Amazing Gracie (31 page)

“Which you’d only know if you’d looked for them,” he pointed out, fighting a grin. Another tear slid down her cheek sobering him once more. He was still worried about her health. “You’re not ill, are you?” he asked one more time.

“Heavens no,” she insisted, brushing at the tears. “I’m fit as a fiddle.”

“Then tell me. Don’t make me pry it out of you.”

“As if you could,” she said with a haughty sniff. “Not unless I was willing.”

He grinned. “Okay, okay. We’re agreed you’re one tough cookie.”

“Not so tough,” she corrected with a sad look. “If I had been, maybe things would have been different.”

“What things?”

“You and me. Our relationship.”

He was totally lost. “What’s wrong with our relationship? I thought you and I always got along great.”

“We did. We do.” And with that she began to cry in earnest. Her hands covered her face and sobs shook her shoulders.

Kevin was out of his chair in a heartbeat, hunkering
down in front of her and folding her hands into his. “Aunt Delia, don’t cry,” he pleaded, his heart aching for her misery. “Please, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I should have told you years ago. I just pray when I tell you now that you’ll be able to forgive me.”

She was talking in circles and he was losing patience, but she was so obviously shattered by whatever she was trying to say, he couldn’t shout at her to get on with it. For once he held his impatience in check.

He grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the kitchen counter and handed them to her. “It’s okay. Take your time.”

“I’ve taken too many years as it is,” she said, as she blotted up her tears. “It all started years ago, before your mother was born.”

Kevin felt his heart slow. So, he thought with a sense of dread, the secrets were finally coming to light, for better or worse. He sat quietly, waiting.

Her eyes took on a faraway gleam, still glistening with tears. “I met someone, a nice man, or so I thought. From a good family. They were here for the summer. He was going back to finish college that fall and, then, well, I thought we’d be getting married.”

“He seduced you,” Kevin guessed.

“Not the way you mean,” she said fiercely. “Believe me, I was all too eager to be with him. I was in love. I had never been happier.”

She closed her eyes, but before she did, Kevin could see the anguish of old hurts.

“After he’d gone, I found out I was pregnant,” she confessed, her voice so low he had to strain to hear it.

“You had a child?” Kevin asked, shocked.

“I had a child,” she confirmed. “A beautiful baby girl.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, the father didn’t want her or me. I never heard from him again after I told him about her. He simply vanished, dropped out of that fancy Ivy League school and went off to who-knows-where so I couldn’t pester him, I suppose.”

Kevin couldn’t begin to imagine what that had done to her, the dent it had put in that staunch pride of hers. Since she had never married, he could only assume the bastard had been the love of her life. He had ruined her, then left without a backward glance.

“What happened to the baby? Did you give her up for adoption?”

“Yes.” Fresh tears were tracking down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry. You must have been devastated. Did you ever see her again? Or find out what happened to her?”

“I saw her often,” she admitted. “I didn’t have to go far.”

Kevin’s heart began to thud. “Who?”

“The baby was your mother.”

Kevin rocked back on his heels and concentrated very hard to make the room stop spinning. “My mother?” he repeated.

“That’s right.”

“That means you’re my…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word. He thought of the bitter old woman he’d always thought of his grandmother, the woman who’d made life hell for his mother, always resenting her for reasons he’d never understood. Now he knew. She had blamed his mother for her own failure to give birth to a child. His sweet, fragile mother had been a constant reminder of her inability to conceive.

He stared at Delia, thinking of all the times he’d run to her, counted on her, wished so very hard that she were
the one, that she were his grandmother. And now, to discover that she had been all along…

“Kevin, say something. Please.”

“I don’t know what to say.” On the one hand, he loved Delia with all his heart, always had. On the other, to discover that she had robbed him and his mother of knowing exactly how she fit into their lives was too painful to cope with. He thought of the times he’d seen his mother’s anguished tears when his supposed grandmother had chastised her yet again for some imagined sin. Delia had stood by and watched that happen.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” he demanded roughly.

