Chapter 8

READY OR NOT

Jordan Fairfield also seemed to handle the moment fairly well. He returned my smile, then said, “Hi, Selena. This is my wife Heather.”

Since she was looking a little uncertain…it was probably hard enough to be confronted by your partner’s long-lost biological child, let alone one who looked like she was about to give birth at any moment…I immediately extended a hand. “Hi, Heather. I’m Selena. Come on in.”

I stepped out of the way — a lot out of the way, as my distended belly took up so much space — and let them into the house. Judging by the way they glanced around at the museum-perfect interior with widened eyes they were doing their best to hide, I had to guess they hadn’t been inside too many houses like this.

Which was fair enough. There were some gorgeous historic homes in Southern California, but I didn’t think many of them were located in the San Fernando Valley.

As we were moving toward the sitting room, Chloe came out of the kitchen and hurried over to her parents. They wrapped their arms around her, asking if she was okay, apologizing for not getting here quickly enough.

She disentangled herself from them just enough to say, “You couldn’t have gotten here any faster than you did. And it’s okay — I had Selena and Calvin and Elizabeth and Tom to help me through all this.”

Almost as though her saying their names out loud had summoned them, the rest of the group emerged from the kitchen as well.

“Hey,” I said, figuring I might as well make the introductions now and, with any luck, steamroller over any awkwardness that might have wanted to crop up. “These are Chloe’s parents, Jordan and Heather Fairfield. Heather, Jordan, this is my husband Calvin Standingbear, and my mom Elizabeth and her husband Tom McGill.”

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help wondering if my mother’s and Jordan’s eyes were going to meet and they were going to exchange some kind of significant glance, the sort of thing that in a film would have been accompanied by hushed chords or at least a bit of slow motion.

This was real life, though, and more than thirty years had passed since the last time they’d seen each other. Both of the involved parties wore a smile that looked pretty natural, all things considered, and it seemed to me they were both just fine with how their lives had turned out.

“Thank you so much for being here for Chloe,” Heather said.

“Oh, it’s the least we could do,” my mother replied, while Calvin and Tom stood a little ways away and appeared glad that at least we’d gotten past the introductions. “Come into the dining room — I have some lunch set out for us, since I figured the important thing to do was for all of us to keep our strength up while we get this straightened out.”

Everyone seemed relieved to have food to focus on, so we all trooped into the dining room and took our various spots around the table. As host, Tom sat at the head with my mother on his left, and I sat next to her with Calvin on my left. Jordan seated himself at the foot of the table, and Chloe placed herself next to him, with her mother taking the chair at her daughter’s right.

For a few minutes, we were all busy with getting everyone the sandwich of their choice and passing around the bowl of fruit and the pitchers of iced tea and lemonade, but eventually, the food and drink had been handed out and it was time to get down to business.

Jordan sent his daughter a searching look. “So…you didn’t have to post bail, Chloe?”

Oops. While I’d known this subject was going to come up eventually, I didn’t think it would be the first thing broached during our meeting. Chloe looked over at me and I gave her a nod, letting her know it was okay to provide her father with a straight answer.

After all, that particular detail would have come out eventually anyway.

“Selena paid my bail,” Chloe said, and Jordan’s eyes widened.

“We would have done that — ”he began.

I shook my head and interjected as gently as I could, “I know. But then Chloe would have had to wait even longer in jail, and we thought the best thing to do was to get her out of there as quickly as we could.”

Jordan’s mouth tightened a bit. It was harder than I thought not to stare at him, to try to see the little details in his face that had come down to me, even though I resembled my mother’s side of the family a lot more.

Those telltales existed, though…something about the lift of his brows and even that slight quirk at the corner of his lips. Not a lot, not anything that most people would probably have noticed.

I noticed, though. Not that I’d ever doubted it, but still, sitting there at the table with him told me in no uncertain terms that Jordan Fairfield was definitely my biological father.

But he was Chloe’s father, too, and she needed him a hell of a lot more than I did.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Calvin said in his deep, calming tones. “Selena will get that money back just as soon as we prove Chloe’s innocence.”

For some reason, neither Jordan nor Heather appeared particularly encouraged by his words. After exchanging a troubled glance with her husband, Heather said, “But how are you going to be able to do that? I mean, we all know Chloe had nothing to do with this terrible mess, but convincing the authorities may be a whole different story.”

No one spoke for a moment, although I noted the way Calvin and my mother and Tom all slipped sideways looks in my direction, as though they felt it was my place to speak since I was the only amateur sleuth sitting at the table.

