"Confrontation"

Chapter 69

January 30

Rosemary looked back and forth between the love of her life and the one she'd never truly called "Mother", feeling more bewildered by the moment. Her heart beat like hummingbird's wings, flighty and light against her chest, until she almost felt she could not intake enough air.

"Whoa, there." Lee pressed a solid hand against her back and led her to the settee, urging her to sit.

Harriet's face had become rumpled and concerned. "Oh dear, I hope you are not unwell."

Not unwell. How could the lady say such a thing? Of course she was unwell. The person who had abandoned her was standing right in front of her and she had no way of escape. Her past and present were colliding and there was nothing she could do about it. She took a few deep breaths as Lee kneeled attentively at her side. She could see his eyes were full of love, but there was something else lurking there too. Questions, and perhaps betrayal? She licked at her dry lips.

"I…" her voice come our raspy and thin.

Lee held up his hand. "I'll be back with water." He took a step towards the kitchen.

Jack shifted in his big black boots. "Well, it looks like my work is done here. Lee, a little later today do you mind swinging by the office? I just have a few details I need to iron out about he whole stake out before sending it in to my superiors."

"Sure thing." Lee waved good-bye and stepped into the kitchen as Jack let himself out.

Rosemary found herself alone with her mother, well, more accurately… the woman who gave birth to her. The woman she had called "Mother" was actually her Aunt Catherine, who'd cared for her all these years and was now buried back in Winnipeg next to the man she'd called Father. She looked at the woman before her, almost an exact replica of herself. Sophistication and grace exuded from her. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. She sported a stylish frock and well-polished manner. She'd never despised the view of herself so badly as this moment. She tore her eyes away.

"Harriet. I just don't know what to say… I'm speechless." She pressed a hand to her forehead, willing the room to stop spinning.

Harriet looked her up and down. "Why, pray tell, did your husband not know who I was? He acted as if I was an absolute stranger."

"I hate to break it to you, but you are an absolute stranger, Harriet."

Harriet put a hand on her hip. Gone was the faint smile on her face and instead, she looked down her nose. "What kind of welcome is that? It is almost as if you don't want me to be a part of your life."

Rosemary put a hand on her middle, wishing to loosen the tight binding so she could breathe, but a part of her knew even then she would be breathless. It was the whole ordeal in front of her that was stealing her breath away. Finally, she spoke.

"I don't know what you want me to say. You've hardly been in my life and then one day, just out of the blue, I hear from you announcing you are to visit without any consideration if that is what I wanted. Don't you think I have my own life here? Haven't you even considered what an upset your arrival could cause?"

Harriet looked confused. "An upset? But dear, I am your mother. Just because you choice not to confide your past to your husband is not my problem." Her eyes softened. "But I am here now and going to make things aright, just like I promised in my telegram.""

"Oh I wish you wouldn't." Rosemary whispered.

"What was that?"

"I just don't understand how you think you have the authority to swoop into my life and make things aright. What does that mean anyway and how do you know my life is not aright already? What if I am as happy as ever right now?"

"Well, are you?" Her mother challenged.

She licked her lips ready to reply, but Harriet beat her to the punch.

"How could things be aright if your husband doesn't know of your past?"

Although the words held weight, Rosemary couldn't help but scoff. Who was she to pass guilt on her? "Isn't that calling the kettle black? My father still doesn't know of me, does he?"

Harriet became very quiet and a blush crept up onto her cheeks. "Actually, he does now, or, he did before… before he passed."

She felt like the air was being knocked from her. She hadn't truly ever expected to meet the man, but now… Death was a final blow. There would be no reconciliation with him. She sighed and played with her ring, twisting it back and forth, anything to disguise the feeling of pain she felt twisting inside.

"Your father, God rest his soul, died last fall. After a good run of several years including all our stints overseas and young life together, we just could not make it. The love that held us together when we were young changed."

"Of course you left him. It's just what you do." Rosemary bit her tongue, surprised at the venom in her words. It should have felt wonderful to release such pent up anger, but instead, the sting of her hard words rang in her ears.

Harriet sniffed and hardened her face. "Yes, well, you are right. I did leave him many years ago. But last fall I got a call he only had weeks to live."

"Perhaps that was a time you should have sent me a telegram. Don't you think I've been curious about the man who fathered me?"

Harriet's cheeks colored even more drastically. "I created a mess. He never knew of you not until he had one foot in the grave. If he hadn't been so sickly, he would have sent for you."

Rosemary scoffed. Sure, her mother's words sounded poetic, but the truth was she was the child no one wanted. She wasn't surprised he hadn't sought her out.

"When I told him of you, his whole countenance changed. He never wanted children, it was just part of his nature and his job. In fact, he didn't have any children even with his second wife. But on his deathbed, I think he regretted that. And then to learn he really did have a child… well, he was both delighted and heartbroken. He had me thrown me out of the room how furious he was with me for never telling him, but before I left Bismarck, his courier brought me a letter. When I inquired what it contained, he said Edgar had it penned for his heir. He died only 2 days later."

Wait— what? Her head shot up. Never had she met this father and although she was curious, for the most part she was fine with that. Part of her wondered about him, but most of her was just content with the father she had in her Uncle Phillip. When he died, she considered her father dead. But to think her real father honestly didn't know about her until last year? And he wrote a letter just for her?

Suddenly very curious, she started to feel hope blooming in her heart, but in the next second realized that was exactly what Harriet had planned. She planned to swoop in and offer this as a bargaining chip, gaining the upper hand, when she hadn't been involved in Rosemary's life at all. And the letter— it could contain information of an inheritance, but what did she care? Her and Lee were well off and she would die before she'd take the money from her father's guilty hands, if that was what he was offering. But more than anything, she wondered at the words. No matter what he said, it would not heal the hole in her heart, but still… she felt a tad bit curious.

Harriet fiddled with her reticule and pulled out a letter, slightly bent in the middle.

"Here it is. It is yours to do with as you wish." Her hands shook a bit as she held out the letter.

Rosemary just nodded to the side table, not ready to look at the letter or hold onto that piece of her past.

Harriet placed it gingerly on the table and then looked around, her fingers fidgeting on the handle of her reticule.

"I guess, perhaps, I am not as welcome as I first thought. I shall see if I can find accommodations in town," she said.

She grabbed her bag and Lee moved from the kitchen, where he must have been standing still and listening in.

"I'll get you a ride in to town." Lee grabbed the keys for the Model T.

Rosemary knew she should say something— at least offer her the spare room— but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her heart was breaking in two again or perhaps it had been in two all along and she now just felt the effects all over again.

Instead, she cleared her throat. "Perhaps a bit of space will be good for the both of us."

Harriet nodded and then threw a sorrowful look over her shoulder before heading out behind Lee with the remainder of her bags.

It was in that instant she knew something in Harriet had changed. Gone was the extreme selfishness, and instead her eyes held regret, sadness, and even some fear. She sucked a lungful of air in. She wasn't sure what to do with that. Faced with a selfish woman she could stand her ground, but faced with a regret-riddled woman, she didn't know what she would do. And for that, she was thankful for some space.