Finding Colin Firth: A Novel (37 page)

Bea stood in front of 26 Birch Lane in Wiscasset, a fifteen-minute drive from Boothbay Harbor, her finger poised to ring the doorbell. In moments she would meet Timothy Macintosh, her biological father. She closed her eyes for a second and summoned up the advice Patrick had given her today at lunch—to remember that Timothy had called her back, invited her to his home. Timothy had sounded like a kind enough person on the phone, if a bit hesitant. He’d explained that half of him truly had believed he wasn’t the father of Veronica Russo’s baby, while the other half worried all these years that he was. That had been weighing on him a long, long time, and he was looking forward to facing the truth once and for all.

She rang the bell.

There was a simultaneous gasp when the door opened. He was twenty-two years older than the boy in the photograph, but he looked so much like her. Very tall, with thick, wavy blond hair. His eyes were hazel, not brown like hers, but there was something so similar about their faces. The shape maybe. Something in the expression, the way they smiled.

“I don’t think you’ll need that DNA test after all,” the blond woman standing slightly behind him said.

Timothy had his hand over his mouth. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he said, holding the door open for her to step in. “This is my wife, Beth. Our daughter is out with friends, but maybe you can meet her another time, after we’ve sat down with her to tell her about you, of course.”

“I’d like that,” Bea said.

Bea had to cut her time short with the Macintoshes at four, since she had to meet Maddy for their tutoring appointment at five. Yesterday, Tyler had called to switch tutoring days from Wednesday to Thursday, since their grandparents had come to visit, but keeping the first meeting with Timothy to an hour and a half seemed about right anyway. Both Timothy and Beth were very formal and awkward with Bea, but she’d chalked that up to nerves. They were kind, bending over backward to share stories about Timothy’s family, whose ancestors came from Scotland. Bea jotted down what Timothy had said about his family’s medical history, an uncle with agoraphobia, a grandmother who’d died of ovarian cancer, a bit of depression here and there, but overall, strong, hearty folk. Timothy’s mother had been a secretary, and his father in construction, like Bea’s own father, and both Macintoshes seemed to love hearing about Bea’s childhood. Timothy and Beth had been married for seventeen years, and given how they’d sat with their arms entwined the majority of their afternoon with Bea, it appeared they were very close, that Beth was something of a rock for him. They were planning to tell their daughter about Bea that night, and Timothy promised he’d call about getting together again in the future.

She’d left Wiscasset with a lightened heart and drove back to Boothbay Harbor, but once again, Maddy was late for their tutoring session. Bea was right on time at five o’clock, but the crew trailer, where they’d arranged to meet this time instead of the library, was empty. The plan had been to meet up there and then go find a quiet spot a good distance away, under a shady tree, and talk more about the essay question for
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Bea had reread the first half of the novel since last week and found so many beautiful lines and passages that reminded her of the quote Maddy had chosen to write about. The reading, the tutoring—all of it made Bea surer than ever that she was meant to be a teacher.

There weren’t too many people hanging out by the crew trailers; a crowd was lined up by the craft services tent. Maddy, though, was nowhere to be found. After their terrific session the other day, she was sure Maddy wouldn’t try to ditch her tutoring session.

Bea went outside and glanced around. No sign of Maddy.

Ah, wait. A flash of her long, dark hair and unmistakable laughter came from in front of a trailer that was parked by a fence. What was she doing squished over there? Bea headed over and heard giggling. Maddy was with a boy, clearly. And her make-out session was about to be broken up for her tutoring session.

“Maddy, you’re—”

She wasn’t with a boy. She was with a man.

Patrick Ool.

“What the—” Bea began, almost unable to believe what she was seeing.

Patrick’s face turned red. He jumped away from Maddy, and
his expression changed, as though he’d already formed the lie he was about to spew.

“She’s sixteen!” Bea screamed at him.

He looked faux shocked. “What? She told me she was nineteen.”

“It’s true, I did,” Maddy said.

Bea felt sick to her stomach. She shot him a look of disgust, then turned to Maddy. “Maddy, it’s time for our session. Let’s go. Now. And you,” she said to Patrick, “you can go to hell.”

“I thought she was nineteen!” he said. “And sorry, Bea, but maybe if you weren’t such a prude. I mean, how many times have we gone out now?”

Bea stopped, turned around, and punched Patrick Ool in the stomach as hard as she could.

She heard Maddy gasp and Patrick mutter “crazy bitch” before she grabbed Maddy’s hand and marched her away.

“So by that ‘prude’ comment, does that mean you guys were seeing each other?” Maddy asked, glancing sheepishly at Bea as they headed past the barricades to a quiet area that Bea had picked out.

“Were, yeah.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know. He was flirting with me and told me he had to kiss me or he’d die. He’s so cute, so I went for it.”

Bea shook her head in disgust. “You told him you’re nineteen?”

“He asked how old I was, so I lied. He said, ‘Yeah right,’ though. I’m really sorry, Bea.”

