Chapter Sixteen
Six and a half weeks later...
Of all the places on his list to finish his research trip, Cannon Falls, Minnesota was not where Eric had planned on being at this point by now. If not for the late night phone call he had received two nights ago, he would've been back in Wisconsin by now with Jackie in his arms.
Instead, he had landed in St Paul only an hour ago after taking a Red Eye from Dallas, Texas. Grabbing what sleep he could on the plane during the two hour flight, Eric had awoken just before landing at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. After disembarking, he had immediately hired a car and had then begun the forty-minute drive to Cannon Falls.
Now, as he approached the outskirts of the small city, the drive down US 52 had reminded Eric of home. While having never visited Minnesota before and not having as many trees as Wisconsin, he could see the numerous similarities. That being said, as he pulled into the car park of a diner on the edge of Cannon Falls, it was the last placed he would have ever expected to find his sister Laurie Forman living in.
After going inside and ordering some breakfast and coffee, Eric sat himself down in a booth, took out his notebook from his bag and opened it up to the page where he'd written down all the information that his agent had passed onto him from the private investigator. It read '112 West Minnesota St, Cannon Falls. Last Stop Bar & Grill'.
The private investigator, who Eric had hired a year ago to find his sister, had cost him an exorbitant amount in fees over those twelve months. But, the man had come highly recommended and had attacked the challenge head on like a bulldog after having had all the particulars about the case explained to him.
After verifying that Laurie hadn't left the country, all the private investigator had had to do was follow the trail of destruction that Laurie had left in her wake. Curiously interesting, that trail had disappeared in August, 1984. According to the last report that Eric had received from the man, a promising lead had developed and that he'd contact him when he knew more. That had been three months ago.
In addition to the information provided to him by his agent, Eric had also been given an address of where the private investigator was currently staying with a phone number and the name he was staying under. At present, it was what Eric considered too early in the morning to make such a call, but once he'd had some breakfast and coffee inside him, he would make the call and go from there. As the waitress arrived with said meal, he tipped the young woman generously once she had placed it on the table and immediately dug in.
It was a couple of hours later when Eric pulled into the parking of the motel where the private investigator was staying. Finding a parking spot, Eric got out of the car and quickly found the room where the man was staying. Knocking on the door three times, the door opened and Eric found himself not looking face to to face with a man, but a woman. "Mr Smith?" she asked.
It took Eric a moment to stop staring at the woman and nod. "Yes, that's me."
The woman stepped back. "I'm Gerry. Come in."
Eric entered the room, the door closing behind him. "You're not quite what I expected," he said as he took off his jacket and put it and his bag on a nearby chair.
Gerry smiled. "I get that a lot, Mr Smith. Gerry is short for Geraldine. In my business, it's still a man's world, but being a woman, I have an ability to go some places where others can't. The same can be said of the men in my profession as well. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, Mr Smith. I just try not to let mine affect my work.
Nodding, Eric smiled. "Note to self: never judge a book by its cover." The thought going through his mind at the same time was that what Gerry had just told him would make a great plot basis. He tucked a mental note in the corner of his brain to write it down when he got a chance to do so.
"Exactly, sir, " Gerry smiled. "Now, to business?" Eric nodded. Walking over to the bed, Gerry picked up the folder sitting on it and handed it over. As Eric opened it up, Gerry continued. "So when you handed me this case a year ago, sir, I'll be honest in admitting that I thought this was going to turn out to be a simple, open and shut, missing persons case that ended with the person of interest ended up being another unidentified body somewhere in a morgue that no one has ever heard of."
"Imagine my surprise, sir, when I find that not only is the POI is potentially still alive, but is almost as good at going to ground as some people I served with when I did two tours in the military."
"You served?" Eric asked as he continued to thumb through the folder's contents.
Gerry nodded. "Yes, sir. Two tours in the Army. First tour in the infantry, my second hitch as a CID investigator. Got out about six years ago, husband divorced me right about the same time, kids are all grown up. So I decided to hang out my shingle, so to speak, and continued on doing what I'd been doing before; only this time it's own my own terms and the pay's a lot better."
