The tightening of Brian"s arms around her waist was a good sign that whatever April would be sharing with her would be more of her mother"s evil shenanigans, and Erica didn"t want to think what they could possibly be.
"April?"
April looked up at her. Erica could tell she was nervous. But why? "Tell me."
April nodded. "You recall earlier when I told you that your mother tried breaking me and Griffin up by claiming Herbert Hayes was my daddy?"
"Yes, and you said you knew that he wasn"t, so that"s all good, right?"
"Yes, that"s all good. But what I didn"t tell you is that I know who my real father is."
Erica lifted a brow. "Who told you? You"ve never known before."
"Griffin told me. He overheard my real father talking to his father one day in the wine cellar when he was only sixteen, so he"s known all this time. He never had a reason to tell me because he figured I knew."
"So, who is he? Was it Ivan Witherspoon like we thought?"
April shook her head. "No, it wasn"t him."
"Who was it then?" she asked, noticing April evasiveness.
When April didn"t respond Erica glanced over at Brian and from the look on his face she could tell that he knew. She looked back over to April. "Okay, girlfriend, what"s going on? Who is your daddy?" she tried asking in a lighthearted way.
"Omar Delbert was my father."
Erica"s eyes widened. "My grandfather?"
"Yes. And I have reason to believe he raped my mother when she was fifteen."
Brian pulled Erica into his arms and held her while she cried. As soon as she had comprehended what April had said she burst into tears that she hadn"t been able to stop. He had felt her anger. Her pain. Her shame. To know that her grandfather had abused a fifteen-year-old girl had shaken her to the core. And when it had hit her that April was her mother"s sister and her own aunt, she had raced across the room and hugged April, welcomed her to the family and apologized for the shameful way both her and her mother had been treated by the Delberts over the years.
She had started shaking then. And she was still shaking. Trembling and crying. Brian continued to rub her back while whispering soothing words to her. Letting her know that above all else, he loved her and would be there for her.
April still had one other thing to tell her and, after the way Erica had broken down earlier, he figured it would probably be best if he went ahead and told her himself.
"There is one other thing we need to tell you, Erica. Something we think you need to know, sweetheart."
She slowly pulled her face from his chest where she"d wet his shirt with her tears. She looked up at him. "I don"t think I can handle any more bad deeds from my mother and her side of the family, Brian. Please tell me what you"re about to say isn"t about them."
He wished he could but he couldn"t. In one afternoon she had discovered that not only was her mother a manipulating and heartless person, so was her grandfather. Brian"s heart ached for her.
"I can"t, baby." When she flinched he wrapped his arms around her. "But when it"s all over and we learn the truth about everything, we will deal with it together. Okay?"
"Yes, okay. So tell me."
He hesitated for a moment. "It"s about your aunt Blair."
Her brows lifted. "Aunt Blair? She"s been dead for a long time. Remember, I told you about her being in a car accident a week before her wedding to Griffin"s uncle. She was in a coma for a while and then she died."
He shook his head. "No, that"s not true."
She blinked. "What"s not true? Are you saying she wasn"t in a car accident?"
"Yes, she was in a car accident and, yes, she was in a coma. What she didn"t do was die. Your aunt is alive, Erica. Your father only found out last year. Your mother fabricated her death, and all this time your aunt has been alive and kept at this exclusive nursing home in Cleveland."
Erica just stared at him as if what he"d told her was the most ridiculous thing she"d ever heard. But then, as if his expression indicated the truth of his words, she shook her head. "Please tell me it isn"t true. That Mom didn"t lie to us about that, as well."
"I"m sorry but she did," Brian said softly. "And your aunt Blair might hold the key to why your mother is so obsessed with this curse. Matt has made arrangements for us to visit the nursing home tonight when the head administrator and the private nurse leave. It seems they are on your mother"s bankroll and will do whatever she wants them to do regarding her sister"s care. We don"t know what we might find. She still might be in a coma and not able to shed light on anything, I don"t know. But we felt it would be worth a shot before we confront your mother to expose all her lies."
"When will all the lies and deceit end?" Erica asked softly before snuggling her face in his shirt again.
Later that evening the two couples and Matt were escorted through the back door of the Westminster Nursing Home. The male nurse who was being paid to sneak them in was very cautious as he moved them from one empty corridor to the next.
