Lost & Found Love (26 page)

Stoner sighed and relaxed. They would eat dinner first so everyone would have a chance to be more comfortable. He set his glass down and crossed the room. Ignoring Jenny’s slight flinch, he kissed her cheek and shook his son’s hand. Evan’s brows rose, and Stoner knew his son felt the tremor in his hand. He swallowed. Hell, he hadn’t been this nervous the first time he ran for political office.

“I’m so glad you could come. Catherine will be thrilled…and I am too. Would you like a drink?”

Jenny shook her head, but Evan smiled and nodded. “Bourbon…neat.”

While Jenny took Peter over to Tabby and Joe, Evan followed Stoner to the wet bar. “You’re more on edge than I think I’ve ever seen you, Dad. Is there anything wrong that we should know about?”

Stoner handed his son the glass but didn’t quite meet his eye. “No. I just…damn it, Evan,” he whispered hoarsely, “I want my family back. Even before I knew who Tabby was, I saw how I had isolated myself. Nearly losing her… Well, I realized I couldn’t live with the lies anymore. I had to get the truth out in the open.”

As Evan sipped his bourbon, Stoner felt his son studying him. “Sometimes the truth is better left alone,” Evan finally said.

“That’s what I thought. But I’ve had months to realize I was wrong. I should have told the truth years ago before any of this happened. I could have saved everyone so much pain.” He shook his head and tried to smile. “Sorry. Let’s enjoy dinner. We can talk later.”

Joe helped Tabby into the dining room. She was seated to Stoner’s right with Joe to her right. Catherine was wise enough to seat Jenny next to her, leaving Evan on Stoner’s left. Years of acting as a politician’s wife served Catherine well. She managed to keep the conversation flowing and safely off the eight hundred pound gorilla that hovered over them.

Stoner was grateful. He had nerves enough for everyone. Her first sign of tension was when she asked Peterson to bring coffee and after dinner drinks to Stoner’s study. Only the faintest tension was palpable in her voice. Tabby settled on the couch with her foot propped up and her back resting comfortably against Joseph’s side.

* * * *

Evan helped Jenny get into a comfortable position to nurse Peter, then stood near the window with his hands jammed into the pockets of his slacks. It gave him a chance to observe. His mother, he noticed, hovered around the coffee tray, and there was a faint tremor in her hands. Stoner stood near the empty fireplace, a brandy snifter dangling from his elegant hand. Evan would have sworn his father’s eyes rested on Jenny with as much love as they did when he watched Tabby, but that was ridiculous. It must simply be a trick of the light, or wishful thinking.

“Dad?” Evan prompted somewhat sharply. He wanted this over with so that no matter what came out, they could deal with it and move on. Chances were it would make little difference. If that was cynical, then so be it. He’d had an excellent teacher.

His father swallowed and slowly gazed at everyone in the room. His mouth twisted. “This is a long story. I don’t offer it as a justification or an excuse. I simply want to tell it. Maybe… Maybe if I had told your mother years ago, Evan, all of this could have been avoided.” Stoner pressed one hand against his forehead for a moment as if he were trying to decide where to start.

“I did a short stint in Vietnam. I could have gotten a student deferment, but I was filled with all sorts of ideals about serving my country, so I went. It was an eye-opening experience. I came back and tried to settle into my old life. Daddy and Mama wanted me to get married and start a family, so they began introducing me to suitable girls. Katie was one of them.” He paused and smiled softly at Evan’s mother. “We fought like cats and dogs, though. The summer I turned twenty-one, right before the end of the semester, she agreed to marry me. I came back home for the summer to help on the farm as high as a kite that Katie had said yes.”

Evan turned away from the window, intrigued despite himself at hearing his father reveal so much about the past.

“That was the summer I first saw Mary. She worked in Tarpley’s store, and I had come in to get cigarettes. She was sixteen years old and as pretty as you Jenny, all golden hair and big golden eyes. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I had a huge crush on her, but I was already engaged to Katie, and Mary was too young. It didn’t stop me from flirting, but by the end of the summer, flirting was all I had done. I went back to school, back to being engaged to Katie, and put Mary out of my mind.

“Catherine and I married the next year. I finished law school just a short time before you were born, Evan, then joined a firm in Charlottesville. I was never coming back here if I could help it.”

