Autumn Calling (24 page)

The food was spread on the table and Marcus
opened a bottle of red wine for the occasion. Marcus seated himself
at the head of the table and the girls were to his sides as he
poured them each a glass. He’d barely said a word so far and Summer
wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was he just a shy, man of few words
kind of person, or did he just not have anything to say to his long
lost daughter. Her lack of confidence pushed her to believe the
latter.

He raised a glass and spoke, “If you lie,
may you lie only to keep a friend. If you cheat, may you cheat only
death. If you steal, may you steal your lover’s heart. If you
drink, may you drink deeply of the joy of our new life
together.”

“Cheers,” the girls chimed in.

“I imagine you’ve heard some pretty awful
things about me?” Marcus said sadly.

“I…I’ve heard many things,” Summer
answered.

“I’m sorry. So sorry for how this whole
thing has played out. For me, it’s been a nightmare, I can’t seem
to wake from. I thought nothing could be worse when I lost Violet,
but to lose you too, was unbearable. If I didn’t have Autumn to
look after, I’m not sure I could have bared it. Violet and I had
such hopes for our families to come together, but it seems fate had
other ideas. I’m just so thrilled to be given a second chance at
having my girls in my life.”

Summer didn’t know what to say. It sounded
wonderful, but one meeting didn’t erase the past, no matter how
much she wanted to be a family. Did he expect her to suddenly
assume a role as the daughter? And what would that entail? She’d
never had a dad before. She’d seen them on television, read about
them in books, but she had no idea how to be a daughter or be a
family for that matter. She offered a smile to him, but that was
all she could muster at this point.

“I imagine you have many questions,” he
said.

“I do, or I had, but now I can’t really
think of any.”

“I’m the same way. Whenever I get nervous or
angry my brain goes completely blank,” Autumn offered.

“Yes. That’s it.”

“No worries,” Marcus said, “The questions
will come when you are ready to ask them.”

Summer nodded in appreciation as she ate her
meal.

“How is your head feeling?” Marcus asked
with concern.

“It’s fine,” she said.

“I expect you might have thought your sister
and I were a part of that attack, given our family’s
reputation.”

“No.”

“You so did,” Autumn corrected. “But I
explained everything.” Summer was feeling embarrassed.

“I would have wondered if we were in cohoots
with Juliette too, given the circumstances. You have every right to
mistrust our family. But know this, Juliette is licking a few
wounds of her own.”

“I suspect that doesn’t make a friendly
living environment.”

“No. That’s why Autumn and I are living here
now. I bought this place when Violet and I were married and it had
been my intent on raising our family here, away from those of my
family who consistently stuck their noses in our business and
caused problems for us, though, Violet never got to know of its
existence. I kept it all these years in hopes of one day filling it
with family. It took some cleaning up, since it had been locked up
and empty for so long. I used it as my secret retreat from the
family over the years, but never spent any real time here.”

“I love it here,” Autumn said.

“It’s beautiful,” Summer added.

“It is. And it has a peaceful warmth to it
that somehow reminds me of your mother.”

“It must have been hard when you found out
Violet’s plans to get us out from under the Macabres as a
whole.”

“No. Not really. I mean it hurt, but I
understood. My family is nothing if not hard to get a long with.
They did everything they could to poison our love. With that and
the stress of pregnancy, I’m just surprised she lasted as long as
she did here. That’s why I bought this house, so we could get a way
from all that.”

“Then you think the potion found in your
coat was planted by someone?” Summer asked.

“No doubt about it.”

“But, Dad, what about the ‘incident’?”
Autumn asked with a disgusted look on her face.

“That I can’t explain. All I know is I woke
up that morning in the barn, not in a bed next to my sister,”
Marcus said.

“Must have been your doppelganger, Dad.”

A strange look came over Marcus’s face.
Summer thought he was going to be sick.

“Are you okay?” Summer asked.

“Oh God. I think I have an idea what
happened.”

“Please don’t tell me it was you, Dad.”

