I looked between the two of them but settled my gaze on him. “Did you start without me?”
“Not exactly. You’d have been here in time hear what she had to say.”
Mom arched a brow at me. “It’s none of your business, either, Rae.”
My mouth fell open. “Really? I remember you meeting him outside a grocery store a long time ago. I was five or six at the time. How on earth do you know him, because I’m pretty sure that happened before Dad worked for him.”
She glowered at me for a moment before she spoke.
“I worked for the school system as an assistant to an ESE teacher when you went into kindergarten. And one of the children I helped happened to be Tommy’s daughter.”
Clint’s face was guarded. “Okay. How does that equate to your husband working for him as an accountant? And him keeping tabs on you, but not keeping in touch, because I, for one, know you’re a woman who’s good at staying in touch when you’re determined to do it.”
She looked abashed for a moment. “I would rather Raegan not hear the rest.”
My eyes widened. “Are you crazy? There’s someone out there who wants me dead and I don’t know why. Whatever you have to tell us can’t be any crazier than that!”
She stared at me. “I suppose I got off lucky that Wynnie never found out.”
My brows furrowed.
“Penny,” Clint murmured, and I looked to him. His face contained a bizarre cross of sympathy and disbelief directed at Mom.
She looked at Clint, sighed, and then looked at her lap as though she were ashamed.
My heart felt like a lead weight. “Were you... you couldn’t have been... involved with him? When Wynnie and I were kids?”
She pressed her lips together. “Your father lost his job because he’d been caught having an affair with a coworker.”
I edged around the couch to sit down. “So, you returned the favor?”
She closed her eyes while shaking her head.
“Not exactly.”
I stared at her as the silence stretched.
Her eyes caught mine. “Tommy never married his daughter’s mother. He didn’t have any real custodial rights, but she was a negligent mother from the jump. Libby was born with many preventable conditions, had her mother not used drugs throughout the pregnancy. Tommy had no idea he was the father until Beth showed up seven months pregnant.”
“Okay,” I drawled.
“By the time I met Libby, Tommy was trying to gain custody, and unlike Beth, he gave a damn about Libby’s education. But more than that, he knew things were not good at Beth’s house, and—”
“He was accused of kidnapping the first time he tried to keep her at his place,” Clint put in. I looked at him and he shrugged. “It’s the rumor on the street, that he kidnapped a kid back in the day and was never charged. Now it makes sense.”
“The day after your father came clean about his... indiscretion was the day Tommy met with us for Libby’s IEP meeting. I only worked a half-day and he saw me in the parking lot. He knew something was wrong. We went for coffee, and...”
She trailed off, and I didn’t need to hear anything further.
On the one hand it wasn’t my business, but on the other hand part of me was dying to know how long she had the affair. Just as I decided it didn’t matter, Clint pressed for more.
“It was more than a one-time thing, wasn’t it?”
I stared at him. “How is that relevant?”
“It was on and off for nine months,” Mom said, and I turned my glare at her.
“What?” I breathed.
“That visit at the grocery store was the last time I saw him. Your father had quit working for him the week prior to that run-in because he’d figured out not only that Tommy was getting into illegal affairs, but he suspected something between Tommy and me.”
“Jesus,” I whispered, shoving my hands into my hair.
“It was twenty-six years ago, Raegan. I would tell you I’m sorry for what I did, but really, it was between your father and me. You and Wynnie never knew anything different than the fact we loved you girls very much.”
My hands fell out of my hair, and I shook my head. “He didn’t come ’round after Dad died? I mean that was what? Eight or nine years later?”
An angry glint hit Mom’s eyes, but her voice was calm. “No. By then, he’d met and married his wife, Carla, though they never had children, which is sad.”
“The daughter died, didn’t she?” Clint asked.
Mom nodded. “Yes. About a month after things started with us. It’s probably why it lasted as long as it did. Libby’s death hit us both hard because tragically, it could have been prevented.”
I dragged a hand down my face trying to process all of this information.
“Raegan, look at me,” Mom ordered.
I glanced at her.
“Don’t judge me.”
“I’m not, Mom. It’s just... I can’t believe Dad did that to you. I know how damned much that hurts.”
She shook her head at me. “You can’t think any less of your father, either. Takes two to make a marriage work, and we both did things that hurt our marriage. Luckily, we were able to get things back on track and overcome our mistakes.”
“Not many couples are able to do that,” Clint muttered.
Mom’s chin dipped in agreement. “You’re right.”
Clint took a seat next to me on the couch. “Well, Tommy’s willing to put a man on the house. You’re getting up and around better every day. I can get Brock or Gabe to spend the night, unless you think you’re good on your own.”
She squinted at Clint. “You really think someone will come around here again, with both you and Tommy looking after us?”
Clint’s lips pressed together for a moment. “I think it’s better to isolate Raegan. My house isn’t necessarily safer, but it is my home turf, so—”
“You’re more at ease,” Mom interrupted.
After a shrug, Clint whispered,
