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Aidan clutched Grace’s hand, a look of dread in his dark eyes. “I never heard one word from Deidre after that weekend. I swear to you, I didn’t know any of this.”
Cold anger crystallized Grace’s thoughts. “Then tell me why she made all those plans. It doesn’t make sense to me, and it clearly doesn’t make sense to Lisa, the woman who was closest to the situation.”
“Grace, I’m telling you, I am as much in the dark as you are.”
“Aidan, please don’t lie to me. Did she ever try to contact you about Emma before this?” Grace asked, her quiet tone belying her inner anger.
“I wasn’t in touch with Deidre after those two days. I had no reason to go near her. I knew it was a mistake, and I wanted to get away from all of it as fast as possible.”
Grace felt hot tears on her cheeks and was mortified that a stranger was able to witness her pain, her embarrassment She looked her husband over carefully, searching his expression for any indication he was not telling her the truth. Despite his protests, she couldn’t imagine having a child and not being part of its life.
How could her husband, who claimed to love children, who had willingly been involved in trying to have a baby with her, not have been part of Emma’s life? The Aidan she knew would not have been able to stay away from his only daughter.
In Aidan’s business, he was often away overnight visiting one of the many clients his company had across the southeastern United States. He called her every night from his cell phone, which meant that he could be anywhere and she wouldn’t be able to verify his location even if she wanted to. And she hadn’t wanted to. She’d trusted him to tell her the truth.
Now she had to face reality. How could she be sure that he hadn’t made regular trips to see his daughter? He could have stayed somewhere in Spartanburg and met with Deidre and Emma without anyone knowing. He could have easily kept his whereabouts from everyone, including her brother, Lucas. Her thoughts ran the gamut from wanting to believe her husband to realizing what he said was probably not true. With a sinking heart she said, “And you never once came to see Deidre or Emma?”
“I swear to you, Grace. I wasn’t aware of any of this.”
She couldn’t look at him anymore, not when she was swamped by fear that she had put her faith in a man who had intentionally deceived her. “I simply can’t accept that Deidre, who had no family, wouldn’t have sought you out, and arranged for you to be a part of Emma’s life. After all, how long could Deidre continue to show her daughter your photo without the child wanting to see you?” She pushed the hair off her face in resignation. “And I’m sure that, like any mother, Deidre would do anything she could to make her daughter happy, and sooner rather than later, it would have meant getting in touch with you.”
Aidan looked at her as if she’d struck him. “Grace, please, this is difficult for everyone.”
“Mrs. Fellowes, I only want what is best for Emma. But I realize the two of you might need a chance to talk this over. The accident and its aftermath has been a shock for everyone. I have to go now to pick up Emma from kindergarten. If you’d like, I can take her to the playground on the way home, give you both a little time to talk this out.” Lisa glanced from one to the other.
“Yes, please do that. Give us a half hour or so.” Aidan cleared his throat. “Then bring Emma home. We’d like to meet her.”
Grace watched warily as Lisa left the house. Everything felt surreal, out of place. Fighting her fear, she turned to her husband, praying for him to say the words that would make everything in her life right again.
