Fallen Elements (4 page)

Ryan tried not to be hurt by the fact one of
her mother’s friends didn’t even know she existed. “We had a
falling out, so we hadn’t spoken in years.”

Leah had managed to regain her composure, and
nodded. “I hadn’t seen her in years either.” The blonde looked
toward the gravesite, her eyes filling with tears. “Nearly thirty
years.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “Oh. That’s a long
time.” She had never been a fan of math, but even she knew those
numbers didn’t add up. Her mother was forty five when she died, and
Leah couldn’t be a day over thirty five.

“Leah Brewer.” Lucy’s voice was curt and
biting as she walked up to Ryan and Leah.

“Hello, Lucy.” Leah’s politeness was forced.
It was clear to Ryan from the icy stares the two women hated each
other. “You’re looking well.”

Lucy linked her arm through Ryan’s as she
looked Leah up and down. “Time has been good to you, Leah.”

Ryan wasn’t sure what was going on. She had
never heard of Leah before. But given the daggers her aunt was now
shooting at the beautiful blonde, Ryan wondered what the history
between these two was. “Ah, how do you know each other?”

Lucy huffed. “Leah and your mother were best
friends. Ages ago.”

Leah frowned as she looked at Ryan. “I’m
sorry about your mother. Take care.” She looked suspiciously at
Lucy. “Nice to see you again, Lucy.”

“Likewise.” Lucy pulled a confused Ryan back
toward the gravesite.

“Wait.” Ryan slipped her arm free of her
aunt, and followed after Leah. “Leah, please.”

The blonde stopped, her shoulders slouched as
she turned to face Ryan. “I really should be going.”

Ryan instinctively reached for the woman’s
hand. The chill of the day evaporated as a surge of heat rolled up
her arm. Both women looked down at where their hands were joined.
“Can’t we talk for a minute?”

Before Leah could answer, Lucy was standing
next to Ryan. “Ryan, the car is waiting and so are our guests.”

Ryan sighed. “Give me five minutes,
please.”

Lucy reached for Ryan’s hand, and stepped
between Leah and her. “I have indulged you enough, what with your
mother’s death, but I will not let you embarrass the family by
delaying us further.”

Ryan’s annoyance with her aunt’s interference
was rapidly morphing into anger when she watched a small trickle of
blood come from Lucy’s right nostril. “Jesus, Aunt Lucy, your
nose.”

Reaching up with her gloved hand, Lucy dabbed
at the blood, and then quickly brought her silk handkerchief up to
her nose. “I’ll see you at the car.” Without looking back at Leah,
the woman briskly walked away.

“I am sorry about your mother, Ryan.” Leah
had released Ryan’s hand, and was stepping back. “Please take care
of yourself.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Ryan had never
considered herself a pushy person, but she was having difficulty
letting Leah leave.

“I’m just walking over to Broadway to catch a
cab.” Leah put her hands in her coat pockets as she walked away
from Ryan.

Taking a few long strides, Ryan fell into
step with Leah. “I’ll walk with you.”

Shaking her head, Leah stopped. “Look, I
don’t want to be rude -”

Ryan grinned. “Then don’t be. I can’t imagine
it suits you.”

Leah’s cheeks flushed, and she chewed
nervously on the inside of her lower lip. “You can walk me to the
street, and that’s it, right?”

Ryan crossed her heart with her index finger.
“Promise.”

“Well, come on then.” Leah began to quickly
walk toward the wrought iron gate at the eastern side of the
cemetery.

“So you and my mom were friends?” Ryan
managed to sound casual, even though a thousand questions were
shooting through her head.

“Yes.” Leah pulled her coat collar tighter
around her face.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look
really great for -” Ryan hesitated, not sure how she should state
the obvious.

“Forty five.” Leah shook her head. “I’m forty
five, and Karen - your mother and I – went to high school
together.”

The two women reached the busy street, and
Leah stepped to the curb, her arm extended as she attempted to hail
a cab.

A man’s heavy hand landed on Ryan’s shoulder.
“Shit, there you are. Let’s go. My mother is so pissed with you
that she’s having kittens in the limo.”

Andrew wiped at his nose with the palm of his
gloved hand as he looked over at Leah. Ryan’s skin crawled as she
saw the lecherous look he gave the beautiful woman.