All right, then.

“Chloe might not have had a chance to tell you this,” I said. “But I’ve had a lot of luck over the past few years solving various murder mysteries around town. I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ll be able to get to the bottom of this one as well.”

Oh, boy…that sounded way too cocky, especially since I was feeling anything but sure of myself at the moment. At least my track record spoke for itself…mostly.

Once again, Heather and Jordan looked at each other. I didn’t know them well enough to catch all their shifts in expression, but I could tell they were sharing the sort of nonverbal shorthand that only a couple who’d been together a long time could usually manage.

“I wasn’t aware you were a detective, Selena,” Jordan said. “Last I heard, you were a psychic or something, right?”

“Or something,” I agreed. “And it’s not like I’m a professional private investigator or anything. I just discovered that I have a gift for figuring out mysteries. Some of it may have to do with being psychic.”

To my surprise, Heather Fairfield didn’t seem put off by any of this. “Like Chloe.”

“Yes,” I said. Maybe the jury was still out on Chloe’s particular gifts — if she had prophetic dreams, why hadn’t her sixth sense signaled her that trouble was on the way? — but she certainly believed she had talents in that area, and so, it seemed, did her mother. “That’s probably why I’ve been able to solve so many crimes. It’s amazing what a good session with your Tarot cards or pendulum can do for you.”

I decided it was better not to mention how the spirit of my Grandma Ellen had also helped me out on several occasions. Reading a Tarot card was one thing; communing with the dead might have been just a bit much for the Fairfields.

Heather reached for her neglected sandwich and took a bite. Then she said, “So…how do you plan to approach Chloe’s case?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I said frankly. “But probably the first thing I need to look into is Jack Speros’s past.”

Jordan, who’d just eaten a slice of strawberry, frowned…even as I thought I detected a hint of amusement in his eyes, eyes that were blue but a few shades lighter than mine. “The kid was twenty-two years old. I doubt he had much of a past.”

Next to her father, Chloe rolled her eyes, but I could tell she wasn’t going to contradict him.

Not when so much was riding on all this.

Calvin spoke up then. “You might be surprised,” he said. “I’m not saying we’ve had to deal with the same problems here in Globe that they have in the big city, but one thing I know for sure is that people can get in trouble at any age.”

Since those words were so patently true, no one at the table bothered to contradict him. An uncomfortable silence fell, one that Chloe appeared to think she should fill, since she said, “I’ll be interested to see what Selena finds out. All the time I was with Jack, he seemed like a straight-up guy. The only reason we broke up is that he started to get way too clingy…kept talking about wanting to get married even though he hadn’t even graduated yet. It started to feel kind of weird.”

If the startled expressions on Jordan’s and Heather’s faces were any indication, this was the first they’d heard about any of that.

“He asked you to marry him?” Heather asked.

Apparently realizing that she might have opened a whole new can of worms, Chloe replied, “Well, not in so many words. It’s more that he wouldn’t stop bringing up what it would be like to be married, and what kind of plans we should be making for our future. At first, I thought it was kind of cute, because most people our age aren’t ready to settle down yet. But then when he wouldn’t give it up, I finally pushed back and told him I didn’t have any intention of getting married until I was at least twenty-eight or twenty-nine. I mean, who wants to get tied down that young?”

Since I hadn’t tied the knot until I was past thirty, I could agree with my little sister’s opinion on the matter. Circumstances were different for everyone, of course, but it just made sense to me that she would want to grow into herself more as a person before she leaped into committing to a partner for the rest of her life.

“Well, I’m glad you told him to back off,” Jordan said. “Neither one of you was in any position to get into a serious long-term relationship.”

His tone was flat, and I had to wonder if he was thinking about the way he’d hooked up with my mother all those years ago. True, they’d used protection, but nothing was infallible.

What would have happened if he’d tried to “do the right thing” and asked her to marry him?

I’d actually asked her that question on several occasions, and she’d always shaken her head and told me there was no way she was going to force him to be with her just because biology had found a way, as it often did. She’d always been emphatic about raising me on her own…and she’d done a damn good job of it.

However, that didn’t mean she might not have harbored her own doubts from time to time, trying to decide if she’d made the right choice, especially on those tough days right before the next paycheck when mac and cheese often appeared on the kitchen table and I’d caught glimpses of her going over the bills on my way to brush my teeth, her blonde head drooping a little as she tried to make what was owed to the electric company and the gas company and the cable match up with what remained in her checking account.

