. “The Jamiesons are corrupt. Both now and in the past. Question the gunshot.” His forehead crumpled in deep lines. “What gunshot? Why would anybody…?” His eyes narrowed. “Who gave this to you?”
“It was left anonymously at the Gazette office. For me. Cliff suggested I do some research on why.” His brows rose, but she didn’t stop. “The same person also left me this.” She handed him the news story with the police report.
Duncan’s jaw muscle flexed as he read. He looked up. “So? What does a story about a gunshot at Buzz’s house have to do with anything?” He glanced at the paper again. “This happened in nineteen eighty-one. I wasn’t even—” He paused and stared at a spot on the wall behind her. “Eighty-one. The summer before I started high school.” His voice dropped. “We were here. Our last summer before Dad put the house on the market.”
“So you don’t know anything about that story?”
“No, I don’t.” His tone strong and unshaken, Duncan narrowed his gaze. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before? We’ve been together enough.”
“Until today, this really had no meaning.”
“Oh?” The tight press of his lips offered a deadly pause. “You’ve been researching me again?”
“No! I started this before we... Before I had feelings for you.”
He lowered the paper then wandered to the window, crossing his arms and staring into the black night.
She went to his side and touched his forearm, which tensed under her hand. “I learned the answer today. This time, I came right to you.”
Duncan’s neck corded tight and he kept his gaze fixed on the darkness. “What’d you find now?”
“Hey! Cut me some slack. I’m trying to be honest.”
He faced her and his facial muscles softened. “You’re right. So, what’s this about?”
“The incident here is related to Trent’s real father.”
“Elmer? How?” He tilted his head.
Either Duncan was a phenomenal actor or he hadn’t heard the tidbit Jay had told her. “It’s a long story.” Every muscle in Sophie’s body tensed as it prepared for impact. “The article is about Trent. He was there when the gunshot in the police report was fired.”
Duncan returned to his desk and again studied the short news clipping. “I don’t see his name here.”
“I’ve been told the story in the paper isn’t what really happened.”
His pupils turned to dark pools and his voice rose. “Let’s stop playing games. What’s going on?”
A creak from the door opening made them both turn. Trent stood in the doorway, somber and less confident than the first time she’d crossed his path.
He stepped inside. “Hello, Sophie. Looks like you’ve uncovered the very thing I’d hoped had disappeared for good.”
* * * *
Duncan’s head throbbed. How had he missed all this?
Trent paced in front of the desk, hands jittery with wild animation as he divulged details Duncan couldn’t believe happened right in front of him their last summer here. Yes, his parents had acted strangely when he’d been told their vacation would end early. He hadn’t even tried to guess why. They never shared their behind-closed-door issues with the two kids.
He leaned his elbows on the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. The inside of his head felt like a pane of shattered glass. He digested Trent’s explanation about how he’d gone over to see Marion one day, to get answers to questions only she could answer. Duncan was about to ask what kind of question only Marion could answer when Trent continued with his story.
“Buzz came home early and all hell broke loose. I didn’t know a neighbor saw me leave or she’d even called the police until they found me downtown and took me in. I was scared, so I told them the truth.”
The idea his entire family had kept the story from him pounded Duncan’s ego worse than a hard kick to the groin. “Why would you all keep this from me? This is why we sold the lake house?”
A thin layer of humiliation lined Trent’s face, one Duncan witnessed every single time Trent screwed something up. “Yes. It’s why Dad insisted we sell it. He didn’t give Mom any say in the matter. It’s also why he bribed the police.”
“Bribed the police? Why on earth would he have to do that?” Duncan glared at his brother, but before he could answer, he shifted his attention to Sophie. “I can’t believe you kept the note from me.”
An end table lamp cast a light on her face and he caught a glint of moisture in her eyes. “They came to me anonymously. I wouldn’t ever—”
He held up a hand. “Don’t.”
