AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Corrie.
She drove back toward the ranch, and used the two-hour drive to frame the questions she had for Corrie, starting with how Heath had gotten his job at Pine Ridge Ranch…
And why Corrie had kept it a secret all these years.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Corrie was on the side porch when Lizzie parked her SUV alongside the house. She exited the car, slammed the door and pounded up the steps. She faced Corrie, the only mother figure she’d known for over twenty-five years, and threw down the gauntlet. “You knew Heath was here all along, didn’t you?”
Corrie faced her from the wide-seated rocker. She studied Lizzie for a long, slow moment, then nodded. “I asked Sean to give him a chance. I told him what happened and how your father and grandfather had thrown him out with nothing. No paycheck, no chance to gather things, no chance to say goodbye to you. Absolutely nothing, all because he had the audacity to fall in love with you. That’s the kind of men they were, and Heath’s own father wasn’t one bit better.” She sighed and folded her hands into her lap.
“Sean was different. He’d always been different. He took the money he’d inherited and invested it. Then he spent years working the land, working here, to build something unique. Something so far away from publishing that the wheeling and dealing of Fitzgerald News Company couldn’t touch him. I figured if Heath had a chance to see what a real man stands for, it would be good for him. And it would give you a chance to grow up a little.”
She’d made these decisions without telling Liz. Without giving her a choice. Pressure-cooker anger built inside her. “You never told me. And you never told him about Matthew. He thought I terminated the pregnancy on purpose.”
Corrie didn’t back down and didn’t look one bit guilty. “Isn’t that a thing in itself? That he’d believe lies like that back then? Because he shouldn’t have believed them, Lizzie. I expect he knows that now.”
“You could have told me where he was.”
Corrie frowned. “I could have. But to what end? He needed to grow up. He needed to see what a good man does, how a good man stands by his family in thick and thin. You were giving Matthew up for adoption, you’d made that decision and it was a noble one. And then circumstances took it all out of our hands when that tiny fellow went home to God. And there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t imagine sitting in heaven one day, rockin’ that boy and telling him what a wonderful mother and father he had. Just in case he doesn’t know it. I’ll share Beulah Land with him and your sweet mama. May God forgive me my mistakes, but then the good Lord knows the reasons for them. And that’s for certain.”
“I needed him, Corrie,” she pressed. “When that baby passed from me, I needed Heath there. With me. By my side. And you thwarted that.” She couldn’t believe the words as she said them, that her beloved Corrie, the woman who’d loved her all along, who’d come to her side when called, didn’t tell her where Heath was.
Corrie stood and faced her. Regret and unshed tears marked her face. “You’d called him. You’d called him over and over and he didn’t come. He didn’t call back. And you were in such anguish and pain that I had to decide what was best for you. I couldn’t help baby Matthew. And I’d done what I thought best and helpful for Heath, by having Sean offer him a job, but when he didn’t have the courtesy to answer your phone calls or return your messages, I got angry. Angry at him for not making himself available the way he should have. Angry at him for putting you in that situation. From that day on I never contacted Sean or checked on Heath until we drove up this driveway. And that’s the truth of the matter.”
She stood strong and solid, a woman of compassion and commitment, a woman who’d stood by the three daughters in her care no matter what.
But the thought that one phone call might have changed everything soured Lizzie’s heart. She turned and went down the stairs. She crossed the yard, entered the first barn and brought Honey’s Money into the prep area.
She saddled her with quick hands and no mind to where she’d go or what she’d do. Just mind enough to know that she thought better on horseback.
She led the horse into the yard.
Corrie was no longer on the porch. No one was about.
No matter.
She climbed into the saddle and let the horse walk an easy pace toward the ridge. Once they were in the mowed field, she let the mare have her head and they ran. They ran across the freshly mowed hay lot, across the lower ridge, wide and flat, until the ridge dipped down. She slowed the horse and followed the descent until she found herself in the middle of the failing town.
