Part 16 (1/2)

Chapter 21.

Sterling.

Amanda's face was a mask of shock at hearing my news. ”Are you absolutely certain?”

”Dad sat there like the huge star he is and acted as though there was nothing wrong-that he had done nothing wrong. To be honest, I think he was surprised at my reaction.”

Amanda sank into one of the lush leather chairs in her living room. Her legs couldn't support her. The weight of the family secrets I'd just exposed had clearly shocked her. ”I'd always suspected there was something between Mom and Tom,” she said. ”But the fact that Dad has an entire separate family? Two daughters and a son?” Her face turned to mine. ”Twins? How could this possibly have remained under the radar all this time?”

”Apparently they don't want the publicity, or the spotlight. Except maybe the oldest.” I handed her a sheaf of papers about Rhett Legend Delgado. ”The internet is a blessing and a curse.” The guy who stared back at Amanda was too cool for school. Tattoos decorated his s.h.i.+rtless torso.

”It would appear he's got the Legend charisma,” Amanda said. She c.o.c.ked an eyebrow.

Rhett had a dark olive complexion and, instead of the Legend piercing blue eyes, his eyes were dark brown. He had dad's good looks and he also had the unmistakable Steve Legend att.i.tude. He looked like trouble to me.

”I loved Anita so much,” Amanda said as she rifled through the pages I'd printed off that told of Rhett's band Translucent Paradise, which toured along the California coast. I'd also had one of our investigators do a quick check on Rhett's name a couple of hours ago. He came back with pages upon pages of arrests.

Amanda skimmed his rap sheet. ”He seems to be particularly fond of drunk and disorderly,” she said.

”That and indecent exposure,” I said. I'd often dealt with actors who were addicts. I didn't need an addicted half-brother rock and roller, as well.

”Is the band any good?” Amanda asked.

”Have a listen,” I said. I pressed my iPhone and a hard-core beat with a deep bluesy voice played out over my phone.

”He's the singer?”

”And the guitarist.”

”He's good,” Amanda said. She looked up at me.

As much as I was loath to agree with Amanda, it seemed that my father's other son had some talent. ”Why haven't they ever reached out?” I asked.

”Would you?” Amanda raised her eyebrow. ”They probably hate us. I would.”

”Why?”

”We get the Legend life that from the outside looks pretty d.a.m.n plush and, really, let's be honest, once you get past the addictions, the narcissism, the divorces, the dead mother, and the microscope under which we live, it is pretty plush.” Amanda cracked a half smile. She didn't often complain. Complaining wasn't her way, but what could look like a d.a.m.ned good existence to the outside world had its own challenges and problems, just like any other life.

”I'm sure they hate us,” Amanda mumbled. She stopped at the picture of the twins. They were a year younger than Amanda. They had long lush black hair like Amanda's, but where Amanda's complexion was porcelain theirs was a much darker tone, more exotic looking. Their eyes were very like their brother's. ”I've always wanted a sister,” she said. She glanced up at me. ”And now I have two.”

”Or more,” I said, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

”What? Did he say there were more?”

”I mean, seriously, Amanda? How would we know? The man has slept with nearly every woman he's worked with. I can't believe I've never put all this together before. I've been his producer on five films; I've been to three of his weddings. I'm not certain why I thought all that started after Mom died.”

”Because you wanted to believe it,” Amanda said. ”I did, too.” She looked from me back at the picture of Rhett and Sophia and Ellen. ”I wanted to believe the Legend fairytale. The story where Daddy met Mom at the wrap party and they fell in love, got married, had us and lived happily ever after. Even that summer when our world was falling apart, I wanted to believe it. I pretended to myself that what I saw”-she turned away from me and closed her eyes-”what I saw between Anita and Daddy had to be a one-time thing. Not an ongoing affair in which he'd created a whole other family.” She lifted the pages and held them toward me. ”But there was no fairytale-not even when Dad found out she was dying and Mom let him come back for those last six weeks.”

Amanda looked at me; her eyes were slick with tears. ”Do you remember how magical those weeks were? How we traveled the world? How Mom got sicker and sicker but she seemed happier and happier? I only wanted to remember that time together. The days on the beach in France, the nights in Monaco, the evenings in Austria. I wanted to remember only those moments, because they were perfect. I cloaked myself in those memories, especially after we got back and Daddy turned into a raging drunk.”

”And Rhiannon was gone.”

Amanda nodded. ”And Rhiannon was gone. We had Gayle.” Amanda's eyes flew open. ”Oh, my G.o.d, we had Gayle the last two weeks Mom was alive and then afterwards when Daddy left.” Amanda looked at me. ”That woman must be a saint, because I couldn't do what Gayle did. Imagine if Lane was with Ryan and then she got sick-I could never help my best friend the way Gayle helped our mom.”

I said nothing. I'd already rummaged through my mind trying to understand what Gayle had done for us and why. The only conclusion I could come to was that she'd loved Mom, and she'd wanted to try and help two good young people who were coping with the destruction of their family.

”I want to meet them,” Amanda said.

”You're kidding? That's a mess waiting to happen,” I said.

”I don't care. They're family, and I want to meet them. The girls are still in college. One is at Berkeley and the other at UCLA.”

”Obviously smarter than we are,” I said.

”Or at the very least more studious.” Amanda flipped through the papers still in her hand. ”And it looks like our brother is playing the roadhouse in Oxnard this weekend.”

”Oxnard? Who wants to go to Oxnard?”

”I do and you're coming with me. Ryan has night shoots all weekend long.” Amanda looked up at me through her eyelashes. ”So, big brother, looks like we've got a date to meet some family.”

”I'm not ready for this,” I said.

”What do you mean?”

”Look,” I said. ”I'm still processing the fact that Dad was sleeping with women before Mom died. Now I find out the b.a.s.t.a.r.d has an entirely different family that he's kept hidden from us, and not only have they been hidden, but other people knew about them all this time and never said a word. I'm not coming to terms with this as quickly as you are.”

Amanda's lips flattened into a thin line. ”Those feelings aren't just about our newfound siblings,” she said. ”Those feelings are also about Rhiannon.”

”She knew,” I said.

”What do you mean? How could she know? Rhiannon was fifteen when mom died.”

”Before she died, Mom wrote a note to Anita and gave it to Gayle and insisted she deliver it to Anita. Supposedly Rhiannon went with her.”

”That doesn't mean she knew anything. Come on, Sterling, there is no way that Rhiannon would have kept this secret all these years-if she even knew it in the first place. Why? She would have told you or, at the very least, me. We've talked and emailed since the day she left Los Angeles.”

”Yeah,” I said. ”Thanks for letting me in on that. My heart was breaking and you never once mentioned you were still in touch with Rhiannon.”

”You didn't ask, big brother. Why would I bring up that kind of heartache if you didn't ask? Rhiannon could have easily accompanied Gayle to Anita's and not known the reasons behind the visit. You can't possibly blame her. She was a teenager,” Amanda said. She looked at me as though I'd lost my mind.