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Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Marnie hadn’t messaged me by 10:00 a.m. the following morning, I decided to give her a call.
“Good morning, Marnie. Tricia and I had a lovely time with you guys yesterday. I’m busy with work events for the next couple of weeks, but Tricia thought it would be great for you both to come to her house for dinner after that.” I was making the conversation up as I went along. “Text me some dates that suit you both and we’ll figure something out.”
“Sounds fabulous. Dad really likes you, and believe it or not, you managed to impress Mom,” she chuckled.
“High praise indeed,” I mocked, before I cut to the chase. “Listen I have a meeting in a few minutes so I can’t talk long. The reason I’m calling was to get those details. I’m going past the vetting office later today, and wondered if you had been in contact with your stalker relative yet, and I wanted to remind you to send Franco’s details across.”
“Actually, I did, and I had just read Erin’s reply when you called.” Erin? Her name is Erin. “From the email she sounds really excited and is happy for me to pass on what she’s sending me. Do you have an email address I can forward it to?”
After giving her my private email address, I reminded her again about Franco’s details before we concluded the call.
“Well?” Tricia asked, glancing up from her makeshift workstation on the dining room table.
Shoving my cell in my suit pants pocket, I lifted my jacket from the back of the chair, and made my way over to her. I shrugged myself into my jacket before placing both hands on her upturned cheeks as she sat and held them there. I watched her close her eyes and bask in the warmth of them before she looked at me again. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of fear, anticipation, and worry. “Erin… the girl’s name is Erin,” I said and her breath hitched.
“That’s one of the names I would have chosen,” she replied, shaking her head in disbelief. Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. I wiped them away with my thumbs.
“Do you feel strong enough to deal with this?” I thought it a fair question, considering it had taken a long time to come to terms with facing her mom.
“I’ve had thirty years of not dealing, James, and like you said, shame only has power if you don’t face it. With your love and the work I’ve been doing with Miles, it’s given me courage to know what happened wasn’t all on me. I’m not blaming my mom one-hundred-percent, because she didn’t get me pregnant; I’ve obviously got to take responsibility for that. But I know I’m not entirely to blame for what transpired next. My mom should be carrying some of the indignity I faced following my mistake.”
“You’re amazing,” I told her, scooping her up off her seat and into my arms. “This is the woman I fell in love with. You can do anything you put your mind to. Don’t forget that.” Taking her lips in a kiss, I chuckled when she moaned and set her free. “All right, don’t go getting all turned on or my suit will need to be pressed again when I pick it up off the floor. I’ve got to run, but I’ll keep you up to speed if I hear anything else.”
* * *
After a full morning in meetings, I found a window in my day and checked my inbox. A new email from Erin Foley had arrived about fifteen minutes before. My heart raced in anticipation as I clicked on the link.
Hi, Mr. Wild, My name is Erin Foley and I’m trying to trace my birth mom. Unfortunately, my original birth certificate offers no clues… I can explain that later, but I do know I was born in a private hospital and my mom gave me up to friends of her aunt from church. The only information I have from my mom is that a young girl from Ohio gave birth to me, but my birth was registered in Baltimore. That part is a long story of how I learned about the young mom, which I won’t go into right now. I have no other information and both my adoptive parents, Alison and John Foley, are deceased. I was brought up unaware my parents weren’t my biological ones until certain events took place. I am now on a quest for the truth about my origins. I decided to try a DNA test, not expecting any earth-shaking results, but when a maternal aunt was connected to me, I was very excited. When I contacted your friend, Marnie Rosco, she sadly had no further leads for me. Apparently, Marnie has a sister the same age as my birth mom, but she’s never been pregnant and doesn’t have a child to date. I felt deflated that she couldn’t help me. I’d thought that was the end of the line until she messaged me last night after the conversation she’d had with you. I’m excited you have access to people who may help us a little further to ascertain a connection between us. We’re both intrigued to see where this goes. Thank you for offering to do this for us, and I would be forever grateful for any assistance you could offer me in my voyage of self-discovery. Should you think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Included in the email were Erin’s work, home, and cell phone numbers.
Replying to her email, I asked her for her date of birth and sought permission for our vetting department to contact her directly and within a minute this was answered giving her consent.
Five minutes later, Richard, the head guy in our vetting department had been briefed and I’d cited my reason for getting involved as a favor to a friend. As soon as I’d set the wheels in motion with him, I researched the date she gave me when she was born and vaguely remembered what Bradley said about Easter break. The date certainly fit with the birth of Tricia’s baby so, as promised, I picked up the phone and called her.
“Hey, baby, it’s me.”
“Any news?” she blurted anxiously, and my chest tightened in immediate response to the tone in her voice, she had sounded distressed.
“I know it’s easy for me to say because this isn’t about me, but please try to stay calm, baby. I’ve literally just read an email from the girl. Her name is Erin… Erin Foley, and from what you’ve both told me the dates fit with yours.” Tricia gasped and the line went silent. I immediately wondered what the hell I was doing, giving her information of that magnitude on the phone. “Hang up, I’m coming home. I’ll be there in ten.” Grabbing my jacket from the back of my chair, I asked Rhea to deal with whatever she could, and told Gena to cancel everything else as I left the office.
* * *
My chest ached when I stepped out of the elevator at home and saw Tricia pacing and hugging herself just outside our apartment door. As soon as she saw me, she came running, her hair tousled from threading her fingers through it many times no doubt, and her face looked ashen with worry. Her hands slid inside my open suit jacket and tightened around my waist. Pressing her cheek to my chest, we stood silently together for a moment.
“Come on, baby, let’s get you inside,” I coaxed, loosening her grip on me. When she looked up, I saw she’d been crying, and by the looks of her she had been for most of that morning. It dawned on me that she had probably put on a brave face until I’d left for work. Walking her back inside, I sat her down and made some chamomile tea while we talked.
“Okay, it sounds pretty much as we thought yesterday, although there are a couple of discrepancies. Where did you have your baby?”
“I don’t know, Mom took me to my Aunt Lydia’s place in New York, and we went to some private facility. It was such a traumatic time; the details are still blurry to this day. All I know is that they induced me, and the baby was a few weeks early.”
“And that was in New York, too?”
“Yeah, about half an hour’s car ride from my aunt’s house.”
“Hm, see that doesn’t add up.”
