She's My Mom

by Rebecca Winters

  As Grady put the key in his pocket, Mrs. Harmon returned. “Here’s your mail.” She arranged everything on the table.

  “You’re an angel. Do you mind making two trips to your house tonight?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Thank you. I’ll let Matt explain while I gather the family.”

  He hugged her before racing upstairs. Susan was in their room with Brett, and he saw three suitcases open on the bed, filled to the brim.

  “We’re only going to be gone for five days.”

  “I like to be prepared.”

  Brett grinned. “You always did pack too much, Mom.”

  “Did I?”

  “It’s why I have a bad back,” Grady teased.

  As long as she’d recovered this much of her memory, he had to believe the rest would come. The problem was, they never knew what would trigger it. But he was willing to try anything that would restore his wife to him.

  He took a deep breath. It was going to be a relief to get out of the house. Neither she nor Brett had complained, but he imagined they, too, were feeling claustrophobic about being shut inside. The five-hour drive to Oceanside would provide a much-needed change for all of them.

  Once again, he had his son to thank for the idea. Earlier this morning Grady’s thoughts had been too black to see his way clearly.

  “Let’s get going, shall we?”

  Everyone scurried for the last-minute items, and soon they were making their way to the garage. Matt waved them off.

  Grady caught Susan’s arm as she headed for the trunk. She turned to him.

  “What is it? We still have to keep my presence a secret until Jim Stevens is arrested.”

  “That’s right, but this time I’ll get in the trunk.”

  He saw a glint of fear in her eyes. “What if someone crashes into the back of the car?”

  “It’s only two miles, remember?”

  “I’ll tell Mrs. Harmon to drive slowly.”

  Her anxiety for his welfare increased his guilt about not being able to accept her as she was. At least not in their bed.

  Was he subconsciously rejecting her because he’d felt rejected when she’d made the decision to go to work without talking it over with him first? Could he really be that cruel a person?

  Susan was trying so hard. He’d never seen anyone with more courage. She’d had the determination and intelligence to call her professor in order to get the help she needed to solve her own case.

  How could he fault her for anything? She was a loving, giving person. Surely it hadn’t come down to his being jealous of Brett and Todd…. That would be unconscionable.

  Disgusted, he made a mental effort to put negative thoughts away and concentrate on the trip ahead.

  Once everyone was settled, with Susan on the floor in back, Brett crouched in front and the bags on the back seat, he climbed in the trunk and lowered the lid. Mrs. Harmon pressed the remote and the garage door lifted.

  The ride to her home seemed to take forever. No doubt Susan was cautioning their housekeeper to drive safely.

  It was a relief to hear her garage door go up. The plan was that she’d pull in behind Grady’s car, already parked in the garage next to Matt’s. Then they’d all get out and put their luggage in Matt’s car.

  From there, they would drive to the Gas and Go service station near the last exit leaving Las Vegas, two blocks from the freeway. Mrs. Harmon would call for a taxi to take her home. Then she’d drive back to the house for Matt.

  When they finally reached the service station, the older woman told Grady, “I hope you all have a wonderful time.”

  “We will,” Grady assured her. “Thanks for helping us.”

  “It’s been a lot of fun.”

  “You’re great, Mrs. Harmon,” Brett added.

  “Why, thank you. I don’t know when I’ve received a nicer compliment.”

  Within a half hour, they were driving through the desert en route to California, just like they’d done dozens of times over the years. Susan in front, Brett sprawled in back despite his seat belt. Everything seemed so normal.

  Maybe it was the only normal he’d ever know. Better get used to it, Corbitt.

  AT QUARTER TO FOUR in the morning, Susan followed her mother into the house where she’d been raised. After a joyous three-hour reunion at Todd’s, she’d asked Grady if it would be all right if she went home with her mom for the rest of the night.

  Though he’d acted surprised, in her heart of hearts she knew her husband was relieved. Since Brett was thrilled to be with his cousins, there was no problem.

  The drive to the beach had been therapeutic, but Susan hadn’t realized how much she’d needed her mother until they were finally alone on the living room couch.

  Blond and blue-eyed like her children, Muriel Nilson had slowed down since Susan’s father died, though she still worked part-time for the Red Cross.

  Her shrewd gaze rested on Susan for a few minutes. “Want to tell me why you’d leave Grady at Todd’s? Knowing how deeply you love him, I would’ve thought you couldn’t bear to be out of his sight. Not after that horrendous six-month separation.”

  She felt a distinct prickling at the back of her eyes. “Oh, Mom—”

  “Come here, darling.”

  Susan laid her head in her mother’s lap and began sobbing. “H-he thinks I don’t love him, and that’s why I—I can’t remember him. It’s hurt him so much, I can’t look in his eyes anymore.”

  “You haven’t even been back a week! He’s still in shock. In time he’ll remember how much you’ve loved him the whole of your married life.”

  She sat up abruptly. “Did I, Mom?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did I always love him?”

