Page 62 of Spilling the Tea

Suddenly, a fuzzy scene flashed before Zoey. A man, who she knew was her father, answered a telephone and then called out saying, “The phone is for you, Micky.”

“Zoey are you still there?”

A lump formed in Zoey’s throat. “Did my dad call my mom Micky, too?”

“Yes. Micky met Holt while we were in med school, so healso called her by her nickname. Dr. Kemmic told me your aunt had passed. I want to extend my condolences. He also mentioned that you still had memory loss. I ran into your aunt a few years ago, and she said the doctor told her there was less than a twenty-five percent chance your memory would ever return.”

“That’s what my aunt told me as well. However, when I began having dreams with images of me and my parents, I sought the help of a doctor without my aunt’s knowledge. According to Dr. Wheeler, what I was led to believe for all those years was not true. There’s a fifty-fifty chance of my memory returning, Doctor Newberry.”

“Please call me Sharon.Doctor Newberrysounds so formal. Especially for a woman who was your godmother.”

“My godmother?”

“Yes. I’m the one who named you. I wanted to keep in touch with you, but your aunt said seeing me would force you to remember the past, and the doctor said that would not be in your best interest.”

Zoey recalled she’d been told something similar. Her aunt had led her to believe that if she tried piecing together her memory on her own, instead of letting it return naturally, there was a strong chance it would never return. For that reason, she’d never researched anything about her parents.

She felt a deep sadness at her aunt’s lies. She would have loved having Sharon be part of her life while growing up. “Thanks for sharing that with me, Sharon. There is something I want to ask you.”

“Ask me anything.”

“Did you know my parents owned a ranch in Texas?”

“Yes, the Satterfield Ranch. It was such a beautiful spread—big and spacious. I spent a lot of time there with your mom during the summer breaks from college. Your grandparents, the Martins, were the best. They were college professors and mostly lived on the ranch during the summertime.”

That’s the same thing Ms. Felicia Laverne had told her. “I’m in Texas now.”

“At the ranch? That’s wonderful! Micky and Holt enjoyed going there to relax and unwind.”

“No, I’m not at the ranch. My aunt sold it.”

“What?! Micky wanted to keep the ranch to give you one day because you always liked visiting there. You learned to ride a horse before you were two.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any memory of that.” She told Sharon about finding the deed to the ranch—a ranch her aunt claimed her parents didn’t have. She also told her that she had met the person who now owned the ranch, and after looking around, parts of her memory had returned.

“I don’t know why your aunt would say she knew nothing about the ranch when she did. If telling you might have been a key component in your memory returning, that should have been a good enough reason to do so.”

“I wish I could remember my grandparents and parents,” Zoey said, despondently.

“I have some things that belonged to your mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.”

That cheered her up somewhat. “You do? What?”

“Their diaries and photo albums. I had a key to your parents’ home to check on things whenever they stayed at the ranch for extended periods. When I heard your aunt was selling the house, I gathered everything I figured Micky would want you to have. I’ve kept them for you all this time, hoping you would reach out to me one day, and when you did, I would have them for you.”

Knowing Sharon Newberry had done that touched Zoey deeply. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Micky was my best friend. I understand you followed in your parents’ footsteps and are an orthopedic surgeon.”

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s wonderful. Holt and Micky would be proud of you. They loved you a lot, Zoey.” There was a pause, and then Sharon said, “I’m not sure if your aunt ever told you this, but at the time of your parents’ accident, your family was driving home from the hospital—after the birth of your baby brother.”

Zoey gasped. “Baby brother? I didn’t know that.” Tears Zoey couldn’t hold back flowed down her cheeks. She had lost a brother in that accident. A brother she’d never been told about.

“Do you know why Aunt Paulina disliked my mother so much?”

“Holt told Micky there was another woman that Paulina wanted him to marry. The daughter of someone she knew. She’d even told him she would not accept any other woman as his wife.”

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