KAYLA SAT CJ ON THE couch inside her den, then headed straight for the dresser positioned against the wall in the hallway.
Unless Russell has a twin with the same name as him, I know that’s him in the picture with my grandfather.
Once she reached the table in the hallway, she picked up the photo lying on the furniture’s surface and brought it up to her eyes. As clear as day, her grandfather and Russell stood side by side on a boat dock, holding fishing rods.
Dear God, Russell lied about knowing my grandfather. But why? Why?
Needing to get back to Richmond’s estate so CJ and Isabelle could spend the night, Kayla folded the photo and slid it in her back jean pocket. Once inside her bedroom, she propped her small suitcase on the bed and started packing. Why in the world would Russell deny knowing her grandfather? The two of them looked like best friends in that darn photo.
She pulled open her dresser drawer, grabbed some panties and bras, then walked back over to the bed. As she placed her items inside her luggage, her mind traveled back to the day her grandfather had died. She’d replayed that day over and over inside her head on so many occasions until she remembered it by heart, every single sordid detail. Her grandfather, the man who raised her, had said he had something important he’d wanted to tell her right before he’d died in that horrible car accident. ‘Til this day, she’d always wondered what it was. She closed her suitcase and headed for CJ’s room.
Tossing CJ’s pajamas inside the suitcase, she couldn’t stop wondering why Russell had lied. What was he hiding? Dear God, could Russell know what her grandfather wanted to tell her? Could that be why he pretended as if he’d never heard the name Leroy Van Buren before? So many questions and not a single darn answer bothered the mess out of Kayla.
Now finished packing her overnight bag, she gripped the handle of the luggage and rolled it down the carpet along the hallway. Hefting CJ in her arms, she pushed open the screen door and descended the steps. If it was the last thing she did, Kayla was going to find out why Russell—or Big Daddy, as he liked to be called—lied.