Who's Colleen Sutton?

WHO’S COLLEEN SUTTON?

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PUBLISHED BY:

Carol Marlene Smith at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Copyright © 2024 Carol Marlene Smith

All rights reserved.

Books by Carol Marlene Smith

Angel’s Blessing

Angel’s Retreat

1964: Chasing A Dream

Facing Reality

Missing Link

After Glow

Court of Two Sisters

Who Wants to Murder a Millionaire?

Heart of Winter

Death and Deceit

Who’s Colleen Sutton?

The Vampire and the Lady

A Bunch of Short Stories

The Positive Power of Writing

Ruby’s Ring

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The Snore Score

Good Choices, Bad Choices

I’m Not Different, I’m Just Me

POETRY

Painted Words and Music of Fire

By the Entrance to the Harbor

The Evolution of Me

Old Hippie Poems

Inner Warrior

Rimes of an Ancient Rhymer

Poems for Ukraine

Train of Thought

CHAPTER ONE

Eve Summers had just buried her father. The sight and smell of the flowers in the small funeral chapel were still fresh in her mind. But even fresher were the last words her dad had said to her.

Your mother’s not your mother, he’d choked out through tubes that invaded his body.

Eve had been holding a cup of tea, which shattered to the floor with an almost unheard crash because of the hum from the machines attached to her father’s cancer-ridden body.

She loved you like her own, he wheezed. She couldn’t have children. I made a mistake, but we took you in.

Eve’s mind was crowded with so many questions, but she was too stunned to open her mouth. At first, she’d thought her father was rambling — an old man’s illusions, the medication speaking — but when he lifted one thin hand and reached for hers, with a look of total determination on his face, she listened intently.

Your real mother’s picture is in my top dresser drawer under my cufflink box. We were lovers…I made a mistake…she was from Avonville…I met — His coughing aggravated the tubes and one of the machines beeped loudly.

A nurse rushed into the room, and Eve clung to her father’s bony, clammy hand. In a matter of minutes, a doctor and another nurse entered the room…and he was gone.

She sat now in her father’s bedroom on her father’s bed staring at the top dresser drawer. It had been three days since he’d told her. Then there were the guests, the funeral, now it was all over. She hadn’t wanted to speak to anyone today. Her best friend since grade school had called twice leaving similar messages both times. Hi, Eve. It’s Daphne. Call me. I’m here for you. You’re not alone.

She would call Daphne…later. She’d risen at seven, had a shower and made breakfast then cleaned up the house…anything to stay away from his room and the dresser drawer, for Eve knew if there was indeed a picture of a woman under his cufflinks box, her life had been all lies. I made a mistake. He had said that twice. Did that mean that she was a mistake as well?

When the third message came from Daphne, Eve was still in his room. She listened to her friend’s concerned voice. Taking a long, deep breath, she rose and pushed her legs forward. She stood by the dresser and stared into the mirror. She’d always wondered why she didn’t look like her mother or her father. She had asked her mother once, when she was about six and her parents had been going out for the evening. Her mother was putting on lipstick and Eve was watching. Eve recalled how pretty her mother looked. Her blonde hair gleamed under the bedroom lights and her lipstick was coral. Eve longed to rub the tube over her own lips, but her mother was strict and gave instructions for her to never touch her cosmetics. When she had asked who she looked like, her mother had replied, You look like yourself. And that was it. End of conversation.

Eve gingerly slid open the top dresser drawer. Her father’s hankies were all lying in neat piles. His socks were folded together in matching pairs. His drawer was as neat as his life had been, or so Eve had thought. He’d managed a restaurant downtown and always dreamed of owning it. But when that dream never came about, he continued on with his neat life. Then his wife had died quickly, choking on a piece of bread. She was DOA at the emergency room. Eve was away at college and she had rushed home to be at her father’s side. They had wept side by side and put the pieces of their life back together.

Eve had wanted to travel, but after her mother died, she saw her father grow old. He retired early, and Eve took over his job at the restaurant. She had always been there as a kid and she knew the place inside and out. It was only logical that she fill his shoes. When the owner decided to retire, Eve took out a partnership with Daphne and became co-owner. Her dad’s dream passed down to her.

