cremini mushrooms, asparagus and dauphin potatoes,a green salad and assorted cheeses, and ended with raspberry sauce over vanilla ice cream.
âI didnât have time to make a complicated dessert today,â she told him.
âPlease, donât apologize, Heather. I love ice cream, and raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. This combination is delightful.â
After sipping his second cup of espresso, he said, âYou told me you were a fair cook. That was an understatement. This was a wonderful meal. Letâs clean the kitchen. Then we can talk.â
After they cleaned the kitchen, he took her hand and walked with her to the living room. âHeather, I have an awful suspicion. After today, I not only have to find out who my birth father is, but I have to find proof that my adoptive mother is really my birth mother.â
âWhat? Are you serious? What do you mean?â
âThe woman with whom I spent this morning in Hagerstown was Momâs aunt. Cissy is her fatherâs youngest sister. She stated Mom had a baby boy when she was twenty-two or twenty-three years old, left the child with her mother and then moved away from Hagerstown. When the boy was three, she had married and came back for the child. Her aunt didnât know her exact age when the child was born, but I believe she guessed right. Iâm thirty-four and when Mom died, she was fifty-seven. You can add as well as I can.
âAunt CissyâCissy Henry is the womanâs nameâgave me enough information to identify the father of that child. He was an architect, and I have a brochure printedtwo weeks before I was born thatâs proof he designed and built a hotel that still stands in Hagerstown.â
âWhich one? Not the Americana?â
He lurched forward. âThatâs the one.â
âWe can ask my father if he knew him.â
âI have his name. Now I have to find out what the relationship was between him and my mom. Aunt Cissy says they were lovers. My question is, am I the product of that union?â
âToo bad you donât have your birth certificate.â
âNo, but Iâll get it.â
âMind if I ask⦠You seem, well, not merely pleased, but in some kind of peaceful mood. Thatâs unusual for you, at least the times Iâve been with you. When you came in here tonight, I actually thought you had found the answer. Explain this to me.â
He leaned forward and braced his elbows on his thighs. âThis dilemma has troubled me since I was seven years old, and the older I got the more it haunted me. Today, for the first time, I took steps to get the answer. It isnât in my nature to do nothing about a situation. When I have a problem, I get to work on it.â
âWhatâs your next move?â
âWhen I get home tonight, Iâll continue my search, but Iâll be looking in unlikely places. Mom had something to hide, and I suspect that Dad didnât know her secret. Where would you hide things from someone who had the run of the house, including your bedroom?â He took a small pad from his inside coat pocket.
âProbably with my lingerie, jewelry, toiletries, the most personal things. If she had shoe bags, searchthem, even her shoes. Check the house for books with hidden storage. Look in the jackets of records and under mattresses.â
He glanced toward the ceiling. âIâd decided to check the lingerie drawers, but I hadnât considered those other places. Thanks, and keep thinking. If I donât find what I want in any of those places, Iâll ask you again for suggestions. Iâd better go, because I know I wonât go to sleep until Iâve searched every one of those places.â
âTomorrow is another day, Judson. If Iâd known this could keep you up all night, I wouldnât have mentioned them.â
He stood to leave. âDo you mind if I leave now?â
It was only ten oâclock.