The Truth (23 page)

To his complete surprise, she leaned forward and hugged him, her face pressed to the nook between his neck and shoulders as she cried, and repeated “I’m sorry” over and over again.

Grayson didn’t know what to say or how to react. It felt foreign to him, holding her, rubbing her back, comforting her. He finally managed, “Mother, what happened? Why are you so upset?”

Sitting up, she took a couple of deep hitching breathes, struggling to speak. “Lexie … she … said some things … ”

He frowned and drew his brows together. “What things?”

“That I was cold, jealous, and a terrible mother.” She began to cry again.

Grayson stood up, suddenly angry that Lexie would hurt his mother this way. “I’m sorry she spoke to you that way. She shouldn’t have. I’ll speak to her,” he said, frustration evident in his tone.

He turned to leave.

“Grayson, wait,” his mother called out.

He stopped and turned back around.

“She was right,” his mother said softly. “About all of it.”

Grayson’s mouth hung open in amazement for a moment before he snapped it closed. “What?” he asked suspiciously.

His mother laughed. A genuine sound that had him wondering if he’d just entered the twilight zone.

“She’s a smart girl. Mouthy and short fused, but smart.”

“Lexie?” Grayson stuttered. “I mean, I know she’s smart,” he shrugged his shoulders, “and mouthy, and difficult, and stubborn, and untrusting, and — ”

“Grayson,” his mother smiled, “if you look deeply enough, you’ll realize those are some of the reasons you love her.”

Now he knew he was in another dimension or time. Either that or he was on some strange new candid camera or punked show.

“Mother, what has gotten into you? First you’re crying, which never happens, second you hug me, which again, is not normal, but now … now you’re in some strange way giving me relationship advice?” Grayson sat down in the rocker beside her, his eyes staring blindly into the afternoon sun.

Her voice grew faint, pained, and somehow genuine. “I’m sorry Grayson, for everything. For not trusting your judgment when it came to your heart, for not opening up to you so you could know how much I do care for you.” She lowered her head, tearing her eyes away from his. “For not opening my arms to your son,” she sniffled. “And for not being kind to Maggie, or to Lexie.”

He watched her, struggling to recognize the woman in front of him as his mother. She raised her tear-stained eyes to his.

“I’m sorry about the years you’ve lost with Ryan,” she said, reaching out and taking hold of his hand against the armrest.

He sat in silence, a million thoughts racing through his mind as he tried to take in everything she’d said to him.

“I’d like to start over, you and me. If that’s something you believe is possible,” she said, sounding needy and insecure.

He placed his other hand over hers. “I’d like that very much.”

The sat in silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts. He watched her, rocking slowly with a smile of content on her face. He hated to do it, but he had to know and he knew there’d never be a time he’d get a more truthful answer from his mother.

“Mother, did you know Maggie was pregnant?”

Turning to him, he was surprised by the amount of genuine understanding in her eyes. “No, Grayson, I didn’t, but I wish I had. I can’t help but wonder if I wouldn’t have been so unkind to her, would she have felt comfortable coming to us. Maybe if she had, you wouldn’t have missed such valuable time with him.”

He nodded, relieved she hadn’t known and touched by her honesty.

“Thank you for your forgiveness, Grayson.” She rose from her chair to leave. “Maybe you should find it in your heart to forgive someone else you love as well.” With that, she turned and walked away.

Lexie closed her eyes and breathed in the comforting scent of pine, moss, and wildflowers. She could hear the birds in the tree above her and opened her eyes to watch a squirrel shimmy up the trunk of a nearby tree. After her “chat” with Lydia, well not a chat per say, more like a cleansing, she’d taken a walk to clear her head.

She’d slipped into a grove of trees toward the back of the property and settled down in the grass beneath a large oak tree. What she needed was a little quiet. A little time to think, to process the information she did have and try to figure out a way to find the answers to the questions still nagging her.

