Collision Course, Chapter Seven
 

" What did you say?", Eve asked.

" I said, Dr. Russell, that the Birth Certificates don’t match the Death Certificates. They are two different children."

" That’s impossible.", Eve remarks.

" No. Like the fingerprint, no two footprints are alike, Dr. Russell. You know that. The footprint on the Birth Certificates doesn’t match the one on the Death Certificates. That can only mean that they are two different babies."

Eve felt faint and grabbed ahold of the counter before she fell. " Are you sure?" , she said in a tiny voice.

" I ran it through the computer four times. I knew what these findings meant and wanted to be sure. Dr. Russell, are you ok?"

Eve stared at the man. " Ok? No, I don’t think so. You’ve just told me, if I’m understanding correctly, that the child I gave birth to wasn’t the child that I believed died all those years ago. You can’t possibly think that I’m ‘OK’ after learning that."

" Is there someone that you’d like me to call?"

Eve stared at him for a moment and then shook her head, ‘No.’ She sat down on a chair. After staying there a few moments, she got up again and went over to him. " Well, I guess I should be going. May I have your report, please."

The man printed out everything for him, and gave it to Eve. She put it in her purse and left his office, not really knowing where she was going.
 
 

Bobby had knocked on the door for a third time. Hearing no answer, he opened the door slowly and as he entered, he saw Rebecca sitting at her vanity, staring at herself in the mirror. He went up to her slowly, and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled faintly.

" Bobby! You’re here."

" Of course I am."

" You know your father would be so pleased."

" Bec, Dad and I were definitely getting along better."

" I know. He was so proud of it. And, you?", Rebecca said, turning to put her hand up to the side of Bobby’s face.

" He was?", Bobby asked, not really believing it.

" Yes. Johnathan respected you, Bobby, because you were your own man. You admitted the truth to him, stood up to him, stood your ground, built your own life, and made a success out of it. You might not believe me, but, the only time your father didn’t respect you was when you were ‘ in the closet’. "

" Really?"

" Of course. Your father was a man’s man. He respected you, as long as you respected yourself. When you were in the closet, your father didn’t believe that you respected yourself, and that you thought that something was wrong with you. If not, you would be able to stand up for yourself and your lifestyle. I remember the day you ‘came out.’"

"Your birthday."

" Yes, my birthday. You were such a Drama Queen, dear. Hate to stereotype, but, geesh, it was so unlike you. You might be gay, Bobby, but, it was SO unlike your personality. You were NEVER that dramatic…that was more my style."

" Oh Bec."

" Well, you stormed out of here after telling your father off, thinking that you had made some serious statement. Your father was angry at the disrespect you showed by leaving, not by the statement you made. As I said, he had already figured out that you were a homosexual. "

" When you came back, you and he hashed things out, didn’t you?"

" Yeah. I have to admit – Dad threw me for a loop. I needed to leave because I had to process what had happened. I had all these visions of what was going to happen when I ‘came out’, and Dad’s essentially non-reaction threw me off."

" Your father and I laughed about that. He knew it. He said it was one of the few times that he ever ‘got over’ on you, and he loved it."

Bobby laughed. " I bet he did."

" Your father could surprise people like that. What did you think, Bobby, that in your father’s rarified  world, he never came in contact with homosexuals? Please. Ben Jacoby was one."

" Dad knew?"

" Of course, he did. You had your father pegged wrong, Bobby. He wasn’t a conservative; he was a libertarian. Your father didn’t care what people did as long as they produced for him. Ben Jacoby was totally a homosexual, but, the man made your father money hand over fist, and in Johnathan Hotchkiss’ world, that’s all that mattered to him. Period. "

" So true. Dad always respected those who could make a buck."

" And those who built a fortune on their own terms. Even though he had inherited your grandfather’s company, he was a small child when they still were from humble roots. He watched your grandfather built his company, and unlike a lot of the Country Club set, your father knew the meaning of hard work, which is why he respected you so much."

" I know. After I began the business, Dad would send me things in the mail; all sorts of helpful small business tips. He really was proud of me."

" He was proud of both of his children. You went out and built your own way, and are a success. Gwenny took the corporate route, and she was equally brilliant. He loved the two of you so much."

" He loved you too, Mom."

