A woman’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Greene and Garrett, how may I direct your call?”
“Robert Doherty, please.”
Seconds later the ring sounded. She expected him to answer, so the woman’s voice startled her. Without thinking she asked, “Is Bobby there?”
“Is this Brenda?” the voice asked.
“Um, no. It’s Suzanna. Suzanna Duff.”
“Sorry about that,” the young woman said and chuckled. “His wife is the only one who calls Mr. Doherty Bobby, so I thought…”
Wife?
Suzanna said nothing and sat there, dumbfounded.
“Mr. Doherty is gone for the day; would you like to leave a message?”
“No, I guess not,” Suzanna said and hung up.
——————
THAT EVENING, AFTER SHE’D LISTENED to Annie’s prayers and kissed her goodnight, Suzanna went to her own room and sat on the edge of the bed with her face cradled in her hands. The man she’d held in her heart for eight years, the man who was the father of her child, had come back looking for nothing but a good time. He didn’t want her, and, worse yet, he didn’t want Annie. He was a liar, the very worst kind of liar, one who lied his way into a person’s heart. Her heart. She’d let Gregg walk away because of him and she’d been on the verge of leaving Ida, hurting her the way she herself had been hurt.
What was the harm? she’d wondered. Now she knew. Over the years, Suzanna had told a million little lies and not once had she stopped to look back at the damage they might have done. Her shoulders shuddered, and tears fell into her palms. She cried, not because of Bobby, but because of the shame burning inside of her.
She’d been such a fool. She’d told herself that because Bobby was Annie’s daddy, she was still in love with him, but that too was a lie. It wasn’t Bobby she’d carried in her heart all those years; it was the thought of him being Annie’s daddy. Not once had she realized that making love in the backseat of a car didn’t make a man a daddy. Years of caring, love, and dependability, that’s what made a man a real daddy.
Gregg had offered that, and she’d thrown it away. He was a good man, he loved her and he loved Annie, yet she’d hurt him because she was too cowardly to tell the truth. She’d lied, just the same as Bobby had lied. She’d lied to Gregg and she’d lied to Ida, the two people who loved her.
A sad truth settled in her heart. She was no better than Bobby, and perhaps he was exactly what she deserved. A liar for a liar. She brushed back the tears then went to the window and stood there thinking.
In the shadowy moonlight, she could see the roofline of Mrs. Murphy’s house and across the street Homer Portnick’s Buick parked in the driveway. She knew the neighbors up and down the street. They waved when they saw her drive by and asked about Annie when they came into the shop. For almost nine months this place had been her home, the only real home she’d known since her mama died. She was only a few years older than Annie then, and that’s when she’d begun lying.
Back then she’d lied to cover up the ugliness of her life, but here there was no such need. It was a good life, the kind of life a child like Annie deserved. Suzanna wanted to believe she’d done nothing wrong, that she’d simply tried to make an old woman happy, but the truth came at her like a cannon ball. She’d grown to love Ida and they had become like family, but the reality was that no matter how much she wanted to be Darla Jean Parker she was not.
After coming face to face with the pain of Bobby’s lie, she knew she could not continue the charade she was living. Ida deserved better. She deserved to know Suzanna was not the granddaughter she’d prayed for to return. Over the months they’d spent together, they’d come to love one another. The truth was a painful way to test that love, but she had to chance it. Hopefully Ida could find it in her heart to forgive such treachery for Annie’s sake.
Suzanna prayed she would.
Suzanna
Starting Over
THURSDAY MORNING SUZANNA SHOOED ANNIE off to school and moments later left for the hospital. When she arrived, Ida was sitting up in the bed. Her face had regained its color, and the empty breakfast tray was pushed aside.
“Looks like you’re feeling better,” Suzanna said and smiled.
Ida gave a sheepish grin. “I’m fine now but feeling pretty ashamed about the fuss I caused.”
Suzanna knew no amount of shame could equal what she was feeling, but she forced a lighthearted chuckle. “Nonsense, it was a simple mistake. You had no way of knowing.”
“Well, I’ll certainly be more careful in the future. It makes me shudder to think that something terrible could have happened when poor little Annie was there all by herself.”
“I’m the one to blame. I shouldn’t have left when you and Annie were sick.”
Suzanna’s voice trailed off. There was so much she had to say, but now was not the time. Later on tonight, after Annie was sound asleep in the canopy bed, she would tell Ida the truth of her identity and everything would change. For now, she was still Ida’s granddaughter, and she would cling to every precious minute for as long as she could.
“I brought clothes for you to wear home.” She opened the tote bag, pulled out a blue dress, and slipped it onto a hanger.
“Underwear? And shoes?”
“Yep, I think I’ve got everything.”
Ida smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me one little bit. I don’t know how I managed to get along without you.”
“I hope you always feel that way…” Suzanna might have gone on to say something more,