Why had Maggie kept Grayson’s family a secret from her? She could honestly say she hadn’t asked about his family when they were discussing Ryan, but she’d assumed they didn’t exist when they hadn’t been mentioned.

Maggie was a huge family advocate, having lost her own at a young age. That was the part that made it harder to understand. Having met Lydia, she could understand Maggie wanting a bit of distance from her, but William was wonderful and seemed to have genuinely liked Maggie. That, combined with the fear of Ryan going into the system … It just didn’t make sense.

Or had she been so hurt when she’d learned of Grayson’s death that she couldn’t be reminded of him? No, that couldn’t be it either. Maggie would never put any selfish emotion over Ryan and family, of that she was sure. She wondered what Maggie would think of her and Grayson. Would she be happy for them? Would she feel betrayed? She smiled to herself, no, she would be glad they were together. She’d be happy that Grayson found someone, and that he’d found his son. Maggie would also be angry at the both of them for the mess they’d made of things.

Lexie reached over and picked a wild daisy growing in a bunch in front of her. Thinking about Grayson, their situation, his loss of Maggie, and wondering about her place in all this, she plucked one of the petals and let it fall to the ground. “He loves me,” she said. Picking another petal she continued, “He loves me not.” She pulled another, “He loves me … ” Hearing the snap of twigs, she stood up preparing herself to run if she came across a wild animal of some sort. Instead, she saw the flash of blonde hair walking through the trees. It wasn’t possible, Darla Mae, walking through the woods? The girl never ceased to surprise her.

Lexie let her walk ahead but made sure she could still see her before she slowly followed behind her. She quickly stepped behind a tree when Darla Mae’s cell phone rang and she stopped to answer it.

Her voice sounded exasperated. “I did. He threw me out. Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?”

Lexie peeked around the tree and saw Darla Mae run a hand through her hair, and bend her head in what appeared to be defeat.

“He said it would never happen; that I was like his sister. That was after he called me Lexie.” She snapped. “I threw myself at him and he was hoping I was someone else.”

She was talking about last night with Grayson. Lexie felt a warmth spread through her. He’d wanted her to come to him.

“What?” Darla Mae shrieked into the phone. “Please don’t ask me to do that. There has to be another way.” She grew silent again. “Yes, I have it hidden. I was on my way to make sure it was safe when you called.”

Now what was she talking about, Lexie wondered.

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one seducing someone old enough to be your father. This isn’t fair, there has to be another way,” she said again.

Seducing an older man? Grayson was only a few years older than Darla Mae, so who was she talking about?

“I’m sure. He’s so excited about this brat, he’ll be furious with her when he finds it.” She drew in a breath. “Okay, I get it. Consider it done.”

Lexie stayed hidden as Darla Mae clicked her phone closed and headed deeper into the trees. Again, she tiptoed behind her, carefully avoiding any twigs or branches that could give her away. Where was she going?

Darla Mae stopped, forcing Lexie to jump behind a fallen log and lay silently on the ground. Darla Mae stood still, looking nervously over her shoulders and turning around to be sure no one was behind her. Lexie realized she’d landed in the perfect location to watch Darla Mae and avoid the chance of being discovered. She tried not to think about how foolish she must look laying behind a dead tree in the woods spying on a pampered southern princess.

Darla Mae crouched down and reached into a large knothole on the side of a tree. She pulled out a rusty metal box, wiped off the top and set it on her lap before opening it. From her hiding place she couldn’t make out what was inside, but the smirk on Darla’s Mae’s face told her that whatever she’d been “checking on” was still safe.

Darla Mae slipped the box back into the knot of the tree, looked around one last time, and walked back the way she’d come. Lexie lay still until she was sure Darla Mae would’ve had time to leave the wooded area. She walked over to the tree and removed the box. Sitting down at the base of the tree, she slowly opened it.

