Chapter 3
Meg woke to a restless feeling, that something was not right. Well, she knew that feeling - it had been with her for along time. No, this was a feeling of something coming closer, and the sadness was still there. Perhaps Sara had been right; she was beginning to accept Ben would not be with her. At least he was with his family, and that would have to be enough for her.
As she found her clothes, she made up her mind to make a determined effort to get on with things. She had that difficult buyer to deal with at the shop... that nearly made her go back to bed again... Then sort out the new stock with Sara, and ring Tyus about the work he wanted her to do at the Medical Centre Free Hospital wing. It was on the edge of town and used by the poorer people in the area. It had been started about five years ago, funded by donations and people giving their free time. Yes, that would be her new challenge.
At Ocean Drive, Benjy was complaining that Daddy never told him the story in which he pretended to be the different characters. Derek was getting fed up with this, as Benjy had been on and on about over the last few days. He could not pick up that particular story as it was Ben who told it, and Ben was always better at that kind of thing than he was. It irritated him that Benjy should do it now, just when he was getting rid of Ben once and for all. In the end he got cross and told Benjy he could not remember it so he would just had to accept something different.
Benjy went off in a huff and complained to Maria about it. She wrapped her arms around him and told him to get ready for school and they would collect him for lunch time Mass. He brightened up at that. They had been doing families at school and he had told his class about today, and that he had been allowed the afternoon off.
The phone rang and Derek answered it. He looked thoughtful, a bit cross but then spoke in a concerned tone. "I am sorry about that, and of course we couldn't go ahead. It's alright Antonio I understand, we will put if off till tomorrow evening." He put the phone down knowing he really wanted it done today - everything was signed and Charles was going to deliver all the papers to do with Benjy and Maria, so secure his fortune. And now this, and a niggling little thought that something always got in the way started to push through.
Maria waited impatiently knowing something was up.
He looked at her and explained. "Sister Theresa died early this morning, the nuns at the Mission will be saying a special Mass for her, and Antonio does not think it right that we should have our celebration today. So I'll ring everyone and tell them it will be tomorrow teatime."
Benjy piped up in a huff. "Does that mean I will have to go to school all day?"
Maria nodded and consoled him; he could have his friends with him tomorrow, then helped him on his way giving him a note for the teacher. He was being picked up by his friend's mum today. Derek called after him that they would play a ball game after school on the beach.
Derek sighed thinking to himself 'No doubt I will have to face AJ at that meeting. I was really hoping to get out of it.' The last one had been a bit difficult. He was finding that there were a few things his brother had not told him and they had nearly caught him out. He turned to Maria and told her he was going to see AJ after he had called in at the Deep and the Java Webb. At least everything was running smoothly there he thought.
Maria decided she ought to see her mother, but she was wary of doing so in case the cards decided to reveal her secrets. So far the cards had been muddled, some hints but nothing clear, and after the brush Derek had with Carmen they kept their visits short. It was easy if they had Benjy with them as he seemed to have most of the attention.
Tess was going shopping. Maria noticed that she avoided the monument and seemed a bit quieter since Tim's death. She hoped Tess would not prove to be a problem now. She would hate to lose her.
As Maria looked in the draws in the bedroom she came across the pearls that Ben had given Meg. She knew that Derek had given them back to her and she had sent them back, and grinned wondering if she should go round there again. She wanted Meg unsettled as she had been round about Ben/Derek again, and knowing Derek's games told him to lay off as Meg was getting suspicious something was wrong with Ben. No, better to tell her that she was thinking of opening a gallery at the other end of the walkway. But she needed a reason to be there, not just walk in cold because dear old Sara was getting protective over her sister.
What about a question about Tim, after all they were still looking for him. No, she was not close enough for that. She had not heard much about it from Ricardo, as he was still sorting things out with Gabi. After the huge argument with Antonio, he had finally accepted that there was nothing between the two of them, it had been the extreme situation that had caused it to happen. Then he asked Gabi to stay with him and then Tim disappeared, so perhaps she would take the pearls just in case she needed an excuse.
Luckily, Carmen was waiting for a client when Maria called, so she was only giving her half her attention. She had read the fortune cards, and they still said that Maria was with her soul mate, but there was a shadow over the reading, it would clear soon but gave no indication whether it would be good or bad - only that the choices that had been made in the last few days would decide the Fates. Maria was happy with that, and then explained that the Mass would be tomorrow and went on her way.
