77 #UglyTruths

In all the times she’d tried to envision her arrival at Jon’s beach house – and there had been a lot – none of them vaguely resembled what just happened.  To be fair, why in the world would she ever imagine herself verbally sparring with Deidre in this driveway?  That was the type of scenario that only took place in an alternate universe or soap opera script, yet here she was, reeling with the discovery that her evil half-sister knew Truman’s real cause of death.

 

Please, dear God in Heaven, let that be all she knows.  It’s bad enough she thinks I’m mentally incapacitated.  All I need is for her to start blabbering about bookies and gambling addictions to the wrong people, and then Jon really will be humiliated. 

 

She was valiantly trying to get a grip on herself without having to take out the anxiety inhaler being clutched inside her dress pocket.  The texture of it under her thumb was mildly comforting.  Maybe she wouldn’t –

 

“Cookie!” 

 

With no idea how long he’d been speaking to her before reverting to that sharp tone, Teddi snapped her head around, fisting the inhaler hard enough to leave imprints in her palm while demurely apologizing.  “I’m sorry.  What was it you were saying?”

 

“I was asking if you’re okay.”

 

Concern etched his discerning eyes, as he sought vainly to read her thoughts through the sunglasses she still wore. 

 

“Yes, of course.”  If she wasn’t, she’d die faking it rather than have an episode on his lawn.  Sheer determination lifted the corners of her mouth and pushed out a tight laugh.  “Just your typical Peabody family reunion.”

 

Jon wasn’t buying it, nor was he amused at her attempt to sell it.  He scowled and grabbed her wrist, pulling Teddi in close enough for her to hear a muttered, “Stop with the damn Dr. Montgomery façade.  I can see your hand in your pocket.”

 

He’d never hugged her around the neck and put a cheek against her temple, although she’d seen photos of him embracing Dorothea that way.  It wasn’t intended to be a soothing embrace, but there was a familiarity to it that brought a different kind of comfort.  He wasn’t doing it for effect but out of frustrated affection, and that in itself was inexplicably soothing. 

 

Enough so that she pulled the offending hand from her pocket and leaned into him while twining both arms around his waist. 

 

“It’s not in my pocket anymore.”

 

His grunt was quietly unimpressed, but he didn’t get the chance to share how much before a feminine voice found them. 

 

“Did I just see Ms. Davenport peel out of the driveway?”

 

There was little doubt as to who posed the question, and Teddi’s heartrate kicked up an anxious notch.  She would’ve jumped out of Jon’s embrace, but his arms held strong while hers fell from his waist to flail somewhat helplessly as he whispered, “Relax.” 

 

When she did her best to obey, those imprisoning arms eased slightly, shifting to maneuver her to his left side so they could both face the daughter who stood on the portico step.  Teddi’s smile was uncomfortably tight as Jon answered, “Yeah, that was her.”

 

“Did she forget something or was she stalking you?”

 

The young woman’s dry censure was enough to alleviate a bit of Teddi’s tension.  “I believe it was stalking gone wrong when she discovered me here.” 

 

“Steph, this is Teddi, who also happens to be Deidre’s…”

 

“Aunt,” Teddi supplied, stepping forward with an extended hand for a more formal greeting.  “Stephanie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

The gesture was accepted somewhat absently, but brilliant blue eyes were sharply assessing.  “You look a lot alike, actually.  That means you’re also related to Jacey, then.”

 

“Jacey?”  Not knowing who that was, she cut a look to Jon for possible translation.

 

“Deidre called her Jacqueline.” 

 

“Oh, I didn’t realize she was using a shortened version of her name.”  She nodded with affirmation.  “In that case, yes.  Jacey’s my grandniece.”

 

“That’s weirdly coincidental.”  Attention laced with suspicion transferred to her father.  “Did you know that while they were here?  Why didn’t you say something?  Dr. Montgomery could’ve come out and joined us last week.”

