Mosaic (40 page)

“I can drive you out there if you’d like. I don’t mind.”

Robert spoke up. “Or I can. If you want to stay with your family, Jack.”

Lexy straightened her back. “I’m able to drive.” Then her voice grew quiet. “I’ve driven myself through heartbreak before.”

Anna couldn’t stop the tears then, remembering the source of her words, her drive from the hospital following her friend’s death when Julian was only a little boy.

“Do you want to see him again before you go?” Jack touched her back, but Lexy shook her head no.

“He’s not here.” A lone tear rolled down her cheek. “He’s riding a horse down to Soldier Creek, or he’s in his pickup, coming to find me. I’ll be waiting.”

Julian stepped forward again and kissed her, and Jules took her hand. “I’ll check on you in the morning. Jules, you have a phone. Call me if you need anything. I can be there in less than five minutes.”

Jules nodded and the two of them walked slowly out to the parking lot. Their steps almost identical.

* * *

The funeral for Bill Kyser was as big an event as his wedding had been more than forty years earlier. Everyone in South County, it seemed was there, and the church and grounds were flooded with plants and flowers from all over the globe.

Only the family and the Brennans were inside at the service. Lexy wore a straight, black shift with a hat and veil to hide her tears. Anna had extended her stay, and she and Jules wore matching black knit dresses. Jules hadn’t left her grandmother’s side, and the two were quickly becoming inseparable.

Julian was beside Anna, mourning along with his brothers, but Lucy seemed to take it the hardest. She had found her way to her father’s heart, and the two had become closer as the years had passed. Jack held Meggie as she leaned into his chest and wept. Robert stood by with the boys, but Anna knew the twins had always been able to comfort each other better than anyone else.

Casey had cancelled several dates on her small tour to fly down and join them. Her light blonde hair was still cut in a pixie, and she wore a black tailored suit. She watched Jack and Lucy from where she stood beside Robert and the boys.

Brad’s father and the rest of his family were across the aisle from the Kysers, and Will took a seat all the way in the back, alone. Anna wished there was a way to bring him into his family’s fold, but it was a worry for another time.

Julian rose and went to the front to give the eulogy.

“As a young man, my dad grew up on a horse ranch, back when this area was nothing but farms. It was working in that punishing heat that drove him to dream big and to see what this area could become. He wanted to find a way so he would never have to farm again.”

He looked down and smiled, and Anna glanced across the aisle at Mr. Brennan, who was also smiling, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

“He had good friends to help him, and he was determined to succeed. I think he’d be the first to say his success came at a price, and he wasn’t proud of the mistakes he made. But he was proud of his family, and he loved us all.

“I talked to Dad just a few days ago about love and loss, and in addition to quoting ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ by The Rolling Stones, he told me something I think you will all appreciate.”

The group chuckled, and Julian continued.

“I asked him how to find my way back to something I had lost. Something that was very dear to me, and that I was afraid was gone for good.

“He said, ‘When you truly love someone, time, distance, nothing matters. You’ll come together, and love will fill all the cracks and damaged spaces, and it will be whole again. It’ll be stronger than it was before.’

“He also told me he was proud of me, and I was lucky enough to tell him I loved him one last time.” His chin dropped, and Anna’s eyes grew hot.

“So while our family might feel broken by this loss, he’s still with us, and we still have each other. Our love will fill the space left by his passing, and we’ll be stronger because we had him in our lives. We love you dad, and you’re always here with us in spirit.”

He stepped away from the front and returned to his seat beside his future wife, and the service concluded. The three Kyser sons, Brad and Bryant were designated pallbearers, and Juliet walked with her grandmother out to the waiting limousines that took them to the cemetery. It was a solemn event, but Anna was able to see how they had all come together, all except the one.

* * *

Anna and Jules stood in the airport with Julian, waiting to board their flight back to London. Anna had spent the majority of the last two weeks with her future husband while Jules hadn’t left her grandmother’s house on Port Hogan Road. Both were miserable at the prospect of leaving what had become their family.

“Kyser-Brennan can handle the entire relocation,” Julian said, holding Anna in his arms. “You don’t have to go back if you’d rather stay.”

She shook her head. “I need to wrap up my desk, say goodbye to friends, pack up things I can’t live without.”

“I can take you back in a few weeks to do all that.”

She smiled and kissed his nose. “I’ve already stayed longer than I’d originally said I would.”

“Yes, but you’re moving back here. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. Let me do this, and you can finish wrapping up your dad’s business without me here to distract you.”

He breathed heavily, and they walked slowly toward airport security. His arm was around Anna’s waist, and Jules caught his hand on the other side. He lifted it around her shoulders, and pulled her wild dark head in for a kiss. “You’re not a distraction, you’re a relief.”

They stopped to embrace each other one last time, one last kiss. Jules went on ahead through the screening process. Anna held the front of his shirt, smiling up into his adoring face.

“We won’t be long, and now that the date is set, it’s actually kind of exciting. After so many years, we’re starting our life together as a family.”

He leaned forward to claim that mouth once more. “I can’t wait.”

They said goodbye, and two headed across the ocean, while one headed back to face the storm brewing along the Gulf.

Bill Kyser’s will had been opened, and the lawyers were already discussing the contents when the family gathered at the house on Hammond Island to listen to the reading.