"I don"t know a lot about the patient you want to see. But I can tell you from what I was able to find out after checking the charts, she isn"t comatose. But her nurse, Ms. Vickers, is required to keep her drugged up if she has too many outbursts."
"That doesn"t surprise me," Matt said. He had met them here in Cleveland where, for the past two days, he"d been working out the intricate details of making sure they had a way into the nursing home after hours.
The nurse beckoned them to walk quickly as he moved them to another part of the building. "This is where she is being kept as per her caretaker"s orders."
April glanced around. This part of the building looked s.p.a.cious, elegant, and it was obvious anyone who was put in this wing was connected to money. Goose b.u.mps ran down her arm as she realized she was about to meet her half sister.
The nurse ushered them into a huge room and the door was closed behind them. April glanced around the same time everyone else did and their gazes lit on a woman sitting in a wheelchair at a table reading softly to herself. She glanced up when she saw them and smiled, and April"s knees almost buckled beneath her.
She was beautiful. Her hair was elegantly styled and her skin shone. Karen Sanders might have kept her sister well hidden from the world, but at least she had kept her in Delbert fashion.
"Did you come to read to me?" Blair asked them. She then added, "No one has read to me about the cat and the fiddle. I used to have a cat once."
Following Erica"s lead, April moved closer. The three men hung back.
"I would love to read to you, Aunt Blair," Erica said, sliding into the chair across from her. "You like hearing nursery rhymes?"
"Yes. It makes me forget."
Erica looked at April and nodded. "What does it make you forget?" she asked softly, using the approach Matt had suggested they use if they found her able to talk.
Blair"s gaze then moved from Erica to April and the smile slowly left her face. "What my daddy did to her." She pointed at April. "That"s Connie"s child. Latonia."
Though taken aback, April followed the older woman"s thoughts. Blair thought she was her mother. Nana had always told her she looked like a younger version of her mother.
"What did your daddy do to her?" Erica asked softly.
"He hurt her. I saw him. Karen saw him. We should have stopped him, but we didn"t. I pleaded with Karen to stop him but she wouldn"t. She never liked Connie"s daughter and said she was getting what she deserved. It was ugly."
Blair seemed to be staring into s.p.a.ce as if she was remembering. "I couldn"t take it anymore so I ran away. I was driving too fast and couldn"t slow down. I lost control. I-I..."
She placed her hands over her face and Erica reached out and gently pulled them back down. "It"s okay, Aunt Blair. It"s okay."
Blair then looked at April. "Will you forgive me, Latonia? I should have stopped him, but no one can stop him when he gets that way."
An hour later after taking turns reading nursery rhymes to Blair, April and Erica followed the men out the door. Brian pulled Erica gently to him. "Don"t worry. I have a feeling that between you and April she will continue to be taken care of."
Erica nodded. Yes, between her and April, Blair Delbert would always be taken care of.
Chapter Thirty-Nine.
Erica knew everyone was watching her when she picked up the phone to call her mother. It was time to bring the lies and deceit to an end and it would start with this phone call.
What she was about to do had been Matt"s idea and it seemed like the perfect way to bring Karen Sanders"s years of manipulations, evil and control to an end. Erica had no qualms about what she was to do and felt it was totally justified. Her mother needed help and she would make sure she got it.
She had returned to the lake house with everyone to find her father there, waiting for her. In tears she had walked out of Brian"s arms into his and, just as she"d done when she was a child, she had cried on him. The main question that had been on her mind when she"d met her father"s gaze was how he had endured living with her mother all those years.
He had taken her outside to sit on the porch to explain it to her. "At first it didn"t matter. I never knew love, and you can"t miss what you never had. I knew just what kind of marriage I would have before I wedded your mother. I wasn"t looking for love and neither was she."
He"d reached out and taken her hand in his. "Then you were born and any thoughts of getting a divorce dissolved from my mind. I just wanted to be the best dad I could be to you. To be there whenever you needed me."
Erica had nodded. "And you were." She hugged her dad, feeling sorry for ever doubting him.
"You"re ready to do it, Erica?" April asked softly, pulling her out of her reverie.
She nodded her head. "Yes, I"m ready."
She glanced at her watch. It was close to eleven o"clock as she began dialing her mother"s phone number. Her mother was probably still up, working crossword puzzles or playing a game of solitaire.