She dropped her chin. Her silence about those notes over the past weeks burned his wounded soul. Could he ever trust her?
His focus returned to Trent. “Why did Dad need to bribe the police?”
“To change the records.” Trent lifted his head. “He didn’t want the details I shared with the cops anywhere in writing.”
“I know I’ll be sorry I asked, but what did you tell the police that Dad wanted erased from the records?”
“That I went to Buzz’s house to learn who was really my birth father.”
Duncan slammed his palms onto the desk and the bang resonated off the walls. “I’m only buying this land because Elmer—I’d been told—was your real father! Now you’re telling me he may not be?”
The muscles of Trent’s jaw clenched and his cold, hard stare bore through Duncan. “Yes. Look Duncan, there was no easy way to tell Mom what I suspected without upsetting her. This whole deal with the Tates happened so fast.”
Duncan squirmed, Trent’s unusual calm during a crisis leaving him uneasy. “Why would she be upset if Elmer wasn’t your real father?”
“Because…” Trent pulled in then slowly released a deep breath. “It might be Dad.”
“Our dad?”
Trent nodded.
“Where would you get that crazy idea?”
Trent plopped into an oversized chair. “I found some letters.”
Sophie stood and took the straps of her purse, left on the desk.
“Stop.” Duncan’s voice rose louder than he intended.
She released her hand and looked at him with her mouth downcast, her usual glow gone.
“You started this, you might as well stay.” The request came out nasty, nastier than he planned. “Please. Take a seat.”
She returned to the sofa, not far from Trent. Duncan massaged the edges of his mouth between his finger and thumb, staring at his brother and the woman he believed he loved.
A woman who kept digging up the past about his family.
Her gaze locked with his, its sadness wielding a power over him. He forced himself to detach, not sure he wanted her to sink into his soul any deeper.
“Let’s hear it, Trent. The truth. For once, give me the truth.”
Trent folded his hands in his lap, his gaze focused on the area rug. “About two months before we were to come up to the lake for the second summer, I’d been in the attic trying to find my old baseball trophies. Remember the year I set up a display on my bedroom wall?”
Duncan recalled his brother’s sports success in high school and the endless trophies and write-ups in the local paper. He nodded.
“I found a box marked ‘Frank’s college papers.’ Dad acted like such a pain in the ass about my schoolwork. I got nosey about his performance. Halfway down the box some letters were bundled with a rubber band. They were addressed to Dad at his office. The words ‘personal and confidential’ were on the outside.” Trent shifted in his seat. “I read them.”
Trent described the details of letters spanning several years about a secret romance between Frank Jamieson, then twenty-three, and an eighteen-year-old housekeeper at their family summer home. Marion Price.
“He dated Mom at the time, too.” Trent raised a judgment-filled brow. “When they got engaged, Dad ended the affair with Marion. One of the last letters showed how, a few years into the marriage, Dad resumed his affair during a summer visit.” He met Duncan’s eyes. “When I was conceived.”
Duncan considered the flimsy evidence. “A letter doesn’t prove anything. Maybe she’d been with some other man besides Dad.”
Trent shrugged. “I don’t think so. The letters suggested Dad asked Marion to get an abortion. Marion’s last note was dated the end of October and explained everything. Seems Mom came to Northbridge by herself, to close up the place for the winter. She hired some of the local help to give her a hand, including Marion, who was two months pregnant at the time. Mom caught her crying. You know Mom…everyone’s savior.”
Duncan motioned with his hand for Trent to continue.
“Marion told Mom she got pregnant by a married man who left her on her own. Mom jumped to the rescue. Seems she and Dad were having some difficulty conceiving so she offered to adopt the baby and help out with expenses during the pregnancy. Of course, she got pregnant with you shortly after adopting me.”
He recoiled at the notion his father had cheated on his mother and had also abandoned a pregnant woman. “Mom never knew about his affair?”
“If she did, she didn’t tell me.”
