The Truth (20 page)

Once Ryan was settled in his saddle and his stirrups were adjusted, his face beamed with joy. He leaned forward, rubbing and patting Abby’s neck. Grayson took hold of the reins, slowly leading them in a large circle in front of the barn, making sure Ryan knew the feel of the horse beneath him. He explained the use of the reins, and that Abby would know to follow along with their horses.

Ryan’s face was locked in serious concentration, his eyes taking in every move Grayson showed him. Grayson had to admit, he seemed like a natural horseman, just like William said.

Stopping them beside his father, Grayson handed the reins to Ryan, showing him how to hold them. He climbed onto the back of the horse and let Ryan lead as the three of them slowly made their way around the barn, and down the trail that cut through the pastures.

Ryan sat with his back straight, and his eyes wide with wonder. He turned and grinned at both of them. “Grayson, do you think we could live here instead of California? I want to be a cowboy instead of a cop.”

Grayson laughed, “I, however, am a cop in California, and your mom has her shop there. How about if we just make sure to visit often and work on your cowboy skills when we do?”

“How come the cowboy’s don’t wear hats and buckles and stuff?” Ryan asked.

“Ours is a bit different than a normal ranch.” William explained. “Here we raise and train race horses. We have jockeys instead of cowboys. But some of the workers still wear hats and buckles and stuff.”

Ryan shrugged his shoulders, “I think the cowboys are cooler.”

“You know what I think?” William added. “I think this young man is right and he needs a trip into town for some proper cowboy attire.”

“Do you mean like a cowboy hat and pointy boots?” Ryan asked with wide eyes.

“Exactly what I mean,” William clarified.

“Cool,” Ryan said, and turned his focus back to the trail in front of them.

When they reached the river that flowed through the back acres, they decided to stop and rest. The moment he’d dismounted Ryan raced to the rocks that jetted out across the water.

Sitting in the grass beside his father, Grayson shouted, “Be careful Ryan, those rocks can be slippery.” He laughed when his son turned and waved his hand dismissing the warning. Ryan was fearless, just like he’d been at his age.

William turned to Grayson. “I’m sorry about your mother’s behavior. I don’t understand what’s gotten into her lately.”

Grayson remained silent for a moment, trying to find the right way to word the question he really wanted to ask. “Dad, you didn’t know Maggie was pregnant did you?”

“How can you even ask that question?” His father asked, his eyes filled with hurt.

“You’re right, I apologize.” Grayson picked a piece of grass and busied his hands tying it into knots. “It’s just that none of this makes sense. Maggie believed I was dead, but where would she have gotten that idea? And when she got sick, why didn’t she come to you and Mother?”

“You’re going to have to catch me up. I still don’t know most of the story.”

Crossing his feet at the ankles and leaning back on his elbows, careful to keep Ryan in his sights, Grayson filled his father in on meeting Lexie, Maggie’s journals, and his disappointment in Lexie’s reaction to the discovery.

“You love this girl, don’t you?” His father asked.

“It wouldn’t matter if I did; it can never work out between us.” Grayson said, averting his gaze.

“Never say never, son. And for what it’s worth, I like her. She’s got spunk.” His father chuckled. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed dinner last night. I know your mother behaved horribly, but the retort from Lexie and your mother’s subsequent speechlessness was priceless.”

“She definitely has a way with words.” Grayson said, smiling at the memory.

“She’s a good mother, too. Something you need to think about,” his father added. “I just think it would be a shame for you to become an every-other-weekend parent when you’ve already missed so much time with him.”

“I won’t be an every-other-weekend father. That’s not even an option.” Grayson replied, his tone sharp. “I don’t want to talk about Lexie right now,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Ryan, that’s far enough,” he shouted. Turning back to his father, he said, “Can you think of who could have given Maggie the idea that I’d died in Iraq? I can’t think of anyone, and it would have to have been someone she would believe.”

“You’re asking me if I think your mother is capable of such a thing,” his father locked eyes with him. “I just can’t believe she is. I know she never approved of Maggie, and she all but threatened to kill herself if you married her, but to tell her you were dead … I think that’s even out of her realm of acceptable meddling.”

