The Happiest Day Read online

  “Well, Madame Editor, another late night?”

  She smiled before even looking up. Peter. “I could say the same about you.” She sat back and looked at him. “How did court go today?”

  He shrugged, entering her office. “Nothing fascinating, just seating a jury.” He leaned his arms on her desk and gazed down at her. “How is it possible that you grow more beautiful every day?”

  “You are a flatterer, sir,” she responded, but felt a warm flush sweep her body. It had been so long since they had been together intimately and every day grew more difficult.

  “No, just truthful.” He reached over the desk and brushed an errant lock of hair off of her forehead. “Come home with me.”

  “Home?”

  “My apartment, I mean. Two years ago, I had the chance to make love to you there and I turned it down. I’d like to make that up to you.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to think of Norris. He still remained in his room, either sleeping or staring out of the window. He was often unresponsive and always hopeless, and in some ways no longer alive. He needed her. She made sure that he ate and bathed and she visited him every day. If she didn’t see him tonight, would he notice?

  “There you go, thinking again,” he teased. “How come every time I proposition you, the wheels of your brain go into overdrive?”

  She opened her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m not very good at just letting go.”

  “I noticed.” He leaned closer. “I love you and I need to be with you. Please, Rachel, I will beg if I have to but please come back to my apartment with me tonight.”

  She gave in. She called her driver and let him know that she would not need him that night. Laurie worked until well after midnight in the printing department and would not even know that she wasn’t home. She and Peter walked the four blocks to his downtown apartment and fell into each other’s arms. It had been since the night before Geoff’s death that they had been together and they were ravenous for the feel of each other. He took her against the door the first time and on the couch the second time. He scooped her into his arms and took her to his bed, remembering the night he had done that and left her alone. Tonight, he would not leave her.

  Around two in the morning, finally satiated, Peter pulled her into his arms, her back to his chest. “Sleep,” he said tiredly. “I’ll wake you up around six and I’ll get you home to clean up and change.”

  She nodded against his chest. As she drifted off, she felt the oozing stickiness against her upper thighs and thought belatedly that they had not used anything to prevent pregnancy. Next time, she promised herself, she would not let herself get carried away before insisting that they use protection. They could not afford to make a mistake, not at this point. There was too much to lose.

  He woke her up as promised and drove her home with the sun slowly making its appearance in the eastern sky. “Will Blanche care that you weren’t home?”

  He nodded. “No, I often spend the night at the apartment. She won’t care. What about Norris?”

  “I visit him every night but I don’t know if he cares or even notices.”

  Peter looked at her sympathetically. “This isn’t much of a marriage for you. How long can you keep this up?”

  “As long as I need to. He’s my husband.”

  “What does Dr. Miller say?”

  “He says that he’s losing weight and losing touch with the real world. He thinks he should be committed and receive professional care.”

  “What do you say?”

  “I won’t do it, unless I begin to worry that he’s going to harm himself.”

  “Norris knew what he was doing when he married you, didn’t he? Loyalty to the end.”

  Rachel sensed a touch of bitterness in Peter’s voice. “Would you expect any less from me?” she asked gently.

  His tight shoulders relaxed and he said resignedly, “No. I just wish that he wouldn’t have put you in this position.”

  “It was necessary at the time,” she said, referring to the damage to her reputation caused by her lies on the stand.

  “Not if you had come to me and let me protect you.”

  “Peter, let’s not do this. Not now.”

  He pulled up to the house and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to argue with you.”

  “You love to argue. You do it for a living.”

  “I don’t love to argue with you,” he disagreed. “I just worry about you stretching yourself too thin. Listen, don’t go into work today.”

  “I have to.”

  “You don’t have to. Go upstairs and get some sleep, then work from home. Norris used to do it, you can, too. I’ll swing by the office on my way back into town and let them know that you’re can be reached here.”

  She was tired. It was tempting to think of sleeping in for the first time in months. “I guess I could as long as I don’t make a habit of it.”

  “I’m sure you won’t,” Peter chuckled. “Just this once, Rachel.”

  “All right.” She kissed him. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

  “In more ways than one,” he retorted with ribald humor. “And it is my pleasure. Anytime, ma’am.”

  They said their good-byes and she climbed the staircase tiredly. She slept until noon then got up and checked on Norris, who barely nodded at her from his perch at the window.

  “I’m going to work at home today, Norris. Call if you need anything.”

  She waited for a response but got none. She found Laurie eating lunch and he looked up in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m going to work from home today. I’m tired.”

  “You deserve it. I’ve got to head in, though, unless we move the printing press here.” He kissed her swiftly and headed out. “Get some rest,” he called over his shoulder.

  She ate a little then retired to Norris’ study. She rarely spent time in here and didn’t necessarily feel comfortable working at his desk. She worked for hours until the phone jangled.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Rachel, it’s Jerry. I was hoping you could do me a favor.”

  “If I can.”

  “Norris has an address book. It’s small and black with gold lettering. It has the number of one of our associates in Cincinnati that I need. I checked his desk here but I didn’t see it. By any chance, do you have it there?”

