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Bexley grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Do you see your mom? Since she’s out?”
“I do. I found her when I was given the boot. She was living in Greensboro. She moved to Memphis when I got transferred to the SCU. I love her, but she’s wacky in new ways.” He shrugged.
At least he still had her.
“Did Ahnah help you with Ruth’s Refuge? Could one of the men have a vendetta? Any of them threaten her?” he asked.
“No. She’s familiar with the work I’ve done and has seen some of the pain up close, but she never wanted to volunteer or work for the ministry. I suppose it was all too close to home for her. When Renee, the original owner of Ruth’s Refuge, passed, I spent a lot of time working and opening new locations across the South. We have eight now. Our most recent one is Memphis. I think Ahnah resented me being away—at first. She was pretty young.”
“Good for you, Bexley. Way to entrepreneur it,” he said without hiding the cutting sarcasm.
“You made a life. Why shouldn’t I?”
He laid the notepad on his lap. “The difference is, Bexley, I made a life because I felt like I had no choice. You were married to my father. I went pretty much mad and hatched all sorts of plans to break in and whisk you and Ahnah away. And I tried.”
Bexley drew her hand to the hollow of her throat. “What do you mean you tried?”
Ty raked a hand through his hair. “Six months after I was kicked out and you were...” He shook his head. “I came to beg Father’s forgiveness. I hoped he’d show me grace and I could coax you to run again. I didn’t care that you’d been with my dad. But when I arrived at the gates, Dalen pulled in behind me. We had a conversation—”
“Couldn’t be a good one.” His half-brother never cared much for Ty.
“No. He told me you and Ahnah had died in a boating accident about three months after marrying Rand. I didn’t believe him, so he brought me to the house. Mother Mae was outside with the children, and she confirmed it. She’d have no reason to lie. Except now, knowing it was her who helped you... I kicked myself for not returning for you three months earlier. I told myself if I had, you might not have been out on the water that day. Might not have died.”
Bexley’s heart splintered. “If she thought you were returning for grace, she’d have never told you the truth. And she sure wouldn’t have shared that information in front of Dalen.”
“I’m seeing the whole story now.”
A rotten devastating story.
“All these years I’ve carried your death and my guilt because I felt to blame,” Ty said. “It’s my fault you had to marry him at seventeen. My fault for everything, and yet you weren’t dead at all. And no wonder Ahnah resented you. You left her behind for your career.”
“You make it sound like I abandoned her.”
“Maybe it’s a pattern.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I think we’re done here.” He was becoming belligerent, which meant he wasn’t going to talk like an adult, and he wasn’t going to obtain what he needed professionally. Not today.
He stood. “I guess so.” He walked to the door. “Though we’ve been done a lot longer than this.”
A lump lodged in her throat. “The night she went missing, she closed at the boutique. Her shift was up at ten p.m. She’d texted me at nine to say she was going to the Blue Marlin for a few drinks and should be home about midnight. I went to bed, and the next morning when I woke—around six—her car wasn’t under the carport. I didn’t think much of it. She’d drunk too much and stayed with friends before, but when work called after she didn’t arrive for her nine a.m. shift, I called around. No one had seen her. The bar manager—Jeff Malone—said she left sober around eleven thirty. In case you needed to know that. Save yourself a second trip.”
His hand reached the doorknob. “Thanks. That’s all I need from you.” He paused, and his eyes softened. “I am sorry about Ahnah. She didn’t deserve this. None of them did.”
“No, they didn’t, but Ahnah is a fighter—you know this better than anyone. She’s strong and resourceful. I’m believing the qualities that shaped her and gave her strength will keep her alive long enough for us to find her. I... I debated calling you myself. Maybe I should have.”
“Maybe you should have years ago. I wouldn’t have been sick daily about the fact you’d died.”
The door blew open, nearly knocking Ty into the wall.
Bexley’s heart stopped. She froze, mouth agape.
No. No. No. No.
Bexley wasn’t ready for this. Not now. Not under these circumstances.
“Hey, sorry, man.”
Ty saluted. “No worries, kiddo. Maybe knock before an appointment.”
