“Absolutely. They couldn’t have done a better job, and especially since I was at times very wayward.”
“You!” she exclaimed, in a teasing voice.
“I had a mind of my own, and if I didn’t see the logic in something, I wouldn’t do it. That caused friction between me and my parents until they understood and took the time to explain things to me. By the time I was twelve, we didn’t have those problems.”
“I can’t imagine how important it is to you to know who your biological parents are, but will you be terribly unhappy if you don’t find them?”
“I don’t have to meet them, Heather. I just want to know who they are or were. Then I’ll have a better sense of who I am. My adoption probably improved my chances for a good life, so I don’t think I missed out on anything material.”
She resumed eating her soup. “This is so good.” She put down her spoon. “Judson, if your adoptive parents loved each other and treated you well, you are fortunate. My parents constantly fought. Dad claims that they were madly in love when they first got married, though I never believed it—they acted as if they hated each other. When I was nine, my mother had had it. She left, and I have no idea where she is. When I asked my father about her, he said marriage was very difficult for her, that the day-to-day discipline of marriage didn’t suit everyone. I believe that.”
He could see that it still pained her. “I’m sorry that your childhood was unpleasant. What does your father do?”
Her pride was obvious when she smiled and said, “He taught history at the university until he retired six years ago. They’ve named a distinguished chair for him in the department. Now, unfortunately, he’s confined to the house and sometimes to bed. He hasn’t been well for a couple of years.”
“At least you still have him with you,” Judson said. “Do everything you can for him, so when he’s gone, you won’t have any regrets.”
She closed her eyes briefly, and he imagined that the thought of losing her father hurt her. He covered her hand with his because he couldn’t help it. “Is there anyone close to you?” She let her hand remain covered by his.
“Thanks. There’s Annie. She keeps house for my father and takes care of him. She’s like a mother to me. Father hired her after my mother left, and…I used to wish he’d marry her.”
“So you’d have a mother?”
She looked at him almost as if seeing him for the first time. “I don’t know. I hadn’t figured that out. Maybe. You are very perceptive.”
He could see that she was beginning to tire. “Let me take that tray back to the kitchen. I’ve stayed too long, and you’re getting tired.” While he cleaned the kitchen, his mind traveled back to their conversation. He hoped they would get to know each other, and after today he liked her even more than before. She was compassionate and caring, and those traits in a woman meant everything to him.
“I’d better go, Heather. Do you mind if I look in on you or call to see how you are?”
“I don’t mind at all. I don’t think I’ll go in to work tomorrow, but I may. Mind can control matter.”
“I don’t doubt that one bit,” he said.
“Thank you for the visit, for the company and for my wonderful supper.”
“The pleasure was mine.” He put a bottle of Ester-C vitamins in her hand. “Take two before you sleep.” Then, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. He hadn’t planned to do it, and he surprised himself. “Don’t go to sleep without locking that door.”
“It will lock automatically when you leave, but I’ll double check.” She seemed suddenly pensive. “Judson, I don’t lead a normal life. If you invest your time in me, it may prove futile.”
“Don’t be so sure. Good night, Heather.”
“Good night, Judson.”
He got on the elevator and, after standing there for a while, realized that he forgot to push the button. As he descended, he felt a growing confidence. He took a chance, and it paid off. Heather Tatum wouldn’t be easy. She had to be tended like a seedling in a garden. Fine with him. He had the time and the patience.
When he got home, he greeted his dog, Rick, checked his answering machine and saw that he had five calls from Scott.
He dialed Scott’s home number. “What’s eating you? I didn’t get five calls from you all last month,” Judson said.
“Where the heck were you? How’s Heather? Is she mad at me?”
He sat down, rested his left ankle on his right knee and prepared to enjoy himself. “How would I know? To the best of my knowledge, she didn’t mention your name.”
“Come on, man. How is she?”
“Well, when I give a woman TLC, she becomes as soft as a pillow. You should try it.”
“Judson,” Scott said firmly. “Heather’s my friend. Is she all right?”
“She has a bad cold, and she hadn’t eaten all day. So I gave her soup, scrambled eggs and toast.”
“Good. Are the two of you going to be friends? I mean…you know what I mean.”
“We talked and got to know each other a little better. She’s interesting and extremely likeable. We’ll see how it goes. I’d better get something to eat and start going through my mother’s effects. I don’t know why, but I dread it.”
“I’ll get some pizza and a salad. You got any beer?”
“Always.”
“I’ll be over there in an hour.”
He changed into blue jeans and a T-shirt and went into his mother’s bedroom. Rick trailed behind him as usual. He got the cardboard box from the closet, put it on the bed and sat down. After removing the rubber band holding the bundle of papers, he carefully opened each sheet. Some sheets of paper had already begun to crumble with age.
“What’s this?” he said as he stared at the death certificate of an infant who had died. He wondered if that was why he’d been adopted. He put the death certificate aside along with the newspaper clipping of the birth announcement. They could prove useful.
Before long, Scott arrived with a pepperoni-and-mushroom pizza, a Greek salad and a cheesecake. “You planning to feed a football team?” Judson chided him. While they ate, he told Scott what he’d found so far.
“You mean you’ve never seen your birth certificate?” Scott asked him. “How’d you get into school?”
“I’ve had a passport since I was three, and my parents renewed it every year. When I became an adult, I did the same.”
“You have to find your birth certificate.”
“I found a newspaper clipping about a child who was born in Hagerstown. I’m going to see if I can find anyone who knows why my parents would save