At Liberty Corp. Derek had had an argument with AJ, which had been interrupted when AJ had been called away on an urgent matter. Now Derek had to work fast before anybody realised that he was not coping or the fact he'd not written the first report, Ben had and his own second report had contradicted it. Luckily he managed to right the situation, but now his assistant was pressing him about a man who kept on trying to reach him about a contract he had agreed last year in Santa Barbara. He knew nothing about it and told her he would deal with it later, as she went a way he thought he heard her mutter to herself that that was typical these days.
In the quiet, Derek thought over the information he had got from Ben. His twin never mentioned anything about Santa Barbara; but then again he had not known the right questions to ask to get all the information from Ben, and getting it all would have been too much to remember anyway, it was the most important bits to do with life now he'd needed. He reassured himself that it would be alright. It could not have been that important, but he started to feel that little bit vulnerable, then gave himself a shake with the thought "soon it will really all be his so would not matter."
At Sunset Sisters, Meg had managed to deal with the difficult buyer, getting the orders to be delivered on a different day - it had all been so simple. She then helped Sara sort out their stock, a mess but interesting, and then left Emily in charge while they had a break at the Shock Wave for lunch. That lunch was a mistake, her mum was alright but her dad was still fretting about Tim. Then Maria came in asking about Tim and told them as she left about the gallery she was opening, then casually handed the pearls saying Ben insisted she call round and gave them to her. That, of course started her dad off in a rant, so she and Sara left as soon as they could. The rest of the afternoon went quite well, and Casey came in after his shift to walk them back to Surf Central.
As they walked along the beach they saw a group of kids and adults playing ball, and Meg realised that Ben and Benjy were amongst them. She felt pleased for them and realised that her unease could not be for them, and yet it looked wrong. She tried to place what it was, and heard Tyus greeting them remembered about the meeting they should have fixed.
He told her he would be free at the beginning of his early shift at 6.30am, if that was not too early for her and he was pleased that Ben was getting over his unease of crowd games. She was puzzled, so he told her that Ben had been worried that he would pass on his fear of that type of game to Benjy, as it was one way Derek would get at him in school without getting caught. She shivered at the thought of it, and realised that was why it looked wrong, before Ben would watch rather than take part. As Tyus left, Sara teased her about the early morning start and Meg threatened to wake her as well, which shut her up.
At the Inn in Santa Barbara that morning, a group were discussing the arrangements that Ben had made last year at Thanksgiving. As it seemed impossible to get him on the phone, the owner decided that it would be a good idea to visit Ben at Sunset Beach tomorrow. He wanted to see the other businesses Ben had, and he might even track the man down as he considered him a friend.
In Seattle, Mr Peters was getting very cross as he could not find the address of his client. Mind, nothing was easy to find after his accident, and then the explosion left everything in a mess. He had only just found the paintings, again. Two small water colours, one of Sunset Beach showing the beach and buildings decked out for carnival in special colours, the other of a country cottage with white roses around the door and a beautiful lady dressed in red. The paintings were signed with initials and a date on the back. He lifted some other boxes and found the papers to go with them. These gave the background history of the pictures, who the artist was, the type of paper and where they were made.
Also there was the report from the hospital about the birth certificates - that had been difficult but he had tried all the permutations of given names and surnames and eventually come up with a mum, adoptive mum and father. He put this in a separate envelope and into box they came in, which had a white dress and odd and ends, as well as a strip of negatives which he had found caught in the bottom of the box. He had prints taken off the negatives and put them with in another envelope with the rest.
He remembered his client had come in a rush, obviously shaken about something, given him the list of names and dates regarding a child's birth, paintings and had asked him to sort it out. He said he would contact him later by phone. As the man had left a large amount of money, he carried out the work and had waited for the phone call. None came and days passed, he had no address to go back to and only a first name. Then he was involved with a violent case, and in trying to escape had an accident the complications in recovery had caused delay in sorting the office out after the explosion next door, and waiting for repairs to be done so that it was safe to get back in.
Looking at the wrapping paper again, he found a faintly scrawled message to a detective Ricardo Torres, Sunset Beach, and the words "Find the truth. Ben.". Well, his brother-in-law and family were visiting Sunset Beach for a week's holiday tomorrow. Perhaps he could get his brother-in-law to deliver it personally to this Detective and get him to find out who this Ben was; telling him it had been over two months since the visit. Hoping that would work, he wrote a note of explanation and packed everything together.