Strange and Unsettling ...
Ted watched the people hurrying to and from their cars in the crowded parking lot several stories below. He was standing at the window in his mother's dimly lit private hospital room, wondering what medical tragedy had brought the visitors to the same place where he now stood. Had they come to grieve a loved one, as he was doing, or had they received good news, allowing them to leave with peace of mind?
He dug his hands deep into the pockets of his khakis, trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. He'd been poring over production reports when the call from his sister, Lilly, came just yesterday.
The last few months had been particularly busy for him. Ever since he and Larmar Williams, his 50 percent partner in the company, had decided to take ViaTech public next spring, things had been moving at a rapid speed. He'd been traveling the country, meeting with potential shareholders and company executives at their six remote locations, making sure their numbers were primed and ready for inspection.
It was challenging to run a multimillion-dollar company, manage his various real estate investments, and find time to spend with his wife and child. Some days were exhausting, others were exhilarating, but none had ever felt like the last few hoursâstrange and unsettling.
Ted walked from the window and sat in the stiff vinyl-covered chair beside his mother's bed. Waiting was the hardest part. He knew he had to stay busy, so he finished his copy of the
Wall Street Journal,
responded to several e-mails on his laptop, then made a few phone calls. An hour later the sun had faded into night. His sister had already gone home to her family, leaving him and his mother alone.
Carolyn had not awoken since seeing him earlier that morning, and now Ted was wondering if he'd ever see his mother's eyes staring into his again or hear her voice one last time. Just as his thoughts were beginning to turn down a dark corner, he heard his name spill from her lips. At first he thought it might be wishful thinking, but when her eyes fluttered and her mouth fought to form a smile, he thanked God for one more chance. Springing from his chair, he moved to her side, taking her frail hand in his as he bent over to get closer.
“You made it,” Carolyn whispered.
“Of course I did.” Ted smiled back at his mother, looking at the skin and bones that lay before him. Carolyn had always been a beautifully put together woman, meticulous in her appearance. But as Ted scanned her pale, wrinkled face, looking at her sunken cheekbones and the gray strands sprinkled at the base of her temples, he realized that it was true: the human body was just a shell that wore out over time. The sight of his mother's listless body almost brought tears to his eyes, but he held them back.
“Theodore, there's so much I need to tell you,” she said, struggling to pull her words together.
Ted shook his head. “Just rest. Don't strain yourself.”
“No, you don't understand.... There are things you must know.”
The urgency in his mother's voice made Ted feel more uneasy than witnessing her visibly fragile state, because although her words were barely audible, her intent was direct and serious. He leaned in closer. “What is it, Mother?”
“I need to tell you about my past.”
Ted remembered her doctor mentioning that patients could become confused and disoriented, a result of the heavy doses of morphine used to ease their pain and keep them comfortable near the end. He thought that his mother might be experiencing that now. But as he studied her face, he could see that her eyes were locked on his and her expression was as clear and coherent as it had ever been.
“Theodore,” she breathed, pausing for a short moment, “I'm so proud of you.You've been a good son, a good brother, and a good husband and father. I always knew you were the strong one. Now you must use that strength to deal with the truth, with the secret....”
“Secret? What secret?”
Carolyn shook her head, casting her eyes toward the window. “I'll tell you tomorrow. I need to rest now... .”
And like that, she was out.
Just as quickly as she'd opened her eyes, Carolyn Thornton had fallen back into a motionless sleep. A full minute went by before Ted realized that he was still hunched over his mother's bed, holding on tightly to her hand. After standing in a slightly startled haze for another few minutes, he reclaimed his seat in the uncomfortable chair next to her bed. He pondered what had just happened, stunned by his mother's words. He wanted to dismiss what she'd said as the ramblings of a sick, old woman full of high-powered drugs, but he knew that wasn't the case. Carolyn had been precise in her delivery, and her tone told him that she'd been in command of her every word.
After the nurses persuaded him to leave for the night, Ted headed back to his presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. He waited for room service as he unpacked his clothes. He'd brought three suits and several shirts and pairs of pants, knowing he might be there for a week or longer. When the food came, he barely touched his plate. Usually, stressful situations didn't distract him from eating, sleeping, or carrying on business as usual. He was as steady as steel. But this wasn't business as usual; this was his mother, the woman he'd loved all his life. He was about to lose her, and he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do.
After he called room service to retrieve his mostly untouched food, Ted replayed the strange conversation he'd had with his mother. He didn't know what to make of it. What secret had she been keeping? Various scenarios ran through his mind, from the possibility that he or one of his siblings might have been adopted to the far-fetched notion that his mother had been leading some sort of mysterious double life.
Finally, he decided that he couldn't let his mind wander off into faraway places. Not at a time when he needed to be focused on more immediate things, like going over the arrangements with the funeral home director tomorrow morning, making sure that his sister didn't fall apart in the process, warding off his predatory brother from his mother's estate, and making sure that Victoria and Alexandria were safe and happy.
The mounting pressure, coupled with his hectic day, was enough to make him fall asleep, but not before he spoke to Victoria one last time before the day ended. It was eleven o'clock, and knowing his wife the way he did, Ted knew that she was probably wide awake, waiting for his call.