“Who could have told her something like that, lied to her like that?” Grayson shook his head. “I just can’t fathom where this information came from.”

His father reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “I can only imagine how frustrating it must be not to know, but in all honesty, does it really matter now?”

Grayson clenched his jaw. “It does if that person lied to her knowing she was pregnant with my son.”

“Jordan, I need a favor.”

“Of course you do, Lex,” her brother chuckled into the other end of the phone. “Let me guess, bail money?”

“Very funny,” she replied. “I’m serious.”

“So am I,” Jordan told her. “You’ve been with Darla Mae for over forty-eight hours now. I’m surprised it took you this long before you physically assaulted her.”

“Trust me when I tell you I’m amazed by own self-control.” She smiled to herself imagining Darla Mae’s throat clenched in her hands. “But it is about Darla Mae.”

“Of course it is.”

“I overheard her on the phone last night, and something isn’t right.” She stood up and walked to the window of her room, looking out over the green pastures that stretched as far as she could see. “I want you to run a background check on her. I know it’s asking a lot, but I’m serious. She’s up to something.”

“Okay,” he said, surprising her with his lack of questions. “I need her full name and date of birth.”

Lexie had snuck into Darla Mae’s purse last night and written down the information. She pulled the piece of paper from the pocket of her jeans and read it to him.

“I’ll see what I can find.”

“Thanks, Jordan, I mean that,” she told him.

“No problem. How are things?” He asked. “Have you and Grayson kissed and made up yet?”

“No, there will be no making up. I’ve pretty much ruined this one for myself.” She watched as two horses and their riders made their way down a path running between the white fences of the pastures. Tears filled her eyes as she watched her son, sitting tall and proud on top of the horse, with Grayson riding behind him. “He will never forgive me for doubting him.”

“Give him time, Lex,” Jordan said reassuringly. “It’s got to be a lot for him to take in, learning he is a father would be enough of an adjustment. But to know that the woman he fell in love with questioned his values as a man has got to be a difficult pill to swallow. He’ll come around.”

“I appreciate your optimism, but I don’t think so. I hurt him too deeply. I think in time he’ll forgive me, but he’ll never let me in again.” She wiped a tear from her cheek as she watched Grayson lift her son from the horse and spin him around before setting him down.

Saying her goodbyes to her brother, she hung up and headed downstairs to meet Ryan.

A few minutes later, Ryan came bursting through the door, his face flushed with excitement. “Mom, you shoulda seen me. I was leading the way. Grayson let me lead through the trail, and now I get to go get a real cowboy hat and pointy boots ’cause I’m a real cowboy now.”

She smiled at his breathless replay of his morning ride. “Grandfather said I’m a natural. I don’t know exactly what that is, but I think it means I’m a real cowboy now. Grayson says we can’t live here, but I can come visit and learn more cowboy stuff a lot. Isn’t that cool?”

“Very cool,” she told him, helping him out of his dirty tennis shoes.

She smiled at Grayson and William as they walked in. “I hear we have a cowboy in our midst, and
Grandfather
said he was a natural.”

William’s eyes welled with tears of pride. “He is a natural. He’s a Hunter after all.”

An irritated voice spoke up from behind them, startling them all. “William, may I speak to you a moment. Alone.”

When Lexie turned around, she saw Lydia in the hallway, her hand on her jutted hip, her mouth was a straight line, and her eyes blazed with fury. She turned to look at William, and saw a flash of irritation before he excused himself and followed Lydia down the hallway and into the den.

“Ryan, head upstairs, change your clothes and wash your hands while I get you some lunch,” Lexie told her son, before turning back to Grayson. “Why is your mother upset with William?”

“If I know my mother, it’s a combination of his excitement at being called grandfather, and his referring to Ryan as a Hunter.” Grayson stared at the closed door of the den and added, “I don’t know how he’s put up with her for forty years.”

Lexie looked at him sympathetically. “Are you okay? It can’t be easy for you that she is struggling to accept your son.”

“No, it’s not easy.” He sighed. “But it’s expected. She has a love for money that’s never been reduced by family. Her priorities are green. Always were.”

