A Perfect Forever (Leap of Love Series, Book 1) (7 page)

Before saying anything else, Jonathan dug in.

"Well, unfortunately, I think most people are not that interesting. And even though she is rich, she still has problems as well."

"What problems could a woman as rich as Amelia Smith possibly have?" Jonathan asked through a mouthful of potatoes.

"Mr. Alfred Sharp."

"The fiancé?"

Ben nodded.

"What could possibly be the issue with the fiancé?" Jonathan questioned.

"I'm not sure he is who he claims to be. He may not be the right person for Amelia."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at Ben's comment. "What would that have to do with you, Abbott?"

Ben shook his head. "Nothing, actually. It's just that I came to find Amelia Smith for you and I guess when you find out about a person, you may discover more than you bargained for."

Jonathan shrugged. "I guess so. But now, all you have to do is give me the addresses and all of her information. I will go see her myself."

"You, my friend are free to do what you please. But I suggest you take me with you. I would hate for you to show up at a woman's doorstep, fuming with anger, claiming to be her half-brother all the way from Boston. If she called the law on you, there would be no one else to back you up or prove that you are not insane."

Banging his utensil against the plate, Jonathan clenched his jaw. He hated to admit that Ben could be right.

"All right, Abbott. You may have a point. According to her schedule, what would be a good time to go and meet with her? I would like to get this over with as soon as possible."

Ben sighed and leaned back in his chair, sucking something out of his teeth. "I suppose going first thing in the morning would be best. Let's say around eight a.m."

"Perfect. Where should we meet?"

"Almond Avenue. We will be about two blocks over from the school. We can be there in the morning before her students arrive."

Ben stood up and bid Jonathan good night. Jonathan sat there a little longer, letting the magnitude of the situation settle in. He just hoped that tomorrow would work out the way he needed and wanted it to.

*

Jonathan was already on the street where Ms. Amelia's Finishing School was located. It was nestled into a small block on the left side of the square. The street was lined with trees, and the school was landscaped with flowers and a small water statue in the front. A rounded drive for carriages finished the landscape, and Jonathan knew that this was the kind of place where only the elite belong.

He had gotten the directions from someone at the hotel, and he decided not to wait on Ben. He did not want Ben to talk him out of going to meet Amelia. Nothing was going to stop him from getting what his family deserved.

Before he knocked on the door of the finishing school, Jonathan looked up and down the street. He did not see Ben coming at all. As a matter of fact, the street was quiet. As he walked up the front steps, he heard a carriage coming down the avenue. Jonathan paused for a moment as the carriage approached. He was happy to see that Ben was not in the carriage.

There was a woman inside. She was immediately striking, with a mass of brown hair piled atop her head in a bun. She looked effortless and yet so well put together.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked as she stepped out of the carriage.

"Possibly, my lady." Jonathan reached over to hold her hand as she stepped down.

"Thank you so much, kind Sir."

The woman stood there and stared at him, waiting for a response.

He had not truly thought about how he would introduce himself when he arrived. The only thing that he thought of was the moment when he would reveal that he was her brother, and he would let her know that he was owed a part of their father's inheritance. Instead, he stood there dumbfounded.

Then he realized he did not even know if the woman standing before him was Amelia Smith.

"I am looking for the head mistress of the school. I am new in town and thought maybe I could gain employment doing odd jobs for her."

The woman regarded him, waiting a moment before she spoke.

"Why would you come here looking for work, specifically?" she inquired.

"I've been here in town a few days and I hear tell the head mistress hails from Boston as I do. I thought maybe she would have compassion in her heart for a fellow Bostonian."

"Follow me inside, kind Sir. I may be able to assist you."

Jonathan held the front door for her and followed her inside. The layout was beautiful, and suddenly Jonathan felt a tinge of jealousy. He was in a daze as he looked around at the surroundings and he did not hear when the woman was speaking to him.

"Sir? I'm assuming you did not hear me."

"I am so sorry."

"It is all right. I simply asked you your name."

He was shocked by how polite she was, especially because he was a complete stranger.

"Jonathan." He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he should reveal his true identity.

Looking around, this seemed as good a time as any.

"My name is Jonathan Montgomery Smith."

He stared her in the eyes, waiting for her response.

"Jonathan Montgomery Smith, you say?"

"Yes," he replied with a nod.

"I've been waiting for you to show up." She turned around and began to walk out of the room where they were standing. Jonathan was not sure whether or not he should follow her. He waited for a moment and when she did not immediately return, he walked back to peek into the next room.

He found her pouring a drink.

"Would you like one?"

Jonathan wanted to say no at first, but he went ahead and accepted. She poured him some of the amber liquid, and then handed him the glass.

They both consumed the alcohol before anyone spoke.

Amelia set her glass down. "So I assume there is no formal introduction needed on my part. Why is it that you made up a lie on why you came here? You could have just explained who you were truthfully."

Jonathan cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what Amelia had just told him.

"So you already know who I am?"

She nodded. "I do. My father's lawyer informed me you had come to visit him."

Jonathan did not want to respond. He should have known that McGill would inform her of his visit. It only fueled his frustration.

"That's fine. It only makes us skip the pleasantries. We should really get down to the reason why I'm here."

Amelia looked Jonathan up and down. Crossing her arms, she stood there for a moment, stoic.

"Yes, Jonathan Montgomery Smith. Let's get down to the reason why you are here."

Jonathan paced around the room, trying to figure out a way to begin the discussion.

"We need to discuss my inheritance."

Amelia threw her head back and laughed. "You cannot be serious. What do you mean, ‘your inheritance’?"

The way she stood there, arms crossed, smirk on her face, was starting to make Jonathan even angrier.

