A Daughter's Trust

No one looked at Sam, except Sue. She stared straight at him, saw the stiffening of his shoulders as he sat upright. Watched the red rise in his face. Obviously, in his perusal of the pages, he’d missed the executor part. Or hadn’t yet read that far.

Sue’s stomach, filled with nervous tension, threatened to send her to the restroom as she contemplated what else Uncle Sam hadn’t yet gotten to in those papers. What else was soon to be disclosed.

“Why are you really here?” Sue whispered to the man standing so stiffly beside her. He had to know. He had to tell her.

Someone had to do something before Uncle Sam exploded.

“I have no idea,” Joe whispered back.

Sue’s gaze shot to him. His lips were tight, the nerves in his throat pulsing.

“You sound worried.”

“With my dad, I never know what to expect.”

Yes, but what could abandonment or drinking habits have to do with Grandma Sarah? Unless the man had swindled her grandmother out of her small fortune? But if that were the case, the swindler wouldn’t be invited to the unveiling of his sins, would he? Not with the family gathered.

“Now.” Stan Wilson cleared his throat, crossing one leg over the other. “Before I get to the actual will, I have a short letter Sarah asked me to read to you.”

Sam sat forward, elbows on his knees. He reminded Sue of a cat looking at a fat, cornered mouse. Or an insecure man who was worried that, once again, what he felt was rightfully his was going to be stolen away….

A tiny foot jabbed her in the back, and Sue slowly swayed back and forth, tuning in to the little girl whose weight was a welcome reminder that life existed outside this room. Outside the horrible gray that seemed to color everything since Grandma Sarah had died.

“She left me with some hard news to deliver,” Stan continued, his expression serious. He glanced at Adam Fraser, and Sue’s stomach tightened right along with the male fist at her side. “I’ve dealt with a few grieving families so far in my career, but I’ve never had a situation quite like this. I ask you all to bear with me and forgive me in advance if I don’t do this well.”

“Just read the damn letter, Stan. We’re fine,” Sam said, with the authority of one who believed he had the right to speak for everyone.

With her father’s condescending tone ringing through the room, Belle shot Sue a glance. Rolled her eyes. And Sue was reminded of a hundred other times she and Belle had commiserated over their dysfunctional family.

Then her eyes landed on Camden and she had to look away. She’d given away fifteen infants. She was used to it. Fine with it. It was a part of the job she accepted. Today, she had no idea how she was going to pull it off.

Stan unfolded a piece of blue stationary, and even from her vantage point, Sue recognized Sarah’s distinctive, flowing handwriting.

“‘My dearests, it is with a very full heart that I sit down to write

to you. First, because I know that by the time you get this, I will be gone from this earth, from you. Sam, Jenny, Emily, Luke, Belle and my sweet Sue, I loved you all so much.’”

Sue’s neck ached. Her back ached. Her head started to ache. Tears filled her eyes.

“‘And it is with great difficulty that I tell you, in death, what I could not bring myself to tell you in life, with hopes that somehow the truth will serve you well.’”

Frozen, Sue stood there. Grandma had secrets? She didn’t believe it. Not for a second. Grandma Sarah had been the most perfect individual Sue had ever known. She’d spent her life trying to be even half the woman Grandma was.

“‘My husband, Robert Carson, fathered three children. Our son, Sam, and our adopted daughter, Jenny. And Adam Fraser. Adam is Robert’s firstborn son by a matter of weeks. Jenny was born later, to the same woman who gave birth to Adam.’”

Sam jumped up. “That’s a lie!” His accusing gaze went from the lawyer to Adam Fraser and back, as though the two of them had concocted this scheme.

Adam’s reaction, in comparison, was almost nonexistent, though the words he uttered softly were almost the same. “That’s impossible.”

Joe didn’t move at all.

“Oh, my God,” Jenny murmured, her mouth open, the papers in her hand trembling as she started to cry.

“What the hell!” Sam’s outburst spewed spittle. “You expect me to believe that my father was a cheat who had two bastard children?”

“Sam, sit down,” the lawyer ordered. There was no mistaking the underlying warning that while Sam was in his office, he’d either do as Stan said, or be removed.

Sue glanced at Belle, more out of habit than anything else. Sue felt cold. And hot. And confused. Her mind reeled as she tried to take in the ramifications of what they were hearing.