Love Me Tonight (14 page)

“Looks pretty sound to me,” Telford said, “and it's situated on a choice piece of property.”

“I know. Several of these real estate people been after me to sell it, but I'll never do it.”

“I doubt they would offer you a third of what it's worth.”

She got up and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later she called to them. “Judson, show Telford where he can wash his hands, if he wants to.”

Telford laughed. “I want to.”

A half hour later, they finished a meal of beef tenderloin, lemon-roasted potatoes, string beans, stuffed squash, baked corn bread and a dessert of caramel cake and vanilla ice cream. “I'm too full to talk sensibly,” Telford joked when they moved back to the porch.

“What y'all need is some coffee,” Cissy said. “I'm by myself most all the time, and when I have somebody to cook for, it makes my day.” She poured the coffee and sat down.

“Well, Telford. It's quite a story. Judson has told you much of it. I just learned from my husband's cousin that Fentriss Sparkman came back here many times asking for Beverly.” Judson noticed that Telford reacted as if something had stunned him, though he quickly covered it up.

“He said the last time Sparkman came here asking if anyone knew her whereabouts must've been a little over three years ago. Seems like he never gave up on her. Was he married when he died?”

Telford shook his head. “We've searched his tax records, his insurance records and the registrar of deeds in Frederick, and it seems that he never married.”

“When he was here back then, he lived as a single man.”

“Do you know where he lived, Aunt Cissy?” Telford asked her.

“He had an apartment in that house on the corner, the one with the brick front.”

“I know that one.”

“My husband's cousin said Beverly once disappeared for over a week after Mr. Sparkman went to Atlanta.”

“I'd love to know what he was building in Atlanta,” Judson said.

“Not to worry. I'll find out. You've been more helpful than you can imagine, Aunt Cissy,” Telford said. “Next time I'm in Hagerstown, I'll drop by to see you.”

“Let me know you're coming, and we can have a meal.” She showed him her guest room. “Don't stay at no hotel when you come here.”

Judson walked to the gate with Telford. “I'll find out what Uncle Fentriss was doing in Atlanta around thirty-three to thirty-four years ago, Judson. It shouldn't be too difficult. By the way, what did you say your adoptive mother's name was?”

“Beverly Moten Philips.”

“I'll call you as soon as I get a lead. Incidentally, we're celebrating Henry's seventieth birthday next weekend, and we'd love for you to come and be with us. You said there's a woman in your life. She's welcome, too.”

“Thank you. I'll ask her if she can come. If she doesn't have a travel assignment, I imagine she'd be delighted to come.”

“What does she do?”

“She's a lawyer with the same degree that I have, only she got hers at Yale, and she's a roving ambassador for the State Department.”

Telford released a sharp whistle. “How exciting! I'm anxious to meet her.”

“She's a wonderful person.”

Telford's grin implied a tease. “Of course she is. As hard as we work to avoid getting hooked, only an exceptional woman can manage it.”

Judson stared at Telford for a second and then released a guffaw. “Tell me about it. I didn't know that was standard.”

Telford slapped him on the back. “For us, it certainly is. See you in a week.” To his surprise, Telford embraced him as if he were a brother before getting in his car and driving off.

 

Telford drove directly to the house on the corner of Peel and Broad, and when he left, he had the building superintendent's word that Fentriss Sparkman had indeed lived there and that, over the course of a year, Beverly Moten had spent many nights there with him. As he drove home, he added the pieces of information he had together, including that his uncle Fentriss had given his big apartment building the name of the woman he loved. He didn't have to be an Einstein to figure out that Judson Philips was the son of Fentriss Sparkman. But, as he and his brothers had agreed, proof was what they needed.

He phoned Judson. “Uncle Fentriss lived in an apartment in that building just as Aunt Cissy said and, according to the building superintendent, who's about seventy or so, for about a year, Beverly Moten spent
many nights there with him. I'm headed back to Eagle Park.”

“Thanks for calling and letting me know. I appreciate it. Regards to your family and Henry. See you Friday.”

