Glenda must have been waiting for the day Eric brought Susan back to her house.
When he’d called her to tell them they were headed out she’d actually broken down in tears.
“I’m so glad you two mended everything.”
As they walked into the house she’d wrapped her arms around Susan so tightly Eric thought she’d nearly squeezed the breath out of her.
“I made some banana bread,” she began as she led Susan toward the kitchen. “I’m sure it’s not as good as something you would make, but I wanted to try it. I have some water on for tea too. Would you like some?”
“That would be very nice, thank you.”
Glenda shifted her look to Bethany. “How about you? Cup of tea? Some banana bread?”
Bethany smiled. “Yes. Thank you.”
Eric watched his stepmother continue walking. “What about me?”
“Your father is in his office. Why don’t you go see what he’s up to?”
Eric let his shoulders drop. He’d been replaced by the two women. This would take some getting used to. He was finding that he enjoyed Glenda’s fussing over him. Just being dismissed to the other room, well, maybe he’d have to discuss that with her.
A moment later he heard the three women giggle over something, as if they’d forgotten he were even nearby. That was certainly a sign to dismiss himself to his father’s office.
His father had his head resting in his hands, elbows on the desk. This was a sign that he was stressed and Eric didn’t see this side of his father very often.
“Hey,” he said softly as he entered the office.
His father quickly raised his head and sat up tall in his chair. “Oh, hi. Didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Susan needed to use the computer.”
His father nodded slowly, then gathered the papers on his desk, almost as if he were hiding them from Eric.
“Russ says that you had some excitement, again. Tires slashed?”
“And Susan’s car stolen and her house broken into.” Eric sat down in front of his father’s desk. “They sliced Lydia Morgan’s tires too.”
His father let out a deflated breath. “That’s horrible.”
Eric watched his father fidget with the items on his desk. “You knew about Tyson, didn’t you?”
His father didn’t answer right away. He took the stack of papers he’d piled together, opened a drawer on his desk, and laid them inside. Shutting the drawer, he finally looked up at Eric.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me about him?”
“He didn’t know the truth. It was an argument I’d had with Elias years ago.”
“I don’t understand how she could have just left him. Forgotten about him.”
His father shook his head. “She never forgot about him. He was two when she had you. She went through a very bad case of postpartum with you. For a time, she was even hospitalized.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“There was no need for you to know.” His father wrung his hands together. “Eric, I’m glad that the memories you have of her are wonderful. She had a brilliant side to her despite all the darkness.”
“I don’t remember the darkness.”
“Because I tried to keep you from it,” he said. “The only joy she had in life was you and redecorating this house.”
That was exactly what Eric remembered.
Everett leaned back in his chair and tucked his hands behind his head. “Elias wanted to raise you too. I wouldn’t have that. You were my flesh and blood. He vowed to never speak to us again. He didn’t want to know you, I think it hurt too much.”
“You let me think she was fine all these years? Does Glenda know all of this?”
His father nodded and he could feel the hole his mother left in his heart expand.
“Eric, don’t hate her. She was a confused woman. Her depression paralyzed her. She compensated with medication. It’s a real disease.”
“Did you love her?”
His father looked him in the eyes and waited a beat. “For a brief time I think I tried. She didn’t want to be loved, Eric. If she did, she’d have stayed with Tyson and Elias.”
He heard Glenda’s laugh from the other room and he closed his eyes. Could he actually feel the swelling of his heart when he realized he’d spited her for so long and she’d loved him unconditionally?
There was no way in hell he was going to cry in front of his father over this. It was a lot to take in. So his mother wasn’t who he’d made her to be. There were probably millions of adults who found that to be true in adulthood; why should he be any different?
Glenda was going to get a huge bouquet of roses in the morning from her eldest son. Things were going to be different, he promised himself. He’d make things right with Tyson too. They’d done okay up to this point, but they certainly could be better to each other.
He’d taken the conversation into a different direction than he’d anticipated. They’d been talking about tires and stolen cars. Eric still needed those answers too.
Eric leaned in on the desk with his elbows. “What’s going on with the Morgans?” He changed the subject back to the destruction going on. “Bryon loses the property over his gambling losses and now someone is out to destroy the land? Animals are dead. The cemetery is vandalized. Cars are targeted. Not just ours but the Morgans’ too. What’s going on?”
Worry creased his father’s eyes. “I don’t know. Elias invited me over for dinner this week to discuss plans, but that was all before this started to happen. I don’t understand it. And I’m very afraid someone is going to get hurt.”
“Not if I can help it.” Eric scooted the chair closer to the desk. “Breaking confidentiality, Susan is catering that dinner. She’s serving.”
“That’s nice,” he said with a genuine smile.
“I don’t like it, but we’ll be able to gather information. Lydia was able to get hold of some of the guest list and Dwight Peterson and his grandson Shooter are on it.”
Another nod from his father told him he knew who they were. “Oil.”
“You think that’s what this is about?”
“Yes. But it doesn’t make sense to destroy the property over it. Especially if the deal is to sell him oil rights.”
“Is that what’s going on? He’s selling the oil rights?”
His father looked down and bit his lip.
“You already know all of this,” Eric drew out slowly.
“Some things need to be done in silence so that my brother doesn’t get a hold of the information. Can you imagine what would happen then?”
“So he loses the land and now there’s oil there? We lose everything?”
“Not if we let Morgan move your mother. He’ll cut us in.”
Eric sat back in his chair. “That’s what this is all about? She’s a bargaining chip?”
“It’s all I had.”
“So you’re saving us?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit. “So who’s messing with us? And why, if it’s the Morgans, are they sabotaging their own property? To make it look like we’re not the only ones?”
“I don’t know what all of that’s about. Eric, I think there’s more going on here than you know about.”
“Then tell me.”
“That’s all I know. Listen, we have to get this deal with Peterson to make this work. To keep up the lifestyle we’re accustomed to and to support this family. If someone keeps messing with the land then we’re all going to be out looking for work.”
Eric stood. “They’re getting too close for comfort. And so help me if they touch Susan or Bethany, or even Lydia, I’ll go after them. I swear it.”