CHAPTER 36
Beth
Beth didn’t know how she could have been so wrong. Seeing the pain in Sam’s eyes when she told him the girl at the piano was his daughter had crushed her. Knowing she was the one responsible for putting it there ate at her like acid. Sam accused her of being insensitive and manipulative, words that had cut deep. Sleeping had been impossible. She got a text message from Nichole wanting to know what had happened that they couldn’t make the dinner. Beth left it unanswered. She didn’t know what to tell her friend, and in the emotional state she was in, talking to anyone about Sam wasn’t a good idea.
When she landed in Chicago and turned on her phone, she saw a voice message. She stopped on the jetway, hoping it was from Sam, praying he’d had a change of heart and wanted to talk. Holding the phone to her ear, she closed her eyes.
Instead of Sam, an automated voice droned on. “This is a courtesy call to remind you of your appointment with Peter Hamlin on Monday morning at nine-thirty a.m.”
Disheartened, Beth tossed her phone back in her purse and continued out of the jetway. Weeks ago, she’d scheduled the appointment, never intending to keep it. At the time, setting it up was the only way she’d been able to get in touch with the lawyer without raising a lot of suspicion.
After the things Sam had said to her, Beth felt a need to meet with the attorney. If nothing else, she could apologize and hope he would forgive her. If Peter could look past what she’d done, then perhaps Sam could, too. The appointment had completely slipped her mind and felt like an unexpected gift now. Seeing him would give her the opportunity to apologize and hopefully set matters right.
Monday morning her mother was disappointed to have Beth race into the city first thing until she heard the reason.
When she arrived at the suite of offices, Beth was impressed with the expensive decor. The waiting area was filled with leather furniture and high-end artwork hanging on the walls. She gave her name to the receptionist, who instructed her to take a seat.
“Mr. Hamlin will be with you directly.”
“Thank you.”
Beth found a chair and drew in deep breaths in an effort to calm her nerves. This appointment was either a very good or a very bad idea, and she was soon to find out which. Up to this point, from everything she’d heard and her own brief experience with the man, it had all been negative.
No more than five minutes later she was escorted into Peter Hamlin’s office. He had a corner office with a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan.
He stood as she entered the room and extended his hand. “Ms. Prudhomme,” he greeted her, “please take a seat.”
She took the comfortable-looking leather chair directly across from his desk.
Settling down himself, he reached for a pad and pen before asking, “How may I help you?”
Her nerve had nearly deserted her and Beth bit into her lower lip. She straightened, gathered her resolve, and started. “I’m here to apologize.”
“Apologize?” he asked, frowning.
He didn’t recognize her name, which was probably a good thing. If he had, he might have refused to see her. “I went behind your and my aunt Sunshine’s back and arranged the meeting between you two. I realize now that by prying into your life I brought you both pain. My hope was that once you saw each other again, you’d talk, sort out the past, and reconnect.”
“Reconnect?” He made it sound laughable.
“I…hoped you could resolve your differences, that there would be healing for you both.” This wasn’t going well. “I thought I was helping but clearly I wasn’t and for that I’m genuinely sorry.”
Leaning back in his chair, he steepled his fingers and stared at her long and hard. “What exactly made you think shocking us both by arranging this dinner would help?” he demanded.
She hesitated, hoping he wouldn’t immediately kick her out of his office. “In retrospect, I don’t know. This is a weak excuse, I know, but at the time it sounded like a good idea.”
His expression remained closed and hard, and an awkward silence ensued. A silence Beth felt obligated to fill.
“It has recently come to my attention that what I did was terribly wrong and caused both you and my aunt a lot of pain. I wanted you to know that I deeply regret my actions and hope that you would be willing to look past my…arrogance.” This was the short speech she had prepared and practiced on her drive into the city.
Peter continued to stare at her.
“Also, I wanted to thank you for rehiring Mrs. Reacher.”
He scowled. “Sunshine asked me if I would, so don’t think it was due to any generosity on my part. She’s decided to work only on Fridays, as if she’s the one doing me a favor.”
“Oh.” It reflected well on him that he would follow through with her aunt’s request.
He looked as if he was about to say something more but didn’t.
Not having anything else on her mind, Beth started to stand when she noticed the painting on the side wall. She was in a half sitting, half standing position when she swiveled her attention back to Peter Hamlin. The painting was one of her aunt’s. Beth remembered then that Sondra Reacher had mentioned Peter had one of her paintings in his office. It was how she recognized Sunshine’s name. Just seeing it she felt a rush of promise, wondering if she should mention it or not. It only took her a second to decide not to bring it up. She’d said what she came to tell him and it was best to leave it at that, although it was hard not to comment.
“I see you’ve noticed Sunshine’s painting,” Peter Hamlin said. “It’s one of her earlier pieces.”
“You’ve had it a long time?”
He nodded, although he seemed a little reluctant to admit it. “How is your aunt doing?” he asked.
“If you mean health-wise, she’s well.”
“And otherwise?”
Beth sat back down and stared at her hands. “I…a friend told me that my meddling in her life and yours was the wrong thing to do. In my twisted thinking I assumed, I’d hoped, for so much more for you both, but my efforts did far more harm than good.” But it wasn’t all bad news. “On a positive note,” she rushed to explain, “my mom and my aunt have reconciled.”
“Because of the meeting we had at the restaurant?”
