Chapter Eight
Beau looked over to the passenger’s seat and studied Sabine. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
Sabine stared at the enormous iron gate and swallowed. Somewhere on the other side of the ten-foot stone fence was an estate, just forty-five minutes from Mudbug, where her family lived. Living, breathing relatives. Her dad’s people. It all seemed like a blur. Twenty-odd years of searching with absolutely no results and now she had an entire family…grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, maybe even a dog. It was more than overwhelming. It was like waking up into a whole new existence.
She realized she hadn’t answered and looked over at Beau. “I think so. I don’t know. Maybe not?” She covered her face with both hands. “I’m sorry. You must wish you were anywhere but here with me.”
Beau gently pulled her hands down and placed his hand on top of hers. “There’s nowhere else I need to be. That’s all that matters.”
Sabine looked up at him. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this. I should have waited until Maryse could come.”
“But that would have been another two days, right?”
Sabine nodded. “Yes. She would have cancelled her plans, but the man she is speaking with is a scientist and could have information leading to the break she’s been looking for in her own research. He’s only going to be in the country a couple more days, and going to Houston was the only opportunity Maryse had to talk to him.”
Beau didn’t look completely convinced that the reason was good enough to dump her best friend on the eve of discovering her long-lost family, but Sabine couldn’t help that. What she couldn’t say was that Maryse’s research had led her to a medication that could possibly eliminate the side effects of radiation treatment.
A medication Sabine herself would most likely benefit from in the very near future.
The truth was, Maryse had begged Sabine to put off this meeting until she could be there, but Sabine had already waited for so many years that even another two days felt like a lifetime. Besides, she had the rest of her life to introduce Maryse to her family. However long that turned out to be.
“They know I’m coming?” Sabine asked.
“Yes.”
“And they know why?”
“I told their attorney everything,” Beau assured her. “He spoke with the family and they asked him to arrange this meeting. There shouldn’t be any surprises. At least not on their end.”
Sabine caught the tone of his voice as he delivered the last sentence. It had been a sticking point between them, but other than the bare minimum, Sabine had insisted that Beau hold off giving her any detailed information about her family. She wanted to get a clear impression of them without the bias of any information Beau had uncovered during his investigation.
No surprises. Yeah right. She took in a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
“You’re sure?”
Sabine nodded. “I’m sure.”
Beau squeezed her hand, then lowered the truck window and pressed a button on a speaker mounted in front of the gate. A man’s voice sounded over the speaker, asking his name. Beau gave the man the information and a couple of seconds later, the gate began to open. Beau put the truck in gear and pulled through the gate and into an enormous courtyard. Acre after acre of sculpted hedges, row after row of beautiful flowers—a palette of color set against a lush lawn.
Beau guided the truck around a bend in the drive and the house came into view. Sabine gasped. It looked like something out of Gone with the Wind. A front porch complete with white columns reaching from the ground to the roof spanned the width of the main house. Wings stretched out from both sides of the main structure, making the entire thing at least the length of a football field.
Sabine finally found her voice. “Oh, my God. I know you told me the family was wealthy, but I had no idea…”
Beau stared in awe. “I had no idea either. I mean, there’s wealth and then there’s this. I haven’t ever come in direct contact with this before.”
Sabine swallowed. “Me either. Not even close.” She said a silent prayer of thanks that she’d forgone her normal eclectic dress and decided on her navy pantsuit, a splurge at a designer shop having a good sale.
Beau circled a twenty-foot fountain and parked in front of the house. A middle-aged man wearing a brown suit came out to meet them. “I’m Martin Alford, the Fortescues’ attorney.”
“Beau Villeneuve,” Beau said and shook the man’s hand, “and this is Sabine LeVeche.”
The man turned to Sabine and studied her for a moment. “Ms. LeVeche. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I was very surprised when I got Mr. Villeneuve’s phone call. We’d given up hope of ever hearing anything about Adam.”
Adam Fortescue. Her father, although that wasn’t the name that had been on the driver’s license he carried in his wallet the day of the accident. It had been two days since Beau had given her the news that he’d located her father’s family and she still couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
“I’d given up myself,” Sabine said.
The attorney nodded. “I can imagine this has been a shock for you as well…to find your family has been so close all these years.”
“A huge one,” Sabine agreed.
“Well,” the attorney said, “are you ready to meet them?”
Sabine took a deep breath and looked over at Beau, who nodded. “I’m ready.”
