A Silken Thread (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

B
rian jumped the minute his phone rang and he snatched it off the table. “Hello.”

“Brian, this is Erica.”

He swallowed deeply. Her voice sounded so subdued and held none of the excitement it had that morning when she was looking forward to her first bridal shower. There was no need to ask if she’d opened the text message.

“How are you doing, baby?” he asked softly.

“It’s doesn’t matter how I’m doing. It’s Mom I’m worried about.”

“She knows?”

“Yes. She clicked on her text message within seconds of me doing mine. I was at the house with her when she did and she passed out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Anger she couldn’t keep inside snapped and Erica lashed out. “Are you?”

“Of course I am. I wasn’t your mother’s favorite person but I wouldn’t want anyone to go through pain.”

“Too bad my father and
your
mother didn’t think of that. Have you spoken to Rita?”

“Briefly.” The last thing he would tell her was that her father and his mother were together when he had. “What about you? Have you spoken to your father?”

“No, and in my present mood I’m not looking forward to doing so, either. Mom is my major concern. The doctor said the best thing for her right now is to get away for a few months, go on a cruise or something, or go stay at their place at Lake Tahoe.”

“That might be the best thing for your parents right now. For them to go away somewhere together and try to work things out.”

“Dad isn’t the one who’ll be going with her Brian. I am.”

“You’re going?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“As soon as I can make the arrangements. Hopefully, less than a week from now. The sooner the better.”

“But what about your bridal showers? All the activities that are planned before the wedding? Not to mention the wedding itself. It’s only three weeks away.”

She laughed harshly. “Seriously, Brian, do you honestly think our wedding can go on as planned? Get real. My father and your mother have been involved in an affair. That should give the people a lot to talk about at the wedding, don’t you think? A wedding that I doubt my mother will even attend, which will only add to the titillating excitement. I’m sure your mother and my father might prefer things that way, but I don’t plan to make them happy, thank you very much.”

“What are you saying, Erica?”

“I’m saying until I can decide what I need to do about my mother there’s no way I can marry you. The wedding will have to be postponed.”

At least she hadn’t said there would never be a wedding, he thought quickly, grateful for that at least. But he wasn’t happy with any of it. “Fine, we don’t have to have a lavish wedding per se, but there is no way you and I won’t be getting married in three weeks! What happened is unfortunate, but it does not involve us. It’s our parents’ mess and we should let them deal with it.”

“What! How can you say that?”

“Easily. We can’t be held responsible for their behaviors or their issues. I understand you wanting to console your mother and—”

“No, you don’t! Don’t you think my mother has feelings? My parents have been married for almost thirty years.”

And they must not have been all happy years or he wouldn’t have cheated on her,
he wanted to say but held back. Doing so would only make the situation worse than it was. She was hurt and he could feel her pain even through the phone.

And she was angry. However, he understood her anger more than she did. Her mother had flaws that hadn’t been so well hidden. But her father, although not perfect, had always been her knight in shining armor. The one she’d always thought would never let her down. But he had. And he felt the same about his mother. She had let him down, too.

“I want to see you, Erica. I’m coming to Hattersville.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll call you later and we can talk then.”

He felt like she was shutting him out, something she’d never done before. “I want to see you, baby. I
need
to see you.”

Something in his voice must have pulled at her heart, a heart he wanted to believe he still had. “I want to see you, but I need to take care of Mom. Her doctor said she even has a heart condition she never told us about and she can’t handle too much stress.”

She paused and then added, “I’m not sure when Mom and I will be leaving or how long we’ll be gone, Brian. I’ll call and let you know where we are.”

He didn’t like the sound of that, but now was not the time to tell her just how he felt. When he talked to her again it would be face-to-face…in a few hours. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Fine.”

She hung up the phone without telling him good-bye.

Karen smiled as she shifted positions on her bed. She loved the fact that Erica had become the doting daughter. If Karen had known staging a fainting spell would accomplish it, she would have definitely done it sooner. Now if she added her daughter’s obedience to the list she would be extremely happy. If she played her cards right, that also would happen soon.

Whatever Ralph told Erica had her daughter worried and that was a good thing. By now all intended parties should have gotten their copies of the pictures. She wished she could have been a fly on the wall in Wilson’s hotel room.