Rebecca got quiet. " Well, we had a long marriage. Now, let’s get going. I just want to get through this day as painlessly as possible."

Rebecca and Bobby left her bedroom to find Gwen.
 

The Cranes were gathered in the Living Room, waiting for Sheridan to come from her Cottage. Ethan saw Theresa enter the room, dressed in all black, and he went over to her.

" Theresa, what are you doing here?"

" I thought I would go with you. "

Ethan took Theresa into the foyer.

" Theresa, this is very thoughtful of you, but, to be honest, I don’t believe that it is appropriate for you to go with me."

" I’m your fiancé, Ethan."

" And, this is Gwen’s father’s funeral. It’s in poor form for me to show up with the woman that I dumped Gwen for. It won’t do. I appreciate that you want to support me, but, in this case, it can’t be. You can look over some wedding materials or go shopping."

Theresa sucked it in. " OK. I understand."

They walked back into the Living Room, and Sheridan had gotten there. " Well, Ethan, are you ready to go?", Julian asks, looking at Ethan with a  ‘Please tell me that you aren’t going to be so tacky as to bring HER along’ look.

" I’m ready. I hope you find something interesting for the wedding, Theresa.", Ethan says, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Julian lets out a sigh of relief. He may still have a chance to work on Ethan at the funeral. Push him and Gwen together. He knows that Rebecca will have an idea or two, and he intends to ‘pluck’ her brain, among other things.

They all left, and Pilar came into the Living Room to get the tea service.

" Theresa, what are you doing here?"

" I came to go to the funeral with Ethan."

" The funeral of Gwen’s father? Please, Theresa."

" I’m not going, Mama. Ethan doesn’t want me there."

" Ethan is right. This is about Gwen’s pain and sadness, and seeing you would just add to it."

" I know, but, I can’t get shake this feeling that something’s wrong with Ethan."

" Wrong?"

" I just get this feeling that something’s trying to come between Ethan and me. That there’s something working against Ethan and our love."

" Theresa, Gwen just lost her father. As close as she was to him, I doubt she can think of anything else at the moment."

" But, this is just the type of situation that she would use to get close to Ethan."

" Theresa, please! Maybe, Rebecca Hotchkiss, and then, I’m not so sure of her either. Unlike Mr. And Mrs. Crane, Rebecca and her husband seemed to genuinely care for one another. Maybe not in the way that the Bennetts and the Russells love their spouses, but, amongst the Country Club set, they were seen as a pretty happy couple. Stay away from them, Theresa. This is their time to grieve and mourn."

" As long as they know that Ethan is MINE, Mama. And, that he’s not going back to Gwen, we’ll be fine."

" You should look over wedding plans." Pilar took the tea set and went towards the kitchen. As she got to the edge of the door, she looked back at Theresa, and sighed.

" You are right, probably, Theresa. But, I get the feeling that the threat to you and Ethan comes from the Cranes. Julian and Alistair will never let this marriage take place. They are plotting as we speak. I only hope that you aren’t destroyed by their manipulation."
 

The funeral goes off without interruption. The service was lovely and appropriate for someone of Johnathan Hotchkiss’ stature. After the burial, the guests returned to the Hotchkiss Mansion to give their condolences to the family.

Rebecca, Bobby and Gwen stood in the receiving line in the Living Room. They greeted the guests. Finally, it was the Cranes’ turn. They accepted the kisses from everyone.

" Rebecca, I am so sorry.", Julian said, hugging her just a ‘wee’ bit too long.

Sheridan gave Gwen a hug. " Is there anything I can do for you?"

" No, Sheridan. But, thank you for the thought. I have to deal with it myself."

Ethan extended his hand to Bobby, who didn’t take it, and gave Ethan the ‘Evil Eye’. Ethan then proceeded down to Gwen, and hugged her.

" I’m sorry."

" Thank you, Ethan. Did you receive my note?"

" Yes."

The Cranes left the line, and the Hotchkiss’ continued to receive the guests. Once they were all in, each of the Hotchkiss clan, fanned out to a special part of the house.

Bobby was sitting in a small sitting  room that Johnathan had  chosen to make an art gallery. It was his favorite room in the house, because Johnathan had allowed Bobby to select all the paintings and sculptures. Bobby had researched for over a year and a half for the selections. It was one of the few times that he and his father had been perfectly in sync, and worked together on a project. Bobby was drinking some of Johnathan’s favorite brandy, when Ethan entered the room.