The attorney smiled. “This way, then. They’re anxious, too, if it makes you feel any better.” He turned and motioned them toward the house.
Beau stepped close to Sabine and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. She looked over at him, grateful for the strength his presence gave her. She took the first step following the attorney. Then another. And before she knew it they entered the mansion through a set of hand-carved doors.
Sabine tried not to gawk as they stepped inside, but the interior of the home was even more impressive than its exterior. She didn’t know much about art and antiques, but one look at the paintings hanging in perfectly placed picture frame molding and the decorative tables nestled in front of them with beautiful ornate vases and crystal bowls screamed rare and expensive. The ceiling in this front room was vaulted all the way to the second floor and had an enormous crystal chandelier hanging in the center. Huge staircases spiraled on each side of the room, forming a balcony on the far wall.
“They’re in the library,” the attorney said and motioned to the hallway on the left.
Sabine followed slowly, trying to clear her mind, focus on the event she’d been wanting for over twenty years. She felt like she was in a dream and any minute she’d wake up back in her apartment, just as frustrated and alone as she’d always been. Her feet connected with the wood floor, her heels resounding on the handscraped wood, but she didn’t feel the connection at all. It was almost as if she were gliding, floating in a forward motion. Surreal, that was the word for it.
The attorney opened a door at the end of the hallway and motioned for her to enter. She felt Beau give her hand one last squeeze. Then she took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway and looked at her family for the first time. A regal woman with silver hair stood next to the fireplace, holding a glass of wine. Her cream linen suit was obviously custom tailored and the diamonds surrounding her neck sparkled in the bright light. A man in a gray smoking jacket and black slacks stood beside her and Sabine stared, her breath catching in her throat. He was a perfectly aged re-creation of the image Helena had produced. Any shred of doubt she had that maybe Beau had made a mistake, that this wasn’t her family, disappeared in an instant.
A woman sitting at the long table in the center of the room gasped. She had the same eyes and bone structure of the silver-haired woman, but that was where the similarities ended. The woman was probably in her fifties but the lines on her face belied the opulence surrounding them. Maybe living in such a state of presumed grace wasn’t everything it was cut out to be. The woman rose from her chair and walked over to stand in front of Sabine. She reached up with one hand and touched Sabine’s face, an amazed and somewhat fearful look on her face. The flat gray of her suit made her skin seem sallow. Her eyes were dull and lifeless.
“You look just like him,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to believe, but it’s true.”
Sabine froze, not certain what to do. The woman stared at her without blinking and somewhere deep in her gaze, Sabine saw something that didn’t look right…didn’t look stable.
The older woman stepped over to them and gently removed the younger woman. “You have to excuse Frances. She’s a bit overwhelmed with all of this. She was very close to Adam when they were children, as twins often are.”
Sabine snapped her attention to the older woman she presumed was her grandmother. “They were twins?” Surely that wasn’t right. Sabine’s father was only eighteen when he died. That would make him forty-six now. Frances looked at least ten years older than that.
“Yes,” the older woman said. “A difficult birth but a blessed one as I got a boy and girl in one shot. Twins run in the family. It’s something to keep in mind when you decide to start a family yourself.” She smiled at Sabine. “I’m your grandmother, Catherine.”
Sabine smiled back, but it felt weak. This was all so much more overwhelming than she’d ever imagined. Her vision blurred and she saw a distorted Catherine staring at her.
“Sit,” Catherine said and guided her into a chair. “Hand me that glass of water,” she directed Alford.
“Sabine?” She could hear Beau’s voice next to her but couldn’t force herself to turn and look.
“Poor dear,” Catherine said, “this has all been a shock to you, too, hasn’t it?” She placed a glass in Sabine’s hands and helped guide it to her lips.
Sabine took a sip, then a deep breath in and out. Her vision sharpened and she looked over at Catherine and nodded. “I guess it has been a shock. I didn’t realize…”
“I should have,” Beau said and squeezed her arm. “Do you want to finish this another time?”
“No,” Sabine said. “I’ll be fine.” She looked at Catherine, her grandmother. “I’m sorry about that. I promise to behave myself from now on.” She smiled.
Catherine smiled back. “Well, since you’re not going to hit the deck on us, I’d like you to meet your grandfather, William.” She motioned to the silverhaired man who had been hovering at the end of the table. He stepped forward, and Sabine rose to greet him.
