Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
T he smell of garlic hit Eddie almost as strongly as the regret of agreeing to meet Mary. He held the door to Rachael’s Italian Eatery and placed his hand on Bianca’s back as the rain continued to spit outside.
Apparently, her sandals had no problems crossing the threshold. Then again, she wasn’t preparing to battle her past.
Bianca paused by a potted plant whose leaves appeared to reach out for her shoulders. “You, okay?”
The door swung closed and whacked Eddie where his road rash had mostly healed. He slipped his hands into his athletic shorts pockets and managed a nod.
Whether the entry hallway wall had purposely been painted to match uncooked noodles or not, it served as a backdrop for Bianca’s silver dress that floated around her knees as she both eyed him and walked to the hostess stand. Behind the welcome podium lined with ivy, either real or fake, a tall man dressed in all black gave them a welcoming grin, despite Eddie’s simple coaching attire.
Eddie’s tennis shoes stopped on the gold-swirled tiled. “I should have gone home first and changed. I was only thinking about how late I was going to be.”
Ten years was far too late.
Bianca hooked her hand around his elbow. “Are you trying to tell me that you want me to drive you home to get your flip-flops?” Her fingers flexed on his skin, and the hairs on Eddie’s arm seemed to lean into her touch.
Bianca dipped her chin closer to his ear. “I mean, do you want me to make an excuse to get us out of here?”
Did he?
“Good afternoon, Ms. Pearl and Mr. Rice,” the still-smiling host said. “Your party has already been seated. If you’re ready, I’ll lead you to them.”
Bianca gave Eddie her full attention. “I’ll follow you, whatever you decide.”
Lord, what is he supposed to do?
Had this been His doing, orchestrating everything? Or had Eddie been the one trying to unlock wrong doors?
Eddie’s next breath sank low to his churning gut. “Let’s get this over with.”
The host kept his grin as if any future tips depended on it. “Right this way.”
As they rounded a table of five, one customer pushed out their chair, and Bianca rocked backward in order not to ram into the elderly man, who reached for his cane.
Eddie’s hands landed on her hips and steadied her.
A gasp came, not from Bianca, but from one of the young women sitting beside the old man. “Is that…”
Bianca kept her head down as they passed three more full tables and then whispered to Eddie, “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” he murmured.
A bricked archway revealed another room, and the host stopped at the table under a painting of a water fountain with a group of children splashing each other. Mary, dressed in a flamingo-pink shirt with about five strands of lime chunky-beaded necklaces, sat facing the host’s direction. A man with dyed black hair had his arm resting on the back of her chair as he whispered something into her ear.
Party of four. Not three. Eddie zeroed in on his mother’s left hand but couldn’t tell if she wore a ring by the way she held a piece of bread. Had she gotten married?
Whatever the man said, Mary tilted her head and released a laugh louder than the classical cello music being played overhead. The man noticed the host and turned his face.
Joel Gillian.
Eddie reached and gripped the nearest chair. He couldn’t do this.
Bianca had frozen beside him. All except her gaze and her deepening brows.
Mary’s voice boomed over his thoughts and the music once again. “Eddington, you came!”
Joel stood and extended his hand toward Eddie. “Good to finally meet you, son. I’m Joel Gillian.”
Son? Somehow Bianca’s fingers were now laced through Eddie’s.
Eddie glared at Joel. “I know who you are. I just don’t know why you’re here.”
Mary fluttered her ringless hand to her chest, then to her necklaces, and finally planted her palms on her lap. “I’ll explain everything. Come, sit. This tiny place has delicious bread.”
One chance. She had one more chance.
Eddie pulled out a chair three over from Joel. He gestured for Bianca to sit, and then he took the seat beside her.
Joel straightened his tie and then sat.
The host cleared his throat. “Can I start you two off with something to drink?”
Mary lifted her glass. “Their raspberry tea is lovely.”
Eddie grabbed the cloth napkin. She used to hate tea. Said it was only dirty water. “I’ll have water with lemon.”
