Page 14 of The Liar I Married
You mean, my cheating husband who is trying to get control of my inheritance?I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to prevent the words leaking out of my mouth and force my lips into a smile. “Of course I do. It was a simple question is all. It’s nothing you need to be concerned about.” I yawn and cover my mouth. “I’m exhausted. I figure I’ll go and rest.”
I stand, seeing the satisfied look on Dolly’s face. She is the person I must convince all is well. My girls’ faces drift into my mind, I can almost hear them laughing as they play. I ache to see them. I need to be sure they’re okay. Gathering myself from a pain that’s tearing me apart, as if I’m mourning them, I straighten and push my walker back to my prison. I can only hope Maria contacts my lawyer and then maybe I’ll get some answers.
FOURTEEN
7 MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
Now I’m aware of my father’s secret family many things start making sense. I’d been informed like everyone else in the family that my father had decided to retire. Following this he’d taken a long vacation leaving my mother behind. I can’t remember him ever taking a vacation without my mother so this alone gives me pause for thought. I don’t want to blindly tell my mother that my father has been deceiving her for years without absolute proof. At the time, I’d asked her about Dad’s long vacation and she’d given the excuse that he planned a guided hunting trip and killing things wasn’t something she enjoyed. I’d mulled all this over before revisiting the diary again. I searched for any overlooked details or hidden messages. I’d hoped to find cryptic notes or codes that pointed to more details but after searching for ages, I found absolutely nothing.
As my parents are still officially living in the manor, it’s difficult for me to search the house. Although since the reading of the will it is technically my house, snooping around makes me feel like an intruder but I have no choice. I need the information that my grandma obtained from the private detective. I hate lying to my mother but I need an excuse. On my drive here this morning I ran a number of things through my mind. I believeI have my stories straight now, and as I walk into the kitchen and inhale the familiar scents of home, I’m surprised to see my mother dressed in a neat suit, pulling on gloves. She’s going out and the house is empty. I can’t believe my luck. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Just for a few days.” My mother smiles at me and it reaches her eyes. “I’m going to Florida to look at some condos. It’s been a dream of mine for so many years but I felt obliged to remain here with your grandmother to make sure that she was well looked after in her later years.” She waves a hand in the air. “Now she’s gone there’s nothing holding me here. I know you will be able to visit me and I you. It’s less than three hours’ flight from here you know.”
I look at her, dumbfounded. “But you’ll be all on your own. You don’t have any friends there.”
“Oh, but I do.” My mother laughs and bends to peck me on the cheek. “It has become the go-to place for burned-out stockbrokers. Many from my tennis club live there now, and this is one of the main reasons I’m going. As I’m getting older, I’m running out of friends.” She runs a hand down my arm and gives me a little squeeze. “I’m not deserting you, Jessie, I’m just living what life I have left to the full. I hope you’ll do the same when you’re my age.”
A horn sounds from outside, and my mother picks up her purse and hurries toward the door grabbing a suitcase on wheels as she goes by.
“That will be my cab to the airport. I’ll see you in a few days.”
I follow her to the front door and stand in the lingering scent of her perfume as she drives away. Now, I have at least three days to search the house from top to bottom. I need help and speak to Mrs. Jarvis. She has been employed as the housekeeper for my grandmother for as long as I can remember. She agreed to stay on until I found a replacement for her.
I walk back into the kitchen and find Mrs. Jarvis has already poured me a cup of coffee and has cookies set out on a plate. It’s the same each time I arrive. She treats me as if I’m still at school. I sit down at the table and watch her tidying up the kitchen. I can think of no other way than plunging right in and asking her outright. “You were with my grandmother for a very long time and I’m sure you were friends. Can you recall any places my grandmother may have hidden private documents apart from the safe? I’ve already asked Mr. Collins about the contents of the safe and what I’m looking for isn’t inside. My grandmother left me a letter and asked me to search for the information she scattered around the house. It’s personal things that she only wanted me to see.”
“In the few months before she had her stroke she rarely went out of the library or her bedroom and sometimes the family room.” Mrs. Jarvis wipes her hands on a towel and sits at the table. For a woman in her late sixties, she is remarkably preserved and could pass for forty. Although she does complain about her knees from time to time. Her blue eyes move to me. “I would imagine if there was something hidden it would be in those rooms. I don’t know of any particular hiding places but if she didn’t intend your parents to find them, I’m sure she wouldn’t have left them lying around so we have to assume they’re in a very good hiding place.”
Nodding, I look at her kind face. “While I’m drinking my coffee can you tell me a little about my grandmother’s last days?” I took a sip of the rich brew and peered at her over the top of the rim. “I’m aware that she had a disagreement with my father and he retired soon after. I don’t really care how people spin it but I know from the letter she left me that she actually fired him.”
