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“Can we be one hundred percent certain? Can we see him?” Stone asked.
“It’s been two months, and when no one came by to claim the body, the state cremated his remains. But they were able to do a DNA test from the remains and we have this photograph of the body.” He handed it to Stone, and he found himself staring down the dead body of a man he used to call dad.
“It’s him,” Stone whispered, handing Austin back the photo. “He never left home without his wallet. It wasn’t on him?”
“No wallet or identification,” Austin said.
“I’d love to say that we have answers about your father’s death, but we don’t,” Ranger said. “We’re still working on everything.”
“Thank you for finding out this much,” Bobbie said. “It’s more than we hoped for. We thought that David just took off and we would never know what happened to him. At least we know now.”
“We do have one more thing,” Austin said. He handed them each a photograph of the same woman.
“Who is this?” Lulah asked her husband.
“We believe that she’s your grandmother—David’s mother,” Austin said.
“Why do you think that?” Stone asked.
“Because her photo was forwarded in David’s last effects. They are in that bag there, but we went through them. He had no phone, no wallet, nothing but the clothes on his back and that picture,” he said, nodding to the picture. “We did a little digging and we’re pretty sure that she’s Penelope Granger—Penny for short. We’re still gathering information, but that shouldn’t be too hard since she’s still alive.”
“She’s alive?” Lulah asked.
“Yep, and lives about twenty minutes from here. I’m guessing that David kept her a secret from the three of you too,” Ranger said.
“I’ve never seen this picture before,” Stone said. He had asked his father what happened to his parents, but David would change the subject after telling him that they had been gone a long time. He told Stone that he had no other family, just him and his mother, and they believed him. Now, finding out that he had been lied to and had not only two sisters, but he also might have a grandmother out in the world felt like the ultimate betrayal. How could David keep him from the family that he craved so much growing up? How could he keep Stone from his family?
“Me either,” Bobbie said.
“Same,” Lulah agreed. “She does have your eyes,” she said to her sister. Bobbie shrugged and nodded.
“Listen, I know that this is coming out of left field. If you three don’t want Ranger and me pursuing this, we won’t. If it was me, I’d want to know if I have a grandmother out there,” Austin said. Stone honestly wanted to know, but he wouldn’t pursue this without his sister’s blessings.
Lulah looked at Bobbie and they both nodded, “We’re interested in finding out who this woman is, if you’re on board, Stone.”
“I’m in,” he agreed, “and, if you find out that she’s our grandmother, I’d also like the three of us to drive out to her place to meet her.”
“And what if she knows about us and doesn’t want to meet us?” Bobbie asked.
“Then, we’ll leave, but we will have our answers,” Stone said. “Agreed?” he asked.
“I’m in,” Lulah said. “Come on, Bobbie, you know you love road trips.”
“Fine, if you both are going, I’ll go too,” Bobbie agreed.
“We’ll get some more information on this woman and then let you three know when we have something,” Austin promised.
Stone stood, “Thanks guys. I need to get going,” he said, grabbing his crutches.
“Right,” Lulah agreed, “you have some groveling to do. Good luck.”
“Shut up,” Stone grumbled, hobbling his way out of the office. “Talk soon,” he shouted back over his shoulder. He knew that he was going to have to do more than beg Jolene to get her to forgive him, but he was going to try—and he was pretty sure that flowers and chocolate wouldn’t hurt either.
Jolene
Jolene walked in on Stone telling his family that he wasn’t interested in her, and she wasn’t sure why it hurt her so badly, but it had. Sure, they had only shared one kiss, but she thought that it meant something to him. He had promised her that they could take things slowly; she just never imagined a full stall.
He had gotten up early that morning and showered, and when she found him in the kitchen again, he asked her to give her a ride. He seemed cold and distant with her, nothing like the man who had admitted to wanting her and kissed her in the kitchen just hours earlier. She wanted to ask him if their kiss was just a dream, or if it had really happened, but from the scowl on Stone’s face, she decided to keep her distance.
