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ChapterFifteen
Bryson touched up the paint in the kitchen when he heard a car drive up and gravel crunch.From his view on the ladder, he could see Hadley’s empty driveway, so he bent down to get a gander at the house on the other side of the one he worked on and noted nothing unusual there.That meant…
“Hello?Bryson, are you here?”a familiar female voice asked.
“Up the steps,” he called, dropping the mini roller into the pan and climbing down the ladder.He wiped his hands on a cloth as Mary Elizabeth topped the second-floor landing and entered the combination kitchen-living area.“Good morning.What’s this?”he asked, seeing the plastic container in her hands.
“I-I’ve been baking and there’s too much.I thought you might be working and h-heard Everett talked to you again about buying the house.”
“He did.I haven’t decided if I’m going to sell just yet, though.”
“I thought I’d come see it.I hope you like German chocolate cake?”
“It’s my favorite.”
Joy washed over the older woman’s features, and she glanced toward the kitchen island before heading that way.
“That’s wonderful.I’m so glad.I b-brought plates and napkins, forks.Would you like a piece now?I’ll cut you one.”
He wasn’t sure why the woman was there bringing cake but figured it had something to do with Hadley more so than the house.“Uh, sure.I’m due a break.”
Bryson noted Mary Elizabeth’s hands visibly trembled as she set about performing the task, confirming his thoughts that this wasn’t just a cake drop-off.“Is something wrong?”he asked.“I’m guessing you’re here because you want to talk to me about Hadley?”
Mary Elizabeth stared up at him, eyes wide.
“Did Mrs.Dummit ask you to come talk to me?”He wouldn’t put it past the woman to pull her friends into the fray and gang up on Hadley, but wasn’t this taking things a bit too far?
“Oh, no.No, that’s not… I’m not here because of Hadley.I mean, she’ll be surprised, I’m sure but… What I mean to say is she’s not why I came to speak to you.”
Bryson moved to the sink and used the soap he’d brought in to wash up as best he could.“Okay.Not to be rude but why are you here?”
“Because I’m your mother.”
Bryson froze, sure he’d misheard the woman.He flipped off the tap and grabbed a fresh rag to dry his hands and give himself a few precious seconds to process the words before he turned to face her.He leaned his hips against the countertop, knees locked, and stared.“Pardon?Did Hadley tell you I was adopted?”
Mary Elizabeth shook like a leaf in a storm.
“No.No, not at all.I haven’t talked to Hadley a-about any of this.”
“Then how did you find out?”
“Bryson, th-the moment I saw you, I recognized you,” she whispered, chin quivering.“You look so much like your father.”
Bryson actually felt a little light-headed, and he gripped the edge of the countertop until his knuckles cracked.“You’re saying thatyou’re…”
She nodded repeatedly, like a puppet on a string held by a manic master.
“I thought… Bryson, I was told you died at b-birth.I had no idea… I swear to you, I didn’tknow.”
Bryson shoved himself off the quartz countertop and stalked across the room, away from her.“How is that possible?”
“My parents,” she said, voice quivering.“I was fifteen.Unwed.My p-parents sent me away to my aunt’s for the summer.”
She filled him in on the details of the birth, being knocked out and the like, and Bryson figured he caught every few words between the blood pulsing through his ears drowning out the others.
He’d always wondered about his birth mother but figured she was some version of what Mary Elizabeth described.A seventies flower child too young to parent.But this…
“Bryson, please, say something.Anything.”
