Here With Me (34 page)

He didn’t look all that surprised. “A
headache?” he asked.

“She didn’t say.”

He nodded and looked rather resigned. “That’s
usually what it is when she’s tired of pretending that she’s
interested in me.”

Yikes. Melody had no idea what to say to
that. “I’m sorry, Bernard.”

“It’s all right,” he said, patting her hand.
“I’m an old fool but I’m not blind. It was never going to
work.”

“You gave her a beautiful. . .and expensive
ring,” Melody said.

“You know what they say? A fool and his money
are soon parted. It doesn’t matter. By the way, who was it on the
telephone for your grandmother, Melody?”

Young Will Beagle
was on the tip of
her tongue. But then it dawned on her that it was an odd question
to ask. The time to ask that question would have been right after
the telephone call. The person to ask would have been her
grandmother.

Which meant maybe he had, and Grandmother
hadn’t told him anything.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask
Grandmother. Where is she, by the way?”

“Upstairs. Once she got that call, she seemed
to be in a big hurry to get finished up. We weren’t even done.”

Things were not making sense. From what
George had said, her grandmother was really looking forward to the
blending trials. What would have caused her to cut them short?

She looked at George. “I think I’m going to
go find Grandmother.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’m right
here.”

Melody, George, and Bernard all turned to the
right. Grandmother had changed into what looked to be a new black
suit. She had panty hose on and good shoes.

“Are you going somewhere?” Melody asked.

“No. We’re having company later.”

“Pearl, is everything all right?” George
asked.

“It’s fine,” she said. Her voice was steady.
“I need you two to go and find Louis and Tilly and Genevieve, too.
I want everyone to meet Bernard and me in the family room in a half
hour.”

Melody studied her grandmother. She looked
calm and the request wasn’t outrageous, but still, something didn’t
seem right. “Grandmother, are you sure everything is okay?”

The older woman nodded. “Please, just do this
for me?”

“Of course,” Melody said. She looked at
George and then nodded toward the stairs. He followed her up. Once
they were in their room, she turned to him. “Just what the heck do
you think is going on?”

He shook his head. “You told Bernard that you
didn’t know who called your grandmother. Do you?”

“Yes. It was her attorney.”

George rubbed his jaw. “I think we better do
what she asked. I’ll go get your aunt and uncle and then stop in
Genevieve’s room on my way back.”

Melody shook her head. “I’ll call Louis’s
cell phone. He always has it on him.” She pulled her own cell phone
out of her purse and dialed.

“Louis, it’s Melody. Grandmother asked me to
call you. She wants to you and Tilly to come to the family room in
a half hour.”

She listened.

“I have no idea,” she said. “Just come, all
right?” She hung up the telephone. “Look, I think I’d feel better
if I went and found Genevieve. Maybe she knows something that we
don’t.”

On her way past, he put his arm around her
and she snuggled into his warmth. “Don’t get upset,” he said.
“Everything is going to be fine.”

She wished she could believe him but she had
a bad feeling about this. “I just don’t think this is going to turn
out good. Look, if I don’t come back here first, then meet me
downstairs.”

***

George took a fast shower and tried to figure
out what might have happened. Grandmother had been polite to
Bernard but her tone hadn’t held its usual warmth. Had her attorney
given her news that upset her?

After he got dressed, he realized that he
still had fifteen minutes. He saw his camera on the dresser.
Thinking it might make Melody happy to have the photograph of
Pearl, he decided to develop it. He took his camera into the
bathroom. He put the stoppers in both sinks and poured a very thin
layer of developing fluid in the one and then the same amount of
finishing fluid in the other.

He shut off the light and the bath was
completely dark. He opened the door just a slight crack, allowing
enough light in to allow him to see what he was doing but not
enough to ruin his photograph.

He pulled the glass plate out of the camera
and slipped it into the developing fluid. He let it rest there for
just a moment before he transferred it to the other sink. After a
minute, he picked up the glass plate and held it up.