Eric smiled as he reached the last item in the folder. The smiled vanished when he saw that it was a photo of Laurie. It wasn't, however, a picture of her as she had looked in the Seventies. This was very recent photo, by the looks of it. Twelve years older with a modern hairstyle, a man who was either her husband or her partner, judging by the way that they appeared to be in the photo and two small children; no older than four or five at the most.
Stunned by what he was looking at, Eric slowly sank down until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "When was this taken?" he finally asked.
"About two weeks ago." Sitting down next to him, Gerry continued on. "After the majority of my leads vanished around the same time that she did in late '84, I had to wonder as to what would cause her to suddenly stop acting they way that she had done for most of her life. After much thought and consideration, the only two possibilities that I was able to come up with were either that she had died, or she had become pregnant. After eliminating the first possibility, which took me a good four and a half months, I started investigating the second possibilty from when she was last seen in New York of that year."
"With the help of a few and very trusted individuals, who I've since taken on as work colleagues, I was able to cover more ground than I would've otherwise done on my own. From what clues and evidence we were able to piece together, plus some very educated guess work, tracking the young lady down wasn't as hard as we originally thought it was going to be, but by no means did she make it easy, either."
Letting out a small laugh, Eric told her, "Yeah, that sounds about right." Keeping a hold of the photo, Eric closed the folder and handed it back. "Were you able to get a hold of her current address as well?"
Gerry removed a pen from her shirt pocket before taking the photo, turning it over and writing something on the back. "I've written that and her work address down for you, sir. I hope it all goes well when you finally see her," she said as she handed the photo back.
"So do I, Gerry." Taking back the photo, Eric slipped it into his shirt pocket. Getting up, he went over to where his bag was and took out his check book. Opening it, Eric borrowed the pen off Gerry and filled out the pertinent details except for the amount. "Okay, Gerry, how bad is the damage?"
Gerry bit her lip as she took out a folded piece of paper from the back pocket of her jeans with a figure written down on it and handed it to Eric. His eyes widened when he saw what the final total was, but never hesitated when he put the pen on the check and wrote an amount in. Tearing it out of the check book, Eric handed the check over to Gerry.
As she went to put it into her shirt pocket, Gerry noticed the amount that was written on it was different to what she had told the client. Turning back to Eric, she told him, "Sir, this check is for an amount that isn't what I wrote down on the piece of paper I gave you."
"I know," Eric answered. "Consider the additional amount that I added on a bonus/retainer of sorts. I like to think that I know and recognize good talent when I see it. With what I do for a living, and what I will have going on over the next couple of years, your services will come in extremely handy when needed."
Gerry preened at the praise. "Thank you, sir. That's very kind of you to say."
"After I've finished up my business here," Eric continued, "and I've returned home, I'll get in touch with my agent and we'll work out an agreement from there." Eric put out his hand. "Deal?" Without even taking a moment to think about it, Gerry placed her hand in Eric's and the pair shook to seal the deal.
"Pleasure doing business with you, sir," Gerry said as she withdrew her hand.
"Likewise, Gerry." Smiling as he grabbed his things, Eric slipped the photo into his jacket pocket, thanked Gerry once more and left the motel room. As he walked to his car, Eric could only wonder at how this particular conversation, when he had it, was going to go.
After leaving the motel, Eric drove around Cannon Falls for the next couple of hours; attempting to make a hard decision on how and when he would approach Laurie. Given the circumstances and what he remembered of her the last time that they had seen one another, Eric knew that the meeting wouldn't be an easy one, but he was determined to keep his promise to his parents. One way way or another.
In the end, Eric decided that the best approach was the simplest. The information in the folder had revealed that Laurie always went home for lunch between 11:30am and 1pm, returning to work at 1:30. If there was ever going to be a safer place for him to meet with his sister after all these years, he could think of no other such place than her own home.
Having made his decision, Eric turned left onto West Mill Street, driving up onto North 6th Street before turning left again onto West State Street. Driving all the way down till he reached the intersection he was on the look out for, he turned right onto North York Street and drove all the way down until he reached the intersection right at the end and turned left onto Haven Heights Court. Eric remembered what Gerry had written in the folder about where they lived and the address that she'd written on on the back of the photo gave him the perfects directions to where the house was.
