The Family You Choose (35 page)

Alex didn’t understand. "My name?"

"You were his best friend even then, weren’t
you?"

"Stephen? He knew your daughter?"

"We met the family. The father seemed very
kind. He went out of his way to ask about the school I taught in,
my favorite students. He asked after my husband’s job as well. We
were both very charmed. Stephen wasn’t a wild boy, very
well-mannered at the time. I thought he might have a little crush
on Eve, actually. The mother was a little standoffish, as if she
were doing Eve the favor of hiring her, but we knew she wasn’t
going to be around that much, so we didn’t worry.

"Eve went everywhere with the Abbots. She
took trips into Newburyport, Boston, New York. We were a little bit
concerned the first time she went out of town, but everything
seemed alright. And Mr. Abbot—Michael Abbot—always went out of his
way to talk to us afterward, to thank us for letting her come, to
tell us how much Stephen enjoyed time with his special friend. So
we had no reason to worry.

"On the night before the Abbots left, she
didn’t come home. We didn’t worry, because it wasn’t the first
time. We didn’t call. We knew she’d be with them. She knew she
needed to be home so she could get her school supplies and pick out
a few new outfits before school started the next week. We didn’t
worry.

"But then Eve did come home. Late. It was
past eleven. She was a sight, and we knew what had happened. Her
clothes were torn, and she was bleeding, on her face, her body. She
couldn’t talk. She couldn’t tell us who. It was right on the beach.
She had sand in her hair and clothes.

"I was washing her up, trying to see if I
could find a doctor. My husband was going to go out to the Abbot
house, to find out how they could have let this happen, why they
didn’t look for her, call after her here. And then Evie became
hysterical. She begged him, she pleaded that she didn’t want him to
go over there, that he’d hurt him too. And then we understood. All
of those times that we should have worried.

"My husband stayed. We waited until morning,
when Evie was asleep. And then he went. But the Abbots were gone at
that point. I’d never seen my husband so furious. He went to the
police. He wanted to file charges. But he didn’t get very far. Did
we really want to tell the world that our very pretty, very
mature-looking fifteen year old daughter had had sex on the beach
with an older man? How were we going to prove that it was rape, and
that she didn’t consent? And Mr. Abbot could afford a nice, big
house in Boston and a little summer place here. He could probably
afford a very expensive lawyer that would make all of it go away
quietly. Evie would be the only one who was hurt. And she’d already
been very badly hurt.

"She didn’t want to go to the doctor. She
didn’t want anyone to touch her that way. So I didn’t make her. But
she wouldn’t go to school either. She wouldn’t get out of bed. She
wouldn’t leave her room. She just cried.

"It was a month after it happened, and I
thought she’d started to feel better. She was joining us for meals;
she was even watching a little television with us. And it looked
like she felt ready to go to school. But then she started getting
sick. I thought maybe she’d made herself weak, staying in all that
time, and she caught something from me or my husband. That’s what I
told myself for a month. And then one day my husband looked at me,
and we both knew what it was.

"We told Eve, and she went crazy. She tried
to hurt herself, but we stopped her. We didn’t know what to do. My
husband and I didn’t have any other family aside from each other,
and we didn’t have anywhere we could send her. So we kept her
locked away here. People asked questions, but it was all we could
do.

"Before we knew it the time had come, the
beginning of the spring. Evie had her little girl right here. She
was beautiful. She looked just like her when she was born, but
maybe her hair had just a touch of red.

"I named the baby after Eve’s favorite
character from Shakespeare. She’d loved Shakespeare before. But she
cried when I said the name. When I changed it a little bit, she
stopped. So I thought it was okay. But Evie didn’t want to touch
her.

"We took some time off from work so we could
take care of the both of them. But Evie was worse. She didn’t even
cry, Mr. Sheldon. She just looked out her bedroom window. She
looked like she wanted to throw herself into the ocean.

"I took the baby out when she was a week old
for her check up. When I came home, my husband was in the garden,
trimming the honeysuckle bush. We went to check on Evie, and that’s
when we found her." She blinked. She’d finished crying about this a
long time ago. "She was in the bathtub. She’d found my husband’s
razor.

