True
Chapter Seven
(The next morning...Day Three of the Trip...)
Chloe awoke early, and was still wrapped in Brady's
arms. Her eyes fluttered open and
she yawned quietly. Brady was
still asleep and she used her fingers to stroke his bare arm from shoulder to
wrist. She tried to enjoy this as
much as she could; it was rare for her to be wide-awake and for Brady to look
so vulnerable. Brady's face
looked peaceful as he slept, except for that little space between his eyebrows
that was wrinkled. Usually it
meant he was mad, or tense, but right now Chloe thought it was adorable.
Chloe leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. As she pulled
away, Brady's blue eyes opened and he smiled at her.
Chloe smiled back at him. "Good morning... didn't mean to wake you up."
"You didn't.
I was already awake. I was
just enjoying the moment."
"Mmmm... me too."
Brady leaned back and stretched his arms.
"What time is it?"
"It's early... very early."
"Good... got things to do today... no more
slacking off."
Chloe nodded and sat all the way up.
"So... Can I shower first, or do you want to?"
Brady grinned slyly at her.
"You mean, we can't do it at the same time?"
Chloe dropped her jaw in shock and playfully hit
Brady on the arm. "Brady... You should be ashamed of yourself."
Brady looked at her innocently.
"I know... I was just kidding."
Chloe stood up and rolled her eyes.
"Sure, sure, sure. I
know what dirty thoughts go on in that head of yours."
Chloe grabbed her stuff and went in to the bathroom
and shut the door. Brady sighed
and muttered under his breath. "No,
Chloe... you have no idea."
***
After showers for both and a quick breakfast, Chloe
sat down to make a few phone calls. She
called Belle's hotel room, but she wasn't there. So, she left her a message saying that everything was going
fine and they were both still in one piece. Brady called his father to tell
him that he was having a 'great time in Chicago' and not to worry.
Chloe tried to call home but only got the answering machine, so she
hung up and dialed the number to Craig's office."
"Hello, this is Dr. Wesley."
"Craig? You're
answering your own phone now? Where's
Marcie?""
"Chloe? It's
so good to hear your voice. Marcie
has the flu, so I'm kinda here by myself.
How are you?"
"I'm great, Craig. I... uhhh... can't talk long, because we're getting ready to
go do some sightseeing. I just
wanted to call and check in, but nobody was home."
"Yeah, Nancy's out running errands today.
So, are you having fun?"
Chloe bit her lip, hating that she had to lie to
Craig like this. "Yeah...
It's beautiful here. I'll tell
you all about it later. Tell
Nancy I called, okay?"
"You got it.
Take care of yourself, alright?"
"Of course.
I'll call you guys again later."
"Bye Chloe."
"Bye."
Chloe sighed, hung up the phone and looked over at Brady.
"This sucks... I hate lying to Craig.
This is the worst part."
Brady nodded and took her hand.
"I know... But you have no choice but to lie sometimes."
Chloe sighed again and nodded.
"Yeah, I know... but it still hurts.
Even though I know it's the only way..."
Brady shifted and decided to change the subject.
"So, where do we start with this little adventure we're on
today?"
"Mmm... well.
While you were in the shower, I made a few phone calls.
The center where Nancy had me is closed now."
"Well, that makes sense... Places like that
don't exist in this day and age. I'm
surprised there was one around as late as 1984."
Chloe nodded. "Yeah,
me too. It actually closed the
year after I was born. Anyway,
the center is closed but I called the county records division and they gave me
the name of the woman who ran it up until the end."
Chloe shuffled through the papers on the night table and pulled out the
sheet she was looking for. "Let's
see... here it is. Her name is...
Mary Wexler."
"Wow... you really have turned into a regular ol'
Nancy Drew."
Chloe grinned proudly. "Yeah, well... it was a lot easier than I thought
actually. Maybe our luck has
changed."
"Okay, you have a name.
Now what?"
"Two things.
First, we pray that she hasn't moved out of Boston.
Secondly, we use the greatest tool ever provided to us
Nancy-Drew-types. The phone
book."
Chloe grabbed the white pages out of the drawer and
threw the book on the bed. She
thumbed through the pages until she reached what she was looking for.
"Welllllll... we ARE in luck.
Wexler, Mary. 2311 Tremont. 555-4167."
Brady reached for the phone and handed it to her.
"Go for it... it's now or never."
Chloe sighed nervously and dialed the numbers with
shaky fingers. She took a deep
breath when she heard the first ring, and a woman's voice pick up on the other
end.
"Hello...?"
"Uhm, yes... is this Mary Wexler?"
"I'm sorry, no it's not.
She's not in right now, she's at a doctor's appointment."
"But she does live there, right?"