While the house wasn't big, it was situated somewhere quiet and peaceful. The house itself wasn't in the best shape, but Eric could tell that someone had put a lot of time and effort into fixing it up and making it into a home. Pulling over onto the side of the road just in front , Eric turned off the engine, grabbed his gear and got out of the car.
As he started walking up to the front gate, Eric was also struck in a strange way by how his sister's house reminded him of Point Place. Not the building itself, but the feel of the place; the homespun look and the care and effort that had been put in into maintaining everything. Shaking his head to clear his mind so that he could focus, Eric passed through the front gate, made his way up the short path and came to a stop at the front door.
As he had done in Chicago, Eric briefly hesitated just as he was about to knock. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, he stiffened his resolve and proceeded to knock sharply on the entrance.
When she heard the knocking on the door, Laurie Forman was surprised to hear the sound; especially at that time of day. Work had been slow today, so the boss had given her an extra hour to go home and check on Rob's mother Elaine while the kids were at school. With EJ and Steph in full time school, it had allowed her and Rob to go pick up more hours at work to cover some of the bills that had landed on the table following Elaine's heart attack two years ago.
Laurie had met Elaine Hopewell only a few months after the twins had been born. Despite not really knowing her, Elaine had taken her in and given her a place to stay while Laurie had struggled those first few months as a mother. With Elaine's help, Laurie had managed to not only bond with her children, but feed and clothe them and also find a part time job and help Elaine out as well. To this day, Elaine had never asked Laurie any of the questions that usually came later on; who was she, where had she come from and what was she planning on doing once she was back on her feet.
In fact, she'd expected those questions when Elaine's son Rob had returned home after serving nearly fifteen years in the military. Five years older than her, Rob had later admitted to Laurie that he hadn't been too sure what to make of her when he'd arrived home to find a complete stranger with two kids living with his mother. But, after speaking to some of his mother's friends and seeing how close they all were, Rob had realized how much of a godsend that they had been for one another.
It was a year later that the pair became a couple. Not long after that, Laurie had sat down with Rob and told him the truth about who she was, where she was from and how she had wound up in Cannon Falls. She'd also told him about who the twins' father was and why she felt that she'd never be able to return home for the time being.
Rob had absorbed everything that Laurie had told him with an understanding far greater than what Laurie had expected. Fifteen years of serving his country had given Rob a worldly view of life. Unfortunately, one of the downsides to having served his country was that, due to a series of misadventures as he called it, had left him with damage to the majority of his body. Part of the damage that he had sustained, while still leaving him with the ability to perform in the bedroom, had left him with a very low chance of ever having children.
After learning the truth from Laurie about everything that had happened prior to her arrival in Cannon Falls, Rob had taken to raising EJ and Steph as if he were their actual father and, for all intents and purposes, he was. Finding a better job to support his new family had taken some time, but eventually Rob had managed to secure work for a security firm in St Paul, working his way up to the position of Duty Operations Manager. The bump in pay had come in handy and the move up had allowed Rob to move away from frontline work and be able to spend more time with Laurie and the kids while also looking after his mother following her heart attack.
Elaine's knock at death's door had stunned not only Rob and Laurie, but everyone in Cannon Falls who knew and loved the older woman. To see her felled so brutally had nearly destroyed her son and would have done, had Laurie not been there to support him. Elaine had made a lot of improvement since those early days, when no one had been sure as to whether she would live or die, but there was still quite a way off from her returning to her full strength; if it was at all possible. The hardest part of it all was the fact that she still struggled with getting around like she used to do, being forced to use a cane or an aid to assist with even some of the simplest tasks.
Laurie had come home to ensure Elaine was up and around and moving about. The last visit with the specialist had made it clear that Elaine would only progress if she kept up with all the exercises and followed all the instructions as set out by the various therapists that she saw as well. When she had arrived home, Laurie had found Elaine still ensconced in bed where she had been left before Laurie had taken the twins to school that morning.
