Betrayed Hearts (28 page)

He grunted. “If you think you can get me to drop the charges, you're wasting your time.”

“That's not why I asked you here.” She took a careful seat across the table from him.

“Why then?”

She held her hands in her lap so he wouldn't see them tremble, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her rattled. “I found the newspaper clipping in your lockbox. I know all about my past. About my real family.”

He winced at her words. “Figured as much, since the papers were gone.”

She kept her gaze steady. “I need you to answer some questions.” At his lack of response, she licked her dry lips and forged on. “When you and Mama adopted me, why did you tell the doctor in Rainbow Falls that I had died?”

An expression close to fear passed over his face before he dropped his gaze. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

For a supposedly pious man, he lied easily. She inhaled and counted to ten before speaking. “Doctor Anderson told me the hospital chaplain, a Tobias Cunningham, called to inform him of my death. You also sent him falsified medical records and a fake death certificate.”

The only change in his demeanor was a tick in his jaw.

“What made you do something like that?”

For a minute, she thought he'd refuse to answer. Then his demeanor changed. His hunched shoulders seemed to deflate, air whooshing out of him like a punctured tire.

He shook his head, eyes fixed on the tabletop. “All your mama ever wanted was a child. For some reason, God saw fit to deny us that gift.” He lifted his blood-shot gaze to her. “When you came into the hospital, orphaned and so near death, Laura insisted on coming to see you. Fell in love with you right away. I didn't want her getting attached, figuring you would likely die. But you didn't.” Bitterness laced his words.

“No, I didn't.” Lily bit her lip, thinking of her beloved mother who always made her feel adored and wanted.

“Despite my reservations, Laura insisted on adopting you. I would've done anything to make her happy.” He paused, a faraway look in his eyes, obviously lost in his memories. “I had to make sure no one would come back to claim you. Some distant relative or another. I couldn't bear that for Laura. I figured if everyone thought you were dead, there'd never be a problem.” His mouth twisted into a grimace.

So he'd done it for her mother. A woman he loved to the point of obsession. “Why didn't you tell me the truth after she died?”

His gaze narrowed. “My Laura was gone. Nothing else mattered.” His tone turned accusatory.

Lily lifted her chin and confronted his resentment head on. “You always blamed me for her death. I want to know why.”

Tobias shifted on his chair. Color returned to his ashen cheeks. “You came home with the chicken pox. She caught it from you and died because of it. I couldn't forgive you for that.”

Lily gasped as memories swamped her. Mama dabbing calamine lotion on itchy scabs. Bathing Lily's fevered brow. Reading her stories, singing her songs. Had her mother nursed her back to health only to contract the disease herself? “I'm sorry. I never knew it was the chicken pox.” She swallowed a ball of guilt, finally understanding why her father had blamed her. Grief, especially one as deep-seated as her father's, was never rational. Nevertheless, it didn't excuse the years of neglect that followed.

She pulled herself upright on her chair. “I have some things I need to say to you.” Sweat dampened her palms. “I know my behavior as a teenager was far from ideal, but the way you treated me was reprehensible.” She stopped to compose herself but refused to look away. “I needed a father after Mama died. Instead you acted like you…hated me.”

Tobias shuddered. “You have no idea what losing Laura cost me.” His voice wavered. “She took everything when she went. I had nothing left to give.”

A trickle of compassion wormed its way into her heart but not enough to excuse his actions. “Face it, Tobias,” she said sadly. “You never wanted me. From the moment I came to live with you, you resented me taking Mama's attention away from you.”

He hung his head, picking at a spot of dirt on the table, his silence confirming her claim.

“The neglect, the beatings, the emotional abuse…they all scarred me in ways you'll never know.” She took a breath, willing herself to get through this last speech without breaking down. “Since I've been in Rainbow Falls, I've learned the truth about the God you worship. He isn't harsh and vindictive, as you wanted me to believe. He is loving and patient, compassionate and forgiving.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “And because of that, I am going to try very hard to forgive you—more for my sake than yours—so I can move on with my life.”