“I’m coming. Christ, Andrew.” Ryan’s
irritation with having been handled for the better part of the day
by her family was reaching a boiling point, and her asshole cousin
was about to be the recipient of her anger.

“Who’s your friend?” Andrew, oblivious to
Ryan’s annoyance, stepped around her, and into Leah’s personal
space.

“Leah. She was a friend of my mother’s.” Ryan
wanted this man to leave them alone. “Have the car pulled around.
I’ll meet you here.” She hoped her abrupt tone would give Andrew
the hint to leave.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Andrew
smirked. “Let me just call Carol, and she can have the car pulled
around.” He smiled at Leah, who continued looking for a cab. “I can
wait with you two.”

Leah turned toward Andrew, and Ryan saw a
glint of mischief cross the woman’s light green eyes as she took a
step toward Andrew. “Hi. I’m Leah.”

Andrew, forgetting his phone for the moment,
slipped the device back into his jacket pocket as he reached for
Leah’s hand. “Andrew Howland. Plea -”

Before Andrew could finish the introductions,
he began to sneeze. Much to Ryan’s amusement, he sneezed not once,
but five consecutive times until the man stumbled backward, wiping
furiously at his nose and eyes.

“Shit! These fucking allergies.” His eyes
were watering profusely as he struggled to breathe through his
mouth. “We’ll pull around for you.” Three more sneezes, and Andrew
disappeared through the cemetery gate.

“Allergies can be tough.” Leah spoke from
just behind Ryan.

Turning around, Ryan was pleasantly surprised
to find Leah standing within a few feet of her. “He’s a shit. Sorry
about that.” She wanted to hug the woman, and fought the urge,
knowing how completely inappropriate it was.

Leah stepped back, and catching a cab out of
the corner of her eye, turned and waved the driver over. “I’m sorry
again about your mother.”

Ryan watched as the beautiful woman stepped
into the cab, and disappeared into the bustle of New York. Standing
on the sidewalk, Ryan felt strangely euphoric, and far happier than
the day warranted. She and Leah lived in the same city, and when
Ryan got back to her life, she intended to look Leah up.

“I, Karen Remembrance Myers, being of sound
mind and health, do hereby declare that this document is my last
will and testament.” The family’s attorney, Michael Johannes, was a
wisp of a man. He had a penchant for six thousand dollar black
Brioni suits, but his slight frame always left the tailored
garments looking bunched and oversized.

Ryan was sitting in her aunt’s library along
with Carol, Andrew, Lucy, and three second cousins she didn’t know,
nor cared to remember their names. This was the last thing she had
to do before she could go home, and the reading of her mother’s
will couldn’t be over fast enough for her liking.

A portion of her mother’s estate had already
been allocated to various charities throughout the New York area.
The reading that Ryan now suffered through was specific to personal
effects and members of the family’s inheritance.

“To my sister, Lucille Constance
Myers-Howland, I leave ten percent of my estate, along with my
Bvlgari jewelry.” Glancing up, Ryan saw the surprised and unhappy
expression on her aunt’s face. Clearly, she had expected something
more.

“To my nephew, Andrew Roman Howland, I leave
my coin collection. It was his grandfather’s, who requested I pass
it along upon my death.” Andrew tisked, and indignantly slouched in
his chair as Mr. Johannes slowly turned the page. Ryan struggled to
sit still, the formality of the reading was stifling, and the lack
of gratitude sickening.

“To my dear niece, Carolyn Remembrance
Howland, I leave ten percent of my estate, along with my home in
Cape Cod, Massachusetts.”

A broad smile spread across Carol’s lips as
she reached for Ryan’s hand. “I loved summers there with you and
your mother.” Ryan squeezed her cousin’s hand affectionately, and
turned her attentions back to the attorney.

“To my daughter, Ryan Haley Myers…” Ryan felt
a knot form in her throat, and her heart began to pound in her
chest. It had been over six years since her mother had referred to
her as her daughter, and the simple words brought tears to Ryan’s
eyes.

“…I leave the remaining portion of my estate,
along with all remaining real property not already accounted for in
this will.” Ryan’s mouth hung open in shock, a low hum in her ears
as she watched the attorney shuffle the documents and insert them
into a brown leather portfolio.

