I looked at the woman. She was tall and had bleached blonde hair that needed another bleach job. She was well-heeled, but not tastefully. She was wearing a hot pink suede miniskirt with a day-glo orange blouse open to her belly button, and her boobs were falling out of her bra. She had orange lipstick on and blue eyeshadow up to her brows and was wearing a pair of orange slut shoes. I shuddered. Not even Lula would have been able to make that outfit look good.
"That's Heather", said Angus. "Don't take any crap, Steph."
"Okay", I said into the phone. "I'll let you know how things go tomorrow."
Angus snorted. "Better you than me. Good luck. I'll see you tomorrow."
I hung up the phone and looked at Heather. "Hello, I'm Steph. Who are you?" I could see that Ranger had his phone out and was taping the conversation.
Big crocodile tears dripped down her cheeks. "Daddy died."
"Oh, was he your father, too?"
"He was your father?"
"He adopted me. He was a good man. Where did you grow up?"
"In the castle."
"Really? Which room was yours?"
"The room beside the Laird's bedroom."
"You picked the one without the attached bathroom?" I looked at her in surprise, but it was a feigned surprise. The bedroom did have an attached bathroom. They all had attached bathrooms.
"Daddy picked it for me, just so that I could sleep close to him." I looked at her and saw her calculating look. "Daddy is going to leave the castle to me. He knows I love it there."
"That would be hard for him to leave it to you. He didn't own it. We do."
"But he lived there."
"No, he didn't. He had too much of a problem walking up the stairs."
"NO!" she screamed. "That's not right!"
"You might want to keep your voice down", I said. "This is a hospital and people are trying to sleep."
"You aren't his daughter. He never mentioned another daughter to me."
"Maybe you weren't as close to him as you thought you were."
"Bitch."
"You don't have to call me names. I'm not sure why he didn't mention me. However, if you have some reasons, I would love to hear them."
"You aren't really his daughter. After all, you don't even look like him. You are just saying that to get money. Are you even coming to the will reading?"
"I don't know. I know that I told him that he should give all his money to the hospital or something. I doubt I am mentioned in the will. I know that Aunt Lindsay and Angus told him the same thing. Did you tell him that as well? After all, if you knew him, you would know that giving money to the hospital would have made him happy."
"You are not his daughter. You have an American accent."
"Yes. I grew up in the States."
"You didn't know him."
"Who do you think he was visiting when he went to the States?"
Heather's face turned red. "He did not visit you all those times he went to the States."
"I might not have been the primary reason he was going, but that doesn't mean that he didn't visit me when he was there."
"You're a bitch."
"Okay? I'm not personally into mudslinging, but if you want to trade insults, I guess we can."
"You're just here to get his money."
I smiled. "He gave away all his money. He had very little left, and he was planning on giving that to the hospital. I very much supported him in that. The hospital has been good to him."
"He didn't give away his money."
"No? He said he did and, for some reason, I trust him more than I trust you."
"I don't believe that he's your father."
I smiled. "You can believe what you want to believe." I stood up and turned to Ranger. "May we go home? It has been a long day."
"You weren't here all day", said Heather. "I was sitting with him earlier." She looked victorious, happy to have caught us in a 'lie'.
"You're right. I wasn't here all day. I was flying in." I smiled slightly. "I'm sorry for your loss." Then it hit me again that Colin was dead, and tears came to my eyes. "I know that I am", I said quietly, and I swiped away the tears.
Heather screeched, jumped forward, and swiped her long nails down my face. As she moved to pull my hair, Ranger grabbed her wrist, squeezed hard to get her to release my curls. "This is what we are going to do", said Ranger. "I am going to let you go, and you are going to your home or hotel or wherever hole you came from. We are going back to the castle. If you leave immediately, we won't charge you with assault. If you stick around, we will charge you with assault. It is solely up to you whether you spend the evening in jail, waiting for a judge to award you bail."
Heather spat in Ranger's face and stomped on my toe with her spiky heel. "Colin was my father", she said. "I belonged to him." She turned around and stomped out of the hospital room.
Ranger gathered me in his arms and rubbed my back. I was shaking. He turned off the recorder on his phone and kissed me on the head. "You okay?" he said.
"Just peachy. First a good friend dies, and then I get attacked. However, the good news is that Lindsay and Angus sound like good people, and I am looking forward to meeting them tomorrow."
"So am I. Come on home, babe, so that we can snuggle in bed."
"That sounds awesome."
We walked out of the room and, on the way to the elevator, Ranger stopped at the central nursing station. "May we have an alcohol wipe?" he said. "The person who came into Colin Stewart's room attacked my wife, and I'd like to clean those scrapes up as soon as I can."
