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“What are you two doing here?” I asked.
“Figured you weren’t the only one to benefit from our good advice,” said Luke. “Probably could use a bit of closure myself.”
Colton shrugged. “Frances made me come. Said I needed to deal with this. I think I’m fine.”
I shook my head. “It’s a good thing she can still talk sense into you, brother.” I put my arm around him and walked them to the elevators.
Stepping off the second floor, I noticed Colton lagging behind. I don’t remember the last time he’d spoken to her. After what she’d done, they certainly had a lot to talk about.
Knocking on the door, I pushed past it.
“Ryan, hey,” said her nurse. “Good to see you. Catherine is doing well today. It’s a good day for a visit.”
“I’m glad.” Then, turning to my aunt, I said, “I brought you some new visitors.”
She sat up straighter in her bed, her eyes wary. As Colton and Luke walked in, her face scrunched up and her shoulders shook. A sob escaped from her throat and she covered her mouth, her fingers trembling.
For a second, I regretted springing them on her. But then her lips quivered and she smiled. “My goodness, look how big you’ve all gotten.”
“Some of us bigger than others,” Colton muttered and I smacked his arm.
“Please come in,” she said. “It’s so good to see you.”
The contentment in her voice eased the tension in my chest.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I checked it in case it was the Mayor’s office. I was expecting the building permits to be in today for the halfway house.
But it was my private investigator.
“Hey, now’s not a good time,” I said, turning my head away from the trio.
“Ryan, we really need to talk about your mother.”
“I know. But not right now.”
“You said that two weeks ago.”
“Well, since the letter is more than twenty years old, I don’t see the rush.”
“There’s a rush.”
My PI was never pushy, so a few alarm bells went off at that moment.
“What’s going on? What’s so urgent that I need to know about my mother’s lover right now?” I whispered harshly into the phone and stepped outside, not wanting to distract my brothers. “Whatever my mother did, she did. I forgive her. I’m in a better place than I was when I started this investigation. I’m moving on from my past.”
“That’s the thing, Ryan. The man your mother was writing letters to wasn’t her lover.”
“What are you talking about?”
I recalled the letter. The wording seemed pretty clear. “She had said she couldn’t wait to be with him. Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand. If he wasn’t her lover, then who the hell was he?”
“Her son.”
My world crashed down on me. I saw only black in front of me and a loud ringing in my ears. I flatted my back against the hallway to steady myself.