Chasing the older woman out of bed with a stern word and some assistance, Laurie had gone into the kitchen and made lunch for the both of them. It was as she was cleaning up from the meal that she heard the knock on the door. Wondering who it was, Laurie left Elaine to go answer the door.
Still trying to think as to who it could be as she opened it, Laurie was not prepared for the sight that greeted her. Opening her mouth to speak, her jaw remained opened as her brother Eric looked back at her, smiled and said, "Hello, Laurie."
It was the first time in her life that Laurie Forman ever fainted.
Twenty minutes would pass before Laurie finally regained consciousness. She awoke to find herself lying on the sofa with a cold compression her forehead and a glass of water and two aspirin sitting in front of her on the coffee table. Sitting up slowly, Laurie grabbed the tablets off the and popped them into her mouth before washing them down her throat with a mouthful of water.
Taking an extra couple of minutes to regain her bearing properly, Laurie slowly stood up. Hearing the sound of voices coming from the kitchen, she took her time walking over to the doorway to find Eric and Elaine sitting at the dining table; each with a drink in their hand. Elaine was drinking what Laurie presumed was either coffee or tea while Eric, to her surprise, had a glass of scotch whisky in his.
"Ah, I see that Sleeping Beauty has finally risen," Elaine said with a grin on her face. Laurie made a face at the older woman while Eric chuckled. "How was your nap?"
Shaking her head to clear away any lingering pain, Laurie answered, "Can't remember the last time that I fainted."
"I can't either," Eric said. "The closest that I can remember, though, is that time when you moved out of the house for about a week and lived some guy from college. A professor, if memory serves." Eric still remembered the look of shock and horror on his sister's face when she'd opened the door to find her father, her brother and her nemesis standing on the other side of the door. The moment had been a priceless one for Eric, but the way that their father had treated her afterwards had caused him to defend her later on. It had been one of those rare bonding moments between the two siblings.
Laurie also remembered the same incident, but with one difference. After moving back home, her mother had called her on her bullshit. Laurie had admitted to her almost straight away that the real reason that she'd returned was that her boyfriend's wife had taken him back. At the time, she had felt pride in how she had manipulated the situation, but now all she felt was shame for what she had done and the person that she used to be.
"Seems like a lifetime ago." The sadness in Laurie's voice made Eric want to reach out and hold his sister and comfort her; like she had done for him many years ago on those rare occasions when he had needed someone to do just that. But, he also knew that there was a strong chance that she would pull away if he made the first move. One of the joys of having a sister who just like their father.
Finally, she asked the question that she knew had to be asked. "Why are you here, Eric?"
Setting the glass of whisky down on the table, Eric looked his sister. "Mom and Dad asked me to find you. To make sure that, at the very least, you were okay and to let you know that you are welcome to come home whenever you feel like doing so."
Laurie took a deep breath. "How did you find me?"
"A private investigator." Eric decided to be honest. "A very good one. Wasn't cheap and cost me more than what I expected in the end, but well worth it knowing that you're alive and well. For someone who I haven't seen in twelve years, I wasn't sure about what answers would be found, but it's a lot better than I expected."
"So, imagine my surprise when the investigator hands me this." Eric took the photo that Gerry had given him out of his bag and laid it on the table. As she looked at it, Laurie didn't know what was more surprising: that Eric had the photo or that it was such a great photo of her, Rob and the kids.
Picking it up off the table, Laurie gazed at the photo as it brought back what she had been feeling when the picture was taken: Happiness, contentment and love. Those three emotions were ones that she hadn't felt in a very long time and when the woman had taken the photo at that moment, it felt like she had captured a moment in time. Then it clicked. "The woman who took the photo. She was the investigator."
Eric nodded. "Like I said, a very good one who wasn't cheap and cost me more than I had expected, but well worth it in the end."
As Elaine watched Laurie and Eric, she came to the realization that this wasn't the happy reunion that she had expected it to be. It made her wonder if leaving them alone to talk might be a better idea.
As if she had read the older woman's mind, Laurie turned to Elaine and asked her, "Do you mind giving us a few? Eric and I having some catching up to do."
"Of course." Making her way upright, Elaine looked over at Eric. "It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Eric. I hope to see and hear more from you in the future."
