Free Love Me Tonight by Gwynne Forster Page B

He opened it and stared at a two-and-a-half-inch metal key in his hand that he knew without a doubt fit a safe deposit box. He lookedinside the envelope and found the box number and the address of the bank. He put the key back into the envelope and placed the envelope in the pocket of his jacket. He reached for the light to turn it off and realized that the window had stopped rattling.
    With a broad smile, he looked upward. “Thanks.”
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    The next morning, he put the notarized copy of his mother’s will into his briefcase and headed for the bank. As executor of the will, he was entitled to open her safe deposit box. But the closer he got to the bank, the more uneasy he became. What if he didn’t like what he found and wished he’d let sleeping dogs lie? He parked around the corner from the bank and forced himself to get on with it.
    He asked for the manager and presented the will. Minutes later, he had in his hands what he knew would be the secrets of his mother’s life. He put the bundle of letters into his brief case, ran his hand back to the part of the safe deposit box that he couldn’t see and retrieved a bundle of Series E bonds, a gold-and-diamond bracelet, a gold OMEGA watch and a gray cameo set in gold. He phoned his secretary and told her to refer important calls to his cell phone. He locked the box and went home.
    Hours later, he still hadn’t finished the letters between Beverly Moten and Fentriss Sparkman. He learned that, six months after they had met, they began a torrid love affair that Beverly’s family vigorously opposed. But their letters expressed a profound love for each other. He gave her elegant and expensive gifts, which she hid from her family. Her mother discovered herpregnancy, considered her a disgrace to the family and confined her to the house. Beverly sneaked out at night and mailed letters to Fentriss, but they were returned unanswered.
    Fentriss’s last letter to Beverly stated that he would be working in Atlanta for a few months but would return for the dedication of the hotel. After the child was born, her mother sent her to Baltimore and kept the child. He found no more letters from Fentriss and suspected that Beverly’s mother confiscated them. No one had to tell him that the expensive watch, bracelet and cameo were gifts to Beverly from Fentriss Sparkman. He counted the Series E bonds which she had registered jointly in her name and Judson’s, and found that they added up to forty-five thousand dollars plus accrued interest. He decided that the money would be a gift to his firstborn child.
    He still hadn’t satisfied himself that he had the answer until he opened the last set of papers. In the small packet, he found his adoption papers and realized that Beverly and Louis Philips adopted him when he was three years old, six months after the death of their younger child. He had a lot of useful information, but competent lawyer that he was, he realized that he didn’t have a shred of proof.
    â€œI have to find Fentriss Sparkman.”

Chapter 4
    â€œC an you tolerate my company for lunch?” Judson asked Scott minutes after deciding to find Fentriss Sparkman.
    â€œSure thing. Where do you want to meet?”
    â€œI don’t want to make it a long one, so how about Frank’s for some pulled-pork barbecue?” They agreed on a time.
    Judson put his mother’s jewelry and government bonds in his safe, locked it and left to meet Scott. He hadn’t shared with Heather what he’d learned, but he would, later that day. When they could be alone.
    Besides the barbecue, to Judson’s way of thinking, the garden in back of the restaurant was the only reason to eat at Frank’s. But on that day, the heat forced him to eat inside in the air-conditioned restaurant. Scott, whowas sitting at a back-corner table when he arrived, stood and they exchanged a fist bump.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Scott asked him.
    He