It was a good shot. Melody would like it. He
pulled the carefully rolled photograph paper out of his camera
case. He uncurled the five-by-seven sheet and laid it flat on the
bathroom counter. Then he pressed the plate against it and
transferred the image to the paper.

He opened the door to the bathroom and turned
on the light. He examined the photograph again. That’s when he
noticed the marks in the right-hand corner, about an inch from the
bottom. And then he remembered that Melody had noticed a very
similar mark when she’d looked at the picture of John and Sarah. At
the time she’d questioned him, he thought perhaps someone had
marked on the photograph.

He opened the box of ten glass plates he’d
ordered from the Eastman Camera Company and looked through them.
Sure enough, each had the same mark in the corner and it somehow
was getting transferred to the paper. It was some kind of
defect.

He put the plates back in the box and quickly
cleaned out the sinks and put his camera away. He’d wanted to
surprise Melody with the photograph but now that he’d seen the
marks on it, he knew he couldn’t do that. She was too smart. She’d
pick up on the similarities and then the questions would start.

All he had to do was keep his secret for a
little while longer. Then her child would be born and she’d be
better prepared to handle the news. He hated lying to her, but he
just couldn’t take a chance with her health or Jingle’s health.
Especially not after he’d seen that new baby inside of her. It was
too real to do anything to jeopardize it.

He opened the drawer where he kept his
clothes and he put the picture underneath his extra things. When he
got downstairs, Melody and Genevieve were already sitting close
together on the couch. He took the chair across from them. He’d no
more than sat down when Tilly and Louis joined them.

Tilly looked more tired than usual and Louis
was smoking a cigarette. They took the chairs next to the couch.
When Pearl came in the room, he hurriedly stubbed his cigarette
out.

“What’s going on, Mother?” Tilly asked.

Pearl shook her head. “We’ll wait until our
guest arrives.”

George heard the crack of lightning and not
three seconds later, the rumble of thunder. He hoped the guest had
a raincoat.

The doorbell rang and Pearl left to answer
it. George smiled at Melody but she wasn’t having it. She sat quite
still, twisting one section of her hair around her finger.

He wanted to take her to bed and make her
forget all this craziness. He wanted to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar
on her breasts and lick it off. Hell, he wanted to eat warm apple
tarts off her bare stomach.

Pearl returned with a man whom George guessed
was close to his own age. He was dressed in a gray suit and he
carried a leather case bulging with papers. The man nodded at the
group, his manner very serious. So serious that George stopped
thinking about having a special dessert and started thinking that
Melody might be right—this wasn’t going to be good.

“This is Will Beagle. I asked him to come
tonight because I think it’s important that we all hear the same
information.” She nodded at the man.

He sat down in the chair next to George and
pulled an envelope out of his case. “We are here tonight to discuss
the terms of Pearl Elizabeth Song’s will.”

Melody’s mouth opened then shut. She looked
at her great aunt but Genevieve was staring at Louis and Tilly.
They both looked pale.

Will Beagle put on his glasses. “Now, this
meeting tonight does in no way purport to thwart the court’s
responsibility to read and administer Ms. Song’s will. It is simply
an informal session so that all parties may understand the terms
and conditions set forth by Ms. Song.”

He opened the envelope. “To my sister,
Genevieve Louise Song, I give a million dollars.” The man looked
up.

Tilly made an odd noise. Genevieve, on the
other hand, said nothing. Pearl reached out her hand to her sister
and said, “You have been my companion, my confidant, and my best
friend. I have always known that if I stumbled, that you would be
there to catch me and push me forward. The fifteen years that we
were separated were fifteen years filled with missing you. And
while I applauded your wandering spirit, I yearned for you to
return. We have shared what few sisters have shared and I am
grateful for every day that we’ve had together.”

George would not have dreamed it possible but
Genevieve Song had tears in her eyes. He understood. He was having
some trouble keeping dry-eyed himself.

Will Beagle cleared his throat. “Shall we
proceed?” he asked.

Pearl nodded.