Bea could feel steam coming out of her ears. She stopped and turned away from Maddy, giving herself a minute to calm down. Even if Patrick the prick had believed she was nineteen, he knew she was Tyler’s sister. And he obviously had it out for
the guy. She kicked at a rock, then resumed walking. “And he started making out with you anyway. Scum. Maddy, you have to be careful of men like that. Especially on film sets. Stick to boys your own age, okay? Please?”

“Okay, my brother lectures me enough. Can you save it for tutoring?”

She gently yanked Maddy’s hair. “Your brother seems to care about you a lot, Maddy. Appreciate it. I have no one.”

“Why not?”

“Because sometimes I’m an idiot about who I choose to spend my time with. Your brother told me Patrick was a womanizing jerk, and I didn’t believe him.”

“Tyler never lies. It’s pathological. I could have told you that.”

Bea had a feeling that Tyler Echols hadn’t hit up Maddy’s birth mother for money, that Patrick had lied about that to make sure Bea didn’t listen to Tyler’s assessment of him. Patrick had gone out of his way to undermine Tyler—probably because Tyler wasn’t a jerk.

Bea stopped under a shady tree and spread out the blanket she’d brought in her tote bag. “Sit,” she said to Maddy. “Let’s get cracking. We’ll forget about bad men and focus on good men. Like Atticus Finch.”

While Maddy took forever to get out her book and notebook, all Bea could think about was how blind she’d been. And she owed Tyler an apology.

The second tutoring session had gone as well as the first. Maddy had read the chapters, was able to discuss the text and relate two
passages back to the essay quote on her own. With Bea’s nudging, Maddy had found three more in the first six chapters alone. Bea loved this—guiding Maddy through careful questions that would lead her to make connections, watching her face light up. Maddy had progressed from calling the book “To Kill a Boring Bird” to proudly explaining what she thought the real title meant.

“Hey,” came Tyler’s voice.

Maddy couldn’t close her book fast enough at the sight of her brother. Bea was hoping by their next session, Maddy would be so into the book she’d want to keep talking about it.

“Can we talk privately for a minute?” Bea asked him.

“Don’t tell me you’re quitting,” Tyler said. “She yammered in my ear on the way over earlier about people named Scout and Jem and Atticus and Boo.”

Bea smiled. “Nope, not quitting.” As Maddy’s earbuds went in, Bea led Tyler away several feet and relayed the sorry story about coming upon Patrick kissing Maddy, that he’d sworn up and down that Maddy had told him she was nineteen.

Tyler was steaming mad and let out a string of muttered curses.

“I owe you an apology, Tyler. He’s pure scum and I didn’t see it. How are people such effortless liars?”

“Years of being around certain kinds of actors have rubbed off on the jerk. I was an idiot for bringing Maddy here. But it’s not often we’re filming in her backyard, so I wanted to do something for her to cheer her up.”

“Because of how upset she’s been over what happened with her birth mother?”

He nodded.

“I owe you another apology. Patrick told me I should be wary of you and make sure you paid me for tutoring Maddy because you’d hit up your sister’s birth mother for money. He said he overheard you talking to another PA.”

“What an ass,” he said, shaking his head. “It was the other way around. Her birth mother hit me up for money. I said I didn’t have any to give, which was true. Maddy wrote to her again six months ago, but the letter came back return to sender. Maybe that’s for the best, for Maddy.”

“Yeah, it probably is. I’m glad she has you. I wish I had an older brother looking out for me.”

“I’ve been looking out for you,” Tyler said. “You just didn’t know it.”

She smiled. “Guess so.”

“Can you keep an eye on Maddy for a few minutes? I’m going to go have a talk with Patrick. And by talk, I mean I’m going to punch his lights out.”

“Before you get yourself fired, rest assured, I already punched him in the stomach.”

“I’ll make sure to aim higher, then. His nose maybe. Or much lower, perhaps, with a solid kick.”

Bea laughed, and for a second they were both silent.

“So maybe you’ll have dinner with us tonight?” he asked.

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

“Well, you thought wrong, again.” He smiled at her, maybe for the first time since she’d known him.

For a minute there, over sesame chicken and fried dumplings, Bea thought Maddy might bolt out of the restaurant.

“You know what happens when you mess with men like Patrick
Tool
?” Tyler had said, pointing a chopstick at his sister. “When you go too far with any guy? You can end up pregnant, Maddy. And then you’ll have some very unfun choices to make.”

“Not listening,” Maddy said, covering her ears.

He pulled her hands away. “I’m dead serious,” he said. “Denise was fifteen when you were born.”

“Okay,” she snapped. “I get it. It was just kissing. Kissing.”

“And you were surrounded by trailers and inns. Very easy access to closed doors.”

“Can I eat my dumplings before they get cold?” Maddy shouted.

“When I know you’re listening,” he said. “Really listening.”

“God, I am. I hear you.”

Bea sent Tyler a smile across the booth. She didn’t know Maddy very well, but Bea would put money on the odds that she was listening.

They tried to split the last dumpling in three, which sent it flying off the table and made Maddy laugh. By the time they were cracking open their fortune cookies, Bea wished they’d just sat down so she could spend another hour with these two. Tyler was smart and funny and serious and kind, and Maddy was on the immature side but had a lovable center.