Eric smiled. "Likewise, Elaine." Elaine nodded before turning to Laurie, kissing the younger woman on the cheek and then making her way out of the kitchen.
Once Laurie was sure that the older woman wasn't eavesdropping and had actually done as she said, the older Forman sibling quickly turned and gave her brother the death stare had used to make him quake in his boots when they were kids growing up. "Okay, little brother, spill it. Why are you really here?"
Knowing that Laurie had always been a naturally suspicious person, Eric had expected the line of questioning. He did, however, sense that there was more to the question than the usual interrogating tone that Laurie had always been known for.
"It's as I told you and Elaine: Mom and Dad asked me to track you down and find out what had happened to you. No one has seen or heard from you in twelve years, Laurie. I didn't what what it was that I'd expected, but I thought you'd be still out there, seeing the world and doing something. What, I'm not sure, but you a parent to two children was the last thing I ever expected to find."
Laurie stared at Eric, still not quite comprehending the whole situation. It was then that she realized that he didn't actually know what it was that she had been referring to when she had asked him the question. Taking a moment to process the sudden realization, Laurie turned away, went over to the fridge and grabbed out one of the beers that she and Rob reserved for special occasions. Ever since falling pregnant with EJ and Steph, Laurie had used the new perspective that life had given her to make changes that she never would have otherwise.
Two major changes were smoking and drinking. The smoking went the minute that she had found out that she was expecting. Drinking, on the other hand, had become absent for the duration of the pregnancy. Even afterwards, it had only been on those rare occasions when she was either celebrating or commiserating about something important. It was a far cry from the heady days of her late teens and early to mid twenties when she'd been able to party every night and keep going for days on end.
Sitting down at the table with her brother, Laurie opened the bottle and drained a large mouthful from it. After placing it on the table, she looked at her brother and told him, "Okay, I think we need to have a talk about the last twelve years and catch each other up on what's been happening since we last saw each other, little brother."
After calling work and letting them know that she wouldn't be back for the rest of the day, Laurie and Eric filled each other in on what and how they had wound where they were at their current points in their lives. While they had never been close growing up together, that much was definitely true, the adult versions of who they were now discovered that it much easier to get along with one another as opposed to who they'd been all those years ago.
Eric explained to Laurie about the road that his life had taken since they had last seen each other: Africa. Teaching. Marriage. Divorce. After he had finished recounting to her how he had become an author and where life had taken him up to that point, Laurie took a deep breath and proceeded to do the same about her life up to that point.
While her memories weren't as great at remembering everyone that she'd met, she did remember every place that she had visited. New York. London. Paris. San Diego. Los Angeles. Those were just a few names of where she had traveled to. She even went and got out some of the photos that she'd managed to keep over the years of some of the famous people that she'd met during her time in each city that she'd visited. There was one photo that she deliberately omitted from showing her little brother, but it was a conversation that she was sure she would be having at some point. Whether it was from him working it out or her telling him, she didn't know. But, whatever came first, she was realistic enough to know that she couldn't hide the truth forever.
Once she'd finished recounting how she'd wound up in Cannon Falls and how she'd met Elaine and Rob, Eric marveled at the maturity and wisdom that his sister had developed over the years since becoming a mother. While she would never be on the same level as their own mother, it was obvious that she really did love and care for her children. Finally, he decided to broach the subject.
"Laurie, if and when you're ready, I'd like to meet your kids and Rob as well." Laurie's face became a passive mask, another trait that she'd inherited from their dad as Eric continued. "I'm not asking for it to happen today, just when you're ready and you've had time to discuss it with Rob and Elaine. I know that Mom and Dad would love to know about EJ and Steph and meet them as well, but I also know and remember that pushing you to do anything not on your terms is just asking for more trouble than what it's worth."
Finishing off the beer, Laurie set the empty bottle back down on the table. "Do you plan on telling anyone?" she finally asked, scared of the answer.
"Only Mom and Dad and Jackie." Eric had explained to Laurie about how his recent travels had led him to back home to Point Place and in turn, to Jackie and the new relationship that they were exploring.
