“Claire…”
His voice sounded so strange that a chill ran down my spine.
“What?”
“Who is her father?”
I gave a nervous laugh.
“You know who her father is.”
“Tell me his name.”
I stopped smiling.
“Julian.”
Grandpa closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, they were filled with something I had never seen there before.
Fear.
“And Julian’s father?”
“What?”
“What’s his father’s name?”
I searched my memory.
“Richard, I think. Richard Carter.”
Grandpa slowly lowered himself into the rocking chair.
Then, holding my daughter against his chest, he whispered one word.
“No.”
Part 3 — The Secret Grandpa Promised My Mother He Would Keep
I crouched in front of him.
“Grandpa, you’re scaring me.”
He pressed his lips against Ivy’s forehead.
Then he looked toward the tree line instead of at me.
“I promised your mother I would never tell you.”
My heart stopped.
“Tell me what?”
“Rachel made me swear.”
My mother.
Hearing her name made the porch seem colder.
“What did Mom make you swear?”
Grandpa’s jaw tightened.
“That you would grow up without that family anywhere near you.”
A terrible possibility entered my mind.
My stomach turned.
“Grandpa…”
I could barely force the words out.
“Are Julian and I related?”
His head snapped toward me.
“No.”
The answer came with such force that Ivy stirred.
Grandpa lowered his voice immediately.
“No. Absolutely not. Not by blood, not through marriage, not in any way.”
Relief hit so hard that my knees weakened.
I sat on the porch step.
“Then what are you talking about?”
