By Accident, On Purpose Ch. 01

Defeated she came back to the table and sat down. She snatched the letter from me and began reading to herself.

"What does it say?" I asked her. She began again, aloud.

"I have a wife and young daughter in Trouville, in France.' She read again, shaking her head. After a brief look to me, she continued. "I cannot even guess at how this news will be received. I have been dreading telling you for some time. I feel like a chicken shit for doing it this way, but there it is. Nothing to be done about that. I don't ever expect forgiveness from you, but I cannot continue the lie any longer."

"I want nothing from you, or from the house. All of it is yours. I have established trusts for you both, and hope that this will be enough to sustain you without me. Kevin's is funded with 2 million and yours is funded with 10." At this news, Mom stopped reading. My head had fallen off at this news and I had lost the thread of the letter anyway.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked. Mom's look expressed the same disbelief that I felt. She read it again. "Kevin's is funded with 2 million and yours is funded with 10."

"Two million dollars?!!" asked her. She just handed me the paper. I read it for myself. "Ten million dollars," I began again, "may seem like a lot, maybe not, but it seemed the right amount to me. I hope you agree. "

"As you read this I am back in France and intend to stay here. I suspect that you will never wish to see me again, after this, but perhaps Kevin will find some way of learning to accept his father's mistakes and find a place for me again in his heart. I truly, dearly hope so. Andi, I am sorrier than you can know, certainly more than you may believe. I never wanted to treat you this way. I understand that this letter is the coward's way out, but there it is. Please know that I did love you. In a way I always will. My best wishes for you both, William."

I sat staring blankly at the letter, hanging limply in my hand. It took a long time to register that Mom was slumped next to me, staring at the sea; Maribella simply stood motionless nearby, silently awaiting instruction. She seemed to understand the gravity of the situation without knowing the detail. Finally I looked up to her and felt the tears rolling down my face. She had a look that was at once filled with compassion, but also held a stoic firmness that prevented her from getting involved. As if understanding our silent need she left us for a bit and returned with a bottle of tequila and two small glasses. She filled both full and set them before us.

I finally forced myself to look at Mom who was staring blankly, as if in a trance. I glanced at my watch and Maribella turned and went to prepare dinner. I took my glass of tequila and sipped it slowly, watching Mom out of the corner of my eye. For the first time I took notice of what she was wearing. She had dressed to impress, in a short pleated skirt that showed a great deal of her sexy thighs. Her cork wedgie sandals were dangling off of one foot, her legs crossed at the ankles. She was wearing a cute, tight, white, bare-midriff halter that showed her firm tummy, and a sand colored lightweight sweater draped over her shoulders.

After I had finished my drink and waited a bit longer, I reached out and touched her arm. She jerked a bit as if brought out of a deep sleep. Her look told me that she was at a complete loss for words. Her hand came up and closed over mine. I watched as her eyes misted over and then fully filled with tears. One fat tear rolled down her cheek, as I reached out to her and pulled her up and over to me to sit on my lap. Her little sweater dropped off onto her chair.

Nothing was said as she sat stiffly onto my legs and then fairly collapsed against me. The tears came in earnest now. I held her head to me and kissed her cheek and then pulled her tightly to me as she quietly lurched as she cried. I had never experienced a rug being pulled out from under someone so thoroughly. I was furious with Dad for being such an asshole over this whole thing. He had set us both up and then snuck out of town.

I was reeling myself over the idea that he had taken up with another woman, and had another child with her. I had a sister that I never knew about. Did they know about us I wondered? I wracked my brain trying to think of something comforting to say to Mom but nothing presented itself. In the end I simply held her. After a bit her arms came around me and she hugged me tightly. I kissed the top of her head.

Finally, she sat up and looked me in the eye hard. "Did you know about this?" she asked me gently, not accusingly, just curious. I was astonished that she thought that I might have.

"What?!" I spluttered, "Hell no! What the,..." Her hand came calmingly to my face, stopping me mid-tirade. She gave me a wan smile that told me that she believed me.

"I was sitting here wondering if he had tried to tell me, before." She whispered to me. "He's right, though. He has been gone from us for quite a while. I guess I just didn't want to believe it. I was hoping this trip would be a way for us to reconnect." She was thoughtful for a long moment.

"We haven't had sex in months." She finally added. She breathed a deep sigh and stood up on shaky legs. "Here I was hoping that we'd fuck like crazy this trip."

"Mom!" I exclaimed, not quite ready to hear this from my mother, including the language. She just gave me a 'Oh, grow up' kind of look.

She returned to her own chair just as Maribella returned with dinner. Mom seemed to take in the sight of her for the first time. Maribella and I exchanged some basic chit chat as she served us. Mom was watching our interchange with mild interest, taking in her surroundings for the first time. Dinner was as exquisite as it had been the night before. It was an oddly sensuous meal, filled with dishes that were shared, eaten with the hands, and slightly messy, but the flavors unlocked the senses in a way that let our current predicament fade slightly into the background, for a short while.

We sat sipping more of the Xtabentun honey liqueur from the Yucatan. Mom became distant, thoughtful. "I think,..." she began at last, "that our lives are about to be changed forever."

"Do you think that Dad was serious about the money?" Mom shot me an angry look. "I'm just wondering." Mom reached into her purse and yanked out her phone. She did a lot of her banking my phone and appeared afraid that perhaps we were penniless. She pushed buttons, logging in and then slumped in her chair, mouth agape.

"What?" I finally asked, fearing the worst. She glanced at me and then began punching numbers again. She stared at her phone as her hand came up to cover her mouth. I was sure we were fucked. She finally spoke.

"What did his letter say? 'Kevin's is funded with 2 million and yours is funded with 10'?" My stomach tightened, preparing for the bad news. "Well,... sweetheart,... we're rich at least."

"What?!!" I yelped. "He did it?" Mom was nodding gently looking at her phone. "He actually did it?" Mom's eyes eventually came around to meet mine.

"Our lives are definitely about to be changed forever." We clinked glasses, but the celebration was muted; definitely changed.

To be continued...