Midas Touch by Frankie J. Jones Page B

all I knew.” Sandra set her now empty cup on the floor. “Dad wouldn’t talk about her. I never knew any other family members who could tell me. According to Dad, my grandparents died when I was young, and he and mom were both from single child homes. There was no one else to ask.” She found herself wondering if it was true. Had he lied about that too? Stabbed by guilt, she pushed the thought away. Her father obviously had a good reason for lying to her about her mother.
    “You were four when she left?”

    Sandra nodded.
    “Do you remember anything about her?” Laura asked.
    “I think, I recall a trip to the zoo. I may remember laughing with her and her hugging me. But, that may have been a dream or something.” Sandra’s voice cracked and she coughed to cover it. “I have no memory of her leaving or what she looked like.”
    Laura held up the letter. “This sounds like she wanted to see you, and your father wouldn’t let her.”
    “Why would he do that?” Sandra leaned toward Laura. “I’ve spent the entire day wondering what she could have done that was so horrible he felt he had to keep me from seeing her, and for him to lie to me all of those years.”
    “He must have felt like he had a reason,” Laura said.
    Sandra pushed her hair away from her face. “I was remembering how we used to move around so much. I can’t help but wonder if it was so she wouldn’t know where I was.”
    “It’s possible,” Laura agreed. They sat quietly for a moment.
    “What do you plan to do about this?” Laura prompted.
    “Nothing. It’s too late now.”
    “Why?”
    “I’ve not seen her in thirty-three years. I’m sure she has a life with a family. I doubt she’d be too happy to have me show up.” Sandra shrugged. “Think about it. I’ve not exactly spent my adult life as a hermit. She could have found me during the last few years if she wanted to.”
    “Have you ever thought about trying to find her?”
    Sandra rested her head on the back of the couch and stretched out her legs. “I’ve considered it several times over the years. I even hired a private investigator once, but I chickened out and called it off before he could find anything.”
    “There’s an address on the envelope,” Laura observed as she sipped her coffee.
    “It’s thirty years old. She wouldn’t still be there.”
    “Probably not, but it would be a place to start”
    “What if she’s remarried? I’d never find her,” Sandra argued.

    “Go to San Antonio, look around, and check the county records. They will inform you if she’s remarried.”
    Sandra couldn’t sit still and kept rearranging her body on the couch. “My problem isn’t how to find her,” she finally admitted.
    It’s more a matter of whether I want to. And even if I did, would she want to be found.”
    Laura groaned, “Sandra, you are my burden in life.” She held out her arms. Sandra scooted around and sat between her legs with her back resting against Laura’s body. Laura wrapped her arms around her. “You make life so complicated,” she admonished as Sandra examined Laura’s hands.
    “I can’t just act, the way you do,” Sandra justified.
    “I know. You have to analyze everything to death. Have you ever done one spontaneous thing in your life?”
    Sandra had a sudden vision of Lona’s tangled black hair between her thighs and felt a light sweat break out along her collar.
    “I didn’t think so,” Laura chided, taking Sandra’s silence as an admission of guilt. “Can I ask you something?”
    “Sure, but you probably already know the answer, since you know everything.”
    Laura playfully punched her arm. “Why didn’t you bring Carol with you when you would come to visit me?”
    “You mean besides the fact you two disliked each other instantly?”
    “I didn’t necessarily dislike her. I just felt you two weren’t exactly compatible.”
    Sandra remained quiet for a moment. There was more to her keeping Carol and Laura separated, but