"My husband died a week after Eve’s funeral.
It was too much for his heart, but also his conscience. He never
forgave himself for letting Michael Abbot get away with hurting
Evie. He never forgave himself for letting a man like that win.

"So I was alone. It was just me and the baby.
Eighteen years after I’d met the gentlest, most wonderful man,
sixteen years after we’d had the most beautiful daughter, I was all
by myself with a brand new baby. I was in my forties, I could do
it, but it’s harder starting all over again at that age than it is
in your twenties.

"I wanted that monster to know what he had
done to my family. I wanted him to know that the price of his
selfishness had been my daughter and husband. So I snipped a lock
of the baby’s hair, and I sent a picture of her. I told him that
Eve was dead, my husband was dead. I told him never to set foot
here again, or I wouldn’t be responsible for what happened.

"A few weeks later, I received a big, very
important packet. It had quite a few stock certificates and bonds.
Nothing else. It was almost funny. He completely misunderstood. He
thought he was being blackmailed. He thought he was buying my
silence. It didn’t occur to him, I suppose, that I would never,
ever let another precious child of mine near him again.

"I wanted to burn them and send the ashes
back to him. But then I thought that maybe I shouldn’t. I didn’t
want them, but maybe someday Tatiana would. So I put them away,
where they wouldn’t be found. I never intended to use them.

"Tatiana grew up just like her mother. She
was beautiful and intelligent. A little sharp tongued at times, but
mostly to be funny. But she graduated from high school. She even
went to a community college a few towns away. She was going to go
to a four-year college to study English.

"She was visiting Boston when she met him. He
was an Israeli here for the summer before he had to do his tour of
duty. I think she introduced me one day, and then I didn’t see her
for three weeks except late at night and in the morning. I’d never
seen her happier. And when I did see them together, he looked as if
he worshipped the ground she walked on. They left for two days, and
I was hysterical. When they got back, they told me that they were
married. I wanted to be angry with them, but they both..." She
smiled as she remembered. "It’s hard to stay angry when two people
love each other that much.

"He left for Israel. He promised he’d come
back for her and take her back to his family. He’d been gone only a
couple of weeks when she told me that she was pregnant. It was so
different, Mr. Sheldon. She was so happy. She didn’t cry. She
laughed.

"But then we got the call. The awful call
from his family. It was quite an introduction. Her only
consolation, the only thing that kept her from falling apart
completely, was that he knew about their baby.

"She wasn’t able to go to college, of course.
She was young yet, so it could wait until her daughter was older.
But I retired after the baby was born. Tatiana took a job at one of
the shops, and I took care of Miranda. It was enough to make ends
meet, but not enough for Tatiana to have all of the things she
wanted for herself and her baby.

"That’s when I made the decision. Really, it
wasn’t my choice anymore. I gave her the stocks. I didn’t know how
much they were worth at this point, but I knew it would be quite a
lot. I told her that Michael Abbot was her father. I didn’t tell
her anything else.

"Tatiana had been popular in school. She was
one of those people that lit up a room whenever she entered it. She
always had friends. But she’d never had family aside from me, and
then Ash. Now Ash was gone. I didn’t realize how much she’d wanted
it. She found out who Michael Abbot was, and that he’d been dead
for a few years. I’d never been so happy in my life. I thanked God,
but I didn’t tell her. She found out about Stephen, and that he was
married with a son. She wanted to see him. She wanted to see her
brother.

"Apparently, he was overjoyed. He didn’t
know, of course, until she came to him. She wasn’t looking for
money. She just wanted them to be friends, to be family. He wanted
that too. But she didn’t understand why Stephen wouldn’t just tell
his wife who she was. I think I do, Mr. Sheldon. I think he guessed
what the truth was, and I think he didn’t know how to talk about
it. I think I know a little bit about that.

"When she met you, she didn’t want to give
her heart away so easily. She didn’t think she’d ever feel that way
about anyone again after Ash. And everything was so complicated for
her. Because of Miranda and because of Stephen. But she followed
her heart. She really, truly wanted to be with you. She really
wanted to tell you the truth. She convinced him to let her, but
first he wanted to tell his wife. That’s what they were going to do
when she left. I don’t know what happened after that."

