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My mom took several deep breaths. “What?”
“Hewitt Ridge will be here tomorrow. Noah contacted him and asked what happened. His father wouldn’t tell him over the phone, but he said something did. He and Noah’s mom are returning from Australia tonight.”
When she tried to stand, I held onto her arm.
“I didn’t tell you, because I was afraid you’d refuse to meet with him. We have to, Mom. We have to know the real story so we can move on with our lives. All of us.”
She shook her head.
“Do it for me, Mom. I want to spend my life with Noah, and while I don’t know for sure he wants the same thing, I want us to have a fighting chance. He’s a good man. Look what he did for us, for Luisa.”
“I’ll think about it. I can’t promise I’ll be able to go through with it. I’ve spent so many years believing he took advantage of us while I had to work my fingers to the bone to pay the rent on my crappy apartment. Thank God you and your sister were able to get scholarships and go to college.”
“I understand you’d feel resentful. Honestly, I do. But all this anger you have inside may be directed toward a man who doesn’t deserve it.”
I calledNoah the next morning and told him about the conversation my mom and I had had the night before. “She’s still asleep. I don’t know if she’ll agree to talk to your father, but at least now, I have a better idea of what she believes happened.”
“Would you prefer it if I talk to my father alone?” he asked.
“I thought about it. I mean, I haven’t slept at all. But, no. I need to be there. I hope you understand.”
“Of course I do.”
“I just hope my mom will be there too.”
As much asI wanted to see Noah earlier in the day, before he arrived at Butler Ranch with his father, we agreed it would be best if we waited. He said his parents’ flight would land at eleven, and as long as it wasn’t delayed, they’d arrive at the ranch at one.
My sister and I were sitting in the kitchen when my mom came downstairs at half after noon.
“Hey, Mom. I made lunch. Want to join us?”
“I’m not hungry, baby.”
I stood and pulled out a chair. “Will you at least sit with us?”
She shook her head. “I’m going for a walk.”
“Noah and his dad will be here in less than a half hour. I hope you’ll be with us to hear what he has to say.”
My mom cupped my cheek. “I can’t, Seraphina. You hear him out. If you believe him, I’ll eventually learn to accept it.”
I was on the verge of bursting into tears. Eventually? So if I believed Hewitt didn’t do anything wrong, a wedge would still remain between my mother and Noah’s family?
“Mom, I’m begging you. Please. Do it for me. I know it will be hard, but please.”
When my mother left the room, I didn’t have it in me to follow. I sank into the chair, put my head in my hands, and cried.
“Seraphina? Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Luisa asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
It took me several minutes before I could speak, but when I’d finally stopped crying, I told her everything I knew.
When I finished, Luisa got up from the table. “Why didn’t she ever say anything?”
“Maybe she didn’t think there was any reason to. Not until Noah Ridge showed up to help us find you.”
“Hewitt Ridge doesn’t have Dad’s formulas.”
“What do you mean?”
