At Dottie’s insistence, Hope lounged most of the day. The only thing she accomplished was changing the bedding in the Blue Room and disinfecting everything. They ate pastries for breakfast, watched television, took naps, and listened to Jake read stories. The doctor called to check on Hope and urged her to continue to rest and limit her activity.
The dinner hour rolled around, and Grant arrived with Chinese takeout. Drew came through the door as they were eating. “Sorry, long day.” He helped himself to a plate.
Dottie finished and said, “I’m tired. I think I’m going to call it a night.” Grant helped her up and offered to see her to her room.
“Can I sleep in their room again?” asked Jake.
Hope raised her brows, and Dottie answered, “Of course you can. Come on, and we’ll get you settled.”
Jake wrapped his arms around Hope’s neck. “I know you’ll miss me, but I like having my own room again. It has two beds.” He giggled and followed Dottie.
Hope shook her head and smiled. “He’s something else.” She collected her plate and the others and took them to the sink.
Grant breezed through the kitchen and said, “Night all. I’ve got to get going.”
“I plan to be in tomorrow to help. I’m so sorry I’ve let you down these last few days,” she said, finishing loading the dishwasher.
“Not to worry. If you’re up to it, I’ll see you tomorrow. This weekend is the huge cookie exchange, so we’ll be slammed all week.” He turned and waved at Drew. “See ya.”
“Jake will want to go to the cookie exchange this weekend. It started decades ago and involved a community cookie exchange where everyone brought a tray of their favorite cookies. It’s grown to a huge event. We block off Main Street, and the whole place is filled with cookies and Christmas treats.”
“I take it more people order their cookie trays these days?”
Drew nodded. “Grant gets a ton of orders from customers. Not to mention the City of Silver Falls, local businesses, and several organizations. They all have booths or tables during the event. Lots of money raised for charity with donations and raffles.”
“Sounds fun. Jake will be all over anything related to cookies.” She fixed herself a cup of tea and moved to the chair closest to the fireplace.
Drew sighed as he took a seat on the sofa and eased his feet out of his shoes. “It was definitely a Monday.” He went on to tell her about his day, including two calls to ranches out of town.
“So, what did you do before you set out on your adventure across America?” he asked.
She kept the cup at her lips. “Not much. I haven’t worked since college.”
“Tell me about your family. The one in the photo on your tablet.” He pointed to the red case on the table beside her chair.
She sucked in a breath. She opened the tablet and scrolled to the photo he had seen. “She’s my daughter, Tina. She’s in college now. Tina’s the same age as your Danny.”
“And the man is your husband?”
Her lips tightened, and her mouth disappeared. She bobbed her head. “It’s a long story.”
Drew moved his legs on to the couch and sprawled across it, raising his coffee cup, “We’ve got all night.”
“One of Tina’s first assignments in her science class this semester had to do with genetics. They were studying blood types, and the assignment was to gather the types of her parents and siblings.”
“I wasn’t aware of the entire project, she just called me and said she was studying and needed to know my blood type. I didn’t think much of it, until a few days later.”
“Brian, my husband, stormed into the house after work one night. He was out of control. He demanded to know who Tina’s real father was and who I had been having an affair with.” She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes.
“I should have started at the beginning of the story. She stuck her finger deep into the inside cover of her tablet. She teased something forward and unearthed an old photograph.
She smiled when she looked at it and walked over so Drew could see it. “This is Henry with me. We met in college.”
Drew took in the photo of a young smiling Hope and a dark haired young main gazing at her. They were in front of a huge tree, standing on the grass. “You were very young.”
“Yes. It seems like an entire lifetime ago. We were engaged to be married. We wanted to wait until we both finished graduate school. He was kind. Intelligent. Full of life. It was all so perfect.”
“So, what happened?” he asked, his brow wrinkled.
“We had plans to visit his family. They summered on Mackinac Island. I had a few things to do so Henry went on without me, and I was going to meet them all in a couple of days. There was freak storm, and Henry’s plane went down. He died.” Her voice cracked and tears streamed down her face.
“I found out I was pregnant two weeks later.”
“I’m so sorry, Hope. I’m sure you were devastated.”
She took a moment to compose herself. “I don’t have to tell you what it’s like to lose someone you love. I didn’t know what to do.” She went on to explain she had met Brian soon after Henry’s death. Her degree was in art history, and she worked at a gallery and Brian attended one of their galas.
“I was stupid and vulnerable. I saw a way out of my situation and took it. It was a decision I’ve come to regret.”