The nurse made a little cry and quickly retrieved a wipe. She opened up the package and started to disinfect the scrapes. "That woman was horrendous", she said in a whisper. "She was silly, talked to Colin in a baby voice, wore heavy perfume that made him gag, and I swear, if I heard her call him 'Daddy' in that little girl voice one more time, I was going to throw up. Colin hated it when she came, and he would pretend to fall asleep to try to make her go away. He couldn't sleep though, because she kept pawing at him. He even once caught her stealing his signet ring. The next time his nephew came, he gave all his jewelry to his nephew. The day after, when Heather came, she accused the staff of stealing his jewelry. She took it all the way up to the president of the hospital, and the president came down to talk to Colin to see what happened. Colin told him exactly what happened. Are you really his daughter?"
"He adopted me when he met me. He was a good man and was one that I had a lot of respect and love for. He'll be missed."
"I'm sorry for your loss. You are right, though. He was a good man and will be missed." She finished cleaning up the scrapes. "I think you're good now. You can never tell what kind of bacteria are found under nails. She had those big talons, too. Your nails would hold less bacteria under them, since your nails are short and clean. It makes a difference."
I smiled. "I never really thought about it. I just like the look of short, neat nails. Ever since I had kids, I never wanted long nails again. I didn't want to take the chance of stabbing them." The nurse laughed. "Thank you for cleaning me up. I hope you have a good evening." I turned and captured Ranger's hand as we walked to the elevator behind the security guard. We descended to the main floor, walked out to the car, and Ranger got into the backseat with me.
"How are you doing, babe?" he said softly.
"He was in a lot of pain."
"Yes."
"I'm happy for him, but I am very sad for me."
"I understand."
"I'm glad that I was able to give him some comfort over the last six weeks." I sighed. "I had been enjoying myself."
"I know you were."
I shuddered in a sob. "I didn't want him to be in pain."
"I know, babe."
"He made a very big impact on my life."
"And you made a big impact upon his."
"That is such a weird thought to me. I'm just me."
"And Colin was just him. Yet you are both special in your own way." I started shaking, and Ranger pulled me into him. "You cold?"
"No."
"What can I do?"
"Just hold me."
Ranger held me all the way home, and he kissed me while I cried. When we arrived at the castle, we went inside and found the adults all sitting in the family room. "How did it go?" said Joe softly as he took in my tear-ravaged face.
"We talked for about fifteen minutes, and then he wanted to hear a joke. I didn't think it was that bad, but he died when I got to the punchline. The nurse said that they didn't know how he'd been hanging on, but after seeing the joy on his face when he realized that I was there, she thought that he was waiting to see me one more time again before he died."
"So it was good that we came as fast as we did."
"Yes."
"How are you doing, Steph?" said Kai.
"I'm still absorbing it."
"If you ever want to talk, you know where I am."
"Thank you."
"How did you get the scrapes on your face?" said Tracy.
"There is another woman, Heather, who dresses like more of a hooker than Lula. She is claiming to be Colin's natural daughter, and Colin said that she is going to make a run for a portion of his money. He has gotten around that by leaving her ten pounds as an inheritance, and giving away the rest of his money before dying. He also has specified that she has to take a DNA test before she is allowed to inherit her ten pounds. The lawyer is under strict instructions to not release how much money it is until the DNA test is done. Colin said that it was humorous as the DNA test costs much more than ten pounds. He has already left a sample for the test. He had asked her to do one a while ago, but she had refused."
"Does he know for sure that she isn't his daughter?" said Joe.
"He told me that he had only had sex with one woman in his life, Cami, and she died over fifty years ago. She was pregnant at the time, but the baby died with her. Heather is only about forty. He said that it was impossible for her to be his daughter. He apologized for leaving me this mess. I'm just glad that I'm not the executor."
"Who's the executor?" said Julie.
"Colin's sister, Lindsay. Lindsay and her son, Angus, are coming for lunch tomorrow. They are going to be here around eleven. They are quite excited about meeting us."
"Do they mind about inheriting less money?" said Tracy.
"They didn't sound upset at all. Lindsay and Angus each said separately that they have money of their own, have more than they could ever spend, and what they were really happy about was gaining some more family members. I get the feeling that they have a small and dwindling family, and they seemed quite excited about the thought of meeting you. Angus said that his mom loves kids, and she would adopt us just as much as Colin had and that, since I was Colin's adopted daughter, that made me his adopted cousin and he had always wanted a cousin. It was actually rather sweet. They couldn't have been more welcoming."
