Maybe Baby (21 page)

“Oh, yeah. I’ve got it.”

“Good, let’s head to Radcliff.”

Within forty-five minutes Trey had driven us from downtown Louisville to Radcliff. I directed him to our street, Lincoln Trail, pointing out my house on the block. He pulled the SUV into the driveway. I dug my house key out of my purse.

I retrieved the mail from an overstuffed mailbox and went inside, Trey following close behind. I put the stack of mail on the kitchen counter. The house was stuffy and empty of all furnishings. It was surreal to see that everything familiar was missing. Every piece of furniture and every appliance was gone. I went room-to-room observing the total emptiness. I checked the bathroom at the end of the hall. There was a roll of toilet paper left hanging on the holder. A box of condoms sat alone on the medicine cabinet shelf.

Trey hadn’t said a word. What possible reason would she have had to desert her home and take all of my stuff with her? I looked up at Trey, the confusion evident on my face. He pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“I can't understand why she'd leave her house. I mean, if she needed money that badly, she could've sold the house. Why did she take my trust? This house is worth more than twice that, I would think.”

“Maybe it’s not her house. We need to check with the county auditor.”

I nodded. Trey was right. We decided to go to the county offices in Elizabethtown, about twelve miles away. I sorted the mail on the kitchen counter, shoving the envelopes in my purse to open later. Trey locked the door and we drove to Elizabethtown.

The visit to the county auditor’s office revealed that the house I'd grown up in had never belonged to my mother. It had been purchased in 1991 by a company called T.J. Property, LLC. The taxes were paid current by the same company. The auditor’s office did provide Trey with the address of the LLC. It was a post office box in Jackson, Mississippi.

On the drive back to Radcliff, Trey asked if I wanted to question any of the neighbors. I told him I didn’t. I was convinced my mother had carefully and meticulously planned her disappearance.

By late afternoon, we'd met with the Jefferson County prosecutor in Louisville where I signed a criminal complaint against my mother. Sneed had provided us with her social security number. The prosecutor pointed out that we didn’t have much. Trey told them he'd be back in touch with any additional information. There was nothing left to do.

We returned to the Crowne Plaza. As Trey showered, I sat on one of the two queen-sized beds and sorted through my mom’s mail. Most of it was junk mail, unpaid bills, final request for payment demands, and finally shut-off notices. There was a letter that had arrived for me from Virginia Intermont College. It was postmarked two days ago. I opened it. My fall classes had been dropped due to failure to pay the registration fees on time. Nothing in the stack provided any clues as to where my mom had gone with my money.

Trey came out of the bathroom with a towel draped around his waist, his hair damp and mussed. Watching him, I was momentarily distracted from my depression. He glanced over at me while he sorted through his luggage.

“Anything interesting?” he asked.

Busted.

Trey caught me staring and I immediately felt the color rise to my cheeks.

“Tylar—is there anything
interesting
in your mom’s mail?”

“Uh, no, not really. I’ve been dropped from the fall schedule thanks to good ol’ mom.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “We’ll figure something out about your tuition, okay?”

“There’s nothing to figure out. I can’t afford it until I get my trust money back. If I get it back, I should say.”

He gave me a look that basically told me that the subject wasn't closed, but it was closed as far as I was concerned. “I’ve got an errand to run,” he explained. “I should be back here in an hour. Get ready, and we’ll go to dinner when I get back.”

"Okay,” I answered.

By the time Trey returned, I was dressed and ready. He drove us to a very trendy restaurant called Bistro 301 on Market Street. We were seated in a booth and given menus. The waitress returned for cocktail orders. Trey looked over at me.

“What would you like, Tylar? Wine?”

Seriously? He's going to let me have a drink? I glanced quickly at the cocktail menu and ordered something off of the Skinny Girl section called vodka sonic. Trey looked slightly amused. He ordered a bourbon and water. When the waitress returned with our drinks, Trey ordered a calamari appetizer. I had decided on salmon, and Trey ordered pan-seared trout for dinner. The waitress did the normal gushing over Trey and finally took her leave. I took a long sip of my vodka sonic.

“You’ve been very quiet today,” Trey observed.

“Well, that’s about to change,” I remarked, smiling and downing my drink.