Beth shook her head. “No. That happened over Thanksgiving, when my parents came to Portland.”
“That’s good,” he surprised her by saying.
“It is for them both. It’s time this foolishness between them came to an end.”
He grinned as if he found her statement amusing.
Not knowing what else to say, if anything, Beth stood again. “Thank you for seeing me and for letting me apologize in person.” He hadn’t accepted her apology, she noted. That was on him, though. She’d done her part.
“What you did is forgivable, Beth.”
“Thank you.” Relief washed over her as she started for the door. “You surprised me.”
“How’s that?”
“I expected you to demand that I leave your office and have me escorted out.”
“But you came, anyway.”
“Yes, seeing you was important. It helped that you didn’t recognize my name.”
“Ah, but I did.”
“You did?”
“I was curious to find out what brought you to my office.”
That made sense. “From past experience, you probably should have been afraid.”
He grinned and Beth had the feeling he didn’t find much in life amusing. “Would you mind if I tell my aunt you have one of her early paintings?”
Indecision passed over his features, tightening them briefly. “Sure. Go ahead, if you like. It won’t make any difference, but if you feel it would help her to know that I’ve thought of her through the years, then by all means tell her.”
“Thank you for everything.” Beth made it all the way to his door before she hesitated and turned back. “Would you mind answering one last question?”
“Depends on what it is.”
“You loved her, didn’t you? Sunshine, that is.”
His eyes grew sad and he nodded. “Always.”
For reasons that hit far too close to her own heart, tears gathered in Beth’s eyes. She wanted to say more but was afraid if she did her voice would crack. No matter what the future held for her and Sam, she would always love him. If he never wanted to see her again, then she could accept that, no matter how much it hurt.
When Beth arrived back at the house, she found a note from her mother on the kitchen counter.
Out for the afternoon.
Seeing that she had the house to herself, Beth made herself comfortable in her favorite chair, tucked her feet under her, and reached for her phone. Her aunt was probably busy in her studio and would let the call go to voicemail and return it later, which was fine. She was surprised when Sunshine picked up.
“You okay, Sweet Pea?”
She wasn’t but not for the reasons her aunt assumed. Beth had yet to tell Sunshine about what had happened with Sam. Deep down, she was confident he would eventually have a change of heart. It was still so new she hadn’t dealt with her own feelings and wasn’t up to speaking about it, not even to Sunshine. “I’m good. Had an interesting morning, though.”
“What’s up?”
“Before I get to that, I need to say something.” She drew in a deep breath and plunged ahead. “I want to apologize for the dinner Mrs. Reacher and I arranged. We both thought we were helping smooth the path to true love. Yet all we did was bring up old hurts. I’m genuinely sorry. If I could undo that dinner, I would. I hope you know I would never intentionally hurt you. I feel terrible knowing I did.”
“Of course you wouldn’t, Baby Girl; I know that. It’s forgotten. No apology necessary.”
Her aunt was more than generous, but then she always had been.
“Now tell me about your morning,” Sunshine said, changing the subject.
“You weren’t the only one I needed to apologize to,” Beth explained. “When I first tried to speak to Mr. Hamlin, the receptionist, not Mrs. Reacher, made an appointment for me in December. I’d actually forgotten about it. Then I got a reminder and decided that instead of breaking the appointment I would go to his office and apologize personally.”
“Did he kick you out?” she asked, making a joke of it.
“I thought he would,” Beth confessed. “Instead, he saw me. I assumed he didn’t recognize my name, but later he told me he had. He accepted my apology and asked after you.”
“He did?”
“Whatever anger he felt toward me and Mrs. Reacher has worn off, I think. He was actually calm and almost…pleasant.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“He has one of your paintings in his office.”
Her words were greeted with silence.
“It’s one of your early ones.”
Silence again.
“I asked him if he objected to me telling you that he had it, and he said he didn’t mind.” Seeing how quiet her aunt had become, Beth had to wonder if she’d done the right thing by letting her know.
Beth thought she heard a sniffle.
“Should I not have told you that?” she asked, uncertain now. “I mean, seeing that he has the painting and seems to have had it for a long time says something, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I suppose it does.”
Beth debated on telling her aunt the rest. “I asked him another question and I’m not sure you want to know the answer, so tell me if you don’t.”
“What was the question?” Sunshine asked, and it sounded as if she was struggling to hold on to her emotions.
Oh dear, would she never learn? In trying to apologize, she might have made matters even worse.
“I asked Peter if he loved you.” She bit into her lower lip while she waited for her aunt’s response.
It took her a moment. “Yes, tell me.”
“He said always.” She waited for her aunt to say something more. A long time passed.
Then finally, in a tightly controlled voice, Sunshine whispered, “Thank you, Beth.”
Unsure now that she’d done it again and hurt the people she loved, she asked, “Did I do the right thing? Or did I make matters even worse?”
An eternity passed before Sunshine answered, and when she did her voice was thick with emotion.
“You did the right thing.”
Beth waited until Christmas Day to send Sam a text. A dozen times or more she’d typed out a few words, needing to reach out to him, hoping he’d had a change of heart. Not hearing from him ate at her.
Christmas morning, knowing she was two hours ahead of him time wise, she waited until she was certain he would be up and about. All she sent was two words: Merry Christmas.
She waited all day and got no response back.