Midas Touch (11 page)

Jessica.

Sandra’s hands trembled as she read the letter through again.

Her mother had wanted to see her and her father refused. Why?

Why had he never told her where her mother was? He let her believe her mother did not want to see her. Had her mom changed her mind after writing the letter?

Sandra was still asking herself questions when she heard Margaret and Allison’s voices in the hallway. She shoved the items back into the box and pushed it under the bed. She was sitting on the balcony when Allison joined her.

“How are you feeling?” Allison’s anxious eyes studied her.

“Fine.” She tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t think of anything but the lock box. “How’s work?” she asked, without any real interest.

Allison began a run-down on what was happening, but Sandra soon tuned her out and again tried to understand why her father had lied to her.

“And the wolf ate them all up!” Allison said loudly.

Sandra blinked. “What wolf?” she stammered.

“You’re a million miles away. You should have told me you were too tired for this. You’re supposed to be resting.” She stood, but Sandra was already lost in her thoughts.

“Sandra.” Allison was kneeling before her. “Should I call Ida?

You look awfully pale.”

“No. I’m fine.” She bit her lower lip.

“You don’t look fine. You’re pale and trembling. Let me help

you back inside.”

Sandra allowed Allison to lead her from the balcony. She needed to talk to someone.
Laura,
she thought immediately, and experienced a stab of guilt.

Laura would be upset with her for not calling and letting her know she had been sick. Sandra had thought about calling her, but since she had not actually suffered a heart attack, it seemed somewhat silly. Laura was always so busy.

“Allison, can you drive me somewhere? Margaret won’t let me leave alone without a major row.”

“Sure, but do you think you should?”

Sandra felt her frustration growing. “I’m not sick. I was tired, and now I’m rested. No, I’m bored out of my mind. I need to get out of this room. I want to go spend a few days with a friend. She lives about an hour from here.” Sandra packed a small bag before grimacing. “Now, all I have to do is get past the warden.”

Allison laughed. “I don’t envy you. She really is very protective of you.”

Sandra felt like a child again as
she entered the kitchen where Margaret was cleaning the refrigerator.

“I’m going to go spend a couple of days with a friend. Allison is going to drive me.” Sandra rushed on as Margaret turned to stare at her. “I’ll leave her number on the table for you.”

“You’re supposed to be restin’,” Margaret reminded.

“I can rest at Laura’s just as
well as I can here. She lives in the country, so I can sit on the porch all day and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.”

“Did you ask Dr. Ida?” Margaret demanded.

Sandra sighed. This was going to be worse than she anticipated.

Allison stepped forward and took Sandra’s suitcase. “I’m sorry to rush you, but I promised Mom I’d be home early, so we really do need to be going.” She turned to Margaret. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s settled in before I leave her.” Without waiting for Margaret to respond, she pushed Sandra out the door and into the elevator. As the elevator door closed, hiding Margaret’s

disapproving glare, Sandra pulled a spare car key from the wallet in her purse. “Do you know she actually hid my keys?” she said, taking her suitcase from Allison.

“She’s worried about you,” Allison said, releasing the bag and resting her hands on the rails around the elevator walls.

“I know, but it gets a little overwhelming sometimes.”

“Did you want me to drive your car?” Allison eyed Sandra’s keys.”No. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to lie well enough to get past Margaret,” Sandra admitted. Seeing Allison’s frown, Sandra moaned. “Don’t you start, too. I’m a medical prisoner.

I have to get away. I love Margaret dearly, but she’s driving me nuts. I swear I feel fine. I’m eating and I sleep at least eight hours a night. I’ve not experienced any pain since I left the hospital, so please don’t start in on me.”

“Are you really going to stay with a friend?”

“Yes. She works out of her home most of the time so she’ll be there in case I need anything.”

Allison shook her head and laughed. “Think of the story this would make. Sandra Tate, sneaking out of the house like a wayward teenager.”

Sandra smiled before she replied. “Don’t forget who signs your check.”

Allison gave a mock salute. “Just make sure you let me know when it’s safe for me to come back. I don’t want Margaret on my butt.”

