Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (27 page)

Tracking down the Whitmores in Smithville had not been very difficult. She chose the only diner in the town that had been around for any length of time, hoping to talk to some of the old-timers who might have known her possible grandparents. The diner was filled with people who seemed like the place was their daily haunt for breakfast. There was also a group of elderly men having coffee at the back of the diner. She laughed to herself when she thought about how men seemed to like to gossip just like women, only they liked to call it ‘meeting’ and ‘business’ at the diner. She chose a table as close to them as possible, hoping their conversation might offer her an opportunity to butt in at some point.

The conversation revolved around the second round of hay-cutting since the spring and of the vegetables and fruits that would be ready to cut and pick for market soon. She perked up when an older lady came in and looked around before proceeding to the back where the men were sitting.

“I knew I would find y’all here. All this work to do and the bunch of you are sitting around chit-chatting like a bunch of old women.” Her tone was light-hearted, and it was obvious she was simply giving the men a hard time.

“Now, now, Mrs. Whitmore, we know you like to keep Al here on a short leash but we were talking shop, about cutting hay and what-not,” said one of the old-timers, giving her a friendly smile.

“Yes, well, Allen needs to remember I sent a list with him of things to pick up from a few stores while he was in town.” She smiled sweetly back at the man that must have been her husband. The others seemed to understand the implication of that ‘sweet’ look and its universal message, as they all seemed to have received it from their own wives.

“Well, I’ll let y’all get back to your gossiping then. I’m too busy to sit around and do nothing with my friends all day.” She turned to leave and Chandler quickly threw some cash on the table and walked out behind her.

“Mrs. Whitmore?” Chandler’s voice was so soft the older woman almost didn’t hear it.

“Yes?” When she turned and looked directly at Chandler, she sucked in a loud breath and quickly turned pale. Chandler reached forward when she thought the woman was going to fall. Allen came out the door at that moment and saw his wife going to the ground.

“Kate, what’s wrong, honey? Are you ok?” He and Chandler caught her before she landed. She looked at her husband like she had seen a ghost and pointed to Chandler. When Allen turned and looked her straight in the eyes, he too looked stunned and couldn’t seem to look away from her.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“You know exactly who she is, Allen,” his wife said in a shaky voice.

“My name is Chandler Chatam, Mr. Whitmore.” Chandler was at a loss as to how to start this conversation with them both. “Do you think we could go somewhere and talk? The doorway isn’t safe.”

They helped his wife to stand, and he pointed to some umbrella-covered picnic tables outside of the diner.

“So, young lady, would you care to tell us who you are, and how do you know our names?” Allen Whitmore seemed leery of what Chandler was going to say.

“Don’t be stupid, Allen. You know exactly who she is.” Kate was now smiling a friendly smile at her.

“Well, I really don’t know where to begin, Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore. Like I said, I’m Chandler Chatam, and I’m from Austin.”

“And you are Braxton’s daughter, aren’t you?” Kate blurted out still beaming at her.

“I don’t think I am. You see, I met him a couple of days ago in Denver, and he didn’t seem like he believed that I could be related to him.”

“Oh, Chandler, sweet girl,” Kate took her hand, “there is no doubt in my mind you are his child. Y’all look so much alike when he was your age. The eyes are a dead giveaway, though. He has aqua-blue eyes, just like you.”

Chandler hands started shaking in hers. “I think I need to tell you the same story I told him then.” She took her time, repeating the story in hopes they might believe her. When she finished, Kate moved to Chandler’s side of the table and hugged her close.

“You’re his only child, at least as far as we know,” Allen told her with a quick smile.

“I guess, he doesn’t want a child then because he ran from the room when I told him the story.” The memory of that night brought forth the tears she had held back until this moment.

Giving Allen a concerned look, Mrs. Whitmore said, “I’m sure there is more to this story, sweet girl. Let’s go home and talk more. There’s so much we want to hear.” Kate held her close all the way to the car.

