A Mother's Conviction (Secrets Series Book 3)

by Karen Lenfestey

  “Are you drinking again?” Beth figured she must be hanging out in bars and that’s where she’d managed to find a guy so quickly. It had only been week since they’d spoken last.

  “No. I swear. I’m not drinking. But Gus and I have fun in other ways, if you know what I mean.” Her voice sounded flirtatious.

  Beth rolled her eyes. “So, you’ve found a guy and you want to spend all of your free time with him, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Hey, don’t judge me. I was locked up for two years! I deserve to let loose a little. I wanna do what I wanna do for a change. All I’m saying is that Willow seems content with you, so until I get back on my feet, I figure she can stay there.”

  The pulse throbbed in Beth’s neck so hard she could feel it. She wanted to reach through the phone and strangle Gola. The woman had accused her of being too nice when she gave money to that homeless person in Chicago. Well, she wasn’t feeling too nice now. “You’re right. Willow can stay with me. She can stay with me forever.”

  # # #

  Feeling a little dizzy, Melodie dashed to her bedroom. What was it about her neighbor that drew her in? He was ruggedly handsome, a risk-taker, and 100% male. The way he looked at her made her feel like a sexy woman and not just Zoe’s mom. Part of her wanted to be appreciated for her femininity. Part of her wanted to experience joy again.

  She stared at Paul’s watch, still sitting on the night stand. She picked up the round silver face and saw that the second hand had stopped. Time had stopped for him, but it kept moving for her.

  A sigh escaped her lips. Still clasping the watch, she slipped off her wedding band. “I’ll never forget you.” She walked over to her dresser, opened her jewelry box and put both items inside. Ever so softly, she closed the lid.

  Her gaze fell to the carpet and the parade of footprints that seemed to dance around on it. Now that she worked as an attorney, she didn’t have time to obsess over daily vacuuming. It was definitely for the best.

  Taking a deep breath, she went to find Conner.

  He stood by the front door, putting on his black leather jacket. “Hey, just send Skye home in an hour.”

  “Are you leaving?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Let’s go back to being neighbors and pretend this never happened, okay?”

  Stepping closer to him, she shook her head. “No. That’s not okay.” She could see concern in his dusky blue eyes. “What I mean is, I want to be more than neighbors. More than friends.”

  He cocked his head at her. “You do?”

  “You asked if I’d consider dating a single dad with no secrets left.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. There’s still some stuff you don’t know.” He smirked at her and she loved that playful look in his eye.

  “Well, we all deserve to have a few secrets. The real question is would you consider dating a widow who barely remembers what it’s like to have fun?” She waved her left hand at him. “I took it off and I’ve decided to leave it off.” She heaved a deep breath and waited. Now what? She felt exposed and vulnerable.

  After a long moment of hesitation, he leaned forward and pressed his lips hard against hers. A jolt of electricity coursed through her body. Endorphins popped and she felt dizzy again. A good kind of dizzy.

  Inhaling his musky leather scent made her heart race. It reminded her of the rush she’d felt riding on his motorcycle with her arms wrapped tightly around him. She pushed the jacket off of his shoulders, just like she had fantasized about.

  He reached up and caressed her hair, accidentally loosening the bobby pins holding her bun.

  She pulled away and his eyebrows drew downward in disappointment. Pulling out the bobby pins slowly, she eyed the stars on the tattoo peeking from beneath his collar. One of these days, she’d unbutton his shirt and get a good look at all of him.

  She shook her hair loose to her shoulders. “Is that better?”

  “Yeah. If you wanna have fun, you’ve gotta learn to let your hair down.” Again, he gave her that crooked smile.

  “Teach me how.” She leaned forward and eagerly kissed him again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Beth dialed her mom’s number and prayed that she’d pick up. She’d been trying for days to reach her, but never made the connection. Until now. Yes! “Mom, I have so much to tell you. Do you have time to talk?”

  “Yes. I’m going to walk upstairs. The cell phone reception is best in the corner bedroom.” Her footsteps climbing the wooden stairs came over the line.

  Even though Beth was bursting with what she had to say, she remembered her good manners. “First of all, how’s Aunt Hilda?”

  “She’s doing well. A neighbor lady said she can check in on her, so I might be able to come home soon.”

  “That’s good because I need you here. Are you sitting down? Parker asked me to marry him.”

  “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you.”

  Something seemed off. Beth had expected a squeal of delight. “Did Dad already tell you?”

  “Yes. He was impressed that your boyfriend asked for his blessing. So, what changed Parker’s mind about settling down?”

  “I think it was a combination of things. He was out of the country when Hannah lost her baby and then I was planning on moving to Tennessee. Suddenly he realized he was missing out on spending time with the people he loved. Like me. He loves me. He wants to marry me.” She felt like a teenaged girl. After all, he had been her first real love at age eighteen. He was the father of her child. Now he wanted to be the father of Willow, too. “That reminds me. I need you to draw up some papers. Parker and I want to legally adopt Willow.”