  The compassion in her mother’s eyes melted her heart. “You never could see anyone but Grady Corbitt from the day you met him on the beach. When you brought him home to meet us, your father and I both agreed it was a love affair that was meant to be. Even Todd approved. That son-in-law of ours was so crazy about you, it was beautiful to watch.”

  Wiping the tears from her face, Susan said, “Well, something went wrong. He hasn’t said it in so many words, but I know he thinks I fell out of love with him and that’s why I went ahead and got that accounting job without telling him. Why would I do something that would hurt him so much?”

  Muriel looked puzzled. “Honey, you were only trying to help him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jennifer Ross told you Grady had confided in her husband, Matt, that he’d lost money on his investments and was worried about the future. You were so upset to think he’d keep something that important from you. You phoned me to discuss it.”

  “Mom? Since I was a CPA, how come I didn’t handle our finances?”

  “From what you told me, Grady already had his arrangements in place and you saw no need to get involved. However, when you called me about his supposed financial loss, my advice was that you go to Grady and make him tell you the truth. But you said you couldn’t because it would get Jennifer in trouble with her husband. You also indicated that you were married to a very proud man.

  “The next thing I knew, you called me again and announced that you had a job with the Lytie Group. When I asked how Grady felt about it, you said you hadn’t told him yet. You were still trying to think up a reason that wouldn’t tip him off you knew about his financial problems.”

  “Oh, Mom.” Susan’s heart was racing so fast she felt sick. “What a fool I was to keep that from him!”

  “It was cruel of Jennifer to tell you something her husband had revealed in strictest confidence.”

  “Did Grady ever admit to you or Todd he was in trouble financially?”

  “No, and to be honest, I haven’t seen any sign of it. If Grady was hurt because you made a decision without him, you were the only person who knew it, because he never complained to me or Todd. He wouldn’t do that.

  “But I have to admit I ne
ver approved of Jennifer after that. When we heard the ghastly news about the explosion, I blamed her in my heart. If it hadn’t been for her, none of this would have happened to you.”

  “You’ve met her, then?”

  “Several times on visits to see you. I must confess I still blame her.”

  “Don’t,” Susan cried. “The fault lay with me for not taking your advice and telling Grady what I’d learned.” Susan jumped to her feet. “I’ve got to tell him now!” She dashed into the kitchen to call him. Muriel followed her.

  “Honey, it’s five in the morning. You’ll wake everyone. Let him sleep. This can wait a few more hours, can’t it?”

  She let out a shuddering breath before putting the receiver back. “You’re right. Oh, Mom—thank you.” She threw her arms around her mother. “Thank you. With this knowledge, I may be able to hang on to Grady a little longer.”

  Her mother eased her away so she could look her in the eye. “What are you saying now?”

  Susan swallowed hard. “Last night we made love for the first time. It was thrilling for me, but when he woke up I had the impression it had been a distasteful experience for him.”

  “In what way?”

  “I don’t know exactly. He hasn’t treated me the same since. Oh, he’s always wonderful. It’s not that. I just sense that he wishes it hadn’t happened.”

  “He was probably hoping you’d remember him. When you didn’t, he retreated to protect himself from more hurt.”

  “You think that’s it?”

  Muriel nodded. “I’m positive.”

  The tears started again. “I’m so thankful I have you to talk to.”

  “I’m more thankful to have my daughter back.” Now her eyes were wet, too. “My darling daughter. I thought you were in heaven with your dad all this time.”

  Susan laughed through the tears. “Not quite yet.”

  “Not for years and years. Your life with Grady has only just begun.”

  “If he’ll let it.”

  “Oh, ye of little faith. You have to hope and pray and trust….”

  “That’s what the priest told me.”

  “What priest?”

  They walked back into the living room and talked until nine in the morning, filling the gaps in each other’s lives.

  “Brett wants us to throw a huge surprise party next week. Invite all our family, friends and colleagues. When everyone’s arrived, Grady will get their attention and tell them I’m back from the dead. At that point, I’ll make an appearance. What do you think?”

  Muriel’s chuckle turned into full-blown laughter. “It’s brilliant!”

  “He wants to see Jim Stevens’s face before Grady arrests him.”

  The laughter subsided. “We all would.”

  “So…do you think the party’s a good idea, Mom?”

  “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate your return to the living—and to bring all this sadness and uncertainty to an end. Trust my grandson to come up with something so creative.”

  “Brett’s so wonderful. I wish you could’ve heard him at the apartment when he said, ‘Your hair’s a different color and it’s shorter, but you’re my mom.’ You’ll never know.”

  “You and Brett have always had a close relationship. How did you feel when you looked up at Grady and realized he was your husband?”

  “Stunned. Nervous. Excited. Attracted—”

  “You’ve fallen in love with him all over again.”

  “I love him desperately.” She got to her feet. “It’s after nine, and I know you’re exhausted. But I want you to tell Grady what Jennifer said. I’m going to call him now and ask him to come over.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll sleep later.”

  Susan ran into the kitchen once more and called Todd’s. Bev answered and told her Grady was in the other room with Todd and the kids.