“Kate, you ride with her, and I’ll get James to bring your car home.” Allen moved toward the diner’s door but stopped. “I’ll be right behind y’all, and Chandler, don’t start without me, please.” He wrapped his arm around her and drew her in a big hug.

Arriving at their ranch, Chandler wanted to ask Kate a million questions, but decided to do what her grandfather asked. That simple title carried such a sense of longing for her.

Allen and another man walked into the house and found them sitting at the big kitchen table with coffee. The new man looked straight into Chandler’s eyes then shook his head and smiled. “Well, if there were any doubts before, seeing her puts an end to them,” he told her. “Wait ‘til Betsy sees her!” He laughed at his own comment. He put his hand out to Chandler and introduced himself as Ryder’s brother and her Uncle James. She returned the shake, loving the warm feeling his big hand offered.

Chandler looked at the family that had collected in this room as if it was a normal day for them, sitting around the table chatting and having coffee. It was anything but normal for her though.

“OK, sweetheart,” Allen said. “Tell us everything now, or ask us anything. We know you must have so many unanswered questions, at least as many as we do.”

Chandler wanted basic information first. “To start, did you know my mom?”

“Yes, we did. Your momma was a great girl. When they were in high school, your daddy was in a band and she was their biggest fan. She would follow them to the ends of the earth to watch your daddy perform. Your mom and dad had known each other all their lives. They were great friends as children and it progressed into more by the time they got to high school. Maybe they had always been in love.”

“Then what happened? How did this become such a mess?” She could only stare back at them.

“Now that right there, we don’t know the answer to. She was here one day and gone the next. Her parents refused to give any of us any information other than she had decided to finish out school in another state and was going to stay there for college. About a year and a half later, they brought her body here to bury her. Told everyone she died in a car accident but didn’t say where.” Kate had such an expression of sadness and despair on her face as she recalled the details of that period so many years ago.

James chimed in, “Her leaving made no damn sense to anyone, either. She had made up her mind to go to UT when she was a freshman in high school, and was accepted and ready to go when she graduated, and Brax was leaving on his tour with the band. Then poof, she was gone.”

“Where are her parents now?” Chandler asked.

“Don’t know. They moved right after she left and when they came home to bury her, they only had a graveside service and left that day. No one really knows what happened to them,” Kate added. “It was all so mysterious and fast.”

“Yeah, we thought they were hiding something but no one could ever find out what. Your dad was on tour when she was buried. It was all eventually forgotten, at least until now. Are you saying you’ve been living in Austin, just thirty minutes from here, all of your life?” Allen could not believe the news he had been given.

“Yes, well, and in D.C. My dad, my adopted father, was Senator Chatam. You must have heard that he and my adopted mom were killed in a plane crash north of Austin a few months ago? So much has happened since then. I feel like my life has been turned upside down completely in that last couple of months.”

Looking at Chandler, the family couldn’t believe all she was telling them and understood why she had such a worn look in her eyes.

“It’s OK, sweetheart. You only have to take it one day at a time. We are here for you now, and we’ll help you however we can. Please say you’ll stay here with us, at least for a few days so we can spend time with you? I’m sure you have to get back to things in the city soon enough.” Kate requested.

“I think I would like that. I don’t have anyone to answer to anymore, so I can stay.” The Whitmores seemed genuinely happy with her decision. “I’m exhausted really. It’s been a really long two days. I would like nothing more than to take a shower and get some sleep, if that’s ok?”

“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll get your things and Mom will take you to the guest bedroom,” James replied.

****

C
handler awoke to the sound of people laughing in another room. The sun had already set, and a check of the clock confirmed that she had slept the day away in a comfortable bed. She changed into her yoga pants and an AD tee shirt and opened the door to peek out at the sound of happiness in some newly familiar voices. She wandered through the house and found everyone gathered comfortably around the table in the big kitchen. It was obvious they were used to gathering there.

