Buried [Completed]

Chapter twenty-one

Sitting at the computer in the kitchen, Jamie checked her email and found a message from Wade.

"Can't find any trace of your dad. He doesn't have a current Oregon driver's license. Sorry, Jamie. But maybe it's for the best."

Not surprised, but saddened, she turned to Cory and Chester. "Time to hit the shower, kids. We have to meet your dad for lunch in about one hour."

"Me, first," Cory said.

Chester didn't argue. He asked Jamie if he could play his video game while he waited for his turn. "Sure."

When she was alone, she responded to Wade, thanking him for making an effort. After that, she changed into a blue sundress, noticing as she glanced at the mirror that she was getting a good tan. As she smoothed lotion over the rough spots on her elbows and knees, she thought about the man who had supplied her with her olive complexion, last name, half her DNA, and not much else. In the letter he'd sent to her mother, he'd sounded keen to talk to his son. Would he be as happy to meet up with a daughter? One he presumably hadn't known existed? 

He hadn't been spoken of much when she was growing up. Her mother seemed to shrink a little any time the subject of Edward Lachlan was raised. She knew Dougal had been embarrassed for their mom, that she never found a man who seemed to want a long term relationship. But Jamie thought it was the other way around. It was their mother who wasn't interested in falling in love again. She went to the Linger Longer to relax and have fun. But she'd given her heart to Edward Lachlan. And that had never changed. Despite the fact that he'd gone to jail, her dad couldn't have been all bad. Or why would her mom have continued to love him? The fact that she'd saved his letter proved that she had. And the fact that she hadn't thrown it away, even though she knew she was dying, meant she'd wanted Jamie to find it. She hadn't had the strength to tell her daughter about her father when she was alive. But she'd kept the door open to the possibility that Jamie would find him after she was gone. 

"We're ready." Chester was at her bedroom door. 

She forced a smile. "Let's get going, then." 

The Rogue River Golf and Country Club had been built on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The drive was only fifteen miles, but they were all uphill on narrow, winding roads. Jamie gave the road her full attention. It had taken more than a few lives over the years, not just Patricia and Jonathan Hammond's. 

When they arrived she was able to park her convertible next to Kyle's SUV. As they walked toward the clubhouse, she spotted Kyle on the green for the eighteenth hole. His hair seemed even more golden than usual in the afternoon sun, and he looked tall and lean in his powder blue golf shirt and tan slacks. When he'd sunk his ball, she called out to him. He glanced their way, then smiled and headed toward them, calling something back to his buddies. 

"Hey guys. Good timing." 

He put a hand on his son's head, then his daughter's, before giving Jamie a warm kiss. He smelled like sunshine and grass and she wished they were alone because right now she wanted to be with him in the worst way. But then his father approached. 

"Hey kids. Got a hug for your grandpa?" 

The kids practically tackled him, but Jim didn't seem to mind. Soon they were seated on an outdoor terrace. A server appeared within seconds to take their drink orders. Jamie glanced around the table, feeling a little bemused. These people were all her family now. It felt nice, but also surreal. She couldn't help but miss her Mom and wish that Dougal were here, too. They were on dessert, when a group of men in their fifties headed for a table nearby. One of them was Ben Mason, founding partner at the accounting firm where Jamie worked. When he spotted Jamie, he smiled and headed her way.