“No, I’m excited about trying something different.”They talked about how she was going to be venturesome tonight.“I think I’ll have fun with you tonight.I’ve been looking forward to this all day.And you’ll be happy to know that all the clothing has been picked up that was my aunts and uncles, so that’s out of the way.Now all I have to do is figure out what I want to keep, which will be just about everything that’s there, and do away with whatever I decide I don’t need.I found a laundry room in the basement when I was looking around.I didn’t even know there was one until then.”
“I like that the house is all on one floor, but it doesn’t flow all that well, does it?”She said thatshe’d noticed that today as well.That to get from one room to the next, you had to juggle your way around them.“I’ve lost my way to the bathroom a couple of times.It’s a maze, I think.”
“Yes, that’s it.I was trying to think of what to call it, and you’re absolutely right.It’s a maze.”She laughed.“I wonder how my family got around in the rooms when they were living here.”
“Not easily, if I had to guess.Also, did you notice the kitchen?It’s sort of laid out funny as well.Like it was a galley kitchen, and they turned it into what it is now.But it doesn’t work all that well either.The stove is right next to the refrigerator, and when you open it, it is in front of the stove.That doesn’t seem all that safe to me.”She said she’d not noticed that until he mentioned it.“It’s a lovely house, but it’s laid out funny.And if you were to use the kitchen for all that long, say to make a large meal, it would really bother you in the way that things are laid out in it.”
“I guess when I was looking around, all I could see was that I had a house.Now that you’ve pointed things out to me, I do wonder how they lived in it for as long as they did with all the problems.I noticed, too, that the addition is nice and smoothly laid out, but the connection between the addition and the house itself is way off.”She thought about the rest of the house and shook her head.“I don’t know now that I could live in the house the way it is.I’m glad you pointed things out for me.I would have noticed them after a while, but like I said, all I saw was that I had a house of my very own.I guess I should look into having it remodeled or buy something better.What do you think?”
“Maybe that’s why they were forever having the house tinkered with.They were looking for a solution to the problem that we’ve noticed.”She said she’d have to look around better when she got home.“But for now, we’ll have a nice dinner and have a good time out.I love that they left you a house, however.It’s really generous of them.”
“I’m beginning to see lots of things that I didn’t before.Not about the house, though that is one of them.I’m thinking about my mother and the fact that she and her brother never got along.I remember things from my childhood that didn’t go over well with Uncle Robert.He would get into huge arguments with Mother and they’d not speak for weeks on end.Then, when she hit me, it was years.I don’t know that they spoke at all when I was away at school.Do you suppose her hitting me had anything to do with that?”
“I would imagine, yes.He seemed to be pretty protective of you all the time.Then, when she did hit you that time, he sent you away so that you wouldn’t be around her as much.”She said that she also noticed that she’d not be home for the holidays, but at her uncle’s house.“Could be that he figured that he paid for school, that you should be spending the holidays with him.That I can’t help you with.I didn’t know either one of them before they were killed.”
“I’m remembering a lot more as time goes on.It’s not like I tried to forget all the things that had gone on in my life, but things are starting to make sense now.Like, my mother is a bitch.I think I might have always known that, but she’s always been about what I could give her.Even going so far as to take money from my accounts when I wasn’t forthcoming about things that she wanted from me.”She looked at Ivan and smiled.“We really are getting to know me in all this.How about you?I know you have a horrific childhood.Tell me when there were good times if you had any.”
“I did when we were living with the Wilkins.They never treated us any differently than like we were their own children.I remember my first birthday with them watching over us.I had my first gift and cake.It was wonderful to be able to celebrate all our birthdays with them.They were the best couple that we’d ever had anything to do with.”She asked him if he remembered what he’d gotten.“Yes, a sweater.Mrs.Wilkins had knitted each of us a new sweater for the colder weather.I think I might still have mine.I wore it all the time.It was such good memories to be able to look back over and remember.They were good to us.And for us too.”
“It sounds like it.My mother was never about the holidays.I think she didn’t like that she had to buy gifts for other people.She would just hand out cash when she got something from someone.I think she hated that as much as she did getting something for them.She’s very selfish, I’ve only just noticed.”He asked her if she’d ever figured out who her father was.“I know his name.It’s on my birth certificate.Howard Bash.I remember that because there was a Howard at the parties that my uncle gave.I didwonder at one time if it was him or not, but I never asked.I wish I had now.I’d like to meet him.”
“What would your mother say?”She told him she didn’t know, but she’d more than likely be upset with her about it.“Did you ever ask her about your father?I mean, there has to be something out there about him, don’t you think?”
“I think I will now that I’m older to see if she’ll tell me anything about him.I deserve to know, don’t you think?”He just smiled at her, and she grinned back.“Is that your way of telling me that I should do it even if it pisses my mom off?”
“It’s up to you, but I know that I’d like to know more about the man who stayed out of my life since I was born.Even with his name on your birth certificate, it tells me that he was there during some point of your life that your mother felt comfortable enough with him to put his name there.Perhaps he’s died or something, and she never wanted to talk about the love of her life.I don’t know, but if you want to look for him, I know that Devlin can help you.He’s pretty good at searching out things like that.For that matter, so are you.You have a name, the rest should be fairly easy.”
“Knowing my mother, things will not be easy.”He had to agree with her there.The little bit of time that he’d spent with her mother hadn’t been good.She seemed to like it when things were full of drama, too.Something that he never cared for in all his life.He’d had too much of it as a child, he’d thought, and that was more than enough for him.He took her hand into his as they were being seated.“I’m excited to do this tonight.I love getting to know you.Or I guess you’re getting to know me.I’ve been talking nonstop about myself.Tell me something about yourself, and let’s talk about that.”
