Finding Me (41 page)

Alison’s hand went to her throat. “Was it David?”

Kelli nodded. “Yes. The clippings were about David and his young daughter named Darcy.”

“Why would your father have those clippings?” Her voice trembled.

“I didn’t know what it was about at the time. But I began to dig a little more, and I found other things, too.” Kelli’s throat began to close. “All my life, my father told me that my mother and sister and brother died in a house fire in Louisiana. He always refused to talk about it because he was so upset about it, but the more I sifted through his stuff, the more I realized he didn’t want to talk about the fire because it didn’t happen. My father, the man I knew, was Don Huddleston. But he had some old paperwork, and on it, his name was David Waters.”

Alison’s hand covered her mouth now. She nodded slowly, then shook her head, then nodded, as if she didn’t know how to handle all this.

“When I came here earlier this summer, I just planned to stay for a week, hoping to get a chance to meet you all, to see you in person and know a little bit about what you’re like. I planned to go back to my life and never say a word to anyone. Then Kenmore offered me a job, and I met you and Beth, and I couldn’t make myself leave. And then I didn’t want to leave, but I knew that it
would be devastating to you if I told you the truth. And then when Beth was bedridden, and with Kenmore needing help at the store, I realized that in some small way I could make some amends for the wrongs my father did to all of you. Pay you back in some small measure. After Rose died, I knew I couldn’t stay here and live a lie anymore, but after I left, I realized I was doing the same thing Daddy had done. I was running away from my problems. I didn’t want to continue that legacy.”

Tears were filling Kelli’s eyes, so she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “I didn’t want to think that my father could have done this. But I’ve had to accept it.” Kelli reached into her bag and pulled out the manila envelope of clippings and notes. She handed them to Alison.

Alison said nothing, but she was shaking her head. “Where has he been all these years? Why did he never contact us and tell us he was all right?”

“From what I’ve been able to piece together, it appears that he faked our accident so that he could leave and start a new life. He went to California, under the name Don Huddleston. He married my stepmother not long after.”

“You are telling me that my husband left me, took my daughter, and went to start another life with another woman?”

“I’m so sorry.” Kelli stood, wondering if she should leave.

“If this is true, and it seems to be, it means that my daughter is still alive. It means that you, in fact, are Darcy. Is that what you’re telling me?”

Kelli looked at the floor and nodded. “Yes, I believe that I am.”

Alison burst into tears. “This is a little much for me to accept all at once.”

“Believe me, I fully understand what you mean.” Kelli paused. “I didn’t want to tell Beth, at least not until I’d talked it over with you. She’s so fragile now, I wasn’t sure if she would be more happy
to have a sister or devastated to learn about her father. That’s why I came to you. And if you think it’s best, I’ll get in my car and leave right now and never come back.”

“Oh, my darling girl. My darling, darling girl.” Alison walked across the room and took Kelli by the hands while looking her over as if she’d never seen her before. “Welcome home, Darcy.” She threw her arms around Kelli and squeezed her tight. “I can’t believe it. You’ve been alive all these years. All this time that I’ve grieved your death.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” She held her mother tight. “There’s something else we need to talk about.”

“What’s that?”

“Life insurance. Since Dad wasn’t really dead when you got your payout, if we go public with who I am, I think there’s a possibility they will ask for the money back. That’s another thing that has kept me from saying anything. This could be financially devastating for you.”

Alison shook her head. “Money is not something we’re going to let ruin this for us. We will work this all out together.” She pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I do think we should tell Beth, and I think we should do it together. Tonight. She’d want to know, even though parts of this are going to be hard for her to accept. Then tomorrow we can meet with my lawyer and see what, if anything, needs to be done.”

“Alison?”

“Yes?”

“I’m devastated about the way all this has happened, but I couldn’t be happier to find out who my real mother is. If nothing else, I’m glad I got to know you.”

Alison drew her into a hug again. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.”

“First of all, let me start by saying how sorry I am that I left you the way I did. So very sorry.”

Beth reached over to take Rand’s hand as they sat beside each other on their couch. “As much as I’d like to tell you to buzz off, for some reason I can’t bring myself to do it.” She paused for a minute. “What’s this all about? And why is Mom with you?”

“It’s a long and complicated story.” Kelli took a sip from the glass of water Rand had brought her, drew in a deep breath, and said, “I grew up with a father and stepmother, as you know. . . .” The story spilled out from there. “After Rose died, when you sang the song about Scruffy, well . . . I dream that song sometimes. I never really knew the words, but it was a song about Scruffy—a stuffed dog I still have in my closet, by the way.”

“That’s why you fell apart when we sang it.” Beth was on her feet now. “Mom, can this be true? Is there any way this story can be true?”

Kelli reached into her bag and pulled out the manila envelope. She handed it to Beth, who immediately dumped the contents on the coffee table. The three of them started picking up pictures and articles, gasping with each new piece.

