The Truth (24 page)

“Where did you get that?” Darla Mae barked, her lips curled back in a snarl. “Give that back.”

Lexie shook her head in disgust.

“Did you follow me?” Darla Mae snapped.

Choosing to ignore her question, Lexie asked one of her own. “Who were you talking to on the phone? Who’s in on this with you?”

Shock registered in her expression before she buried it with her false sarcastic smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I wonder if William and Lydia would know. I’ll just wait and ask them,” Lexie said, stepping around her.

Darla Mae tackled her from behind, sending them both tumbling onto the hallway carpet. Lexie gripped the box tightly against her chest, while Darla Mae tried to rip it from her arms.

“What’s in this for you, Darla Mae? Revenge? Some weird twisted feelings you harbor for Grayson? What makes somebody go to so much trouble to keep a couple apart?” Lexie asked her all the while keeping a tight grip on the box.

Darla Mae managed to get Lexie onto her back and straddled her to hold her there. “Give me the damn box, Lexie. I mean it!”

“No,” Lexie told her calmly.

“You meddling bitch. You don’t know who you’re messing with.” Her normally milky white face was now blood red with rage. “My brother — ”

Darla Mae tried to stop herself, but Lexie was now sure who’d been on the other end of the phone. “I thought so,” she said arrogantly. She saw the surprise on Darla’s face, and pushed for more information, baiting her. “You think I didn’t know you had a half-brother? I know a lot about you, Darla Mae.”

“Well, good, then I don’t have to waste my time explaining the small details to you,” she sneered. “This family owes us. My brother and I just want what’s ours.”

Lexie wanted to keep her talking, but knew she had to keep hold of the box at all costs. “What exactly do you believe is yours? Grayson?”

“I don’t give a damn about Grayson, I just want the money that’s owed to me and he was a means to an end.” Darla Mae flexed her lips dismissively. “He never knew what was good for him anyhow. Falling all over himself for stupid, worthless girls who would never appreciate him.”

“Like you do?” Lexie baited her.

“I appreciate him in my own way, yes.” Darla Mae leaned down bringing her face inches from Lexie’s. “That silly brainless dancer hit the jackpot though. She got herself knocked up with a belly full of cash. I fixed that,” she said through clenched teeth. “Then you show up, with the brat in tow, and Grayson foaming at the mouth over you.”

“You planned on keeping his child a secret and then what, having one of your own?” Lexie asked with disgust.

“She said it was his kid, but hell, it could have been anyone’s.”

Lexie felt her stomach clench and her hands ball up as she struggled to keep the box in a tight grip. “You knew it was his, or you wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble to keep it from him,” she said logically.

“She dumped him; she didn’t deserve a second chance.”

“That must have pissed you off,” Lexie continued. “She had the man you wanted wrapped around her finger and she just dumped him.”

“She didn’t deserve him.” Darla Mae seemed to relax a little. “Then she shows up here trying to find him, to share the ‘good news.’ I’ll be damned if I let that little tramp ruin everything I’d worked so hard for.”

Darla Mae no longer realized they were lying in the middle of the hallway floor. Her eyes were glassy and distant and more than a bit crazed.

“So you told her that Grayson had died,” Lexie stated rather than asked.

“She dropped the letter she was holding, turned on her heels and walked away, just like that,” Darla Mae said with revulsion. “Then she shows up here the following day wanting to pay her respects to his parents. Give me a break, like they’d want to see her even if he was dead,” she snorted.

All the pieces were beginning to fall into place. “So you told her they didn’t want to see her and sent her on her way again.”

Lexie didn’t think Darla Mae even remembered who she was talking to as she continued on with her wild story.

“Then she sends a letter telling them about the baby and I responded to her telling her we don’t want anything to do with it.”

“You responded for them?” Lexie asked, trying to keep her disdain from coming through in her tone.

“Yeah, they had enough to worry about with Grayson getting shot in Iraq. They didn’t need some money grubber coming around,” she justified. “Then she sends another letter with a picture; have mercy, what did it take to get through to this girl?” She shook her head. “I had to race to check the mail every day for over a year to keep her letters from them and Grayson’s from her. It was exhausting, but necessary.”

“Why do they owe you, Darla Mae? What did they do to you?” Lexie asked trying to sound sympathetic.

