Love Me Tonight (18 page)

“I will, because I have to. You've changed my life. Since knowing you, I'm a stronger, happier person. Kiss me good-night?”

“I love you, Heather.” He made the sound of a kiss, and she reciprocated it.

I've got to stop doubting him and what he means to me. If he ended our relationship, I don't know what I'd do.

 

Judson sat in the conference room at his office the next morning with a senior partner discussing Curtis Heywood's case when his secretary buzzed him. “Excuse me.”

“Telford Harrington on the phone, sir. Can you speak with him or would you like to return his call and at what time?”

“I'll return his call in half an hour. Get the number where he can be reached.”

“This is a tough one,” Lon Marshall said. “It's clearly in Heywood's favor, but there are five dentists in that clinic, and they'll lie for each other.”

“I know that,” Judson replied, “but Heywood has found three other people who had the same problem after going to that clinic, and he developed a liaison with one of the secretaries there. So he got information that he wouldn't otherwise have been privy to.”

“All right, but I suggest we call only one of those dentists as a witness.”

“My thoughts exactly. Lon, I'd like you to speak with Heywood about this. I want to know if your impression of him is the same as mine.”

“Right on. I'll make the appointment today.”

Judson left the conference room, went to his office and phoned Telford. “Sorry I couldn't take your call. I was in a conference. How are you?”

“I'm fine. I'm assuming that if you had more news you'd have shared it with me.”

“That's right. I would have.”

“Judson, I'd like us to go back to see your aunt Cissy,
and instead of us leading her by asking her questions, let's tell her we want her opinions on this matter and just let her talk. Russ thinks she may have overlooked something because we led her on with our questions.”

“That's indeed possible. When can you go?”

“Tomorrow.”

“All right. I'll call her now. Be in touch.” He hung up and dialed Cissy

“Y'all come tomorrow for lunch. You want me to invite my sister-in-law to come over after lunch? She was very close to Beverly's mother. I 'spect if she had a secret, Rose knew as much about it as she.”

“Thanks, Aunt Cissy. That could prove useful.”

 

He was parking in front of Cissy's house at noon the next day when Telford drove up. “Man, that's what I call perfect timing,” Telford said after they greeted each other with an embrace as had become their custom.

“Y'all planning to stay out there all day?” Cissy asked as she stepped out on the front porch wiping her hands on her apron. She hugged first Judson and then Telford. “Come on in. It's getting cool, but it's my favorite time of year. I picked up some pecans for you to take back, so don't let me forget them.”

Judson realized that Cissy loved company, but didn't have it often enough, and that his visits were special to her. She served them roast loin of pork with baked apples, roast lemon potatoes and string beans, with lemon meringue pie for desert.

“If you continue to cook like this for Judson, he'll move out here,” Telford said to Cissy.

“Couldn't happen soon enough for me. I'll take him for my son any day.”

“Thanks, Aunt Cissy. I'm happy that we found each other.”

“Me, too. That must be Rose,” she said at the sound of the front door knocker. “Y'all, let's go in the living room.” She introduced them to her sister-in-law.

“Glad to meet you, both,” Rose said and took a seat. “You don't look a bit like Beverly, Judson, but you're the spitting image of Fentriss Sparkman.” She looked at Telford. “Y'all half brothers?”

“His father was Sparkman's brother,” Cissy explained.

“I guess Sparkman loved Beverly,” Rose said. “He came back here many times looking for her after she left, but nobody knew where she was. He would've married her, I'm sure, if he'd gotten the chance. For some reason, Agnes couldn't stand him. You see, he was Agnes's age, and I always thought she had a crush on Sparkman. She really punished Beverly. Beverly would sneak out at night, and sometimes she'd stay out all night knowing Agnes was gon' knock her 'round when she came home.

“She'd find things Sparkman gave Beverly and take 'em away from her. Nice things. Do you know that man gave Beverly a gold watch and Agnes took it from her? I never could figure out why Beverly didn't leave home. 'Course, Sparkman could've been married.”

