Page 62 of Lorna's Savior
“Congratulations. And I’m sorry for asking you to look into her. I look forward to being a father-in-law to you.”
“No offense, Sir, but don’t you think you should be a father before you’re a father-in-law?” At the silence on the other end of the line, Andy sighed. “Just saying.”
“I know, and you are correct. That’s why I wanted Lorna investigated.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I wanted to know if she was anything like her mother. If she found out I was her biological father, and that her mother lied, when I went after her mother to pay me back all the money I paid out, I wanted to know if Lorna would side with me or her mother.”
“Stop right there, Marvin,” Andy said sternly. “I’ve known Lorna for several months now, over four, going on five. If I thought she was any way like her mother, you would have been told when I gave you my report. She isnothinglike that woman. Take it from someone who has an intimate relationship with her. I wouldn’t go so far as to use the word hate, but Lorna has a very strong dislike of her mother. And…” he drew the word out to gather his thoughts. “…she refuses to talk about her unless it is absolutely necessary. Get this, whenever Lorna talks about Kristen, she refers to her as Mother. Who does that? Especially if they were in a loving relationship. I myself love my mother, and I call her Ma, or even Mom, but never Mother.” Andy laughed. “Hell, the first and only time I called her that, I ended up on my ass on the other side of the room.” Andy chuckled as he remembered he thought he was being respectful, but his mother had taken that word as disrespectful.
“Thank you,” Marvin said.
“Not that it’s any of my business, but what are you going to do now?”
“I’ve had my lawyer—you remember Phillip—he had his investigator from his firm look into everything you presented to me. I didn’t mean it as any offense to you.”
“And I don’t take any. I would have done the same thing. Did he find any discrepancies?”
“Only that it’s been over three months since Kristen left, and she hasn’t returned yet.”
“Ah, sorry, can’t help you with that. Matter of fact, Lorna’s waiting for the other shoe to drop on that issue.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because, the day Kristen left for her cruise was the day Lorna moved out of the house. Kristen always told Lorna she was unable to move out until after she turned thirty.”
“Son of a bitch,” Marvin whispered.
“What?”
“That was one of the stipulations of Kristen receiving the extra fifty grand. Lorna had to live with her until she was thirty. If she moved out before then, the payments stopped all together.”
“Okay, but do they really stand if the divorce didn’t go before the judge or filed with the court system?”
“Damn it. Thank you for reminding me of that. I’ll have to give Phillip a call to get that taken care of ASAP. Thank you for this honest talk, Mr. Ball. I wish you well in your relationship with Lorna.”
“Wait!” Andy called out when it sounded like Marvin would hang up. “Are you going to reach out to Lorna? Tell her who you are?”
“Should I?”
“Absolutely. Not only is it your God-given right, but this will be your chance to set the record straight, and prove to her that Kristen has lied to her all these years. I think she needs only a little push to cut all ties with her. I’m not saying this for me, I’m saying this for her. Also, I can’t pinpoint it, but it’s little things she says. Why miss out knowing a wonderful, loving, caring woman, because of someone else’s lies? Kristen has kept the two of you apart all this time, already, so why give her the satisfaction of continuing?”
Andy knew he had gotten through to him, when he heard a grunt before the dial tone sounded in his ear. Shaking his head, he could only hope his message had been received.
He stood to go to the kitchen for another cup of coffee, but decided on fixing a glass of ice tea instead. He walked around his apartment, recalling the conversation he’d just had. His only thought at this time was that he hoped whatever steps Marvin took next, Andy’s involvement in investigating her mother wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass. As he heard his phone ring in his office, he grabbed his drink and hurried back.
He grinned as he recognized the number. “Hey, Brian, what’s up?” he asked as he took his cousin’s call.
“Nothing much, you?”
“Busy working. I’m getting new cases all the time.”
“What happened with that case when you were here last?”
“Opened, investigated, closed, paid.” Andy kept it short and sweet. “Hey, did Aunt Helen tell you that I saw the family?”
“What? When? No, she didn’t tell me.” Brian paused, then chuckled. “How did it go?”