Darla Mae seemed to snap out of her trance, and glared at Lexie with hate-filled eyes. “They took everything from me.” She reached for the box and tried to pry Lexie’s fingers away. “I won’t let you ruin this, now give me the damn box,” she screamed.

“It’s too late, Darla Mae,” Lexie said trying to sound confident. “The jig is up, shall we say.”

Darla Mae grew angrier and more insistent on taking the box from her. She shrieked and fought, leaving fingernail scratches along Lexie’s chest and arms, but she wasn’t letting go.

Grayson raced up the stairs, obviously hearing Darla Mae’s shouting. He paused, seeming shocked by the scene in the hallway.

“Get her off me,” Lexie yelled.

With what appeared to be no effort at all, Grayson lifted Darla Mae off her and set her feet onto the floor before helping Lexie up.

“What the hell is going on here?” Grayson asked sharply.

Lexie turned to him, “Nothing, can you wait for me downstairs? I need to talk to you.”

He stared at her mutely for a minute, and then at Darla Mae. He seemed concerned, and more than a little confused, but with a small nod of his head, he walked back down the stairs.

Lexie turned to Darla Mae. “I recommend you get your things together quickly. For your own safety you will want to be gone before Grayson finds out what you’ve done.”

With those final words, she marched into her room and shut the door behind her.

Lexie showered with the bathroom door locked and the box sitting within arm’s reach outside the shower door. She’d needed a minute to gather her thoughts, but after standing under the steaming hot water for close to twenty minutes, she still had no idea where to begin when she spoke to Grayson and his parents.

She slipped into her favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt, threw on a light sweater and a comfortable pair of flats. Tonight, she didn’t care what Lydia thought of how she dressed. This was her and Lydia would just have to deal with it. Besides, after their talk she couldn’t imagine Lydia would remember or care what she’d been wearing.

She pulled her wet hair around and braided it, letting it fall down over her right shoulder. Taking a minute to study herself in the mirror, she took a deep breath, picked up the metal box and walked from the room. This time she looked over her shoulder repeatedly, making sure nobody was in waiting to jump her from behind. Once had been enough for her.

She found Grayson and his father in one of the cozy sitting rooms, each sipping from a brandy snifter. They both looked up at her anxiously when she walked into the room. It was obvious Grayson had told his father about the scuffle he’d broken up between her and Darla Mae.

“Lexie, are you okay?” Grayson asked her, rising from the sofa and walking to her.

“I’m fine,” she answered. “Will you two wait here for me? I need to talk to you both.”

“Of course,” William said, his eyes squinting curiously.

“I’ll be right back.” Without releasing her grip on the box, she walked from the room to check on Ryan and to find Lydia.

Hearing Ryan’s laughter from the kitchen, she walked down the hall and through the swinging door. She froze, her mouth dropping open in astonishment. Ryan was sitting at the kitchen table with Lydia, playing a game of Go Fish.

Lydia looked up at her and gave her a warm smile. “He’s good at this game, I don’t think I stand a chance of winning against him,” she said.

“Grandma learned fast,” Ryan told her before asking Lydia for a seven and grinning widely when she handed him two and called him a little stinker.

Had Ryan really just called her grandma? Had she imagined the previous week, or was she imagining now? She closed her eyes and shook her head as if to clear her sight. No, she wasn’t imagining things. She’d opened her eyes to the same scene she’d witnessed before she’d closed them.

“Were you looking for Ryan?” Lydia asked her.

Lexie had to stop and think about her question for a moment. “Um yes, and you too,” she said, sounding unsure even to herself. “I needed to talk to you and thought maybe Ryan would like to go help Billy feed the horses.”

Ryan grinned from ear to ear, set his cards on the table face up and raced from his chair to get his “pointy boots” on. Lexie stopped and studied Lydia’s expression, surprised by the amount of joy she saw. Who was this woman, and what had she done with Lydia?

“I’m glad you’re here, I wanted to speak to you also,” Lydia said, coming around the table. “I wanted to thank you for what you did.”

Lexie eyed her suspiciously. “What I did?”

Lydia nodded her head. “For being honest with me. For making me see how many blessings I’d been overlooking, and for raising my grandson.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’s a wonderful, happy little boy.”

