Love Letters

  She put on her robe, tied her hair back and rushed downstairs to open the door.

  “Good morning, Chloe. I have a client who wants to look at your home,” Barbara said as she stood in the doorway. “This is Mrs. Feinstein.”

  Chloe rubbed her eyes and sighed. “Barbara, I’m only going to repeat this one more time. I have asked that you call me directly and not my fian—”

  “Correction, Chloe, I did not call Richard. It was Richard who called me. He said this was the best time to bring my client,” Barbara interrupted.

  Chloe raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Richard told you that?”

  “As a matter of fact he did.” Barbara folded her arms.

  “Do you know what time it is? The house is off-limits to buyers or agents today,” Chloe said, closing the door.

  Barbara knocked again and shouted through the closed door. “Chloe, my client is very interested in buying your house!”

  Angry and frustrated, Chloe ignored Barbara and sat on the couch to watch TV. Greta continued to bark loudly.

  Chloe overheard Mrs. Feinstein asking, “Are you sure she wants to sell her house?” After a few minutes, they finally left.

  Chloe shook her head as she dialed Richard’s number. Richard, I’m going to get you for this!

  “Baby, do you know what time it is?”

  “Why did you tell Barbara that it was okay for her to bring her client at this unholy hour?”

  “Oh.”

  She was shaking with rage. “Is that all you can say? Oh! You better have a better explanation than just, Oh!”

  “I’m sorry, but she said that her client was really interested in buying your house at a much higher price than you were asking. The wedding is in two months and, well … I just thought this would be good for us,” Richard said, his voice sleepy.

  “You know, Richard –” Chloe paused trying to lower her voice. “I’ve decided that I’m not selling the house. I mean my dad gave—”

  “Are you joking? Don’t tell me you’re changing your mind? Do you know how much your house is worth? Mrs. Feinstein was willing to pay eight hundred thousand, which is two hundred thousand, more than what it’s worth. Can you imagine how much money we’ll have?” Richard interrupted.

  “Is that what this is about? Money?” Chloe raised her voice. “First of all, I never intended to sell this house, nor leave Half Moon Bay. This whole thing has been your idea from the start. I also need to discuss this with my mom.”

  “Baby, you’re not making any sense. I thought we both agreed that we’d sell the house and live at my place in the city. Why do you need to ask your mom?”

  Frustrated, she closed her eyes, only opening them once she’d gained control of her emotions. “Richard, we really need to sit down and talk. You’ve been very busy and it’s important that we discuss this.”

  Richard didn’t say a word.

  “Look, you’re a loan agent and you hardly ever meet your clients in the office. I don’t see why we have to live in the city.”

  Richard lowered his voice. “Baby, Half Moon Bay is a sleepy town. I need to work and live in the city to be mentally stimulated. It’s all about networking and most of my clients are in San Francisco. This is where the money is.”

  “It’s all about what you want. Have you ever considered what I want?” Chloe had had enough. “I don’t want to move to the city. I’m not going to give up my job, nor give Greta away, and for the last time, I’m not selling this house!”

  “Baby, you need to calm down. You’re just upset because Barbara woke you up too early. I promise I will consult with you before sending any more clients there. This is the last time it will happen; you can trust me. Now, go back to sleep and I’ll see you tonight for dinner with your mom.”

  “You don’t get it do you?” Chloe banged the phone down.

  Her body was shaking. She had never yelled at Richard that way before. The truth was that she was fed up with all his demands. Why did he have to control her so much?

  She went outside to pick up the San Francisco Chronicle, which was on her doorstep, and brought it to the kitchen. She prepared a cup of coffee and bagel with cream cheese. The headlines showed heavy foreclosures around California. She brushed through the pages and read about more people losing their jobs in the car industry. What’s happening to our economy?