Before going home, Telford stopped at Russ's big redbrick house about half a mile up the hill from his own and walked around to the back gate. He knew he'd find Velma and Russ barbecuing on the deck and enjoying the air.

He told them what he'd discovered and what he suspected, omitting mention of Beverly Moten's first name. “We're on the right track, but we don't have proof. I've invited him and his girl to Henry's birthday celebration. He knocked me for a loop when he said she has an J.D. from Yale and that she's a roving ambassador for our State Department. I expect we'll enjoy having her here.”

“Yeah,” Russ said. “He'd have been the joy of Uncle Fentriss's life.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Velma asked.

“When you see him, you'll realize that the question is superfluous,” Russ said. “It's almost unbelievable.”

Velma leaned back against her husband's thigh. “I can't wait for next weekend.”

He wanted to talk with Drake, but he knew that Drake was in Philadelphia again, so he turned the big Buick toward John Brown Drive and headed home to the family that he loved. His cell phone rang, and when he saw that the call was from Drake, he broke his rule against using that phone while driving.

“Hi. What's up, Drake?”

“I've just remembered what I was trying to recall the other night. Uncle Fentriss named that apartment building for Judson's adoptive mother. She was his birth mother. I don't have any proof, but I'd swear to it, brother.”

“So would I. I'm just getting home from Hagerstown, where I met with Judson and his aunt Cissy. Shortly before Uncle Fentriss died, he went back to Hagerstown to try and locate Beverly Moten. I believe she's the reason why he never married. He went back there a number of times looking for her, but she'd married and cut ties with her relatives there. I guess she did it to protect her secret. There's a good deal more. I'll tell you when we get together. I'm going to Atlanta to see if I can find any clues there. It shouldn't be difficult.”

“Right on, brother.”

Telford hung up, and a few minutes later parked in the circle in front of his house. Getting home was always the happiest moment of his day.

 

Judson got back home around six-thirty that evening. Rick, his big German shepherd, met him with tail wagging, jumping up and down as if he hadn't seen him for days. “I know I've neglected you, boy, but I've been so involved with my parentage that I hardly remember to eat.” He knelt and rubbed the dog's back. He didn't spend enough time at home to justify having a full-time housekeeper, but at the moment, he wished he had one and the aroma of a delicious, hot meal wafting to him from the kitchen.

He sat down and telephoned Heather. “Hi, love. How are you?”

“I'm fine. How did it go in Hagerstown?”

“Heather, the more I learn, the more certain I am, but these comforting bits of information are not proof. Telford Harrington is a great guy. He wants us to spend next weekend at his place. The Harrington brothers and their families are celebrating the seventieth birthday of Telford's cook and the brothers' surrogate father.”

“Both of them?”

It was a reasonable question, but he couldn't help laughing. “The cook and the surrogate father are the same person. Their real father died when Drake, the youngest, was sixteen and Henry helped Telford raise Russ and Drake. Telford put them and himself through college. They're a tight, loving family. Will you come with me?”

“Of course I will. Thank you for asking me. You didn't have to tell them that I existed.”

“The night I met Telford, I told him that I was in a committed relationship, so when he asked me to spend the weekend, he asked me to bring you.”

“Really? I'll look forward to it. Have you had dinner?”

“No. I walked in here, dropped my briefcase on the floor and telephoned you. I think I ought to get a housekeeper, but that would mean I'd have to come home every evening and eat dinner. Housekeepers are like office wives.”

“Not if you don't permit it. I thought of hiring one,
too, but if I do, nice men like you won't come and look after me when I get sick.”

“Don't you believe it. As Bacall said to Bogart, ‘All you have to do is whistle.'”

“I don't know how,” she said in what he suspected was a tease.

“Baby, ‘you just put your lips together and blow.'”

She hooted. “For that, I'll cook you something to eat.”

“Thanks. I'd like that one evening when you haven't worked all day. I'll bring dinner with me. All I want you to do is set the table. Give me an hour.”

“Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere.”