The house on Port Hogan Road went to Alexandra Marie LaSalle along with a generous annual allowance for maintenance and repairs for the rest of her life. The Hammond Island home was left to the Kyser children to dispose of as they wished.

As neither Jack nor Lucy expressed interest in Kyser-Brennan Equities, Bill named Julian chief executive officer of the corporation and gave him total control of his father’s share. No mention was made of the eldest Kyser sibling.

Will was out of his chair in an instant. “When was this will revised?”

“Several months ago,” his father’s attorney replied. “I understand this is a shock to you, but your father’s mental condition was never in question.”

“Of course his mental condition was fine,” Will continued shouting. “However he was sexually manipulated by this gypsy squatter in her effort to install her bastard son in the wealthiest development company in the area.”

Lexy pressed her lips into a frown and stood to leave the room.

“You’re the bastard, Will!” Lucy shouted, going after her. “Don’t start this again or I’ll do more than throw my supper at you.”

Julian only sat quietly, watching his brother. “He was my father, too.”

“Are we just going to accept that? Was a paternity test ever run?”

Jack leaned forward in his chair. “You’re really grasping for anything now, aren’t you, Will. It’s because of this shitty behavior that he cut you out. Dad only ever loved Lexy, and his entire life changed when she and Julian came into the picture.”

The two younger Kyser men’s eyes met, and in that moment, any past conflict between them dissipated for good. Julian stood and walked to the desk.

“It isn’t right for my brother to be cut out of the business. He’s worked hard, he’s good at what he does, and he’s an asset to our team.” He turned to face Will. “We’ll make this right. Your position is not in jeopardy.”

His brother muttered a curse and stalked to the door, but before he left, he turned back. “Don’t think this changes anything. You are not one of us.”

The room was noticeably quiet when the door shut, with only the lawyers, Jack and Julian, Robert and Casey left to hear the remainder of Bill’s dispensation. Once it was over they filed out into the kitchen, where Lexy was holding Meggie, and Lucy was pacing furiously.

“He’s such a rat pig. I hope you punched him in the face again, Julian.”

Her brother coughed a laugh, and the rest of the family turned to face him. Lexy’s eyes were stern. “Umm… h-he threatened Anna,” Julian managed to say.

With that, they all collectively relaxed and the kids started digging in the refrigerator.

“I’ll fix something for the boys!” Casey jumped forward. “Would the adults like me to order takeout?”

Lucy stopped pacing and smiled at her. “That sounds great.”

Julian slipped to the outside patio, the last place he’d spoken to his dad. His phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket. Seeing the name he smiled, grateful for the relief.

Made it home.
Anna texted.
Just a few things to collect, then I’ll take you up on that KB relocation offer.

Good. I want you back here now
, he replied.

Me too
.
Jules and I took one look at all this furniture and screamed your name.

He exhaled a laugh.
I thought I heard something. I miss you. Can you be here by Sunday?

No. But will be there in two weeks. Then never leaving your side again.

Deal. Bound for life.

You holding up okay?

Will be better when you’re here. I love you. Xxx

Love you so much. xoxo

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he walked toward the small table holding a decanter and two glasses. Then he turned and walked to the railing, with its eastern view.

It was a clear night, and his eyes rose to the stars. Mist clouded his vision, but he wasn’t crying. He wasn’t sure how to name the mixture of emotions he felt after this night, the funeral, that will.

“Thank you,” was all he said, gazing at the thick bands of swirling twinkle-lights mixing in the sky above. “I’m glad I was able to know you.”

For a moment, he felt peace. As if the broken shards and scattered bits had finally been found and brought back together.

He remembered his father’s words about love filling the spaces. He was an artist. He knew from his craft that the finished piece would be stronger than the original.

Bill Kyser started this journey a long time ago with a dream, and it brought all of them to this point in time. Mistakes were made, a life was lost, and many pieces were broken as a result. But assembled in this house was the best of the broken.

They were cemented together with love, and they’d learned his father was right. Love changes everything. It will pull you under, but it’s stronger than time or distance. It had seen them through the past, and it would hold them together in a beautiful work of art, strong enough to face their future, whatever it might hold.

~ The End ~

Epilogue

A Wedding

Jules ran through the old house on Port Hogan Road carrying a heavy bunch of pink hydrangea, white gardenia, and lavender flowers until she got to the base of the antique staircase, where her father stood in beige linen pants and a loose, blue oxford.

“Bloody hell!” she cried, jumping back.

“I still haven’t decided if that’s swearing or not.” Julian grinned at his daughter, all dressed up in a knee-length yellow chiffon dress. “You’d probably better get out of the habit before school starts in the fall.”

“I’ll be a senior, Da. We get special privileges.”

“Not in South County.”

She pushed her father’s chest. “We can discuss it later. You can’t be here! You’ll see her before the wedding, and that’s hideous luck—get out!”

He caught his daughter’s slim wrists, dodging her bouquet. “I think we’ve managed to beat enough hideous luck to last a lifetime. I’m just stepping in to get the guys some drinks. It’s hot out there.”

“You’re not getting pissed are you?”

“Juliet.” Her father gave her The Look. “Have you ever seen me drunk?”

“No, but Christ! Send Uncle Jack in or something. You can’t be here.”

“I’m the only one who knows where anything is in this house.”

“Then text me.” She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door. “I’ll carry whatever you need out to you.”