"Yes... but this is her daughter.
Is there something I can do for you?
Would you like me to leave her a message?"
"Uhm... thank you, but actually I was hoping to
speak to her personally."
"Does she know you?"
"No, but she knows my mother.
Or at least she used to. My
mother once stayed at the center that Mrs. Wexler used to run.
I was born there, and given up for adoption.
I just wanted to ask her a few questions, that's all."
"Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind talking to
you. My mom always likes to hear
about what happened to the girls that she has helped. She should be back soon... why don't you come here in an
about an hour?"
Chloe sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you so much.
You have no idea how much that means to me."
"You're welcome... the address is 2311 Tremont.
Do you know how to get here?"
"Yeah, I think so. I have a map and everything."
"I don't think I caught your name,
miss...?"
"Oh sorry, it's Chloe.
Chloe Lane."
"Okay, Chloe... I'm Anne, by the way.
I'll see you in about an hour then."
"Yes, thank you Anne...Goodbye."
Chloe hung up the phone and smiled brightly at Brady.
"We're in luck. Not
only is she still in Boston, but her daughter told me to come over in an hour
to talk."
Brady smiled and hugged her tightly.
"Great news, Chloe... this is great news."
Chloe held on to him tightly and sighed. "I hope
so..."
***
(About an hour later...)
Chloe and Brady stood at the front door of Mary
Wexler's home, a beautiful Victorian style house with an enormous front porch.
Brady had been holding her hand, but now leaned over and whispered in
her ear. "You must be
nervous, you have sweaty palms."
Chloe cringed and let go of his hand and wiped it on
her jeans. "Sorry about
that... I can't help it though. My
nerves are killing me."
"It's alright, Chloe. But... I think maybe you should ring the doorbell instead of
standing here for another 5 minutes. Unless
Mrs. Wexler is friends with Miss Cleo and her psychic hotline, she probably
doesn't know we're out here."
Chloe laughed and leaned forward to ring the
doorbell. They heard footsteps
approaching the door, and it opened to reveal a petite middle-aged woman with
short dark hair.
"Hi... You must be Chloe.
I'm Anne Wexler-Banks."
Chloe stepped forward and shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Anne. Thank
you so much for inviting me here." Chloe
paused and gestured towards Brady. "This
is my boyfriend Brady Black."
Brady smiled and also shook her hand.
"Pleasure to meet you."
Anne smiled. "You too, young man."
Anne led them in to the entryway and closed the door
behind them. "My mother is
waiting in the living room for you. Follow
me."
Chloe took a deep breath to calm her nerves and
followed Anne into the living room. The
house was beautifully decorated with antiques and beautiful classic artwork.
They stepped into the living room and Chloe saw a tiny, but
healthy-looking, elderly woman sitting on the couch.
She smiled at Chloe and stood to shake her hand.
"Miss Lane, I presume?"
Chloe shook her hand. "Yes ma'am... and this is Brady Black."
Brady extended his hand and shook her hand gently.
"Mrs. Wexler... nice to meet you."
Mary waved him off and sat back down on the couch.
"Please, children... call me Mary.
Mrs. Wexler makes me feel old, and even though I am, I don't want to
feel like it."
Chloe and Brady smiled and nodded in unison.
They sat together on the couch opposite from Mary, as her daughter took
the chair nearest to her mother.
"So... Chloe... why did you want to see me,
dear?"
Chloe shifted in her seat nervously and Brady clasped
her hand as a show of moral support. "Well...
Mrs... I mean, Mary... I know that you used to run a center for unwed mothers.
My own mother came there when she was pregnant with me and I was born
at your center."
"Well, I met hundreds of young girls in my days
there, I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember your mother.
What was her name?"
"Nancy... Nancy Miller.
She was in college when she came to you, I think she was about 20 or
21. It was in 1984."
Mary nodded and smiled gently.
"You're in luck. I'll
never forget Nancy Miller. She
wasn't like most of the girls that came there."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, dear, most of the girls I had there were
troubled teenagers. Girls who had
run away from home, did drugs, had a lot of problems. Nancy Miller was different.
She was a good student, came from a good family, never had any behavior
problems. Really, the last person
you'd expect to end up in her situation."
Chloe nodded sadly. "But she was raped..."
"Well, not exactly. She knew the man already, he was much older than her from
what I remember. Something about
him being a friend of the family, he took advantage of her. Very sad. Her
father wanted her to keep the pregnancy a secret and what better way than to
ship her off to another state."
"Yes, I know... But, that's all I know."
"So, you have talked to your mother then?"
"Yes... I actually live with her now. But, I
don't know anything about my father."
"And that's why you are here?"
