Family Secrets Read online

“Good morning, miss.”

  Cari smiled as she hobbled about. Leaning against a counter, she returned his greeting, all the while cursing her bad luck for not being able to sneak out unobserved. “Good morning.”

  “Can we get you something to eat for breakfast? Coffee, eggs or toast?” John smiled at Cari.

  “Uhm, thank you, but I have to get going.”

  John nodded and then added, “I hope we’ll be seeing you again, ma’am.”

  Cari felt her throat tighten as she realized that she desperately wanted to tell John that she hoped for the same thing. Since she had already been served the most delicious of breakfasts in the middle of the night, she certainly wasn’t hungry. She would have liked to stay and spend some time with the people who lived here and worked for Jake. A sharp pang struck her as she realized how much she would enjoy coming downstairs with Jake, and savoring a leisurely meal with John and his wife. It was difficult to acknowledge but what she really wanted was to learn more about Jake, and she sensed that John and his wife knew Jake better than most employer and employee relationships.

  Taking a risk, Cari spoke from her heart. “I hope so too. Goodbye.”

  Once she was in the car, the tears let loose and she drove straight to her uncle’s house. The sun was halfway up the sky by the time she pulled the car into the garage. She went into Sal’s house very quietly, not wanting to awaken anyone or face any questions. Less than halfway across the living room, she realized that her mother and Uncle Sal were already awake, and in the kitchen. She turned to continue on to her bedroom, when she heard her mother’s quiet sobbing. She hated to move closer, remembering the last time she had eavesdropped.

  Still, she also seemed unable to stop herself. Leaning just a bit around the doorway, she could see them seated at the table and hear their conversation.

  "Marina, darling, please don't cry." Sal consoled Cari’s mother, patting her hand gently. "You must know that nothing in this world would make me happier than to be the one to walk our daughter down the aisle for her wedding, but it is impossible. You know the scandal we would face. And it isn't just you and me, but there is Carissa and Anthony to consider, and their children also, from now on."

  Cari felt her stomach churn violently at her uncle's words. Dear God! The realization of what he had just revealed shook her soul. Sal was not her uncle at all. He was her father! Not thinking beyond the need to escape this terrible revelation, Cari turned too sharply and came down the wrong way on her foot.

  “Ow!” she cried out in pain, and quickly muttered “damn!” She was sure that if they had not heard her cry of pain, they definitely heard her the second time. She hobbled a few feet back towards the door, but ended up collapsing onto the floor. Tears were running down her cheeks now, both from pain in her foot, and in her soul. A few moments later her mother and Sal ran into the room.

  “Oh my goodness! Carissa, darling, are you all right? Have you hurt your foot?”

  Sal stood to the side as Marina bent down on one knee at Cari’s side. “I didn’t hear you come in, Carissa.”

  Cari brushed her mothers sympathetic hands aside, not wanting to be near either of them at that moment. Yet she didn't want to reveal what she had overheard moments earlier. She couldn't deal with anything else! She sniffled loudly, and rubbed her foot.

  "I just got in a minute ago. I parked the car in the garage first." She lied convincingly, ignoring the sarcastic inner voice telling her she must come by it naturally. "I came down wrong on my foot, and the pain took me by surprise. It really was fine up until then.” She went to get to her feet, but stopped when her mother and Sal both reached out to help her. "I'm fine, but I think I'll just sit here another minute or so. Please, don't let me interrupt your breakfast…" She avoided looking either of them in the eye.

  Cari knew she had to be careful and not reveal what she had just learned. She needed time to absorb this new information. There was no denying that one more piece of knowledge like this just might do her in.

  "Carissa, darling, please let Sal assist you into the kitchen, and you can join us for breakfast. We really haven't been able to spend much time together." Marina rose to her feet, motioning for Sal to help her up.