"I'll have to think of something good to make for lunch", said Ranger. "I don't know about everybody else, but I'm going to get Steph to bed. It's been a long and emotional day, and tomorrow could be another one."
My phone rang, and as I answered it, I saw that Val was on the line. "Hello, Val", I said. Everyone stopped to listen, and I put it on speakerphone so that I didn't have to repeat the conversation afterwards. "How are you?"
"You delayed the hearing."
"Yes."
"You can't do that."
"Apparently, I can."
"You're just scared to see me in court."
"No, I'm really not. I'm in Scotland right now, and I'm dealing with the death of a good friend. I'm not leaving Scotland for a while. When I get back, I'll see you in court."
"That's bullshit. You aren't in Scotland."
"Whatever you say. I'm sorry, Val, but I have to go. I'm beat, it's been a long emotional day, and I need sleep."
"It's only four in the afternoon."
"In New Jersey. In Scotland, it's bedtime. I still haven't recovered from the pneumonia, and I'm very tired. I need sleep."
"It's always about you. You need sleep. I need to get through that goddamned hearing so that I can get on with my life. I can't get a job until that hearing is over with."
"Why not? My skips get jobs all the time, even though they haven't had their hearing yet."
"I want a good job, and I need to know whether I'm going to be put into jail. What will I do with the kids if I'm put into jail?"
"Don't know, don't care."
"I'll drop them off on your doorstep."
"That would be pretty stupid. I'm not taking them. However, when you are charged, I suspect you will just have to do some community time. You're perfectly free to get a job and it won't affect it. You can do your community time in the evenings or on the weekend."
"I don't want to do any fucking community time with all those losers."
"First of all, they aren't losers. They're people, like you, who have made a mistake and are now righting it. Second of all, be glad that you're doing community time rather than having to go to jail."
"You're ruining my life."
"Really? I don't think so. You're doing a good job of that on your own. Look, I've got to go. Have a good evening." I hung up the phone and sighed. "How soon do you think it will be before my mother calls?"
Everybody made predictions as I sat and waited. Joe was the closest in time. He guessed three minutes, and my mom called in two.
"Steph, you aren't being fair", said my mother. "You can't just delay the hearing."
"Mom, I had to make an emergency trip to Scotland because a good friend was very ill. He died in my arms tonight. I'm sorry if it is inconvenient for Val, but Colin was more important."
"Now he's dead, right? You can come back."
"Now I will be helping with the estate and his business. There is still a lot of work here to do before I come home. My company is prepared for me to be out of the office for the next two months."
"What about the kids and Ranger?"
"They're here with me."
"What's Val supposed to do?"
"Get a job, quit drinking, get her finances in order, raise her kids, everything she should have been doing for the last two years. If she makes an effort to do so, the judge will take that into consideration and give her a lighter sentence."
"It's not that easy."
I sighed. "Yes, Mom, it is. The thing is that Val isn't even trying. And that was the problem all along. We gave her a cushy deal, she didn't keep up her end of the bargain, so we retracted the cushy deal. This was her decision, Mom. She knew the rules and knew the consequences, she signed the contract, and now she's crying foul because we caught her breaking the rules and are enforcing the consequences. Alix and Grace are more mature than that."
"But..."
"Mom, you were always a good mother. What would you have done if I had been told that I would get a chocolate bar after cleaning my room, I didn't clean my room but I took the chocolate bar off the counter and ate it anyway?"
"You would have been sent to your room and cut off dessert for a week."
"Exactly. We aren't choosing to send her to her room, but we are cutting her off dessert."
My mother sighed.
"I know it is hard on you, Mom. You are stuck in the middle and that isn't fair. Just remember that everything we are doing is in response to what Val has done."
"What is she going to do now? She hasn't had the money to pay her rent in two months."
"Then I guess she needs a job, just like everyone else out there."
My mom sighed. "She's not very good at working."
"Then I guess she'd better learn. Ranger and I aren't working so that she can sit on her butt all day." I swiped away some tears, and I guess Ranger could see that being firm with my mom was tearing me up inside. I wanted to help her while, at the same time, I resented the fact that my mother wanted me to swallow the abuse and play happy family with my sister. I kept thinking back to the biblical quote of "if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." She wanted us to feed Val for the day. We tried to teach her to fish, and she refused the lesson. Now we were forcing the lesson on her, and neither my mom nor my sister appreciated it.
Ranger stood behind my chair and captured me in a hug. "Helen, I am going to hang up now. Steph has had the day from hell, she is still recovering from her pneumonia, and she is very tired. Tomorrow we have to start getting ready for the funeral, and it is going to be an intense few days. I need to get Steph to bed."
