Page 134 of Family Affair

Chapter 30

He parked at the back of his parents’ house and sat in the truck, gearing up for the conversation that would be difficult from start to finish.

He was getting closer.Soon, he would be able to sharethe entirestory with Coco.She deserved to know what kind of a man she slept with. God, yes, they slept together...Chalking their sex up to a one-night stand was out of question. Neither of them bothered pretending they wouldn’t do it again.

Which wouldn’t be often. Now was not the time to broadcast to the world their deepening intimacy.

Angry at being so helpless, hot from his vivid memories of Coco’s warm willing body, he let himself into the house and mounted the stairs, opening Maureen’s door without knocking.

“What happened… Oh, it’s you.”

“Evening, Mother.”

She didn’t respond, looking at him out of her large, bleak eyes. He’d caught her dozing off on her bed with the TV on, where the canned laughter of a sitcom livened up the barely audible witty dialogue.

“I have learned an interesting bit of information today from a man named Virgil Woodcock,” he said. “You remember him, don’t you?”

Something flickered in her eyes, something more like irritation rather than fear. She was something else, his mother.

“Of course I remember him. I’m not senile. He is.”

“All right, then, do you know what my next question will be?”

“Don’t be barging into my bedroom full of virtuous indignation and blame. We all played our parts in the drama that led us to where we are at today. And yes, I played mine.” She clicked the TV off and stood up.

“You met with Ward.” He stated, meaning the meeting that had taken place recently.

“Yes. Virgil, that Peeping Tom, should finally kick the bucket. God knows his mind has been AWOL for the best part of the century. Did you know that he used to write me those awful poetic love letters? No? Well, it was a long time ago, before you boys were even born. Your father and I just got engaged when Ward introduced me to Virgil…” She shuddered delicately, the way Coco had done when they cleared Virgil’s threshold on their way out.

He didn’t interrupt.

“I made a mistake. One of many, I’m sure, but here it is. When your father was invited to buy into a partnership that promised to bring cash to the company, he didn’t have the money to enter. I decided to help by selling the Pollock drawing.”

“Through Ward?” He was incredulous.

“I went to Wardbecauseof my many connections in the art community. Everyone knows me! I couldn't take the risk of selling the Pollock under my own name. What if it came out the drawing was a fake? What if someone remembered it for what it was, Frank’s forgery? No, at the time, it had seemed too dangerous. And Ward, well,” she gave a graceful one-shouldered shrug, “he could do anything.”

“Not everything, Mother. Not everything.”

“I made a mistake of trusting him.”

She sniffed and swallowed her tears, reminding him of her younger self, the pre-sleeping pill dependent Maureen with her unbendable back and cold clear eyes that wouldn’t cry. “Ward had agreed to help, and I had given him the drawing. Two weeks later he called your father.” Her face changed subtly, becoming vicious in an expression of hatred. “You know the rest.”

He sure did. “I’m surprised Father agreed to your plan.”

Maureen threw a furtive glance at the door. “He doesn’t know.”

Cade stared at her. “He doesn’t?”

She shook her head. “He has no idea how Ward obtained the Pollock. I don’t believe our marriage will survive if I tell him.”

Finally, her anxious desire to get rid of Ward made sense.

“Damn it.” He started pacing in frustration. “Father should never have kept this drawing in the first place.”

“He didn’t. I did.”

He stopped pacing, thinking he had been surprised so many times in the past few weeks that he shouldn’t be surprised by any new revelations. But he was. “You did?”