Chapter 11

The only light on, other than in the foyer, was in the kitchen. I followed that, along with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. I didn’t drink coffee all the time. To me, coffee started the day, but my parents and many of their friends enjoyed coffee anytime they found an excuse. To be honest, if Mom offered me coffee, it meant she saw me as a grown up. If she didn’t, then it could mean she wouldn’t believe anything I had to say, which would make my efforts all the more difficult.

I no more than stepped into the light of the kitchen and Alyssa pushed me aside to get through. She went straight for the coffee, and poured herself a cup. I noticed how the shorts rode up on Alyssa. She had the same bubble butt as Faith. I then looked around for Mom and found her sitting in the breakfast nook, staring out of the bay windows to the field behind our house.

As I understood it, we only owned the immediate half-acre the house sat on. The field behind the house belonged to a neighbor who intended to use it for growing crops. I never recalled any crops grown out there. When I was young, I enjoyed running through that field. That was long before high school though. Before things turned ugly.

Alyssa, coffee in hand, padded over to sit next to Mom. I watched the two of them for a Moment, and noticed the resemblance between them. Their blond hair, their blue eyes, and their similar body types. They reminded me of Faith in all the same ways. I had features that made me look more like dad, dark hair, dark eyes, and an average male build. Yeah, everything Faith told me about our family relations had to be true.

I finally screwed up my guts enough to approach Mom and Alyssa. At first, the closest I was willing to get was the end of the island counter. It gave me enough room to make a quick exit should it be necessary. Granted, if it was necessary, I wouldn’t have anywhere else to stay.

Mom looked at me first. She reached out and patted the table next to her, directly in front of me. “Come on, Seth. Sit down. Tell us about college.”

I took the gentile invitation for what it was, stepped up to the table, and sat down. I didn’t have a cup of coffee to warm my hands, or to fiddle with to stifle my nervous energy. “I finished my finals earlier today,” I said. “I’m fairly certain I did well.”

Mom smiled. It was warm and endearing. “Faith said you’ve been seeing someone.”

Damn. I knew my private life might come up, but not this quick. I nodded. “Yeah, her name is Katrina.”

Alyssa looked at me then with a frown. “Where did you find her?” Her tone suggested I bought Katrina rather than met her.

I shot her the glare she deserved and said, “She was the TA for the psych class I had at the beginning of the semester.”

Mom and Alyssa shared a look. Mom scooted around in her chair to face me more directly. “The TA in your psych class?”

I nodded. “After we started dating, I switched to another psych class, so there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Alyssa made a harrumph sound as she sipped coffee. Mom nodded in understanding. “Faith also said you have a job?”

Crap. I had no way of knowing what Faith told Mom or Alyssa. For all I knew, she told them everything – in detail! I nodded again. “I do, though I don’t work all the time. It’s enough to pay rent and basic utilities.”

Mom blinked, but didn’t nod. Alyssa looked at me via the corner of her eyes. An expression played across her face that said she knew something and I might not like her knowing it.

Mom waved toward the front of the house. “When you arrived, you said you had business in Virginia. What kind of business?”

I drew in a deep breath and let out a long, slow sigh. I glanced at Alyssa and then gave Mom full eye contact. I didn’t have to tell them absolutely everything, but I was going to stick to as much truth as possible without getting in trouble. Since neither one had a magical bond with me, I couldn’t tell them about me being a magus. However, I could talk about my parentage. “I know that you know that I’m not your birth-son. Alyssa, Faith, and I were all already born when you and Dad married.”

Mom drew back some. “How did you find out?”

“Faith,” I said. “I’m sure she told you that she stayed with me for a weekend while apartment hunting in October. Well, she told me about Dad disappearing, and our Brady-bunch secret.”

Alyssa frowned at the reference, but Mom acknowledged it.

“I also met my half-sister, Valory,” I said without waiting for more questions. It was better to control the conversation now that I had started. “She told me about our mother, Hayden Rosenbaum, and she informed me that our mother died last May. I waited until now to fly up to hear my part in the will Hayden left.”

Alyssa blinked and then turned to face me. All the lines and grimaces that marred her face whenever she looked at me were gone. I never thought of her as a gold digger, but then I didn’t really know her all that well either.

Mom blinked and relaxed. “So, then the Limo... ?”

I nodded. “It’s mine.”

Alyssa’s eyes were wide and blinking a lot. Disbelief had its grip on her. Mom, on the other hand, seemed to take everything I said in stride, as if it were no surprise at all.

“Well, since you’ve discovered your real family, why are you here?”

There was a stuffiness in her question. Either she was looking for attention or she really thought that little of me. I reached out and patted her arm. “Mom, this was my home. This is where I grew up, where I learned my values. You and Dad taught me right from wrong, and all the other essentials of life. Hayden gave me up before I was a year old, and she never attempted to contact me. She may have left things for me, but that doesn’t make up for her absence.”

Mom smiled at that and patted my hand. “So, where are your bags? How long are you staying?”

I gave her a not-so-funny grin. “Well, my bags. They, um, they’re gone.”

“Airlines lose em?” Alyssa asked.

I shook my head. “No, there was a fire in my apartment. I lost everything.”

Both women flashed wide eyes. “What?” Mom asked. “When?” Alyssa asked.

I nodded. “A fire, this morning. I have no idea how it started, but by the time Katrina and I got out, it had engulfed every room.”

Alyssa frowned, leaned forward, and sniffed at me. “You don’t smell like smoke.”

“Oh, well, the manor where I went for the will had on-site dry-cleaning equipment. The staff offered to let me grab a shower and wash my clothes for me.”

Alyssa’s expression was inscrutable, but Mom looked shocked. “You said you went to a manor?”

I nodded. “Florence Manor, which was Hayden’s home. It was one of the things she left me.”

Alyssa all but bounced in her seat. Her unfettered breasts made her top jump too. “Really?”

Mom’s eyes were wide, but she handled her surprise better, by taking a long sip of coffee. Then a thought crossed her mind and she set the cup down. “Why are you here though? You should be out celebrating or something.”

Alyssa stood up, her boobs bouncing along and her nipples tenting her top. “Yeah! We should go celebrate.”

I waved at them and shook my head. “I need to talk to the family accountant first. I don’t have access to the money yet.”

Alyssa plopped down in her seat again. Even her boobs seemed disappointed.

I shook my head, doing my best to ignore her. No, not her. I had to ignore how her chest affected me. “I’m here for more than a visit,” I said, looking at Mom again. “I’m here to find Dad.”