Bryce closed the distance between them and clasped her hands, pulling her up. “We shall read his letters tomorrow. Those questions need to be answered for your peace of mind.”
Holly enveloped Bryce into her embrace. “I’ve missed you, Bryce.”
“I have missed you, too, Holly.”
She lifted her head from his chest. “Why did you stay away?”
“I will tell you at another time. For now, let us deal with this incredible news.”
* * *
Holly closed her eyes and rested in the strong arms of Bryce Jarvis. She found strength and a calmness there. They’d hugged many times over the years but tonight, and the day Mother died, were different. She eased out of his embrace. “I should be getting back to the house. There’s so much to do.”
He caught her arm. “My mother will take care of it, Holly. Stay for one more moment, please.”
She paused. Had he felt the same emotions? Was their relationship about to change? Should it? He was her unofficial big brother. He’d given her advice about almost everything over the years—from how to ride a horse to how to know which boys to avoid. “What is it?”
“I just want you to know that I shall do whatever you need. Whatever, whenever.”
She knitted her eyebrows then relaxed. “You are right, tonight is not the time to discuss anything further.”
He flashed his incredible smile. She understood why his father had wanted him to be a lawyer. He could win over an entire jury box with that smile.
He escorted her back to the house. Inside she found the younger children were getting ready for bed. The older ones were cleaning up and finishing the dishes.
A gentle rap on the door caught everyone’s attention. Who could be arriving at such a late hour?
Bryce stepped forward and greeted the man. “Good evening, may I help you?”
“I came to pay my respects. Forgive me for the late hour. My train was delayed in Augusta. Is John Graham here?”
“Yes, sir. May I ask who’s calling?” Bryce asked.
“Emmett Landers.”
Holly’s face flushed hot, then cold. The room swirled.
Chapter 3
B
ryce caught Holly before her head hit the floor. He gathered her in his arms and carried her to the sofa.
“Chad, take your brothers home. Your mother and I will join you shortly,” his father ordered. He extended his hand to Emmett Landers. “It’s good to see you, old friend.”
John cleared his throat. “Old friend?”
“Yes, John. Emmett and I attended college together.”
Bryce watched John Graham control his emotions, then turn to his daughter. “Tiffany, would you make certain your brothers are down for the evening?”
“Yes, sir.” Tiffany gathered her soft blue dress and walked up the stairs. The room was empty of all the younger children.
“I didn’t mean to intrude, John. I tried to get here in time for the funeral.”
“I’m not angry with you, Emmett. At this point I would not know my best friend.”
Bryce stood. “Gentlemen, Mother, let’s sit down. Holly spoke with me earlier this evening, so I am aware of whom you are, Mr. Landers.”
Emmett Landers’ shoulders relaxed. He had strong shoulders and a body that said he did a lot of physical labor.
“Lloyd, why did you keep this from me?” John asked. “I mean, you knew about Emmett from Allison and me. Why keep your knowledge of Emmett a secret?”
“Attorney-client confidentiality, John.”
Holly moaned. Bryce knelt beside her. His mother handed him a glass of water. “Thank you.”
“Holly learned yesterday who you are, Emmett,” John offered.
Emmett Landers sat in the rocker. “Ah. Has she read my letter?”
“No, sir,” Bryce answered. “Not yet.”
Holly’s eyelids blinked open. “Can we go to Venice now?”
“Absolutely.” Bryce smiled.
“Venice?” The older adults echoed one another.
Holly sat up.
“Sip this.” Bryce handed her the tall glass of cool water.
“Thank you.” She sipped and scanned the others staring at her... Her father, Bryce’s parents and her other father. Her gaze lingered. “You are Emmett Landers?”
“Yes, and everyone in this room knows who I am.”
“Let’s tell the whole world! Shout it from the mountaintops. I have lived all my life believing a lie. Venice is sounding better by the moment.”
“Holly, I came to pay my respects. I did not intend to play havoc with your life. Is this young man your fiancé? Lloyd, is this your oldest son?”
“No, Emmett, we are good friends of the Graham family. Holly, your father is my client,” Lloyd clarified.
“You mean, both of my fathers are your clients?”
“Yes, I suppose that is true. Emmett had me draw up the annulment for his and Allison’s marriage.”
John looked over at Lloyd and raised his eyebrow, then relaxed his shoulders. “Forgive me for getting angry, Lloyd. It was not the best day to hear such news.”
Holly jumped up at that. “I cannot believe all of you. Does anyone have any idea how much this is hurting me? I lost my mother, and all I can think about is that I really didn’t know her. I have a father I never knew, who happens to have an empty grave in the cemetery where we buried my mother today.”