She’d known just where he was and whom he was with. The men Jaye had hired to keep tabs on Wilson and his mistress had done a fantastic job. And she had selected eight of the best photos they had taken. Seeing them would have left little doubt in anyone’s mind as to the nature of their relationship.

She closed her eyes when she heard Erica coming back up the stairs. A smile touched her lips as she thought about the performance she was about to give, one any soap opera director would be proud of.

She knew the moment Erica opened her bedroom door and slowly moved across the room on soft feet so as not to awaken her. Then she felt her daughter take her hand in hers and hold it as she sat in a chair she’d placed by the bed.

How touching.

She decided to pretend she was coming awake. She opened her eyes slowly, blinked a few times as if to bring everything before her into focus. “Erica?” And then as if she was awakening from a bad dream and couldn’t face reality, she forced tears from her eyes. She could just imagine what her daughter thought of that, since she’d probably never seen her cry.

“No, Mom, please don’t. Everything is going to be all right.”

“How can you say that, Erica? Your father was with
that
woman. And just to think that I had convinced myself it was unfair not to at least try to like her, to get to know her. And all this time, she’d set her sights on Wilson. How could he do this to me? To our marriage?”

“Mom, don’t think about it. Don’t get yourself upset.”

“How can I not think about it? How can I not be upset?”

She could tell by the expression on Erica’s face that she had no idea what to say. So she continued on, milking it with everything she had. “Ralph thinks I should get away—take a cruise, go to the cabin on Lake Tahoe. Maybe that’s a good idea, since I can’t handle being the laughingstock in this town when word gets out.”

Karen inwardly laughed. This was one of those rare times she didn’t care what the people were going to say. She would have the last laugh after Erica and Griffin were married. She figured that on occasion a person had to make sacrifices now for the things she wanted to have later. Karen would gladly suffer through a scandal rather than risk Erica having children that weren’t from the Hayes bloodline.

“I think what he suggested is a good idea, Mom.”

“No telling who else received copies of those pictures. I wonder who sent them.”
Like she didn’t know.

She was the one who had commandeered the entire thing. While in Cleveland visiting Blair she had gone to one of those places that sold prepaid cell phones. It was the easiest thing to do. No identification had been required. She had programmed the pictures into the card the night before. In just a quick few minutes out of Erica’s sight when she had gone upstairs to change her shoes, she had pushed the button and sent the pictures on their way. Modern technology was truly amazing.

“I’ll start making plans to leave sometime next week and I won’t let your father talk me out of going. Right now I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive him. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.”

Erica nodded. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere except here for a while. You will have to finalize your wedding plans and the wedding without me.”

Erica sat on the side of the bed facing her mother. “Do you honestly think I’ll get married now?”

Karen tried not to smile. “What about all those plans?”

“They can wait. I’ve already talked to Brian and we’re going to postpone the wedding for a while.”

Postpone the wedding!
She almost lost it.
Postponing the wedding wasn’t good enough.
“Just so you know, I could never accept him as a son-in-law now, after what his mother and your father did. Every time I see that woman, I will remember, and you can’t convince me that Brian didn’t know about it. I will never trust either of them again.”

“Brian didn’t know.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Karen asked in a seemingly disturbed voice. “You could have been betrayed like I was.”

“Mom, calm down. Don’t get upset.”

“Well, I am upset. My marriage has been destroyed and you’re still thinking about marrying the man whose mother is responsible.”

“Mom…”

She pulled away from Erica. “Go away. Please go away. Marry him if you want, just leave me alone.”

And then she began sobbing in earnest while thinking that if this little over-the-top emotional scene didn’t get to her daughter, break her down real good, then nothing would.

Erica poured the tea her mother hadn’t finished drinking into the sink and leaned against it to get her bearings. Karen had made it pretty clear that she would not accept a marriage between her and Brian in three weeks, or ever. How could her mother expect her to give up the man she loved? Granted, what had happened was serious and she was willing to postpone things for a while…but to give him up totally, cut him completely out of her life, was something she could not do.

She turned and covered her face in her hands, trying to fight back her tears. The thought of not ever having Brian in her life was just too much.