After thinking about how best to handle the situation, Laurie finally settled on a decision that would hopefully satisify everyone and go forward from there. "I won't return to Point Place, Eric," she finally replied. "Not for a very long time. But, I do want to take this slowly. Rob has broached the idea of me reconnecting with the rest of the family a couple of times, but I've put him off about it solely because of other priorities that we had going on at the time."
"And now?" Eric asked.
"Your unannounced arrival on my doorstep changes everything, Plus the fact that Elaine's met you has pretty much started something I wasn't sure would ever happen until the kids were much older." Laurie sighed as she got up and went and got a piece of paper and pen from a kitchen drawer before sitting back down. Writing something down on it, she handed the piece of paper over to Eric. "This is my home number, my work number and Rob's work number. Give me two weeks. By then, Rob and I should be able to work out things so that we can arrange some time off and meet with you and Jackie in St Paul for dinner or something to that effect. I figure that, if the kids like Jackie and get along with you and her, then it won't be long after that before I can introduce them to Mom and Dad."
Going through the pile of photos that she'd gotten out, Laurie gave to Eric some spares of the kids growing up that she'd kept in case something had happened to the others. "You can give these to Mom and Dad. Something for the photo album." Looking at the clock on the wall, Laurie cursed. " Sorry, Eric, but I need to go. I've got to pick up the kids from school."
Nodding, Eric grabbed everything that Laurie had given him as he stood up and put it all in his bag. At that moment, Elaine chose to return to the kitchen with a Polaroid camera in hand. Seeing the camera reminded both Eric and Laurie of all the years that Kitty had bombarded them with her camera, always trying to capture a moment.
"I figured that, seeing as we've finally gotten to meet a member of Laurie's side of the family, some evidence won't go astray when people ask if there's a photo somewhere," she said, holding up the camera. Eric grinned as Laurie moved over next to her brother and posed for the shot. Elaine took several photos, giving some to Eric and the rest to Laurie.
Leaning over and kissing the older woman on the cheek, which made her blush, Eric turned to Laurie as he looped his bag over his shoulder. There was a moment of awkwardness before the siblings wrapped their arms around one another and properly hugged for the first time in years. Releasing her, Eric told her, "Look after yourself, sis. We'll talk soon." Laurie nodded before Eric let himself and then he was gone.
As Laurie quickly got herself ready to go pick up the kids from kindergarten, Elaine asked, "You didn't tell him about the twins' real father was, did you?"
Shaking her head as she changed her top and put on her shoes, Laurie told her, "It's a conversation left for another time. Eric and I grew up together not really liking one another, though we did have occasional connection every once in a while. The fact that's he's tracked me down after so long shows that he's a very different person to what I knew and grew up with all those years ago. But, that still doesn't give me any idea as to how he'd react, or my parents for that matter, if and when I told them about who EJ and Steph's biological father is."
"How do I tell them that Stephen Hyde, my brother's best friend and adopted brother and son, is the father of his niece and nephew and their grandchildren? How do I explain what happened one night all those years ago to them?" Laurie simply shook her head and refused to say anymore about the subject as she finished getting ready and left to go pick up the kids from school.
Getting to the car, Eric got in and buckled up before starting the engine. As he turned the car around and headed back the way he came, it suddenly occurred to him that he had said nothing of what had happened to Hyde in the years since Laurie had last seen him. Thinking about it, he simply put it down to not wanting to rock the boat by bringing up her old enemy and upsetting her, potentially destroying any chance of reuniting her with Kitty and Red after so many years apart.
Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Eric focused on the fact that he had managed to achieve something that he'd originally thought impossible and that he was headed back to Wisconsin and, more importantly, Jackie.
A/N: Apologies for the wait with this chapter. That time of year came and I wrote when I was able to. As I'm on nights for the next two months, hopefully the last chapters won't take as long to get written and put.
Please keep posting comments as I love reading what people think of the story.
A shout out to Morris25 for giving me a the idea of where to set this chapter. Hopefully I did justice with what I've written. FYI, Cannon Falls is a real place and is famous for a very good reason, one I didn't learn until I did my research. Except for the street names, everything else about the place that I've written is fiction and artistic license.
Wishing everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Land Down Under!
