"Do you think," he began, "there will ever be a time when you can look at me as your grandfather?"

"For as long as I've known you, you've pretended it wasn't true."

"I know, and I regret it," he said.

"So do I," I replied. "I suppose it comes down to who regrets it more."

He smiled.

"When it comes to regrets, I have the edge."

I softened my eyes. He did look like a broken, remorseful old man and for the moment, I felt pity more than I felt anger. Anger was a sword, sharp and hot, but it also burned and cut the person who held it in their vengeful grasp.

"What's Grandma Olivia going to do when she learns you've told me the truth?" I asked.

He thought on this and then smiled.

"Pretend I didn't," he said, which brought a smile to my face, too.

Then he leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm glad you came here today, Melody," he said. "Morton will be right with you."

I stepped out and took a deep breath. My lungs felt full of hot air, enough to make me explode. From practically every point around this house, there was a good view of the ocean. The front steps were no different.

I saw a sailboat bucking the waves, the ocean spray shooting up around it, its sails full of wind. It was too beautiful here to plant a garden of lies. Eventually, the ocean, like time itself, would wash them away and leave us with the naked truth on the beach.

I wasn't as afraid of tomorrow as I had been yesterday. In fact, I looked forward to it.

14

Jealousy

.

From the way Morton spoke about Judge

Childs when Morton drove me home, it was apparent to me that he loved him as he would love his own father. Apparently, my grandfather had helped Morton when he had gotten himself into trouble with the law. He was about twenty at the time. My grandfather offered him a job driving for him, helping around the house, being his all-around assistant, and Morton had remained with Judge Childs ever since. I wondered just how much Morton really knew about the family secrets. However, I could see he wasn't one to tell tales out of school, especially if it involved my grandfather. He'd rather cut out his own tongue than speak a word against him.

I wondered about my grandfather, a man who could earn so much respect and such devoted loyalty from a complete stranger. I wanted to believe that meant he had some very fine qualities, but what the judge had done to Grandma Belinda was wrong, very wrong. He compounded the sin by cooperating with Grandma Olivia, who wanted her sister kept out of sight. He succumbed to Olivia's jealous rage and paid a high price to protect his own name and reputation. It cost him his peace of mind at a time in his life when he most needed it, and most important, it cost him his son's love. Despite his wealth, his big house full of valuable antiques, his beautiful property, his position in the community, he really was someone to be pitied. That much Morton did reveal.

"You made the judge happy," he said with admiration. "I could see it in his face. He hasn't worn a smile like that for years. At least, not since his wife died."

"Did you like her as much as you like Judge Childs?" I asked.

"Oh surely yes. Mrs. Childs was a real lady.

She never let down her hair in public, and she always

treated everyone with the utmost respect, no matter

what color he or she was, or what their family did for

a living. She was a pretty woman, too, and she wrote

poems. She published some in those small magazines,

and once in a big magazine from New York City. I

Tags: V.C. Andrews Logan Horror
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