Family Tree Part 34

"You followed us?" Eaton asked.

Saundra chuckled. "Nothing as fancy as that. I watched for mention of you in the newspapers. When Hugh has a high-profile trial, I read about it. You write books. I read the reviews and listen to interviews. And I watch television. Hugh was on the news last year when he represented that fellow who shot up the post office. And then there was the Boston magazine article on father-son teams. There were pictures of both of you. I hit the jackpot with that one."

Dana smiled at the remark.

Neither of the men did, but Hugh asked, "Did you move here because of us?"

"Not entirely. I had been living on the Vineyard-oh, not that whole time. I lived in Boston when I worked as a nurse. I retired twelve years ago and returned to the island, but it had lost its appeal. The winters were harsh. I felt isolated. The older I got, the more I wanted to be close to friends and to the doctors I trusted. So I picked out several retirement communities and began reading the local papers to learn about each. I used to pore over the listings of real estate transactions." She brightened. "And one day there you were, Hugh, named as the buyer of a piece of land, and I said to myself, 'This town was meant for me.' So I bought my house."

"And The St.i.tchery?" Hugh asked. "How long have you been coming here?"

Dana answered that. Eyeing Saundra with a blend of amus.e.m.e.nt and admiration, she said, "Since shortly before my wedding. I remember it. There was so much else going on in my life, but you walked in serenely and bought yarn."

Saundra's dark eyes twinkled. "I'd always been a knitter. There was no way I could resist this place."

"Did you know I was marrying Hugh?"

"Actually," she said, seeming momentarily astonished, "no. That was coincidental. I kept overhearing talk of the upcoming wedding, but it was a little while before anyone actually spoke Hugh's name." She arched a brow. "Apparently I missed the engagement notice. I did see the wedding one. That was a lovely spread in the Times." She looked from Hugh to Eaton.

"A mega-jackpot," Dana interpreted. There had been half a dozen pictures in the paper.

"Yes, ma'am."

Eaton uncrossed his legs. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"Me?"

He gestured vaguely. "You. Me. Lizzie. This."

"You've just learned about it?"

"Yesterday."

She considered that. "I've had several weeks. That gives me an edge."

"You didn't say anything to anyone," Eaton said.

Dana was trying to decide whether he was asking or warning Saundra when she said, "I don't need to say anything to anyone. The pleasure I get is all my own. I've read every one of your books. I'm proud to be your aunt."

Eaton pressed those thin lips together. Dana had always thought they were a Clarke trait, but it struck her that his mother had had the same mouth. She wondered which of his features came from Thomas Belisle. If she were in Eaton's shoes, she would ask for a picture. She would want to know everything about Thomas, favorite foods and hobbies and interests. She would want to know about the other children Thomas had fathered.

She hadn't asked Jack Kettyle any of those questions. But the curiosity was there.

Dana turned back to Eaton just as he asked, "What do you need?"

Saundra grew very still. The warmth left her eyes. "Are you trying to buy my silence?" she asked. "There's no cause for that. I don't share personal information with people. Dana, did I say any of this to you before?" Dana had barely shaken her head when Saundra added, "Not even your grandmother knows." She faced Eaton. "My brother had a certain reputation. I can't silence those rumors, but I do have a relationship with his children and their children and now their children. They've invited it and welcome it, as I do. I don't have any other family, Mr. Clarke." She looked up at him. "You ask what I need? From you, absolutely nothing."

Eaton scowled. "My apologies. I meant no harm."

"Maybe not," said Saundra, "but I am no charity case. I don't ask for anything I can't pay for myself, and I can pay for quite a bit, thank you."

The look on Eaton's face was one Dana had never seen before. She could have sworn he was humbled.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm trying to figure all this out and clearly said the wrong thing. You're my aunt by blood. If I had another aunt, which I don't, I would have asked her the same question. It had nothing to do with the fact that Thomas was African American."

Saundra relented. "Well then, perhaps I overreacted," she said graciously. "When you've lived my life, it usually does have to do with race. I guess I'm trying to figure all this out, too."

Chapter 26.

Hugh wasn't happy when the doorbell rang Sunday morning at eight. Anyone with half a brain had to know that sleep was precious when you had a new baby. More than that, Dana was sleeping next to him for the first time in weeks. Granted, she might have rolled there in her sleep, without conscious intent, but it was the closest that she had come to him since the night before Lizzie was born.

Now she bolted up in alarm. "The doorbell. If it was Gram, they'd phone, wouldn't they?"

"You'd think," Hugh grumbled, freeing himself from the sheets. He pulled on jeans, loped down the stairs, and opened the door, prepared to yell at whoever was outside.

Robert yelled first. He looked like he had just been jolted awake himself. "What the h.e.l.l have you done?"

"Me?"

"Know what Dad's saying now? He's saying we're black-he's black, you're black, I'm black. What did you tell him?"

"Me?"

"It's your baby that started it all, your wife sleeping with whomever she did-and I don't buy those DNA tests, there's a huge margin of error. Dad showed up at my house an hour ago, saying he was up half the night trying to decide on the best time to tell me, and he just figured it was now. What is it with you, Hugh? Brad's in a stew because you're threatening to take Hutch to court-over the paternity of some kid? Come on. Affairs happen. Illegitimate children happen. There are only problems when you have a brother like mine who wants everyone else to be as miserable as he is."

Dana appeared at Hugh's side and slipped an arm around his waist. "Robert," she said by way of greeting.

"Dana, can we have a couple minutes?" Robert snapped. "This is between Hugh and me."

