Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Elijah had agreed to meet with them under the condition that they do so on his lunch break. He hadn't said as much, but Vivi had a feeling he wanted to keep it away from family so he didn't have to bring up the bad memories around his wife and kids.
Mason held the door for her as she stepped into the restaurant and removed her sunglasses so she could see better.
Scanning the small room, she found Ellen’s son seated at a table in the back corner near a window.
He lifted a hand as his gaze met hers, and she offered a little wave in return.
Mason fell into step next to her, and Elijah greeted Vivi with a hug before offering his hand to Mason.
“Elijah.”
“Mason Kane.”
Elijah waited until they were seated before turning his attention back to Vivi and speaking. “How is the house coming along?”
“Good. Still packing things up, getting them moved to the storage unit.”
“I appreciate it,” Elijah said with a little nod.
“I actually came across a few of your things too,” Vivi said. “I set them aside if you want them.”
He smiled. “God, I can't even begin to imagine how old some of that stuff must be. I'll be sure to stop by and get it out of your way.”
“It's no problem,” she assured him. “There were some yearbooks and things I figured you might like to have.”
“Great, thanks.” His gaze jumped between Vivi and Mason.
She waited for the inevitable question as to whether she and Mason were dating, but the waitress stepped up next to the table to take their orders. Once she was gone, Vivi looked back to Elijah. “Have you had a chance to speak with your mom lately?”
The corners of his lips turned down. “No, how is she?”
“More bad days than good.” She made a little face. “I stopped in to see her a few days ago, but she didn't recognize me.”
Elijah’s face fell and creased with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Vivi. That must be hard for you.”
She lifted one shoulder and threw a grateful look Mason’s way when he dropped his arm over the back of her chair and lightly rubbed her shoulder. Vivi turned her attention back to Elijah. “I really don't have any room to talk. I mean, you're her son.”
“But you're her daughter,” Elijah said. “In her eyes, in all the ways that matter, you're just as much a part of the family as I am. Maybe more.”
He sat forward in his chair and looked at her.
“After Christine passed away, mom fell into a deep depression.
But having you come live with her changed things.
You breathed life into her, gave her a reason to get up every day and go on.
I don't want to say that you were a replacement for Christine, because that wouldn't be fair to either of you.
But know that I appreciate everything you've done for my mother, and I know that Christine would too.”
Tears clogged Vivi's throat and stung her eyes, and she took a moment to battle them back before speaking. “She's more of a mother to me than my own ever was, and it kills me to see her like this.”
“Me, too,” Elijah replied with no small amount of remorse. “I know I wasn’t there for her as much as I should have been, and I regret it.”
It was a crappy situation all around for everyone, and it was only going to get worse. Before Vivi could broach the subject of what had happened with Christine, the waitress delivered their meals. They made small talk as they ate until, finally, Vivi could put it off no longer.
“So, you’re probably wondering exactly why I asked to meet with you,” she said, nerves causing her insides to flutter.
Elijah nodded a little. “What’s on your mind?”
“What happened with Christine…” she started, then stopped. “We found Christine’s diary a few weeks ago when we were packing and—”
“Her diary?” Elijah’s tone was ice-cold, his posture rigid.
Vivi studied him. “Yeah, I found it in her old bedroom. I was going to give it to Ellen, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react. I thought I would ask you first.”
“No sense in dredging up bad memories,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’d throw the stupid thing away.”
Vivi paused. He was holding something back, she could tell. She strove for calm as she spoke. “That’s fine. I’ll just put it with the rest of Ellen’s things.”
Elijah nodded stiffly, and silence descended for a few seconds.
Vivi's heart told her to leave well enough alone, that Elijah and his family had endured enough tragedy already. But her mind screamed at her for answers. She couldn’t just let it go.
They’d come this far; she needed to find out if he knew about Christine—and Russ.
She swallowed hard. “That actually brings up my second question. I was wondering…”
She trailed off, and Elijah lifted a brow in question. “Yeah?”