  “What? I thought you were going to let Gola raise her.”

  “I was trying to convince myself that was the right thing to do, but then Gola said she’s not ready. Who knows if she ever will be? It’s not fair to keep Willow in limbo. I’m ready to be her mother and so that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful. How did she take the news?”

  “I haven’t told her yet. It’s just not fair that Gola keeps jerking her around.”

  “Of course not.”

  “But I’m hoping by making a commitment to her, she’ll at least know that I’ll always be here for her.” She picked at a loose thread on her shirt. Willow had cried when Gola left without saying good-bye the day after Chicago. How would she feel about Gola blowing her off again? Beth hoped that Willow would be happy to stay with her, but she worried she’d be crushed by another rejection.

  “I’ll be home in a couple of weeks, so we can talk more about the adoption and wedding then. I can’t believe my only daughter is finally going to walk down the aisle.”

  Bubbles of joy filled her chest. She spoke a bit more with her mother and after she hung up, she went to Willow’s room. Her daughter sat on the floor, doing the rock-the-cradle yo-yo trick Beth had taught her.

  Beth sat cross-legged beside her. “You’re getting so good at that. Do you want me to show you a new one?”

  Willow nodded and gave the toy to Beth. She tried to do a trick, but kept messing up. Apparently, her mind wouldn’t let her body relax enough to perform. Finally, she gave up and put the yo-yo down. “Willow, I have something important to tell you.”

  She pushed her pink glasses up her nose. “What?”

  “Remember when your momma was here last time?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, she loves seeing you and plans to visit whenever she can. But her job is very demanding and right now, she isn’t able to take care of you. She wants to, but she just can’t.”

  “Momma doesn’t want me to live with her?” She started twirling a lock of her dark hair around her finger, just the way Skye used to do. The two sisters really deserved to be together.

  “She loves you very much, but she can’t be a full-time momma for you. She’s very sorry. But she said since you’re doing so well here, that she’d like me to be your mommy.” It
was a bit of a lie, but Willow deserved stability. “Would you like to stay with me?”

  “It’s not true! Momma wants me. She said so!”

  Beth reached around to comfort her, but her daughter jerked away. “Willow, let me explain. Sometimes grown-ups want something very badly, but they can’t have it. What’s important is that your momma loves you. She loves you so much that she wants you to have a good home. She wants you to be happy. I know I’m happy having you here. Are you happy?”

  Willow picked up the yo-yo and threw it against the wall. “Go away!”

  Beth’s heart jackhammered beneath her ribs. “Willow, please try to understand. Your momma loves you, but sometimes that isn’t enough.”

  “Yes it is!” Her face burned bright red. She went into her closet and closed the door. “Go away! I hate you!”

  For a second, Beth couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know what to do. She sat there a minute and heard Willow unwrapping some candy that she’d probably hidden in there. Part of her wanted to explain that she shouldn’t eat her feelings, but part of her thought the girl deserved a crutch. How was a child supposed to accept that her own mother didn’t want her? Especially after Gola had been telling her the opposite?

  So Beth stood. “I love you, Sweet Pea.” Then she went into the living room to wait.

  When the phone rang a couple hours later, Beth was relieved to see who it was. “Hello. Just a minute.” She walked to Willow’s room and knocked. “It’s your teacher.”

  “I don’t wanna talk to her!”

  Beth would do anything to protect Willow from this pain, but she didn’t know how. “Are you sure?”

  “Go away!”

  Beth put the receiver back against her ear. “I’m sorry, but Willow doesn’t feel like talking tonight.”

  Concern etched the young woman’s voice. “Is everything all right? Is she sick?”

  “No, it’s just that she got some bad news. Her biological mom isn’t going to petition for custody after all.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. She’s been drawing pictures of her mom in class and I know she was excited when they went to Chicago together.”

  Beth remembered when Gola braided Willow’s hair on the train. Her daughter had insisted they leave the braid in for two days until Beth had said her hair needed to be washed. “Thanks for calling. Maybe she’ll be willing to talk tomorrow.” She disconnected the line and went to make Willow’s favorite dinner. Too bad she didn’t have the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. She was desperate to do whatever it took to cheer up the girl, to turn hate back into love.

  Twenty minutes later, she knocked on Willow’s door. “Dinner’s ready.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Of course not. She’d probably been snacking in her closet for hours. “It’s mac ‘n cheese.” Her voice had a tempting lilt to it. She hoped this would work.

  Silence was her answer. Even though she had strict rules about eating only at the kitchen table, she scooped some orange pasta into a bowl and placed it on the desk in Willow’s room. Then she softly closed the door and left.

