Will flew back to visit June and Grace several more times over the summer. He and June fell more in love than ever. By the end of summer, he’d made the decision to move to New York. He was beginning to wind things down at work, and had put his house on the market. He hated leaving his parents behind and had offered to bring them with him, but they wanted to stay in Texas. His sister, Maria, lived nearby and kept an eye on them. He told them he would have a room in his new place for them, and that they could visit any time.
He had flown June and Grace out a few times over the summer, too, and it was like it should have been all along—one big, happy family. Eventually they forgave the past and focused only on the future. When Will visited New York, he looked for a place to live and met with physicians from private practices who were looking to add a partner. He wanted to spend as much time with his family as he could, so he decided to go into private practice rather than work directly for a hospital.
In October, he found the perfect apartment on the Upper West Side. It was spacious, with three bedrooms and a great view of Central Park. He’d already sold his place in Texas, so it was a quick escrow and he moved in the first week of November.
The girls helped him furnish and decorate the place, and by Thanksgiving it had that lived-in look about it. He spent his first official holiday as a New Yorker with June, Grace and Antonio, and Antonio’s family. He’d always had a good life, but now, he decided, it was perfect.
Grace knew that life for her mother was not quite perfect. She’d been waiting—they’d all been waiting—for Edward to call and offer an apology, an explanation, some kind of acknowledgement of what he’d done. But the phone remained silent. And June remained steadfast in her refusal to forgive him until he showed that he regretted what he’d done.
Finally, Grace decided the situation had gone on long enough.
Her hands trembled as she picked up the phone and dialed the number. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to say, or how things would turn out, but she wanted to do this. She wanted to give her mother one final gift. And Christmastime was the perfect time for it.
The phone was answered on the third ring and Grace was surprised to hear Edward’s voice. She’d assumed Bernie would answer, and it took her a moment to compose herself.
“Hello!” he barked into the phone, too quickly after the first time.
“Yes, hello, Edward?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Grace Adams, your…granddaughter.”
Silence greeted her on the other end. At first she thought he’d hung up on her, but then she heard his rapid breathing on the other end.
“Is my daughter all right?” he asked after a long silence. “Did she ask you to call?”
His voice sounded hopeful, and she suddenly hated what she was doing. But it needed to be done. “Yes, my mother is fine. She has no idea I’m calling. Edward, I was wondering if I could see you.”
Another long silence ensued. “I…yes…I suppose that would be alright.”
“Can I come tonight?” she asked before she lost her courage. She’d planned on having dinner at her father’s that night, but she didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
“Yes, tonight will be fine.”
She hung up the phone after they agreed on a time and then called her father to cancel dinner.
Grace arrived at Edward’s promptly at seven o’clock that night. As Bernie pulled the doors of the oak-paneled library closed behind her, Grace felt light-headed.
This was the man who had very nearly destroyed three innocent lives, including his own daughter’s. Edward sat in an oversized chair, a log flickering in the fireplace before him.
“Hello, Grandfather,” she said.
His head jerked around at the sound of her voice.
She took a step toward him. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”
Edward pointed to the chair opposite him, and Grace sat down. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Edward’s gaze shifted downward. Then something she hadn’t expected happened. He covered his face with his hands and cried. Really cried—his entire body wracking with sobs. Grace sat, unmoving and speechless.
She let the old man cry for a few moments. “Grandfather, are you all right? Your heart…”
Finally, he let his hands down and looked up at her. “My heart is fine, dear,” he said, his voice ragged from the crying. “Thank you for your concern.”
Grace nodded, unsure of where to go from there.
Edward took another minute to compose himself, and then cleared his throat. “That night your mother came to see me,” he said, still not looking her in the eye, “everything she said was true. God help me, it was all true.”
Edward wept again but managed to get the words out. “I wanted to tell her the truth for years, but I was too much of a coward. I regretted what I did every day since you were born.”
He shifted in his seat and continued. “I even tried to undo it. I went back to St. Joseph’s and told them I changed my mind, but it was too late. The only way I could undo it was to incriminate myself, and that would’ve taken me away from June, just when she needed me so much. At least…that’s what I told myself.”
He continued, his voice unsteady. “I convinced myself that she would get over it. In time, she’d get over it, and some day she would marry and have more children, and everything would be okay.
“But that light that used to be in her was gone after she lost you. It left when her mother died, and it didn’t come back until she met that boy. God help me, I was jealous of how much she loved him. She used to look at me as if I was the only man in the world for her, and I was determined to get her to look at me that way again.”
Grace watched her grandfather, so small and frail, and she felt sorry for him. What he’d done was wrong, but she couldn’t honestly say he was evil. Just…weak. She knew without a doubt that she’d gotten her strength—her will to survive—from her mother, but her mother must have gotten it from someone besides him.
He reached for his water glass with a trembling hand and took a sip. “I tried to be a good father to her after her mother died, but I think a piece of me died with her. Your mother needed more than I was able to give, and I think she sensed it.
“I did what I did because I thought I would die if I lost her. She was the only thing that mattered to me, and I convinced myself that I could make everything better for her after…after I took you away from her.”
Edward buried his face in his hands. “Oh, God, what have I done?” He looked up at the girl he’d given away like a piece of old furniture. “I don’t expect your forgiveness. I know that what I did was unforgivable, but I wanted you to know the truth.”
And there it was. The truth at last from the man responsible for separating her from her mother and father. His confession hung in the air like a dark cloud on a windless night.
“Why haven’t you called my mother?” she asked, breaking the intolerable silence. “She’s been waiting for you to call, waiting for you to admit what you’ve done so that she could forgive you. That’s all she needs to forgive you, you know. Just a simple phone call.”
He shook his head. “She’s better off without me. She has you now. You and the boy she’s always loved. She doesn’t need me.”
“You’re wrong.”
He shrugged. “Well, I haven’t done a damned thing right since I lost my beloved Elena. Why start now?”
Grace stood to leave. There was nothing more to be said. She’d gotten what she’d come here for—the truth. She was grateful for that, but saddened by how easily he’d given up.
“Thank you for seeing me,” she said before letting herself out.