I stepped away and took Starr’s arm and walked her out to the curb, away from the commotion in Neptune’s.
“Hey, Elliott, let go of me. What are you doing?”
“No, Starr, what are you doing? What’s your story? Who are you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave me alone.”
She gave me a dark look that I bet Aria had never seen, not from the way she spoke so highly of her so-called intern.
“If you don’t tell me who you are, I’m calling the police.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me. Start by telling me your name. Your real name.”
“It’s Coral.” She sighed.
“So it’s not Starr? It’s Coral. What’s your last name?”
She pulled away and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry. And then her shoulders dropped.
“Triton. My name’s Coral Triton.”
“You’re Aria’s mother?”
She hung her head and said, “Yes. I am. How did you know?”
“She has your laugh. If I hadn’t heard you laughing, I never would have known. You have a lot of explaining to do. Starting with why you chose to break your daughter’s heart by abandoning her. And why you’re here after all these years.”
“It’s a long story,” she said. “I’m going to have to sit down if I have to tell you all the details.
I took her arm, firmly but not enough to hurt her. I wanted to make sure she couldn’t make a run for it. At this point, I didn’t trust this woman as far as I could throw her. “Let’s go. I know where we can get some privacy.”
And then, leading her to the restaurant and an empty booth, I called into the boutique, “Aria, can you come in here? Coral has something she wants to tell you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Aria
They say lightening doesn’t strike twice. But maybe it does. Because here we were, sitting around the same table, me and my father, Elliott and his father. We had the same agenda, to heal the wounds of the past. But this time we had a pretty good chance of succeeding.
My father didn’t have far to come and at 9 a.m., he didn’t look any worse for wear. Elliott’s dad, however, had hopped on a red-eye to make this meeting. I could tell from his look and his constant yawning that he hadn’t slept on the plane. His impatience showed with his first question that opened the discussion.
“Okay, you got me back here, so you better make it good. We’ve been all over this. I swear, if this is some scheme to get me to invest in your crazy development scam, I’ll sue you.”
“What do you mean, scam? My daughter has a reputation for legitimate . . .”
“Okay, knock it off, you two,” I said. “We’re not going down that road again, arguing ancient history. Elliott and I told you we had important information that you had to hear in person. Trust me, I wouldn’t have risked World War III if I couldn’t back up that claim.”
I looked at Elliott, hoping for backup, but he was making coffee and had his back to me.
“Listen to what Aria has to say. Just listen and don’t interrupt,” he said before coming to the table with mugs, sugar, cream, and spoons.
I took that as my cue and began, willing the carafe of coffee to finish dripping. I needed a shot of caffeine to get through this.
“Okay, I have some pretty astounding news. I need you to promise me you’ll both sit and listen to the whole thing before you react.” I waited but neither of the men said a word.
“I’m not kidding. A yes would be good here, guys.”
My father first, said, “Okay,” with so much reluctance you’d think I’d asked them to donate their right arms.
“Good,” I said, not sure if I meant that for the coffee Elliott just poured for me or their agreement to my rule. In any case, I sipped the coffee and then began.
“As you both know, my mother ran away when I was two. To my knowledge, none of us had any contact with her in all those years.”
“Your mother!” blurted out my father. “What’s she got to do with anything?”
“Dad! I said you couldn’t interrupt. If you do, I’ll send you away and you won’t know the truth about this whole awful feud.”
He sat back in his chair and I continued.
“As it happened, I have been in contact with her,” I put up my hand to stop the outrage in my father’s eyes. “Hear me out, Dad. I just never knew it. She’s been keeping tabs on me ever since she left us over twenty years ago. I think there may have been many times when we’ve actually spoken, but I just never knew who she was. I wouldn’t have known, if Elliott hadn’t figured it out.”
I looked at my father, at the color draining from his face. My heart went out to him because I knew how he suffered after my mother left him. I could only imagine what he was thinking. He’d given up searching for her, thinking she was dead. All this time she was living only a few miles away from us.
“What does this soap opera have to do with me?” Elliott’s father argued. “I don’t care what happened to her. To any of you. You and your family were dead to me as soon as I discovered you cheated me.”
“Dad!” Elliott said in warning, “You said you would come and listen. We’re not done here yet. Just sit and shut up for a change.”
His father’s face turned every shade of red at Elliott’s impudence, but I gave him credit. He sat back in his chair, nursed his coffee and kept his thoughts to himself.
I silently thanked Elliott for restoring order and summoned my courage for the next step in this meeting. I’d discussed it at length with Elliott, and we both agreed it had to be done.
“I’ve invited a guest to be with us,” I said. “Elliott, would you . . .”
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”
He went into the back bedroom and returned, escorting Coral, who seemed to have aged ten years in the last twenty-four hours.
My father’s face turned white and he gasped, “Coral!” For a moment, I thought his heart might give out. The shock on his face was frightening.
“Well, well, well,” said Elliott’s father. “Another liar in the family. Your husband is a thief and you leave your family and lie about your whereabouts. Nice role model for your daughter,” he sneered. “Crazy woman.”
“Dad, stop,” Elliott said with more authority in his voice than I’d ever heard. “Coral. Have a seat and tell us why you wanted to meet with us this morning.”
We made room for Coral at the table and after Elliott slid a mug of coffee over to her, we settled in for her story. Her voice cracked at first and she looked down at her lap as she began.
“It’s all my fault. All of this. It started with me.”
“What did?” said my dad.
“After the business we had in New York started to take off, you guys changed into monsters. You weren’t the same men I knew and loved. I tried to tell you that success wasn’t worth losing your values for, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
Elliott and I had heard this story yesterday and the shock still hadn’t worn off. I was still pissed at her but if bringing her here to fess up made me and Elliot’s life easier, I was all for it.