Chloe sighed softly. "Yes... She won't tell me
who he is or where I can find him. Now
I have to find him on my own."
"I wish I knew... I would most certainly tell
you, dear. But, I don't really
know much about him."
Chloe looked downward and tried to fight back the
tears. Brady wrapped his arm
around her and she laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. He looked at Mary with a pleading look in his eyes.
"It's not just that, Mrs. Wexler... She wants to know everything
she can about her past. Even if you can't tell her about her father... Please, just
tell her what you can remember."
"Of course... I'll tell her what I know."
Brady smiled and nodded. "Thank you..."
Mary turned to Chloe and spoke to her "Chloe...
Even 17 years later, I still think it's one of the most beautiful names I've
heard. A beautiful name for a
beautiful girl. You know, your
mother and I picked that name out together.
She would talk to me about how someday she wanted to get away and
travel the world, and I told her that she should give you a beautiful exotic
name. She came up with Chloe,
because it made her think of France... The night were you born... My, you were
a difficult labor. You made your
poor mother suffer for nearly 20 hours before you finally introduced yourself
to us."
Brady smiled and kissed the top of her head.
"See... you've always been difficult."
Mary smiled and continued. "And when you finally showed up... it made all 20 hours
of it worthwhile. You were one of
the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.
And I've seen hundreds upon thousands of them.
You had a head full of thick black hair, and the biggest eyes. You
know, most babies don't really open their eyes much at first, but from the
moment you were born until the moment you left here, you kept them wide open
and you looked at everything and everyone with such curiosity.
I remember it so well..."
Chloe lifted her head up and smiled at Mary as the
tears ran down her face. "Mary...
did... did my mother ever love me?"
Chloe felt a sob erupt from her throat.
"Oh Chloe, dear... of course she did.
And, I'm sure she always has too.
Don't doubt that. When you were born she held on to you for 3 days and never
let go. The labor pains felt like
a walk in the park once she could hold you.
She loved you dearly, and I know that she didn't want to give you up,
but her father gave her no choice. If
it had been up to him, you would have never been born... She was crushed when the county child services came to pick
you up, and she had to sign those adoption papers.
She went back home to Newport as soon as you were gone, and said she
would never come back to Boston because she would just have a painful reminder
of what she had to give up. Just
because you weren't conceived of love, does not mean you weren't loved."
Chloe sobbed harder and Brady held her closer to him.
"Oh... that means so much... I've grown up for so long believing
that she never loved me."
Mary nodded in understanding.
"I know, Chloe... Believe me, I've worked with cases like yours
for my entire adult life. You've
obviously been through a lot of pain in your life.
But, you are young and you need to let go of it.
You can't love or be loved if you have all this pain bogging you
down."
Brady looked at Mary and nodded.
"That's partly why she's on this quest."
Chloe straightened up in her seat and wiped the tears
away. "I've been abandoned
so many times and fooled by love, that I don't know what's real and what isn't
most of the time. But this... is
extremely helpful."
"Well, you need closure, and you want the truth.
But be careful with what you find out, dear... sometimes the truth can
set you free, but sometimes... it only makes things worse."
"I know... But, I can't just live my whole life
without trying to find the truth."
"Well, then I wish you luck... I hope it all
works out for you."
Chloe nodded and smiled weakly.
"Thank you... I mean, REALLY thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, I can't even tell you how
much it has meant to me."
"You don't have to, dear.
I'm glad to help... Besides, I always like to hear what is going on
with the children I helped take care of.
Would you please send your mother my best?"
Chloe cringed slightly. "I would... but she doesn't even know I'm here.
It's a long story, but she'd never let me do this with her
knowledge."
Mary stood and the others in the room followed her
lead. She stepped towards Chloe
and clasped her free hand. "Well
then... you *really* need to be careful."
Chloe chuckled softly. "I will be... Thank you again."
She leaned in and gave Mary a hug.
Mary smiled at her.
"You're welcome. Please
keep in touch with me, Chloe. And
if you ever need anything, I'm here for you."
"I will... thank you."
Mary sat back down on her couch as Anne saw Brady and
Chloe to the door. Chloe thanked
her again for letting her stop by and they left through the front door.
As the walked down the steps hand in hand, Brady turned to Chloe and
smiled.
"So... how ya feeling now?"
Chloe paused and sighed. She turned her head up to look at Brady in the eyes.
"Actually... pretty good. It's
either incredibly amazing, or incredibly stupid that I couldn't believe it
when it came from Nancy's mouth... but this... was totally different.
I feel... better."
"And, to think... we've only been gone for 3
days."
"Yup..." Chloe paused and sighed. "And
it's only the beginning."
Chloe squeezed his hand and they walked towards his van.