“He wasn't,” Telford said. “He never married.”

“Well,” Rose went on, “Beverly got pregnant for Sparkman, and Agnes tried to make her get rid of it.
When Beverly refused, that was the first time she ever stood up to Agnes. Agnes was in a rage, claimed Beverly had disgraced the family.”

“Where was Uncle Fentriss?” Telford asked her.

“He'd gone to Atlanta to work, and when he came back here for Beverly, Agnes had taken her to Baltimore and left the baby with her mother, Beverly's grandmother. Far as I know, Fentriss never knew nothing about that baby. Agnes came back a couple of months later, but she never said much about Beverly, claimed she didn't know where she was. I remember that she had the baby christened at Shiloh, but there's no telling what kind of lie Agnes put on those christening papers.

“You ought to check that out, though, 'cause sure as my name is Rose Faison, you are Sparkman's child, and he didn't look at another woman but Beverly during the two years he worked here. How old are you? About thirty-four, thirty-five? Beverly had that baby thirty-five years ago this December.”

Both men leaned forward. “You don't remember the date, do you?” Judson asked her.

“No, son. My memory's not that good. But I remember it was the first part of December, because it was the day after… Wait a minute. Beverly had that baby the day after Agnes's birthday, and I'm pretty sure Agnes was born on December the first. Everybody knew her birthday, 'cause she wanted the whole town to give her presents. It's in my old date book. I'm sure. I'll check it. Anyway, that will be correct on the christening certificate.”

When Judson slumped in the chair, Telford asked him, “When is your birthday?”

“December the second.”

Rose leaned back and folded her arms. “I rest my case.”

“I don't see why we need more proof than that,” Telford said. He stood, put a hand on Judson's shoulder. “Maybe we'd better try to reach the people at Shiloh Church and see if they can locate that christening record.”

“Right,” Judson said, and as if a boulder weighed on him, he managed to get up with great effort.

“I know it's a blow, son,” Cissy said. “Knowing you lived with your mother all those years and she never 'fessed up to you. But I guess she did what she had to do, and at least you can thank her for not letting anybody else raise you.” She walked over to him, and he welcomed the comfort of her arms around him.

“I've accepted it for months now, and I thought I'd adjusted to it, Aunt Cissy, but… If I'd known, I would have found my father, and she probably knew that. Too bad she and Fentriss Sparkman lost track of each other through her mother's meddling.”

“That's about what happened,” Rose said. “Agnes got to face the Lord about her meanness.”

“Excuse me a minute,” Judson said to Telford, and took Cissy's arm and walked with her into the kitchen. “How are you doing financially? What do you need?”

“God bless you, son. I don't need anything right now.”

“Promise me that when you do, you'll tell me at once. I don't want you to want for anything. Is that clear?”

“Bless you. I promise, but all I have on me are taxes, food and utilities, and my pension covers that.”

He grinned at her. “If the house springs a leak, call me.”

They left Cissy's house and went to the office of Shiloh Baptist Church, but the clerk there could find no record of the christening. He embraced Telford, thanked him for his help, promised to stay in touch and headed back to Baltimore. Happiness suffused him; he was almost certain of his parentage, and he couldn't wait to see Heather and share with her what he'd learned.

 

Judson couldn't know that Heather was also in Hagerstown visiting her father, roughly a ten-minute drive from Cissy's house. She sat beside her father's chair holding his hand. She knew she wouldn't have him for long and shrank from the knowledge.

“I've been hoping for news that you've been appointed to a full ambassadorship,” he said. “I know it's coming, but I want to be able to share it with you.”

“I turned down Albania, Dad, and now they've offered me a post in Lithuania, but I'd be so far away, I might as well be in Albania.”

“You're young yet. Don't be in such a hurry. You shouldn't take the assignment if you don't want it. You deserve better.”