  She wondered if Richard was scared that her house wouldn’t be worth much if she waited to sell it. She sensed that there might be something bothering him that he wasn’t telling her. She turned the pages of the newspaper until she saw a cover story about a couple with a photo of their wedding. A woman named Agatha had recently reunited with her first love, Ernest, after more than forty years. Ernest had been in the military and stationed in Vietnam in 1966. He promised Agatha that he would marry her when he returned, but Agatha’s parents didn’t approve of their relationship. Agatha moved from Florida to New Mexico and Ernest’s letters went unanswered. Three years later, Agatha married a man named William and they had two children, but she had never forgotten Ernest.

  After William died, Agatha felt compelled to search for Ernest and her son suggested they look for him on Facebook. That’s where she found Ernest again, who had never stopped loving her. It was hope that led them back together.

  Wow, what a story! Facebook. “Hmm!” Chloe set the newspaper down. She was convinced that if Agatha and Ernest could reunite after forty years, so could her mom and Ignacio. It was never too late. The power of technology.

  She ran upstairs to get her laptop and opened the Facebook site. She created an account for Suzanne Rogers and looked at the applications she would need to add. She filled out her profile, providing her date of birth and school information. She didn’t fill out everything. She went to the attic and picked up one of the recent albums where she found a photo of her mom taken four years ago. She was wearing a navy blue blazer over a white blouse. Chloe looked like her mother except her mother had short hair. They both had beautiful eyes and radiant skin, according to their father.

  After putting away the album she went back to her room to scan the photo of her mom. She cropped it to fit in her Facebook profile. There you go. Now I need to look for Ignacio Rodriguez. After doing a search for Ignacio Rodriguez, she found at least five hundred of them. She bit her lip. This wasn’t going to be easy. She tried narrowing the search by adding Peru after his name and she found four people with that name.

  Chloe’s heart was pounding as she looked at the profile pictures of each of them. Two of them looked much younger than her mom. One had no profile picture but he was the right age, while the other one looked old enough to be Chloe’s father. “Bingo!”

  Chloe sent a friend request to the two older Ignacios and wrote a simple message saying, “I think we met before.” Then she sent a friend request to both of the younger Ignacios with a different message asking if their father’s name was also Ignacio. That should work. Next she opened her drawer and took out Ignacio’s photo from the envelope. Looking at her watch, she saw she had time to swing by Walgreens to have them restore the photo.

  She took a long shower and put on olive green Capri pants and a black tee. Spring was in the air and the weather was warm and balmy. She was meeting Suzanne for lunch at the Miramar Beach restaurant which was famous for their steaks and seafood. No doubt her mother was still battling jet lag after her return from South America. Chloe wasn’t sure how her meeting with her mother would go after more than two years of not seeing her. Richard would be joining them for dinner to meet her mom for the first time.

  After walking Greta down the street, Chloe hopped in her car and drove to Walgreens. There was one lady ahead of her in the Kodak shop inside Walgreens. When it was Chloe’s turn, the customer service representative said they would be able to restore Ignacio’s photo and she could pick it up in an hour. Chloe thanked the lady and then got back in her Jetta. There was a light breeze but overall the weather was perfect – not too hot, not too cold, and the wind
hadn’t picked up yet.

  Upon parking her car outside the Miramar restaurant, she saw that she had fifteen minutes before their scheduled lunch. She turned off her engine and opened her window. Her thoughts drifted to Josh. She had to admit that she missed him. Oh well, maybe he’s given up hope since I’m marrying Richard.

  She pushed her thoughts aside as she got out of the car and walked to the restaurant lobby. She informed the receptionist that she had made reservations for two at twelve noon.

  “Under what name is your reservation?”

  “Chloe Rogers.”

  “Your mom is already here,” the receptionist said.

  She escorted Chloe to a table overlooking the ocean. “How do you know she’s my mother?”

  The receptionist grinned. “You look exactly like her.”

  Chloe cracked her knuckles. What am I going to say to her?

  Suzanne was wearing a matching black blazer over a white blouse and a skirt. She had a black-and-white scarf that matched her Chanel bag.