“I know, Dad,” Chloe said, now sounding annoyed. “And that’s a big reason why I broke up with Jack.” She stopped there, teeth catching on her lower lip in the now-familiar worried gesture. “But now I can’t stop thinking that he would be alive if I hadn’t bailed on him and come to Arizona.”

“You don’t know that, honey,” Heather responded at once as she reached over to give her daughter a reassuring pat on the arm. “The problem is, none of us knows much of anything right now.”

No, we didn’t. And although neither Heather nor Jordan gave me a significant glance, I had to believe they weren’t entirely sure I’d be able to pull this off.

Well, that made three of us.

However, the rest of the meal didn’t present any hiccups, and it ended with Calvin once again promising to reach out to Alec Scurlock to see if he was available to take Chloe’s case. Heather and Jordan wanted to have her go back to their hotel with them, and she agreed, albeit with some reluctance.

“But I’ll come back to the house when I’m done,” she told me as we made our way down the porch steps, and at once, Jordan lifted an eyebrow.

“You’re staying with Selena?”

“It seemed the best thing to do for now,” I replied. It still felt kind of strange to interact with him as though he hadn’t been out of my life for the entirety of my existence, to act as if this was all perfectly normal. “Neither Calvin nor I thought it was a good idea for Chloe to be alone at the Airbnb so soon after….” I let the words trail off, mostly because there wasn’t an easy way to say, So soon after someone was murdered there. However, I made myself go on, “But I don’t think Chloe has made a final decision as to where she wants to end up. We’re just taking it day by day right now.”

“Exactly,” she said. Then her expression clouded. “Maybe Hazel won’t even want me to come back after what happened at her place.”

I knew Hazel would never kick Chloe out — especially because she’d texted me earlier that day to tell me she was horrified after finding out about Jack’s murder from Henry Lewis, and that she supported my sister in whatever she wanted to do, whether it was to continue her stay at the Airbnb or find someplace else to crash while she was here in Globe.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” I said gently. “Hazel let me know that she’s on board with whatever you decide. It’s up to you.”

Hearing those words, Chloe sent me a grateful look, telling me I’d eased at least one worry that had been preying on her mind.

Whether I’d be able to help with any of the others was up for debate.

Calvin was quiet as we pulled out of the long gravel drive and onto the street that would lead us back to Highway 60. Once we were cruising along at fifty miles per hour, though, he said, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” I said absently. My mind had already started picking at the details of Jack Speros’s murder, trying to see if it could come up with anything halfway worthy, and I hadn’t been paying much attention to my surroundings.

“About meeting your father for the first time.”

“Oh, that.”

Calvin was in profile to me, but I could still see one corner of his mouth lift slightly. “Yes, that.”

I pulled at the seatbelt so it wasn’t tugging quite so tightly across my distended belly, then shook my head. “I don’t really know what I should say,” I replied. “It’s like…I saw things in his face that I’ve seen in mine, and yet the whole situation didn’t feel quite real. I mean, I know that Jordan Fairfield is my biological father, but we still didn’t have any connection.”

My husband let go of the steering wheel so he could reach over and take my left hand in his right. Feeling his warm, strong fingers against mine helped to dispel some of the air of unreality that seemed to have descended on me from the first minute when Jordan’s eyes met mine.

“I think I can understand that,” Calvin said. “He’s never been a part of your life. There’s no reason to think you’d have some kind of immediate rapport.”

“But I did with Chloe,” I argued. “It’s like we clicked from almost the first moment we met.”

No immediate response, partly because we were turning onto the gravel lane that led to the house, and he had to slow down and pay attention to the road, still muddy in places from a storm we’d had over the weekend. “It must be very different connecting with someone who’s your sister, though,” he said. “You’ve told me before how it would have been nice to have siblings.”

Yes, I had. It wasn’t exactly that I was jealous of Calvin’s large family, but more that I saw something in their interactions that I’d never been able to experience in my own life. And there had also been the way I’d known I had a brother and sister out there but had always been told there was no way I’d ever be able to meet them.

Having a sister show up on my doorstep had fulfilled a dream I’d held deep inside for a long time. It was probably part of the same longing that had made me look at Archie as the brother I’d never had growing up…even while I had to recognize that sometimes he could be a royal pain in the rear.

Even so, I wanted him to always be a part of my life.

“I think it’s going to take me a while to process all of it,” I said after a long pause. “Honestly, after the horror stories I’ve heard about other people’s families, I suppose I should be glad that our reunion didn’t turn into something out of Jerry Springer. ”

Now the faint lift that had been playing around the corners of Calvin’s mouth turned into an outright grin. “You’re probably right about that.”

