Building on Dreams

Chapter 23 - Talking With Michael and Rachelle

The following morning dawned cloudy, cold and damp … a typical Seattle morning in December. It was a terrible morning to be outside with someplace to go, but it was a perfect morning for sleeping in, and all the Abernathys managed to sleep far later than they usually did at home. Still, they were up in plenty of time to breakfast and arrive at the Cooper’s house by ten am.

“Good morning Susan, Greg. How are you Jessie?” Michael made it a point to be the one to greet them at the door. “Come on in.”

“Thank you, and good morning to you too,” Greg answered for them as they followed him inside.

“Where are the boys?” Susan asked looking around.

“In their room, the first door on the left down the hall,” Michael told her. “You can go on back. I think Zackary’s trying to decide which of his toys to take back. He might need your help with that.”

“Okay,” Susan agreed. “Come on, Jessie. Let’s see if we can help, shall we?”

“Okay Mama,” Jessie agreed and she followed Susan down the hall to Matt and Zackary’s room.

“Do you want some coffee, Greg?” Michael offered. “I think we have some in the kitchen.”

“Yes, that would be wonderful,” Greg agreed following the other man in the opposite direction. “The coffee they have at the hotel isn’t very good.”

“I can imagine,” Michael said amiably.

“Is Rachelle here?” Greg asked as he looked around and saw no sign of the current Mrs. Cooper.

“She went to the store,” Michael said as he poured them both a cup of coffee and put a kettle on for tea. “We needed some things for dinner tonight and she was hoping to be back before you arrived, so she should be back soon.”

“It might make things easier if you took advantage of the delay to speak with Susan alone first,” Greg suggested as he watched Michael’s preparations, guessing he knew Susan preferred tea to coffee when there was a need to talk.

“It might, but I promised I wouldn’t,” Michael told him. “I’ve kept far too many things from Rachelle as it is. She wants to be here when we do this.”

“I take it you talked to her last night after we left?” Greg asked.

“I tried to. I did find my birth certificate, right where Susan said it would be, and showed it to her. I was hoping it might help her to see that Susan was being truthful. To be honest I have no idea where Rachelle got the idea we were the same age. I know I’ve never told her that,” Michael shared.

“Do you think it helped?” Greg wondered.

“No. I’m afraid it might have made things worse. Rachelle resents everything having to do with Susan. She always has, so I wasn’t surprised to see she’s carried it over to Susan herself,” Michael told him.

“Do you believe she is jealous?” Greg wondered. That had been his thought the previous night.

“I don’t know, Greg. I suppose it would make sense if she was. I know I was when I first saw you and Susan together, even though for the most part the quality of the relationship between Rachelle and myself is better than things ever were between Susan and me,” Michael shared.

“It is probable that you are soulmates, Michael. That can make a tremendous difference in a relationship. I know it did for me,” Greg shared.

“Is that what you and Susan are?” Michael asked.

“Yes,” Greg said.

Michael nodded. “I wondered. Sue seems so much more centered since she’d married you. She’s a much better version of herself, I think.”