“Not strong enough. Not then.” She reached for Riley’s hand. “I’ll answer any questions you have, but I need to tell you everything first.” She explained the circumstances around adopting Tracey, the difficulty she and Gus had raising her, and then about the money. “Tracey was right about one thing. The money I gave her was hers. Your Poppy had always been frugal, and I was never one to need very much in the way of material things. Not only had he left me well taken care of, but he’d also put aside a good amount for Tracey.
“I kept that money from her for years, thinking I would give it to her when she was well enough to handle it. When you were thirteen, I thought that day had arrived. She had gotten sober, remember?”
Riley nodded. “It didn’t last long.”
“No, it didn’t. But when she was off the booze, I told her about her inheritance. Shortly after, she stopped by with you.” Erma took a breath. “There wasn’t a deal. If there hadn’t been any money involved, I would have told her the same thing—she wasn’t welcome to come back here. Not until she straightened herself out for good. I’ve stuck to that promise to this day.” She gripped Riley’s hand. “As you can see, she still hasn’t done that, even after all these years. I’m not sure if she ever will, and it breaks my heart. I still love her, despite everything.”
Riley nodded, her eyes filling with understanding. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I do too. Chalk that up as another thing I don’t understand.”
Erma stood on tiptoes and kissed Riley’s cheek. “You might not be my blood kin, Riley, but you are my granddaughter. You are my real family. Don’t ever, ever doubt that.” She wiped away the tears that had spilled down her darling girl’s cheek. “We have a lot to work through, you and I. Eventually I’m sure we can figure it all out.”
Riley clasped Erma’s hand with her own. “Together.” She touched her forehead to Erma’s.
“Together.”
***
On Tuesday afternoon, Hayden was still in the back office of Price’s Hardware. He’d spent yesterday and most of today going through all the paperwork, procedures, and anything else he could find to keep himself occupied so he didn’t have to deal with customers. Fortunately he had the excuse of wanting to go over every single thing in his father’s desk and filing cabinets. He would have done it anyway eventually. Right now he just couldn’t fake enthusiasm about nuts or bolts or paint or anything else—inside the store or out.
His father and mother must have sensed something was wrong, because both had expressed concern about his mood since he’d returned home Sunday afternoon. When he snapped at them that he was fine, they kept their distance. He wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not them.
He tried to focus on the stack of paperwork in front of him, but all he could see was Riley’s face, and all he could do was kick himself for being such a jerk. So much for earning her trust. For being patient. For not pushing. He’d even argued with himself for falling for someone who clearly had a lot of stuff in her past.Pot, meet kettle.
Hayden sat back in the creaky, green office chair that had seen better days and sighed, then leaned forward and pounded his fist on the desk in frustration.
“Yep. You’re fine all right.”
Hayden turned and looked at his father, who was standing in the doorway. “Sorry,” he said, then started nonchalantly shuffling the papers as if he hadn’t used the desk as a punching bag.
His father walked into the office, picked up the folding chair that was leaning against the wall, and brought it over to Hayden. He flipped it open, then sat down. “Start talking.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Right. Because you’re fine.”
Hayden grimaced, then turned to him. “I’m a little bothered, that’s all.”
“A little?”
“Fine. A lot. Now will you leave me alone?” He closed his eyes. “Sorry. Again. I didn’t mean that.”
“Apology accepted. And no, I’m not leaving you alone. Not until you tell me what’s going on. I haven’t seen you this upset since you were a kid.”
“I guess I’m acting like one too.”
“That depends. What’s got you so hot under the collar?”
Hayden ended up telling his father everything but leaving out anything personal about Riley. “I thought she was the one for me, Dad. I really did.”
His father sat back in the chair and stroked the short beard he’d started growing recently. “And now you think she isn’t?”
“She made that decision for me.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“See what?”
Dad leaned forward. “Son, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but this might be the first time something didn’t come easy to you.”
