Chapter 7 #2
She hated that they had to cut their honeymoon short. But what else could they do? How sad that such a thing should happen when this should be the happiest of times for him and Abby. And she couldn’t let go of the idea that the two were related.
Despite her resolve not to cry a lone tear slowly slid down her cheek, and her heart began to ache as if someone was reaching into her chest, squeezing it in their fist, making breathing difficult. She gasped, desperate for air.
“Are you okay?” Nick asked.
She shook her head, unable to respond.
“Can you take deep breaths?” he asked, grabbing her hand for reassurance as he turned into the gates to the community.
Jillian mustered enough strength to fill her lungs and slowly let it out as the guard waved them through. She took another breath, and her panic subsided; Nick drove quickly to the house.
He parked in the circle drive, and they got out, going inside. Mrs. Hudson met them in the foyer, with a concerned look on her face.
“What is it?” Jillian asked. “Has something else happened?”
“I was worried when I couldn’t find either of you. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”
“We’re sorry,” Nick said. “We had a lead and had to follow it, but it went nowhere.”
The housekeeper nodded. “As long as you’re safe. Come. I prepared lunch for you.”
They followed her into the kitchen and sat at the barstools while Mrs. Hudson brought out the plates of food she’d prepared and sat it down before them. Then she brought over glasses of iced tea. A newspaper was in the middle of the island.
“Is this the morning paper?” Jillian asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Hudson said. “There isn’t a word about Travis going missing in there I haven’t seen it on the news either.”
“That’s because Mr. McGinty requested it not be broadcasted,” Nick explained.
“He did?” Mrs. Hudson said. “Why?”
“Several reasons,” Nick said. “Travis’ mother for one.
Mr. McGinty said she was an addict, and he wasn’t sure how the news might affect her now that she is finally getting clean.
Then there are the kidnappers. Since there hasn’t been a ransom demand, we don’t know if they know who Travis’ father is. ”
“I never wanted to ask before,” Mrs. Hudson said, “And maybe this isn’t the time, but how did the former Mrs. McGinty become an addict?”
“I understand. We don’t like talking about these things, especially with Travis underfoot.
But he isn’t here, so I will tell you. Geneva got hooked on opioids after a car accident,” Jillian said.
“That’s the reason I was hired because of her back injury.
She had trouble picking up Travis when he was two and then I was needed when she could no longer care for him due to her addiction and the marriage eventually fell apart because she couldn’t kick it. No rehab program worked for her.”
“I see,” Mrs. Hudson said.
“You came to work here after all of this,” Jillian said. “Which spared you from having to witness it all.”
“I am thankful for that,” Mrs. Hudson said. “But I didn’t realize no one had informed the former Mrs. McGinty about Travis.”
“She goes by her maiden name now,” Jillian said, before finally picking up her sandwich.
“Which is?” Nick asked, picking at the bread on his own sandwich.
“Reyes. Her parents are Robert and Judy Reyes, you may have seen their real estate billboards around Miami,” Jillian said. “They’re worth millions from what I’ve overheard Mr. McGinty say.”
“True,” Mrs. Hudson said, sitting on a vacant stool. “And they never come around to see Travis. And they are the only living blood grandparents he has. But now he’ll have Abby’s folks.”
“Yes, if he’ll claim them,” Jillian said. “But the Reyes have a reason for staying away. In Florida, the grandparents have no rights. And if Mr. McGinty won’t allow them to see Travis, they really can’t do much about it.”
Mrs. Hudson sighed. “Family affairs can be so painful where divorce and custody are concerned.” She stood. “Do eat up.”
Nick ate his sandwich slowly, thinking about what Jillian had told him about Travis’ mother.
But if Geneva no longer had custody of Travis, addict or not, to his mind that made her the prime suspect in being behind Travis’ kidnapping and he wondered why no one had put that out there.
Why hadn’t Simons questioned her immediately and why hadn’t that occurred to Jillian?
“Does Geneva ever try to see Travis?” Nick asked.
Jillian put down her sandwich. “No. She’s been in and out of rehab facilities without success for years from what Mr. McGinty has told me when we discussed her.
In the beginning I took care of her as much as I did Travis because there were times she was so stoned on the pain meds, she couldn’t dress herself.
And then it got so bad I was afraid of what might happen to Travis when the drug use took over …
” She looked around the kitchen as if embarrassed by the memories.
“I suppose I should have gone to Mr. McGinty and told him what was going on instead of trying to take care of her, but I was young, and she was begging for my help so she could take care of her child again.”
“How did he eventually find out?” Nick asked.
“He returned from one of his business trips on one of my days off and she’d overdosed after putting Travis to bed,” Jillian said.
“That’s when he sent her to her first rehab.
When her second stent failed, they separated and divorced.
He’s kept tabs on her over the years because after all she’s still Travis’ mother and he cares about what happens to her.
Thankfully, after her last treatment, she appears to have kicked the habit.
Geneva is on the road to recovery after all these years from what he told me today. ”
“Mr. McGinty has shared all of this with you?” Nick said, surprised.
“Yes,” Jillian said. “He thought it was important that I know everything because I’m Travis’ nanny.”
“And yet the two of you never had a relationship in all the time you worked for him?” Nick said.
“No!” Jillian said. “Are you crazy? I know things like that happen, but I would never cross that line. He’s my employer.
Not that it wouldn’t have made Travis happy if we had.
He told me the night before he was abducted that he wished his dad had married me instead of Abby.
That he’d always wanted me to be his mom. Can you believe that?”
Nick grinned. “I think you’d be any eight-year-old’s dream for a mom, Jillian. Didn’t you say he loves you? And that you have been the only mother he has ever known?”
“Yes,” she admitted, unable to meet his gaze.
“It’s easy for me to see why Travis would want you to marry his father.”
“But still…”
“Maybe you’re a little afraid when McGinty and Abby get home, things may change. That maybe you won’t still have a job as Travis’ nanny?”
“Yes.” Jillian picked up a potato chip. “What if Abby doesn’t want a nanny for Travis anymore? She never said that while they were dating, but it could be something she has thought about and something she has spoken to Mr. McGinty about now that they are married that changes everything.”
“And if it happens, I’m sure you can find another job. McGinty would probably give you an outstanding reference.”
“Not with a child abduction while under my care on the record.”