He studied her for a minute, almost making her uncomfortable with his scrutiny, then extended his hand. “You’re the spitting image of your father.” He smiled. “A bit prettier, though.”
Sabine took his hand in hers and smiled back. “Thank you.” Sabine looked over at the attorney. “And Mr. Alford? Is he family, too?”
“Not officially,” Catherine said, “but he’s here so often that it was either make him an honorary member or catalog him with the furniture.” She smiled at her joke. Alford didn’t look nearly as amused.
Sabine turned and gestured to Beau. “This is Beau Villeneuve. He’s the private detective who solved the mystery.”
William shook hands with Beau. “Guess we owe you a huge thanks. We never knew what happened to Adam and had no idea that he had a baby. We’re sad to hear of his death, although after all these years we really didn’t expect anything different. But Sabine is a surprise, and a good one at that.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Beau said.
“Why didn’t you know?” Sabine asked, unable to hold back the question that had been stuck in her mind ever since Beau had told her that her family was in Louisiana and very well off. “Why did he leave? And why didn’t you look for him?”
Catherine shot a look at William, then looked back at Sabine. “We didn’t exactly approve of the relationship between him and your mother. Adam had plans to go to medical school. When we realized how much time he was spending with her, we were afraid he’d do something foolish and jeopardize his future. I’m afraid we forbade them to see each other, which looking back was foolish on our part, as it only made them more determined to be together.”
“We did look,” William said. “I don’t want you to think we didn’t, but it was if he’d vanished.”
“And my mother’s family?” Sabine asked.
Catherine shook her head. “She lived back in the bayou. We tried to locate her family, but no one back there would talk to us. We don’t even know if she had any here.”
William placed one hand on Catherine’s arm. “It was a hard time,” he said. “The police couldn’t assist us, as Adam was an adult and had left on his own volition. We hired private detectives but with nothing to go on, we finally gave up after six months of futility. We honestly believed that he’d contact us again. And when he didn’t, well, we were afraid the worst had happened.”
Catherine nodded. “For years, every time the doorbell rang, my heart leapt in my throat with fear that the police were there to tell me he was gone.” She sniffed and touched her nose with the back of her finger. “We didn’t even know about you, Sabine. If we’d had any idea that your mother was pregnant when we forbid Adam to see her, we wouldn’t have handled things that way. You’re our granddaughter. We would have changed our plans to ensure you had a proper home and upbringing.”
Sabine took all this in and nodded. “It must have been quite a shock when Mr. Alford told you about me.”
“Oh, well, at first, certainly,” Catherine said, “but then we were so excited, so happy that there was a piece of Adam in this world. We made a horrible mistake with our son, Sabine, and it cost us, him, you, and Mother. We’re going to do everything we can to make up for that now. That is, if you’ll allow us to.”
Sabine studied Catherine’s face, the anxiety, the sadness. “I’m certainly willing to try.”
Catherine sniffed again, then nodded. “Well, now that the uncomfortable part is taken care of, what do you say we move into the living room and have coffee and some of Adelaide’s great cookies? I happen to know she made a new batch this morning. We have so much to talk about and there’s no point in being parched or uncomfortable while doing it.”
Sabine and Beau rose and followed the family into a sprawling room filled with soft, plump leather furniture in beautifully blended earth tones. Sabine and Beau walked toward a chocolate-brown loveseat placed next to a beautiful stone fireplace, but before they could sit, an old Creole woman entered the room with a tray of cookies, a young Creole woman close behind her with coffee.
The old woman stopped short when she caught sight of Sabine, her mouth forming an “o.” For a moment, Sabine was afraid she might dump the entire tray on what was most certainly a ridiculously expensive leather rug, but she steadied herself and placed the tray on a coffee table in front of the couch. She hurried over to Sabine and gathered her in a crushing hug.
Sabine was momentarily surprised at such an emotional response, especially since her family had been much more reserved, but she wrapped her arms around the woman and squeezed. When the woman pulled back, Sabine could see unshed tears in her eyes.
“Child,” the woman said, “You are so beautiful. It’s an omen that you come now. I feel it in my bones. Good’s gonna come from this.”
“Oh, Adelaide,” Catherine said, waving a hand in dismissal. “Don’t start with that voodoo nonsense of yours. I’m sure Sabine doesn’t believe it any more than the rest of us.” Catherine frowned at Adelaide, and then her expression shifted once more to her standard regal, bored look. “Adelaide has been with the family for all of her seventy-eight years. Her mother worked for my great-grandmother.” Catherine gave the woman an indulgent but somewhat frustrated look. “You have to excuse her. She still holds to the old beliefs of her family.”
