Chapter 19
“I still can’t believe how nasty Mrs. Donlon and her cronies are.” Lucy was carrying paint from the truck to the scaffold in front of the porch.
John looked down from his perch on the scaffold. “She’s a cranky old harridan and your dress today didn’t quite cover up the maple tree trunk. Especially when you sat down.” John smiled as he remembered the sight of Lucy’s long trim legs. “I’m sorry to say I had the same sorts of opinions as her and her friends until I was forced to interact with you.”
“Forced?” Lucy sounded amused.
John looked mildly chagrined. “Yes, I had to force myself. It took me almost a week to get up the courage to come out here. You see, Elaine was the first relatively normal woman that Rob ever went out with. When he was stationed at Petawawa he used to delight in bringing his girlfriend of the week to my place so he could see my reaction.”
Lucy remembered the army guys at the bar she worked at in St. Albert and the groupies that hung around them. “I’ll bet they annoyed you because they pretended to be whatever Rob wanted them to be. Most dumb blondes aren’t but the act gets pretty tiresome.”
John reached a hand down from the shoulder high scaffolding to take a can of paint. “I had to move into the new master suite above the kitchen and move Rob to the old master suite in front corner of the house so there would be enough doors between us. I was going to wait until I got married and let my wife set those rooms up.”
Lucy snickered. “Let me guess, the girls were noisy and you were envious?”
John sat back on his haunches and considered the question. “There was some of that.” He paused to admire the highlights in Lucy’s sunlit hair as he pondered. “I think mostly I was concerned that he was using those women just to annoy me, especially the ones with copious art work and um… non-standard jewellery. And, yes, pre-marital sex isn’t something I can approve of, although I’m very aware that it happens and has happened forever and that God gives us free will which means we make mistakes sometimes. I think our worst fight was over a Grade 12 girl he brought to the house to help celebrate his thirty-third birthday. He ignored her except …”
Lucy smiled at John’s reticence. “Except when he wanted to get laid.”
John looked rueful as he nodded. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to be matter of fact about those sorts of things, Lucy.”
She held out a hand as she got to the top of the ladder portion of the scaffold and John assisted her up the rest of the way. “I know. I like it that you can blush about it, if you want to know the truth. We were all so ‘mature’ at the university talking about all of those things as if you could separate the biology from the emotions. It wasn’t a very healthy attitude toward either sex or relationships. I’m starting to work on repairing that damage. You help, a lot.”
John blushed and said, “Thanks. Anyway to finish the story, I spent most of the weekend talking to Chrissy and ended up driving her home because Rob was still drunk on Sunday afternoon. She wrote me a thank you note last year after she got a job right out of Algonquin saying that our talk on the way home convinced her to take bookkeeping.”
She leaned over and gave John a kiss. “You’re a very good man, John.”
“I didn’t used to be, but I’m working on it.” He cracked open the first can of paint and poured some into Lucy’s tray then repeated it for his tray. Then the sounds of Metallica came from the boom box as John turned on some ‘painting music’.
“I thought I’d find you here. I was wondering if I was going to have to pay damage charges for the car when I was coming up the drive.” A waspish voice called from the ground. “And you can call off your dog, Lucinda.”
John stopped the blaring music. Lucy turned and looked down. “Mother? Why are you here?”
“I thought I’d try to talk some sense into you. I can’t do that over the phone when you hang up on me all the time.” Dr. Eldritch looked up at her daughter.
Lucy sighed then turned to survey the remaining work. She asked John quietly, “Ten minutes?”
He looked at the remaining area on both sides of the porch roof. “About that if we both work fast. We have to finish today because I don’t want you climbing ladders in your third trimester.”
“Mother, we’ll be finished in ten minutes.” Then, seeing Bruno at the guard position at the base of the scaffolding, she said, with a hand gesture, “Bruno! Friend!”
Bruno relaxed and moved back onto the porch to settle down.
Lucy called down again. “We’re almost finished, Mother.”
Frostily, Elizabeth called up again. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
Lucy sighed. “Mother, this is John MacLeish, my boyfriend. John, this is my mother, Dr. Elizabeth Eldritch.”
John saluted. “Pleased to meet you,” he said in a neutral tone.
“Likewise,” Dr. Eldritch said in a tone that gave no hint of pleasure.
“You can wait inside, if you wish, Mother. The door’s not locked.”
Dr. Eldritch nodded abruptly then returned to her car to retrieve an attaché case before heading into the trailer.
“So that’s her.” John pondered the elegantly dressed older woman with the carefully dyed and styled hair as she made her way back to the trailer.
“Yep.” Lucy appeared to be in a small amount of shock. “Well, let’s get this finished and we can deal with whatever she has to say.”
“Will you want me there?”
Lucy sighed. “Maybe you could clean the rollers and trays first. That will give me a few minutes alone with her.”
John leaned over to give her a hug. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”
“I know, sweetheart.” Then she pushed him away reluctantly and picked up the pole with the roller.
