An Open Book

By Catherine Carson

Jane Temple had always known that she was adopted and that her mother had died when she was two years old; but what she did not know was who her biological father was. When a solicitor’s letter arrived informing her of his death and a possible inheritance, she chose to reject any advances from his surviving widow.
Brett Fleming had promised his Aunt, Alice Bergen to expose her husband Kurt’s illegitimate daughter as nothing but a gold digger and to that end he contrived a position for her within his company.
Would his preconceived ideas about her change or would he prove beyond doubt that she was responsible for his aunt’s years of loneliness at the hands of her faithless husband.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326150884

Book preview

An Open Book

An Open Book

By Catherine Carson

Content Copyright © Catherine Carson 2015

ISBN  978-1-326-15077-8 Paperback

ISBN  978-1-326-15088-4 eBook

About the author

I live in the North West of England and have been married to the same man (whom I left my native Scotland to be with) for some considerable time. We have three grown up children who between them have given us six grandchildren who are the light of our lives.

Writing was always something I enjoyed but confined it to letters, but over the years the recipients of those missives used to say I could write a book, to which my set answer was ‘I daresay I could but who would want to read it’.

Thanks to my very good friend Lisa who convinced me to have a go I found the courage to release the stories which had always been in my mind.

I hope anyone who reads my stories will enjoy them, and the characters I have created as much as I loved writing them.

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www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my niece Diane who keeps telling me to continue writing.

The characters in this book are completely fictional and bear no resemblance to any living person.

Other books by this author

The Mouse in the Library

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Family Ties

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Tapestry of Love (Book 1)       

Twins Exchanged (Book 2) 

Highland Feud (Book 3)         

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Overall Construction

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

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Soil, Seed & Betrayal (Book 1)

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess (Book 2

Body Language (Book 3)

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White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate or The Girl Next Door

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An Open Book (Book 1)

Afraid to Love (Book 2)

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A Second Chance (Book 1)

Taming the Playboy (Book2)

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Love Lost and Found

Chapter 1

Chic we have to tell her.  Now that Kurt Bergen has gone there is no need to keep it secret any more.  She needs to know.

I agree Brenda, but not like this we need to explain things properly before she sees that letter.

Jane had come home to find her parents arguing loudly.  She could never remember her parents ever raising their voices in anger and could only assume that something terrible had happened.

Mum, dad what on earth is wrong with you both?  Jane saw her mother’s distressed face the evidence of tears recently shed on her wet cheeks.

Come in sweetheart and sit down.  Your mum and I have something very important to tell you.  Chic looked at the young woman he had brought up as his daughter from the day her mother had left her on their doorstep twenty years earlier.

What could possibly be so important to make mum cry.  Oh my God are you ill mum or is it you dad? Please don’t tell me I’m going to lose either of you.  Jane could feel fear grip her heart as she looked at the distraught faces on her parents.

No darling we are not ill but what we have to tell could have a very serious effect on your life.  Chic had taken her hands and held them tightly.  Her mother was trying to stem the flow of tears running down her cheeks.

Dad you’re frightening me, so please tell me and stop my imagination running wild with speculation.  Jane looked at her father with such big eyes that he wanted to tell her that life was going to go on as it always had, but he knew that was impossible.

Jane had always likened her life to being like a open book and she now had a feeling that the first chapter of her life was coming to an end and she was going to have to face some very unpleasant truths before her story found its conclusion.

Sweetheart you know that we have always told you that your mother left you with us because she could not cope with the stigma of being an unmarried mother.  Jane watched as her father struggled for the right words and she looked to her mother hoping she would shed some light on whatever they had to say.

Well the truth is that your mother left you with us because the man she had an affair with was married. Jane Temple was my young sister and although she knew it was wrong to begin the affair she could not help herself.  She loved your father very much.   Chic held firmly on to Jane’s hands as he remembered the night his sister came to him and Brenda for help.

Unfortunately the man’s wife found out about the affair and she came to see your mother and told her that she would never divorce your father.  She also told Jane that if she did not get rid of the baby she would have her husband accused of embezzlement and have him imprisoned for a long time.  It appeared the woman could not have children of her own and she knew it would destroy him when he found out Jane had aborted his child.  Chic wanted to stop the hurt that his daughter was feeling but he also knew that she needed to know the whole truth in order to cope with what was to come.

Your mother could not bring herself to go through with the abortion but she told your father that she had.  It broke her heart to hurt him but she knew his wife would carry out her threat to destroy him. Your mum and I found out that we could not have children of our own and we begged Jane to have her baby and let us bring it up as our own.  Pulling Jane and his wife into his arms Chic hugged them both close. "

You, sweetheart have been the most precious thing in our lives for the past twenty years.  We arranged for your mother to go into hiding until after you were born and when you were two days old she turned up on our doorstep and handed you over.  The last we heard was when the police came to tell us she had died of a drug overdose.  You were two years old and she had tried so hard to get over her heartache but in the end she felt her life was not worth living if she could not have you and the man she loved."