“And you, Ms. Pearl?”
“I told you it was Bia Pearl,” came a stage whisper from the archway, where two women peeked from behind the wall.
Joel raised his bushy brow at the hostess. “I thought when I called, you guaranteed us privacy.”
The host sent a scowl toward the women. “Everyone’s privacy is our top concern. I will take care?—”
“Do you mind if I take a quick selfie with them?” Bianca asked Eddie. “I’m sure they’ll leave afterward.”
Joel huffed. “One photo will lead to fifty. You’re only causing more trouble by encouraging them to be here.”
Eddie scooted his chair back. “I’ll go with you.”
Bianca smiled at the host and tucked her hand in Eddie’s elbow. “I’ll have lemonade, please.”
Before they reached the archway, Bianca tilted her head closer, and her breath tickled his neck. “I won’t blame you if you’re plotting our getaway.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Eddie muttered.
“This will be the only fan photo I take tonight. I was trying to fix the tension, but…how can I help you get through this night besides praying?”
He needed all the prayers he could get. She was already doing more than enough by giving him someone else to focus on. “Trust me, you’re helping.”
The two women peeked around the archway, and their eyes widened when they spotted Eddie and Bia.
The blonde seemed to use all her teeth to smile. “Oh, Ms. Pearl, can we get a picture?”
The brunette beside her held out a phone as if Bianca had never seen one before.
Bianca stepped away from Eddie. “I have time for one photo tonight.”
Eddie extended his hand. “I’ll take it with your phone.”
The brunette hesitated, looking between Eddie and Bianca as if that wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped for. Finally, the blonde handed over her phone from out of her pocket.
Eddie snapped three photos. “Here you go.”
The brunette’s gaze flicked back toward the table. “Could we get one with you and Joel Gillian together? I can’t believe he’s your life coach. I mean, his books are so great. It totally makes sense for him to agree to coach you?—”
“He’s not her life coach.” Eddie took in a deep breath.
It didn’t help.
Bianca pressed her shoulder against his. “We’ve got to go, ladies. Thanks so much for the pictures.”
After he turned, she put her hand on Eddie’s back. “Eddie?”
One word, and he knew what she’d asked. Just as she’d known how to anchor him with her touch.
Eddie’s back muscles coiled. “Mary read one of Joel’s books in jail. That wise life coach advised people to get rid of the things that held them back. When she was released, she relinquished her rights to parent me so she could find her happiness. Apparently, I was holding her back.”
Bianca sucked in a breath. “How could she have brought him here tonight? Let’s go. Milkshakes and fries sound way better than lasagna. Mary shouldn’t have tried to manipulate this meeting.”
Eddie placed his hand on top of Bianca’s. “She gets tonight to explain.”
Then that was it.
They reached the table at the same time as a server placed down Eddie’s water and Bianca’s lemonade. She set another lemonade next to Joel’s empty glass before turning and walking away.
As Bianca and Eddie sat, Joel motioned toward his and Bianca’s glasses and then toward the archway. “We’re similar in more than one way. Except I’ve found that the more you cater to people in public, the more they expect for you to give up your own happiness for theirs.”
Eddie almost spat his gulp of water out. “You’re nothing like Bianca. Now, why are you here?”
Mary reached for Eddie across the table as if she could touch him over the candles and flower vase. “Eddington, dear, Joel’s not only my favorite author, or my favorite wise man, he’s my copartner in life. I thought it best for my two favorite men to meet.”
Eddie tugged on his ear. Was he going deaf? Surely he hadn’t heard what he thought she’d said. “You married Joel? The man who told you to get rid of me.”
And he’d thought anyone would be an improvement over his father.
“You misheard.” Joel took a drink from his lemonade and wrinkled his nose. “She’s my copartner. We don’t believe in needing a piece of paper for joint happiness. Like emotions, marriage only complicates things.”
Eddie squeezed the stem of his glass until his knuckles paled.
Bianca straightened the fork beside her plate. “Marriage is a blessing.”
