"Trey why are we here?" I asked looking up at him.
I saw him furrow his brow in confusion.
"It is customary for family members be present when a grave is disturbed," he said.
"This is clearly something my father could have handled alone."
Trey took my hand and studied me for a moment.
"Don't you want to see her?" he asked me gently.
I looked at him aghast. It had not occurred to me that her casket would be opened until she got to the county coroner's office for the forensic autopsy. I figured at that point the metal box would be removed and given to me or to my father.
"Are you serious? They are not going to open her casket here are they? I don't want to see my mother's decomposed remains."
I was horrified that Trey had asked such a question.
"Tylar I don't think it is going to be as bad as all of that. Yes they will open the casket here to make sure it contains a body first of all; and to establish the identity as being her."
I turned from him thoroughly appalled at the idea of looking at my mother's corpse.
"Tylar, no one is going to force you to look at her but I just thought if you wanted to it might help you put some closure on things."
By this time the deputy and cemetery people had exited the mausoleum. The deputy was carrying a dark metal box that had a handle on it.
"They have to book that in as evidence sweetie."
My father was still inside with her. I didn't budge. Trey remained next to me not saying anything further. It was several minutes later that my father emerged. He came over to where Trey and I were standing. His eyes were red. He had been crying. It distressed me to see him like that.
"Tylar," he said to me softly, "Would you like to say good-bye to your mother? She looks beautiful."
I stood up. My legs were wobbly. Everything had a surreal feeling to it. Trey was beside me, taking my arm. My father stayed outside as we made our way back inside the mausoleum. I saw the opened lid of the casket. It was the type that had two lids. Only the top one had been opened. Her casket was on a dolly of some sort so that it could be wheeled outside to the waiting hearse.
Trey held my hand as we walked to the side of it. The first thing that I saw was her hair. It was just like mine. It was cut in long layers that framed her face.
As I looked at her I was amazed at how much I resembled her. It looked like me laying there asleep. She had been buried in a red sweater dress. Her hands were clasped together resting on her stomach. I looked at the satin pillow where her head rested. I saw the caul that Trinity had spoken of.
It looked like a thin nylon veil that had been draped
on the pillow next to her.
Someone had placed a ragged teddy bear in the casket next to her. It might have been mine. I felt the tears stream down my face. I had no memory of her at all.
She had carried me; given birth to me; fed and nurtured me yet I had no memory of any of that. I had been cheated out of a mother; she had been cheated out of a life. Trey squeezed my hand gently. My sobs escaped as I looked at this beautiful creature that I had never known.
"Mommy," I sobbed, wiping my tears with the back of my hand.
"We will make this right. I promise you that."
I leaned over and brushed a kiss against her hair.
Trey enfolded me in his arms and led me outside once again.
My father was waiting in the limo for us. The deputy sheriff and the cemetery personnel wheeled the now closed casket out to the waiting hearse. She would be taken to Jackson for the forensic autopsy. Her body would then be placed back into her final resting place here. My father said that he would be back to ensure everything went as planned.
"When will we know about the contents of the metal box?" I asked.
"Once it has all been reviewed by the D.A's office anything that is not pertinent to her death will be released. Anything deemed pertinent as evidence will remain in custody with the authorities until such time as the case is resolved in criminal court."
"How long could all of that take?"
"Tylar don't worry; I will use any means possible to avoid dragging this out. I have scheduled a meeting with the D.A. day after tomorrow."
I leaned against Trey in the car.
"I want to go home Trey."
"We will go home baby. How about tomorrow?"
Trey booked our flight when we got back to my father's estate. We had a late afternoon flight out of Baton Rouge.
My father spent the evening playing with Preston while Trey and I relaxed in front of the massive fireplace.
The following morning Dad took us on a tour of the grounds. He had several thoroughbred horses stabled in his barn.
"Do you ride?" he asked me.
"A little," I replied smiling.
He had one of the hired hands saddle up two horses Trey had stayed behind with Preston. My father and I rode the trail that went the full perimeter of the estate.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. I could tell that my father had a passion for horses. He was an excellent English rider as well. Perhaps something else that I had inherited from him I thought.
When it was time to depart for the airport I hugged my father tightly. I had grown close to him these past several days. I knew that we would continue to bond as parent and child. He promised he would let me know the status of the investigation as it unfolded.
He shook Trey's hand before we left and mentioned that he had recused himself from the decision relating to the oral argument Trey had given a few weeks prior in Baton Rouge. He explained it would have been a conflict of interest for him to opine on the matter.
"Shit," Trey said later on the way to the airport. "Here I thought it would be a slam-dunk with your father on that panel. Now I have to sweat it out while waiting for the others to decide."