“Unbelievable.” It was the first thing Rand had said since the conversation started.

“Yes, it is. Unfortunately, though, it’s the truth.” Kelli looked up to find all three of them looking at her.

“How can it be?” Beth’s voice was high-pitched as she looked to Rand. She stared at him as if she expected him to have the answers. When he offered none, she turned toward her mother. “I don’t believe it. It’s not true. My father would never have done that. He loved me. He loved us, and he would never have left us behind like that.” She started crying. “Mama, why would he have
done that?” Alison offered no answers, so Beth turned toward Kelli. “You’re the one who got to live with him all these years, you tell me. Why? Why would Daddy do that? Why did he do it? He used to ride me piggyback all over the place. We built forts out of sticks and rocks, and we made s’mores over the grill in the backyard. Does that sound like the kind of man who would do something like this?”

“No. I don’t know.” Kelli scrubbed her hands across her eyes. “I didn’t know anything until it was too late to ask him.” She saw the raw grief on Beth’s face and hated herself for having been the one to cause it. “I’m so sorry. This is a secret I thought I would take to my grave, and maybe I should have, but then again, I thought maybe it would be the right thing to tell. Maybe I was wrong. I would never want to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt. You’ve got to believe that. And if you think it’s best, I’ll get in my car and leave right now and never come back.”

“So, you really are my sister? My true sister?” Beth moved a little closer.

Kelli nodded through tears. “Yes.”

Beth threw her arms around Kelli and Alison. “I can’t believe it.” She was crying, and Kelli suspected the tears were both happy and devastated. Finally, she looked up at Kelli. “We’ve got lots of things to talk about and lots of things to do.”

“Yes.” Kelli added no more.

“First off, we have a call we need to make.”

“To whom?”

“Max. We need to tell him his father was a lout.” She started crying as she said the words but then took a deep breath and continued. “And that he needs to come home as soon as possible and spend some time with his sister, because he’s going to love her. I know I sure do.”

Alison looked across the big mahogany desk at Warner Brock, the man she’d known most of her life. He’d been her lawyer for all of her adult life—from helping David set up a new business to walking her through the mounds of paperwork following the “accident.” Now, as she watched him stroking his gray beard and shaking his head, she realized that he, too, was at a loss.

“This is something else, I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve not come across anything like it in my practice.” He looked over at Kelli, who was holding onto Alison with her left hand and Beth with her right. “Young lady, I will say that I am thrilled to see you alive and looking so well, in spite of the conundrum your presence brings along with you.” He shook his head again. “We need to figure out Social Security numbers, death certificates, and any number of things, as well as the insurance issue you’ve mentioned. Most of this is out of my level of expertise, but let me make some calls, and then I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.”

“What do you think will happen, with the insurance money, I mean?” Kelli’s voice was quiet.

He steepled his fingers together. “I can’t say for sure just yet, but I have a strong hunch they’re going to let this one go, and here’s why. Have you heard about the Brinkman-Carrie scandal?”

Kelli shook her head. “No.”

“Long story short, when Hurricane Carrie made landfall in Florida last year, it was going to cost insurance companies millions of dollars, right? Turns out a decision was made in the higher-ups at Brinkman Insurance several years ago to sell mostly bogus policies—with coverage so minimal that it was basically worthless—to the poorer areas of the state, to help bring in revenue to
help pay off their more expensive claims after the next disaster. It worked great—their revenues were way up—but thankfully enough of the duped people came forward and got the attention of the media. Brinkman’s got a massive PR nightmare on their hands right now. Bankrupting a woman like your mother due to circumstances completely beyond her control is not the kind of publicity they need at this point. My guess is that they will want to make this go away.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“So do I. If I’m not, we’ll start looking at alternatives we can explore. For now, just relax and let me see what I can find out.”

“Thank you so much.” Alison stood up and extended her hand. “You’ve always been such a help to our family.”

He smiled toward Kelli. “And that’s a tradition I plan to continue.”

“Let’s go get a bite of lunch, shall we?” Alison led the two girls—her
daughters
—outside to the sidewalk. “Shall we go to Country Kitchen? We’ve got to get Kelli eating like a southerner while we’ve got her here.”

“Good idea, Mom.” Beth smiled, but her eyes were sad. Between losing the baby and finding out about her father, the sadness and the happiness were warring inside her. Alison knew it was going to be a long healing process for Beth. The fact that she loved Kelli so much—and got to “keep her,” as she’d put it—did help, though.

Two days later, Alison received a call from Warner Brock. The insurance company had agreed to forget any kind of claim they could make on this case, in exchange for a gag order on all the participants. While they didn’t want to appear the bad guy, they also didn’t want people getting ideas about setting up insurance
policies and then disappearing as a great way to fix financial difficulties for their families.