  Cari shook her head. "No, really, I'm fine. And I already ate a huge breakfast. I couldn't possibly eat another bite until dinner tonight." She scooted back a little, putting a few feet between her parents and herself. She gritted her teeth and stood up. She moved quickly, hobbling towards her room. "I'm going to take a nap. We were up most of the night talking, and I need to catch up on my sleep I think. You go on with whatever plans you had for the day. And I’m sorry for leaving you stranded without a car."

  Marina frowned, but Sal nodded his head. "Well, if you are sure, Carissa. We were going to drive down the beach and have lunch at the small café we like. Your mother had some shopping she wanted to do. We'll be back in plenty of time for dinner this evening."

  Carissa nodded, feeling her face might crack from the fake smile she was putting on. "That sounds like a great idea. Don't hurry back on my account, please. If I get hungry, I'll have an early dinner. Bye you two, and see you later.” Hoping her voice sounded cheerful and normal, she turned as quickly as she could and went to her room. She closed the door behind her, and was grateful there was a key in the door, turning it as softly as possible. Crossing the room, she went over and lay down on the bed. Not moving, almost fearing something else might happen, Cari listened carefully for the sound that would assure her they had driven away.

  It seemed like forever, but it was really only thirty minutes or so when she checked the clock beside the bed. As soon as she heard the car pull out of the drive, she went back out to the living room. She walked straight to the phone, and pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. She had written the number down before leaving that morning. Something inside of her had insisted on being able to call Jake. Cari dialed the number slowly, her fingers were shaking so badly. She was never as glad as when she heard Jake's voice a moment later.

  "Jake?" Cari had told herself she wouldn't cry, but she did. The moment she heard his voice, the dam broke.

  "Cari! Honey, what is wrong? Where are you?"

  "Could you please come and get me?" she asked him, and then realized what an imposition this was. "I'm sorry to ask you, but there isn't anyone—"

  "I'll leave now. Just give me the directions." He remained quiet as she told him. "I can be there in about 45 minutes. Here is my cellular number, and call me in the car if you need anything at all before I get there."

  Cari wrote the number on her palm, and then said goodbye. She used the wall to lean against and to steady her as she hopped back to her room. Without further delay, Cari began grabbing her clothes from the closet and drawers. She crammed them into the suitcase, ignoring the pieces that were poking out from every side. It took some effort and planning, but she managed to drag the bag to the front door. She was almost out the door when she realized that she should leave a note.

  Painfully she moved back to the desk and found some paper and a pencil. She decided to lie, since it seemed to be the "in" thing to do of late. Carefully choosing her words, Cari wrote that she’d called a friend, and they had begged her to join them for a drive up the coast. She added that she would call later, when her mother was home.

  Ignoring her conscience telling her it was a lousy note, she taped it to the front door. Moving with her suitcase outside, she carried the case down the long drive, and sat on the grassy roadside to await Jake.

  * * * * *

  Jake's sports car roared up the deserted road a short time later. He had broken all the speed limits, but luckily he had not been spotted. He was still a bit angry with her for walking out on him again. But hearing her cry over the phone had pushed the anger to the back of his mind. As he pulled to a stop, the sight of Cari, seated atop a suitcase with clothes hanging out every which way, made him angry as hell. She looked like some kind of stray animal. He was angry and bristling to sta
rt a fight with whoever had made her so upset that she couldn't even wait for him up at the house.

  Cari was standing and dragging her suitcase before he even had the car stopped. He came around the car hurriedly, taking the heavy case from her and slinging it into the trunk. The need to hug her was great, but she had already climbed into the passenger seat and was staring straight ahead. He came back around the car and got in next to her. After a quick glance in her direction, he turned the car back around for the city. She didn't volunteer a word all the way back, other than saying thank you when he first sat down. For a split second he considered asking her where she wanted to go, but just as quickly he decided she was coming back to his place.

  He pulled up to the front door of his house and honked the horn several times. John came out a moment later as Jake was opening Cari's door.

  “John, would you please grab Cari’s bag and bring it up to my room?”

  John nodded and moved towards the car. “Do you need help with the young lady?”

