You Are NOT My Mother!

By Natalie Peck

Who is Tawny Devynson?
“Not...your...mother”
The last words Tawny’s mother, well, the woman she’d thought was her mother, spoke to her sent her on a hunt for a letter that revealed her entire life was a lie.
She had a living father who had apparently skipped out on them, and she was out to get revenge on the lying, cheating scum!
Step one: get hired at his company to get the real dirt on him – check.
But the more she learns, the less she’s sure she’s on the right path...and how far can she trust Bryce, her father’s devastatingly handsome right-hand-man?

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Electric Scroll
• Release date: Mar 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781946888044

Natalie Peck

Natalie Peck lives in Gilbert, Arizona with her family and a thousand romance novels. She enjoys dining from her good china by candle-light, especially when the special guests are her husband and children. She loves to hear from her readers, and promises to answer every email.

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Natalie Peck

Copyright 2021, The Electric Scroll

Cover design copyright 2021 by M. Borgnaes.

Smashwords Edition

Front cover girl image by Ollyy via Shutterstock.

Back cover thumbprint image by Andrey_Kuzmin via Shutterstock.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by The Electric Scroll. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher. For information contact The Electric Scroll, 745 N. Gilbert Rd. Ste 124 PMB 197, Gilbert, Arizona, 85234.

The characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and entirely in the imagination of the reader.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

You Are NOT My Mother!

About the Author

Books by Natalie Peck

Connect with me online

Chapter One

Tawny Devynson checked the newspaper advertisement in her hand one last time and stuffed it back into her purse. The next stop was hers. She pulled the cord to alert the city transit's bus driver that she wanted to get off.

The bus pulled in close enough to the curb after crossing the intersection for safe departure from the vehicle and the driver stopped. Tawny wasn't the only person who stood. She turned and followed two others to the back doors before stepping down onto the pavement after them. The bus closed its doors and eased away from the curb, joining the traffic on the busy street. The two other people each went different ways, leaving her behind.

There were several buildings sitting close together just in front of her. She checked the address on the one closest to her and realized the business she sought would be in the next building down the street. It was the tallest of these near buildings, its façade quite imposing, as if to say by its very presence that the businesses within it were more important than any others on the block.

Taking a deep breath, Tawny held it for a second and then huffed it out. She may not be quite ready for this next step of her life, but it needed to be taken. Her mother hadn't taught her to move forward and face each day, she'd learned it through her studies and through the experiences of the past ten years as she had nursed Mom following the woman's massive stroke.

Her mother. Yeah, right. Not!

Tawny sucked in another breath and blew it out with force. She felt her anger building and clamped her teeth tight. Her jaw began to ache again from the effort to control her emotions.

If she wanted this job, she needed to be in control of herself and her temper. She needed this job because of who the president of the company was, Mr. Richard Middleton. She'd never find out what she needed to know if she lost her control and confronted the man before she'd learned all she could; before she could expose him to the world for the despicable coward that he was.

Chapter Two

Inside the building, in the primary company housed there, a telephone was answered, and the caller identified himself to the receptionist. She pushed the buttons on her phone to transfer that call, announcing the caller to the president of Middleton & Associates, Inc.

It's Mr. Casper, Sir, came the disembodied female vocal sound from the intercom on his desk before Richard Middleton's phone began to ring.

Great! Richard picked up the receiver and spoke. Randy, my friend. It's good to hear your voice. How was Switzerland?

Richard listened, adding the occasional question or response as his friend enthusiastically told him of the vacation he'd just completed. Richard was happy for Randy and Rochelle and their children, but knew he'd personally never take another vacation in his life. His guilt was too great. Still.

Richard was opening a satellite office across town in a couple of weeks. Randy was managing the nearly completed renovative construction for him. They hung up after planning to meet tomorrow to discuss the finishing details and the date to move into the new office space. He made a notation in his journal and closed the leather book.

Richard checked his watch and knew he needed to leave the office within five minutes to make the meeting with his wife Marie and his daughter Carmen. They were seeing a new specialist in the hope of easing Carmen's pain.

Severely damaged in the car accident that had left her unable to walk, her legs had begun having painful spasms during the last few months. With any luck, this doctor would have some good news after he'd studied the labs and scans Carmen had had taken two weeks ago. He sincerely prayed it would be so. Richard knew that even if it did help Carmen, it would do nothing to mitigate the deep guilt that rode him daily, some days more strongly than others.

Richard shook his head to clear his thoughts. It didn't work, as usual. His brain replayed the first part of the litany that had helped him endure everything so far – Together we can get through anything. A deep breath held for a moment stilled the agitation of his soul.

As he cleared the files from his desk in preparation to leave the office, he began counting his blessings – the main thing that focused his mind on the positives in his life so he could banish the negatives, at least for the moment.

Carmen, and the miracle she was still alive at all, headed that list. Marie, his second wife, with her unconditional love for his daughter and himself, always came next.

He'd come to love Marie, too, although it was a different love than what he'd had for his cherished Stacy, who had died in the accident that had crippled his daughter.