Ivan talked about his adulthood, not his childhood.It was depressing to talk about when he was a child, and he thought that they could get more knowledge about each other if he stuck to his college years.And they had been fun.He’d met a lot of people then and had made a lot of friends.Then, when he graduated at the top of his class, he’d come back home to work with the vet who had wanted to retire.It was a good time for him, and he enjoyed telling her of some of the things that he’d gotten into as a teenager with his brothers.They had a wonderful dinner, and he hated to see it end.
“You really enjoyed the salmon?”She said it was wonderful and that she’d love to have it again.“I’m glad.It’s one of my favorite all-time dishes.I can cook it at home too, but it’s never the same.I keep trying, and maybe someday I’ll get it, but for now I know where I can get a good dinner of it so that I can have it when I want it.”
Chapter 4
Howard watched the young couple as they walked hand in hand down the little street.He’d been having someone watching over his daughter for years now, and this was the first time he’d seen her with a young man at her side, where she seemed to be enjoying herself.He knew about as much about the young man, Ivan Frazier, as he did himself.And all of it was good.He would enjoy talking to the man, but when the time was right.Howard kept an eye out for Debra so that she would not intrude on their time together.
He’d been blackmailed into leaving his daughter alone all these years.For as much as he wanted to be with her, there were his other children that he had to save as well.When Debra came to him to tell him that she was going to have his baby, he never believed her.It wasn’t until she was born that he got the tests taken that proved without a doubt that she belonged to him that he started to take an interest in her.And he’d fallen in love with the child, too.
Howard had been divorced by then, his first wife having wanted to go and spend her golden years on spending money and having a good time.He’d just wanted to relax and have some downtime after working hard all his life, and they parted ways.The two of them had three children together, and they had grown up much like their mother.Flighty and spending money like they had an endless supply of it.He was glad when he married her that he’d had her sign a prenup, and that saved him from having to be broke all the time with the way that she spent money.
It was Debra’s plan all along to ruin him by telling people that he was a pedophile.Not that it mattered to him all that much, but it would have ruined his chances with his children.They would have grown up with the thought that he had done things to them that a father shouldn’t, and he didn’t want to give them that out.They would have used it too, to make it so that he had to pay them more money.He knew that without a doubt.They were as greedy as their mother had been, and, as it turned out, as greedy as Debra had been too.Thankfully, it had only cost him a house payment once a month and money in her account.Not as much as she wanted, but enough to keep her happy with her lot in life and to leave him alone.He thought that he made out better than she did as he got to see his daughter grow up without Debra being any the wiser.
If not for Robert and Cindy Ranger, he might not have been able to spend as much time with his daughter as he liked.They would have her home for holidays and summer vacations, and he’d be there as much as he could.He’d also been able to pay for her boarding school, then her higher education when the time came.Howard had put a lot of time and effort into being there for his daughter when she needed him, and now that Robert and his lovely wife were gone, he was going to have to contact her after all these years.He was both nervous and excited about the prospect of meeting her face to face with her knowing that she was his daughter.
“Mr.Bash, there’s a phone call for you on line two.She said that she has information about your daughter.”He asked if there was a name.“She didn’t give one.I did ask, but she kept changing the subject around so that I wouldn’t get it.She’s very slick, I will admit that.”
“Hello?”He waited on the line for a few seconds before he repeated his greeting and said his name.“I’m Howard Bash.You wanted to speak to me?”
“Yes.I’m sorry.I didn’t hear you come back on the line.My name is Brandy Fraizer.It’s amazing what you can find out when you have a seemingly endless supply of money.Of course, it helped that I had your name.I’m the sister-in-law to your daughter, Serenity Ranger Frazier.”He stood up, then sat down twice more before he found his tongue.“I’m guessing that you didn’t expect someone to find you.You didn’t make it hard, I will say that for you.Debra is giving her a hard time again, and I thought you’d like to know that she’s getting married soon.Not Debra, but your daughter, Sen.”
“I didn’t know she was dating that man, and it was serious.”She told him how they were mates and that Ivan would make sure she was safe as he could, but it was Debra who was causing them the most trouble.“How can I help?I was just thinking that I need to talk to Serenity.Robert was my go-between for us.I don’t think she’d remember me all that much if not for them.”
“As you’ve no doubt heard, they’re both gone.Car accident.Sen is living in their house for now.When I spoke to them yesterday, they were house hunting.Something about the house being too much of a maze for them to be living in it.They’ve decided to find them something that they both can enjoy.”He asked her if it had to do with the kitchen.“I’m not sure, but if that’s the first thing that you think of, then that’s more than likely a big part of it.The two of them are getting along very well, but as I said, for her mother.She’s not a nice person, is she?”
“No, she’s not.I’ve been dealing with her for the past twenty-four years, and it’s never gotten any better with her.She’s going to have to stand on her own two feet here in a few months when Serenity turns twenty-five.I no longer have to support her.”She asked if he was paying for the big house she was living in.“You know a great deal about me when I don’t even remember your name.You said it was Frazier.The only Frazier that I know is the owner of a large slaughterhouse that just went up.He’s doing well, too, if my sources are correct.”
“I’m married to him.Lica Fraizer.Sen is going to be marrying his brother Ivan.Ivan is a vet of good standing.”He started taking notes on the conversation so that he could go over it later.He would have to do a search of his own before the end of the day.“I’m arranging a little get-together that I’d like for you to attend.Sen will be there.She knows that I’m trying to reach you.As I said before, you’ve made it easy to find you.Was that on purpose?So that she could find you if she wanted?”