“I have no problem with those beliefs,” Sabine said and gave Adelaide a smile. “And I certainly hope this is a good omen. Thank you.”
Catherine narrowed her eyes at Sabine. “You don’t believe in that sort of thing, do you?”
Sabine shrugged. “I believe there are far more things in this world that can’t be explained than can.”
Frances gasped. “But surely you’re a Christian. You do believe in God, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Sabine said, “but I don’t limit His creations to only those I can understand.”
Frances relaxed a bit but still seemed far more stressed than the comment deserved. “Well, I suppose you could have a point.”
Adelaide laughed. “Oh child, it’s gonna be so good having you home.”
Sabine smiled back, comfortable that at least one person was truly happy to meet her and hopefully lacked a hidden agenda. “Well, it’s not exactly my home. I already have a home in Mudbug…and a business, for that matter. But I hope to visit.”
“You own a business?” Catherine asked and shot the attorney a questioning look “What kind of business is it?”
Sabine groaned inwardly. Apparently Alford had judiciously elected to leave out any information about her profession, not that she was surprised. After her exchange with Frances, she was afraid the answer to that question might push the family into scheduling a full-fledged exorcism. “It’s a retail shop of sorts,” she said, hoping that would distract them for a couple of days.
Catherine perked up a bit. “Clothing? I couldn’t help but notice your shoes. They’re very…interesting. I thought maybe one of those shops that carries old, unique items.”
Sabine looked down at her pumps. They were white with different varieties of multi-colored flowers covering them. The five-inch heel was dark redwood. Interesting? Unique? Catherine uttered those words like she was wearing fuzzy, bunny house slippers. “Actually, I got these at Macy’s.”
Catherine glanced down at the shoes again and frowned. “Really? I’ve never seen anything like them before.”
Sabine stared at Catherine, starting to feel a little irritated at their stiff-minded beliefs. Might as well lay it all out now. “I love the unique. I’m a psychic, and I own a paranormal shop in downtown Mudbug. I sell different magical items, herbs for spells, candles, that sort of thing. And I do tarot readings as well as channel dead relatives for those who are interested in talking to the other side.”
The room went completely silent. Everyone was staring at her, with the exception of the lawyer, who looked irritated with the entire mess. The expressions ranged everywhere from confused (Catherine), to excited (Adelaide), and horrified (Frances).
Frances removed the hand that was covering her mouth. “You sell pagan items for profit?”
Sabine nodded. “I haven’t ever heard it put quite that way, but yeah, I guess I do.”
Frances stared at her, her eyes wide with fear, “You don’t…I mean…I’ve heard that some people sacrifice chickens.”
Catherine frowned. “You’ve been reading the newspaper again, Frances.” She shot a look at Adelaide, who looked down at the floor. “You know reading the paper gets you upset.”
“That’s okay,” Sabine said. “It’s a common enough question.” From fools. “I don’t do anything like that in my shop. It’s really more about fun than anything else.”
Adelaide started to laugh. “Just what this family needed—something to shake the foundations.”
William frowned at Adelaide. “Our foundations are fine, Adelaide. Don’t you have something to take care of in the kitchen?”
“Certainly, Mr. Fortescue,” Adelaide said. “I’ll just leave you folks to sort out the rest of Sabine’s life for her.” She gave Sabine a wink and headed to the kitchen.
“Well,” Catherine said, “this is certainly unexpected but nothing so dire as can’t be fixed. You’re a Fortescue now. I’d be more than happy to give you the money to start another enterprise…perhaps clothing, as we talked about before?”
“But I—”
Catherine gestured to Sabine to take a seat. “We have plenty of time to talk business. Now, it’s time to talk family. Frances helped me pull all the photo albums from when she and Adam were children. I thought you might like to see those first.”
Sabine sat on the couch and looked over at Beau. He was trying to appear nonchalant, but Sabine felt the tension coming off him. He looked around the room, barely glancing at the people, and for some inexplicable reason, she knew he got more in that glance than most would in a bio. He was sizing them up, reading them like he would a newspaper, then systematically calculating the inherent risks and consequences.
Sabine took in a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the album Catherine had placed on the table in front of her. Tried to squelch the bad feeling that she had just stepped into the eye of a hurricane.