“Did you know she was pregnant before she—?”
He speared her with a hawk-like gaze, cutting her off. “What?”
Vivi bit her lip, wishing she could read him. Did he know all the sordid details or not? “Well, we found out”—she gestured between Mason and herself—“that Christine had a baby, a little boy, just a few months before she killed herself.”
“That wasn’t common knowledge.” He leaned close, his eyes dark with anger. “Who told you that?”
Mason reached forward as if to physically ward Elijah away, his tone hard. “Let’s just relax for a second. We found out because Christine’s child—Tyler—tried to break into Vivi’s house.”
Elijah looked absolutely stunned, and he sank back in his chair. “What are you talking about?”
Vivi drew in a deep breath. “A couple nights ago, Mason heard someone outside. Tyler was sneaking around the backyard, so Mason brought him in and we asked what he was doing.” An understatement, but she wasn’t inclined to tell Elijah the whole truth.
“He explained that Christine had given him up for adoption, and he only found out about her through letters he received much later.”
“I…” Elijah’s mouth opened and closed. “I had no idea he knew. From what I understood, the adoption was supposed to be sealed.”
Vivi shrugged helplessly. “I’m not sure. But that brought up a whole new issue. Tyler is looking for his biological father.”
“Couldn’t help you with that.”
His hard tone and the tic in his jaw told Vivi otherwise, and she pressed on. “You still lived at home when she was married to Russ, right?”
Resentment rolled off Elijah in waves, and she could just imagine him trying to clamp down on his anger as he responded. “They married when I was in high school, but they separated a few years after Christine passed. She stayed with him way too long.”
“Do you know where he is? Tyler would love—”
Elijah was already shaking his head. “Not a clue. We didn’t get along too well, and I didn’t bother to keep in touch.”
He glanced at his watch, then tossed a strained smile Vivi’s way. “Sorry, but I have to get back to work. It was good catching up with you.”
“Yeah, of course. Thanks for coming.”
Unease swirled in Vivi's belly as they tossed down some money to settle the bill and headed outside. She somehow managed to curb all of her questions until she and Mason were ensconced in his truck and pulling away from the diner.
“Well that was interesting,” she remarked with no small amount of sarcasm.
From her left, Mason let out a little snort. “No kidding.”
Vivi had to agree. The way Elijah had reacted was suspicious. “Do you think he did it?”
He shrugged. “I honestly don't know. He doesn't seem the type, and there's not nearly enough evidence to suggest he did.”
“I know,” Vivi lamented. “It's like we're missing half the pieces. But I still think he knows something,” she insisted.
“That's a given,” Mason replied. “I just don't know what. Is he protecting himself or Ellen?”
Vivi thought on that for a long minute, turning the question over in her mind and examining it from every angle. “Maybe both. Like you said, it's unlikely that she would be unable to do anything by herself. Maybe they're both responsible and he needs to stay quiet.”
“Definitely a possibility.” Mason nodded. “We'll have to see what Tyler thinks. Speaking of…” He passed Vivi his phone as he shifted the truck into gear and pulled out onto the main drag. “Check this, would you? Tyler called while we were talking to Elijah, and I didn't want to interrupt.”
Vivi thumbed through the phone, entering the passcode he relayed to her, then pulled up the new voicemail. She turned on the speakerphone function so they could both listen.
“Hey, it's Tyler. I’m up in Orlando right now meeting with a relative of Russ's. But I've been thinking. Something about Ellen and Russ's divorce was bothering me, and I want to take a look at those papers again. I'll give you a call as soon as I get back into town so we can…”
There were some muffled noises in the background before Tyler came back. “He's here, I’ve got to go. Talk to you later.”
The line clicked off, and Vivi glanced at Mason. “Wonder what he found?”
“Not sure. Guess we’ll see what he finds up there, if anything.”
There were so many questions and not nearly enough answers. Vivi was beginning to feel like they were looking for a needle in a haystack.