Traced: Bryton & Roya (Oak Springs Book 4)

by Lucy Rinaldi

  “You've cleared them, Bryton. Nothing you say will ever change the past. It's gone, little brother. Roya did what she did for your little boy because he is everything to her. Even at the tender age, she was when he was born, he was still everything to her. She did what she had to do. It might not have been the best way to go about it, but she had no one, Bry. No one to turn to, no one to help her, no one to lean on. What else was she supposed to do?”

  He's not telling me anything I haven't already told myself. I guess, I just feel guilty that she had to go through what she did.

  I've done nothing but think about it. What if those men did vile things to her? Things she wasn't comfortable with but did anyway because she knew they wouldn't pay her the money she needed for Jaxson?

  I don't know why women sell themselves day in and day out. Each one has a different story, a reason why. Roya's just happened to be our son. I can't hate her or judge her for it because she did it only for Jaxson, and for that, I love her even more.

  But I do know one thing, she will never have to do anything like that again. I'm going to take care of her from now on. And from now on, she is going to want for nothing. I'll make sure of it.

  “I've put her and Jaxson on my insurance. I'm gonna make damn sure that she never has to do anything like that again. I'm gonna make sure my son has everything he needs.”

  “He does have everything he needs, Bry. Roya has seen to that.”

  I nod.

  Of course, she has. I know she has. Everything she's ever done has been for Jaxson. She's an amazing mother to that little boy. He's happy, well-adjusted, smart, funny, amazing. And it's all thanks to Roya and her love for him.

  “He's pretty amazing, isn't he?”

  “He is that.” My brother chuckles. “Reminds me of you at that age.” Poor kid. “When's mom coming to meet him?”

  Oh, crap. I forgot to tell Roya that my mother is coming to town in a couple days to meet Jaxson. She's going to hit the roof!

  “Couple days. I just hope she understands why he's as shy as he is.”

  “Didn't think she'd waste much time.” He chuckles. It's all his fault she's coming in the first place. He couldn't keep his damn mouth shut until I was ready to tell her about Jaxson. “Don't worry, she'll understand.”

  I hope so. My mother can be quite pissy at times. And I don't want her saying anything that will upset Roya, she only did what she did because I told her to have an abortion. What else was the girl supposed to do?

  * * *

  “Bryton, I don't think I'm ready for this. I've never met your mother before. What if she's angry because I kept Jaxson from you.”

  I take her face in my hands. “You didn't keep Jaxson from me to be malicious. You couldn't find me, our son was ill and you concentrated on him. She can't be angry with you for that.”

  She nods thoughtfully.

  Jaxson is asleep in his bed. Roya and I are in her room. She'd jumped in the shower after putting our boy to bed. I snuck into her room and sat waiting on her bed for her, even though she told me to wait downstairs and that she wouldn't be long.

  She walked out of her bathroom wrapped in nothing but a small towel that hardly covered her beautiful body. She jumped when she saw me, but didn't attempt to leave the room and hide from me.

  I walked over to her with steely determination. Her chest heaved in anticipation. I grabbed her around the way with one hand, ripping the towel from her body with the other. She gasped as I lifted her and slammed her back against the wall.

  Her legs came around my waist, her hands around my neck as I freed my cock from its confinements. She bit her lip and I slammed into her all the way on the first push. I needed her so hard that I couldn't stop myself from fucking her hard and fast against that wall. She clawed at me like a rabid animal, begging me to fuck her harder, deeper.

  And with her ass in my hands, my lips attacking hers, I fucked her like I have never fucked her before. She came hard and begged me to come inside of her, and I did, so hard I saw stars.

  I stood her on her feet and she dragged me into her shower where she sucked my cock until I exploded in her mouth, and she swallowed every drop with my hand on her throat.

  Perfect!

  But my cock didn't seem to want to go soft. That's why I spun her around, her hands on the glass screen, her ass pressed back against me, and I fucked her all over again. Only this time when she came, she screamed her pleasure and my name, and I shot my loads so far inside of her that even I felt it rushing toward her womb.