“No, No. It wasn’t me, it was my
brother.”

“Your brother?” Summer asked.

“My identical…twin….brother.”

“Rene? Why would he be in bed with
Juliette?”

“To make it look like
I
was in bed
with Juliette.”

“That only makes me feel a tiny bit better,
Dad,” Autumn admitted.

“They had a strange relationship. Since
childhood, they’d been known to sleep with one another when one
would get scared or what not. I never thought any more of it, but
maybe it went beyond childhood…it might explain….hmmm… Never mind.
It’s not important, but what is important is that it must have been
Rene in bed with her. It would be just like Juliette or Yvonne to
plan such a thing for Violet to see.”

“You really think your own family would
purposely sabotage your happiness.”

“Yvonne— In a heart beat. She is not above
doing anything she felt was best for the family no matter how
convoluted that feeling was. Juliette, though, I hadn’t thought she
would do such a thing until she attacked you behind our backs.

“And if Rene knowingly knew what the plan
was, then he might have really been behind Henry’s death. I never
thought he’d do such a thing to me, but…it makes more sense if he
was involved. All of this…the dissolution of my marriage,
everything…it was MY family’s doing…all along. How could I have
been so stupid?” Marcus fell silent. Summer felt horrible for
drudging up such painful memories. Tears fell from his eyes as she
and Autumn watched him put the pieces together. Autumn reached for
his hand and he grabbed it gripping it firmly as if gathering
strength from it.

Should she do the same thing? Should she
extend her hand in comfort to this man she barely knew? She was
unsure, but her hand seemed to have a mind of its own and reached
for his grateful hand. He brought each of the hands to his lips
kissing each of them in appreciation, dampening them with his tears
of both anger and joy. It felt good knowing such a small thing as
offering her hand could mean so much to a man who appeared to have
everything—family, money, power, and magic to boot.

When dinner was done, they dropped the
subject of Juliette, Rene, Yvonne and the rest. Instead they
focused on their small family. He brought out a box of mementos
he’d kept of his short time with Violet and his girls. Pictures of
a younger Marcus and Violet smiling back at them on shiny
snapshots. Tickets to concerts, movies, and a trip to Disneyland
filled the box with other objects less obvious as to what memory it
belonged to. He talked for hours about things he and Violet had
done, what their dreams were, and their hopes for the future. And
at the very center of everything contained within that shoebox was
a picture of two infants nestled and swaddled together. On the back
were the words Lunette and Eliane with a symbol of the moon and sun
under each name.”

“Moon and sun. Is that why I was given a
necklace with a sun on it,” Summer asked.

“It is. When your mother and I found out we
were having twin girls she insisted your names be related to the
sun and moon. I found the necklaces shopping one evening, that were
given to each of you. They fit together to make one pendant, but
can be worn separate. Of course when I bought it, I had no idea
you’d be separated from one another like your necklaces.”

Their evening went well into the early hours
of the morning but by the time Marcus and Autumn drove Summer home,
she didn’t have any pangs of awkwardness she’d had when they’d
first sat down to dinner.
Funny how a few hours of chatting can
make a world of difference
, she thought.

After classes with Hunter the following day,
Summer lingered a bit. She hoped maybe to bounce the idea of a
meeting between Aunt Myrtle and Marcus, but she was worried he’d be
angry that she and Marcus had already met. How to bring up such a
touchy subject, hmmm, she thought.

“So, any new thoughts on a plan to retrieve
the egg?” she asked.

“Not as yet,” he answered. “Though your
finding and deciphering the rune has helped immensely.”

“Hmm.” She nodded, “Can’t really take much
of the credit, the lady at city hall was the one who directed me in
the right direction.”

“However it was done, it will definitely
help.”

She nodded nervously. “What are you working
on?” she said watching him typing on his laptop.

“Nothing really. Just checking with Jackson.
Haven’t heard from him in a few days and wanted to update him on
what we’ve found out about the egg and the dragon.”

