Masquerade (36 page)

“That day in the hospital you said my name, didn’t you? You said, ‘Tater Tot.’ I should have realized it then, but I thought I was hearing imaginary voices.” She shook her head, studied the core in her hand. “I don’t understand.” She looked into his face. “If you’re alive, where’s Randall?”

His gaze shifted to the plot beside them.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” She scooted away. “Randall’s buried in your spot?”

He shrugged. “I guess. You had to put someone in there.” A hoarse chuckle escaped his throat.

“Now, wait a minute. This is too bizarre.”

He blew out a puff of air. “Tell me about it. I’ve been living it. All I know is, from the time I woke up in the hospital, everyone called me ‘Randall.’ I couldn’t talk at first, with the severe burns to my throat. So I didn’t ask questions. I listened. A lot. I discovered the hospital had mixed up our identities. Apparently, our clothing, or what was left of it, was dumped into bins and got mixed up somehow. I died, and Randall lived. Only, I knew I wasn’t Randall.”

“Why didn’t you say something? I mean, when you could finally talk?”

“When I saw myself in the mirror, I knew I didn’t want you to bear the burden of a husband who looked like this.” He pointed to his face.

“Do you think so little of me, Joe? So little of our love?”
She squeezed her eyes, and a tear spilled onto her cheek. “How dare you deny me access to you, to your heart? It’s all such a mess. I almost married another man.”

He scooted closer.

“I should sue the hospital.” Her voice rose. “I should sue you!” She beat on his chest.

He winced and rubbed the spot.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll never be the man I was.”

“The man I loved is still below the surface. That’s the only man who counts.”

“Too easy. You expect me to believe you accept this skin I’m in just like that?”

“Sure, I grieve for your loss of appearance. Maybe plastic surgery—”

“Been there, done that. They used Randall’s photo to reconstruct my face.”

“Well, maybe they could use
your
picture and restore a more Joe-like look. I don’t know. All I know is, I don’t want to live without you.” She set the apple core beside her and wiped her hands on her jeans. “That is, if you’ll still have me.”

He took her hand. It felt clammy against his skin. “Celeste, darling, what are you talking about? Do you know how beautiful you are? Inside and out?”

“Joe, there’s something I need to tell you . . .” She trembled, released a shuddering breath. “I have a little girl. Actually, you know her.”

He swallowed down the fear gurgling in his throat.

“I thought she was dead. You see, I tried to abort her.” Her face twisted as a sob choked her words.

He took her in his arms.

“I don’t deserve your love.”

Her face felt hot on his shoulder as he stroked her back.

They sat for some time, it seemed, until she finally composed herself. “There’s more.” She pulled away and dabbed at her eyes. “I thought Lily was your child, but it turns out, she belongs to Don. You’d left for Africa, remember? I was sad, angry. I wanted to get back at you, so I went out with him. Only that one time.”

A twinge of jealousy seared his chest. So, Dr. Don had swooped in and taken his girl, like he was trying to do now. He quickly brushed away the thoughts. Celeste was here, and in spite of everything, she still wanted him. She’d married him, after all, not Don. “Lily? Your child is Lily?”

She sniffed and nodded.

“Yes. She didn’t die after all. A nurse saved her. Long story short, she ended up in foster care with the Miller family. And they want to adopt her. But now that I know my baby’s alive, I want her. I really always did.” She wrung her hands. “But I’m afraid that might be hard to prove.”

Celeste back, and with a child? It was more than he’d hoped for. With Lily they’d have the family they’d always wanted. True, she was another man’s child, but he’d grown to love her. He knew he’d make a good father. But  would  Don  release her?  “I’ll fight for Lily with  you.

She’s a beautiful little girl with her mommy’s button nose.”

“How can you forgive me so easily?”

“We’ve been through a lot. Messed up a lot. Sounds like we’ve both experienced despair along the way. But I’ve changed, Celeste. I committed my life to Christ. And He’s given me the courage to live and love again.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ve been reading the book of John, noting what Jesus says about Himself. So many ‘I am’ statements. But the one I like best: ‘I am the resurrection and the life.’ Appropriate, don’t you think?” He tossed her a sly smile.

Her cheeks glimmered with tears as she managed a feeble smile in return. “You didn’t literally rise from the dead.”

“No, but if you’d seen the look on your face when you first saw me today, I might as well have.”

“Joe, my beautiful Joe.” She fell into his arms.

“I’m still amazed you can say that.”

She looked into his eyes. “I’ve changed, too. I guess you could say we both have a new identity that has nothing to do with our outer appearance.”

“Heart stuff.” He winked.

“Yeah, heart stuff.” She touched her head. “I feel faint again.”

“With good reason. Heavy sharing. And you need more in your stomach. Let me take you for a bite to eat. Then I’ll drive you home. Man, I can’t believe I’m actually going to get to go home.”

She  pushed on  his chest.  “You  can’t  come home,

Joe. Not yet. Mother would freak out, and Father might shoot you.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

In her classroom after school on Monday, Celeste pulled Barbara and Lorna aside. “Can I talk with you two for a while?”

“Sounds serious.” Leaning against the kitchen counter, Lorna took a swig of her daily Coke fix.

“Kinda. Well, more than kinda.”

Barbara placed a stack of construction paper and a can of crayons on a shelf. “How about we go in the back room? It’s more private.” Her eyebrows twitched with what looked like a flicker of concern, but her tone remained calm.

