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place. She always ate with the guests, and most nights she d be in
the parlor playing cards or just talking with them.
Really? I try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Like I said, you don t seem anything like Max, and her style
wouldn t fit you. But the guests who come here are used to a very
casual atmosphere.
Noel scooted around until her back was against the arm rest.
She put her foot on the seat of the swing and wrapped her arm
around her knee, looking more casual than she usually did. Tell
me a little about her.
I can tell you an awful lot. What do you want to know?
Having the whole universe of Max presented daunted Noel. She
could feel herself backing off, but was determined not to. Mmm,
just tell me whatever you think is important.
Toni leaned back and made the swing rock gently. She put her
arm across the back and let her fingers play against the grain of the
wood. Do you know anything at all?
Nothing. Noel frowned and shook her head, wracking her
mind for the few details she did possess. No, that s not true. I know
that the adoption agency was in California, so I always assumed I
was born there.
Wow, Toni said, shaking her head. I can t imagine what it s
like not knowing anything about your birth parents.
Smiling, Noel said, I can t imagine what it s like to know your
birth parents at all. And since my brother and sister don t know
theirs either, it seemed perfectly normal when I was growing up.
I guess that makes sense. Well, Max was from Oklahoma. She
moved to California with a couple of friends and never went back.
She eventually joined the Navy, and she was in for twenty-five
years.
50
The Legacy
Ah-ha! That explains the little trinkets from all sorts of port
cities. What did she do?
I m not sure what she did at first, but I do know she was in
the group of women who were the first ones assigned to ships. I
think that was the late seventies, maybe early eighties. She was
on a submarine tender and was stationed in Scotland for quite a
while. She did a lot of traveling around in Europe, so she was pretty
international for a girl from a small town on the plains.
I was born before that. Do you know how I happened to
arrive?
Yeah, I do. She took another sip of her wine and refilled Noel s,
but not her own glass. I found out all about you last summer.
Last summer? Why last summer?
She didn t tell me or anybody else that I know of about you
until she got sick.
Surprised and a little troubled by this news, Noel said, I wonder
why?
If you knew Max, you wouldn t be too surprised. She didn t
spend a lot of time thinking about the past. She didn t spend a lot
of time thinking about the future, either. But when she got sick, she
changed. She talked about her past constantly. I think it had always
weighed on her mind that you were out there, but if I had to guess
her motivation for not trying to find you, I d say she was afraid.
Afraid? Afraid of finding the baby she gave away? Her voice was
a little louder and her cheeks had begun to color. She consciously
tried not to let her contempt show, but it was hard work.
Toni looked tentative, but she continued. I think that s the right
word. Max wasn t very good at talking about her feelings. She liked
to stick to facts. She d only been in San Diego a short while when
she and some of her friends met some sailors from the Swedish
Navy. Max was a pretty good drinker when I knew her, but she
must not have been when she was a young woman.
51
Susan X Meagher
So I m the result of the wrong ship being in the right port?
Something like that, Toni allowed. She didn t know anything
except the ship the guy was on and his first name, but she didn t
blame him for what happened. She wasn t the type to blame other
people for her own indiscretions. Noel visibly winced at the word,
and Toni corrected herself. I didn t mean that like it sounded. But
she knew she didn t want to have kids, and she didn t think it was
fair to abort you. So she had you and saw you for just a minute or
two. She told me you had the prettiest blonde fuzz and blue eyes
that she d ever seen. Even though it was a story about Noel, Toni
was the one who started to sniff away tears. I m such a sucker for
a sob story, she said, her cheeks turning pink as she let out an
embarrassed laugh.
Noel s heartstrings tugged at the sight of Toni s tear-streaked
face. She was tempted to brush the tears away with a finger, but the
first real facts she d ever heard about her genetic father overtook
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