“I couldn’t. That was the deal I made with my sister, that she would be Mary Louise’s mother, that the truth would never be spoken. I went away to have the baby and she went with me. She came back with my daughter and I stayed on in Maine for another six months so no one here would be suspicious. I thought it was for the best, Kevin. I didn’t want my girl to live with the shame of me being an unwed mother.”

“So instead you left her with a woman who resented her from the day she took her in.”

“Not always,” Delia protested. “When Mary Louise was a baby, Hettie loved her. She did. It was only later, when Mary Louise instinctively seemed to form a bond with me, that the resentment started. I never broke faith with my sister, but there was no mistaking the bond that Mary Louise and I shared. You felt it, too. I know you did.”

Kevin couldn’t deny it. Nor could he deny that Delia had always been there for his mother, a safe haven, just as she had been for him. He sighed heavily.

“I have to think about this.”

“You don’t hate me, though. Please, Kevin, tell me you don’t hate me.”

He bent down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I could never hate you,” he said fiercely. “Never.”

She patted his hand. “Then we’ll be okay.”

He started to leave, then paused in the doorway. “Why now? Why tell me now?”

“Because of you and Gracie. Bessie says I’m being selfish after all these years, but I wanted to share in your happiness. I wanted everything out in the open so you’d know who you are. It’s not just Daniels blood that runs in you. It’s mine, too.”

“So my genes aren’t all bad, is that it?” he said, unable to prevent a smile.

“Something like that,” she said with a brief flash of a smile. “I thought maybe you’d look at me and see just what kind of strength and staying power you truly have.”

“I’ve known that all along,” he told her. “Because you’ve always been there to make me believe it. It never had anything to do with blood.”

She shrugged that off. “My mistake. Sue me.”

“How could I?” he asked wryly. “How could I possibly sue my own grandmother?”

Kevin had vanished, simply disappeared. Gracie had watched for him each day, had expected him to drop off Delia at the very least, but there’d been no sign of him. Helen brought Delia with her every morning and took her home every evening.

As for Delia, she was looking more distraught with each day that passed. She evaded all of Gracie’s questions with pat, tight-lipped answers that revealed nothing. She had just done it again, then left the house to go next
door to visit Mrs. Johnson, leaving Gracie staring after her. She turned to Helen.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“I have no idea.”

“Have you seen Kevin?”

“Not a sign of him.”

“Have you asked?”

“Well, of course I have,” Helen snapped impatiently. “Don’t you think I’m as worried about this as you are.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t,” Gracie apologized. “I just don’t get it, though. One minute everything was fine, the next Kevin’s gone and Delia’s walking around looking miserable. Has there been some crisis with one of the cousins?”

“None that I know of,” Helen said. “For once, no one’s pestering Kevin. Bobby Ray’s too busy trying to convince Marianne to give him another chance. It’s summertime and Uncle Bo’s out on his fishing boat every day. That pretty much keeps him out of trouble until fall. As far as I know, all of his boys are out of jail and gainfully employed for once.”

“Could Kevin have gone to Richmond on business? Is there a court case involving some estate he’s handling?”

Helen shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.” She eyed Gracie knowingly. “You seem awfully worked up over his absence. Does this mean what I think it means?”

“It means I’m worried about him. Don’t go trying to make anything out of that.”

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m no more in love with Kevin than you are with Max,” she said, and watched the color
bloom in Helen’s cheeks. “Ah, I see I struck a nerve. Could it be that I’m wrong about you and Max?”

“Don’t you dare try to change the subject by turning the tables on me. We are not discussing my relationship with Max Devereaux.”

“We are now,” Gracie said. “After all, I introduced the two of you. I think I have a right to know what’s going on.”

“And I’m Kevin’s cousin. I think I have a right to know how you really feel about him.”

Gracie sighed. “Either we both talk or we both remain in the dark. Is that the way it’s going to be?”

