“Well, that’s understandable, considering the charges and allegations that have been brought against her.”
“Dinner is—”
“Curtis, I’m sorry…” Walt turned slowly towards a man donning a chef wardrobe. “We’re in the middle of something. We need just a few more minutes.”
“Of course, of course…” The chef did a half bow and retreated back into what she presumed was the kitchen.
“Please. Go on, Kim.”
“Okay. So, when this all blew up, it made me start questioning everything.” she looked towards the fire then back at Walt. “I know that eventually I have to speak to her. I have to deal with this.” He and Linda nodded in agreement. “I just no longer believe I even know who Angelique is.”
“Yes…” he whispered, then in a louder tone added, “What made you want to reach out to me on social media?”
“I knew, from what she told me about you, that you lived here. I hoped you still did. I tried to recall your last name that she gave me. I only knew your first name was Walt, and then I decided to go online and look at some of my mother’s friends from high school… see if I could find a Walt. My mother doesn’t have a social media presence, but I figured some of her friends did. I was right. After looking up several of the ones she was still in communication with online, I found two Walts in their friends list. One of them lives in Nashville now, the other here in Anchorage, Alaska.”
“That’s good amateur detective work, and it’s interesting that you remembered my first name.”
“I associated it with Disney World. Walt Disney.” She felt silly saying such a thing, but it was too late to reel it back in. “That’s what I thought of when she initially told me the story of you and her when I was a child.”
He and Linda had a good chuckle at that.
“Once I saw your last name of Cottage, I knew it was you.”
“Kim, like I told you online, I was happy to hear from you. I knew that Angelique and Matt had adopted a child, and other milestones in their lives because often those things were shared by mutual friends in passing.” She nodded in understanding. “What do you hope to get out of speaking to me?”
She looked at him for a spell, then at Linda. And finally, down at her writhing hands.
“I’ve been dealing with this… all of this, the death of my father, the accusations of my biological mother against my parents, and the realization that Angelique isn’t who I thought she was, and it’s been overwhelming.” She sucked in air and blew it out, determined to keep some semblance of her thoughts in an orderly fashion. “With the help of a good friend and my boyfriend, I was encouraged to speak to you. My plan is to speak to my mother soon, and I just want to understand her better before I do. I know you and her have history, and she was deeply affected by your departure from her life, but I recognize that many years have passed. People change, she may not be the same Angelique you knew, but I believe our core personality pretty much remains intact. I believe in some cases even, we show who we really are when we’re in love. And, I knew that she loved you at one point in time.”
“Kim, I have kept up with your parents on and off for years. I actually knew Matthew before I knew your mother. He and I went to school together. The Collegiate School for boys.”
“I had no idea. Were you born and raised in New York?”
“No.” He brandished a smile. “I was born here in Anchorage. My parents divorced when I and my siblings were young. My father moved to New York for a job after the split, and he took me and my brother, Gerald, with him. That’s how I ended up there.” Kim nodded in understanding. “I would always come back to Alaska for the summers, as well as some of the holidays. I met your mother while we were in high school.”
“Yes, she told me you were high school sweethearts.”
“Kim, your mother was the love of my life, until God blessed me with Linda.” She shot a glance to Linda who was still smiling the exact same way and seemed completely comfortable with the topic at hand, despite how Walt’s eyes filled with nothing short of romantic nostalgia as he spoke of her mother. “Angelique was a brilliant woman. She was innovative. Clever. Outspoken. Generous. She was headstrong, too. Sometimes to her own detriment.”
“Why didn’t you work out as a couple, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Walt’s face drew grim. He took another taste of his tea and set it back down on the coaster.