He threw the onesie back into the trunk and leaned down to place a tiny kiss on the tip of my nose. “Our kids?”
“Yeah. I thought we should have some after we get married. You know, like lots of people often do.”
Twisting a strand of my hair around his finger, he leaned down and kissed me, this time on the lips. Smiling, he said, “Kids it is, but I can’t promise normal.”
I looked up into his face and for a moment thought I saw a trace of fear in his eyes. “No problem. I’ve got perfectly normal and average covered, so our kids will be fine.”
“Do you remember what I said to you that first night in the car?”
I thought back to that night for a moment. “No. What?”
He tucked my hair behind my ear and gave me that look that always made me feel like lava was pooling in my abdomen. “You said you were ordinary, and I told you you’re anything but.”
“Yeah, but you knew nothing about me then.”
“And I still saw it in you. So forget about this average business. You’re anything but, Nina Edwards.”
“Well, Tristan Stone, I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you forget.”
I loved seeing him like this. These moments when he was relaxed and playful were so infrequent, but when they happened, they made me realize all over again why I was so crazy about him.
“Did you find anything in those boxes?”
He shook his head and frowned as all the playfulness disappeared. “Not yet. We better get back to it.”
Something in the way his shoulders sagged when he turned back to begin searching the boxes again showed how much this was affecting him. I wanted to take him into my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay, but until we figured out how to stop Karl, nothing was going to be okay.
Except us. We would be okay. I knew that in all my heart.
I focused on a trunk next to the one I’d just finished searching and prayed to God that we’d find something soon. Smaller than the previous two, this one contained what appeared to be old Christmas and birthday cards, some from as far back as before Tristan and his brother were born. Although I knew Tristan wouldn’t mind me reading them, I felt oddly like an intruder on the private notes and cards from his family.
One handmade card of a wreath made out of silver and gold foil sat on the bottom of the trunk, reflecting the little light that reached it. Lifting it out, I ran my fingertip over the edges of the wreath, impressed with how beautiful it still was after years hidden away. The card’s creator had taken care to make folds in each piece of foil to simulate movement in the wreath. Tilting the card up and down, I watched as the light from the window danced over it.
I turned it over but saw no writing or name. Carefully, I pulled the edge of the card and found it opened to reveal a barely legible handwritten Christmas greeting.
May the blessings of the season fill your days with joy.
There was an initial just below that line I couldn’t make out. Smudged, it looked like a K or a D. K would make sense if it was from Karl to Tressa, but something about the card seemed distinctly unlike one a man would give to a woman. Setting it aside, I sifted through anniversary cards and birthday cards belonging to Tristan’s mother. All store bought, unlike the Christmas card, they were from Victor Stone to his wife. None showed much thought on his part, and none even contained the word love. Tristan’s assessment of his parents’ marriage seemed to be correct.
Inside one of the cards were three small, white envelopes addressed to her in what looked like a man’s handwriting. I couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t appear to be either Victor Stone’s writing or Karl Dreger’s. Had there been another affair?
I quietly slipped the letter out of the first envelope, not wanting Tristan to hear the rustle of paper. Not that I disapproved, but I wasn’t sure how he’d handle finding out his mother had cheated on his father with yet another man. Some things didn’t need to be known.
Looking over toward Tristan, I saw he was busy beginning his search of the next box, so I turned my back toward him and began to read Tressa’s letter. I knew from the first sentence I’d been wrong. This was no love letter.
Dear Tressa,
I know it’s been years since we last spoke. I’ve never forgotten how wonderful you were to my girls when their mother died. It’s because of that kindness that I’m writing you today in the hopes that by doing so I can lessen the pain of what I must now do.
An investigation into what I thought was merely a simple case of a workplace lawsuit at Stone Worldwide has unearthed a story I have to believe you know nothing about. It’s with a heavy heart that I must tell you that I cannot keep this information secret much longer. Please know that if I could spare you the pain I know this will cause you, I would.
Your husband is at the center of my investigation that shows he was responsible for a bombing at a coffee shop in Atlanta that killed innocent men, women, and children. The intended victim was the judge in a sexual harassment case against Stone Worldwide, but the story goes far deeper. The judge’s daughter, a fifteen year old, had become pregnant with your son Taylor’s child and when he abandoned her, she committed suicide. The judge knew what your son had done and would have made sure the case went against Stone, so your husband made sure that never happened.
Tressa, I wish there was another way to tell you this, but I didn’t want to put you in harm’s way. I’m sorry. Be careful and if you need to reply, do so only to the address on this letter. Your husband and the men surrounding him are dangerous.
Take care.
Joe
I sat stunned at what I’d just read, unsure of how it was possible that my father had written Tristan’s mother. Thinking back to when my mother died, I couldn’t remember her coming to see us. How had she known my family then?
Nothing seemed to make any sense. Had my father and Tressa Stone had an affair before my mother died? Just the thought of my father cheating seemed wrong. If not, how had they known one another?
Looking up from the letter in my hands, I saw Tristan finishing with a box and motioned for him to come over. I held the letter up and shook my head.
“What’s wrong? Did you find something?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
“I don’t know. I…I don’t understand this letter. You read it and tell me what’s going on.”
My hands shook as his eyes moved across the page reading the words my father had written. When he finished, he looked up, his expression telling me he was as confused as I was.
