The Truth (21 page)

Lexie smiled at him. The more she got to know William, the more and more surprised she was by his relationship with his wife. They were so different. Lydia was negative, judgmental, controlling, and rude. William was kind, loving, always spoke positively, and smiled easily. He was also a saint, she thought, cringing at the thought of her last confrontation with Lydia.

“How are you holding up?” William asked her, giving the swing a push. “These recent events must be a lot for you take in.”

She slowly nodded her head. “It certainly has. How many women can say that they discovered they were dating their son’s dead father?” She chuckled, sarcastically. “I still can’t believe I can say it.”

“Grayson mentioned something about that,” William continued. “Why did Margaret believe Grayson was dead? I’m struggling to understand it.”

Lexie sat back in the swing. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out, because it doesn’t make sense.” She looked at William pensively. “When did you last see Maggie?” She’d never called her Margaret, and couldn’t see that changing now.

“I’d only met her once.” William’s eyes grew distant as he seemed to go back in time. “Grayson was in love and couldn’t wait to bring her home. At least that’s how I saw it. He showed up with her two weeks after meeting her in New York and announced she was returning to the post with him. Needless to say, Lydia was far from thrilled.”

Lexie grunted, causing William to laugh.

“She’s a tough one, my Lydia. I don’t think she’ll ever consider anyone good enough for our son.” He turned and looked at her. His eyes were the same smoky blue as Grayson, and she felt as if he were looking straight into her heart with the piercing knowledge she saw there. “But Grayson is smart enough to know when a woman is good enough for him.” He stated. “You know Margaret was good for him, and more importantly, you know you are as well.”

She bent her head down, willing the tears not to fall and give her away. “I never knew them together, obviously, but I knew Maggie, and any man would have been lucky to be loved by her. She loved Grayson very much.”

“And you?” He asked.

She lifted her chin to look at him. The understanding she saw in his eyes crumbled the last of her will, and warm tears rolled down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t get the words past the lump in her throat. William reached into his pocket and pulled out a monogramed handkerchief. Handing it to her, he silently watched her, waiting.

“I did … I do,” she mumbled. “But I blew it. I committed the ultimate sin as far as Grayson is concerned.” She met his eyes. “I didn’t believe in him.” She wiped her eyes as another flow of tears began. “I questioned his motives, and even worse, his true feelings for not only myself, but Maggie, and Ryan as well.”

“Is that unforgiveable?” he asked her seriously.

She nodded her head. “He’ll never see me in the same way again.”

“Never say never, Alexis.” He smiled at her.

She laughed nervously. “How did we get onto this subject?”

“You were asking me about Margaret.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” she folded the handkerchief on her lap. “You only met her once, you said. She never called you again, after Grayson was deployed?”

“No, she didn’t. That’s the baffling part. Lydia was about as warm and welcoming to Margaret as she was to you, but she and I were different. There was a spark in her. It wasn’t quite as bright and vocal as yours,” he laughed aloud. “But it was there. She’d lost her parents early on, and said I’d be the one she’d choose if she could pick an earthly replacement father. That girl had me wrapped around her little finger almost as tightly as she had my son.” He smiled at the memory.

“She was a wonderful woman,” Lexie agreed.

“She knew I cared for her. I called her right after I received my first call from Grayson in Iraq and he told me that she’d left him. It didn’t make sense to me. I knew she loved him. In fact, I called multiple times. The first couple I always got her voicemail but she never called back. The last time I called, the number had been disconnected.”

“She never told you she was pregnant?”

This time it was William’s eyes that welled with tears. “She didn’t. I honestly can’t understand why.”

“Did Grayson tell you why she broke off the relationship? That she was sick?” Lexie asked.

“He did.” William reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry for your loss as well.”

She nodded her head.

“You were with her?” He asked. “When she passed?”

“I was, yes.” She told him, remembering the day as if it were only yesterday. “She was holding Ryan. She loved that little boy.”

“And so do you.”

“Very much,” she said.

They both sat in silence for a while, watching the horses graze, and the wind blow through the trees, causing them to dance and sway.