He didn't feel like rushing. He wasn't tired physically, but with half of his mind on Sparkman, and the remainder split between Heather and his law firm, he was becoming mentally exhausted. Even so, knowing that Telford Harrington and his brothers shared his dilemma and had vowed to help him solve it made the burden seem so much lighter. Still, it had to end and soon.

After a refreshing shower, he dressed and sat on his back deck for a few minutes listening to the night animals. Years, maybe months earlier, he wouldn't have heard them, but knowing and loving Heather seemed to have quickened his senses and elevated his consciousness of nature and all living things. A glance at his watch told him that he risked getting to Heather's apartment later than he had planned. He stopped at a restaurant he favored, bought two lobster dinners and
a pint of raspberry ice cream and drove to Heather's place at a faster speed than he thought wise. Realizing that he'd forgotten to buy flowers for her, he stopped at a drug store, bought a bottle of Dior perfume and had it wrapped.

A few minutes later, Heather opened the door and gazed up at him as if seeing him there was a surprise. “Hi. What's the matter?” he asked her.

“I…uh…I'd begun to think you either had some trouble somewhere or you fell asleep and weren't coming.”

He looked at his watch. “It's only twenty minutes to eight.”

“I know, but it seems like ages since I saw you.”

He dropped his packages on the floor, brought her into his arms and held her there. His lips brushed hers. “That's the best greeting you could have given me. The food is hot, but the dessert needs to go into the freezer.”

“If you brought ice cream, I'm going to kiss you.”

He grinned because happiness suffused him. “You'd kiss me even if I didn't bring you ice cream.”

She looked into the bag. “Oh, you're such a tease.” Her arms went around him and tightened. “Thanks. You're so sweet.”

He reached in his pocket for the perfume but didn't take it out. “Heather, I want you to be careful about saying such things to me. You can joke about the weather, even about Armageddon, but please not about what you feel for me or what you think of me.”

She knitted her brow in a dark frown. “Why can't
you accept that I think you're a wonderful man, and that I nearly burst with pride when I think that I'm the woman you love?”

“I can accept that, but I want you to be sure. I've heard similar words before, and there wasn't much truth behind them. I believe in you, but don't put me up so high. I'm only human, and human beings are prone to mistakes.”

“You're not planning to let me down, are you?”

“I'll hurt myself before I'll hurt you, and you may carve that in stone. Let's eat before this food cools down.” He handed her the small package. “I didn't have time to go to that florist shop.”

“Thank you, I used to wear this, and I loved it.”

“Really? Why'd you change?”

“I didn't, but Annie gave me a bottle of Cabochard for my birthday, and I liked it, so I'm wearing it.”

“I like it, too.” She put the ice cream in the freezer and transferred the food from the foam containers to serving dishes. “Lobster! There are times, like now, when I think you can read my mind. I was hoping you'd get a knack for some lobster.”

She put a bottle of chardonnay wine on the table, lit the candles and sat down. “Would you please have a seat and say the grace?”

He took her hand and said the words he'd learned when he was two years old. The memory of Tara teasing about the length of the grace she said floated back to him, and he held Heather's hand a little tighter. Family. What would it be like to have his own family? Heather looked at him, and their gazes clung. He didn't want or
need passion, but pure love. Unable to resist, he got up from his chair, walked over to her and kissed her lips. As if she understood the measure of his feelings, she stroked the side of his face.

“I love you, too, Judson.”

Deeply moved, he struggled to change their moods, sat down and tackled the lobster. She told him the details of her day and of the letters of praise for her work in Bogota that she'd received from her superiors.

“I have some good news, too,” he said. “Telford has the word of an eyewitness that, in the course of a year at least, my mom spent many nights with Sparkman at his Hagerstown apartment. Furthermore, he returned to Hagerstown many times trying to find her, but she'd cut ties with relatives there, and no one knew her whereabouts. I'm assuming that she didn't want my dad to know that she'd had a baby out of wedlock. Of course, it's my guess that she had adopted that baby.