Trey frowned. The waitress passed. I flagged her down and asked for another. Trey frowned deeper. I started to giggle. He looked at me uneasily.

“Look,” I said, “I need just a bit of liquid courage to get me to the point where I can tell you what I said that I'd tell you last night. I had an epiphany.”

“An epiphany,” he echoed. “I see. Was this epiphany after you'd finished most of your wine?”

"If you’re going to be an ass, then just forget it.”

“I’m sorry, Tylar,” he replied. “Please go on.”

“Okay,” I started just as the waitress set my next drink down. I took a sip. “While I was watching TV, it came to me: the reason for my nightmares. The reason that you heard what you heard was that I was reliving an event from my past in my dream at the hospital.”

“I’m listening,” Trey said.

“My senior year of high school, Daniel was my boyfriend. We’d been seeing each other almost the whole year. He was a star football player, and he had a full ride to Purdue in the fall. He was way too good for me, and I knew that.”

Trey frowned and shook his head when I said that. I ignored him and continued, telling him everything about the night of my senior prom with Daniel. I explained about the earrings and necklace, my getting drunk and passing out and how it was supposed to have been my first time with Daniel. I got to the part about my waking up in the bathroom and going to look for my mom. I started tearing up and stopped.

Trey reached across the table and took my hand. The waitress delivered our calamari. Trey served me a portion of the appetizer and waited for me to continue.

“When I went downstairs to where I heard the voices, I discovered that my mom and Daniel were in the den off the kitchen. They didn't see me.”

I faltered, embarrassed and ashamed at what was left to tell. I took a big swallow of my drink and then decided just to blurt it out and be done with it.

“I'd prefer not to go into all of the horrible details, but suffice it to say, they enjoyed each other sexually that night in every way possible. My mother made Daniel promise to dump me. She said that she wouldn’t tolerate sharing him with me. He said that it was no problem.”

I took another drink, and bowed my head. Trey reached for my hand.

“It’s no wonder you pushed something like that from your mind. That had to be horrible for you.”

“It’s not just that. There seem to be all sorts of things I've repressed, trying to believe in some way that my life was normal. And now, I learn that my mom was never even married to my dad, or anyone else for that matter. Do you know what that makes me?”

“Tylar, don’t,” he said.

“I’m not just a bastard. I’m the bastard daughter of a paid whore.”

“You're what you've made of yourself, despite your mother. Don’t you understand that? You're smart, funny, and kind. Yes, you're also stubborn, willful, and argumentative, but you're your own person, and a very beautiful one at that."

He was being so kind. "Trey, you know as well as I do that my dad might be…what do they call it…one of her tricks?"

“I'm not going to sit here and listen to you degrade yourself like that. I mean it," he scolded.

“I have a point to this if you'll please just bear with me.”

He nodded, allowing me to continue.

“My point is, whoever this guy was or is, there's a reason he set up my trust and kept my mom financially stable for eighteen years. I don’t know, maybe the guy has a heart or a conscience or something. I just wish I knew more.”

The waitress brought our entrées just as Trey’s cell phone rang. He glanced down. “I have to take this. Will you excuse me? Go ahead and start.” He left the table.

The waitress put the last plate on the table. I held up my empty glass. “I’d like another, please?”

I wasn’t sure who Trey was speaking to, but I managed to finish off my next drink without him being any the wiser. He came back and we ate our dinner mostly in silence. I needed to use this time to address something that'd been bothering me. Now that I had some liquid courage, it was the perfect time.

“Trey,” I said, looking at him directly. “There’s a bit of confusion as to where I'll be assigned when I get back. The doctor's cleared me, you know. I really want to start working with the horses again.”

His look was serious and I dreaded what he was going to say. “I’m apprehensive about you working around all those horses. How would you feel about focusing solely on getting Derringer ready for dressage competition?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was an once-in-a-lifetime chance! But I knew my limitations with dressage. I wasn't to training status. He read my mind.

“We have a dressage trainer starting Monday at the Belle. You'll work with him and he will train you to be a trainer, and also you'll be the one riding Derringer in the competition. He'll get you prepared for that as well.”

