A Daughter's Trust

And right now, Michael and Carrie were in her king-size bed with her. Sound asleep. The peace was nice.

“I know,” she said. “But that doesn’t make him right.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Luke interjected. They had her on speakerphone, as always.

“It’s not so much a matter of right and wrong,” Jenny argued. “The whole situation’s a mess. We’re all different than we thought we were. And Sam’s identity, his belief that he was the head of the family—I don’t know. It meant a lot to him. He idolized our dad. And now what has he got to idolize? One man, loving two women, it’s just…how do you make that right?”

“It’s not right that Uncle Sam is pressuring you.” Sue couldn’t help her mother as much as she should. Couldn’t be her strength. Mostly because she was struggling too much herself.

“Maybe not, but he’s not been treated fairly, either.”

“Your mother has a point here, Sue.”

She adjusted the pillow behind her, pulling another over, sitting more upright.

“Think about it,” Jenny continued, sounding almost defensive. On her brother’s behalf. “He was raised as our dad’s only namesake, his only son, and with Dad’s constant guidance, spent his entire life trying to live up to Dad’s expectations. Only to find out, and not from his father, that Dad has another son, an older son. And a grandson, too. And he was told by Dad that as a symbol of the family legacy, he’d have the Carson diamond.”

“He was lied to, like the rest of us,” Sue said, resting a hand against Carrie’s side. Was the baby going to grow up knowing the truth of her heritage? And would she also be loved and adored? Or only cared for?

“He says he wants to give the necklace to Emily—”

“And I think he’s playing your mother, Sue,” Luke interrupted, with more compassion than accusation. “He said he and your mother were the real Carsons and they had to stick together.”

Sue bit back a surge of anger. Her mother had spent her entire life trying to gain Sam’s acceptance. And the bastard knew it.

Belle’s father. A man who was misguided, most definitely. The bastard who was the only one in the family who wasn’t truly a bastard in the literal sense.

“Mom, please. Just hang on to the necklace.”

“He says he’ll will it to you,” Jenny said.

“Grandma wanted you to have it. Uncle Sam might have been her only birth child, but she saw him for what he was. And she didn’t want him to have it, Mom. There’s obviously a reason for that. Please trust her judgment and hang on to it.”

Her judgment? Grandma had lied to them.

“I think your grandmother was afraid Uncle Sam would sell the necklace,” Luke said.

“I don’t think he would,” Jenny insisted.

“I do.” Sue had no doubt about it. Sentimental value meant nothing to Sam. And the diamond was worth more money than Sue wanted to think about. “But I don’t think that’s why she wanted Mom to have it. I think Grandma was telling Mom something about being a Carson. Reinforcing that she truly loved mom as a daughter. Just make sure it’s safe, Ma,” she added. “And hold on to it. Let’s deal with having Uncle Adam and Joe in our lives, first.”

“Right,” Luke said. “And by the way, Sue—”

“Yes, by the way,” Jenny piped, the renewed energy in her voice alerting Sue that her mother was coming after her again. “You knew your cousin Joe before Stan’s announcement. Brought him to the funeral. What was that about?”

It was time for a baby to wake up. To cry and pull her away. She considered lying. And heard Grandma’s voice, from almost twenty years ago, telling her that she didn’t have to be who her parents wanted her to be—that she was perfect being just who she was—but that she owed it to them and to herself to always be honest with them.

And with few exceptions, she always had been. She kept secrets, but she didn’t lie.

Funny that the woman who’d taught her that was the biggest liar of all.

“I was friends with him in high school.” She finally gave them the version of the truth she could. “We ran into each other again a few years ago, when I was looking for clients. He’s the builder I do books for.”

“In high school?” Jenny sounded bewildered.

“We never heard of a Joe Fraser,” Luke added, a second behind his wife. “How could you have known him?”

Ah, guys…“I just didn’t mention him, that’s all.”