Evan met Jenny’s gaze. His father had always given the impression that Richardson Homestead was the most important thing in his life.

“Hard to believe, isn’t it? Daddy burned me out working the farm and shoving family history down my throat. I wanted no part of it. I was young and idealistic. I had a beautiful bride and a son who was the pride and joy of my life. Then three years later, your grandpa died. It was ruled a massive heart attack. Only one other man and I knew what actually happened. Daddy made some risky investments and lost almost all his personal fortune. There was still the land, my trust fund, and Mama’s money, but Daddy was too proud to touch it or ask for it. He committed suicide.”

Evan’s mouth tightened. This was a version of the family history he had never before heard.

“I didn’t tell anyone. Not Catherine, not your aunts, and definitely not your grandmother. Instead, I came back here and tied myself to the farm I hated. I felt like someone had hung an albatross around my neck.” Stoner paused, his jaw working. “I used my influence to get the man who knew my secret elected sheriff, a reward for his silence. I poured my own money back into the land, made some sound business decisions, and managed to restore much of the money that was lost without anyone ever knowing.

“It was about that time that the sheriff, Sam’s uncle, began his crackdown on the moonshiners. He’d heard rumors that the Owens family wasn’t only making shine, they were growing another cash crop as well. I discovered a marijuana crop, along with a still, down in our river bottom while I was out with my beagle pack.”

Stoner paused as though to gather his thoughts. “Catherine and I were having problems, mostly my doing. I was unhappy and foisted that on her. She had a difficult pregnancy with Erin. Both she and the baby were sick a lot. I felt frustrated and trapped. We argued constantly until I suggested she should visit her parents for a while and leave me the hell alone.” When Stoner paused to shake his head, Evan glanced at his mom, but he couldn’t read anything there. All the years as a politician’s wife had given her a poker face even stronger than his dad’s.

“I was shocked as hell when she did.” Stoner smiled sheepishly. “She up and took you and your sister off to her folks for an extended visit. Neither one of our families would countenance divorce.

“Anyway, I wanted—needed—someone to take my frustrations out on, so I kept an eye out to see who was growing pot on my land. Eventually, I caught Billy. He offered me a percent of his crop and some of the take on his shine, but I wanted none of it. The crop disappeared—harvested I now realize—and he moved the still. A few months passed, and I found it back on my land again, along with a newly planted marijuana crop.

“I was livid and already sore as a bear anyway because Catherine had once again refused to come home, so I rode over to Billy’s place. That’s when I saw Mary again.” Stoner stared into the empty fireplace grate and absently rubbed his hand over his cheeks.

“I saw you first, Jenny,” he admitted. “You sat outside on the porch playing doctor, of all things. You had all your dolls lined up as patients. It’s funny now remembering. I had forgotten that until just now. I asked after your daddy, and you looked at me with that golden hair and those golden eyes. It was like getting punched in the gut all over again. Before you could say a word, your mama came out. I wanted to grab you both and run.”

“Stop it!” Jenny hissed. “Don’t you make out like you gave a damn about my mama.”

Catherine murmured, “He did, Jenny. He came to Richmond and asked me for a divorce. He said he was in love with someone else and wanted to marry her. He didn’t tell me her name, but I found out later. I wouldn’t release him.”

Evan stared at his father as if he’d never seen him before. Trying to absorb all this new information about his dad was mindboggling. Stoner looked to Tabby, who smiled encouragingly. When Evan darted a glance at his newfound sister, all he saw was serenity. He wished he could be that calm.

“Anyway, I saw Mary and fell for her all over again. She looked tired, as if Billy’s lifestyle had taken its toll. I harassed Billy to get his pot and his still off my property, but it was an excuse to see Mary. More and more when I came over, I found that Billy had taken Jenny off somewhere so that when I arrived, only Mary was there.

“We struck up a friendship. She could always make me laugh. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of mood I was in. I fell for her hard, and I saw the same emotions in her eyes, but we were both married.” Stoner paused again. His jaw tightened. “Then Billy showed up at my house one night, drunk as a skunk, said he was leaving Mary because she was a no good slut. I hit him. Told him again if he didn’t get his shit off my land I’d go to the sheriff.