Ryan and her mother had not so much as
exchanged emails in six years; so for her to even remember her in
her will, much less leave her such a sizable portion of her estate,
rendered Ryan speechless. Their relationship had not just
gone
badly, it had emphatically
ended
badly.

“I will not let you ruin this family!” Karen
screeched at her twenty one year old daughter. “You will fall into
line this instant!”

Ryan had stood in her mother’s study, tears
streaming down her face, her lungs burning as she gasped for air.
“I will not.”

Karen had gotten up from the leather club
style sofa that sat along the back wall of the wood paneled room.
Taking the bottle of twenty one year old Balvenie scotch from the
silver drink caddy, the enraged woman filled her crystal highball
glass to the rim.

“You have no idea the obligations we face.”
Karen took a long drink from her glass. “Our lives are not our own,
Ryan.”

“I don’t want any of this.” Ryan looked
around the opulent room, with the priceless Rembrandt hanging over
the thirty thousand dollar rug, and the oak writing desk that Teddy
Roosevelt had given her great grandfather. All Ryan could see were
bars and pitfalls.

Karen laughed. “
Want
? What makes you
think we have choices here, girl?”

Her mother had always been hateful when
challenged, but Ryan had never heard such venom coming from the
woman before. “I just want to be left alone. I’ll make my own
way.”

Karen set the half empty glass on the drink
caddy with a clank and crossed the room. Her shoulders squared and
her back stiffened as she glared at her only child. “Don’t you
think I’ve wanted that too? In what world do you imagine I would
allow you something that I was denied?”

Ryan didn’t understand what her mother was
talking about. Her entire life, she had always thought her mother
was dignified and committed to the family and everything that
implied. Now, the woman in front of her was a stranger - bitter,
resentful and spiteful.

“I don’t know your life, Mother. I want my
own, though.” Ryan was shocked by the strength of her convictions.
She had rarely stood up to her mother, much less openly disagreed
with her.

“You’re a whore.” The words fell casually
from Karen’s lips as she backed toward the drink caddy, and picking
her scotch up, she took a long drink.

A prickling started at the base of Ryan’s
neck, and heat began radiating out from it and through her entire
body. When she spoke, her words were calm, her voice barely a
whisper. “What did you say to me?”

The drunk woman hesitated, but then leveled
her gaze at her daughter. “I said you’re a
whore
.” Karen
tilted her head back, emptying the glass. “You forget yourself over
a girl. You forget your family, our heritage,
our history
-
for a piece of ass.”

Tears streamed down Ryan’s face, and she
forced her words past the lump in her throat. “I’m leaving this
house, and I’m leaving you.” Ryan walked toward the door. “I don’t
know what choices you’ve made that have left you so angry and so
bitter, but I will not be a victim of
your
tragedies.”

Ryan had been home for spring break and had
walked to her room, repacked her bags, gathered a few personal
possessions, and left the house. It was the last time she had
spoken to her mother.

Over the years, Ryan had kept in touch with
Carol, and by default had heard bits and pieces about the family.
Her mother had apparently never spoken to anyone about their
falling out. In fact, it was only after Ryan explained to Carol
what happened that her Aunt Lucy was made aware of the
situation.

“Ryan, honey, you need to come home. We love
you. I know you think the friends you have now will be there
forever, but family is truly the only thing that lasts.” Lucy had
pleaded with Ryan over the phone.

“I just can’t be who she wants me to be, Aunt
Lucy.” Ryan wasn’t thrilled that Carol had broken down, and no
doubt under duress, told her mother everything.

“I’m sure this - this girl you’re seeing is
just a phase.”

Ryan slammed her eyes shut. “Aunt Lucy, a
person isn’t a phase. Anyway, even if Samantha and I don’t last,
guess what - I’m still a lesbian.”

“You hush now, that’s a terrible word.” Lucy
lowered her voice. “Lesbian.”

Ryan had nearly laughed. “I have to go, Aunt
Lucy. Bye.”

“That’s surprising.” Carol’s voice
interrupted Ryan’s reminiscing.

“What?” Ryan looked at Carol.

“The will. I wouldn’t have thought.” Carol
was struggling to find the words.

“Oh, right. That.” Ryan shrugged.
“Weird.”

Andrew walked up. “Weird? Really, Ryan?”
Rolling his eyes, he looked intently at his cousin. “She doesn’t
talk to you for six years because you’re a dyke -”