  “Will you please ask him to get in the car and come over to Mom’s alone?”

  “Does this mean what I think?”

  “No. But it’s something very important.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  “Thanks, Bev.”

  After she got off the phone, she rushed into the bathroom to wash her face and fix herself up a little. Her mother’s house was only a couple of blocks from Todd’s.

  By the time Grady walked through the front door wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt, she was back on the couch waiting for him.

  “That was fast,” Muriel commented with a smile.

  “Bev said it couldn’t wait.”

  Grady’s eyes swerved to Susan’s for an explanation.

  “Bev was right. Mom and I have been up all night talking. I just found out a vital piece of information you should hear from her.”

  His expression sobered. “What is it?”

  “Something that should make you happy,” Muriel said. “Why don’t you sit down, Grady.”

  As if in slow motion, he did.

  Susan eyed her mother before she said, “First of all, I have to ask you a question, and you have to be totally honest with me when you answer it.”

  “What question?”

  “How bad is our financial situation? I know we lost money on our investments. Have you had to take out a second mortgage in order to keep the house? Is that the reason you and Brett never went on any vacations or entertained after you thought I’d died?”

  He leaped to his feet. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Grady, it’s all right. You don’t need to hide the truth from me. I know from a reliable source that you kept certain information from me so I wouldn’t worry about money.”

  His eyes narrowed. “There’s nothing wrong with our finances. There never has been. All you have to do is call Stokes and Briarson. They’ll give you a seven-digit figure to prove how well our investments have been serving us all these years. What reliable source are you referring to?”

  Uh-oh. Susan’s mouth went dry. “Jennifer Ross.”

  Grady stared at her. “Jennifer told you I was in financial trouble?”

  “Your wife can’t answer that because she can’t remember,” Muriel said. “However, I recall the incident as clearly as if it were yesterday.”

  For the next five minutes, Susan listened to her mother repeat what she’d just told her. But instead of looking relieved, Grady’s expression turned to thunder.

  “You took the word of a sick little troublemaker like Jennifer Ross instead of coming to me? What in God’s name were you thinking?”

  His outrage still reverberated against the walls after he’d disappeared from the house.

  “Grady!” Susan called after him, devastated.

  “Let him go,” Muriel advised as Susan raced to the front door to stop him. “He’s been holding that in since you sprang that job on him. Now he knows the truth, and he can heal. Just give him time.”

  “I had no idea how much I’d hurt him. What a horrible wife I was!”

  “Don’t beat yourself up for being you, darling. You did what you thought was best under the circumstances. You didn’t know you were being lied to. Learn from this experience to always discuss everything you’re thinking and feeling with your husband.”

  “You talk as if there’s going to be a future, but there isn’t! You saw him. He hates me for what I did! I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve got to be by myself for a while. Can I take your car?”

  “Of course. The keys are on the kitchen counter. Just drive carefully.”

  The air was brisk; the sun hadn’t burned off the morning fog yet. With the temperature in the fifties, she could have used a jacket, but she was oblivious to any discomfort as she drove toward the beach.

  When she found a place to park, she noticed there were only a few people walking along the surf. Removing her shoes, she got out and started running toward the area where she and her friends used to play volleyball.

  A couple of minutes later, she reached it and sank down on the sand. So much had happened since she’d come home from the Etoile
last Friday, she felt as if she’d lived two lifetimes.

  Physically and emotionally drained, she rested her head on her arms. The ebb and flow of the ocean could be very soothing. Right now she needed its calming effect.

  Her husband had been stretched beyond his limit. So had she.

  After her mother had told him everything, Susan had thought it would bring him the comfort he’d been craving for the last year. But she’d done too much damage by not confiding in him. Whether she recovered her memories of him or not, their marriage couldn’t survive this kind of pain.

  It was here on this beach that she’d met him. She had proof. She’d seen the photographs in one of their family albums. How sad that this couple, so deeply in love, had nothing in common with the two people who’d bolted in different directions from her mother’s house a little while ago.

  She was back here again—the place where it had all started. This time she was alone, all memory of the man she’d lived with for seventeen years now wiped away.

  Maybe her life had been spared, not to resume her marriage, but to be there for Brett and to right a tremendous wrong.

  Today her husband had received information that would make him free. Armed with the knowledge that she’d always loved him, he could move on to find happiness with someone else.

  Susan would have to move on, too.

  Because of Brett, she’d have to stay in Las Vegas. A CPA job was out of the question, unless she went back to college and took all her classes over. She didn’t know if she wanted to do that.

  If she couldn’t be Grady’s wife, the only other thing that appealed was the idea of working in a place like the women’s shelter. So many people had been kind to her there. Images of Maureen and the girls at the apartment came into her mind.

  Tears trickled out from beneath her closed lids. To be able to help people the way she’d been helped would be very fulfilling. Could she find that kind of work and make a living at the same time?

  Father Salazar might know. As soon as it was safe for her to join the world again, she’d go to see him. In her time of anguish, she’d turned to him. His advice had helped her hang on. Why not again?