His mom sipped and thought about that for a moment before setting the glass down, her expression blank. “I’d take whatever she says with a grain of salt. She’s hardly a reliable source. And from what I knew of Mr. Williams, I daresay he would never have taken that woman into his confidence.”
Which is exactly what Allie had said.
“Actually, I was surprised to see you at the meeting the other night. I thought you were stepping down from an active role on the board. For now.”
“I have, dear. But I’m not dead yet. I still want to have a say in things that matter.”
“Is that why you supported Allie’s proposal about the memorial for Mr. Williams? I hadn’t realized you knew him all that well.”
“As well as you can know any of your son’s teachers. I’ll admit, he was one of your better teachers. He always spoke quite highly of you and your accomplishments at parent-teacher conferences. You respected him, and he was such a positive influence on you, both at school and athletically. And look at what you’ve become. How could I complain? I agreed with Allie’s point. Jackson Williams deserved more respect and time than they were giving him the other night.”
“For what it’s worth, so do I,” he said.
She wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin and set it on the table. “You’ll have to excuse me, Sam. I’m exhausted. I think I’ll go lie down for a while.” She stood, only to sway to the side, and dropped her hands on the table to anchor herself.
“Mom. Let me help you upstairs,” he said worriedly, already at her side.
But she waved him away. “I’m fine. I just stood too quickly. Good night, sweetie.” She kept her head high as she left the room.
He waited until he heard the soft closing of her bedroom door upstairs before he sat down again and turned his mind back to their conversation. That had been more than Sam hoped for. It wasn’t as if he could just come right out and ask her something of this magnitude. And now he was almost certain he knew the answer.
His mother and Mr. Williams had been lovers.
Chapter Ten
“Hi Mom! Hi Aunt Laney!”
Violet and her friend Ava giggled and whooped as they whirled around in the teacup ride set up on the grass at St. Mary’s spring carnival on Saturday morning. Just watching them spin around so quickly left Allie’s stomach churning.
Her head was still throbbing, but not with the piercing pain of earlier.
The day could have started better. Heaving in front of the toilet for the better part of the morning wasn’t her idea of a restful Saturday. She’d even had to cancel her date with Claire and Molly for soccer this morning, which had earned her a few ribald comments from Molly about morning sickness. Assuring her of the physical impossibility of such a state only made things worse.
She felt better by late morning, and since they’d been planning this excursion for weeks—it was kind of an annual thing for the three of them, and Vi would have been brokenhearted—she’d put on her big girl panties and kept to the plan.
“So how’s your friend the author doing? Been spending any more time with him?”
Allie had known they’d get around to this discussion at some point today. She was just surprised it had taken her sister this long. She looked away from the spinning ride and tried to focus her attention on anything stationary—other than Laney’s probing stare.
“He stopped by yesterday to see my progress on Mr. Williams’s video. Nothing more.”
“Huh. I wonder what happened?” Laney mused, more to herself than Allie. “I could have sworn Sam was interested in you.”
“Mom, did you see me?” Vi asked, bounding over with Ava. “Can we ride the train next?”
“Okay, one more ride, but then we’re going to eat.” The girls ran to get in line, and they followed.
“How did things go with you and Mark last night?” Allie asked tentatively, remembering Laney’s big plans.
She didn’t say anything for a minute. “Not so well. He came home exhausted. Not even my prancing around in black lace could get a rise out of him—so to speak.” She smiled, but with little humor. “I need to tell you something, but you can’t mention it to anyone else. Least of all, my mother.”
“Okay. I’ll fight the urge to call Peg over so we can do some scrapbooking together while I tell her all the intimate details.” She smiled at her own joke and looked over at Laney. She didn’t look as though she’d even heard the comment.
“I think Mark might be…having an affair.”
Allie’s jaw dropped. “Mark? Mr. Sensitivity himself? No way. I can’t see it, Laney.” Mark just wasn’t the type of guy to mess around. He’d be too afraid of facing judgment, both here on earth and afterward. “There has to be some other explanation.”
“He’s been avoiding me for months. He never wants to be intimate with me anymore. I think the last time we had sex was Thanksgiving. Five months ago. What else could it be if not another woman? And nothing I do seems to get him to notice me.”