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Lia stared at her grandparents as if seeing them for the first time. The shock and betrayal in one expression met the guilt and stubborn defense in the other.
“Cornelia? What’s she talking about?” Grandfather’s ashen face aged him another decade.
Grammy refused to bend. She lectured Lia, voice growing ever more strident, and spots of red hectored her high cheekbones. “Listen to your Grandfather. That man wasn’t good enough for Kaylia.” She rounded on her husband, the tiny woman vehement in her own defense. “We had plans for her, she had a place in society, after this family fought for years to be taken seriously. The Corazons are somebody in this community. And she wanted to throw the Corazon name into the trash.” Her chest heaved.
“What did you do?” He steadied himself with one hand against the wall, braced for a hurtful punch.
“I did what you wouldn’t! I protected our daughter. You pretend to be macho, the strong father, but you always encouraged Kaylia’s defiance. So proud of that headstrong Corazon blood. It’s your fault she ruined herself!” She whirled, this time throwing the bitter words at Lia, still justifying an anguished confession. “Yes, I had that paniolo boyfriend trash arrested, got their so-called marriage annulled.” She smoothed her throat, playing with the strand of pearls, and aimed another shot at her husband. “You weren’t strong enough to do the hard thing. The right thing.”
Grandfather stared at Grammy for endless seconds. That seemed to spur her on.
“She had prospects here, don’t you see? A place in the community. That no account wouldn’t have fit in here. He wanted to keep her in that Godforsaken island place. So I had to smooth things over, for her own good. For our family’s sake.” Grammy grabbed Lia’s hands, held them tight. “Nobody knew about you, and we had to keep it that way. To protect your mother.”
Lia dragged her hands away and staggered several steps backwards. Grammy followed, tottering and clacking on her high heels that now seemed ridiculous rather than stylish.
“All that changed after you were born, Lia. You have to understand.” Grammy held a pleading hand out to her husband. “Your Grandfather agreed. Tell her, Dub. And we would have convinced your mother to see reason. Tell her!” Grammy appealed to the man, who still seemed rocked to his soul.
“Agreed to what?” Lia looked between the two.
He rubbed his face and spoke in a hush. “It was the only way to give your mother a fresh start. Without painful reminders.”
Grandfather meant her. She would be the painful reminder, a reminder of love gone wrong. Of love derailed by meddling parents.
“My mother didn’t want to give me away, though, did she?” Her voice filled with wonder. Her stare pinned Grammy, still hungry for details. “But you had already made the arrangements to keep the dirty little secret. That’s why I was born here, and not in a hospital? So the inconvenient baby could disappear, and your society snobs would never know?” Her tears finally overflowed. “That’s why my mother died, with no doctor nearby to intervene. Isn’t that right!?!”
“What? No! We never planned for you to be born here.” Grandfather held up both palms toward her, as if fending off a blow. “You came early. I was gone on a buying trip. Cornelia called to tell me. You came too fast to get to the hospital. Tell her, Cornelia. For God’s sake, tell her!”
Grammy crossed her arms tight across her chest, turned her back, and stalked away, making surreptitious swipes at her eyes. She bowed her head. Her shoulders shook.
Shocked understanding turned his features dusky. Grandfather sucked in a ragged breath before his attention returned to Lia. He looked broken, proud carriage stooped and bent, and his rough voice trembled. “When your mother died, I couldn’t bear to lose you both.” He held one gnarled hand out to her.
She knocked it away, choking on a sob. “You were right all along. I don’t belong in this family. You lost me a long time ago.” Lia whirled and ran out the door.