  Suzanne was smiling. “Chloe, dear, it’s nice that you came on time.”

  Chloe gave Suzanne a tight embrace. “Hi, Mom.”

  Her eyes were watery as she looked at her mother.

  “Oh darling, you look a little pale, do you have lipstick on?”

  Chloe laughed. Her mother obviously hadn’t changed much, despite the passage of time. It was ironic that she had hoped for acceptance from Richard’s family only to discover that his mother was precisely like her own – judgmental.

  The waiter came to take their orders. Suzanne took a long time examining the menu even though she had eaten here countless times in the past. Chloe ordered the Miramar Benedict, while Suzanne finally chose a Miramar Omelet.

  “What is it that you’ve been meaning to ask me?” Suzanne said, putting butter on her bread.

  Chloe’s stomach growled. “You sure you want to know now, before you’ve had anything to eat?”

  “Who says we can’t talk and eat at the same time? I didn’t drive all the way here just to eat.”

  “I meant we can talk about other things first, if you like. Here’s a photo of my fiancé, Richard, who’s meeting us for dinner tonight. What do you think of him?” Chloe handed her the photograph.

  Suzanne put on her glasses and examined it. “I’m sure he’ll give me good looking grandkids.”

  Chloe shook her head. “Is that the only thing you can say?”

  “I meant that he’s handsome and you do want cute kids, don’t you?”

  Chloe smiled. This was vintage Mom.

  “You mentioned Richie works for a bank?”

  “It’s Richard, Mom, and he’s a loan agent.”

  “Oh, you mean a loan shark.”

  “Definitely not one of those!”

  “Chloe, how can you be so gullible? They’re all the same. They want you to buy houses you can’t afford, and convince you that you’re making a good deal.”

  “Not Richard. He works very hard and he’s full of integrity,” Chloe said, while eating her bread.

  The waiter brought their drinks. Chloe took a big gulp of her soda to give her an energy boost.

  Suzanne held Chloe’s hand. “Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt then. I hope you understand that I only want what’s best for you.”

  Chloe took three large bites of her Miramar Benedict. “I know, Mom.”

  Suzanne watched her eat and shook her head. “A lady never eats like that.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. It’s just that I’m really hungry. I hardly finished my bagel this morning, and I’m still upset about that agent showing up so early.”

  “What agent?” Suzanne asked while slicing her omelet.

  “Richard wants me to sell the house,” Chloe said softly.

  “What?” Suzanne cried, dropping her fork with a clatter.

  “You heard what I said. Richard wants us to live in the city where he works.”

  “How could you even think of selling that house? Do you know how hard your father worked to make sure that house was paid in full?” Suzanne cried. “Even before you were born, your father and I agreed to give you the house when we were retired so you wouldn’t have to worry about mortgage payments. We were lucky to get a good deal and bought it when prices were low. How could you consider selling it?”

  Chloe’s throat tightened. Her dad had worked long hours to be able to pay the mortgage in full. He always told her that he didn’t want her struggling to pay mortgage bills. He made sure that she and her mother were comfortable. Chloe wiped her mouth with her napkin. She knew that her dad had made the right choice, since properties now cost a fortune in Half Moon Bay.

  “Richard said the house is too big for us and he needs to be in San Francisco for his work.”

  “What?” Suzanne shook her head. “That makes no sense. What about your job?”

  Chloe realized this was the third time she’d had this conversation. One with Nicole, another one with Josh, and now with her mom. “He said I don’t have to work.”

  “Chloe! What are you going to do? I can’t believe you’re going to give up everything for this Richie. I’m starting to dislike this man.” Suzanne raised her voice.

  Chloe was trembling again. Why had she told her mom so much, and why had she brought this up before discussing Ignacio? Now it would be more difficult to broach the subject, but what could she do? She was still fresh from her yelling match with Richard. Yet she knew she had to come clean with her mom about her plans. “Mom, I know it’s hard for you to accept but marriage is about sacrifice.”

