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Waving goodbye to Annie, they watched her drive through the gate and it automatically closed.
“Everyone, come back to the porch,” Maggie said.
They followed her, chatting, wondering what surprise Vic Chastain had for them.
“Sit down,” Vic said when they stood around him in a circle, so they grabbed chairs and waited while he and Rose whispered to each other.
“First of all, in defense of Rose, this was her idea. She discovered something that I’ve been keeping from my boys.”
Justin and Dave exchanged glances. “Dad, spit it out, please,” Dave begged. “I have a newborn baby who has days and nights mixed up. I can’t deal with any intrigue right now.”
“Please, I need to explain everything to be fair to your mother.”
“What does mother have to do with any of this?” Justin asked, seething.
He always felt his mother’s mental health could have been helped if Vic had been proactive and this conversation might provide the opportunity for him to make that claim.
“Can I tell them how I found out?” Rose asked.
“Okay. That will be a good place to start,” Vic said, patting her hand.
“You won’t know this, but Emily Benoit and I were friends in our youth.”
“My mother?” Justin asked, shocked.
“Your mother. We went our separate ways after high school like people do; I married John Angel and she married Victor Chastain. We didn’t stay in touch because we just didn’t. She was busy right away with the clinic and having her two boys.
“When I moved back to Cypress Cove with my aunt after Maggie moved into Bayou Cottage, I didn’t consider Vic anything more than Emily’s husband. He still mourned for her. But when we saw each other, it was a nice, easy chemistry. I respected him because he was Emily’s husband.”
“Why throw out her things then?” Dave asked, bristling.
“Yes, that was unfortunate that it appeared I was throwing her linens away, but I really wasn’t,” Rose answered. “I’m so sorry. When I moved, I did the same thing; jammed my old stuff into the back of my minivan and drove to the Goodwill. I promise you, it was thoughtless, but it wasn’t malicious.”
“Okay,” Dave replied, satisfied with that answer.
“Anyway,” Rose continued, “last week my aunt slipped and shared something with me that was not only stunning, it was unconscionable. I approached Vic and he didn’t want to deal with it, so I broke up with him.”
“I’m getting confused,” Maggie said. “When did all this happen?”
“Recently. Vic, you’d better take over.”
He leaned forward, his hands grasped, hanging down between his knees. “Before you two were born, Val Amotte raped your mother. She conceived and had a son, but she gave him up for adoption.”
Justin and Dave and the others didn’t move. Only the sound of Tina nursing could be heard.
“Val left for the service and was deployed to Vietnam where he met his wife. They didn’t come back to Cypress Cove. He only returned here after his wife died last year.”
“And my aunt married him,” Maggie said.
“That’s right,” Rose replied.
“Does Aunt Elizabeth know about this?” Maggie asked Rose. “She and Val were engaged before he left for the service, weren’t they? I remember the story.”
“They were. Elizabeth just found out about the accusation,” Rose said. ‘She is talking about divorcing Val and moving back to Florida.”
Taking a deep breath, Dave nodded his head, glancing at Katrina. “I get it. Dad, you and Rose don’t have to leave because of that. Justin and I don’t give a crap about Val Amotte.”
“It’s not that,” Vic said. “Val found the son Emily gave up. It’s like a messy can of worms if you ask me. I’m sure the guy will be looking for you two.”