He remained stone-faced, avoiding her eyes.

“For what it's worth, I am sorry about the money, and I did intend to pay you back one day.”

His head shot up at last, eyes blazing. “I don't believe that for one minute, and neither will the judge.”

Of course he didn't believe her. Tobias had never given her the benefit of the doubt, not once. The stale air in the enclosed room became heavier, blanketing her in regret. “I want you to know no matter what happens in court tomorrow, our relationship is over. I'm no longer your responsibility or your family. I plan to officially change my name back to Strickland, or maybe I'll keep Draper. Mama would've liked that.”

He gripped the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white.

She rose, her chair scraping against the cement floor, and studied him with objective eyes. For once, the usual hatred didn't stir in her chest. She was able to view him as a man to be pitied. A man who, though he claimed to love God, had no real concept of what the word meant. His love was not God's love. Of that she was certain. In a moment of clarity, she understood that no matter what she'd done in her life, her Heavenly Father had never stopped loving her. Warmth filled her soul with the knowledge she was not alone and never would be again. “Good-bye, Tobias.”

She crossed the room, knocked on the door for the guard, and waited.

“I'm dying.”

She barely heard the soft-spoken words. They hung in the air between them.

“I've got terminal cancer. Only a few months to live.”

Heart thrumming, she turned to face him. No wonder he looked so thin and sunken. A brief surge of compassion enveloped her, but she refused to allow the smallest hint of guilt or responsibility to surface. “I'm very sorry,” she said, and meant it, but she could not let herself be roped back into his life now. She'd finally made peace and gotten closure. Most likely she'd be in jail anyway. “Good-bye,” she said quietly. “I hope your parishioners will be a comfort to you.”

The door clicked open behind her. She gave him one last look and then turned and left.

 

****

 

After an eternity of waiting across the street from the rectory in the tiny town of Fielding, Nick straightened in the cab of his truck. A dark sedan slid past him and pulled into the driveway.

He inhaled deeply and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Lord, You know how I struggle with my temper. Help me get through this without losing control. Help me to leave this man's punishment up to Your infinite wisdom.

He gave Tobias time to get inside then walked up to the run-down looking home and knocked. Tobias Cunningham came to the door, frowning. His small eyes narrowed even more when he saw Nick.

“What do you want?” His haggard face was wreathed in weariness.

“I'm Nick Logan from Rainbow Falls. I'd like to talk to you about your daughter.”

Tobias peered at Nick. His black clerical shirt and suspenders hung loosely on his thin frame. Graying hair, that had appeared wild yesterday, had been tamed into submission. “You from the police?”

“No. I'm a friend who wants some answers.”

His expression hardened. “I've answered enough questions for one day.”

Tobias started to shut the door, but Nick jammed his foot in the opening, barring the door from closing. “I won't take up much of your time.” He stepped inside before the man could object and found himself in the living room.

The interior of the house was as decrepit as the exterior. The furniture looked to be from three decades earlier. Books, newspapers, and other clutter crowded the tables. A thick coating of dust cloaked the mantel, and cobwebs clung to the drapery at the windows.

Tobias scowled. “You might as well sit since you're here.”

Nick waited until Tobias sat down before he perched on the edge of the worn sofa, hands clasped loosely over his knees. “I'd like to know exactly why you had Lily arrested.”

The man grunted. “Why should I tell you anything?”

Nick hesitated. “I'm in love with Lily and plan to marry her one day. Before I do, I'd like to know what possible sentence she might be facing.”

Tobias snickered, folding his arms across his chest. “Finally got a man to propose. That's a first.”

Nick shifted on the lumpy couch. “What did Lily do?” he repeated.