“What does this mean? Your father knew my mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are there any other letters from him?”
I handed him the other two letters I found inside the card. “I found three letters. They’re addressed to your mother at somewhere in Pennsylvania. Did she ever live there?”
Tristan nodded as he silently read the address. “My mother was from Gladwyne, right outside of Philadelphia. The address this was sent to was my grandparents’ house there. It was left to her when they died.”
“How would my father know to send her a letter there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find something out in the other letters.”
I watched as he read the next letter, silently hoping it would tell us that my father hadn’t been unfaithful to my mother. Lifting his head, Tristan smiled. “I think I know what you were thinking, but it’s not like that. Listen to what he wrote.”
Dear Tressa,
Diana would never forgive me if I didn’t tell you first, and I hope you understand what I must do. We’re a long way from the nights when you and she would sneak out of your dorm at Bryn Mawr to come see me at the News Gleaner, aren’t we?
You asked me if there was anything you could say or do to convince me to keep what I’ve found to myself. I wish I could. My investigation has uncovered many secrets around your family. I promise you that the only details that will come out will be those related to my investigation. Please know that I would never intentionally hurt you or your family. You’re the reason I met Diana, and I’ve never forgotten that wonderful favor.
Take care to keep yourself safe. Do whatever you must to protect yourself and your family, but know that I have no choice now.
Joe
The news that my mother had been Tressa Stone’s friend and had met my father because of her touched my heart. To me, my parents had always been older. To think of them younger seemed odd, but as Tristan read my father’s letter, I imagined the three of them as college friends. The idea left me with more questions than answers, though. Had they remained close after college? How had Tristan’s mother met my father and later introduced him to my mother? Sadly, none of them were around to answer any of my questions.
“It seems that your father knew far more than just what my father and Taylor did,” Tristan said with a smile.
“They were college friends. My mother and your mother. Do you think we met as kids? My father mentioned that she was wonderful to Kim and me when my mother died. Maybe she brought you along.”
“Maybe. Maybe I fell in love with you all the way back then,” he said with a grin.
“Now you’re just making fun of me. You’re terrible! I don’t care what you say. I like the idea of us meeting when we were kids and falling in love years later.”
“I know what you were thinking, though. You were worried that my mother and your father had been together.”
“I was. That’s sort of creepy, don’t you think? A little too close for comfort for me.”
Tristan shrugged and shook his head. “People love who they love, Nina. If my mother was in love with your father, I don’t see anything bad in it, especially if he was anything like you. She deserved someone good in her life since she sure as hell didn’t have that with my father.”
“Then why was she with Karl, of all people?” I asked, still puzzled at how someone so good could be with someone who wanted to kill us.
“I have no idea.”
I pointed at the third envelope. “There’s one more letter we need to read.”
He slipped the letter out and began reading it aloud.
Dear Tressa,
I’ve found evidence that Stone Worldwide is the maker of the heart medicine Cordovex. The company that produces the drug, Rider Pharmaceutical, is a subsidiary company of Stone run by a man named Karl Dreger. I don’t know if anyone in your family knows what Rider is guilty of, but people are dying because of it.
I can’t wait with this part of the story. I’m sorry if your family is innocently tied up in this. As I’ve promised, only what I must reveal will come out.
Joe
“My father tried to warn her. What do you think she did with this information?”
“I don’t know, but there are other sheets of paper in the envelope.” He pulled the pages out and showed me the first one. On it, Karl’s name was written over and over, along with references to Cordovex. “I think we found what he’s been looking for.”
“That’s it. That’s what he thinks is in my father’s notebook. He had no idea he’d sent the information to your mother instead. But why would he send it to her?”
Tristan shook his head as he read the second note.
“What’s that one say?” I asked as he stuffed it back inside the envelope.
“Just more about the Cordovex business. We better find Daryl.”
Suddenly, Tristan seemed uneasy. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but his expression had changed. Standing up, I took his hand in mine. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a lot to take in.”
“I don’t think you should judge your mother too harshly, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t think she knew about any of what your father or Taylor were doing, and I certainly can’t imagine she knew what Karl was doing.”
Tristan lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I don’t blame her. Of all the people involved in this, only she and your father were innocent. I guess some people would argue that she was responsible even in some small way since she benefited from what Stone Worldwide did…”
His words trailed off, but I quickly tried to ease his mind. “That’s bullshit. Your father was responsible for what happened with his company. From what you’ve told me, she wasn’t involved at all. None of the blame is hers, Tristan.”
“I know. I do. It’s just hard to find out that the woman you thought you knew had all these secrets.”
We walked hand-in-hand downstairs and found Daryl peeking behind pictures in the game room. He’d found nothing, but at hearing the news of what we found, his burly face twisted into a clownish grin.
“Good. At least now we know what we have. Any idea how all of that got up there?”
Tristan sat down on a barstool and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “I imagine Rogers took it up there. He was responsible for all of that.”
“Well, thank you, Rogers. Now we need to decide what you should do next. You can’t get the authorities involved in the whole Cordovex-Cardiell thing until Karl’s out of power with Rider,” Daryl said.
“Then it’s time for Karl to be out of a job. Call Michelle and tell her to schedule a board meeting for three this afternoon.”