“He said he needed that crop because his girl was sick. Fool that I was, I didn’t realize he was talking about his mistress. I thought he meant you, Jenny. He said he’d make me a deal. If I would let him harvest this one last crop, he’d turn a blind eye while I visited Mary.”

Stoner stopped abruptly and returned to the bar to pour himself another brandy. Evan saw his dad’s hand shake so much the decanter clinked against the glass and some of the liquid slopped onto the bar. He tossed back the liquor and poured another. Evan took the two steps needed to bring him to his father’s side and took the decanter away.

“That’s enough, Dad,” he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

Stoner nodded. He turned back to all of them with eyes that were over bright. His mouth twisted into a parody of a smile. “I was so naïve. I thought I could have it all. I would get Mary, and Jenny would get the help she needed.

“I moved Mary into a cabin near Sam’s property line. We were together almost constantly, and I realized I had to find some way to get her away from Billy for good. I wanted it to be a surprise so I didn’t tell her my thoughts. Besides, I had to end it with Catherine before I could say anything to Mary, so I went to Richmond. When I got back with Catherine’s refusal still fresh in my ears, Mary had disappeared.

“I searched for Billy and nearly beat him to death trying to force him to tell me where she went. Then I saw you standing there, Jenny, as healthy a little girl as you could be. Billy laughed at me, said he’d gotten great photos of the crops I was growing, and he’d turn them over to the DEA if I so much as opened my mouth. He told me Mary got tired of both of us and took off with another man. I looked for her for months, even hired a detective, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. It was as if she simply disappeared.”

Stoner stopped again. He looked hurt and alone in a way that Evan had never noticed. It was what Tabby had tried to tell them. He glanced at Jenny and saw her gaze waver, as if what she heard simply had too much of a ring of truth for her to continue to deny it.

“I gave up eventually,” Stoner whispered, “and I sat back and started taking a hard look at my life and what I wanted out of it. Mary was gone, but I thought I might still be able to salvage what I had with Catherine. After all, I had two beautiful children with her, and I was missing their childhoods. So… We patched things up, but it was never quite the same. That was my fault too. I didn’t have that part of me to give anymore…until I met Tabby. In my heart, I knew from the first who you were.” He smiled tenderly at her. “But I’m getting ahead of myself and everything else that happened.”

He took a deep breath. “I set my sights on a political career as single-mindedly as I had approached everything else in my life. The only other thing I allowed room for was hating Billy Owens. Because you were a constant reminder of what I had lost, Jenny, God help me, I started to hate you too. I told myself you were a child, Mary’s child, and you looked just like her, but I couldn’t get past the fact you were also Billy’s daughter. He made sure I knew that every time I saw you together.

“So I hated him, and I hated you for being a reminder of what I could never have. I came back from my first year in the senate to find Evan infatuated with you. I figured it would go away, but every year when I returned home from Washington, you and Evan had simply grown closer.”

Evan rolled his shoulders to ease some of his tension. This was harder to listen to than he’d expected, and it must be torture for Jenny.

“I hated your father so much. The last thing I wanted was to be tied to him or his family in any way. Well in that, I wasn’t alone. Billy didn’t want it either. He pretended it was because he wanted bigger things for you, but the bottom line was we both hated each other and would have done,” he paused and corrected himself, “did do anything we could to keep the two of you apart.”

Two steps brought Evan to the back of the couch where Jenny sat. He dropped a hand to her shoulder, feeling her tension.

“Billy sold a lot more than shine and pot by that time. He told me if I could pay off a few high school kids to make it look good, he’d see Evan would be left in no doubt that you were the same as the rest of his family. He traded someone a few ounces of pot for some roofies. I remember asking him what the devil that was supposed to be, and he told me it was just a little something to loosen you up.”

Stoner stopped and turned his back to them, staring out the window. “I didn’t know,” he choked. “Didn’t know you were pregnant. Not until years later. I used to sneak onto Billy’s farm up to the trees behind the house. It was where Mary and I first made love. After your daddy died, I was able to go there more often. Then one afternoon, after you’d come back to town, I went up there and saw.” His voice was filled with horror. “My grandchild. I—I’m sorry. Damn.”