She jumped when she heard her cell phone go off and wondered if it was Brian calling. She wasn’t ready to talk to him again just yet. She had enough to deal with. But then, she thought the caller could be her father and she had to talk to him sooner or later. She couldn’t dodge his calls forever. Although she wasn’t sure what she would say to him. She loved him but resented the hurt and pain he had caused her mother and herself. It was unfair.

She quickly crossed the room, took a deep breath and picked up her phone. “Yes?”

“Hey, what’s up?” April asked in a cheery voice.

At the sound of her best friend’s voice the tears Erica had fought back came flooding through.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I
smell a rat.”

After Erica had explained the whole situation to April, she hadn’t expected that reaction from her friend. “What are you saying?” she asked.

“Think about it, Erica. Who benefits the most if you and Brian don’t marry?”

“I hope you’re not insinuating what I think you are,” Erica said in an irritated tone.

“I am,” April said boldly. “Your mother never wanted you to marry Brian and would do just about anything to keep the two of you apart. It wouldn’t surprise me if she planned the whole thing.”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead and blame my mother for everything now,” Erica said, almost raising her voice while throwing up her hands. “I’m sure she had a lot of fun forcing my dad and Mrs. Lawson to sleep together. Just like I’m sure she’s going to love the embarrassment when word gets out as to why I’m postponing my wedding. You know my mom, April. You know how she prides herself on being above any scandal.”

“What I believe and what I know is that she would seize any opportunity to keep you and Brian apart so she can get Griffin back in the picture.”

“April, you know as well as I that that won’t be happening.”

“But you know as well as I that your mother still hasn’t gotten that point yet, and she never will until you marry Brian. So yes, Erica, I wouldn’t put it past her to do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Erica nearly bit the inside of her mouth to keep from screaming out at her friend. She had it all wrong about her mother this time. “Look, I’m ending this conversation now before I say something I might regret.”

“All I know is that someone sent those pictures, and until I can come up with someone else who wants you and Brian not to marry then it makes good sense to me for your mother to be the prime suspect,” April said, not backing down on her theory.

“But Brian and I are still getting married,” Erica broke in to say. “Our wedding will be postponed, not cancelled.”

“Not if your mom has anything to do with it.”

“Look, I have to go. I have to check on my mother.”

“Where’s your dad?”

“He’s on a business trip and I haven’t talked to him. But he did leave a voice message on my phone saying he’ll be arriving around midnight.”

“You need to let your parents work things out, Erica. It’s between them,” April said. “It’s no different than if you and Brian were married and your parents interfered in one of your arguments with him. What happened is really your parents’ business and not yours,” she added.

Erica ran her fingers through her hair, a good indication she was getting angrier by the minute. April sounded too much like Brian to suit her. “I happen not to agree with you on that, April. If anything were to happen to my mother I would never forgive myself. Look, I love you, and I’ll talk with you later.”

“Erica,” April called out.

But she had hung up the phone.

“Brian?”

When Brian entered the airport’s terminal, he turned at the sound of his name being called, recognizing the voice immediately. “Mom?”

He then glanced at the woman by his mother’s side. “Goddy,” he greeted, calling his godmother Lori the named he’d called her since he learned to talk.

He then glanced back at his mother as numerous emotions tore into his insides. He loved her as deeply as a son could love a mother and he’d always been proud of the strong, self-assured and confident woman she was. A woman who, after losing her husband, had become a single mother and devoted all her time and attention to her son. But the one thing that was rushing fast and furious through his head at that moment was that his mother’s recent actions could cost him the love of his life.

He had tried convincing Erica that their parents’ affair didn’t concern them, but even he was finding it hard to separate the two while standing here right now and seeing the look of remorse in her gaze. The same question was still ramming through his mind.
What could she and Mr. Sanders have been thinking?

“You’re leaving town?” his mother asked him in a soft tone.

“Yes. I was able to get a last-minute flight to Hattersville.” He figured he didn’t have to go into any great explanations as to why.

“Will we be able to talk when you get back?”

He drew in a long deep breath. Although he’d rather not, he realized they had to do so. Maybe then she could answer that question presently ramming through his mind. “Yes, I think we should.”

