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She claps her hands enthusiastically, but I don’t miss the sarcasm that comes next. “Well, that was fun! Shall we get home in time to greet Patricia?”
Anna gives me the silent treatment the entire ride home, but she engages with Penny, who talks nonstop about the scavenger hunt that would happen later in the day. Anna acts excited and hangs on to my daughter’s every word, but I take her actions for what they are—a defense mechanism and front to hide her pain. It’s a pain I desperately want to take away.
Scott pulls into the driveway and opens the passenger door closest to the house, and I tell Penny to hurry on ahead and get changed into play clothes if she doesn’t want to ruin her dress.
Penny jumps up the steps to the landing by the front door and then twirls around. “But Dad, I want to wear my dress. It’s pretty!”
Anna waits for my response, and her slightly narrowed eyes warn me that my answer matters to her.
“That’s okay, Honey. If wearing the dress makes you happy, then go for it.” Anna’s shoulder relaxes a fraction, giving me a hint of a real smile. I’ll take that over a false one any day.
Penny, my parents, Jeremy, and Jack go inside, and I step in front of Anna to prevent her from following. Scott moves several yards down the driveway to give us a little privacy.
I gesture between Anna and the front door that’s now closed. “Anna, what was that?”
“What was what?”
She knows what I’m referring to, but I clarify just in case. “Why did my asking Penny to change her clothes upset you? When she said she wanted to wear the dress, why did my answer matter to you?”
She blows at the strand of hair that has fallen in her face, exasperated. “It didn’t.”
I close the distance between us and gently tuck the loose hair behind her ear, surprised when she flinches at my touch. “Anna, you said you would never lie to me. Why are you lying now?”
“You may as well call me Savannah now that the reason for hiding my name is welcome in your home,” she says instead of answering my question.
“I’ve become rather fond of calling you Anna. As for Gretchen, I promise you that I had no idea she was your mother. She never once mentioned your name, only her regret for how she had treated her daughter.”
Anna laughs acerbically, “Regret? For 22 years, that woman controlled every aspect of my life from what I ate to what I wore. Did she ever tell you that she would lock me in my room if I ruined my clothes? I didn’t have ‘play’ clothes to change into, so I never played, Aiden. I had the nicest things money could buy, often at the expense of having food on the table or electricity running through our house.”
“I didn’t know, Anna.”
“Of course you didn’t, Aiden. Gretchen is very adept at hiding her true nature, and you’ve fallen for her act. What I just shared with you is the tip of the iceberg of what that woman is capable of.”
“She’s changed, Anna. I’ve watched her transformation over the years. I got a glimpse of the woman you knew, but Gretchen isn’t that person anymore, and neither are you. I’m not asking you to reconcile with your mother, but I am asking you to give her a chance to apologize to you. But only when you’re ready.”
A tear runs down Anna’s cheek and I wipe it away for her. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready, Aiden.”
Just as I’m about to lean forward and brush my lips against hers in a tender and comforting kiss, our phones chime with an alert that someone has passed through the front gate. When I check to see who it is, I don’t recognize the burgundy-colored Suburban coming up the driveway, but neither Anna nor Scott appear to be troubled. In fact, Anna looks positively ecstatic and is bouncing on her toes with excitement.
A man about my age with shock white hair and crystalline blue eyes emerges from the front passenger side of the vehicle and opens his arms wide to embrace Anna.
“How’s my favorite girl doing?” he asks.
A small, petite woman with short black hair slides out of the back seat, “What am I, chopped liver? You said that I was your favorite last week!”
“You were my favorite last week, Jessie. This week, it’s Savvy,” he jests, and I’m a little jealous by the way Anna lights up around him. I want her to light up that way around me.
A distinguished-looking gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair walks around from the driver’s side of the vehicle. “Don’t worry, Jessie. You’ll always have a special place in my heart.”
Jessie gives the man a lop-sided grin, “Thank you, Roger. It’s nice to know I’m someone’s favorite.”
“I didn’t say that, Jessie. Your special place is right beside my pacemaker, ever-present and something I’ve learned to live with,” Roger teases.
Jessie wraps her arm around Roger’s waist and looks up at him adoringly. “Aw. That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
I continue to stand there and watch the four of them banter back and forth, realizing that these people are not only part of Anna’s team from Shining Knight, but they’re also her “family.”
Anna waves me over, “Aiden Shaw, this is Roger Cavanaugh, Jerry Reynolds, and Jessie Andrews. Y’all, this is Aiden Shaw.”
