Page 117 of Summer Weddings
“No. She’s a survivor. But that day Mom asked me to sit down because she had something important to tell me.” At this point, Bethany paused long enough to steady herself. After all this time, the unexpectedness of her mother’s announcement still shocked her.
“And?”
“My mother told me about a young sailor she’d loved many years ago. They’d met the summer before he shipped out to Vietnam. By the end of their time together, they’d become lovers. Their political differences separated them as much as the war had.He left because he felt it was his duty to fight, and she stayed behind and joined the peace movement, protesting the war every chance she had. She wrote him a letter and told him about it. He didn’t answer. She knew he didn’t approve of what she was doing.”
“Whoever this person was, he probably didn’t want to read about how she was trying to undermine his efforts in Southeast Asia,” Ben said stiffly.
“I’m sure that’s true.” Bethany’s voice quavered slightly. “The problem was that when he refused to open her next letter, he failed to learn something vitally important. My mother was pregnant with his child.”
The snifter in Ben’s hand dropped to the floor and shattered. His eyes remained frozen on Bethany’s face.
“I was that child.”
The silence stretched to the breaking point. “Who took care of her?” he asked in a choked whisper.
“Her family. When she was about four months pregnant, she met Peter Ross, another student, and confided in him. They fell in love and were married shortly before I was born. Peter raised me as his own and has loved and nurtured me ever since. I never would’ve guessed… . It was the biggest shock of my life to learn he wasn’t my biological father.”
“Your mother’s name is Marilyn?”
“Yes, and she named you as my birth father.”
“Me,” Ben said with a weak-sounding laugh. “Sorry, kid, but you’ve got the wrong guy.” He continued to shake his head incredulously. “What’d your mother do—send you out to find me?”
“No. Neither of my parents know why I accepted the teaching contract in Hard Luck. I gave your name to the Red Cross, and they traced you here. I came to meet you, to find out what I could about you.”
“Then it’s unfortunate you came all this way for nothing,” he said gruffly.
“It’s funny, really, because wearealike. You know the way you get three lines between your eyes when you’re troubled or confused? I get those, too. In fact, you’re the one who mentioned it, remember? And we both like to cook. And we—”
“That’s enough,” he snapped. “Listen, Bethany, this is all well and good, but like I already said, you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“But—”
“I told you before and I’ll tell you again. I never knew any woman called Marilyn. You’d think if I’d slept with her, I’d remember her, wouldn’t you?”
His words were like stones hurled at her heart. “I don’t want anything from you, Ben.”
“Well, don’t count on a mention in my will, either, understand?”
She nearly fell off the stool in her effort to escape. She retreated a step backward. “I… I should never have told you.”
“I don’t know why you did. And listen, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go spreading this lie around town. I’ve got a reputation to uphold, and I don’t want your lies—and your mother’s—
besmirching my character.”
Bethany thought she was going to be sick.
“It’s a damn lie, you hear? A lie!”
“I’m sorry. I—I shouldn’t have said anything,” she stammered.
He didn’t answer her right away. “I don’t know anything about any Marilyn.”
“I made a mistake,” Bethany whispered. “A terrible mistake.” She turned and ran from the café.
Chapter10
In all the years Mitch had lived in Hard Luck, he’d seen very few mornings when Ben wasn’t open for business.
