“Oh, sweetie, you are such a romantic. But, if she didn’t want to forget me, why did I never hear from her again?” The hurt and confusion were thick in his voice.
“Uncle Sandy, I’m really sorry to tell you this,” Barbara Jeanne paused, anxious and a little sad to be the bearer of bad news. “Linda passed away from cancer a few months ago. That’s when Salynda found out about you. Her mother made a deathbed confession, and Salynda took the DNA test in hopes of finding you.”
“I don’t know what to say about that. To hear about Linda all these years later and then to find out she’s gone…” His voice thickened further, and he cleared his throat audibly. “There’s so much I wish I could have said to her, asked her.”
“But you have a daughter now. She’s anxious to meet you.” Many people viewed Barbara Jeanne as vain and shallow, a spoiled princess with a rich daddy wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger, but there was much more to her than that. Her heart was breaking for her Uncle Sandy. This must be such a shock to him after all these years.
“I want to meet her as well. I guess I’ll be making a trip to Chicago.”
“There’s nothing stopping you from calling her now.”
“You’re right. But I really want to meet her in person.”
“How about if I get her to text me a picture and I’ll send her one of you. Then I’ll set up a time for you to call her. Wait! Maybe you should run a background check on her first.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think that’s necessary. The DNA confirms the match.”
“I know, Uncle Sandy, but we don’t know anything about her. What if she has some axe to grind since she just found out about you? What if she’s after the Patrick money?”
“Now you sound like your mother. She’d hate for there to be another heir competing for the Patrick legacy,” Sandy chuckled.
“I’m not like her and you know it. I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you to get hurt and I kinda already warned her she better not try anything.”
“Barbara Jeanne Patrick, I don’t need you protecting me. I’m sixty-one years old. I can handle this just fine.”
“If you say so, but I just want to make sure this doesn’t go sideways, as Daddy would say.”
“Stop being so dramatic. Send her the picture and get me her number.”
Chapter 9
Those crazy butterflies are back as I hang up from another call with Barbara Jeanne. My father wants to talk to me! She’s going to text me a photo and I agreed to text her one of me to give to him. A few minutes later, I get her text and click on the photo to expand it. It’s a picture of Barbara Jeanne and a very distinguished looking man in formal wear at some type of party. I enlarge it as much as possible and scroll over his image. He’s so handsome; he’s bald with a silver beard, has a face full of character, and my breath catches as I focus on his piercing blue eyes. Well, now I know where my eye color comes from. And my height. My mother was petite, and he’s towering over Barbara Jeanne in the photo. I look through the pics on my phone and find one of me also dressed in formal wear, a design I actually created for myself, at a charity dinner I attended a while back. With the press of a button, I attach it to a reply text to Barbara Jeanne. Then I stare at my phone, willing it to ring. It’s a good thing Brandie is minding the shop while I’m here in the back working. I’m so nervous I don’t think I can focus on helping customers right now, never mind that my face hasn’t healed yet.
After what seems an eternity, my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number, but I do know the area code; it matches Barbara Jeanne’s. Mississippi. Willing the butterflies to calm down, I take a deep breath, hit the answer button, and croak out a hello.
A commanding, confident voice speaks. “Salynda? This is Sanford Patrick.”
“Hello… uh… sir.”
“None of this sir stuff. We’re family. Everyone calls me Sandy. Everyone except your mother. She always called me Sanford.” Commanding, but kind. Refined, but not stuffy.
“Okay, Sandy. I’m very happy to hear from you, but I must admit I’m a bit nervous.” More than a bit, actually.
“Well, that makes two of us.” He chuckled softly, revealing that he was indeed as anxious as she was. “I’m really happy you found me. I’d like to hear all about you and your life. And if you have any questions for me, I’ll try to answer them. And let me just say, I’m truly sorry to hear your mother passed. I loved her very much.”
“Thank you. I miss her too. It was always just her and me. She never married, so I didn’t have a father figure in my life. When I was a little girl, I asked her why I didn’t have a daddy, and she told me he’d died before I was born. I don’t know why she told me that, and I never questioned it any further. I was shocked when she told me to find you. I honestly thought she was delirious since it was so close to the end. But I decided I had to try, so I took the DNA test.” I feel like I’m babbling.
“Well I sure am glad you did. Tell me more about your life with her.”
“She was a wonderful mother. And selfless. She was always doing for others and active in her church, especially once she was finished raising me. She was a paralegal when I was little and put herself through law school at night. After she got her law degree, she worked in a legal aid office in Chicago, representing those who couldn’t afford a lawyer. She tried to instill the ideal of a life of service in me as well, although I’m afraid I fall short of her standard.”
“Her career choice doesn’t surprise me at all. She was a pre-law major, a year behind me. And she volunteered on campus for a number of causes.”
“Can I ask what happened? Why did she leave? Do you know?” I pick at a non-existent hangnail, wanting the answer, but dreading it at the same time. What if this man is a jerk? What if he’s a terrible person and that’s why Mama left him? Shaking loose the thoughts, I resolve to give him a chance to explain before passing judgment.
“Well, honey, it’s a bit complicated. In the middle of my senior year, I got called home to Mississippi to take over the family business—commercial real estate—because my father had a heart attack. I had to leave suddenly. After things settled down, I went back for your mother, but she was gone. No one could tell me exactly where she was or how I could reach her. I was devastated, so I went back home and licked my wounds and focused on running the business. I was able to make up my last few credits and get my business degree locally. The only thing I can figure, especially when your mother learned she was going to have you, is that she didn’t want to add to all the responsibilities I suddenly had, and I can tell you, she was unsure about how my family would receive her. Although I had no doubts myself, as you said, your mother was always concerned for others over herself. I just wish she’d told me. Things could have been very different for all of us.”
I sense the sadness and regret in Sandy’s voice. I feel sadness for us too and the many years wasted. I decide to switch the focus of the conversation to something happier. “Sandy, tell me more about you and the family. Do I have siblings?”