“I’m sorry for that,” Lexie said honestly.

Grayson smiled faintly and reached over to squeeze her hand. “Thanks, but I’m used to it. I’ll go check on Ryan. Don’t worry about making lunch, Lila will already have that handled.”

She watched him walk away, her heart breaking for him. It was one thing to know his mother didn’t approve of her, but another altogether to see that way she was hurting him. She’d be damned if she let that woman ever hurt her son in that way.

Her cell phone rang in the pocket of her sweater, and she stepped out the back door when she saw it was Jordan.

“That was fast,” she told him when she answered.

“I’m amazing, it’s okay, you can say it,” he teased.

“What’d you find?” she asked anxiously.

“Not a lot. No criminal record, no marriages or births. Most of the information I was able to obtain was in reference to her family.” He told her. “Her father had been married previously to a woman named Charlotte Adkins. They had a son, but there is no record of him or Charlotte after the divorce. No child support payments, no filed visitation schedule, nothing. It’s like they both just disappeared.”

“She has a half-brother?” Lexie asked, surprised.

“Looks that way,” Jordan answered. “Her parents married shortly after his divorce and she was born eight months later. Darla Mae’s father inherited a large ranch when he was in his early twenties, and made it a huge success raising thoroughbreds, a bit like Grayson’s family. But there were some financial troubles. Mr. Pruitt was a huge gambler, and not very good at it from the looks of things.” She could hear Jordan shuffling through papers before he continued. “He basically lost everything betting on a horse race. Interestingly enough, it was one of the Hunter’s prized horses that beat his, and all but bankrupted him.”

“That is interesting,” she said. “They must have had some bad blood between them after that.”

“I suppose there would’ve been, but Pruitt and his wife died within three weeks of the race. Pruitt drove through a barrier and went over a cliff on the hills, only two miles from their home. His wife was in the car with him.”

“That couldn’t have been easy for Darla Mae,” she said, uncomfortable with the flash of pity she was feeling.

“I couldn’t imagine losing both our parents, let alone at once,” Jordan stated, agreeing with her. “The Hunters purchased some of the better horses from the Pruitt’s estate, and assisted with finding a buyer for the ranch to pay off Mr. Pruitt’s debt. They filed for guardianship of Darla Mae, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“I wonder why they took her in,” she questioned. “Do you think it was misplaced guilt, or were they close enough to the Pruitt’s to have a genuine bond with Darla Mae?”

“It doesn’t appear that they were close. There was a lawsuit involving the alleged drugging of the Pruitt’s racehorses, filed by the Hunters.”

“They accused the Pruitt’s of using enhancement drugs?” She asked.

“Looks that way. The other thing that’s a bit strange is the car accident itself. Originally, there were questions about whether or not it was an accident, or suicide, but before anything was determined, it seems to just go away. It was listed as an accident, and there is no record of a thorough investigation.”

“How is that possible?”

“In my experience, that normally means one thing. Somebody with enough clout was able to brush it under the rug and let it die where it was.” Jordan explained.

“Or someone with enough money to buy the rug they brushed it under.” Lexie said, struggling to put the pieces together in her head.

“Money can do a lot of things. As much as it pisses me off, that includes covering up things people don’t want discovered.”

“Thanks, Jordan, for looking into this for me.”

“I wish I knew what you were looking for,” he told her honestly. “What any of this has to do with cryptic phone conversations I can’t guess.”

“I don’t know, but I promise you, I will find out.”

With her feet tucked up beside her, Lexie sat on a bench swing in the corner of the massive yard, watching the horses graze on the rich green grass in the pasture. She continued to go over her conversation with Jordan, moving the pieces around mentally, and finding it no less confusing.

If Darla Mae had a half-brother, were they in contact with each other? Did she know he existed? She would have to assume Darla Mae would know. If her father had previously been married, it wouldn’t be a huge shock. At least she wouldn’t think so.

“Can I join you?”

Lexie jumped, startled when she realized she was no longer alone. “Of course, sorry Mr. Hunter, I didn’t see you.”

William Hunter sat down in the swing beside her. “That’s because your mind was a million miles away. And please, call me William.”