She hesitated before asking, “And how is Erica?”

Brian arched a brow. “Shouldn’t you be asking how Erica’s mother is doing? But that’s right. Neither you or Wilson really cared about Karen’s feelings, did you?”

“Brian…”

“No, Mom, I’d rather not discuss anything here. Besides, I need to go catch my flight. I need to try to convince Erica not to postpone our wedding. We’ll talk when I get back.”

Without saying anything else, he turned and moved quickly toward his gate.

For as long as Erica could remember, she’d always gotten filled with excitement at the sound of her father returning home from a day at the office or a business trip. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. She tossed aside the magazine she was reading when she heard the front door opening and closing.

She had checked on her mother earlier and found her resting. Whether it was peacefully or not, she wasn’t sure. Karen’s eyes were closed and Erica could only surmise that she was asleep. Her father’s last voice mail message said he wouldn’t be arriving until after midnight and the clock on the wall indicated he’d been right.

For years she and her mother had suggested that he purchase a private jet for the company, so he could come and go when he pleased without being dependent on commercial airlines. But he’d flatly refused saying it was a luxury he didn’t need and that he actually enjoyed spanning the globe like a regular person. Now she couldn’t help wondering if perhaps Rita weren’t his first affair and not having a private jet had made things easier for him. Employees had a tendency to talk.

Moving toward the door, she walked out of the study at the same time he dropped his luggage in the foyer and glanced her way. Surprisingly, if he was harboring any guilt she didn’t see it. But then she wasn’t sure she would recognize it in him anyway, since it was something she’d never suspected before.

“Dad,” she greeted as calmly as she could.

“Erica.”

“Where’s your mother?”

“Upstairs sleeping.”

He nodded and moved toward her. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

“At this point, Dad, I’m not sure there is anything you can say.”

She saw a flash of something in the dark depths of his eyes. It wasn’t guilt but hurt. How dare he let what she’d said hurt him after what he’d done.

“Please. Don’t shut me out, Erica.”

“What do you expect?”

“Your respect, for starters. And then your ability to be fair and not judgmental.”

She pushed her hair back from her face. “Are you saying those pictures that were sent aren’t real? That you and Rita are not having an affair?”

He met her eyes and without a waver in his gaze, he said, “Those pictures are real and yes, Rita and I are having an affair.”

Erica had known all along, but hearing him admit it so easily without a tinge of regret or remorse in his voice was like a slap to her face.

“Then what can you honestly say to me, Dad? Besides, it’s not me you need to explain things to, it’s Mom. However, I’m warning you not to upset her any more than she’s already upset. She passed out and I called Dr. Cobb. He’s given her something to make her rest. He also told me something— Mom has a heart condition she’s been keeping from the two of us and shouldn’t get stressed out in any way. He suggested that she go on an extended trip someplace. I’ve discussed it with her and she wants to do a twelve-day cruise and from there spend a month or so at the cabin in Lake Tahoe. I’m going with her.”

Wilson raised a brow. “But what about your wedding?”

“I’ve called it off. At least for now.”

“Erica, please don’t let what I did keep you from marrying Brian.”

She drew in a deep breath. “How can I not, Dad? Thanks to you and Rita, Mom is more against the wedding than before.”

“But what happened is between me and your mother. It doesn’t involve you.”

She frowned. That was the same thing Brian and April were saying—she disagreed with them and she disagreed with him. “You’re wrong, Dad. It does involve me because you and the mother of the man I’m engaged to marry hurt my mother in the worst possible way. Not only did the two of you betray her but you also betrayed me and Brian. At least I assume Brian didn’t know. Maybe Mom is right and he knew all along what you and Rita were doing.”

Wilson’s features hardened. “Don’t let you mother intentionally put a wedge between you and Brian by filling your head up with foolishness, Erica.”

“Are you saying Brian didn’t know?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

Her sigh was one of heartfelt relief. She doubted she would have been able to handle it had Brian known and not shared it with her. “I’m leaving now, but I’ll return in the morning to check on Mom. And remember what I said about her heart condition. Dr. Cobb doesn’t want her any more upset than she already is.”

Before her father could say anything else, she moved past him and slipped out of the front door.