The man picked up his papers again. “To my
granddaughter, Melody Louise Song-Johnson, I leave—”

“Wait,” Pearl said. She leaned forward in her
chair and looked at Melody. “I have something to say first.”

“I loved you when you were born like any
grandmother loves her grandchild. You were a beautiful baby and
very happy. Your parents were so proud of you, so delighted with
you. When the three of you would come for a visit, we would have
the best time. And like a fool, I thought it would always be like
that.”

Melody got out of her chair and sat on the
floor next to her grandmother’s chair. The woman stroked Melody’s
hair and George knew somehow that there’d been many nights through
the years that they’d done this very thing.

“But it was not to be. When your parents
died, everything changed. And after that, I would hear you crying
in your room and I didn’t know, I really didn’t know, if I could do
it. Could I heal your heart when my own was broken?”

Melody was crying. Big tears rolled down her
smooth cheeks and it hurt him to see her suffer. He wanted to reach
for her, to hold her, but now was not the time.

“You made it easy for me,” Pearl said. “You
brought joy and laughter and the energy of youth back into this
house and I desperately needed it. You saved me, Melody. You gave
me a reason to get out of bed every day, a reason to eat, a reason
to live. I owe you, Melody. I know you think you owe me but it’s
the other way around. I’ve always known it. I want you to know it
now. I love you very much.”

She laid her head on her grandmother’s knee.
“I love you, too,” she said.

“I know you do. And you will never know how
that has sustained me.”

The room was absolutely silent. Finally,
Pearl nodded at her lawyer to continue.

“To my granddaughter, Melody Louise
Song-Johnson, I leave a 50 percent interest in Songbook Serenade
ranch and a 50 percent interest in Sweet Song of Summer wines.”

Melody’s head jerked up. “But—”

“I want you to have it, Melody. I want you
and George to stay here and to raise your child here. Nothing could
make me happier.” She turned to her attorney. “Will, please
continue.”

Will cleared his throat, again. “And to my
trusted friend, Bernard, who has been with me through both good and
bad times, I leave the remaining 50 percent of Songbook Serenade
and the remaining 50 percent of Sweet Song of Summer wines.”

No one in the room moved. Then Louis jumped
out of his chair. “That’s outrageous. Insane. Jesus Christ, you
crazy old woman,” he said to Pearl. He took a step toward Melody
and Pearl but George was faster.

He hit him: a quick punch to the stomach,
which sent Louis sprawling back onto his chair.

Tilly didn’t even glance at him. She sat
quietly, staring at her hands.

“You can’t get away with this,” Louis said.
“We’ll contest the will.”

Will Beagle chuckled. “Good luck,” he
said.

“He’s not even family,” Louis screamed.

Pearl shook her head and went to stand next
to Bernard. He was white-faced and stood still as a statue. She put
her arm on his. “When I realized I was dying, my one regret was
that I’d never found out more about my father. I’d been afraid for
years, afraid to unearth rocks that were no doubt best left lying
in the dirt.”

She smiled at her attorney. “Young Will here
was of great assistance. So tenacious. And before long he’d
discovered what I’d always known in my heart. My father had another
family, another life.”

George heard Genevieve’s intake of breath and
saw Melody reach for her aunt’s hand. Tilly had finally looked up.
Louis had moved forward to the edge of his chair, his eyes darting
furiously between Pearl and the young attorney.

Pearl squeezed Bernard’s arm. “Reginald Song
was mine and Genevieve’s father but he was your father, too. Not by
blood but by all else that was important. He raised you, he loved
you, and you were with him when he died.”

Bernard closed his eyes and he seemed to
shrink into the carpet, like all the breath had been taken from
him.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Pearl asked. “And
you’ve known it since the beginning, since you came to work
here.”

Bernard opened his eyes and looked first at
Genevieve, then at Pearl. “I was six when my mother met Reginald
Song. She loved him more than life itself and I think he loved her,
too. Even so, I don’t think he would have stayed. He would have
gone back to you and to your mother. But my mother was not a well
woman. She said that if he left, she’d kill me first, then herself.
I think he believed her. I know I did.”