“I suppose so,” Helen said with a touch of defiance. “Besides, I already know how you feel. It’s plain as day.”

“No plainer than your feelings for Max,” Gracie countered. “I couldn’t be happier about that.”

Helen grinned. “And I couldn’t be happier about you and Kevin.”

“Things are not serious between Kevin and me,” Gracie repeated, knowing as she spoke that the denial was futile. Helen’s opinion wasn’t going to be swayed. For that matter, neither was her own regarding Helen and Max.

From what she’d gathered the two of them had raised the use of e-mail, faxes, and international calling rates to new heights. She’d tried to get through to Max herself on several occasions lately, only to be told by the hotel staff that Monsieur Devereaux was not to be disturbed, that he was on an important call to the States.

“We assumed he was talking to you,” André had revealed only the day before. “It is not?”

“No, it is definitely not me,” Gracie had told him. “How is everything there?”

“Running smoothly enough,” André conceded.

“No trouble in the kitchen?”

“Not recently.”

“Or with the vendors?”

“None.”

“The asparagus is being delivered on schedule?”

“Every day.”

Even though she’d been relieved by the news, she hadn’t been able to help feeling a little tug of dismay. Max no longer needed her, not for the hotel, not in his personal life. The tie appeared to be severed…just as she’d wanted.

Maybe that was why she’d been so anxious to see Kevin the past few days. Even with all the renovation work, she was feeling emotionally adrift. When she was with him, she felt grounded, centered.

Of course, the very last thing Kevin needed in his life was somebody else leaning on him. She would never in a million years want to add to the burden he already carried.

“Gracie, is everything okay with you?” Helen asked.

“Fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “Everything is fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Now let’s get busy on these floors while Delia’s not around to criticize everything we do.”

“Maybe we should take the day off, do something outrageous.”

Gracie paused and stared. “Outrageous? Such as?”

“I don’t know. Go shopping.”

“I suppose I could look at fabric for curtains.”

“No, no, I meant for clothes, lingerie, perfume, whatever.”

“Clothes are the last thing on my mind these days.”

“But a shopping spree can be every bit as good for
stress as a session with a shrink. I ought to know. I’ve tried both.”

“Chocolate works better for me,” Gracie said.

“Then we can wind up the shopping spree with hot fudge sundaes.” She grinned at Gracie. “You’re tempted, aren’t you?”

“A little,” Gracie admitted.

“Come on, then. Let’s do it. We’ll work ten times as hard when we get back.”

“Okay. Shall we take Delia along? She may need cheering up more than either one of us.”

“Why not? The more the merrier.”

“Where are we going?”

“Leave all that to me. Give me an hour to make the arrangements. I’ll pick you up at your place. Bring an overnight bag.”

“Helen, I can barely shop for an hour without getting bored silly. I don’t need two days.”

“You will for this shopping spree. Stop arguing and go home and pack.”

“You’re a very bossy woman. Does Max know that?”

“Of course he does. He finds it stimulating trying to thwart me when I take charge.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Gracie inquired doubtfully.

“Trust me, that is a very good thing. We will never grow bored. Now, get moving. I have plans to make.”

Gracie paused at the back door. “I’m not going to regret this, am I?”

“Not if I can help it,” Helen vowed. “You’re going to remember this for years to come.”

23

K
evin had spent close to a week holed up in his apartment in Richmond, trying to accept what Delia had told him. In the end, he’d concluded that he’d made more of the deception than he should have. The lie had cost his mother far more than it had cost him.

The truth was, in everything but name, Delia had been a grandmother to him all these years. She’d been his most stalwart champion and, in many ways, his best friend. He doubted he could have loved her any more if he’d learned the facts years ago.

Unfortunately, by the time he got back to Seagull Point to explain all of that to her and put her mind at ease, she was gone, and Helen and Gracie were missing as well. He’d checked his house, where Molly, too, had been given a few days off and had run off to spend them with her family in Washington. He’d checked in town, only to find that Gracie’s house was locked up tight and all work on the Victorian had been halted.