 

“Your father offered,” Teddi inserted smoothly to save Jon the trouble of concocting an explanation.  “But the timing didn’t work for me.”

 

As it turned out, he didn’t want to be saved.

 

“We don’t do pretty bullshit in my family, Cookie.  We tell the ugly truth.” A heavy palm at her waist propelled her toward the front door.  “Yes, Stephanie, I knew.  I also knew they don’t get along and that, if I told you, you’d ask enough nosy fucking questions to make a crap week even worse.  That’s why I didn’t mention it.”

 

“Why don’t they get along?”  As they passed by, Stephanie redirected the question to Teddi.  “Why don’t you get along?”

 

“And there we have it.  Nosy fucking questions.”  Jon sighed, guiding Teddi into the foyer ahead of him.  “It’s none of your damn business.  Now where’s Jesse?  I need a drink.”

 

STEPHANIE[12:02 PM]: Hey.  Tell me about your aunt Teddi.

JACEY[12:05 PM]:  Teddi?  Do you mean Theodosia? 

STEPHANIE:  You don’t call her Teddi?

JACEY:  I don’t call her much of anything, tbh.

STEPHANIE: Why?

JACEY: She was at the will reading when my grandfather died last month. First time I’d seen her since I was like 14.  Mother despises her. 

STEPHANIE: Why doesn’t your mom like her?

JACEY: I really have no idea.  It’s been that way for as long as I can remember.  Why are you asking about Theodosia?

STEPHANIE: My dad’s dating her.

JACEY: OMG.  My mother is going to be livid when she hears that.  She just rented a house for the rest of the summer specifically to “cultivate a friendship” with him. 

STEPHANIE: Oh, she knows. They were all in the driveway just now.

JACEY: 🤯 Poor Theodosia.

STEPHANIE:  Huh?

JACEY: My mother REALLY wanted to date your dad.  She’s going to make Theodosia’s life hell for getting in the way.

STEPHANIE:  No offense, but he wouldn’t have been interested even if Teddi wasn’t around. Your mom’s a little uptight for Dad. 

JACEY:  Hahahahaha!  Are you kidding me?? Theodosia is the most uptight person in our family. 

STEPHANIE: 🤨

JACEY: But FWIW, she’s always been nice to me.  Fair warning: Mother says Theodosia has some type of birth defect that made her mentally deficient. 

STEPHANIE:  She’s a PhD.  How deficient can she be?  Or are you talking about her agoraphobia? 

JACEY:  She has agoraphobia?  News to me. I never noticed it at the mandatory family appearances.  I assumed the mental thing was something like high functioning autism. 

STEPHANIE: Huh.  Maybe.  Thanks for the info!  I’ll be in the city the next couple days.  Let’s hook up for lunch.

JACEY:  Ok!

 

“Dad, Is Dr. Montgomery autistic?”

 

Jon looked up from his phone with a disgruntled scowl.  “No.  Where the hell did that come from?”

 

“Jacey says she’s mentally deficient.”

 

He’d known in his heart that there was no getting away from the subject, despite his best effort at turning a firehose on Stephanie’s rabid-dog curiosity.  He was going to have to set the record straight about the Peabodys, or she would never quit digging. 

 

Jon flicked a glance up the staircase and listened for any sign of Teddi exiting the hall bathroom, as he didn’t particularly want her wandering into the middle of this conversation.  Maybe it would take her another five minutes to freshen up – if he was lucky. 

 

“Look, Nosy Rosy… Teddi is a very private person.  She doesn’t share her business, but there is a lot of bad blood between her and the rest of that family, none of which is her fault.  If she has any mental issues, it’s because of them, not some mythical ‘deficiency’.”

 

“Does that mean you think they’re responsible for the agoraphobia?”

 

“Absolutely.”

 

“Why?”

 

He’d warned Teddi that they were an ugly truth household, but this particular truth didn’t belong to him.  It was hard knowing how much honesty would appease his daughter’s curiosity while still respecting his girlfriend’s privacy.

