CHAPTER 19
Trey and I were finishing up getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner in our suite. Preston was already dressed up frilly, spending time with Brenda downstairs. I was tying Trey's tie when I remembered what my father had told me the night before.
"Trey I meant to tell you something last night and it slipped my mind. My father told me that he had a visit from Danny Duvall."
I looked up into Trey's face; his expression was totally impassive; almost too impassive.
"Dad said that it looked as if someone had roughed him up."
"Really?" Trey replied, "I can't imagine anyone having cause to do that. Perhaps it was merely a bar room brawl."
I gazed up at him my suspicion clearly evident.
"Anyway, Dad said he delivered a carefully worded apology for taking advantage of me in my vulnerable, grieving state, acknowledging that he shouldn't have touched another man's wife and promising he would never do so again."
"Hmm," Trey remarked turning from me now so that he could slip his suit jacket on. "It appears Mr. Duvall may have received a well-deserved lesson in manners and comportment."
"Trey - you didn't--"
"Come sweetie," he said, taking me by the hand, "Let's join the family downstairs."
My father had already arrived and I regretted not being down earlier to make the introductions. I hurried over to him giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek. From the other side of the room I could hear Preston as she spotted him from Brenda's lap.
"Papaw!"
Brenda carried her over to where Dad and I stood; Susan hurried over to us, anxious to introduce Brenda to my father.
(Hmm . . . not too obvious, Mommy-in-law…)
Preston was leaning in to him, her hands clasping and unclasping for him to take her.
"Papaw," she whined as my father took her from Brenda's arms.
"Hey sweet angel," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
"I can see she is crazy about her grandparents," Brenda acknowledged after parting with her.
Susan introduced my father to Brenda, explaining to him that Brenda was staying with them for a couple of weeks and then returning to Birmingham.
(Letting Dad know that Birmingham was not all that far from Baton Rouge I suppose.)
I could tell right off the bat that my father liked Brenda. I saw him smile as he shook her hand; his smile reached his eyes this time. That was a semi-rare occurrence. It usually involved interaction with Preston.
I noticed that Susan had set name placards at the large dining room table; she had placed Brenda next to my father. Trey and I were seated across from them. They talked to each other during most of the meal. Brenda scored points with all of us with her interest in Preston.
After dinner I took Preston upstairs to get her settled for her nap. She was extremely restless after all the attention she had endured throughout the day. She finally fell asleep sucking her thumb.
Trey came in looking for me just then.
“Your father is looking for you, Tylar; he wants to speak to you in Dad’s study.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Honey he asked to speak to you; he didn’t mention needing me there with you. Maybe it’s private.”
I couldn’t imagine what exactly Dad might want to talk to me about unless he wanted to make sure that I had given Trey the message about Danny’s apology.
I went down to the study where my father was waiting for me. I joined him shutting the door behind me.
“Am I in trouble, Dad?”
He smiled nodding his head negatively.
“No, nothing like that, darling. I just feel the need to make you aware of something.”
“Sounds serious?”
“It’s probably nothing, but I think I need to make you aware of it in case it becomes something later on.”
He had my attention now as I took a seat beside him in front of Clive’s desk.
“I went to the memorial service at the cemetery for Matthew Renaud as planned. I suspected that Ms. Deeny would be there and she was. She attempted to avoid me, however, I pressed her as we were leaving to either talk to me or I would see that the District Attorney brought her in for questioning. She rambled on some very unintelligible statements. I have cause for concern."
At that point I interrupted my father.
“Dad – why would the D.A. be interested in questioning her?”
“He probably isn’t but I wanted to put a little fear in her so that she would clear up some details for me.”
"What details?"
"Details surrounding your mother's death, and then the matter of Preston's abduction. I needed to know if she somehow master-minded it all."
I looked at my father; I saw his angst.
"What was in it for her?"
"I discovered that Ms. Deeny lives very well for a woman without obvious means. I know what her salary was while she was in my employ. She lives well beyond that from what my investigator uncovered."
"Dad - we know that Olivia was supporting me through the LLC that Matthew set up. I'm sure that he kept a portion of it for himself and maybe shared it with his mother. All that ended when I turned eighteen though, right?"
"That's something we will never know," he replied, "Olivia's financial wealth was hers to manage. I didn't interfere or even ask to be privy to it. All I know is what I inherited upon her death. I have no clue as to what her financial dealings were prior to that."
"Dad - we've already established that when Olivia died, the cash cow for Matthew did as well. Are you saying that you believe now that Matthew and possibly Karen Deeny were behind Preston's abduction?"
"I think it is possible."
"I guess I'm confused then. There was never a ransom demand; Maggie moved about freely with the baby and ended up in Wheeling, WV. This makes no sense."
"We don't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. In the meantime, I needed to let you know that you are legally Matthew's next of kin. In the absence of a will, you are set to inherit his estate in perpetuity."
"What?"
"Everything was in Matthew's name; the house where Ms. Deeny lived, the bank accounts were all under the LLC. The estate lawyer will be in touch with you."
"I don't understand - Karen Deeny was his mother. Doesn't that take precedence over a half-niece as next of kin?"