He dialed the number, and she picked up on the first ring.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I'm fine. Back at the hotel, getting ready to turn in. Did you and Debbie have a good time at dinner?”
“Uh, yeah,” Victoria answered tentatively.
Ted heard her hesitation. “What's wrong? Is she okay?”
Victoria knew that she couldn't reveal what she and Debbie had discussed during dinner. That admission would just open up a can of worms. “Oh, she's fine and crazy as ever. We had a great time. I'm just a little tired.... How's your mother?” she asked, more than ready to change the subject.
Ted told Victoria about the strange conversation he'd had with his mother just hours before. “I'm sure she knew exactly what she was saying. It wasn't the rantings of a delusional, dying cancer patient. It was real,V.”
Victoria sat up in bed, apparently just as confused and shocked as Ted. “Did she give you any indication about what kind of secret she's been keeping?”
“No, just that it has something to do with her past.”
Victoria thought about the conversation she'd had with Denise earlier that day, remembering that, ironically, they'd talked about the fact that Carolyn had never mentioned anything about her past. It was as if her life had only begun when she moved to Boston all those years ago. “I wish you could find a relative or someone who knew your mother when she was a young girl growing up in Louisiana. That way you could talk to them about her past, especially since she may not be able to tell you herself.... I mean, do you really think she'll make it through the night?” It was a question Victoria hated to ask, but she knew she had to put it on the table.
Ted rubbed his tired eyes, shaking his head on the other end of the line. “My mother's a tough old bird. If there's something she wants to tell me, she'll hang on until she gets it out.”
“I pray that you're right.”
Ted prayed that he was right, too. “How's Alexandria?” he asked.
“She's fine. Just misses her daddy,” Victoria said, knowing it would make Ted smile. “I called Susan and told her about what's going on, and she offered to let Alexandria stay over with Claudia this weekend. She said she'd pick her up from camp tomorrow afternoon, and that's a blessing, because it frees me up to deal with Gigi's rehearsal dinner and the wedding on Saturday.”
Ted had been looking for a way to get out of making an appearance at Gigi Howard's wedding, but the death of his mother wasn't the excuse he wanted. Nevertheless, he was glad that he didn't have to attend.
Gigi was Victoria's friend from their college days, and she'd briefly tried to pursue him before he and Victoria married. He'd never told Victoria about the succession of phone calls that Gigi had made to him after they met at Tyler's YFI Christmas fund-raiser, nor had he ever mentioned the e-mail invitations to dinner she'd sent him for several months that followed. Although he thought Gigi was a treat for the eye,Victoria had been his only focus, and every other woman paled in comparison.
“Good luck with the wedding,” Ted sighed through the phone. “You'll need it with Gigi.”
“Don't I know it. I just hope she behaves and that she and Gary don't cause a scene. The news crews will be lined up, primed and ready to capture their madness on film.”
“Knowing Gigi, she won't disappoint.” Ted paused. His voice was heavy with weariness, and Victoria could hear it loud and clear. “I'm going to turn in now. It's been a long day, and I need to head back to the hospital early tomorrow morning.”
“Okay, honey. Rest well and call me if anything changes.”
“I will. I love you,V.”
“Love you, too.”
As Ted lay in bed, he closed his eyes and tried to rest his mind. But his thoughts were steeped in his mother's words.
I need to tell you about my past.
As far as he knew, his mother had led a fairly uncomplicated, straight and narrow life. She'd married his father a year after she graduated from Wellesley. Soon after, they had their first child, Charles Jr. Then Lilly followed, with Ted rounding out their brood.
Carolyn and Charles Thornton had been the couple that other couples envied. Carolyn was tall, graceful, and classically beautiful. Her creamy porcelain skin, deep-set eyes, and coal black hair were reminiscent of a young Elizabeth Taylor and served to complement her husband's “blond-haired, blue-eyed all-American boy next door” good looks. They were a striking pair and had produced three equally handsome children. Added to that, they'd been madly in love, never leaving each other's side.
When Carolyn and Charles first moved to Boston, the aristocratic Back Bay establishment had embraced the couple, which hadn't been hard to do since Charles had relatives in the area on his father's side and hailed from a family base of old money and privilege by way of New York. The Thornton name was respected and highly regarded, giving Carolyn an automatic entrée into Boston's elite inner circle. And even though the old guard had initially wondered about her pedigree, her exquisite beauty and quiet charm eventually won them over and quieted their questions.
Carolyn had never been as outgoing or gregarious as her charismatic husband, nor had she ever put her education to use in order to carve out her own career path. But she wasn't simply a wealthy man's trophy wife who was good to look at, either. She was the steady glue that kept the Thornton home and children in order. She was content with letting Charles take the spotlight, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. She quietly volunteered at her children's schools and sat on the board of a local charity. In addition, she tended to the details of overseeing the family's estate.
Thinking about his family made Ted realize just how intensely private and guarded his mother had always been about her life and her past. She was open with her love for them, but there was a side of her that was hidden and unknown, and before Ted knew it, long-forgotten memories of his mother and his childhood began to race through his mind. As he drifted off to sleep in the distant comfort of a foreign bed, he wondered what secret he would discover in the morning.