Tobias raked a gaze over Nick from head to toe. “You're a far cry from my daughter's usual type. Guess you have a right to know the truth.” He paused as if relishing the moment. “She broke into my house and stole my emergency cash fund. And it wasn't the first time she's stolen from me.”

Nick absorbed the information without changing expression. “When did this take place?”

“Couple of months ago. Had the police looking for her ever since.”

A thread of irritation crept up Nick's spine. “Did it ever occur to you that Lily might have been desperate and in need of help?”

The man only snorted. “She's been in trouble since she was fifteen years old. A parent can't keep bailing a child out forever.”

Obviously appealing to the man's compassion wasn't going to work. “How much did she take?”

Tobias's eyes narrowed. “Eight-hundred–and-sixty dollars—give or take a few.”

Nick reached into his pocket for his wallet. “I'd like to pay you back for the amount she…borrowed.” He took out a wad of bills totaling over twelve hundred dollars. Almost his entire savings account. “If you'd be willing to drop the charges, that is.” The musty smell of the room irritated his nose as he waited.

Tobias sneered. “Why would I drop the charges? That girl needs to learn a lesson, once and for all. Face the consequences of her actions.” He banged a fist on the rickety wooden table beside him. A small lamp shuddered but didn't topple.

The anger Nick had been holding back since he arrived sprang to life. “Don't you think Lily has already served a life sentence…for a crime she didn't commit?”

Tobias stared at him open-mouthed.

“First losing her real family in a tragedy, followed by her adoptive mother's death at such a young age, and then having to live with…never mind.” Nick clenched his fist around the money in his hand. His pulse hammered a loud refrain in his temple. “Why don't you take the cash, and we'll call it even. You'll never have to see Lily again.”

Tobias looked at the stack of bills in Nick's hand and seemed to waver for a moment. Instead his eyes hardened. “No. That girl
will
pay for the humiliation she's caused me all these years.”

Nick shook with suppressed rage. In a deliberate move, he rose from the couch and slid the money into his pocket. “I guess we'll leave the matter up to God and the judge. I pray they can see through your bitterness and need for revenge.”

Nick stalked to the front door, the thud of his steps echoing across the space.

“Wait.”

The anguish in the man's voice stilled Nick's movements. With his hand on the doorknob, he hesitated, his scruples screaming at him. Before he could decide whether to hear him out, a loud thud sounded behind him. Tobias had collapsed on the floor, his body shaking.

Nick's anger vanished as he rushed to his side and pulled him onto the sofa. He slid a cushion under his head, scrutinizing the man's ashen complexion and sunken cheeks. How had he not noticed that Tobias was a very sick man?

“I'll get you some water.”

Nick strode to the kitchen, pulled a plastic cup from one of the cupboards and filled it with cold water. Back in the living room, he helped Tobias sit up to take a sip of the liquid, after which Tobias sank back onto the pillow.

“Are you ill?” Nick asked quietly, pulling a chair closer to the sofa.

The man closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Pancreatic cancer. It's terminal.”

Compassion edged into Nick's heart. “I'm sorry. How long have you known?”

“Found out after I filed charges against Lily. You think God's trying to tell me something?” He gave a harsh chuckle that turned into a fit of coughing.

Nick scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. What did he do with this information? He drew in a deep breath, his nose wrinkling at the smell of rotting garbage coming from the now open kitchen door, and asked God for guidance. As a future minister, Nick would have to deal with many such situations with his parishioners. Whether he liked them or not, it would be his duty to minister to the sick and dying. Maybe God was asking him to do the same now.

He leaned forward, hands clasped over his knees. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Tobias threw him a sharp glance. “I thought you hated me.”

Nick sighed. “I don't hate you. I'm just angry for everything Lily's gone through and how it's affected her. How she doesn't feel worthy of love or happiness in her life.” He held the glass of water back out to Tobias who took a long drink. “She changed a lot since she came to Rainbow Falls and”—he almost said “and fell in love with me,” but that didn't sound right—“and found her sister. She even started coming to church.”