“Speaking of that, why doesn’t the dragon,
just turn into her human form and escape that way?”

“I suspect it has to do with the magic the
Macabres used on the chains that bind her., though it might have to
do with hormones.”

“Hormones?”

“Jackson wondered if once a mother activates
the egg into hatching if maybe she can’t turn back until the egg is
hatched.”

“That’s an interesting theory. Why is it you
don’t know the answer? You are a dragon after all.”

“Yes, but not female. There are so few of us
around any more that I’ve never observed the process. Or fathered
an infant.”

“Surely there are records somewhere.
Accounts of dragons written down for prosperity.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you. That was one
of the things Jackson and I were looking for. Thing about writing
things down for future generations is you never think it’s going to
be necessary until its too late— Plus there’s the fact that
recording information about dragons leaves their secrets and
weaknesses open for anyone to find and abuse.”

“I suppose you’re right. Never thought about
it like that.”

“It’s disappointing to say the least.”

“I expect it is.”

“So what is it you really want to talk to me
about?” he suddenly said.

“Uh, what…makes you think I have some other
agenda than just curiosity.”

“Dragons have many secrets, one of which is
they can see when a person is lying.”

“Lying? I’m not lying.”

“Maybe not, but you’re not really here to
talk about the female dragon, now, are you.”

“I guess not.”

“Then what is it?”

“I was hoping to get your opinion on
something.”

“That seems harmless enough, but somehow I
think there’s a little bit more to it.”

She didn’t answer, just continued on with
her original thought.

“Do you think it would ever be possible for,
say, Aunt Myrtle and, oh, I don’t know, maybe Marcus to sit down
and have a conversation?”

His attention turned away from his laptop
and suddenly he closed it. “Are you kidding?”

“I know, crazy right? But let’s just suppose
the opportunity arose? Do you think she would consider it?
Especially if it meant possibly avoiding war with the
Macabres?”

“Where is this coming from?”

“Nowhere, I just wondered.”

“Hypothetically? Yeah, I suppose if it meant
avoiding war. Myrtle would certainly be more open to talks between
the two families than say Morti.”

“No doubt.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never even thought of it
since there’s been no indication it was a possibility.”

“But what if there was the possibility.”

“It would be fabulous. There’s been enough
bloodshed between both the families to terrify the mob. But this is
just hypothetical, right?”

“Of course,” she lied. He gave her a
suspicious look. Did he know she was lying or was he just
intimidating her?

“Well, whatever the truth is behind this
conversation, I think it would be an amazing feat to pull the two
families into negotiations, but the reality is there would be no
way to change the views of certain members on each side.
Specifically, Yvonne and Morti. I don’t see them ever coming to
terms with peace talks.”

“The two of them had a relationship
though.”

“I gather from talking with Myrtle, it was
always one-sided. Morti fell head over heels for Yvonne and would
have done anything for her, including killing. But for her it was
all a ruse—a way to get what she wanted without any blame directed
at her.”

“How horrible,”

“She’s not a nice person.”

“What about Juliette?”

“I don’t know anything about her and I don’t
think Morti or Myrtle have any idea what she’s like.”

“So even if there were those willing to
talk, it might not prevent a battle.”

“I couldn’t say, though it might lessen the
severity of the battle. But there’s a loyalty issue that comes into
play. Even if a member of the family doesn’t want to fight, if the
whole of the family decides to battle, all will fight. This is true
for both sides.”

“I see.”

“It’s a beautiful dream, Summer. I wish I
could say it would work, but there are just too many factors. I
know it’s exceptionally hard for you considering you’re related to
both families. I’m sure it must be very enticing for you, the idea
of getting to know your father and your sister. I know I would, if
it were me. Maybe they’ve already reached out to you or vice versa.
Yes. It’s a very tricky predicament you’re in. Tread carefully,
dear Summer. You have a kind heart. I’ve seen it for myself, but
there are dangers every which way you turn. My advice is follow
your heart, but be careful. Evil and deception come in many
guises.”