“Is Amelia still here?” Celeste grabbed her tote and moved toward the adjoining door.

No, she’s gone. She wasn’t feeling well,” Barbara said.

“Ah, sorry to hear about that.” Celeste guided the ladies to the next room where they settled around a table and stared at each other.

“All right, already.” Lorna huffed. “Don’t keep us in suspense. What’s going on, girl?”

“First of all, I know I’ve been detached lately.”

“I’ll say.” Lorna rolled her eyes.

Barbara folded her hands on the table, her face softening. “You’ve been preoccupied. I suspect you’ve been working through some things.”

“You’re right about that. Thanks for not prying. I needed some distance. Some time to investigate.”

Lorna’s eyebrow shot up. “Investigate? Sounds intriguing.”

“Can you both promise me what I say stays in this room?” She glowered at Lorna. Barbara was as true as they come, but Lorna, well . . .

“Absolutely.” Lorna raised her hand, her signature gesture whenever she promised to hold a confidence, which she rarely did. But somehow, Celeste had grown accustomed to confiding in the speech pathologist. On occasion, she actually gave some sound advice. The story was all going to come out soon anyway, so why shouldn’t Lorna hear it from her?

“You both know I’ve been interested in adopting Lily. You also know about Don. What you don’t know is, there’s a connection between the two of them.”

“You don’t say?” Lorna leaned in, her green eyes wide as walnuts.

How many times was she going to have to divulge her story? She wished she could round up everyone who needed to know, place them in a room, and get it over with. But it didn’t seem to be working out that way. “How long do you guys have?”

Lorna checked her watch. “Oh, I have about an hour before I need to pick up the girls. They’re staying late at school to practice an end-of-the-year play.”

“Okay, then.” Celeste breathed deeply and started in.

Over the course of the telling, a plethora of emotion passed over the women’s faces, ranging from confusion to shock to joy. The kind of joy that goes beyond belief.

When finished, Celeste slumped in her seat, exhausted. Ever the picture of serenity, Barbara, powdered cheeks plump and rosy, smiled and patted her hand. “So thrilled to know you’ve come to Jesus.”

Lorna cast an incredulous glance at Barbara, then shifted her gaze to Celeste. “So, let me get this straight. Don is Lily’s father. She’s an abortion survivor. Joe’s alive, and he’s walking around in Randall’s body. No Randall
is
Joe.” She smacked her forehead. “Good grief, girl. Talk about a soap opera.”

Celeste scrunched her face and produced a slow shrug.

“I think you ought to sell your story to
True Scoop
magazine,” Lorna continued. “I bet they’d make it a feature. And you’d make a fortune.”

Barbara frowned.

“Well, I’m tellin’ ya—they probably would.” Deflated, Lorna slid down in her chair. “If you ask me, Don made a quicky proposal, hoping you’d marry him soon and give up the whole idea of taking in Lily.”

Was that it? The proposal did catch her off guard. She’d expected Don to react in anger. Instead, he’d shown up a week later with a ring.

“If he really loved you, he wouldn’t ask you to give

up your only child.” Lorna’s nostrils spread like a bull ready to charge. “Why, he’s probably already signed the adoption papers, that loser.”

Celeste wilted, her gaze shifting to Barbara. “I don’t know. Without some kind of documentation, I doubt Social Services or the court would even allow him to take the paternity test. But even if he did get approval and then signed the papers, I haven’t signed them yet. And I don’t intend to, either.”

Barbara’s doleful eyes studied Celeste. “Why don’t we pray?”

“Yes, please do, because I need to find a way to tell my parents about Joe when I get home.”

###

“Oh, no!” Celeste pulled in behind the red BMW parked in her driveway and cut the engine. She wasn’t ready to face Don right now. Maybe never. She grabbed her tote and trudged inside the utility room. Snoring from the spare bedroom. Father must be taking a nap. Mother’s laughter floated from the living room. She’d expect her to fall for Don’s charm. After all, Celeste had been suckered in twice.

Had he ever really loved her? Or was she merely a conquest—a pretty wife to add to the rest of his accomplishments?

She stored her tote in the corner and moved to the living room. A candle flickered on an end table, releasing vanilla fragrance into the air. Dark eyes shining, Mother sat on the couch beside Don. Her slender hands moved to

illustrate her words. He appeared captivated by Mother’s animation.

Hmm . . . highly suspect. Win the mother, you win the daughter, huh, Don? Well, not so, lover boy. You can have Mother, but you’re certainly not getting me.

“Well, look who’s home.” Mother’s gaze flitted to Celeste.

Don turned his head, producing that killer smile, like nothing in the world had happened between them.

Mother touched his knee. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone.”

When she passed Celeste, she flashed a wink. Mother’s affinity for Don was going to make it all the harder to tell her about Joe.

Sit with me?
Don’s eyes begged. Was he here to apologize? Little difference it would make now. If he was ready to accept Lily, it might actually make things worse. Joe’s reappearance might anger him, propel him to retaliate. Don could decide to fight for Lily, tell the court he knew nothing about the abortion attempt. Paint Celeste as an unfit mother. And off the little girl would go into her father’s care. It could happen. A shiver passed over her, and she hugged her arms to her chest. She shook herself. Surely, her thoughts flew off course. Don would have a difficult time proving he was Lily’s father without Celeste’s help.

She sat quietly beside him, with enough distance to feel safe.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” he said, drawing up his leg and turning to face her. “I love you. I think you love me, too. So