I’d never met Grandpa Charles, but I did recall dad telling us a story of how his father worked away from home when he was young.
“So, I chose to stay,” explained Carol. “The station paid all of Charles accommodation and living expenses, so we did okay. But it was lonely. Yes, I had friends, but it was difficult being a single mother in the 1960’s. Plus I was young. I had needs.”
“You sure did.”
Carol sneered, her frown full of disdain.
“You have no idea what it was like,” she snapped. “Charles and I were still married, but our relationship was in tatters. It was difficult maintaining a marriage when he was away from home for nearly twelve months at a time. And it’s not like he was faithful to me either.”
That was far more than I ever wanted to know about my grandparents.
“Carol, we’re not here to upset you,” Matt soothed, placing his hand on her arm. “We just need information so I can find Darryl.”
She turned her watery eyes towards him and gave a curt nod.
“Who was the father?” he asked.
“He was my neighbor. And before you ask, yes he was married and already had five children.”
“What was his name?”
She went to speak, but hesitated.
“I guess I can tell you as not long after Charles came home, he took his family and moved away.”
Matt leaned forward on the edge of his chair, his eyes glued to her lips.
“His name was Michael St James.”
Matt hurriedly scribbled the name in his notebook.
“The baby stayed in Westport?” I asked.
“Yes. I knew the family who adopted him. They agreed to keep my secret in exchange that I would never contact the child or let him know I was his mother.”
I bit back my words and touched my stomach. As much as I was angry for what had happened, I knew giving that child up would have been the hardest thing Carol had ever done.
“Michael didn’t want to be a father again?” I asked, a touch more sympathetically.
“He never knew. It wouldn’t have been fair to him. Or to his wife. I took Bill and moved to my sister’s in Littlebrook. I stayed there until I was due.”
“And Grandpa never suspected.”
“Why would he? I told him I was struggling to stay in the house alone and my sister offered for me to stay with her while he was away. I rented the house out temporarily and returned when I’d had the baby.”
Grannie Carol was a lot more manipulative than I ever gave her credit for.
“Have you ever heard from Darryl?”
“No. I kept my promise to the couple who adopted him. They changed his name and he was raised as theirs.”
“So, what is his name now?” I asked, as Matt scribbled in his notebook.
“Lewis. Darryl Lewis.”
“And you never saw him again?” Matt asked.
“No. I needed to wipe him from my memory, and I couldn’t do that if I saw him or kept a track of him. He lived with me for a week before they took him and that was hard enough. I accepted what I had, loved Bill with all my heart and made a vow to myself to make my infidelity up to Charles, and be a good wife. I’ll have you know I succeeded. No one knew about the baby. My secret was kept safe. Until now,” she finished through gritted teeth.
“That’s what happens when you keep secrets.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her defiantly. How dare she put this on us?
“Molly,” Matt warned with a single glare, before turning back to Carol. “I just wanted to know who my father was.”
“And you’re certain it’s my Darryl?”
“I’m almost positive my mother fell pregnant to Darryl Lewis. Have you been to your doctor and asked for the DNA test yet?” Matt queried. “If they have your DNA to match against mine then we’ll know for sure.”
“Then I’ll be certain to get that done. But what should I tell my doctor? He’ll want to know why I’m being DNA tested.”
“Just tell him you’re helping me with a genealogy story.”
“You’ll keep this quiet the both of you?”
“You’ll have to tell dad,” I threw in.
“I do not need to tell your father. If you would just do the right thing and end the pregnancy, there’s no reason he will ever have to know.”
“Are you kidding?” I stood, outrage making it difficult to sit.
“I certainly am not. Do you know what it will do to that man if he learns the truth?”
“Yeah, he’ll be disappointed and start to question what he really knows about you.”
“I was talking about the grandbabies you’re carrying. When he learns the truth about you and Matt, what do you think that will do to him? Do you think he’ll love those children the same way?”
Dad flashed through my mind. The way he loved me, the times he’d held me tight when I’d needed him, and the way he would be there for me no matter what. “Yes. He will love them the same. Because that’s the kind of man he is. What he’ll think of you though, is out of my control.”
I spun on my heel and headed for the door, not bothering to check if Matt was following me.
“Molly!” Grannie Carol called after me. “Molly! I beg you to think this through.”
I opened the door and stormed into the heat, throwing over my shoulder, “I already have!”
My legs started to shake and I knew I couldn’t stop fearing they would give out on me. Instead I held my head high, restrained my tears and fumbled in my bag for the car keys.
Once inside the car, I dropped my head to the steering wheel and allowed the shaking to take hold of me.
It was as Matt flung the passenger door open and dropped himself on the seat, that I looked up and saw a flash from the nearby bushes.
I squinted to see where it came from, when a second flash of light sparked. I knew that flash, and if I had to guess I’d say it came from a Canon Speedlight. I had the same on-camera flash in my own bag of tricks.
I blinked to clear my vision, and looked to see who was behind it, but whoever it was had disappeared into the nearby bushes.
Chapter Eleven
I didn’t know if it was hormones, stress, or the fact Harper had snored the entire night, but I’d had the worst night’s sleep for a long while. I’d even put the air conditioning on as I’d read a cooler body temperature made you sleep better. I think they were making that up, because all it did was cause me to add a second blanket, and then I’d broke out in a sweat.
According to my app I was at the seven-week mark which meant the baby was the size of a red pill from the matrix. As I’d never seen the movie, I had no idea how big that was, and I made a note to look it up. Apparently, most of the growth was in the head and new brain cells were being generated at an alarming rate. Okay, I needed to eat well today and remain calm as it was imperative the brain developed properly.
As if I needed any more stress.
I wrapped a towel around me and walked to the wardrobe, ready to pick out today’s outfit. Bypassing jeans, I chose a summery dress that made me feel pretty and I wouldn’t need to pop any buttons on. Slipping it on, I placed my gorgeous Jimmy Choo’s on the shoe shelf and opted for sandals. One day of tempting varicose veins was all I could deal with.