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SEPTEMBER SAT BACK in the truck as Lia made the call, then took the phone with trepidation. “Hello. Thank you for taking my call, Mrs. Corazon. I need some answers. About my mother. About my past.” She waited a moment, and added, “You’re on speakerphone. I think Lia should hear this, too.”
Silence greeted her words. At first, September thought the woman had disconnected, but then detected ragged breathing on the other end of the line. Finally, Cornelia spoke. “I feared this day would come.” Another pause. “I don’t know much. I suspect more. But the time for secrets has passed. Ask your questions.”
Now that she could ask, September’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. “Are you my aunt? Is my mother Rose your sister?”
“She was christened Latana. Yes, Lantana Ojo was my younger sister. Just before her fifteenth birthday, she ran away from home. To be a film star, or some such foolishness. Tana always had stars in her eyes and a volatile temper.” Her voice steadied, grew strong, resigned. “She broke my parents’ hearts when the police came knocking at the door saying she’d attacked some poor man. After that, she was dead to us.”
“What?” Rose January attacked someone? “Did he press charges?”
“The man died, September. He was a talent agent or something. The police hounded my parents after that, trying to find Tana and arrest her. There’s no statute of limitations on murder.”
This couldn’t be true! September clenched the phone so tightly her hand turned white. Shadow whined, and nose-touched her arm.
“They told us that they’d found Tana’s body with her bastard child dead, too. That was a blessing in disguise. It stopped the police hounding.” Cornelia waited for the next question.
Nothing could have prepared September for such news. “But Mom’s maiden name was Dixon.” She’d been a runaway teenager? Unwed mother? A murderer! Nothing squared that knowledge with the prim and proper Rose January who raised her.
“I don’t know about that. Maybe she changed her name to hide her crimes.” Cornelia sniffed. “Five years later she came out of hiding, trying to reach our parents. When I intercepted the call they had been dead a year, but she wanted money to bail her out of some new difficulty. I’d had enough. No reason to have her trashy lifestyle intruding on my own family.”
September hunched her shoulders. “You turned her in? Your own sister, you didn’t help her out?”
“Of course I helped her. And that’s not the first time. I’m not a monster. Besides, killing that man happened long ago. I had my own family to protect, and couldn’t have her crimes tarnish the Corazon name, too.” Cornelia tut-tutted. “I sent her the funds she needed, but with the proviso she never contact me or our family again. Imagine my chagrin when she showed up a few years later in the next town over, married to that January fellow.” She laughed, a humorless sound. “Suddenly she had a whole litter of offspring. God knows who all the fathers are.”
Her face burning, September fought to keep control. She understood Lia’s issues with her grandmother. “So you both kept your relationship secret. Out of the goodness of your heart.” September didn’t try to hide the sarcasm.
“I’ll thank you to watch your tone with me. You’ve got your own closet of skeletons, missy. I only wanted to protect my family.”
“And like you said, Latana Ojo had died, so Rose January didn’t matter. I understand, I truly do. Thanks for your time, Aunt Cornelia.” September disconnected. She had had only a few questions answered, but couldn’t stomach continuing the conversation.
“So.” Lia glanced over at her. “Help or hinder?”
September scrubbed her face, and forced a smile. “Doesn’t matter. Once I get Mom to a safe place, we’ll have the heart to heart we should’ve had years ago. I just wish she’d trusted me. Trusted her family.” That gave her pause. Did dad know about Rose’s past?
The phone rang almost as soon as she disconnected. September recognized Combs’s number, and handed the phone back to Lia with a head shake, and finger to her lips. “It’s safer for us both if he doesn’t know I’m home yet.”
Lia scowled, but nodded. “But I’m not lying for you.” She let it go to voice mail, and they both listened.
“This is Jeff Combs. Again.” She could hear the aggravation and something else in his voice. Fear? “September’s brother called. Her sister April’s in the hospital and I guess they’re calling the whole family together. But now Rose isn’t picking up the phone, either.” He hesitated, and added, “Tell September that Teddy told me everything. Dammit, when will she trust me enough to share what’s going on?” He blew out a breath. “Anyway, I called the local PD and my partner will swing by the January house. I can’t get back any time soon. The connecting flights in Chicago are grounded with a snowstorm. Anyway, September—if you get this—call me, dammit. And I love you.”
September squeezed shut her eyes. “He said Rose isn’t answering her phone.”
“Want me to take you to the hospital?”
“No. There’s nothing I can do for April. I need to check on Mom.”
(29 Years Ago)
FOR ONCE, VICTOR PROVED true to his word. Documents he purchased signed by Judge Southgate proved her children’s parentage. The final settlement Cornelia offered gave her enough to find a modest home, away from city life, so they could become a normal family.
The real estate agent made her laugh, and even better, he liked having a ready-made family. They joked that the two youngest looked like him. Six months later, Rose Dixon married Lysle January.