Duncan’s throat tightened, the story lodging there and making him want to choke. He gulped hard and tried to push the facts through his system. He peeked in Sophie’s direction. She looked at the window.
He turned to Trent. “What happened at Buzz’s house?”
“Sometimes I act first, think later.” Trent shrugged it off, his usual attitude when he screwed up. “Since we were here for vacation, I decided to go to the one person who knew the truth. I showed her the letter and demanded answers. She insisted the birth records were accurate, but I didn’t believe her. She asked me to leave.” His mouth crumpled into a frown. “But I stayed and kept asking.”
Duncan choked back the urge to scream at his brother. Instead, his fingers dug into the leather arm of his chair and waited for him to finish.
“Buzz came home from work. Things got out of control and he took out a pistol from a kitchen drawer. When I tried to grab it, the trigger went off.” He studied his hands. “The rest you know. Dad talked to the police, worked everything out with them, and got rid of the records.”
“He didn’t work things out.” Sophie snapped. “He bribed them.” Her contempt-filled glare swung toward Duncan.
Embarrassed over his father’s actions, he cleared his throat. “My father has a way of getting what he needs from people. I’m not proud of him, but he’ll never change.” He turned away, but his father’s actions filled him with unbearable shame.
“That’s the reason I wanted you to arrange for a get-together with them. I figured I could talk to Marion privately. When Marion and I talked alone in the kitchen tonight, I vowed never to bring up the past again. With your return to town, I figured she’d be worried.”
Duncan leaned forward. “Why didn’t she just tell Buzz to back off encouraging us to come here?”
“I asked her that. Buzz doesn’t know about Dad. It would kill him to learn she’d lied about the father for so many years. He understood his wife had some problems in the past, but she never told him the real reason I showed up that day. Only said I wanted to know why she didn’t want me.” Disappointment shadowed his expression. “If the affair with Dad is true, bringing it up now would only hurt everybody.”
After a lifetime of watching his father distance himself from their family, especially Trent, Duncan saw the possibility this story could be true. An ache settled in his chest, pity for his brother who’d had to spend all these years living with the knowledge his parentage came with lies.
He looked at Sophie, who stared at her lap. “Sophie, at the January board meeting, when you and I spoke in the hallway, did you know about the gunshot story?”
She looked up. “Yes, but I didn’t understand it. In fact, I had showed Buzz the article. He claimed it was true, but he’s a terrible liar. Now I see he did it to protect his wife. Guess this explains why Marion got so upset when you came over to us.”
He didn’t reply, only silently stared in her direction wondering why she hadn’t told him sooner. She lowered her eyes.
Trent rested his elbows on his knees. “Duncan, you’re the last person I wanted affected by this. I understand how much a fresh start meant to you after Elizabeth’s death.” His attention shifted to Sophie. “Someone’s been spoon feeding this stuff to you. Probably hoping this would come out. The question is why?”
“There’s only one person I can think of.” Duncan sounded glum and sorry to have to make the admission.
“Dad?” Trent asked.
Duncan nodded. He glanced at Sophie and the ache in his chest pounded from where he’d once again given his heart to her and she’d left him battered and bruised.
Was this what love did?
“Sophie?”
She looked up, hope reigning in her expression.
He worked extra hard to keep his skepticism about her actions from thawing. “I assume none of this will make the paper.”
Tears pooled. In an instant, he regretted the comment and wanted to take her in his arms. She stood and approached his desk, meeting his eyes directly for the first time since this conversation had started. “I’d never do that to you. You mean everything to me.”
The power of her gaze held the same control over him as the soft skin of her touch. She lifted her purse off the desktop and left the room. Her footsteps sounded down the hallway and the front door opened then closed.
Duncan considered running after her, begging for mercy, but his wounded pride kept him stuck in his seat.
“Man.” Trent stroked his throat and sent a judgment-filled grimace in Duncan’s direction. “You’re an idiot.”