"h.e.l.lo."
Erica swallowed. The sound of her mother"s voice sent cold chills through her body at the thought of all the things her mother had done, the lies she had told. The people she had hurt.
"Hi, Mom, this is Erica."
"Erica, I"m glad you called. How was your date today with Griffin? You have to tell me all about it. How long have you been home?"
"I"m not home yet, Mom. In fact, Griffin and I are still together." She glanced across the room at Griffin, who had his arm around April. "Griffin and I have made a few decisions about our lives."
"Really? Have you?"
"Yes. And we"ve decided to fly to Vegas tonight and do something we should have done long ago."
"Oh, my goodness!" Erica could hear the excitement in her mother"s voice. Since she was on speakerphone, everyone in the room could hear it.
"We"ll be there for a few days," Erica added. "Don"t expect us back to town for a while."
"Of course, I do understand," Karen said, bubbling over. "It"s about time the two of you act responsibly and do the right thing."
"Yes, we think so, too. I"ll contact you when we get back."
"Okay, and don"t rush back. Have fun and don"t have any regrets."
Erica couldn"t help but smile when she glanced over at Brian. "Trust me, Mom, I don"t plan on having any regrets. Good-bye."
After Erica clicked off the phone she crossed the room and walked straight into Brian"s arms. He held her a minute before Matt spoke up. "Okay, everyone, it"s time to get to the airport. This is the first time I"ve ever coordinated a double wedding. h.e.l.l, this is the first time I"ve coordinated a wedding, period."
Everyone, including Erica"s father, was ushered out of the lake house. Brian had called his mother and she had agreed to catch a flight and join them in Vegas. Erica couldn"t help but smile, thinking that this time her mother was right. She and Griffin were doing the right thing.
Less than twenty-four hours later, the two couples, surrounded by family and close friends, pledged their love for each other and committed their lives together.
Rita dabbed the tears from her eyes as she stood next to Lori and looked on. Once she"d heard of her G.o.dson"s wedding, Lori had packed her bag for Vegas, too. Rita couldn"t help glancing across the room every chance she got to meet Wilson"s gaze. She was glad the truth had come out but nothing between them had changed. He was still a married man. Although seeing him again made her realize just how much she loved him and missed him.
"He"s so good-looking," Lori leaned over close to whisper. "If you don"t jump his bones tonight, I might be tempted to."
Rita couldn"t help but smile at her friend"s flirty comment. "I told you what we had decided to do...or should I say not to do. He"s still married."
"But he is separated from his wife. Didn"t you say he"d moved out and is in the process of getting a divorce?" At Rita"s nod, she said, "Well, then... And trust me, girl, you don"t owe anything to Karen Sanders anymore. That woman is as evil as evil could get. The thought of what she did to those two couples to keep them apart makes my blood boil."
Rita thought it made her blood boil, as well.
"Besides," Lori said, lowering her voice further still. "It"s okay to be naughty and break rules here. It"s Vegas. And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You might want to remember that."
Rita glanced over at Wilson again. Judging by the look in his eyes, there was no way she could forget it. Just as she knew there was no way she was going to leave Vegas without sharing her bed with him.
Four days later, walking side by side, Griffin and Erica entered her mother"s home. They had called her from the airport to let her know they were on their way home.
Her mother was there waiting for them in the living room with a huge, expectant smile on her face. "Well, well," she said, beaming even more when she saw the wedding rings on their fingers. "Welcome home!"
Erica had enjoyed her time away, spending all four days in Vegas wrapped in her husband"s arms. The moment the plane had landed in Cleveland, however, all that happiness had fled. She"d gotten depressed at the thought of what she and Griffin had to do. But there was no stopping it.
"Griffin and I need to make an announcement, Mom," she said after taking a deep breath. "We got married."
Karen glowed so bright it was almost blinding. "I know. And I am totally happy for you."
"Are you really, Mom? That"s good to hear because there is one little glitch with us marrying."
Karen looked confused. "I don"t understand. What kind of glitch can there be?"
It was Griffin who crossed his arms over his chest, smiled and said, "We didn"t marry each other. Erica married Brian and I married April. We did the one thing you never wanted to see happen. We both married the persons we love."
Karen"s face became all but distorted. "How dare the two of you mess with the Delbert legacy?"