  “Uh…I don’t remember seeing it, but I’ve never really looked through his desk here. Hold on…” She pulled open the drawer on the left. “No…these are just supplies…writing paper and envelopes. Let me check the other drawers.” She opened the right drawer and rummaged. “No….” Her fingers hit a solid wood box and pulled it out. “I found a small box, let me see…”

  “Hey, by the way, I heard back from that Bressler fellow.”

  “Who?” she asked, trying to open the box but it stuck slightly.

  “Bressler. That photojournalist you had me contact. He’s not interested.”

  “Oh, that doesn’t surprise me. Oh well, we tried.” She finally was able to lift the lid of the box.

  Her mother’s locket was nestled in a velvet lining.

  “Jerry, can I keep looking and call you back?” She was amazed at how calm her voice sounded.

  “Sure, Rach. Take your time.” He disconnected.

  Rachel held the locket in her fingers, watching it twirl slowly. Her thoughts were in turmoil. Why did Norris have her mother’s locket in his desk drawer? She closed her eyes and tried to remember that last night. They had dinner together as a family and she remembered that her mother seemed subdued. When Julia had come to kiss her good-night, Rachel remembered the locket swinging from her neck, the cool gold brushing against Rachel’s cheek.

  “Love you, Mama,” she said, inhaling the soft powdery scent of Julia.

  “I love you too, my dear. Sleep tight.” The smile on her lips did not quite reach her eyes.

  “Is something wrong? You look sad.”

  Julia
pulled back in surprise at the astuteness of her eight-year-old daughter. “I…no, everything is fine. Don’t worry about me, Rachel, I’m just tired.”

  Rachel remembered that she slept until she heard her mother’s screams in the middle of the night. She had crept into the hallway and heard the scuffle, her father’s angry voice, two loud pops, and then silence. A deep fear had overcome her and she had run into Laurie’s room and half-dragged him to cupboard at the end of the hallway. They had huddled there until Norris had opened the door.

  Norris.

  Rachel climbed the stairs, clutching the locket in her hand. She wasn’t even sure what she was going to ask him but she knew that there were secrets that needed to be uncovered today. The first time Norris had called her “Julia” while making love to her, she had known that there were things she had never understood. The day she looked at Geoff and Laurie standing together on the train platform, turning to wave at her and realizing with a shock that they looked enough alike to be brothers, alarm bells had gone off in her mind. Now, though, the locket hidden away bothered her more than she thought anything could.

  She opened Norris’ bedroom door and searched the darkened room for her husband. He sat in the corner, in a wingback chair, head bowed and forearms resting on his thighs.

  “Norris?”

  “Mm?” he responded, not lifting his head. She was surprised that he answered but maybe he sensed the seriousness in her tone.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Maybe later,” he said wearily. “I’m so tired.”

  She came in and closed the door behind her. “May I turn on a light?”

  “No!” he snapped. “No lights. If you do, I’ll see him.”

  “You’ll see who?”

  “Geoffrey.”

  A chill swept her body. “Geoff is dead, Norris.”

  “He won’t leave me alone. He’s here.”

  “Norris, you’re exhausted. You’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

  “He’s here. He knows what I did and he won’t leave me alone until I pay for it.”

  “What is it that you think you’ve done?”

  Norris looked up at her finally. “Leave me alone, Rachel,” he pleaded.

  “What happened to my parents’ belongings after they died?”

  He hadn’t been expecting a question about Thomas and Julia Warner. “I sold everything. You’re father had debts and I wanted to set aside money for you and your brother in the event something happened to me.” His voice was hoarse from disuse.

  “How did you know they were dead?”

  “Your mother called me. She told me that someone had broken into the house and she needed my help.”

  “Were there ever any suspects? Was anything taken?”

  “No.”

  Rachel lifted her hand and let the locket dangle in front of his eyes. “Why do you have my mother’s locket?” She saw his Adam’s apple bob and knew then that he was trying to think of a lie. “Don’t lie to me, Norris! After all of this, I deserve the truth! I know that you were in love with my mother; I figured that out every time you were inside me but calling her name. I know that Laurie is really your son. I figured that out when I saw he and Geoff standing together and I realized that they looked like brothers. You lied to me about so much but don’t lie about this. Not here, not now. Why do you have my mother’s locket? Did you kill her, Norris?”

  He shot up from the chair, ripping the locket from her hand. “Kill her? No! I loved her!” he sobbed, clutching the locket to his chest. “God, I loved that woman with all my heart, and she loved me. After Laurie was born, I begged her to leave your father but she wouldn’t do it. She said she loved him too and couldn’t hurt him like that. She was pulling away from me and it hurt so badly.”

  “Did my father know?”

  “No. He was so stupid! All you had to do was look at Laurie and see that he belonged to me.”

  “What happened that last night?”

  Norris stumbled over to the bed and sat down on the edge. “I had come to see your mother that day and told her that I couldn’t live this lie any longer. I wanted to be with her, I wanted to raise my son. She told me to leave, that it was over. She told me that it had all been a mistake and she didn’t want me coming back at all. Ever.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I hired someone to kill your father.”