  Afterward, we washed, dried, and dressed. Now we're sitting on her bed talking about my mother's impending visit.

  Roya isn't happy about it at all. Not that she's making a fuss, just voicing her concerns.

  “I know she wants to meet her grandson, but I'm not sure Jaxson will cope.”

  I take her hand in mine just to calm her. I think she's more nervous than Jaxson will be. “I know you're worried, but Jaxson will be just fine, Roya. He has to meet his grandparents sooner or later. The sooner we get this out of the way, the sooner Jaxson will settle down. He needs to know his family, baby. Christ knows he doesn't have much of that.”

  “Actually,” she takes a deep breath and clutches my hand even tighter. “There's something I want to tell you. But you have to promise to keep it to yourself. I need to sort things before we go telling anyone.”

  “What is it?” I narrow my eyes when she wipes a tear from her cheek.

  “When I was a baby, I was abducted from my garden. My parents, my real parents, they never found me.”

  What the hell?

  “Oh, Roya.”

  “There's a reason I came to this town, Bryton. I knew this would be the place Jaxson and I would find happiness. And we did. Jaxson got his daddy back.” She chuckles a little. “It couldn't have worked out better if I planned it.

  “The real reason I came here is because this is where my real parents live, Bryton.” My eyes widen a little. What the hell is she talking about? “I found a newspaper clipping when I was almost sixteen in the woman who took me's things. I was so confused about it all, but I ran away from her that day. I didn't come back here then because I was too young to understand things.

  “Anyway, time moved on, I met you, had Jaxson and spent four years taking care of him. Looking for my birth parents wasn't in the forefront of my mind right then. But when Jaxson went into remission, I knew it was my time to try and find them.

  “When we arrived here, I thought I could go straight to them and tell them that I'd found them. I wanted to know everything about their struggle after I was stolen from them. But there you were and I wanted to put Jaxson and his relationship with you first.”

  She's so fucking selfless. She put her son's happiness above her own again. There aren't many people who would do that. I'm not saying many wouldn't let their kids get to know their mothers or fathers, but most would have sorted their own relationships with their parents out first.

  Is it any wonder I love this woman so damn much?

  I cup her cheek and she leans into my touch. “You are the most amazing mother I have ever know.” She smiles widely. “You love our son so effortlessly, so selflessly, and it warms my heart to know you are the mother of my child, Roya.”

  “Thank you,” She tells me with tears in her eyes.

  I wink at her before kissing her lips softly.

  “Do you think it's time to approach your parents?”

  “I already did. Well, my mother. She's amazing, Bryton. She told me everything. She held me so close to her while telling me that she loved me. You have no idea how good that felt. Apart from you and Jaxson, she is the only other person to have ever told me that they love me.”

  Fuck. How the hell can that be?

  “Do I know her, your mother?”

  She nods. “Sidney Harper is my mother, Bryton.”

  What the...???

  Then it hits me. The stories I've been told since being here about the Harper's and the bab
y that went missing from their garden, the baby they never found any trace of. The baby Callie still to this day blames herself for going missing because she couldn't stop the woman from taking her.

  “Abigail. You're Abigail Harper?”

  She nods.

  “You've heard the stories.” She chuckles.

  “Baby, I don't think there's a person in this town who doesn't know that story. I heard it from Lora. Jesus, she's your sister, Roya.”

  “I know!” She screeches happily. But her smile soon fades. “Are they going to hate me for keeping it from them, Bryton?”

  I pull her into my arms and hold her close to me. “Of course not. You're their baby sister. The sister each one of those Harper kids has prayed every day will come home, or that they'll find a clue which would lead them to your whereabouts. You're finally home, sweetheart, and everything is going to be okay.”

  She sobs in my arms until she falls asleep there. I told Chase I would be home tonight, but I'm not going to leave her. That's why I shoot him a text telling him I won't be home. Then I lay with Roya and fall asleep with her in my arms, right where she belongs.