“Your ‘wonderful man’ is a painter?” Dr. Eldritch’s sneering sarcasm almost sent Lucy through the roof.
“No, my wonderful man is a master mason and general contractor who’s good with his hands.” Lucy busied herself making a fresh pot of coffee.
Dr. Eldritch leered at the sight of John carrying the rollers and trays around the front of the trailer. “I just bet he’s good with his hands,” she said in a knowing voice.
Lucy felt her anger rising. Controlling it with an effort she turned to look at her seventy-three year old mother and asked, “Why are you really here?”
Dr. Eldritch sighed. “Well, I was going to try to talk some sense into you but it’s obvious that I won’t be able to talk you out of having the baby…”
“And I will not be giving it up for adoption either, Mother.” Lucy was adamant.
“You’re just as stubborn as your damned father and those busybody nuns.”
“The Eldritches were just as stubborn, Mother. I’ve met a number of people at the diner I’m working at who remember them.”
“Diner? Why are you working at a diner?”
“Because I don’t have a doctorate to get me a fellowship or teaching job and I’m overqualified for most other jobs in my former field of study and I don’t have an education degree. But Jessie at the diner doesn’t care except that she’s going to have to find someone to replace me soon.”
“You could have asked me for money.”
“Too many strings, Mother. I’d rather keep the baby.”
“You’ll regret it.”
“But they’ll be my regrets, not yours. Now, why are you here?”
Dr. Eldritch sighed then looked guilty. She reached into her case and pulled out two envelopes. “Here’s a certified copy of Father’s will. I don’t know why you wanted it but my lawyer said it would be best if you had a notarized copy.”
Lucy took the envelope and said, “Thank you. I need it to prove that I own Grandfather’s field notes and his research papers. It’s for my case against Dr. Drake.”
“You won’t be reinstated fully, you know.”
“I know I won’t and I don’t want that anymore. I’ll be studying landscape design as soon as
the baby is old enough for day care.”
“Mother is rolling over in her grave.”
“Grandmother always encouraged me to do what I loved and I think she’d be happy that I’ll be doing something with gardens. Our shared love of gardens was one of the things that gave me the courage to switch out of pre-med.” Lucy held up her hand. “We’ve been over this many times. It’s in the past and I’m not going to spend another ten years of my life in school to get a job I’d be miserable doing. There’s a big demand for landscaping using native and heritage plants and I have a lot of knowledge in that area.”
Dr. Eldritch shrugged. “I suppose. And you always did draw well.” Lucy looked in surprise at the compliment but her mother’s next words reinforced her low expectations of getting her mother’s approval. “Of course, you were never able to translate that into music or dance.”
Lucy shook her head then remembered her second demand. She pointed at the second manila envelope. “Is that my father’s will?”
Dr. Eldritch looked guilty. “No. I burned it along with the money order for one pound sterling. I don’t have the time or inclination to look up anything to do with him.”
“So what’s in the envelope?”
“Two letters addressed to you.”
“And you kept them from me all these years?”
Dr. Eldritch raised her voice. “I’d completely forgotten about them. It was the most humiliating time in my life and I don’t want any reminders of it.”
Tears came welling up in Lucy’s eyes. “Like me?” she asked softly.
Dr. Eldritch’s voice dropped. “Yes, damn it. Like you.”
“Then why did you keep me?”
“Because the hospital in Kigali was run by the Sisters of Mercy. By the time I figured out I was pregnant, at forty-four, when I hadn’t had a period in eight months, the Sisters knew about it and I didn’t have the money to quit and go home.”
“You were in Rwanda?”
“Yes. I was teaching obstetrics at the university teaching hospital in Kigali. The sisters didn’t officially run the hospital but they had enormous influence. I would have terminated but they didn’t do that procedure and by the time I could get out of Rwanda I was more than six months along and no one else would do it either.”
“And my father?”
“Peter was cute. He was on his first tropical diseases rotation after finishing his residency. I thought he was older but he’d finished medical school at twenty.”
“So instead of him being my age…”
“He was only twenty two. When he found out I was expecting he demanded we marry so that he could give you his name. When the hospitals in Halifax and Ottawa refused to do anything, I called him and he flew to Ottawa for the wedding. I thought if I had to have you anyway, I figured his money would help. He made arrangements in the pre-nup for your care when we divorced.” Dr. Eldritch snorted. “We knew it would never work. We never even lived together.”
“Because you couldn’t control him?”
“Because he was an idealist. He thought we could work it out but…” Dr. Eldritch slid out from the dinette. “I’ve changed my mind about the coffee. If you want to find out more about bloody Lord Wilkie you’ll have to do it yourself.” She slid the other envelope over to Lucy. “Goodbye, Lucinda. Don’t bother sending me an invitation to your wedding unless you find someone more appropriate.”
“As you wish, Mother.”
John opened the door and held it. He said, “Dr. Eldritch” and nodded respectfully as she marched past him without acknowledging his existence.
