Part 20 (2/2)
There was silence on the other end, then a sigh. ”Well, that was part of his name, and it was what we called him. His full name was Jack Jones Kettyle.”
Jack Jones Kettyle. Kettyle. ”Did you know him?”
”It was hard not to know him. He was a year ahead of us, and a party boy of the first order-at least, until he met your mother. He was madly in love with her. She was the one who broke it off.”
Dana was startled. ”She was? But why?”
”Lots of reasons. He adored her, probably too much, and she felt smothered. She didn't love him that way. There was also his religion. He was devout.”
”Devout what?”
”Catholic,” Eileen said. ”He was from a big family and wanted an even bigger family, and he made no bones about wanting to go back to New York, have his sons be altar boys, keep his wife at home knitting sweaters.”
”She rejected him because he was Catholic?” Dana asked in disbelief. Catholic, not black. The irony boggled the mind.
”It wasn't the religion per se. His family was overbearing. She met them once. It was a disaster. That visit probably ended Jack's chances. But he did love Liz.”
”Liz, or the image of Liz knitting?” Dana asked.
”Liz. But, yes, knitting added to the image. Liz was comforting to him. She was comforting to most of us.”
Dana thought of Gillian, and of Nancy Russell and Trudy Payette. All three had known Liz growing up and said the same thing. ”I was only five when she died. All I knew was that she was the center of my world.”
”Of Jack's, too, for a while. He fell hard.”
Struggling to grasp this, Dana was silent. ”I'm sorry,” she said when she collected her thoughts. ”This isn't what I expected.” She paused, then asked, ”How can a playboy be a devout Catholic?”
”Ever hear of JFK?”
”I have a picture of my father. He wasn't as good-looking as JFK.”
”Maybe not in a picture, but in person there was something about him. He had charisma. And he fought hard for your mother. For the longest time, he refused to accept that she wouldn't marry him.”
He'll be gone by then, so you'll be free. That explained the letter. But there was so much more Dana wanted to learn. She didn't know if Eileen McCain had answers, but Gillian was right. Dana had no one else to ask.
”Did she learn she was pregnant before or after she broke up with him?”
”After.”
”And that didn't change her mind?”
”No. She didn't love Jack. She couldn't see raising her child in the kind of family he wanted.”
”Did she ever consider an abortion?”
”Lord, no. She wanted the baby. Wanted you.”
”But it meant she had to drop out of school.”
”Not had to. Chose to. She was happy going home. She loved her parents and knew that they would love her child.”
”Did Jack Kettyle know she was pregnant?”
”Not to my knowledge. She left school before she showed.”
”What excuse did she give for leaving?”
”She said she missed home and could finish her degree in Boston. Did she ever do that?”
”No. My grandmother's yarn store had just opened, and my mother wanted to work there. But please go back to Jack. If he was so in love with her, why didn't he try to reach her at home?”
Eileen didn't immediately answer. Finally, apologetically, she said, ”Oh, he was hurt. He turned to his second choice, likely on the rebound, got her pregnant, and didn't look back.”
”Did he marry her?”
”I believe he did.”
”Are they still married?”
”Last I heard.”
”Were there any other men? I mean, for my mother?”
”Dozens. There were some great guys who would have loved to date her. But Jack was, well, irresistible.”
Dana rephrased the question. ”I mean, had she slept with others? It would be humiliating, for both of us-Jack and me-if I approached him and made a false accusation. Is he definitely my father?”
”Oh.” An embarra.s.sed laugh. ”I'm sorry. I misunderstood. No, she never slept with anyone else here. Jack Kettyle was the only one.”
”Sounds like a gem,” Dana said. ”He was a playboy, but he was devout, and apparently ignorant. Didn't he know about birth control, even the rhythm kind? And after unprotected s.e.x, didn't he ever wonder if she was pregnant? Did he ever call her at home after she left school?”
”I don't know the answers to those questions.”
Dana leaned toward the ba.s.sinet and cupped Lizzie's cheek. More quietly, she said, ”I was just venting.”
”You mentioned a medical problem? Is the baby not well?”
”She's wonderful. It's just that she has certain African-American features, and we're trying to trace them back. My husband's family is well doc.u.mented, so the obvious guess centers on my biological father. Think Jack Jones Kettyle is biracial?”
”No, but I can only base that on his appearance. I never saw the rest of his family. Liz did, but she never mentioned race.”
”I mean, is this poetic justice or what?” Dana asked. ”I'm worried that my daughter will be rejected because she's African American, and my own mother rejected someone because of his religion.”
”It was the lifestyle she rejected, not the religion. She just didn't love him enough.”
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