  Abigail Harper. What are the odds?

  But that's what I dream about, Abigail Harper, the little thirteen-month-old girl who was abducted from the front garden of Deputy Sheriff and Principal Harper's garden, never to be seen again.

  The little girl who has finally found her way home to them.

  Everything will all right, you'll see.

  Ten

  Roya

  I've spent the past few days getting to know my birth mother, around sleeping with Bryton. Which I shouldn't keep doing but can't seem to stop myself. Yeah, I'm weak where he's concerned. Plus, he's been great with this whole me being a Harper thing.

  I told him only because I needed to confide in someone, and he was so understanding, even helped me realize that everything will be okay with my siblings, they won't hold it against me that I didn't come forward sooner.

  It's crazy how much I love them all. I loved them when I thought they were only my friends, but realizing Callie, Lora, and Della are, in fact, my sisters, is beyond amazing. And knowing that I have little nieces and nephews, cousins for Jaxson to play will has filled my heart with so much love.

  Sidney is just amazing. We've talked about everything she went through when I was taken, all of the pain and heartache she felt at not having me in her arms, not being able to tell me she loved me, and how it almost killed her not being able to find me.

  But I can't bring myself to tell her my story just yet. I want to repeat it only once, and for that, I need my father there. But I haven't met him yet. Of course, I've seen him around he's the sheriff.

  If I'm honest, whenever I do see him, his eyes are always boring into me. I don't know what he sees when he looks at me but it's definitely something. Sidney told me she'd like to ease him into the subject before introducing me. And I guess she'd like the DNA tests to come back with a positive result before I meet her family... My family.

  When she asked me if it would be okay for us to do the DNA she couldn't help but apologize for asking, but I totally understood. Of course, she needs to know for sure, she's been searching for her daughter for almost twenty-one years. Only an idiot would believe they could just walk into someone's life, claim they're that persons child and think no one would ask for DNA. If I'm honest, I'm glad she asked because I need to know for sure myself.

  I don't call Sidney mom, although I want to. Somehow it doesn't seem right to do so just yet. Even though I called her mommy that day. But that was emotions getting the better of me, emotions I have held deep inside since the day I realized who I really was at sixteen. I cried my heart out in her arms and she didn't let me go once. It felt so nice.

  Sidney called me this morning to ask if I could go over to her house this evening. She told me over the phone that the DNA results were positive. I am her daughter. Abigail Jade Harper. I don't think I'll ever get used to that name. I'm Roya, not Abi. But I don't mind being Roya Abigail Jade Harper.

  She didn't need to call me about the DNA results, I got the same call from the clinic she sent the swabs to. A twenty-four-hour place out of town. I guess I was a little in shock when the guy on the other end of the phone gave me the results. I didn't even catch his name the blood was pumping in my ears so loudly. All I got was the name of the clinic. He got right to the point, then told me he'd be sending the confirmation through the post. I couldn't speak after he said the words so I hung up. Sidney called ten minutes later.

  I'm a little scared that Sidney is throwing me in at the deep end, though. She wants me to arrive at her house at 4 pm so that I can have a few moments with my father, allowing him to come to terms with seeing me again after all these years. That sounded so nice to me. But that's when she dropped the bombshell that she'd called her sons to come home from Seattle and asked her daughters to come over also at 5 pm.

  I'm terrified. I've made good friends with Della, I've been having lunches with all three girls every now and again. They're going to think I tricked them and I can't handle the constant churning in my stomach.

  If all of that isn't bad enough, I've now got to spend the afternoon with Bryton's mother. How did that happen? He dropped it on me the other night, that's how. We were going to tell Jaxson last night but it wasn't a good night for him. He was struggling a little, not feeling one hundred percent. Bryton rocked Jaxson to sleep because my son has suddenly developed a need to have his father rock him to sleep like a baby, he then put him to bed. I then showered, right after is when he fucked me senseless against my wall. Again. He seems to like doing that.