John slid into the place vacated by Dr. Eldritch and took Lucy’s hand to give comfort. After a minute while her breathing calmed, Lucy got up and poured two glasses of ice tea. As she sat down she asked, “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to make me glad that my father was only a mean drunk.”
“You don’t talk about your father.”
John sighed, “You’re right. I don’t and I should and you’re changing the subject.”
Lucy sighed in return and gave John a fragile smile. “It’s pretty awful to hear your mother say that you were never wanted.”
John took both Lucy’s hands. “That’s not quite true, my dearest Lucy.”
Lucy smiled her appreciation. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Busted. But I thought you might need a reminder that you are important to your friends. And me. Especially me.” He allowed his face to show some of his longing.
Lucy stood and dragged John over to the sofa. She pushed him to a seated position then sat on his lap and put her head on his shoulder and began to cry.
“So, aren’t you curious about what’s in the envelope?” John gently dried Lucy’s tears and released her from his embrace.
Lucy stood on wobbly legs and reached over to get the envelope. There were two sealed number 10 envelopes inside. The first one she looked at was from a law firm in Dorchester, England with a postmark from eight years earlier while she was still at Queen’s. The second was plain with a handwritten ‘Lucinda Anne’ marked on the front.
“Which one should I open first?”
John pointed at the second one. “That one looks like it’s from your father.”
Lucy handed it to John. “Would you please read it to me?”
John took it but allowed his surprise to show. “Are you sure?”
She sat beside him on the sofa. “I don’t know how I’m going to react. If you read it to me then …”
“You can cry on my shoulder.”
She snuggled into his side and said, “Yes.”
“Okay, here goes.” He opened the envelope and carefully put it on the shelf at the end of the sofa. He began to read the single sheet of paper with its careful copperplate writing.
Dearest Lucy.
If you are reading this then my mother’s worst fears have come true. I am working as a doctor in a dangerous country called Somalia because the people there don’t have enough doctors and when there is a war going on they really need people like me.
I am sorry that I can’t come to get you and bring you home with me to England but some day you will understand that bad things happen to people whether we understand why or not.
I’m even more sorry that I couldn’t spend more time with you. Your mother and I did not part as friends even if I tried hard to be.
You have a younger sister named Regina Elizabeth. Ginny is as bright and sparkly as you are. I hope that you will be able to be friends.
If you ever need anything, ask your mother to contact my mother. I’m certain your grandmother will love you as much as I do.
Again, if you are getting this letter then I died while serving as a doctor in Somalia. I’m sorry that I can’t see you grow up but I’ll be watching you from heaven.
All my love.
Your father, Peter.
John gave Lucy a squeeze and asked, “Are you all right?”
Lucy looked dry eyed at John. “I think so. I have to remember that he wrote this as a just in case letter to a six year old. But it seems that he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be returning from Somalia.”
John kept his silence, encouraging Lucy to talk. “It’s interesting that he doesn’t mention his second wife.”
John responded to that. “It can be difficult for people to accept step-children, especially if there’s an ex-spouse involved.” He shrugged. “Not that your mother would have been clamouring for custody.”
“I wonder if Grandmother Wilkinson is still alive. My father would be fifty-one this year.”
“Then it’s entirely possible she’s still alive. I wonder if she knows about you.”
Lucy looked at the other letter in her hand. “If I was mentioned in father’s will then she probably knows. But we’d have moved at least twice between the divorce and his death. This is addressed to a lawyer in Halifax. Mother may have left instructions forbidding them from giving her contact information.”
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“She wouldn’t have made it easy for anyone on your father’s side to find you.”
“Probably not, although Eldritch is not a common name. It would be easy to find her if they knew.”
“So what’s in that one?”
Lucy opened the letter and read the two pages. “It’s from a Ms. Cobham. She writes that there is a trust fund that I can access now that I’m twenty-one and that they are waiting instructions from me. But there has to be some sort of mistake.”
“Why?”
“Because the letter is addressed to Lady Wilkinson.”
“Maybe your father was some sort of nobility.” He paused. “Trust fund? You should probably contact them. There may be enough that you won’t have to sell me that lot.”
Lucy looked at the clock. “I’ll call tomorrow morning first thing. Supper here is bedtime there.”
“Speaking of which, what do you want to do for supper?”
Lucy got up to look in her almost bare fridge. “I don’t have enough to feed you.”
“Then let me take you to supper in Perth. I can meet with the owners of that building I told you about and maybe get your ideas on layout from a waitress’s perspective.”
She tugged on John’s hand to bring him to standing. “Do we have time for a quick swim to cool off? Did you bring a suit?”
“I did.” John’s heart began to speed up. “Did you buy that new swimsuit you were talking about?”
Lucy smiled knowingly. “I’m not expecting any visitors. Do you have any objection to me wearing my yellow bikini again? Or should I let you know that it’s a great place to go skinny dipping?”
John groaned in frustration as he allowed Lucy to pull his head down for a kiss.