Alex had been sitting in stunned silence
until the last sentence. He didn’t know either, but he could guess.
"I had no idea," he finally choked out. He couldn’t see in front of
him. "I didn’t know."

"No one blames you for not knowing," Helen
said quietly. "I thought it was important for you to know now, in
case you thought something else."

Alex wiped his tears. "Why are you telling me
now? They’ve been dead for a month." He felt sick saying that.

"I am not a young woman anymore. I was in my
twenties with Eve, and in my forties with Tatiana. I’m in my
sixties now, and I’m afraid I’m not in the best of health." She
neatly folded her hands on her lap. "I’m dying, Mr. Sheldon. I have
cancer, and it’s pretty advanced. It was even before Tatiana died,
but I didn’t tell her. There didn’t seem to be a need. But now
there is."

"I’ll do anything I can, Mrs. Hamilton."

"Thank you. Then you’ll take Miranda."

Alex froze. "You want me to raise her?"

"Frankly, you’re not my first choice, Mr.
Sheldon, but there really isn’t anyone else. Tatiana tried to get
in touch with Ash’s parents when Miranda was born, but they’d left.
She tried to find them, but she couldn’t get through all of the red
tape before she died. I’m not sure I can before my time comes
either." She smiled again. "And I understand that her cousin is
living with you now. It seems a certain justice, don’t you think,
that Miranda should have what her mother wanted for her?"

Alex thought about Michael and how angry he
was, anger even his beloved cousin Richard couldn’t always get
through. Would another person make it better or worse?

Before he could answer himself, Helen called
Miranda down. Alex saw her, and his heart melted in places he’d
thought had been hardened forever. Her hair was dark and very wavy,
and her eyes were a sharp, clear blue, but otherwise, she was all
Tatiana. She was one of the children Alex had wanted to put in his
house for Tatiana.

~~~

Miranda shook her head when he was done. "No,
no, no. You didn’t get it. He knew who I was. He saw my mother.
Just once, that last night. He saw her, and then he knew who I
was." She thought she’d be sick again. "Or who he thought I was."
More tears. "Why didn’t you tell us? Don’t you think it might have
been different for us?"

"I wish I had, Miranda. I’d give anything
right now to go back and change that."

Miranda cried again. That was something
Michael would have said.

Alex made a few phone calls. Miranda left
without another word to him, then got in her car and drove to
Zainab’s.

Zainab, Emily and Mitch were waiting for her.
She was exhausted and couldn’t eat but she begged them not to leave
her alone. She drifted off, but then she heard Zainab tell Emily
that she needed to go. She needed to go back to Jessie because
Richard wasn’t home. Zainab didn’t say it, but Miranda knew it was
because he was somewhere else. Then she cried into her pillow
again, and Emily stroked her hair until she could fall asleep.

The next morning they packed Miranda’s things
into her car and drove to Richard’s house. Mitch walked Miranda’s
bags in, and Emily helped Miranda through the door.

Richard took her hand. "Sweetheart, you’re
going to stay here as long as you want, okay? Don’t argue with me.
This is your home." He squeezed her hand. "Is there anything I can
get you?"

Miranda smiled. "Please, just tell me..." She
bit her lip, unable to say anymore.

Richard closed his eyes and nodded.
"Everything’s taken care of. I’ve made sure of it."

She hugged him. "Thank you. You always fix
everything, don’t you?"

Richard was about to make a joke when they
heard someone running down the stairs. Emily gasped. Zainab beamed.
There was Jessie, no streaks in her hair, but otherwise as if
nothing had changed. She was furious.

She walked right up to Miranda and grabbed
her by the shoulders. "Miranda Harel, what the Hell have you done?
I’m the one whose brain jumped off a cliff, not you. You married
Michael Abbot? And he’s your cousin? Are you crazy? You big, stupid
idiot!" Jessie pulled Miranda into a hug. "Don’t you ever do that
again!"