  We then sat on my bed and he told me how his mother had called after Chase had told her about our son and that she wants to meet him.

  Why Bryton hadn't told her was a mystery to me. But as if he could read my mind, he told me he didn't want her to know yet because he knew she'd come here demanding to see Jaxson, and Bryton wanted Jaxson all to himself for as long as he could. His reason might have been selfish, but he's missed out on four years of his son's life, so I understood.

  He said that he had spoken to her and told her that it was okay if she comes over to see our son for an hour or two. I'll admit, I was a little scared, but Bryton is right, Jaxson does need to know his grandparents.

  We told Jaxson this morning that he'd be meeting his grandparents and he broke down. He finds meeting people stressful. Which is again why I don't get how he could have just walked up to Bryton and his friends and been so at ease with them. In his little mind, he must have known he was talking to his father, it's the only explanation for why he did something he's never before that night and never since done.

  It took Bryton and me most of the morning to calm him down. It wasn't until Bryton promised we would go over to Chase's and meet his grandparents, that way he'd at least be able to play with Aidan if things get too much for him, that he calmed down.

  At first, Jaxson's obvious distress upset Bryton so much he was adamant that we weren't going, that he wouldn't put Jaxson through it. But I know we have to do this. Jaxson and I have been on our own his whole life, hell, I've been alone my whole life. But now we both have family and need to get to know them. We need to get these meetings out of the way, only then can we both begin to heal.

  I'm really nervous right now. I'm sitting on the couch in Emilee and Chase's living room next to Bryton, with Jaxson on his daddy's lap, his little head on his chest, his hand in mine. He's frightened, I know that, but I know he'll be okay.

  “Can I get either of you a drink?” I shake my head at Emilee, unable to verbally answer her. “Bryton?” He shakes his head no and then wraps his arm around my waist. I need that right now. It's comforting.

  I lean my head against his broad shoulder and sigh. He kisses my head tenderly. I love when he does that. I shouldn't love it, but I love him and it just feels so right.

  “Everything's okay, baby. Try not to be nervous.” I nod against him. I'
m so freaking nervous! “Showtime”

  Showtime? I didn't hear the door knock! Oh, but I can most definitely hear them.

  I stand on shaky legs, brushing down my shirt and favorite white skirt as if brushing away my nerves.

  Shake it off, Roya. You have to show Jaxson there is nothing to be scared of.

  Bryton lifts our son in his arms, holding him tightly as my baby hides his face in his father's neck. He then slides his arm around me once again, holding me close to his side. Just where I like to be. My eyes catch Emilee's and the amused all-knowing smile on her face. I bite my lip, biting back a shy smile while lowering my eyes for a second.

  God, breathe deep, Roya. Breathe in and out and you'll get through this.

  I've never met his mother before, we weren't together long enough to even talk about meeting each other's families. Not that I had a family for him to meet. He told me about his mother and father, of course. And he mentioned how many siblings he had, but that's as far as it went. I never got to see pictures and he never asked to see pictures of my family. Thank God.

  The woman walking into the room right now is not the woman I pictured in my head. She does not look old enough to be the mother of a forty-two-year-old man. Sixty? This woman is supposed to be sixty? What moisturizer does she use? Because seriously, I would have had her down for fifty at a push. She's tall and graceful. Her long dark hair is so glossy it's more than perfect. She has hardly any wrinkles, and let's face it, most sixty-year-olds have wrinkles... Oh, now I see it, she's had botox more than once. But it's not too much.

  Her clothes are beautiful. It's very obvious she comes from money. She's wearing a beautiful pale pink dress that sits on her knees, it's also sleeveless. Her dark hair is tied in a bun, which doesn't make her look old, it's not that kind of bun. It's model worthy. Her long legs are dark like she uses a lot of fake tan, but she doesn't have the look of a woman who uses sunbeds. Her open-toe heels show her perfectly pedicured toes. Her hands are smooth and her nails are extended. Even her dark eyebrows are perfectly shaped.