Lexie, needing to sit down, pulled out Ryan’s abandoned chair and began to drink his warm milk. His half-full glass was sitting next to an almost empty plate of cookies. “Are those chocolate chip cookies?”

Lydia actually blushed. “They are. I’ve never baked anything in my life, but Ryan is a great teacher.”

Lexie gasped. “You baked?” Her eyes grew wide. “With Ryan?”

Lydia smiled, seeming a little embarrassed. “I know, it’s crazy don’t you think?”

“Lydia, what is going on with you?” Lexie looked at her with her brows knit. “You’re in the kitchen, playing Go Fish and baking cookies with my son,
and
he’s calling you Grandma. I don’t understand.”

Lydia bowed her head for a moment, and when she looked up at Lexie, she had a sheen of tears in her eyes. “You were right — about everything. I have been cold, and very selfish. William reminded me of the way my parents had disapproved of him when I brought him home. He was a ranch hand and I was the only child in a very wealthy family. They expected me to marry up, to look at it as a business arrangement, not to fall in love with a man who worked in their barns. I don’t know how I couldn’t see that I was behaving in the exact same manner they had, or remember how it felt knowing they were so wrong. I swore I would never be like my mother and instead, I was worse. I’ve been unfair to my son, to my husband, and extremely unkind to you. But I want a fresh start, a chance to do things right with my grandson. I don’t want to make the same mistakes.”

Lexie didn’t respond. She was amazed by what she was hearing.

“I lost my chance to apologize to Maggie, but I hope you will accept my very humble apology, and try to forgive the horrible things I’ve said. I’d very much like a chance to get to know you, and to be a part of Ryan’s life.”

Lexie was surprised when her own eyes filled with tears. “Of course, Lydia, I’d never keep you from Ryan, and I accept your apology. I hope you’ll accept mine as well. I was out of line in the way I spoke to you earlier.”

Lydia walked to her and placed her palm against Lexie’s cheek. “You don’t owe me an apology. You were right. In fact, I should thank you for the things you said. I needed to hear them. I’ve spent years believing I had to behave a certain way, maybe it was the way I was brought up, I don’t know, but I don’t want to be that woman. It won’t be easy for me to change, especially at this stage of my life, but I want to try.”

Lexie smiled at her, and attempted to lift her arm to wipe her eyes when she realized she was still clutching the box beneath her arm.

“Do you have a minute? I need to talk to all of you. William and Grayson are waiting in the sitting room.”

Lydia nodded her head, her eyes curious, and followed her into the other room. Once everyone was seated, silently waiting for her to speak, she couldn’t remember how she wanted to tell them, or what she would say. She stood there with her mouth open, like a sucker fish against a glass aquarium.

“Lexie, are you all right?” Grayson asked her, beginning to rise from his seat on the sofa.

She nodded her head and waved her hand instructing him to stay seated. “I don’t know where to begin, so bear with me if I sound a bit crazy.”

All three of them nodded and sat watching her with curiosity.

“I’ve been struggling to understand everything that happened after Grayson’s deployment and prior to Maggie’s death.” She swallowed, and cleared her throat. “So much of it didn’t make sense to me.” She looked down at the box in her lap and ran her fingers over the dusty metal surface. “Through some snooping I’m not exactly proud of, I believe I finally have the pieces that have been missing.”

Grayson leaned forward, confusion and relief each taking turns with his expression. “What pieces?” he asked.

William reached over and patted his son’s knee. “Let her finish, son.”

Lexie’s eyes locked onto Grayson’s. She wanted to tell him, to reassure him that they’d all been victims of a horrible scheme, but she knew he would have to mourn again. He would know Maggie tried to reach out to him and both of them were lied to. She knew her words would hurt him, and she wanted to protect him.

“Lexie, please … ” he begged.

She had to tell him, she had no choice. He deserved the truth after all these years.

“It was Darla Mae. She was the one behind everything,” she finally blurted out.

Lydia gasped and William looked at her like she’d lost her mind. But Grayson stood up, anger surging through him. “What do you mean?”

“When Maggie discovered she was pregnant, she came here.” Lexie looked from William to Lydia. “She wanted to tell you both in person, and to find out how to reach Grayson. Instead, she ran into Darla Mae. She told Maggie that Grayson died in Iraq.”