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“I’m still in shock that Arnold is behind all this,” Mom murmured. “I mean, I believe you. Of course I believe you. I just wish we had solid proof that he did all this.”
“There’s no trail. Not really,” Bones said. “Just deductive reasoning on our end, which isn’t enough to actually do anything other than protect the company and Hayden.”
Mom reached for her phone. “Hold on a second.” She unlocked her cell and pressed the screen and put it to her ear. A moment later, she said, “Stanton, I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to do something for me. Under no circumstances is Arnold allowed back into the house. I’ll explain why later.” She paused and looked at me. “All right. Thank you.”
Mom hung up with Stanton. “We’ll go through his home office and see if we can find anything incriminating. Though I’m not even sure what to look for.”
“We’ll meet you at the house,” Bones said.
Mom nodded.
“What are you going to do about Arnold?” I asked.
“Call my attorney and begin divorce proceedings.” Mom’s face hardened. “I never should’ve married him so soon after Kellan’s death, but he…”
“Said all the right things,” I said.
“Yes. I did love him. Not like your father. Not anything like your father, but still…” She shook her head like she was trying to banish the thought from her mind. “Why didn’t you tell me about the man who tried to mug you? You purposefully kept that from me. Why?”
When I didn’t reply, she went on, “The truth, Hayden. I can take it.”
“I wanted to protect you,” I said quietly. “Daddy’s death was so hard on you; I wasn’t sure that you’d…”
“Be able to handle it?” She raised her brows. “That’s my fault if you thought you had to keep something of this magnitude from me. You may think I’m fragile, but I’m your mother. I have the right to know these things. Don’t hide them from me anymore.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll head back home and then see you both in a bit, right?” Mom asked.
I nodded. “Before we leave, I want to show Bones Dad’s old office.”
Her gaze softened. “He’d be so proud of you for what you did today.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I haven’t done much to deserve the praise.”
In a maternal gesture I was entirely too old for, Mom brushed a finger along my cheek. “I would have to disagree.”
“Me too,” Bones said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me toward him.
Mom smiled at him. “Normally, I’d be concerned at the speed of your relationship, but now I know I have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing at all,” Bones assured her.
The three of us finally left the conference room and I hugged her goodbye at the elevator. My mother turned to Bones and embraced him. “Welcome to the family.”
The doors to the elevator opened and she stepped into them. She snapped her spine straight just as the doors closed.
Bones took my hand in his. “Show me your dad’s office.”
With a nod, I turned the other direction, and we walked past the receptionist.
“I can’t figure it out,” Bones said.
“Figure what out?”
“Your mother. You told her that her husband was behind the attempts on your life, and she hardly batted an eye.”
We stopped at the door at the end of the hallway. “She’s holding it together. Tonight, she’ll have Stanton make her a drink and she’ll sit and process. Until then, she’ll bury it. That’s just how she is.” I gestured to the door. “Here we are.”