“Are you serious?” I squealed, jumping up to hug him. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s not a favor I’m doing for you. My plan is that you'll learn and then later you will train. The competitions have nice purses and I expect you to win some for Sinclair Stables.”

“I will,” I promised, grinning.

“Good,” he said. “You start at the Belle on Monday.”

“Will we board Derringer there?”

“No, I'd prefer he stay in the stables close to you so that you can continue to watch his care. You can ride him over each day on the trail.”

“Perfect,” I said smiling.

His serious tone returned. “I’m going to be fairly tied up for the next couple of weeks. I really need to be able to depend on you to be careful, be watchful, and focus on Derringer, okay?”

“Absolutely. You have nothing to worry about.”

We left the restaurant and returned to the Crowne Plaza. I got ready for bed. I was waiting to see what exactly Trey had in mind as far as sleeping arrangements. Once I had my pajamas on, ready to hit the sheets, I saw Trey was on his laptop typing away.

“Are you going to be much longer?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” he said, distracted. “Is this disturbing you?”

“Well, not really,” I replied, kind of embarrassed.

“Go on to sleep,” he advised. “I’ll be to bed shortly.”

I crawled under the covers and was asleep within minutes. I never heard Trey come to bed, though I was happy when I awoke the next morning to find him curled around me sleeping.

Chapter 21

Everything would be perfect tonight at the Sanctuary, Gina and Ian’s hot-spot club.

Gina and I had shopped all morning for my birthday celebration, and then we treated ourselves to an afternoon at the spa. I'd splurged on sexy skyscraper mirror heels at Gina’s urging. My dress was a tight white strapless number, with a colorful abstract splash print at the top in yellow, fuchsia, indigo, purple, green, and orange. There was a hint of the same splash pattern at the hemline. The satiny fabric had an elastic top and banded hem for a secure fit. I told Gina she would likely have to peel it off of me if I had too much to drink at the party. She laughed wickedly and replied it wouldn’t be her peeling it off of me, with any luck.

The manicurist had painted my toenails and fingernails in yellow, fuchsia, indigo, purple, green, and orange to blend with the splash print colors of my club dress. Gina had given me a toe ring for my birthday that had a small diamond stud encrusted in the gold band. I loved it.

Gina’s dress was white at the top with spaghetti straps, and black from the empire waist down. Ruffles with raw edges adorned the bust line, and elastic side shirring ensured a sexy fit, showing all of her curves. She'd expertly done my hair and make-up. I hardly recognized myself when I saw my reflection. She'd piled my hair loosely on top of my head with a bejeweled clip, letting some of the escaping layers cascade out messily. I accessorized with gold dangling earrings, a delicate gold choker, and matching ankle chain.

This was my night as Gina had declared it and we'd party ’til we puked if necessary. She'd promised me that my 21st birthday would be one to remember. I'd hold her to that promise. I gave myself one more assessment in the mirror. Gina knocked on the door between our adjoining rooms.

“It’s unlocked, come on in,” I yelled. “I’m in the bedroom.”

Gina’s jaw dropped when she saw me. “You look fucking awesome,” she said. "I have a feeling all eyes will be on the birthday girl."

“Well I'm not sure about
that,
” I replied, spritzing a small bit of shining mist on my hair.

“I’ve got another surprise for you, birthday bitch,” she laughed.

“Oh yeah? I think you've done quite enough, Gina, with the rooms, the limo, and the toe ring! What's the surprise?”

“Just maybe some special friends stopping by.”

“What friends?” I asked.

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise now would it? Grab your purse and your cell. The limo awaits us!”

“Let’s do it,” I replied. The white limo pulled up to the overhang of the hotel just as Gina had promised. The limo driver opened the double doors, allowing us to take our seats across from one another.

Inside was a flat screen TV, a wet bar, and the typical sound-proof glass divider between the driver and coach area. We settled in and Gina immediately adjusted the climate control, the lighting inside the car, and tuned the stereo in to an all-music satellite station for ’70s and ’80s music.
      
“You're going to hear a lot of this tonight at the Sanctuary,” she explained. “It’s a dance club and what better to dance to than ’80s hits, right? I really think you'll like the emcee and the bands. The sound system alone cost us almost as much as the building.”