"I mean, my father is William Smith. You and I are related."

Amelia shook her head. "Where would you come up with something like that? Who told you that?"

Jonathan's chest swelled. "Are you calling my mother a liar?"

"Not at all, Mr. Smith. I don't even know your mother."

He calmed down, and spoke slowly. Raging at this woman would not be the answer to his needs.

"I come from a wonderful family. My mother is a good woman."

Amelia nodded. "I'm sure she is."

Jonathan threw his hands in the air. "Please don't patronize me, Ms. Smith."

Amelia held her hands up in surrender.

He continued. "I did not live a life like you did. I was not privileged with the best of everything. My mother had to provide for me, and she did the best she could. I never knew my father. I was told that he passed away when I was very young. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out from my mother that the man I thought was my father was not. A man that I never even knew, but idolized because of what my parents and my grandparents told me. It was bad enough that he was always an idea, but to find out that he was never even real…"

"What are you talking about?"

Jonathan's temples began to throb. "Why don't you get it? My mother and your father were an item. Your father, being the pillar of the community that he was, got my mother pregnant, and instead of making an honest woman out of her, he left her. Left her to go away somewhere and have a baby all alone. Left her to come back to Boston, pretending to be a widow with a toddler. Because that would be a much better story than the truth. She fell in love with a wealthy man who did not truly care about her. She fell in love with a man who did not protect her or take care of her or her child."

Amelia shook her head, and a look of incredulousness came over her face. "There is no way. Your mother and my father? No way."

"Why is that not possible? Do you consider me and my mother so beneath you that you can't believe that your father would fall in love with someone so, so…" Jonathan struggled to find the word. "…So
common?
"

"This is preposterous. Why would she wait until now to disclose this information to you? Why would she wait until my father died to let this kind of secret out? What purpose does this serve?"

"Amelia? Amelia? Where are you?"

The sound of heels clicking on the floor came close and closer.

Mary, Amelia's assistant came walking in. She was smiling from ear to ear. A young, blonde woman, very petite but full of energy. The smile on her face quickly dropped as she walked in and found Jonathan and Amelia in their heated discussion.

"Mary. I will be right with you. We have company. Mr. Jonathan Montgomery Smith, please meet Ms. Mary Studebaker, my assistant."

Jonathan nodded at the pretty woman.

"Well, I think I will get the lessons set up for the day, if you will excuse me, Amelia. Is there anything I can get for you, Mr. Smith?' Mary offered.

"No. Mr. Smith was just getting ready to leave."

Amelia's words were rushed, harsh, but obviously spoke her truth.

"No problem." Jonathan picked up his hat. "I will be in town for the next week or so. We will have plenty of time to discuss our personal matter and attempt to find some resolution. Good day, Ms. Studebaker. And good day, Ms. Smith."

He turned to let himself out. Once he hit the fresh air, there was a rush of anger, frustration and exhilaration, all in one. Jonathan had taken the biggest first step: meeting Amelia, his sister. There was no way that he would be able to know what the outcome of the meeting would turn out to be, but at least he had made himself and his presence known.

Jonathan knew that going to Amelia's without Ben may have been a bad move. He was just impulsive, and there was no way to avoid what was inevitable. He had come all that way, clear across the country to San Francisco for a purpose. There was no way that he could get out there and not fulfill it.

He spent the past few days pacing his hotel room, waiting to hear from Amelia. He just knew that she would come over to where he was staying and address him. Or at least send for him so they could come together and talk about how to proceed.

It would have been insane to think that things would work out easily. He would have to be crazy to believe that he could come to town, tell the woman he was her brother, and expect her to simply agree to hand over what he deemed to be his inheritance.

He just wanted it to go a little more smoothly. He wanted Amelia to at least consider the fact that what he was telling her could possibly be true. Why would she not think that her father could have fathered another child? It was not like he was telling her that their father was being unfaithful to her mother. As a matter of fact, according to his mother, she had not heard from William Smith since he came and told her that he was leaving her for someone else. That someone else was Lulu la Rue. A woman who was not totally less than, but definitely not worth more than his own mother.

So now what was he supposed to do? Just sit and wait until she decided to make a move? Was he supposed to just let her control the entire situation?

Jonathan was not sure exactly what he should do next. There was no way that he was willing to let Amelia keep the ball in her court. But then and again, he did not want to become too aggressive and push her away. There had to be a way to get through to Amelia. Some way to make her see that he was not trying to do anything other than get what was rightfully his. He did not want to get tied up in lawyers, especially since he could not afford to hire someone as high-powered as McGill was.

He was pretty sure that McGill had thwarted unsuccessful attempts from others trying to get at the Smith fortune. There were most likely built-in protocols to dealing with such matters, and McGill had to always be on guard, ready to get rid of anyone who wanted to lay claim to the Smith clan's dollars.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. He figured out a way to get through to Amelia, and what he was thinking had to work.

*

Up close, the woman looked like she sucked on lemons for a living. She could have been attractive, but all of her features were so severe that she did not appear capable of enjoying any of life's wonderful opportunities.

"Excuse me, Madam. My name is Jonathan Montgomery Smith."

She had been strolling along the avenue when Jonathan approached her. He hoped that this would work out for him the way that he envisioned it.

"Well Mr. Jonathan Montgomery Smith, what exactly does that have to do with me?"

He paused for a moment, knowing that whatever words he spoke next needed to be correct, because it would make or break his possibilities.

She was standing there, waiting for him to respond.

"From what I understand, you are the soon to be mother-in-law of Amelia Smith."

The comment seemed to peak the woman's interest.

"Yes I am. What does that matter to you?"

"I would love to get a chance to sit down and talk with you and your son. I have some information for you that I think would be of interest to you."