Inside were stacks of letters. The top letter was addressed to William and Lydia from Maggie. Lexie’s heart lurched and her hands shook as she pulled the letter from the envelope and stared at the newborn picture of Ryan.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter,

I want to start by telling you how sorry I am for your loss, and that I was unable to tell you personally when I came to see you. I’m sorry you felt my presence at the funeral would be too painful, but I wanted you to know I thought of you both that day, and pray your grief has eased, if only slightly. I received your letter and I was surprised to learn you didn’t want to be a part of our child’s life. I’ve tried to respect your wishes, but after looking into Ryan’s face and seeing so much of Grayson, I wanted to reach out one last time. We have relocated to a small town in California and I have included our address. I hope we hear from you.

Margaret

Lexie read the letter again, trying to understand what she was reading. It sounded to her that it was the Hunters who told Maggie that Grayson had died. William had been so insistent that he hadn’t seen her since she’d visited them with Grayson. She’d told them about Ryan, it was right here in black and white. She pulled the next letter from the box and saw that it was also from Maggie.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter,

I understand from your lack of response to my previous letters that you have decided not to pursue a relationship with your grandson. As much as this hurts my heart, I respected your wishes. But things have changed and forced me to reach out to you one more time. I’m sick, dying actually, and that will leave Ryan alone. The thought of him being placed in the system with the possibility of being moved from home to home with no stability scares me. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever asked of anyone, but could you find it in your heart to open your lives to this innocent little boy? You’re all the family he will have left and he deserves to live a full happy life filled with love. I’m not sure how much time I have left, so please understand the importance of making this decision as quickly as possible.

Margaret

Tears streamed down Lexie’s cheeks as she read the desperation in her friend’s request. Had they received this letter and chose to turn their backs on Ryan? That would devastate Grayson. Why had she followed Darla Mae? What was she supposed to do with this information? Arching her brows, it suddenly dawned on her — Darla Mae had these letters hidden inside a tree. Had it been her all along who kept Grayson from his son? If so, why?

She pulled out the next letter, addressed to Grayson and marked personal, but without an address. It had been opened, and Lexie felt uneasy as she unfolded the soft pink paper.

My dearest Grayson,

I know I have no right to contact you after leaving you the way I did. I’m sorry for any pain I’ve caused you. Please know it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I had the best of intentions with my decision to set you free, although knowing you the way I do, you will disagree with me. Shortly before your deployment, they told me I have cancer. Loving you the way I do, I couldn’t risk your safety if you were distracted with worry over me. I can hear you now, shouting what I fool I am and how selfish I was to make that decision for you. I’m right, aren’t I, that’s exactly what you did. I need you to stop being angry and focus on what I have to tell you next. Baby, we’re pregnant. I swear I didn’t know at the time, but now that I do, I’m over the moon with the happiness of it. I don’t want to be without you, and I want us to be a family. Please forgive me for letting you go, and come home to us safely. I don’t know how to reach you, but I’m going to drop in on your family to share our news, and I will have them send this letter to you. Please contact me at the address below. I pray for you every minute of every day and can’t wait to hold you and lay our baby safely in your arms.

All my love,

Maggie

Grayson had never received this letter. Anger surged through her as she remembered Maggie laying Ryan in her arms instead of his father’s. Four years of Ryan’s life would have no memories of his father, and his father would have no memories of him. Spurred on by her anger, she dipped inside the box and realized the remaining letters were from Grayson to Maggie.

In the same way her letter had been without an address, so were his. It was becoming clear to her that they had relied on his parents to forward the mail to each other. Her only question now was how much did William and Lydia know, or — like Maggie and Grayson — were they victims of Darla Mae also?

Most importantly, exactly what was Darla Mae up to?

Lexie walked in through the back door with the metal box tucked under her arm. She wasn’t exactly sure how to handle the situation her nosiness had gotten her into, but she knew it would involve sitting the Hunters down together for a clear understanding of the events between Grayson’s deployment and Maggie’s death.

But first, she needed a shower, and to check on her son. Then, she was going to confront Darla Mae.

She wound up the stairs, her head reeling with unanswered questions. An angry growl behind her snapped her back from her reverie.