Joel removed his locked gaze from Eddie and smirked at Bianca. “Strange coming from the woman who had been co-partnering with a con artist.”
Eddie stood. “Don’t belittle Bianca. And Mary, last chance. Why am I here? Time to talk or we’re out of here.”
Mary opened her mouth, but Joel paused with his lemonade halfway to his mouth. “She’s here because you’ve caused a break in her happiness that needs to be fixed.”
Eddie aimed his thumb at his chest. “I’ve caused?”
Joel clanked his cup down, and lemonade sloshed onto the white tablecloth. “Picking up the phone once could have saved me a trip out here.”
Mary set her bread down. “I’m not sure that alone would have helped. I saw you on the news with Bia Pearl, and it brought back old memories. I hadn’t had a stronger pull to come and hug you before. With some other things about to happen in our lives, I knew it was time.”
Eddie lowered to his chair. “I believe that’s called guilt, and it’s there for a reason.”
Tears filled Mary’s eyes. “This is a long time coming, but I’m proud of you, Eddington. Proud of us both. Look where we are. When I saw you in that first heroic article online, everything had finally lined up.” She wiped away a fallen tear. “I hadn’t been the best mother to you. Drugs and addictions controlled me. In and out of jail. I didn’t know where you were even when I was home.” She reached for Joel’s hand. “Then I found Joel’s book, and it changed my life. But I needed more help. I knew Joel’s words spoke to me. Turns out we needed each other to find our complete happiness.”
Eddie shook his head. All this time, and she was still just as lost. “It’s not about finding happiness.”
Joel aimed his buttered knife at Eddie. “Son, I hear your tone, and it’ll get no one at this table closure.”
Eddie scooted to the edge of his chair. “It’s not a tone problem. Mary…Mother, you need to look for answers from the Bible. It explains where our joy comes from, which is far better than temporary happiness. How our past can be forgiven.”
How to find strength to forgive his mother.
Bianca put her hand on Eddie’s thigh, and he rested his on top of hers.
Mary twisted the longest of her necklaces. “I can’t be wishing my past away, because it’s healed both of us.”
Eddie didn’t blink. She wasn’t sorry for what she’d done. “I suppose I can’t wish all the past away either. Without your decision to leave me, I wouldn’t have ever stepped foot inside a church and heard the actual truth. If you hadn’t dumped me?—”
“She didn’t dump you.” Joel took in a quick inhale and rubbed his chest. Sweat shined on his forehead. “She was on her path to healing and self-worth.”
Eddie’s hand laced around Bianca’s under the table. “A path toward your co-partnering and selfishness masked behind what you claim as happiness.”
Joel grabbed his glass of lemonade and took a gulp. “Why is this so sour?” He set the glass down. “You really need to read my books. It’ll explain everything. Without my books, you’re still blocked.”
Eddie tilted his chin up. “Mary’s partly right. Without her road to so-called happiness, I wouldn’t have been dropped into foster care. Wouldn’t have been taken to church by Grand-ma’am and heard where my worth actually comes from. It isn’t found in anything you’ve written about.”
Joel dabbed his napkin against his sweaty brow and grunted. But it wasn’t because of anything Eddie had said. The man stiffened and grabbed at his collar. Another strangled gasp came from Joel’s mouth. His body jerked, and he fell to the ground.
Bianca’s hand squeezed his. “Eddie?”
Eddie sprang from his seat and rushed over to a white-faced Joel. “Call 9-1-1!”
Mary released a shriek. “He’s allergic to…to…cherries and…and soy!” Her hands flew to her cheeks. “Help him, Eddie.” Then she threw her purse across the table, knocking over Joel’s lemonade. “His epinephrine autoinjector is inside. You must save my Joely. I can’t live without him.”
Eddie put his two fingers against Joel’s neck.
No, but she could live without her son.
Which had probably saved Eddie’s life.
No pulse.
Bianca grabbed her phone and dialed for help as Eddie dropped to his knees beside the man he’d grown to hate. “He doesn’t need epinephrine. He’s having a heart attack.”