“Oh, My God!” A woman almost attacked her with a bear hug. Chandler squeaked and could only look back stunned and wide-eyed at the rest of the family. “I’m your Aunt Betsy! I’m so excited to meet you! I know we are going to be great friends!”

The woman’s enthusiasm was catching, and Chandler smiled when her new-found aunt finally let her go. “You look so much like my dumbass brother! Where is he anyway, Mom?”

“Oh, we don’t know. We don’t even keep up with his tours anymore,” Allen said over the top of his coffee cup.

“Well, we need to call the fucktard up and let him know what he’s missing out on.”

“Betsy, that’s a terrible thing to say in this house,” her mom scolded.

“He is a fucktard if he didn’t scoop this sweet thing up and love all over her! Isn’t that right, James?” Betsy tried to get her brother on board with her opinion.

“Yeah, I guess. You know what happened to him when Laina left, and then when we told him she died.” The family looked at Chandler and the silence in the room was suddenly awkward. “I’m sorry, Chandler. I didn’t mean anything against you or your mom, but you have to know it sent Brax into a spiral that he almost didn’t recover from.”

“Maybe that explains why he acted the way he did when I saw him. He stormed off with barely a look back, like my story meant nothing to him.” Chandler remembered the painful scene.

“So much happened during that first year after your mom left, he has a lot to tell you. But it’s his story to tell, when he’s ready. We don’t hear from him too often, and he never comes here anymore. We have to go to Austin to see him, or he’ll send us tickets sometimes, to fly out and see a special show somewhere.” James looked at Chandler and indicated he was unhappy about his brother’s absence.

“Ok, so what else can you tell me about him and my mom? Like, when they were young?”

The family spent the evening showing her pictures of her mom and dad, and telling stories that would surely have embarrassed both of them. James was only a year younger than Braxton so he had many tales to tell about his brother and Laina. Betsy was six years younger than James, so she was too little to know most of those kinds of stories, but had plenty of her own about Brax as a big brother. Kate was Laina’s Sunday school teacher and had many memories about her childhood up until she left at seventeen. By the time they went to bed, Chandler felt like her mind was in overload, but in a good way. She had family, and a new history that was completely different from the life she had lived with older, more affluent parents.

When she finally lay down in bed that night, she thought about turning on her phone to call Keeton. She missed him but wanted to figure out her life and needed the time alone to do so. She knew he would be frantic but she didn’t know any other way to do this. She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around everything in her own life.

How could she be part of a strained relationship at this point? It wasn’t strained yet, she knew she was in love with him but the band would be headed out with Jacoby after the break on the second leg of the tour and wouldn’t need her. Life on the road would be hard for him trying to keep up with being away from her and doing everything he needed to do and stay focused on the success of the band. She’d seen how it had weighed on Ryan and his relationship with Krissy, and they had way more time together and were still struggling to make it work. She didn’t think she could handle it, at least, not right now. The timing was just not right, for either of them. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do, but for now maybe going their separate ways was the best idea before a breakup could do worse damage to them both.

She decided it would be better if she let him go. She would find a way to tell him all of this, but her heart had taken all the beating it could for now. She would take these few days to get her questions about her family straight, and then go back to the city and deal with the other half of her life and figure out what to do next.

****

T
he enticing aroma of coffee called to her from to the kitchen the following morning. Her grandparents were sitting down at their breakfast bar talking softly when she entered. There was no doubt they were talking about her, but she was all right with it. She had a lot to ask still and knew they were curious, too.

“Good morning! We were just talking about you, Chandler,” Allen said without embarrassment. “Kate’s making breakfast. Her biscuits are award-winners. I expect your uncle will show up when he smells them.”

Kate laughed, “Yeah, and then you get to meet the real monsters of the family! He’ll have our two grandsons with him.”

“I have cousins, too?” Chandler beamed.

“Oh yes, you do. Just wait. The boys are six and ten. He got a later start than your dad did. But they are making up for it by keeping their dad on his toes at all times,” Allen laughed and shook his head. “Couldn’t be better payback for what James and Brax put us through.”