Sandra returned the salute.

Sandra called Laura from the car. “I’m calling to invite myself over.”

“Good. I need someone to test my new casserole.”

“As long as it isn’t tuna.” Sandra detested tuna casserole.

“Would I feed you tuna casserole?”

“I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

Sandra felt the tension draining away as
she drove out of the city. She was actually smiling by the time she pulled into Laura’s

driveway.

The small, blue cottage sat in a grove of oak trees. After she parked her car, Sandra stood by it and closed her eyes, listening to the wind in the trees. It was such a peaceful sound. She continued to listen until she heard the closing of the front door. She opened her eyes and found Laura watching her from the front steps.

“I sometimes think this place is the closest thing I’ve ever known to a real home,” Sandra said, walking to Laura.

“It’s always opened to you, day or night,” Laura said. She wrapped her arms around Sandra and held her close.

Sandra clung to her for an extra long moment before they went inside. She sniffed appreciatively at the wonderful aroma.

“Umm, that smells good. What is it?”

“I don’t have a name for it yet, but it’s a combination of chicken and vegetables and a new blend of herbs. You can be my guinea pig. Sit down. It’s almost ready.”

Sandra sat at the wooden table. “It always amazes me your kitchen is so small,” Sandra said, gazing around the compact room. “I’d expect someone who makes their living creating new recipes to have an enormous, professionally stocked kitchen.”

“I want to create simple recipes anyone can prepare. I keep my kitchen similar to my mother’s. If I can cook it here, then I know anyone can replicate it.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Sandra said, thinking about her own cooking skills. She cooked for her father for years and later for herself, until she hired Margaret, but her efforts were mediocre at best.

“Your problem is you don’t like to eat,” Laura said. “You don’t take the time to understand and enjoy food.”

“I eat when I’m hungry,” Sandra defended.

“Which is precisely my point. You eat for survival. I enjoy the smell, taste and texture of food.”

“You make it sound like sex,” Sandra said as Laura bent to remove the casserole.

“Actually, food and sex have a lot in common. They both satisfy a basic human need. We wouldn’t survive without them.”

“You will not die without sex,” Sandra snorted.

“Speak for yourself!” Laura quipped and placed the casserole on the table. “Speaking of such, how is Carol?”

“We’ve split up,” Sandra replied.

Laura stopped and looked at her. “Do you want to talk about it?” “There’s nothing to talk about,” Sandra said.

Laura nodded and began to remove plates from the cabinet.

Sandra got up to get the silverware.

They ate and discussed the delicious new recipe. Laura made a few notes on changes she wanted to try. She would continue to experiment with the recipe, until she achieved the exact taste she was looking for. They talked about the weather and the local news as they did dishes. Afterwards, they settled on the large, overstuffed couch in the living room with a cup of coffee.

“It’s still too cool to sit on the porch at night,” Laura stated.

“We’ll have to make do in here.”

Sandra took a sip of the coffee and leaned her head back.

“Are you ready to talk about what brought you out this way?”

Laura asked as she curled her feet beneath her.

Sandra pulled the letter from her purse sitting on a table at the end of the couch. “I found this in my father’s wallet today.”

She continued to sip her coffee while Laura read the letter.

Laura went through it slowly. “I’ve often wondered about your mom,” she said, re-folding the letter. “You’ve never mentioned her except that one time in college when you told me she left when you were a child.”

“I told you all I knew.” Sandra set her now empty cup on the floor. “Dad wouldn’t talk about her. I never knew any other family members who could tell me. According to Dad, my grandparents died when I was young, and he and mom were both from single child homes. There was no one else to ask.” She found herself wondering if it was true. Had he lied about that too? Stabbed by guilt, she pushed the thought away. Her father obviously had a good reason for lying to her about her mother.

“You were four when she left?”

Sandra nodded.

“Do you remember anything about her?” Laura asked.

“I think, I recall a trip to the zoo. I may remember laughing with her and her hugging me. But, that may have been a dream or something.” Sandra’s voice cracked and she coughed to cover it. “I have no memory of her leaving or what she looked like.”