Drew listened without interruption as she bared her soul, hanging her head in shame when she told him Brian proposed marriage when she told him she was pregnant. “With the gift of hindsight, I should have just powered through on my own.” She paused and added, “But, I would have never had my son.”
She explained that Brian was a financial manager. He provided a life full of material possessions, money, vacations, and a lifestyle most would envy. “He’s always been dominant and controlling, but I lacked for nothing, so never questioned much.”
“I take it Tina revealed the results of her genetic study and informed him there was no way he could be her father?”
Hope’s head sagged into her shoulders. “Exactly. We both have type O blood. Tina has type B. It’s impossible.”
“Her father would have to have type B or AB,” added Drew.
She tipped her head. “You would know, with your medical background.” She took a sip of tea. “That’s the day my world changed.”
Over the next hours, she described the events leading up to her decision to leave her home. “Brian was in a rage, and it escalated to him insinuating our son wasn’t his. He made Tina analyze his blood type against ours. She explained the blood type information could only eliminate someone from being a parent. It couldn’t provide definite paternity. He ordered a DNA test.”
She wiped at her eyes again. “I told him the whole story about Henry and apologized for not telling him about the pregnancy. He didn’t want to hear it. Neither did Tina.” She took in a deep breath and glanced out the window before continuing. “The last straw was when he threatened me in front of my son.” She put her hand to her throat and rubbed it. “He hurt me and said awful things about me. He told me to get out and take my son with me.”
“That’s when you decided to leave?”
She nodded. “I got in touch with an old college roommate Brian had never met and asked her to help me get a vehicle. I sold all my jewelry and clothes and took some money I had saved over the years. My mother always told me to have a separate savings account just for me, and I’m thankful for her advice.”
“Jake was scared and questioned everything, so I just told him we were going on an adventure. I told the school I was homeschooling and ordered the materials and we took off one morning after Brian went to work.”
“Has he been looking for you?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I left my cell phone. The car is in my old roommate’s cousin’s name. I’m not using credit cards. I’ve tried to disappear. Hope and Jake aren’t even our real names. Brian scared me and told me he wanted me gone.”
“What about the police?”
Fresh tears trickled down her face. “I should have called them myself when he hurt me. I was too afraid they wouldn’t believe me because I lied about my pregnancy.” She took a breath and added, “Brian has powerful friends. He’s connected. I would never win.” She shuddered. “I don’t think he would involve the police because of what he did to me in front of Jake. I’m more concerned he’ll use private sources to find me.”
“I understand you wanting to be careful. You’re safe here. Just relax and rest. You don’t have anything to worry about in Silver Falls. I’m sorry for what you’re going through.” He paused and added, “To be honest, I was suspicious of you and your story. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you, and with what you’ve said, I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.”
“I had to protect my son from all of that. I’ve lost my daughter in the process, but he’s too young to understand all of this. I want to keep him safe and keep his childhood intact.”
“I understand protecting those you love. If I could have saved Danny and Laura, I would have done anything.” Drew glanced at his watch and stood. “It’s almost time to get up. I need to get going. Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded. “Please don’t say anything to anyone.”
He gripped her shoulder, and she tensed. “I won’t say a word. I promise. I’ll talk to you later. Call my cell if you or Mom need anything.”
After Drew left, Hope went back to her room, stunned that it was time to get ready for the day. After a long bout of crying in the shower, she composed herself and got dressed. When she emerged, she found Jake and Scout in the living room, reading a book.
She made sure Dottie didn’t need anything, offered to pick up her marketing, and set off for the bakery. She ended up working all day. In addition to his regular baking, Grant had the daunting task of delivering over three thousand cookies by the weekend. Hope promised to work each day, to help.
Hope shuffled into the house Thursday night, exhausted from the last three days of nonstop prepping and cleaning at the bakery. Drew had taken over dinner duties for the week and there was a plate waiting for her in the oven.
As she was taking her plate to the counter, Drew came around the corner. “Hey,” he whispered. “Mom and Jake are asleep.”
“Thanks for stepping in with him for me this week. I can’t believe the workload at Grant’s. I have a new appreciation for Christmas cookies.” She dug into the chicken casserole. “This tastes so good.”
“I was hoping to catch you tonight. I, uh, well, I did a little research online. I don’t want to alarm you. I’m trying to help. I’m pretty sure you’re Abby Pearson, and your husband is Brian Pearson.”
The color drained from her face. “How do you know that?”