So dad, what has changed that you need to tell me all this now?  Jane knew there had to be more to the argument she had interrupted earlier.

Oh darling, your mother left a letter for me and your father and in it she said that she had left a letter with a solicitor to be delivered to your father telling him the truth.  The letter was to be delivered after her death when she felt the woman could no longer hurt her or you.  Like her husband, Brenda wanted the past to be forgotten but knew that this was impossible now.

A letter arrived this morning and it seems the solicitor has traced you and has requested a meeting with Kurt Bergen’s widow, Alice.  Why the woman should want to see you we have no idea and the decision must be yours as to whether you contact her or not.  Brenda spoke softly hoping that her daughter would know that it was with great reluctance that they were telling her the whole story of her mother’s heartache and eventual suicide.

Kurt Bergen was my father?  Jane whispered not quite able to take in the knowledge that her biological father had been one of the wealthiest men in the country.

Yes he was, but if you do not want to meet this woman your dad and I will understand and support whatever decision you make.  Brenda saw the emotions crossing Jane’s face and marvelled at how like her mother she was but for the colour of her eyes.

Jane had an elfin face; her nose being a little on the sharp side and slightly turned up.  She always kept her rich dark brown hair cropped close to her head and her mouth seemed to be forever smiling.  Her eyes were bright cobalt blue and Chic and Brenda had always thought she must have inherited the colour from her biological father as her mother’s were dark brown.

Please may I read the letter from the solicitor? Jane asked and her father passed it to her, his hand shaking as he did so.

The letter clearly stated that a DNA test would be a necessary proviso before any meeting could take place between Alice Bergen and Jane Temple; but if the result proved she was the Jane Temple they sought, she would be well rewarded.  Jane read the letter twice before folding it and replacing it in the envelope it arrived in.

It seems to me there are unsure as to whether I am the Jane Temple they are looking for.  Perhaps we should tell them that they have the wrong woman and leave it at that.  I really don’t know why this Bergen woman would want to meet the child she ordered aborted but whatever her reason I really think the past should remain just that…the past.  Jane looked at both her parents and smiled telling them the issue was now closed.

Darling there is another letter which your mother left for you with the specific instructions for it to be given it you on your twenty-first birthday but in the circumstances I think you should have it now.  Brenda went to the bureau and took a letter from the small locked drawer inside the drop down writing desk.

As the first chapter of her life closed Jane took the letter from her mother but did not open it until she was alone in her bedroom.  After reading it several times she carefully placed it back in its envelope and placed it in her jewellery box with the feeling that the next chapter would bring many changes in her life.

Chapter 2

I’m afraid the girl has rejected our request to have a DNA test or even to come to our office.  Thomas Pendleton, of Pendleton, Pendleton and Harvey Solicitors, sat back in his chair making a steeple of his fingers as he tried to assess the young man sitting opposite him.

Brett Fleming was Alice Bergen’s nephew and when her husband died and the evidence of an illegitimate daughter came to light, his aunt was distraught.

Kurt Bergen had been a cold heartless husband who treated his wife with utter contempt because of her inability to give him children.  The final blow to her fragile link to this world was severed when Thomas Pendleton handed her the proof that Jane Temple had borne her husband’s child.

The letter informed Alice that as she held the purse strings her husband had no intention of leaving her and had therefore told his lover to abort the child. The inference of her decision not to abort was probably taken with the intention of confronting Kurt at a future time to extort money she felt was due to her.

Brett was determined that this woman would pay for what she had done to his aunt but when his enquiries revealed the fact that she was dead he turned his attention to the child.

Tell me Mr Pendleton, how did this letter come to be lodged with your company?  Brett Fleming was the consummate business man and learned never to take things at face value.

I’m afraid I can’t answer that question Mr Fleming.  The letter appeared to have been lodged some eighteen years ago with our then partner William Harvey.  Unfortunately William died some five years ago and his secretary decided to retire.  His papers and deed boxes were transferred to my office and it was only when we received a letter informing us that Mr Bergen had died that our attention was drawn to the deed box.  Thomas was unsure, at the time, as to why they had been informed of the death but obviously someone had a vested interest in bringing the box to their attention.

I understand from your enquiries that this woman is at present attending a business college but has almost finished her course.  His mind was razor sharp and he was already laying the groundwork for his battle plan.  This girl probably had been informed by her scheming mother of the letter’s existence and thought to gain an inheritance from Kurt Bergen’s estate. 

Well that wasn’t going to happen not only because he had power of attorney over his aunt’s estate but there was no way the daughter of a scheming, cheating woman was going to be allowed to come in contact with his family.

Thank you for your efforts Mr Pendleton but I think it is time to close the matter.  From your enquiries it would appear this woman is the Jane Temple we have been seeking but we shall respect her wishes and make no further contact with her.  Rising Brett held out his hand to the elderly solicitor who seemed relieved with the decision he had taken.

"I think you have made the right