Laura held up the letter. “This sounds like she wanted to see you, and your father wouldn’t let her.”

“Why would he do that?” Sandra leaned toward Laura. “I’ve spent the entire day wondering what she could have done that was so horrible he felt he had to keep me from seeing her, and for him to lie to me all of those years.”

“He must have felt like he had a reason,” Laura said.

Sandra pushed her hair away from her face. “I was remembering how we used to move around so much. I can’t help but wonder if it was so she wouldn’t know where I was.”

“It’s possible,” Laura agreed. They sat quietly for a moment.

“What do you plan to do about this?” Laura prompted.

“Nothing. It’s too late now.”

“Why?”

“I’ve not seen her in thirty-three years. I’m sure she has a life with a family. I doubt she’d be too happy to have me show up.” Sandra shrugged. “Think about it. I’ve not exactly spent my adult life as a hermit. She could have found me during the last few years if she wanted to.”

“Have you ever thought about trying to find her?”

Sandra rested her head on the back of the couch and stretched out her legs. “I’ve considered it several times over the years. I even hired a private investigator once, but I chickened out and called it off before he could find anything.”

“There’s an address on the envelope,” Laura observed as she sipped her coffee.

“It’s thirty years old. She wouldn’t still be there.”

“Probably not, but it would be a place to start”

“What if she’s remarried? I’d never find her,” Sandra argued.

“Go to San Antonio, look around, and check the county records. They will inform you if she’s remarried.”

Sandra couldn’t sit still and kept rearranging her body on the couch. “My problem isn’t how to find her,” she finally admitted.

It’s more a matter of whether I want to. And even if I did, would she want to be found.”

Laura groaned, “Sandra, you are my burden in life.” She held out her arms. Sandra scooted around and sat between her legs with her back resting against Laura’s body. Laura wrapped her arms around her. “You make life so complicated,” she admonished as Sandra examined Laura’s hands.

“I can’t just act, the way you do,” Sandra justified.

“I know. You have to analyze everything to death. Have you ever done one spontaneous thing in your life?”

Sandra had a sudden vision of Lona’s tangled black hair between her thighs and felt a light sweat break out along her collar.

“I didn’t think so,” Laura chided, taking Sandra’s silence as an admission of guilt. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, but you probably already know the answer, since you know everything.”

Laura playfully punched her arm. “Why didn’t you bring Carol with you when you would come to visit me?”

“You mean besides the fact you two disliked each other instantly?”

“I didn’t necessarily dislike her. I just felt you two weren’t exactly compatible.”

Sandra remained quiet for a moment. There was more to her keeping Carol and Laura separated, but how could she explain?

“It’s so complicated,” she began. “I didn’t want you to know me in that part of my life. I think I was ashamed.”

“Of me?” Laura’s voice sounded hurt.

“No, of myself. I was ashamed of the person I became when I was with Carol. Maybe I was even ashamed of Carol, and the way she treated people. I didn’t want any of that world to contaminate this one.”

0

Laura seemed to hesitate. “No one called me when you were hospitalized. I read about it in Molly Devonshire’s article.

It scared me. I didn’t feel comfortable calling you. I don’t even know if you’re all right now.”

Sandra turned to find tears in Laura’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. It was only an anxiety attack. The doctor says all I need to do is rest.” Sandra wiped a tear from Laura’s cheek. “I’m so sorry.

I thought about calling you,” she said lamely. “It’s not right for me to just show up when I need someone to help put me back together, or get me back on the right track. I shouldn’t do that to you.” She wiped another tear away. “I really am sorry. Would you like to go home with me? I could introduce you to Margaret.”

Laura laughed. From everything you’ve told me about Margaret, I’m not sure I’m ready for her. Maybe you could list me in your Rolodex as someone to notify in case of an emergency.”

“I have a better idea,” Sandra joked. “Why don’t I leave half of Tate Enterprises to you instead? And then, if I die, they’ll be sure to notify you.”