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Bryn bent her head. “It was complicated.” Aunt Beverly knew most of the story, though she had no clue that Bryn had harbored a crush on Trent. She sat down beside her aunt. “Mac hasn’t said so, but I can tell from his face that he thinks Allen is Jesse’s son. He practically melted, just like a doting granddad should.”
Beverly extended her feet, clad in sensible walking shoes, and stretched. “How long will we be staying?”
Panic welled in Bryn’s chest. Mac was back in fighting form. Once Allen had a chance to immerse himself in ranch life and the nurse declared him fully recovered, there would no longer be any reason for Bryn and her son to stay.
Which meant Bryn had to confront Trent with the letters. Soon.
And that was problematic, because Trent had reverted to the coolly reserved, impossible-to-read man she had first encountered in Mac’s sickroom when she arrived. She no longer detected hostility from him, but his utter lack of emotion was even worse.
He either refused to believe the evidence of his own eyes, or he had no interest in getting to know his nephew.
When Allen woke from a long nap, he was grumpy, but a juice box and a cookie soothed him. The nurse checked him over, and soon, Mac and Bryn were on horseback, with Allen—wearing a mask as a precaution—riding in front of his grandfather. They covered a lot of ground, and Mac’s transformation was miraculous. No longer an invalid, he was suddenly hale and hearty again, his skin a healthy color and his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
At one point when Allen was occupied playing with puppies on the front porch, Mac took Bryn’s arm. “We need to talk this evening.”
Bryn nodded solemnly, a lump in her throat. “Okay. After I get Allen settled for the night, I’ll come find you.”
“Trent will need to be there, also.”
She nodded again, but couldn’t think of a thing to say. Trent’s feelings on the subject of Jesse’s son were an unknown quantity.
Allen tired quickly. They whisked him back to the house and Beverly occupied him with a simple board game while Bryn talked to the nurse. The prognosis was promising. They would have to be vigilant about inhalers and the like, but there was a very good chance Allen would outgrow the worst of his asthma.
After dinner Allen was allowed to watch one of his favorite Disney DVDs, and then it was bedtime.
When Bryn entered Mac’s office a short while later, he was already there. And so was Trent. Mac greeted her with a smile. Trent barely noticed that she’d entered the room. He sat in front of the computer, his forehead creased in concentration as he studied the screen.
For a moment she flashed back to that dreadful day six years ago. But she was not here to plead her own case on this occasion. She was an advocate for her son. Bryn wanted nothing for herself from the Sinclairs unless it was freely given. Not money, not love, not anything.
Mac motioned for her to sit in the big, comfy armchair. It was a man’s chair, and it dwarfed her, but she complied. Still, Trent remained apart from the conversation. Mac reached in a drawer and pulled out a five-by-seven silver frame.
He handed it to Bryn. She stared at it, but it took a few moments for understanding to click. The birthday cake in the picture was decorated with five candles. And the gap-toothed birthday boy with the wide grin and the cowlick was Jesse.
He could have been Allen’s twin. Her throat tightened. “I don’t know what to say.”
Mac’s eyes glazed with wetness, but he coughed and tried to cover his emotion. “I think you know how sorry we are for what happened six years ago, but Trent and I want to make a formal apology and ask you to forgive us. Isn’t that right, Trent?”
Finally, Trent revolved and faced her, his expression unreadable. “Yes, of course.”
Bryn squirmed in the chair, bringing her knees up beside her in an effort to get comfortable. For years she had thought an apology was what she wanted, but now that the time had arrived, she realized that it changed nothing. “I appreciate the thought,” she said slowly. “But I understand why you did what you did, especially Trent. Jesse was the light of this family…the heart and soul. You all poured your love into him, and it would never have occurred to you that he was capable of such barefaced lies.”