  Jake shook his head, wrapping his arm around Cari’s waist. “I think we can make it upstairs. Thank you, John.”

  It took several minutes for them to get upstairs to Jake’s bedroom. Once upstairs, he helped her to sit down on the freshly made bed. He turned as John came into the room with her suitcase.

  “Shall I unpack for the young lady, sir?” John offered.

  Jake shook his head. “Thanks, John. That can wait for now. Please ask Mary to throw together something for us to eat, and then bring it up in say, thirty minutes.” John nodded and turned to leave when Jake added, “Add some brandy to the tray, please.”

  John nodded and closed the door behind him. Jake turned to Cari, who was looking pale and lost. Jake leaned over and kissed her cheek tenderly. “Stay put, sweetheart, I’ll be right back.” Quickly Jake went into the bathroom and turned on the faucets for the tub. When he came back, he began removing her clothes. She tried to bat his hands away a few times, and then gave up. She appeared as if everything was just too much of an effort.

  Completely naked, he helped her into the large bathroom and then into the swirling water. Once she was immersed almost to her neck, Jake turned off the taps and sat down beside her on the rim of the tub. The look on her face told him the water must be warm and relaxing. He watched her quietly for several moments, wanting to ask her what had happened to cause her such obvious pain.

  Jake heard the outer door open about fifteen minutes later.

  “Sir?” John called to him from the bedroom door.

  “I’ll be right back, Cari.” Jake hopped to his feet to meet John.

  Cari lowered her head to rest against the edge of the tub. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth wash through her. It only took a moment or two, and the tears began to run down her cheeks. She had thought the pain of learning about Anthony's betrayal had hurt. Then she had discovered her mother was having an affair with the man she had considered a friend of her parents.

  In the midst of feeling betrayed, she went off, had sex with probably the most attractive man she had ever met and gotten pregnant. A smile curved her lips upwards as she thought about Jake. He truly was attractive, but he was also so incredibly nice. She had begun to think her life couldn't possibly be anymore screwed up…

  "Drink this, honey."

  Cari opened her eyes and saw that Jake was next to the tub, holding out a cup of tea for her. She took a sip and coughed a little, realizing he had added some brandy. She went to hand it back to him, but he shook his head and lifted the cup back to her lips. She frowned at him, but drank a few more sips.

  "Are you trying to get me drunk, sir?” she asked him, trying to make light of the situation. Her power of reason was returning slowly, and she was beginning to feel embarrassed at having him see her in such a vulnerable state.

  Jake shook his head as he lowered himself to sit on the edge again. "If I thought it would help you, Cari, I would. But I think you just need to relax a little, eat something, and then sleep. You can tell me, if you want, what has happened to upset you. Or if you prefer, don’t tell me."

  Cari took a few more sips before she looked up and met his eyes. Jake reached out and tenderly rubbed at the tears on her cheeks. It was silly, but she hadn't been aware of the tears. "How about you join me in here?"

  Jake smiled a little. "Cari, you could tempt a saint. But right now, that is the last thing you need. Now, I think the bath has relaxed you enough for the brandy to work.” He stood and held out a large towel. Cari grimaced at him, enjoying the bubbling water, but set her cup down and dutifully stepped out of the tub.

  She did feel compelled to tell Jake something. Looking up, Cari batted her eyelashes flirtatiously and told him softly, “Don’t think that I’ll always be this amenable.”

  Immediately after the words left her mouth, she realized how bad they sounded. It was like she was assuming that they would have an “always” together. Not that she’d ever thought it was possible, and she was still engaged, but she’d heard that nothing made a man run away faster than talk of forever!

  Jake enfolded her in the towel, rubbing her skin briskly. Without a word, he then dressed her in what was obviously his own terrycloth robe, and pointed her back towards the bedroom.

  “Go lay down. I’m just going to let the water out of the tub.”

  * * * * *

  Cari had obviously found the heavily laden tray with food because she was eating a grape when Jake came up behind her and told her to crawl into bed. He brought the tray over, setting it on the bedside stand. He filled a plate with small sandwiches, some fruit, and a few pieces of cut raw vegetables. Cari took the plate and started to eat.