Holly shook her head, trying to clear the fog in her mind. “And then Momma was stuck between two men she loved and my first father decided to walk away from us, from me—only to return now. And I ought to believe that he cares for me? No word, not one single word!” Holly paced back and forth. “Take me to Venice, Bryce, please.”
Bryce came up beside her and wrapped her in his arms. “Excuse us.” Bryce led Holly out of the room, through the great hall and out the front door. They were in the carriage house in no time at all. “Holly, I shall take you wherever you want to go. However, I think now is not that time to run away from your past.”
“I know you are right. I don’t want to run away. I just need some time to absorb all this. So, your father has known this secret.”
“Apparently. Before the funeral today he asked me to clear my schedule and be ready to escort you on a possible trip to Tennessee. I need a few days to put my business affairs in order but after that I will be free to do whatever you need me to do.”
“Just be here for me, Bryce. I need a friend.”
“You know you can count on me.” He led her to a stack of hay bales and encouraged her to sit. “Would you like me to ready a carriage for a moonlight ride?” He bowed at the waist and pretended to remove an invisible cap. “My lady.”
Holly giggled despite herself. “No, thank you. I will face them in a few minutes. I want to figure out what I am going to do.”
“Nothing.” Bryce sat beside her. “Please understand... I am in the dark as much as you. But here is what I see went on. I am going to call everyone by their first names because ‘my father,’ ‘your father’ and ‘fathers’ is confusing.”
Holly agreed with a nod of the head.
“Emmett must have gone to his college friend, Lloyd, for legal advice about his marriage to Allison. Lloyd obviously drew up the annulment, and over the years he has been in touch with Emmett. How and why is a mystery at this point. My father...excuse me...Lloyd, being a man who will not break a confidence even for his good friends, never would have told John that Emmett was his client, even though at some point in time they must have changed your legal name to Graham.”
“You mean, my name might not be Graham? I suppose that is possible. Holly Landers. It doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily as Graham. Who am I?”
“You are who you have always been.”
“I do not feel that way.”
“Holly, give yourself some time to adjust to all this news. I myself am stunned, and it is not happening to me. And your beloved mother has just passed. I cannot imagine what you have been going through. I also believe that all four parents in there do care about you and are concerned for you.”
Holly sighed. “I know. And Momma said she loved Emmett and could not choose between him and John. I cannot imagine being forced to make that kind of a decision.”
“Nor I. On the other hand, Emmett seems to be a man of honor to sacrifice his wife and daughter for their best interest. From what I know of law, your mother and John’s marriage would not have been legal. The first marriage would be in effect. Emmett could have forced his wife to leave her second husband and return to Tennessee with him.”
“Poor Momma.”
“Your poor father. Can you imagine such a sacrifice?”
“No. My heart would be breaking.”
“As would mine. He must be quite a man.”
“And all I did was yell at him.”
Bryce chuckled. “I imagine your father Emmett would have seen that temper a time or two from your mom.”
Despite her grief and confusion, Holly laughed and swatted him on the shoulder.
Bryce rubbed it out. “You are the spitting image of your mother. Emmett must be experiencing déjà vu seeing you.”
“They must have been married at my age now,” Holly added. She leaned back against the bales of hay. The fresh-cut scent reminded her of the harvest. “Even if I somehow muster the courage to survive the next days, I think we might want to consider planning a trip to Venice. The idea of floating down the canals with a gondolier guiding us through the water streets sounds heavenly.”
Bryce leaned back on the hay. “Yes, it does. I would be happy to take you to Venice, under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You go as my wife.”
Holly’s eyes widened. Bryce couldn’t believe he’d said the words out loud. He wouldn’t take them back. “Holly, I asked your father to court you a couple years ago after I returned from college. He asked me to wait until you were twenty-one. This is why I haven’t been around much the past couple of years. I knew that if I spent any amount of time speaking with you, I would blurt out my desires.”
Holly smiled. Her eyes lit with excitement. “I am honored, and I would court you, even possibly marry you if my mother hadn’t just passed away. I need time, Bryce.”
“I know, and I won’t ask again until you tell me you are ready to answer the question, or you tell me to find another wife.”
Holly’s eyes widened. He pressed his finger to her lips. “Relax, Holly. I am not proposing marriage just yet.” He winked.
“You understand me well.”
“Shall we return and put those poor folks out of their misery?”
“Yes. But truthfully, I’d rather have them squirm for a bit longer.”
“They all know you. Emmett will, in time. You are quick to anger, yet let it go as easily as it flares up.”
“True.”
Bryce stood and offered his assistance.
“Shall we tell them we are engaged?” Holly teased.
“Not until I have had a chance to kiss you. Seems we have never gotten around to trying that.”
Holly turned and faced him. She closed her eyes and leaned into him.