Gravel lane turned into gravel drive as we pulled up to the garage and parked. I was silent as he got out of the Durango and came around to my side of the vehicle to help me out. Even a few weeks ago, I might have protested that I was fine and didn’t need the assistance. Now, though, I was only glad for about the millionth time that I was going through all this with Calvin Standingbear at my side.

We made our way to the front door and headed into the house. At once, Sadie came running up to us, tail wagging, while at the same time, her reproachful eyes told us exactly what she thought about us disappearing together like this. Under normal circumstances, she was used to the way we’d both head off to work for most of the day, but with the two of us returning home at the same time, she obviously thought we’d been off doing something fun involving walks and treats and maybe burgers.

“Nothing like that, little girl,” I said, while Calvin bent down to fondle her ears. Before I was roughly the size of a humpback whale, I would have leaned over to give her some love, too. Now, though, I knew risking that sort of maneuver might land me flat on my face. “But we’ll get you a treat to say we’re sorry.”

At the word “treat,” she went running off toward the kitchen, while my husband and I followed at a slightly more sedate pace. Luckily, the treats were located on a shelf in the pantry at roughly waist level, so I didn’t have to do anything more than pluck one out and hand it to Calvin so he could once again lean down to give it to the dog.

With Sadie taken care of, he fetched water for us. My mother’s lemonade was very good, tangy and not overly sweet, but I still wanted to clear my palate.

“Are you going to be okay here by yourself?” Calvin asked as I settled myself on the couch. “I told the guys at the station that I didn’t know how long I was going to be gone, but if I head back now, I can still get in a couple of hours.”

Guilt over pulling him away washed over me, even though none of this was my fault. Still, I knew Calvin had been doing his best to put in all his regular hours before he went on parental leave at the end of the week, and having him rush off to support me while my newfound sister got bailed out had definitely thrown a monkey wrench into those good intentions.

“I’ll be fine,” I replied at once. “The sign in the shop window says the store won’t be open until ten tomorrow morning, so that part’s handled. I’m sure the news has gone all over town already, which means I don’t have to waste a lot of time explaining myself.”

About all Calvin could do was give a rueful shake of his head. Since he was a native of Globe’s environs, if not the town itself, he knew even better than I did how effective its gossip grapevine was.

“I’ll only be ten minutes away — ” he began, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“I’m fine,” I said firmly. “No signs of early labor, nothing to tell me this baby isn’t okay with sitting it out and waiting for the appointed day. Go on into work — I’ll be here when you get back, waiting with my feet up.”

He obviously could tell that I didn’t want to be coddled, so he just bent down and gave me a quick kiss, told Sadie to keep an eye on me, and then headed outside.

As soon as the door shut, I wondered if I’d made a mistake in shooing him out. The house felt almost too empty with Calvin gone, although I told myself that was silly. I had Sadie here with me, and in a few hours, he’d come home and we’d put together something simple to eat. Back before it started getting harder for me to bend and lift in the kitchen, I’d gone kind of crazy for a week or two, putting together dishes that would be easy to freeze and reheat — soups, stews, all kinds of sauces. Right now both the freezer in the house and the big one in the garage were filled with enough stuff to keep us fed for at least the next three months, so finding something for tonight wouldn’t be too difficult.

In fact, that was what I should do now — go into the kitchen, decide about dinner, and then head back to the couch and find something interesting to fill the next couple of hours. Lately, I’d been spending far too much time watching home-improvement shows, but they were mindless and mostly entertaining, and I’d even picked up a few tips I thought I’d put to use when it came time to do something with the spare room.

I pushed myself up from the sofa and winced as the baby landed a kick in what felt like my lowest rib on the right-hand side.

Feels like I’ve got a future David Beckham in there, I thought, and allowed myself a smile that wasn’t much more than a grimace.

However, since by then I was used to the unending soccer match in my midsection, I ignored the discomfort and went down the short hall to the kitchen. However, I’d only just opened the freezer to inspect the carefully labeled Ziplock bags inside when my phone rang from my purse.

I’d left it on the counter, so I only had to move about a foot to reach into it and pull out the phone. The number wasn’t one I recognized, but since it had an 818 area code like Chloe’s, I assumed the caller must be one of her parents.

“Hello?”

Heather’s voice, sounding rushed, urgent. “Selena, we need you and Calvin to come over. Jack’s parents just turned up out of the blue.”