" I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.", Ethan said.

" No. That’s Ok. I’d prefer it if you closed the door, I have some things that I believe we should discuss."

Ethan closed the door, and looked at Bobby.

" I think you have some nerve even showing up today."

" Why? Gwen is my friend."

" Gwen is NOT your friend. Gwen is the woman you dumped hours before your wedding, and then further humiliated beyond belief by not only dumping her again, but, choosing a low-rent hoochie, and proposing to her, not only in front of the town, but, in front of my SISTER? What kind of asshole proposes to the OTHER WOMAN in front of his former fiancé? Would you like to tell me? And, then, you have the gall to come to funeral today. Why? Because, it’s ‘good form’? Because, it’s ‘proper’? Did you give a shit about my sister before you found out about my father? Had you even called her? Had you even attempted to talk to her? Did you even try? I’ll give you the answer to that, NO. Once you had discarded my sister, you never gave her a second thought."

" Wait a minute. Choosing between Theresa and Gwen was the most difficult decision of my life."

" Oh puleeze. You strung them both along. I don’t care about your whore. She’s inconsequential. My only concern is my sister. You lied to her and used her, and for that, I’ll never forgive or forget."

" I didn’t use Gwen."

" The hell you didn’t. You see, I have the letters from her where she tells me that she suspected that tramp was after you. She even tells me that she told YOU of her suspicions, but, you poo-pooed her. Not only that, but you told her, and I quote, ‘ Even if you don’t trust Theresa, Gwen, you should know that you can trust ME.’, closed quote. Well that was a crock, wasn’t it?

All along, my sister would write me to me for awhile, about her suspicions. But, YOU told her that she was imagining things. Don’t give me any crap, Ethan. You just didn’t wake up and decide the night before the wedding that you were ‘in love’ with the Housekeeper’s Daughter. There was plenty of time before that. Had to be.

And, if that was the case, then that means that you were a lying sack of shit to my sister, over and over again. I wonder how many times my sister asked for the truth and was lied to?

I know she asked your ‘FIANCE’ her feelings about you, and from my sister’s words, she was told that she didn’t have feelings towards you. Lie.

I know that she asked you over and over again about YOUR feelings for the trollop, only to be told that there was nothing going on. Lie.

There must have been a time where YOU knew that the heifer was in love with you, and obviously you said NOTHING to my sister. Lie.

Then, there’s the little matter of you allowing that tramp to continue on as Wedding Coordinator for a wedding that you knew SHE wanted to stop. Lie.

And, I suppose the piece-de-la-resistance, was you allowing my sister to ask the tramp to be her Maid of Honor. L-I-E.

You sensing a pattern here, Ethan? Cause I sure am.

Be assured of this, Ethan. My father may have been seen as the Robber Baron, and my mother, the Bitch Queen, but, when it comes to my sister, don’t fuck with me. You stay the hell away from Gwen. I can see it in your eyes that you’re up to something. She’s not thinking clearly in her grief. I’ll go to hell and back before I’ll ever let you remotely come within 10 feet of hurting my sister again. Are we clear?"

" Crystal."

" Now get the fuck out of here and close the door on your way out."

Ethan did just that.
 

Gwen was sitting underneath her favorite tree on the estate, when Ethan came by.

" I couldn’t stand it in there, anymore.", Gwen said, without looking at Ethan.

" I understand."

" Do you, Ethan? I don’t think so. You’ve never lost anyone close to you. Not as close as a parent."

Ethan sighed, and wanted to tell her that she was wrong. He had lost a parent, the moment Alistair told him about his paternity. He had lost Julian as his father. Most people would never have thought anyone could care about losing Julian as a father, but, Ethan was hurting. He loved Julian.

" That’s true, Gwen. But, I can see your pain. It’s evident, and I’m sorry, because you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve any of it, Gwen. And, I came to apologize to you."

" Apologize?"

" For the way that I hurt you."

" Ethan.."

" No. Let me say this. I hurt you in the worst way. And, you didn’t deserve it. In my own selfishness, I never really thought about your hurt and pain. You’ve always been so strong, Gwen. I just thought you would ‘handle it’."