“I do recall a mighty argument in the office, the day before she suffered the stroke.” Mrs. Jarvis shakes her head slowly. “As you know, I usually walk outside if anyone starts arguing in thehouse. It’s not my place to get involved. I walked into the rose garden and I could still hear your father screaming at her.”
Suddenly I’m very interested. “Do you remember what he said? Don’t worry because my grandmother set out many things in a letter to me and I’m just trying to get to the bottom of it.” I give her a direct stare. What the heck? If she knows something, she needs to know I’m aware of the truth. “I believe she discovered evidence to prove my father was having an affair. I don’t want to say anything to my mother about this until I know the truth. What I need to find is the information given to Grandma by the private detective she hired. Do you have any clues where she might have hidden those documents?”
“I believe she gave them to your father.” Mrs. Jarvis leans forward in the chair, her face serious. “When I cleaned the office early the next morning, there was evidence of shredded photographs in the trash. I didn’t think of it again at the time because that was the morning I found your grandmother desperately ill. I’d taken her breakfast to her room as usual and found her on the floor in front of the hearth. The paramedics believed that she had been there all night.”
Tears well in my eyes at the thought of my grandmother lying on the floor alone, unable to move. It must have been a terribly long night. I pull a tissue from my purse and dab at my eyes. The terrible thought that my own father had caused the death of my grandmother by screaming and yelling at a woman in her late nineties circled in my mind. I look at Mrs. Jarvis. “Do you recall where my mother was that day?”
“Yes, that would be the weekly meeting of her quilting club.” Mrs. Jarvis nods sagely. “She wasn’t here for dinner that evening, and your father ordered pizza, because he didn’t like what your grandmother had chosen for supper.”
I think for a beat and then look at her. “So my grandmother would have chosen the time she knew my mother would be away to confront my father about his affair?”
“If what you are saying is correct, then yes, I would say that’s right.” Mrs. Jarvis frowns and wags a finger at me. “Don’t you go jumping to conclusions now. You know as well as I do that your grandmother was a little strange toward the end. She would often forget what she was doing. I’ve seen her stand at the refrigerator for ages trying to remember why she was there.”
I frown. Admittedly I hadn’t seen much of my grandmother in the last six months before she had the stroke. “Maybe you’d better explain. If you have any doubt she’d become confused before she had the stroke, it might be significant.”
“Let me see. It was happening more frequently toward the end.” Mrs. Jarvis stares into space. “There was a time she figured she saw your grandfather in the garden and ran out of the door to see him. As he passed many years ago, that was something unusual. Then she growled at me for eating the Christmas cake and that had been eaten months beforehand. A few little things, she spent three mornings in a row calling at the back door for her dog.”
I blink; the dog had been dead for at least ten years. “Did you mention it to anyone?”
“It’s not my place to comment on my employers.” She hunches her shoulders. “I did tell Michael that she was a little distracted when he came by. I don’t believe your parents noticed anything unusual; if they did, they didn’t say anything to me.”
I lean back in the chair, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. What if my father’s affair is an illusion, perhaps triggered by Michael telling her about my problems with John? If he had no idea about her accusations, he’d lose his mind, but what if it is true and my grandmother confronted my father with the photographs from the private detective and he’d shreddedthem? If so, there will be nothing in the house for me to find. I consider my next plan of action. “If the evidence is gone, I need to contact the private detective and set up a meeting. I’ll also go and see if I can discover any details about my grandmother’s condition when she arrived at the hospital. Do you know if she’d been hurt at all?”
“I didn’t see a mark on her and I’m certain your father didn’t hurt her.” Mrs. Jarvis looks horrified. “He’d never do such a thing. I’ve been with your family for thirty years and I’ve never seen him raise his hand to any of you. I admit when I heard them arguing he sounded extremely angry and the gist of the conversation was that she should mind her own business. When I took your grandmother her dinner, she was a little distant but she looked fine. Your father ate his pizza in the family room. He’d fallen asleep in front of the TV when I walked past to go to bed at a little after ten. I heard your mother’s Lexus drive into the garage soon after. I assume your mother woke him when she came home. Apart from the argument, I don’t believe your father has anything to do with the death of your grandmother. Of course the argument could have caused a stroke but I’m not a doctor so I couldn’t tell you for sure. That’s something you’ll have to discuss with her specialist.”
I nod. My forward path is clear. I need to talk to the doctor and hope he’ll give me a straight answer. The thought my father might have caused Grandma’s death is sending chills down my spine. I must contact the private detective and hope that he’ll hand over all the information he gave to my grandmother. How I’m going to explain the cost to John, who watches every transaction on my credit card like a hawk, I have no idea. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
FIFTEEN