 

“They’re not nice people,” he said carefully, opting to keep the word count at a minimum.  “And they haven’t been nice to her.  That’s all I’m gonna say.”

 

“They mentally abused her.”  With that abrupt – and accurate, from his point of view – assumption, the maternal instinct that sought to protect Jon from an unvetted girlfriend now enveloped that girlfriend and her mistreated status.  He could read it in Stephanie’s defiant stance and folded arms as easily as he read the sheet music to “Prayer”.  His daughter had staunch opinions on what was right and what was wrong, and Teddi has fallen cleanly on the side of right. 

 

Jon couldn’t say he was disappointed, but it didn’t change the fact that Teddi’s coveted privacy was still at stake.

 

“She doesn’t think so.”

 

“What do you think?”

 

He thought a lot of things, more than half of which he was tempted to share, but he wouldn’t have the chance with Teddi fast approaching the top of the staircase.  He settled for a curt nod and an obvious shift of eyes that would make Stephanie aware of the room’s added presence. 

 

Her chestnut ponytail swung as both chin and eyes tilted up to find their guest, who cast a discerning glance between father and daughter as she hit the bottom step.  “Have I interrupted something?  I’ll be happy to go explore the yard so as not to intrude.”

 

“Nah,” Jon denied casually, extending a hand that invited her to the sofa beside him.  “Steph was just asking about Deidre.  She’s curious about the family connection.”

 

“Oh?” 

 

That didn’t thrill her, but the infamous Dr. Montgomery Mask of Pleasantry stayed firmly in place.  She even managed a realistic smile when taking a seat two cushions away from him.   It almost irked him enough to scoot close and tuck an arm around her.  He would’ve if Stephanie hadn’t plopped her ass on one of those two vacant cushions and swiveled toward Teddi.

 

“I’m unbelievably curious, actually, but Dad said you value your privacy.  I don’t want to intrude.”

 

“Not at all.  It’s completely understandable that you’d be curious about the woman spending time with your father.  I suppose that includes familial information.  What is it you’d like to know?”

 

God bless her.  Rather than telling his busybody daughter to stick it in her ear, Teddi was once again doing the “proper” thing by subjecting herself to an inquisition – even though it made her nuts enough to start rubbing the texture from her necklace.

 

“She doesn’t wanna know anything,” Jon interrupted, poking Stephanie in the arm to reinforce the assertation.

 

“I want to know lots of things,” his offspring corrected with a glare over one shoulder before turning back to Teddi.  “But I won’t pry much.  Ms. Davenport seemed to leave in a hurry.  Was she mad about you being here or something else?”

 

“Well…”  Not only was she going to rub the pendant smooth, but Teddi would likely end up without a thumbprint before this was over.  “Probably both.  I assume she expected to woo your father in some way when she found me here, and then I confronted her about the necklace she was wearing.  The combination was too much for her.” 

 

“Confronted?”

 

“Yes.  It belonged to my mother and has been missing since 1971.”

 

Jon would’ve interrupted again, but Teddi’s free hand subtly came off the sofa to hold him at bay.  For whatever reason, she felt she had to do this, and who the hell knew?  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for her to endure the discomfort. So, he sat back for the next fifteen minutes and listened to the bare bones of a semi-fictional story he already knew – Esmerelda died, Teddi was adopted, Randolph was her brother, Deidre was his daughter, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Everything that the world-at-large knew, she shared with his daughter.

 

To his shock, however, she didn’t stop there.

 

“However,” she segued, finding his eyes for a hot second and deliberately placing both hands her lap before again focusing on Stephanie.  “That is only the pretty lie, as your dad calls it.  Very few people know the ugly truth, but I’m willing to tell you… if you’re interested.”

 

I’ll be damned.  It’s too soon to meet my kids, but it’s apparently not too soon to show them the family skeletons.  Is this bravery or that mental deficiency I keep hearing so much about? 

 

He hoped it was faith.