He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and eased her away from him. “No, Holly, I will not kiss you tonight. When I kiss you it will be when there is no question in either of our minds. Tonight you are reacting from the loss of your mother, the confusion of meeting a father you never knew existed...not a love or desire for me.”
She opened her eyes and focused. “Thank you. I will need your strength. Forgive me. I am questioning God and His decisions.”
He led her back to the house. “Understandable. However, I shall pray for you.”
“Thank you, Bryce. I don’t believe I could make it through all of this without you.”
“I am honored. Shall we?” He held the door open for them to enter the great hall. Inside the sitting room they found their parents mourning the loss of Allison and worried about the turn of events that had impacted Holly. He pulled a straw of hay from Holly’s hair.
John Graham narrowed his gaze on Bryce. Bryce wanted to pull at the collar of his shirt and give his neck more breathable space.
“Forgive my outburst,” Holly offered. She turned to Emmett Landers. “And forgive me. I have not read your letter yet.”
“I understand. It has not been easy for me, either, but I have made a life for myself, and have a wife, and you have some additional brothers and sisters, as well. Mr. Jarvis has a packet of letters that were to be given to you on your twenty-first birthday but, given the circumstances, you may have them as soon as you are up to reading them.” Emmett Landers stood. “I shall depart for the evening. I will find a room in one of the hotels and send word as to where you can find me. I would enjoy a visit with you at some point, but only when you are ready. But know that I cannot stay long. I shall be in Savannah for two days. Lloyd and I have some business to attend to, as well.”
“You are welcome to stay here, Emmett,” John offered. Holly knew the gesture had to be difficult, but he was a good man. “There is plenty of room.”
“Holly?” Emmett asked.
“That would be fine.”
“Then I accept. Thank you, John.”
“Bryce, your mother and I are going to return home. Holly, Mrs. Jarvis will return in the morning and help with whatever is needed. Give yourself a couple of days to recover from your loss and this sudden knowledge.”
“Thank you. Thank you both. You have been so kind to us.”
“Our pleasure.” Cynthia Jarvis smiled and gave Holly a very motherly embrace. “I will be here first light. Do not fret about a thing.”
* * *
Holly sat on the chair next to her bed with Momma’s Bible on her lap. Inside were the two letters she still had to read. A part of her wanted to read them now, while another wanted to wait for Bryce. She traced the spine of the Bible with her finger then set it on the nightstand.
Instead, she reached for the book
Italy, Florence and Venice
by the French writer Hippolyte Taine and translated by John Durand. She opened to the worn bookmark, a token Bryce had made for her many years ago when she’d turned thirteen. She fingered the thin strip of leather, where Bryce had carefully hand-tooled holly leaves and berries on the front. She scanned down to the familiar passage.
April 21—A day in a gondola. It is necessary to wander about and see the whole.
Venice is the pearl of Italy. I have seen nothing equal to it. I know of but one city that approaches it—very remotely, and only on account of its architecture—and that is, Oxford...
Her eyes drifted down to the familiar words and settled on...
For the first time one admires not only with the brain, but also with the heart, the senses and the entire being. One feels fully disposed to be happy; one confesses that life is beautiful and good. All that is essential is to open the eyes, there being no need of effort; the gondola glides along insensibly, and, reclining in it, one wholly abandons himself physically and mentally. A bland and gentle breeze caresses the cheeks. The broad surface of the canal undulates with the rosy and white forms of the palaces asleep in the freshness and silence of dawn; everything is forgotten, profession, projects, self; one gazes, becomes absorbed, and revels as if suddenly released from life and soaring aerially above all things in light and in azure.
Holly closed her eyes and imagined the rest as the writer took the reader down the Grand Canal and through the various sights and sounds that made up this truly unique city of islands, marble and waterways. To be on a gondola and let life’s problems float away... How much would she give to have that peace in her life right now? To forget the past, the present and not even entertain a thought for her future. Was it normal to feel this way? Did the death of a parent cause one to want to flee? Or was it the disorienting deathbed confession of her mother?
A knot the size of a pecan hardened in the pit of her stomach. She replaced the leather bookmark, stood and returned the book to the shelf and shuffled numbly to her bedroom window. She stood there, paralyzed for a moment, uncertain as to whether or not to give in to her physical body and sleep, or to push away the haziness and grasp the reality of her life.
Dawn’s first light peaked a golden glow over the horizon. A foggy mist blanketed the calm water of the river. A new day was beginning. “Momma, I miss you. I wish you had told me years ago. Then perhaps you could have helped me through this. I know you said in your letter you hoped I would understand. But I don’t. I wish I did but...” She paused, not wanting to speak out loud words she would regret, even if they were spoken in the silence of her room.