"Actually because the courts awarded custody of Matthew to your grandfather, and your grandmother legally adopted him as her son, the mother-son relationship between Ms. Deeny and Matthew was legally severed. I'm sure she didn’t count on that which is why we are having this conversation."
I waited for several moments as my father chose his words carefully. Did he think I was in some sort of danger?
"Tylar, there is no doubt in my mind that Karen Deeny is a sociopath and potentially dangerous. While I don't believe that she ever intended to cause physical harm to anyone the situation has now changed. She is desperate and quite frankly, she may be looking for some sort of vindication. I'm just asking you to be vigilant until such time as we know whether she poses any threat to you or Preston."
"If you meant to frighten me Dad, you have just succeeded; first with Maggie; then with Matthew and now Ms. Deeny? I just want out of this tangled nightmare. I don't want any of Matthew's estate; I will simply refuse it."
"It's not that simple; refusing it wouldn't make Ms. Deeny the beneficiary."
"Well then I'll just gift it to her or something. How much money are we talking about, Dad?"
"The probate inventory lists it as more than $1.5 million."
(Holy shit!)
"It's nothing you have to decide right now," he continued, "Probate doesn't move quickly but I wanted to make you aware of it at any rate.
"I'll discuss it with Trey, Dad. Please don't worry though?"
"I'm a father," he said with a shrug, "It's what we do, I am learning."
When my father and I rejoined the family in the great room, Landon and Caroline had arrived. All of the grandbabies were in the room and seemed content being the center of attention. My father went and sat next to Brenda who was holding Preston again.
Trey had seen me enter the room and brought me a glass of white wine.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, studying my face.
"I hope so," I said. "We can talk about it later."
Gina came over to us then, having imbibed a few alcoholic beverages herself it seemed.
"Girlfriend - where the hell have you been keeping yourself?" she asked giggling.
"Where's Tristan?" I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"He's with Reece, Royce, Tess and Nigel," she replied, waving the glass of whatever alcoholic beverage it contained over her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" I asked watching her closely.
"What? Oh - hell yes, I'm just fucking fine and dandy," she replied almost slurring.
"Oh Christ," Trey mumbled as he took his leave from both of us.
"Gina - what the hell is wrong with you?"
The words had no longer left my lips when Caroline sauntered over, a full glass of Merlot in her hands, displaying the ever familiar drunken stagger. It was getting old.
"Gina! Tylar!" she gushed, swaying. "Happy Thanksgiving it is for all."
"You too, Caroline," I said. Gina merely grunted.
"Well actually, Tylar - I guess it isn't so much for you considering you lost a child."
I went numb. I couldn't believe that Caroline, even in one of her drunken stupors, could be that insensitive. I wanted to lash back at her with something nasty and hurtful but I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I stood silently by letting the hurt sink in deeper.
Gina started to say something on my behalf but I shook my head at her. I was not going to be the cause of another family scene. Caroline had turned her attention to Gina now.
"But for you Gina, well I guess you have had a double blessing," Caroline slurred. I could feel Trey at my side now, ever vigilant where Caroline and I were concerned.
"What do you mean?" Gina asked, her tone was pure 'no nonsense'.
"Well," she giggled, "You have been blessed with Reece and now his half-brother Royce. They could pass for identical twins. I guess we know who has the fastest little swimmers now, don't we Trey?" Caroline gave Trey a wink.
"You obnoxious bitch!"
In a flash, I saw Gina toss her drink into Caroline's face, drenching her. Caroline stumbled backward a few steps and then gained her balance and tossed her glass of merlot at Gina.
(Holy shit!)
Trey pulled me aside just as Gina launched herself at Caroline.
I heard Caroline's screech as she hit the floor; her empty wine glass was still in her hand. The sound of Caroline hitting the floor and the glass shattering next to her was enough to bring Tristan to the forefront. By this time Gina was on top of her, slapping her face with the open palm of her hand. Caroline's head rolled back and forth with each slap.
"Gina, for Chrissake!"
Tristan lifted Gina off of Caroline with one arm, placing her out of reach. Landon was there now, pulling Caroline up from the floor. Caroline was whining and sputtering incoherently.
"I'm sick and tired of that bitch spewing hatefulness at everyone, Tristan. Someone needs to kick her ass!"
Gina was straining against Tristan's strong hold on her.
"Calm down, Gina. Let me get you upstairs and cleaned up."
Tristan led Gina who was covered with red merlot wine out of the room towards the stairs. She was still going off about Caroline to him. He was trying to soothe her anger with his soft, reasonable voice.
Landon had Caroline by the arm, asking Thatcher to fetch their coats so that they could depart. I breathed a sigh of relief that they were leaving. I turned my attention to Trey.
"I am not attending any further family functions where Caroline is invited. Do you want to tell your mother or shall I?"
"I'll handle it," he said, pulling me against him as we made our way over to where my father and Brenda were playing with Preston. We spent the rest of what remained an uneventful evening in their company. My father was leaving the following morning for Baton Rouge. I told him that I would see him at Christmas. He hugged me tightly and said he would be in touch after Trey and I returned from our cruise. He made me promise that I would try my best to relax and put everything else out of my mind during our trip. Despite the fact that I was still trying to digest the latest information he had shared with me, I promised him that I would.