“Grayson tells me you’re a volunteer at Nathan’s Hope.” William said. “That can’t be easy after your time with Maggie.”

“Nothing about cancer is easy,” she told him, “but I love that I can help, even in a small way.”

“And you are friends with Aimee Morrison? Or should I say, Aimee Lee now?” He asked.

“Yes, I am. I met Aimee when she was working as Emily’s assistant and I volunteered at the Charity Auction. She’s an amazing woman. I couldn’t be happier for both her and Emily, being reunited after all those years.”

“I made a trip out there the following year for the auction and couldn’t believe how happy Emily was. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone that radiant before.” William threw one leg over his knee and leaned back in the swing.

“You should have seen her at the wedding. She was breathtaking, even when she cried.” Lexie grinned.

“I take it you’ve heard the news about the engagement.”

Lexie’s eyes grew wide. “What engagement?”

“I’ve just received an announcement that Emily Sinclair will be marrying Robert Lund next spring.”

“What?” Lexie’s mouth dropped open. Closing it again, a grin spread across her face. “I knew it! I’m so happy for her.” Her eyes grew serious again and she spoke aloud, but to herself. “I wonder why I didn’t receive an announcement or why Aimee didn’t call me. She must be so excited that her Uncle Bob and her Mother found each other.”

“Maybe you did receive one, but you’re not home to get it, and I’m sure Aimee knows that you’re a bit distracted right now.” William patted her on the knee in a fatherly calming fashion.

She smiled at him and nodded her head. “You’re probably right.”

He stood up from the swing and turned to her. “It’s nice to witness someone finding love a second time in their life when they never thought they’d survive the loss of the first one.” He winked at her and walked back toward the house.

Somehow she didn’t think he was talking about Emily Sinclair.

After sending Ryan with Billy, the family’s long time barn foreman, to help with the evening feeding, he went in search of Lexie. He hadn’t seen her since returning from their ride this morning, and he wanted to make sure his mother hadn’t had her kidnapped and shipped off to Timbuktu. He laughed to himself as he pictured that scene. He should have known Lexie wouldn’t sit back quietly and let his mother walk over her. He couldn’t remember a time when his mother had been left speechless before this week.

He spotted her walking toward the creek, and hurried his steps to catch up to her. Reaching her side, he interrupted an apparently deep conversation she was having with herself.

“Where have you been all day?” he asked her. “Just walking around talking to yourself?”

She smiled sarcastically and replied, “No, actually, I spoke to a couple of the horses, bonded with a very inquisitive squirrel, and even found time to talk to your father.”

“Wow, you’ve been chatty,” he laughed. “Mind if I tag along on your walk?”

“No, I’d like that,” she said, her heart rate increasing just being beside him. “Where’s Ryan?”

“He’s helping Billy feed the horses. That boy is crazy about horses. I hope Little League will be enough when we get home.” He chuckled.

“He seems to be having a great time, and your father is so good with him,” she said, stepping over a low rock wall and cutting across toward the river.

“My father’s a good man. I think he’s pretty happy that he’s a grandfather, even if it was a bit of a shock.” He held out his hand to her and helped her step down from one of the large rocks along the riverbank.

“I think so too.” She smiled at him and sat down on one of the flatter boulders. “He seemed genuinely shocked that Maggie didn’t contact him about the baby.”

Grayson plopped down onto the rock beside her, stunned that his father would tell her that. “When did you speak to my father about Maggie?”

“Earlier today,” she answered, her brow creased with confusion. “Are you upset that we spoke, or upset that we spoke about Maggie?” she snapped.

He studied her for a moment before replying. Realizing she was defensive, he answered carefully. “I don’t have any problem with you talking to my father, and certainly no issues with you discussing Maggie, I was just surprised.”

She picked up a small rock and tossed it into the water. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. I need to know why Maggie died thinking Ryan would be alone, and why she never told your family. I also can’t understand why she never mentioned your family to me. Not to mention she thought you were dead. Somebody knows something around here.”