Richard's accounting business was always third on the list, especially with the fact it had grown to the point of needing another office. He was grateful to be able to give so many others a way to provide for their families. He just wished.... Richard shook his head to stop that thought before it could finish.

Thinking of his business again brought Randy back to his mind. He smiled at the consistent fervor for life the man he'd just been talking to possessed. He wished he himself had more of it these days.

Fresh out of college, he'd begun his life and his first marriage with that kind of enthusiasm. But Richard had been robbed of the most precious parts of that life a long time ago, and now simply looked for the contentment in satisfaction of work well done as he served his clients and helped other people reach their goals.

Randy's enthusiastic energy now foremost in his mind prepared him to be the strong person his wife and daughter needed for whatever news Dr. Pemberton would be giving them. He shut the filing cabinet and left the office by the back door that opened into the parking garage, a small smile on his face, ready for the balance of his day.

Chapter Three

Carmen Middleton, sweating slightly from sheer nerves, maneuvered her wheelchair into place in the specially equipped van her family owned.

Okay, Mom, I'm ready, she called to the woman standing just outside the open door.

Her mother, Marie, climbed up the lift Carmen had just driven off of and bent to attach the floor-mounted straps to the back wheels that would hold the electric wheelchair in place during the drive to the clinic. She cinched the straps tight so they wouldn't allow movement.

Getting out of the vehicle again, Marie pushed the electric control button and the lift raised up and folded into place. Marie closed the outer van door and went around to the front, mounting the double steps into the driver's side of the van.

Climbing over the seat, she stepped back between the captain chair-like seats and clamped the other two floor-mounted straps to the front wheels of the wheelchair, pulling them tight to hold the chair in place. She then turned back and sat down in the driver's seat, buckling her seatbelt around herself.

All aboard that's going aboard, Marie called gaily. Her ritual made Carmen laugh as it always did.

I'm already on board, she answered just as cheerfully, so put the thing in gear and let's be off like a dirty shirt.

Can't be. I know for a fact you put a clean shirt on before we left the house, so keep it tucked in and we'll get there when we arrive!

Both women laughed, and Marie started the van, then carefully drove it out of the driveway and down the street.

Marie kept glancing in the mirror to see how Carmen was riding. She watched as pain crossed her daughter's face from time to time. She wished she could ease the pain that wracked the slender body. It was with great hope and loads of prayers for a positive outcome that she drove to this new clinic today. If only....

A sudden voice in her head reminded her of the conversation she'd had with her husband last night after they'd helped Carmen to bed. Stop right there, Marie. You promised Richard there would be no 'if onlys' for today's visit. Just think positive thoughts. That's all you have to do. Positive thoughts for good results.

Marie glanced in the mirror again at the next light she stopped for. Carmen stuck her tongue out at her mother, then grinned, making Marie laugh.

Stop checking on me every second, Mom. You strapped me in good and tight, and you're being a careful driver, so concentrate on your driving and have faith my chair isn't going to join you in the front anytime soon!

Marie smiled. Okay, my dear, okay!

The light changed to green and Marie continued to drive, her heart a little lighter than moments before. She did have faith in the prayers she and Richard had offered on their daughter's behalf. The special spinal clinic, and this doctor in particular, had come highly recommended by their primary care doctor. Carmen just reminded her of that faith, and her smile prompted the thought of their family motto: Together we can get through anything, and laughter makes it easier to bear.

Marie was glad Richard was going to meet them at the clinic. He couldn't always make it because of his work, but he made more than half of Carmen's medical appointments and was there for every one of her procedures.

He was a good man. Marie was grateful to be married to him, and fleetingly thought how blessed she'd been to have met him shortly after his first wife had been killed in the car crash.

Marie'd been working for a company that provided care services for people who were well enough to leave the hospital, but still needed help in a variety of ways. She coordinated attendants to patients.

On the odd occasion here or there that one of her CNAs called in sick and Marie couldn't find a substitute immediately, she went in their place so their clients would have at the least the minimum help for the day.

Marie was required one morning as reserve caregiver for Richard's severely injured two-year-old daughter. She'd fallen in love with the delightful, precocious child by day's end. The next day she was needed again, and by the end of that day, Marie was in love with Richard, too.

He seemed to develop feelings for her nearly as fast, and within three months they married. Marie quit her job to become the full-time mother and caregiver the little girl needed.

Carmen had been young enough she didn't remember any other mother. When they married, Richard had already put away pictures of his first wife, and they went forward as though Marie was Carmen's biological mother.

Richard didn't talk about the accident or his first wife to Carmen or Marie, although Marie had tried early in their marriage to get him to tell Carmen she was the child's stepmother.

Richard had refused. It was the single area of their marriage that was a closed door. Every other part of their lives Richard talked about freely with her and with his daughter, but he was adamant that Marie should completely fill the role as Carmen's mother. He abruptly slammed the door to any queries about his first wife. Marie didn't even know the woman's name.

Most of the time, Marie didn't think about the fact she was Carmen's stepmother. About once a year, though, she would catch a look on Richard's face; a look full of accident-related guilt.

The only thing he'd ever said about it was before they were married when she had asked about the accident.

