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“Yes. It’s late.”
He sat up on the side of the bed, feeling foolish and uncertain. No other person had ever seen him at such a low point. Some part of him was angry that India had been the one to witness his crisis. He had spent an entire night demonstrating his masculinity. They had made love with passion and insanity.
Now would she regard him as a figure of pity?
When he forced his limbs to move, to stand his body upright, his head spun. He had to put a hand on the dresser to steady himself. “I’m sorry about all that,” he said gruffly.
India lay on her side, head on her hand, eyes watchful. “We all have our moments, Farris. I think you probably came by yours honestly. Being lied to is painful.”
Was that a dig? Did she mean to point out that she had suffered, too...because of Farris’s lies? But he hadn’t lied to her. He had rationalized this subject a million times. Withholding information wasn’t the same as lying.
He crossed the room to the door, holding his jacket in his hand. The distance felt like a hundred miles. As he prepared to leave her, he opened his mouth to say something, though he didn’t know what. In the end, he simply slipped out, leaving India behind. It was for the best.
India made it to breakfast. Farris did not.
Dottie assured her that she had seen her son in passing. “He grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out. Said he had overslept. That doesn’t sound like him. And I don’t think he looked well. I hope he isn’t coming down with something.”
India made a noncommittal response and helped herself to eggs, bacon and toast. “The question is,” she said, “how are you doing, Dottie? Have you recovered from our excitement yesterday?”
“Oh, pooh,” Dottie said. “A little thing like that can’t get me down. I wish I had gotten a picture, though. It would have made a great social media post.”
“True,” India said, laughing.
After breakfast, India wasn’t surprised when Dottie wanted to work on the photo albums again. In truth, they hadn’t placed a single photo yet. They were still working on the sorting and discarding.
India knew this was her chance to talk to Dottie. If she waited, she might chicken out. “I want to brush my teeth and grab a sweater,” she said. “Meet you in the great room in fifteen minutes?”
“Of course.”
The morning passed slowly. India tried to hide her frequent yawns. Her eyes were gritty from lack of sleep. She used the sweater she had brought as concealment for the pictures she’d found.
Finally, she worked up the courage to broach the subject that had sent Farris into a tailspin. “Dottie?”
“Hmm?” Farris’s mother didn’t even look up. She had two stacks of pictures in her hands and was trying to put them in order and ditch duplicates.
India tried a second time. “Dottie. I need to tell you something.” Her voice got husky at the end. Was she afraid or embarrassed to talk about the taboo subject?
Dottie must have heard the emotion in India’s words. Her head snapped around. “What’s wrong, love?”
“Um...” India felt her cheeks get hot and her stomach tighten. “I came in here yesterday afternoon. Decided to put more envelopes in order.” She pointed. “In that box over there, I found something at the bottom...an envelope that’s older than all the rest. It was hidden under some file folders. I didn’t know if you remembered putting it there.”
Dottie froze. “Where is it?”
India reached for her sweater. “Right here. I didn’t want to upset you.”
Farris’s mother pulled the photos out of the creased envelope that was more than three decades old. “Oh, yes,” she said. “I remember these well.”
She flipped through the black-and-whites one at a time, her eyes glassy with tears. “He was such a precious boy. So handsome. Sweet and kind.”
“Farris wanted to burn them when he found them in my bedroom.”
Dottie jerked. She stared at India. “What was Farris doing in your bedroom?”
Oh, crap.India stuttered as her face flamed.
Dorothy Quinn shook her head slowly, a small smile replacing the sadness that had cloaked her moments before. “Don’t answer that, sweetheart. None of my business. But thank you for saving these. I don’t have any earlier than this.”
India frowned. “Why not?”