  Seeing the locket, Rachel had known deep in her heart that Norris was involved in her parents’ deaths but hearing the words was like a blow to her body. She reached out blindly for something to support herself and leaned against Norris’ massive oak wardrobe. “My mother, too?”

  “No. Just Thomas. I thought that your mother would turn to me and we could be a family. The man I hired, though, ran into trouble. He watched the house until he thought Julia had gone to bed but while he was overtaking Thomas, she came into the room. She tried to fight him and he…he killed her, too. He called me and told me what he had done. I drove to your home. You know the rest.”

  “What happened to the man who killed my parents?”

  “I killed him,” Norris stated flatly. He raised his eyes to look at Rachel. “It was Frederick Stern.”

  “Frederick Stern?” she asked, her voice breaking. “You allowed me to become engaged to the man who murdered my parents?” She remembered the times that she had let Stern touch her and bile rose in her throat.

  “I would have never let the marriage happen, I swear. I just needed time to figure it all out. In the end, I took care of him for you, didn’t I?”

  “You sick bastard,” she spat out. “Took care of him for me? How could you ever have let him near me, knowing what he had done to my world?”

  “But I rescued you,” he said in response, looking bewildered. “Look what I gave you and your brother. I gave you everything.”

  Rachel sank down to the floor, still leaning against the wardrobe. She felt weak and drained of life. “Is there anything else you need to tell me, Norris? Are there any other secrets?”

  There was a long silence, and then he said, “Geoffrey. It wasn’t an accident.”

  Rachel felt tears falling silently down her cheeks. She felt no shock; maybe she had known all along. “Why?”

  “He found my journal.”

  “What journal?”

  “I’ve always kept a journal. I don’t know why.”

  “Do you journal everything or just your crimes?” she asked, hatred spewing from her mouth like black lava. “You’re so god-damned religious, maybe it was your own personal confessional.”

  He wasn’t offended. “Maybe it was. I kept it locked in my wall safe, so he went looking for it the first morning we were back from South Carolina. He told me that he had always suspected me in the death of his mother. I don’t know why…why couldn’t he have just accepted it?” Norris began sobbing again. “I took him skeet shooting. I told him that he had to let this go; if it came out, the family would be ruined.” Norris looked up, a disorientated look on his face. “I told him that I had been found innocent and I wouldn’t be tried again. It wouldn’t do any good to reveal our secrets—all that would happen would be destroying the newspaper. We would lose everything, and for what? Helen was such an evil person. Why couldn’t he just let it go?”

  “Because he was such a good person.” Rachel stood slowly, her body aching. “Geoff would have never been able to live with such a lie. That’s why you think you’re being haunted by him, Norris. You know that you killed him simply for being a good person.” She stood there, leaning against the wardrobe, her joints hurting her. She suddenly felt unbearable old and battered. She began to leave the room but Norris halted her with his words.

  “What are you going to do with this information?”

  “Nothing. I’m leaving you, but I don’t think you really care about that, do you? All I ever was to you was a poor replacement for my mother.”

  “I am sorry, Rachel. Things just got so out of control.” He dropped h
is head in his hands again. “All I ever wanted was your mother and you children. We could be a family and everything would be as it should. You were my children, not Thomas’! You belonged to me.”

  She felt an icy chill wash over as she tried to make sense of his words. “Why did you say it like that?”

  “What?” he moaned, squeezing his head.

  “Why did you say that we were your children?” A trembling started low in her stomach and she thought again she might be ill. “Norris, look at me.”

  He lifted his head and she saw the guilt.

  “Oh please, no…” She lifted her shaking hands up to her face. “Please tell me that it isn’t so.”

  “I only ever wanted to protect you,” he said, tears rolling down his haggard cheeks.

  “Am I your daughter?” she asked, hating that she needed to know.

  He was quiet for so long, she thought he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he said, “It’s possible.”

  She heard herself scream agonizingly and Norris flinched. She ran for the door, barely able to turn the knob to open it. Light streamed in and Norris covered his face. She turned back one last time and said in a hoarse, broken voice, “You are a monster, do you know that? Only an evil person could do what you’ve done. I can’t bear to be in the same house as you. I’ll pack my things and be gone by this evening. Laurie will go with me. Don’t ever try to see us again.” She inhaled, trying to calm her racing pulse. “I hope you burn in hell.”

  She spent the afternoon packing her belongings in her trunk. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going. She knew she could call Peter or Maryanne but she thought that she might just check into one of the downtown hotels. She needed to get to Laurie before he came home. She felt so lost and shattered. To think that she had been living in such a web of lies for so many years sickened her. The fact that Norris might even be her father, and that he had known of that possibility when he married and bedded her, was so repulsive that she couldn’t even think of it yet. She pushed it to the farthest recesses of her mind, not sure she would ever be able to examine it. She opened her jewelry box and began picking through those pieces which she thought could bring her money. She wasn’t sure how she would support herself so she needed to secure her future for at least the short term. The jewelry meant nothing to her beyond a means to survival. There was nothing she could take from this house which held any meaning for her.