I was driving, he had said, and with a sob, he left the room. Moments later she heard the front door slam. It was several hours before he returned.

She could tell he'd been crying, but when she opened her mouth, he'd simply shook his head. She bit her lip and didn't ask the questions teeming in her mind. He never spoke of it again, and she didn't press him.

The one thing she felt bad about was she had been unable to conceive to give him additional children. When she'd been crying about it one day, he held her tightly in his arms and said, With Carmen's limitations, she requires extra help. Other children would have to be in second place to those needs, and it wouldn't be fair to them, so it's really a good thing we have just the one.

Later that night when he thought she was asleep, Richard left the bedroom and she heard him quietly leave the house. Hours later he returned, came to bed quietly so as not to awaken her, and never said anything else on the subject.

When they got up in the morning, she could tell he'd had little to no sleep, and he looked haggard, as though he'd spent all night grieving. Her heart went out to him, but she didn't dare broach that subject. He'd made it amply clear it was a forbidden topic. That part of him was locked in a vault, protected by steel walls ten feet thick; impenetrable to everyone.

Marie pulled into the clinic's parking lot and was pleased to see that a handicap stall was available for her to park in. Awesome. It gave her room to maneuver the lift so Carmen could leave the van in safety instead of having to be off-loaded in the middle of the parking lot. Her heart was full of hope that the rest of the visit here would be as positive.

Marie put the car in park so the engine could provide power to lower the lift once Carmen was in place on it. Turning, she unbuckled the straps holding the front wheels of the chair and proceeded to reverse the order of how they had gotten into the van in their driveway.

Once Carmen was off the lift and on flat ground, Marie activated the button to raise the lift's ramp back into the van. She closed that door, got her purse from the front seat, turned off the engine, locked the van, and together they entered the spinal clinic.

Chapter Four

Tawny walked into the office. An attractive young lady was seated at the reception desk, a notebook in front of her, pencil in hand, speaking with someone through the headset she wore.

The woman looked up at Tawny, a smile on her face, and gestured to several chairs arranged around a coffee table in front of her. There were magazines neatly displayed on the coffee table. Two other people were in chairs waiting. One was thumbing through a magazine, the other doing something on his cell phone, his attention wholly absorbed in the miniature screen in his hand.

The receptionist wrote something in her notebook, and pleasantly ended the conversation. She greeted Tawny and asked how she could be of help.

Good morning. I'm Tawny Devynson. I have an appointment to interview for the full-charge bookkeeper position, Tawny answered. She smiled at young woman.

The receptionist looked down her list, found her name, put a tick mark by it, and noted the time. Tawny was glad she was ten minutes early. That always looked good to the prospective bosses.

Yes, there you are, the young lady said. If you'll have a seat, Miss Gurretts should be free shortly. She pressed a button on the phone. Miss Gurretts, Tawny Devynson is here. She paused then added, Yes, ma'am, I'll tell her. She flipped a switch on her phone and looked back at Tawny. She'll be with you in a jiffy.

Thank you. Tawny took a seat and took a better look around her.

The room was warm and welcoming, tastefully furnished but without being ostentatious. The seats were comfortable. The magazines were the current month in a variety of subjects. There were several large pots of fern and other greenery bringing a feeling of comfort and hominess but still within the bounds of being a professional office. She was pleasantly impressed. The surrounding ambiance finished the task of calming her slightly agitated nerves.

Very few minutes lapsed before a woman in her late twenties or early thirties entered from the hallway just beyond the receptionist's desk, escorting a mature woman. The older woman, a scowl on her face, left the office in all but a huff. The young woman and the receptionist watched her leave. The receptionist shook her head, the other one kept all emotions off her face, but she shrugged as they looked at each other.

The new woman looked over at the three people in the waiting room with a smile and then announced 'Miss Devynson' and when Tawny stood up, she gestured for Tawny to follow.

Fifteen minutes later, Tawny was ushered out of Miss Gurretts' office, with the strong hope she'd be accepted for the post. Miss Gurretts had seemed pleased with Tawny's credentials, had commended her on her good grades at college, and had said she'd be in contact within two weeks to let her know their decision one way or the other.

Chapter Five

Richard drove to the clinic with many things on his mind. As he thought of Carmen, he was glad he'd made the decision to keep this twin. Without a husband, Ardith Devynson would have enough on her plate to deal with without having to worry about extra medical expenses and professional care for an injured child. According to the hospital's doctors following the accident, Carmen's critical condition made them uncertain she would live. Had Ardith taken her, and the child died, it would leave Ardith worse off than she already was with the losses she'd had to bear that day.

Rafe Devynson, Ardith's husband, had been Richard's best friend since first grade. He was the greatest of pals, the brother Richard never had but always wanted. Richard's two sisters were much older than he was and were in high school by the time he was in second grade. Richard's mom had always referred to him as her little surprise caboose.

Richard and Rafe had been inseparable. They had often pretended to be twins because they were so devoted to each other and their birthdays were only a week apart. Not that they looked much alike, he with light brown hair and Rafe with hair so dark everyone called it black.

Nevertheless, Richard's favorite granny had said they were