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“That’s because I haven’t.”
I fetch myself a cup from the cabinet and fill it with coffee, adding some milk.
“Don’t go,” Mom says as I walk back past her. “Please… stay and talk.” I turn and stare down at her. She looks just as tired as I feel, and I wonder if she’s spent a sleepless night, too.
“Where’s Dad?” I ask, sitting at the end of the table.
“He’s resting. I think yesterday’s revelations took it out of him.”
“Is he okay?”
She nods her head. “He’ll be fine, as long as he takes it easy.” I sip my coffee. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, Livia.”
“Why didn’t you? I’ve tried to understand, but I can’t.”
“We thought it was for the best. Your father…”
“If you’re talking about Ken Bevan, can you call him Ken? He’s not my father. Dad is.”
She smiles. “Okay. Ken didn’t take the money for us. It wasn’t to give us a better life, or anything as noble as that. He didn’t care about us. In fact, he didn’t care about anything other than himself. Don’t get me wrong, he could be charming when he needed to be… but deep down, he was cruel, and mean, and heartless.” She shifts in her chair. “When he was arrested, he was at home, having breakfast. They just barged in, went through his study, read him his rights, and marched him out of the house. I’d rarely been in his study. He used to keep it locked, but the police had made him open the door, and after they’d all gone, I went inside. They’d taken his computer, and a lot of files, but in the corner, there was a suitcase.”
“A suitcase?”
She nods her head. “I opened it, and found it was full of his clothes… not all of them, but enough.”
“You mean he was leaving?” I ask.
“Yes,” she says, sighing. “And he wasn’t taking us with him.”
I drink down some more coffee, glancing out the window. Nothing she’s said has surprised me. I only spent a few minutes with Ken Bevan, but he struck me as someone who was far more interested in himself than in anyone else.
“I’d forgotten Hunter’s name until you said it last night,” Mom says, and I look back at her.
“I noticed.”
She smiles, although it doesn’t touch her eyes. “I didn’t even know the name of the company you were working for.”
“No… I didn’t mention it.” I suppose if I had, none of this would have happened. But I was busy falling in love.
“Theodore Bennett had three children, didn’t he?” she says.
“Yes. Hunter is the oldest. His brother is called Drew and his sister is…”
“Ella,” Mom says, completing my sentence. “I loved that name.”
“Did you know them?” I ask.
“I never met the children in person, but Ken talked about them from time to time. Obviously, I saw Theodore at the office when I was working there.”
“What about his wife? Did you meet her?”
“No. She lived at their house in Rhode Island.” She shakes her head, like she’s remembering those days. “It’s such a coincidence that you should end up working there.”
“Hunter clearly didn’t think so. He must have thought I got the job on purpose for some reason, presumably connected to Ken Bevan. Maybe he thought I wanted to steal more money from him, or something.” It’s the only thing that makes sense of why he fired me… why he spoke to me like he did.
“You love Hunter, don’t you?”
Mom’s question takes me by surprise and I say, “Yes,” instinctively, because it’s true. I do love him… even now.