" Ethan, why does it seem like you hold my ‘strength’ against me? Because, I’m not some weeping childlike victim hanging onto your every word, you were willing to walk away from our relationship? What, I didn’t NEED you like Theresa does?"

" Gwen…."

" No. I guess I didn’t. My mother said that men fall for that needy crap all the time, and if I wanted you, I had to play it too. It was ridiculous, and I couldn’t keep up the act. Sorry, Ethan, I’m not going to hang onto your every word. I won’t DIE without you. Doesn’t mean that I didn’t love you every bit as much, if not more than Theresa. It just meant that I’m not a melodramatic teenager whose obsessed."

" I didn’t want this to turn into a conversation about Theresa. It wasn’t my intention."

" Tough! Because, there are some things that I want to get off my chest. What the fuck do you two even talk about? She’s EIGHTEEN years old, Ethan. She hasn’t been anywhere. She hasn’t done anything. What do you have in common except for her obsession, and you seem to revel in it."

" Gwen, Theresa isn’t obsessed."

" The hell she isn’t. She’s been lying from Day One where you’re concerned, and plotted all along to get you. It doesn’t matter anymore that you don’t want to see it, and that you want to be ‘gallant’ and accept the blame. Your stupidity in this area doesn’t mean that I have to humor it anymore. You proposed to her. So, I can own my OWN feelings and gut instincts, which were RIGHT in the first place. Trusting YOU was my fallacy, but, then, what a spot to be put in: either trust the instincts that were pounding loudly their warning signs, or trust the man I love. It’s a truly impossible position, Ethan. One in which I hope you’re never in."

" Gwen…."

" No, Ethan. There really isn’t anything else to be said. I believe I had it right the first time: we can’t be friends. There’s no way that I can sit up here and hurt the way that I am, doubting everything that you ever told me over the past ten years. My judgements about anything and everything. How can I NOT doubt myself. If there was something that I would have staked my LIFE on Ethan, it was the fact that I KNEW you would never hurt me. Never betray me. It was a cornerstone upon the foundation that I had planned on living the rest of my life on. And, now, it’s all gone. In complete rubble. And, I guess I’m like an excavation crew, crawling through the rubble, seeing what I can come up with to keep, and what to throw away. "

" I still care for you, Gwen."

" Care for me? Oh please, Ethan, don’t. If this is caring, then I don’t need hatred. Don’t insult me further by giving me platitudes about you still ‘caring’ for me. I suppose you ‘care’ for the household help. For the horses in the Crane Stables, for the guard dogs that you’ve seen grow up from puppies. I don’t need to be ‘cared’ for Ethan. I need to be loved. And, that’s the kicker: I still love you. I wish there was some pill that I could take, that would erase it. Or turn my heart cold. Just go. Please go."

Ethan said nothing as he turned away from her, and left her crying underneath the tree.

Rebecca found her still there, an hour later.

" Gwenny? Honey?"

Gwen looked up at her mother with eyes puffy from crying.

" Honey, you have to come back to the house."

" Why, Mother."

" The guests are all gone, but, your father’s lawyer asked me if I wanted a reading of the will, and I told him yes."

" God, Mother, are you so greedy that you can’t wait for his body to be cold?"

" Gwen", Rebecca said with a chill in her voice, " I know you’re deep in grief, so I will excuse that remark. We have to get it over with. I’m sick of funeral procedure. This is the last step. And, I want it over with TODAY. So, you splash some water on your face, and we’ll see you in your father’s study in 15 minutes."

Rebecca walks back to the house.
 

The Cranes return home. Theresa is still in the Living Room, looking at Bridal Magazines. She perks up when she sees Ethan.

" Ethan, while you were gone, a package came for you."

She points to a box on the table.

Ethan goes over to the table and opens the box. He takes out an hourglass. The card falls out with it. Theresa picks it up.

" Ethan. Saw this in Istanbul. It goes back to the time to Peter the Great. Thought instantly of you. Enjoy it. Grandfather."

" An hourglass? Definitely an odd gift. ", Ivy comments.

" Yes….Father’s gifts usually have a meaning to them.", Julian says, going to get a drink.

" I just think it’s wonderful that Ethan’s grandfather was thinking of him.", Theresa says.

Ethan says nothing. He knows that Julian is right. As usual, Alistair’s gift has a meaning. The meaning is that time is running out. A decision must be made. Soon.