"Where are you staying in Scotland?"
"In Inverness. When we were driving through, it looked quite beautiful. I hope we'll have some time to explore in the next few weeks."
"What are you doing there for so long?"
"We are helping with Colin's company. I'm sorry, Helen, but we have to go." He picked up my phone and said goodbye, and shut my phone down and put it in his pocket. "Come on, babe, before you fall over."
I shuddered in a sob, and Ranger picked me up. "Have a good sleep, everybody", he said, and he carried me up to our bedroom. He helped me unpack my belongings and change into pyjamas, handed me my toothbrush and paste, and when I finished my teeth, he handed me my antidepressant. He tucked me into bed and quickly did his own bedtime routine. He climbed into bed and pulled me into him. I buried my nose into his chest and soaked his shirt with my tears.
Ranger smoothed my hair back from my face repeatedly, and when I calmed down, Ranger kissed me on the top of my head. "Talk to me", he said.
"It's just been a shitty day", I said. "It feels like I am losing a family while at the same time as gaining a family, and that feels quite odd. I feel almost relieved to be in Scotland and not have to deal with my sister or my grandmother – or even my mother, just because she is trying to sweep the problem under the rug and once again, she is expecting that I will find the solution. I feel guilty to be relieved, and I am resentful that my mom is making this my problem, treating me as though I am in the wrong. It makes me feel like Val is her favorite, and I am trying hard not to take that personally. My family is important to me and feeling like my sister is wanting to take me for a ride is not making me feel good. No one likes feeling like they are being taken advantage of."
"So, to recap, your family isn't being fair – your sister is demanding you to pay for her so that she can sit on her butt all day, and your mother wants you to do what you can just so that she doesn't have to hear about it from your sister. That makes you feel like you are a second-class citizen and that your mother loves your sister more."
"Yes."
"So you feel like you are losing your family. And at the same time, Lindsay and Angus were honestly happy to be meeting you, and you feel like you are gaining a family, gaining people who are thrilled that you are in their lives. And you feel guilty to be happy to be here, spending time with people who love you, rather than spending time with people who are shitting on you."
"Yes."
"Babe, you reap what you sow. Your family isn't being nice to you, and the result of that is that you don't want to spend time with them. You have another family and, because you treated Colin as family, Lindsay and Angus want to adopt you as well. That shows that the problem is your family and not you. Babe, you are doing the right thing. It's tough; it's an almost impossible situation. But I honestly think that you are doing the right thing."
"Are we being unfair since we have the money and wouldn't miss it?"
"I don't think so. Do you think it will honestly help Val to pay her way? She will lose all self-respect, and it will ruin her. It is the easy solution, but I don't think it is the right solution. The easy solution is what your mom wants. It is not fair to Val, it is not fair to you, and the fact that you are relieved to be away from them does not have anything to do with you, but is 100% because of their behavior."
I sighed. "I thought my mother loved me."
"And she does, deeply. But your mother has put up with a lot in the past to keep the peace, whether that was taking your grandmother in, babysitting your sister's kids, giving up on her dream to become a nurse, and so on. To her, that is the way you should live your life. She does nothing for herself. However, I'm not sure a life of service makes her happy. She lives for her kids, but if her kids weren't there it would mean that Helen would cease to be. You, too, have a life of service but you have done it in a way that you are happy. You earn a salary, a good salary, doing a job that you love – and then you donate that salary to charities that are important to you, charities that are doing something good with the money. If you gave money to Val, you would be funding her drinking habit. By choosing to give money to ASE instead, you are feeding children a healthy snack each day and funding a variety of activities for kids to enjoy and learn from. Or starting up a series of mental health clinics to help those that are ill recover their lives, patients who cannot afford treatment on their own and would otherwise be relegated to struggling with an illness they did not deserve. Or starting a breakfast program to feed children's hungry bellies, children who don't have the option to get food on their own. Don't you think that is a better use of money? Add in that, because of the choices you are making, you are raising your children to be happy, self-sufficient, and proud of themselves and what they can do. Babe, I think you have the right way of doing things and I am proud of what you do. I also think that you don't deserve to take crap from anyone, whether it is someone on the floor or someone in your family. Your adopted family would never ask you to do something like that, and your real family shouldn't either."
I sighed. "I still feel guilty."
"I know. It will take you a long time of fighting against that guilt to diminish it. It is deeply ingrained." I yawned. "Go to sleep, babe. Tomorrow is a new day."