  Suzanne shook her head. “This is not who you are, Chloe.”

  “How can you say that when I haven’t seen you in more than two years?” Chloe said, wiping her mouth. She felt trapped, yet she also didn’t want to give her mother a bad impression about Richard, whom she was going to meet later that evening. From her mother’s sour expression, Chloe could see it was too late. Her mom had already made up her mind about Richard.

  “You’re my daughter, Chloe. How could I not know you?”

  “Maybe I’ve changed.” Although she knew her mother wouldn’t buy that, she also knew everything was going in circles and this had all started when Josh arrived.

  As their voices escalated, people began staring at their table. Suzanne didn’t say another word. Chloe decided she’d ask her mom about Ignacio later, feeling that she might react defensively given the current circumstances.

  Deciding it was time to change the subject, Chloe said, “What’s keeping you busy these days? Have you watched the Broadway play Wicked?”

  “I saw that last year,” Suzanne said, taking a bite of her omelet. “I’ve been busy supporting a homeless organization in San Rafael. I help with the feeding program and fundraising.”

  “Really? I’m impressed, Mom.”

  “I figured I’m getting older and it’s my way of giving back. I’ve always been thankful to your father that I never needed to work, and for giving me a privileged life,” Suzanne said. “These people have never tasted what we’ve had, Chloe – food, a job, a roof over their heads.”

  “I’m happy for you, Mom.”

  “I feel very blessed, Chloe. You need to come visit me one day so you can see for yourself.”

  “I will.” Chloe nodded.

  The waiter gave them the bill and Suzanne insisted she pay. “My treat okay? You’re buying dinner later.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Chloe said, chewing on the ice from her glass.

  They went outside to where their cars were parked and, as Suzanne climbed into her Volvo, she told Chloe that she’d meet her at her house. They both arrived at Chloe’s place at the same time. As Chloe opened the front door, Greta immediately jumped at Suzanne to give her a big wet kiss. “My goodness, you still remember me.”

  “How could she forget you, Mom?”

  Suzanne followed Chloe inside and went to the living room to sit down. “Chloe, I’m impressed. You’ve managed to keep the house clea
n, except why is this big teddy bear lying on the couch? Do you still sleep with this?”

  Chloe grabbed the teddy bear and walked upstairs to leave it in her room. “Make yourself at home.”

  She came back later wearing her slippers as she entered the kitchen. “Do you want me to make some tea?”

  “Tea would be good.”

  Chloe came back from the kitchen bringing two cups of tea. “Mom, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

  “Chloe, you’ve been beating around the bush since I first spoke to you. Will you just ask me?” Suzanne said, taking a sip of her tea.

  Chloe hesitated, then gathered up her courage and, taking a deep breath said, “When Dad passed away, did you ever think of dating again?”

  Suzanne shook her head. “That never crossed my mind.”

  “No?” Chloe looked down at the tea leaves floating in her cup. “What I mean is, aren’t you lonely?”

  “I’m busy and I have lots of friends. This organization is keeping me busy too,” Suzanne said. “Is that what’s bothering you, because you don’t need to worry about me, I’m fine.”

  Chloe nodded. “Did you ever think of looking for someone who you dated in the past?”

  “What do you mean?” She frowned.

  “Like a previous boyfriend,” Chloe prodded.

  “Are you all right, Chloe?”

  “Mom, I, uh, don’t know how to tell you, but I found Ignacio Rodriguez’s letters.”

  Suzanne stared at her open-mouthed.

  “I can show them to you. There are nine let—”

  “I know how many letters there are,” Suzanne interrupted.

  Chloe stared at her.

  “Go bring them to me and I’ll tell you what you want to hear.”

  Chloe ran back upstairs to get the letters as Greta sat beside Suzanne on the couch.

  When she returned, she handed her mother the envelope. Her mom pulled the letters from the envelope and read the first two. Her eyes grew moist. “Where did you find these, Chloe?”