She understood that, although he wanted to see her with that coveted title, he didn't want it at the expense of her career. He patted her hand. “What about Judson
Philips? What are you doing about him? I made a mistake with Annie. I should never have listened to her old-fashioned foolishness. If we'd gotten married, we'd both be happier. But she wouldn't, because then everybody would think we'd been living in sin. So what! I never gave a damn about what people thought. Besides, we sinned, as she put it, a few hundred times these past twenty years.

“Don't be a fool where Philips is concerned. He's a first-rate man, and he's in love with you.”

“I know. And I love him. But he's not focused on me right now. If I go to Lithuania, that may finish it, though that's not why I'm turning the offer down. The problem is that a post in Lithuania will also finish my career. Nothing happens there, so State will forget about me, and the next president and his staff won't know or care who I am.”

Annie brought tea for Heather and cocoa for her father. He sipped the drink, put the cup down and looked at Heather. “Then why would you consider the post?”

She hugged him. “I love you, Dad.”

“I know. And that means everything to me.”

At around three that afternoon, she started the drive to Baltimore, hoping to beat the rush-hour traffic. The sound of a siren behind her got her attention and, when she glanced at the side-view mirror, she slowed down on the chance that the state trooper wanted to pass her. He didn't. He signaled for her to pull over and stop.

She hadn't realized that she was speeding and told the trooper as much. When he questioned her, she told
him of her visit with her father and how happy she was as a result of it.

He took his book of tickets away. “Enjoy your dad while you have him, miss. But with that kind of driving, you'll be gone before he is. Don't let me catch you again.” He returned her license.

“I won't. Thank you, sir.” Eighty miles an hour in a fifty-five-mile zone! Was she crazy?

She drove on at a comparative snail's pace. Her cell phone rang, but she didn't even glance toward it. One brush with the law and with fate was sufficient for a day. But when she got home, she found the red light on her house phone blinking. A check of her answering machine revealed a call from Scott and two from Judson.

She phoned Scott first. “Hi. What's up?” she asked after greeting him.

“Nothing. Judson called and asked if I knew your whereabouts. He sounded excited, but you bet he wasn't going to tell me what was going on.”

“But aren't the two of you buddies?”

“Sure we are, but he'll tell you first, and if he has any excitement left, then he'll tell me. He cares a lot for you, Heather, and right now he's really vulnerable. You know what I'm saying?”

“I think so. I've been with my dad in Hagerstown and had a wonderful visit with him. He's about as good as could be expected.”

“Glad to hear it. You gonna phone Judson?”

“Of course. See you.”

She hung up and dialed Judson's cell number. “Hi, honey. You called me?”

“Three times. How are you, sweetheart? I've been at my aunt Cissy's with Telford, Aunt Cissy and Aunt Cissy's sister-in-law, Rose.

“After hearing what Rose had to say, it's crystal clear to me who my birth parents were, but I need the proof. Rose said I look exactly like Sparkman, but that wouldn't stand up in court, and it won't mean anything to my children. They'll want proof of their lineage, and I'm not going to stop until I get that proof.”

“Can't say I blame you. Are you upset?”

“Definitely not. Why?”

“While you were with Aunt Cissy, I was at my father's place. He asked about you.”

“You mean…I thought of going by to see him, but then I decided it would be presumptuous of me to do that, so I came home. I'm sorry I didn't follow my hunch. Can we see each other for dinner? Nothing lavish because I spent the day in Hagerstown when I should have been working. Suppose we eat in Little Italy? The service is excellent, and the food never disappoints.”

“Fine with me.”

“See you in thirty minutes.”

When she opened the door for him later, he handed her a yellow calla lily. She was neither a crybaby nor any other kind of weakling, but she looked at the flower he held, shifted her gaze to his face and to the love she saw in his eyes and stared at him, speechless, while tears rolled down her cheeks. He closed the door, picked her up and carried her to her bed. An hour later, he dressed,
phoned an Italian restaurant that he favored and ordered their dinner.

She dragged herself to the bathroom, showered, put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and padded barefoot into the living room where he sat in the dark. “It's too late now,” she said to herself. “I'm head over heels in love with him.” After switching on a light, she sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder.