Legacy Discovered

Ryan put down the dish he was drying, opened the oven door, and pulled out a plate with Salisbury steak, lima beans, and mashed potatoes. He placed the plate and utensils on the kitchen table. Then he added her vase with a fresh rose to the setting and walked over to Ali to give her a welcoming kiss. “Okay, I give up,” she spoke as they parted. “How did you get them to focus on homework?” Ryan released her and walked over to the bread box. He opened it and pulled out the TV remote. He held it out to her. “The game controller is hidden in my office,” he told her. “Very clever,” she told him as she took the remote from him. “I’ll have a root beer with my dinner.” Ryan grabbed a can from the refrigerator and poured its contents into a glass with ice cubes. He placed the glass next to the dinner plate. “Is there anything else I can bring you?” he asked with a towel over his left arm. Ali sat down at the table and cut a piece of meat. She chewed it slowly and swallowed it. “Excellent,” she said, smiling up at Ryan. “Give my regards to the chef, as always.” Ali went back to her meal, while Ryan reached for another dish to dry. The doorbell rang. “Now who could that be?” Ryan wondered aloud. In the living room, Sue and Charley both looked up at the sound of the doorbell, but Charley was faster in putting his workbook aside and heading for the door. Sue found a bookmark and placed her book on the end table before getting up and following Charley to the door. Charley opened the door wide, letting in a blast of cold air. He looked up at the broad-shouldered man with salt-and-pepper hair who was filling the doorway. The deep brown eyes and solid nose looked very familiar to both Charley and Sue. Behind this man, a shorter man with softer features looked overdressed in his suit and tie. “Is your father in?” the taller man asked as he pushed himself into the house. The other man followed closely behind. “Dad!” Sue’s voice rose through the house in confused fear. Ryan came out of the kitchen with the towel over his shoulder. Ali followed closely behind him. “Who is it, Sue?” Ryan’s voice began to trail off as he looked up. Charles Barnett’s eyes widened in shock as he perceived the older visage of a son thought dead sixteen years ago. Sue wrapped her arms around Charley as they witnessed a look of horror and anger well up in their father’s face. Stuart Keyes felt the resoluteness and power within his friend drain away. Ali grabbed her husband’s arm to provide support as she saw his face whiten. The cold night air seemed to freeze everybody into an interminable tableau. “Junior?” The incredulous question struggled to leave Barnett’s mouth. “Charles,” Keyes uttered, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. It was hard to tell whether he was trying to comfort his client or acknowledge the revelation facing him. Either way, Ali picked up on the truth at that moment and brought her hand up to cover her gaping mouth as she started to pull away from her husband. “What are you doing here?” Her husband’s voice trembled with a hint of anger. “You’re not supposed to be here. You can’t be here.” “You—you’re alive!” Barnett attempted to regain some sense of composure, but he was floundering. Ali watched as her husband exploded. “You are not welcome here! Out!” “But how…?” Barnett tried again. “No! Out!” The demands seemed more desperate. Ali released her husband’s arm and took a step away from him. He turned to her and saw the shock of revelation on her face. A tremble of shame spread through his face. Tears began to form within the eyes, and he turned away from her. With one quick motion, he pulled the dishtowel off his shoulder and threw it across the dining room table. He rushed past Barnett and his children, heading down the hall for his office. The reverberation from the door being slammed rippled through the house. Ali strode quickly over to her children and gave them a quick hug. “Please go back to your homework,” she told them softly. Sue and Charley headed hesitantly back to the living room, looking back at the strangers still inside their house. Ali rose up to face Barnett. She looked at his eyes and nose, seeing the resemblance in greater detail. “Can you tell me…?” he tried to ask her, but she held up a single finger to stop him. She reached behind him and Keyes to pull the front door closed. She noticed the town car at the end of the driveway with the driver huddled inside, reading a book, and felt sorry for him as she closed the door. She turned her back to the door and faced her visitors again. “Charles Barnett, right?” she asked. Barnett nodded dejectedly. With a wave of her arm, she directed him and Keyes to the living room. “I have to talk to my husband,” she told him with forced determination. Barnett walked into the living room and collapsed in the easy chair on top of Ali’s coat. Keyes meekly sat on the opposite end of the sofa from Charley, who was finding his math homework hard to concentrate on. Ali took a deep breath and started down the hall. She stopped at the office door, wiped the traces of tears from her eyes, and opened the door. He sat in the armchair next to his desk, leaning forward with his hands clinched in front of him. He looked up at her with a face drained of any sign of fight. She closed the door behind her, stepped forward, and crossed her arms in front of her. “Who the hell are you?” she demanded.