Dana didn't budge.

"I'm not miserable," Hugh said. "And what Dad told you? It's the truth."

"Come on," Robert shouted. "That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. You know our family history."

"Affairs happen. You just said it."

"You honestly think Dad's mother had an affair? That icy lady? If she had s.e.x with anyone other than her husband, it was rape."

"It was an ongoing affair. We have proof."

"Oh, yeah. The sister. Dad mentioned her. And you don't think she's after something? You don't think she gets points for saying she's related to Eaton Clarke? Well, I'm not buying it. I'm not telling my kids they're black. I'm not telling the people I work with, and I sure as h.e.l.l am not telling Brad."

"Dad will."

"Dad is so on Brad's s.h.i.t list right now, it won't make any difference. Brad knows what's up. He's no fool, and neither am I."

"Are you a bigot, Robert?"

"No more than you."

"I am," Hugh confessed, and was instantly ashamed. But he couldn't take the words back. "I am," he repeated quietly. "I wasn't happy when Lizzie was born."

"But y'are now," Robert mocked, "because you're the ultimate progressive who's gonna thump his chest and say, 'Hey, man, I'm one of you and I'm proud.' And they're gonna laugh, Hugh. Well, I'm not going to be the b.u.t.t of their jokes." He pointed. "You want to be that? Fine. Not me." He turned and stormed down the walk.

"DNA is DNA," Hugh called after him. "How're you going to fight it?"

Robert turned. "I'll tell anyone who asks that Dad is senile, and that you're trying to cover up for your wife." He glared at Dana. "Your father's a priest? I don't care if he's the pope. You're all looking for trouble." He held up both hands and walked away.

Hugh watched until the sleek black BMW disappeared around the bend in the road. "He ignored the DNA part," he murmured. When Dana didn't respond, he looked down at her. She had taken her arm from his waist and tucked her hands in the pockets of her robe.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked.

"About being a bigot? Yes."

"A bigot is a person who is intolerant of others. You're not like that."

"A bigot is a person who sees other people as inferior to him and hence less desirable."

"You're not like that."

"Y'think? I don't know, Dee. I keep going back and forth on it. I'd call that arrogance."

"I'd call it real life. You were already doing everything right where race was concerned."

"Until it came home to roost."

"What're you supposed to do?"

He stared off down the road. "Robert thinks we should hide Thomas's connection to our family. He thinks it'll upset his life. He says we're looking for trouble." He looked at his wife. "Are we doing that?"

As Dana drove back to the hospital, she thought about the toll secrets take on those who keep them. She was convinced Ellie Jo's stroke resulted from the tension of keeping Earl's first marriage a secret.

Entering her grandmother's room, she whispered her name. Ellie Jo didn't answer. She was in a private room now, the lone monitor beeping softly.

Pulling up a chair, Dana sat by the side of the bed with her arms braced on the rail. Though she had put off this visit in the hope of calming down, she was angry still.

"You should have told me," she whispered. "You should have brought me into the loop about Grampa Earl. I would have loved him anyway. Did you really think I wouldn't?"

Ellie Jo sighed. Dana didn't know if it was coincidental.

"And didn't you think that keeping this to yourself would make you ill with worry?" Dana asked. "You hid it, and the pressure built and you had a stroke. That was unfair, Gram. The existence of an estranged wife was just a glitch in paperwork. Grampa Earl a.s.sumed it was done. When he married you, he acted in good faith."

Ellie Jo's lips parted. "Did he?" she breathed.

Dana sat straighter. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

The older woman didn't open her eyes, but a tiny smile creased the left side of her mouth. "Dopey."

"Good," Dana said crossly. "You should feel that way." She wasn't talking about the drugs. "You were wrong to keep this from me. You've made a mountain out of a molehill."

"Have I?"

"Grampa Earl did not intend to be married to two women at once. It was an honest mistake."

"Are you sure?"

"Aren't you?"

"No. But tell me you are. I'll feel better."

"Oh, Gram." Dana was dismayed. "Have you been trying to convince yourself of it all these years?" All she could hear were Ellie Jo's comments. Earl was wonderful-Earl was loving-Earl was as good as the day is long. The whole town believed it.

Ellie Jo opened her eyes. "They may send me to rehab." The words were slow, labored. "Will you tend to Veronica?"

Taking a deep breath, Dana reined in her anger. "Of course. And I'll look after the shop."

"About Veronica?" The words were slurred now. "Don't take her anywhere. She likes her own house."

"I'll stop in every day."

"Talk to her." Ellie Jo closed her eyes. "But don't...tell her...about Earl."

Dana's anger returned. No matter that they were talking about a cat, she'd had it with lies. "Veronica probably knows. She was right up there in the attic with you while you hid those papers."

"She can't...read. Take care of her, Dana Jo. And listen...to your mother."

Mention of Elizabeth didn't help. "My mother?" Dana echoed. "My mother, who lied about the man who fathered me? My mother, who kept him from me all these years? My mother is no angel."

"None of us is," Ellie Jo said and let out a breath.

"Rest, Gram," Dana said a bit crossly and rose. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Don't be angry..."

But Dana was. She was even angry at Elizabeth. And that upset her. It put her at odds with everyone, which was a lonely place to be. Feeling the brunt of that on the ride home, she put in a call to Father Jack. He was a priest. Priests listened. They gave comfort and advice.

"h.e.l.lo?" he said.

"Is ma.s.s over?"

There was a lengthy pause, then a tentative "Dana?"