The cufflinks were in a square, mahogany box. She lifted it onto the dresser top, not taking her eyes off it. Then her eyes shifted downward, into the drawer, onto the smiling face of a woman so much like her own that Eve’s breath escaped in awe. She took the picture out of the drawer with both hands, holding it gently, almost reverently. The woman, with blue eyes and light brown hair, was in a bathing suit. But the photo stopped at her waist.

Eve wondered if her father had taken the picture. It certainly looked like the saucy smile on her face had been put there by a man that she cared about. Eve’s first thought was of how her father could have lived all those years with a carbon copy of a woman who’d been his lover. She must have reminded him every day of his great sin. If he loved the woman, he might have found solace in his daughter’s identical face. So, she concluded he must have loved her. She couldn’t stop staring at the picture. She turned it over once and read the writing on the back. Colleen Sutton, 28. The woman was her age.

She jumped when she heard the door bell. The picture fluttered from her fingers and drifted back into the open drawer. Eve slammed the drawer shut and ran downstairs. She’d already made up her mind what she would do.

Daphne Harrison was at the front door, when she pulled it open. Hi. She smiled at Eve. What? Not answering your phone? I’ve been calling all day —

I know, Eve interrupted. I’m sorry, Daph. I was going to call you back.

Daphne rushed into the hallway, as if she lived there. She practically had as a child. Her own parents had travelled widely and Daphne spent much time at her good friend’s house. She stopped abruptly and turned. Her wide green eyes held a sympathetic glow. Hey, she cooed, walking back to where Eve still stood, now closing the door. It’s okay. I understand. You just buried your dad. You’re allowed some time alone. She hugged Eve affectionately then pushed a strand of stray hair out of Eve’s eyes. She peered into Eve’s eyes and said, Remember that vacation we promised each other? Maybe now’s a good time to get away.

Daphne’s hug had felt good, and smelled good too. Daphne was wearing Calvin Klein cologne; the bottle Eve had given her on her birthday. I can’t. Eve’s words came quick and blunt. Then she tendered them down. I mean, you’re right, Daph. That sounds like a plan, but I have something I have to do first.

You do?

They walked into the living room and sat on the soft green leather sofa. Eve folded her hands to keep them from shaking. She contemplated telling Daphne everything but decided against it just yet. She had to see her first, look into those identical eyes, listen to that identical mouth tell her she had not wanted to give up her daughter but thought it was best, even though she’d loved her more than life itself. Eve wanted the whole thing to have been a selfless, caring act, that, she could understand. A poor young woman not able to look after a child alone, giving it up to its father and his wife to be raised in a loving two-parent environment.

Eve looked at Daphne’s round face. Her complexion was perfect, something Eve had envied as a teenager before her own complexion had finally cleared up. Daphne was gazing at her in that way that she did when she didn’t understand her friend’s actions.

Eve tried to explain. I want to take that vacation with you, Daph, as soon as I return. I promise. You make arrangements at the restaurant while I’m gone, and I’ll —

Where are you going? Daphne’s green eyes were wide and questioning.

I’ll just be gone for the weekend, Eve continued. I know I sound mysterious, but when I return, I’ll tell you everything, okay?

Daphne shrugged her small frame. Okay...I guess. But can’t you even tell me where you’re going?

It’s not far, Eve said. But, no, not yet. I’m planning to leave right away, tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow sometime and maybe I can tell you more then.

Daphne rose. She scooped her purse off the sofa and slung it across her shoulder. "Well, if you’re going somewhere I’d better get out of your way. I should get back to the restaurant anyway.

One partner away without backup is enough. But if I don’t hear from you by tomorrow night I am going to start to worry."

Eve thought she heard resentment in Daphne’s voice, but she couldn’t help that. She just couldn’t talk about this to even her best friend…yet.

You’re right, Eve said, as Daphne breezed through the hallway in her normal fast pace. I’m sorry to leave you with all the responsibility of the restaurant, but if this wasn’t important… Her voice trailed away then she added, I promise to call you tomorrow and let you know where I am and what’s going on. I should know something by then.

Daphne stopped at the doorway, her hand on the open door. Her eyes had softened and she told