  Jake watched as she started gobbling up the food voraciously. “Hungry, huh?”

  Cari looked up suddenly, and he could see that she was surprised at how hungry she was feeling. She continued eating, not waiting for Jake to fill a plate for himself. He pulled a chair up next to the bed, and ate from there.

  They didn’t talk while they ate, but when Cari’s eyelids started drooping and staying closed for longer and longer, he knew she’d had enough. Jake took her plate from her hands and slid her under the covers. He paused to make sure her foot was still all right and was glad to see the wound was pink and healing and that it didn’t need to be recovered with gauze.

  “Now you go to sleep, Cari. You have nothing to worry about here.” He couldn’t resist leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead before he left her alone and took the tray back downstairs to the kitchen.

  John was seated at the kitchen table and Mary was at the stove, stirring something as Jake walked in. Being the perfect butler, John started to stand.

  "Sit down, John. I've got it just fine.” After setting the tray down, he turned to look at Mary. “If you wouldn’t mind, Mary, I would appreciate it if you could go upstairs and sit with Miss Evans. I know this doesn’t fall under your job description, but I don't want her left alone right now.”

  Mary smiled, shaking her head. “Don’t you fret, Jake. Of course I’ll go up and sit with her.” Pausing to untie her apron, she turned to look at her husband. “John, I’ll let you finish stirring this. Once it comes to a boil, just turn it off, and set it on this trivet to cool.”

  John nodded, moving to obey his wife, when Jake reached his hand out. Pressing on the older man’s shoulder, he spoke. “Don’t either of you worry about dinner. We can order in and use paper plates.”

  Mary gasped, looking affronted. “Paper plates instead of using the lovely china and silver that you have?”

  John chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t you listen to her, Jake! Of course we have paper plates. That’s what she makes me eat off of every night.”

  Mary batted lightly towards her husband’s head. “Shush, John. It isn’t every night, just when my feet are tired.”

  Jake grinned widely, looking from one to the other. “Well, for now, I consider Miss Evans our number one priority. I’ll be in the library, if you’
ll let me know when she starts to wake up.” As he turned to leave for his office, he saw out of the corner of his eye the knowing, yet concerned look his caretakers exchanged.

  Chapter 6

  Cari awoke and it was dark in the bedroom. She moved to her back, trying to figure out where she was. She felt so wonderfully warm and cozy that she really didn't want to wake up. She then felt a heat next to her, and she remembered. It all came flooding back to her, in a rush of mixed up thoughts and jumbled emotions. She turned her head and saw that Jake was asleep next to her in his large bed. Rolling onto her side, she faced him. She realized she was naked. At some point she, or perhaps Jake, had taken off the heavy robe.

  For some time, Cari just lay there quietly, watching Jake sleep. She acknowledged that she owed him an explanation. She didn't know what she would have done if he hadn't come for her. She couldn't have called her father… She stopped as she recalled everything she had heard earlier. It seemed like it had been a week since that morning. It all still hurt, and most of all, she was angry for her father’s sake. She could never think of Uncle…

  Cari stopped herself. Sal was her biological father, but she didn't think she could ever see him as her father. To her, Edward Evans would always be her father. He was the one who had raised her, cared for her skinned up knees and bruises. He was the one who had read her long, wonderful fairy tales each night before bed. From him she had learned the value of books filled with knowledge, and come to appreciate rare and antique leather bound tomes.

  Cari reached out with her hand and lightly traced the tip of her index finger over Jake's eyebrows, and then down his aquiline nose. Her finger stroked gently, lovingly, across his lower lip. Her breath caught as she realized she had fallen in love with him. She barely knew him, but somehow she felt like she was a part of him.

  It hurt. Truthfully it was embarrassing to admit that she most likely knew Jake better than she had ever known Anthony. There was no doubt in her heart or mind that she never could have called Anthony to come and get her today.