“You’re not the only one with unanswered questions, Lexie.” His voice rose, anger boiling beneath the surface.

Her eyes fluttered down. “That’s not what I meant … I just … ”

“You just what, Lexie? You believe there is some big conspiracy to keep me separated from my son? That someone maliciously kept the truth from me?” His voice was venomous.

Looking at the surprise in her eyes, he stood up, ashamed at himself for taking his frustration out on her. He knew deep down he wondered the same thing, and worse, wondered if it could be someone in his own family.

“I’m sorry, Lexie. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” He kicked at a loose rock beneath his boot. “I don’t have the slightest idea how to figure this out, what questions to ask and of whom.”

She didn’t respond and continued to intently study the long blade of grass she’d picked out of the cracks between the rocks. He turned to leave, but stopped at the quiet question she asked him.

“Were you angry enough with Maggie to knowingly let her believe you were dead?”

Grayson took a moment to control the sudden surge of pain that shot through him, afraid it would release itself in an angry response. He turned to look at her, and was surprised by the pain he saw resonating in her eyes. “No,” he answered her honestly, “I wasn’t. I loved her and no matter how much she’d hurt me, I could never do something like that.”

“I think I knew that,” she told him, before turning her head away. “I’m sorry I felt I had to ask. You didn’t deserve that.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said and waited for her to look at him. “But for what it’s worth, I get it. She was your friend.”

Tears rolled down Lexie’s face stopping his retreat. “I miss her.”

He sat back down beside her and putting his arm around her shoulder, pulled her to his side, and let her cry on his shoulder. The breeze carried her scent and the heat from her body seeped into him, hitting him like a fist punch to his gut. He wasn’t convinced he’d ever be able to get her out of his system, and worse, his heart.

Sitting up, she wiped her face, and smiled weakly. “Sorry about that. You have mascara all over your shirt.”

“Not the first time,” he said with a chuckle. Growing serious, he rubbed the small of her back. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just been an emotional month or so, to say the least.” She turned to him, her faint smile drawing into a thin line. “Did you know Darla Mae had a half-brother?”

“Wow, that was quite the subject change.” Grayson shook his head. “What are you talking about? Darla Mae was an only child.”

“No, she wasn’t,” she told him. “Her father was married before Darla Mae’s mother, and they had a son.”

“That’s not right,” he said, sounding less convinced then he’d intended. “I would know if she had a brother.” Wouldn’t he?

“It’s true,” she said defiantly. “Obviously, Darla Mae is better at keeping secrets than you know.”

“What does that mean?” he asked her, surprised by the cautious tone in his voice.

“Nothing,” she stood up, her face red. “Forget I said anything.”

When she turned to walk away, he stood up and reached for her arm. “Lexie, wait.”

She jerked her arm back causing her to lose her footing on the rocks. She flailed her arms, trying to grab hold of something to break her fall. Grayson reached out to catch her. Unable to keep his balance, the two of them splashed into the cold river together.

Grayson sat up in the shallow water, and wiped his wet hair back from his eyes. He looked over at Lexie, who sat sputtering beside him. Her expression was a combination of shock and embarrassment until she met his eyes. A small giggle escaped from her throat and before long she was holding her stomach, laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her face.

“I can’t believe you pulled me in with you,” he said, splashing her. “You did that on purpose.” He tried to sound serious, but her laughter was contagious, and he found himself laughing as hard as she was.

His laughter died away when he noticed she was bleeding. Instinctively he reached over to her and lifted her shirtsleeve to see where she was hurt.

“It’s only a scratch, Grayson,” she told him still smiling. “I’m in much better shape than your cell phone.” She lifted what used to be his cell phone from the water. “I think this broke your fall,” she added, stifling another giggle.

“I should’ve just stepped aside and let you fall in without helping you. It would serve you right for throwing a temper tantrum.” He told her in a stern tone, but the twitching corners of his mouth made it impossible for him to appear serious.

“Temper tantrum?” she said incredulously. “I was not throwing a tantrum of any sort. I simply lost my balance.” She turned her face away and dramatically stuck her nose into the air.