  For the next week, the little girl remained quiet as if she’d been drained of the bliss of youth. All of the sympathy Beth had been conjuring up for Gola disappeared. She despised the woman for doing this to Willow. Her mind recounted everything bad about the woman. She’d neglected Willow, she’d driven drunk and injured Willow, she’d teased her about being a baby when she wouldn’t go out on the glass ledge of the Sears’ Tower, she favored Skye over Willow, and ultimately, she cared more about some guy she just met than she did her own flesh and blood. She acted as if Willow were a doll that she could pick up and play with whenever it suited her, rather than understanding that it was a mother’s job to be there all the time. Even when it was inconvenient. Even if it meant sacrifice. Even if it meant not having a life.

  Desperate to help her daughter, Beth knew only one way to comfort her.

  Saturday morning she ordered Willow to get in the car. They drove in silence for about forty-five minutes until she pulled up to a two-story farmhouse beside a river. Snow surrounded an older model pick-up truck parked in the driveway.

  As she climbed out of her Chevy, she saw her breath and worried about Willow getting cold. “Put your hood up.” She held Willow’s mitten-covered hand as they made their way onto the porch furnished with two wooden rocking chairs. Beth knocked. No one answered and she chewed on her lower lip. She knocked again and rang the doorbell. While she waited, she noticed a lucky horseshoe nailed above the entrance.

  A minute later, Conner opened the door. “You made it.”

  Dressed in a turquoise sweater, Skye pushed past him and into their view. “Willow!” Drawn together like super magnets, the sisters collided into each other. They fell down and Skye’s cast made a thud when it hit the porch floor. Staying horizontal, they hugged each other.

  After several joyful minutes, Willow stood and helped Skye up. Then they jumped around in circles.

  When they settled down, Skye took the foggy pink frames off of Willow’s face and tried them on. “You got glasses!” The six-year-old nodded enthusiastically. Suddenly somber, Skye ran her finger down the scar on her little sister’s cheek. Her blue eyes looked sad. “Does it hurt?”

  Willow shook her head and pointed to her sister’s cast. “Does that hurt?”

  “Broke my arm. No big deal.” Skye gave her sister her glasses back. “Wanna see my kittens?”

  “I love kittens!”

  Conner held up one finger. “Get your coat on first, Skye.” He stepped into the foyer, retrieved her parka and helped her put it on. As soon as he zipped it, the two girls took off running to the barn, hand-in-hand. As Willow’s limp practically disappeared, laughter drowned out the sound of the river.

  Trying to keep warm, Beth shuffled her feet. “So, thanks for letting us come.”

  “No problem.” An oven timer beeped behind him. He opened the door wider to welcome her. “Want a cookie?”

  The forbidden scent of sugar, cinnamon and molasses stimulated her senses. “Boy, do I!”

  EPILOGUE

  HANNAH’S BLOG

  Today I became a big sister! After eighteen years as an only child, my wish has come true. I always wanted a sister. I guess late is better than never. Here’s what happened. I went back to Indiana to be in my biological parents’ wedding. Yes, after all of these years, they finally admitted that they love each other. Duh! I could tell the first time I saw them together, but whatever. Bethany asked me to be her maid of honor, which I was happy to do—except that she insisted I wear a dress, which everyone knows I hate dresses. But here’s the best part. . .the flower girl is my new sister! Bethany and Parker are adopting an adorable six-year-old girl named Willow. Willow was kind of quiet when we first met, but then at the wedding reception I started doing the Chicken Dance and she joined in. After that, I showed her how to use my camera and she showed me some yo-yo tricks. Getting a sister is by far the best thing to have happened to me all year. As you know, this one has really sucked. But now that I have a baby sister, I want to see her as much as possible. Therefore, I have decided that I’m definitely going to Notre Dame next year so that I will be close to her. All I can say is I finally remember what it feels like to smile. Thanks, sis!

  THE END

  If you enjoyed A MOTHER’S CONVICTION, one of the nicest things you can do is write a short review on Amazon by going to “A Mother’s Conviction” page and clicking the box labeled “Write a Customer Review.”

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  OTHER BOOKS BY KAREN LENFESTEY

  Available at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1cu5xZx

  A Sister’s Promise

  What Happiness Looks Like

  On the Verge

  Made for Two

  Friday a la Mode

  A Weekend Getaway

  Next Door Secrets

&nbs
p; ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Karen Lenfestey, a Midwest Writer’s Fellowship winner, writes happy endings with a twist. Her first novel, A Sister’s Promise, sold over 35,000 copies and spent many weeks as the #1 drama on Amazon. Karen has a B.A. in Advertising from Purdue University and a M.S. in Counseling from Indiana University. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys speaking at book clubs and writer’s conferences. She is active on GoodReads, Facebook, Twitter and her website, www.karensnovels.com.