I was glad to be going home. It had been nice spending time with my father and getting to know him. I missed my routine at home. I missed Trey and Gina; I missed Tristan and Jean. The holidays were fast approaching and I needed to prepare for our baby's first Christmas.
After that I needed to prepare for our move into our new home. I leaned my head against Trey on the airplane. Preston was asleep cuddled in his lap.
"I love you Trey."
"I love you too, baby."
"Trey?"
"Yes Tylar?"
"Truthfully what did you feel if anything yesterday when you saw my mother in that casket?"
He looked down into my eyes as I was nestled against him. He looked a bit distraught.
"I was overwhelmed with a feeling of despair," he replied thoughtfully.
"Why despair?" I asked.
"Because part of me was totally in despair at the thought of how tragic her situation was; it saddened me to think of someone close to you having had to suffer through that. The other part of me despaired at the knowledge that it was exactly that same tragedy that had allowed your life to intertwine with mine. I couldn't imagine my life without you. It really tore me up."
"I don't know," I replied. "I guess I believe in destiny. I mean I think that you and I were destined to be together. I don't want to think that the tragedy with my mother was the only way that we would have found each other."
"I like the way you think Mrs. Sinclair."
CHAPTER 47
As the Christmas holidays approached Trey and I had decided to stay in Atlanta. We hadn't heard anything definitive since we had left Baton Rouge the week before. My dad had stayed in touch but he would know more the following week when the Grand Jury convened. The toxicology report on my mother's autopsy was due the first part of January. Dad had invited us to Baton Rouge for Christmas but I told him we felt like we needed to stay in Atlanta for Preston's first Christmas. He had understood.
Gina and Tristan had been working night and day preparing the club for its official grand opening on Christmas Eve as 'Tristan's Shady Lady Saloon and Restaurant. The contractor had made most of the minor changes; the health inspectors had approved the kitchen for food preparation; an area had been walled in as the restaurant and the wine cellar was completed.
Tristan had discussed with Trey taking over his lease on the apartment when we moved. Trey had met with the manager and the president of the tenant's association and submitted Tristan's application for approval. It had been approved within a day so both Tristan and Gina would be staying on after we moved.
Trey and I had decorated the apartment for Christmas. We had bought a live tree and spent the whole Saturday before Christmas decorating it. Preston wouldn't leave it alone; we had to watch her constantly as she crawled over to it wanting to snatch a bulb or ornament. Gina had given one of her gifts to her early. It was her "Ho-Ho-Ho" plush Santa Claus.
"Jesus Christ," Trey had complained after he heard the "Ho-Ho-Ho" several hundred times as Preston played with it.
"I just got rid of that damn ghost. Leave it to Gina to provide another irritating toy for the holidays!"
"Ah-ha! I knew you did something with that ghost! Where is it?"
Trey had grinned sheepishly then finally admitted he had put it in one of the Goodwill boxes that I had filled when cleaning out the closets.
"Shame on you," I admonished him gently.
"She loved that ghost."
"She never knew it was gone. Babies have the attention span of - well of Gina," he said laughing.
"Well I warn you Trey Michael. You won't be pulling that shit with Santa Claus."
We had sent our Christmas presents on to Bristol. We planned on going there right after Christmas to ring the New Year in with the Sinclair family. Even Tristan and Gina were planning on going. Tristan had hired an assistant manager for the club in an effort to free up some of Gina's time. It was evident that they were totally in love.
Gina and I had spent some BFF time together after my return from Baton Rouge. I had told her everything.
"Oh Ty," she had sobbed as I described seeing my mother in her open coffin, "I can't imagine how that must have felt for you."
"It was almost like looking at me Gina. It was bizarre. It was like me but at the same time, it was someone I didn't remember."
"I just have to tell you that I really think your dad is awesome."
I had shared with her my feelings of anger and resentment for not finding my mother and declaring his everlasting love for her before his marriage. Gina had told me that I was too much of a romantic and not enough of a realist.
"Speaking of which," I stated, taking the opportunity of segueing into the subject.
"It appears to me that you and Tristan both have been bitten by the 'love bug."
"Girlfriend - we are taking it just one day at a time. We still fight like crazy but hey, the making up is fucking fantastic."
"So any talk of you two getting engaged or anything?"
"Seriously Tylar? I am just freshly divorced; Tristan is just freshly off of a broken engagement. We are simply enjoying each other. It's not that serious I keep telling you."
"Whatever Gina," I commented shaking my head.
Jean was coming over Christmas Eve to stay with Preston while Trey and I attended the grand opening of Tristan and Gina's club.
I had just enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath while Preston napped. Trey was finishing up some work in his study where the baby slept.
I got into a clean pair of pj's and went down the hall to check on Preston and Trey. The baby was sleeping soundly her Santa Claus clutched in one hand, her other hand was up to her face where she had fallen asleep sucking on her thumb. I tucked her blanket around her.