Her Hidden Past by Kelly Utt

Author:Kelly Utt [Utt, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733771283
Publisher: Standards of Starlight
Published: 2019-10-06T22:00:00+00:00

23

Lana and Bea were still holding onto each other, Bea gently blotting her eyes, when Susana Herrera returned.

“Miss Bea,” she said in her cheerful, sing-song voice. “You have a visitor. Is it okay for him to come in?”

“Really?” Bea asked. She hoped it was Travis. Now that she’d told her mom what had happened, she wanted to finish telling Travis, too. Maybe the three of them could come up with a plan together. Plus, now that she had some time to reflect on it, she was touched by the way he had stood up for her at the school office. She wanted to thank him.

“Really,” Susana confirmed. “He’s eager to see you.”

“Good! Send him in.”

Lana moved back to the chair as Bea propped herself up in the bed and did her best to smooth down the disobedient strands of hair which had become disheveled from laying down. Lana had never met Travis before and Bea looked forward to introducing the two of them. A meeting was long overdue.

Susana left the room. When she returned, it wasn’t Travis she escorted in. To Bea’s great disappointment, it was John.

“Here he is,” Susana announced happily, not understanding the implications.

“Hello, Beatrice,” John said in a dry voice. “And Lana.”

Susana exited the room again, closing the door behind her this time. Poor Susana. She was only trying to help.

Just great, Bea thought to herself.

“I assumed you’d be in jail by now,” Bea said to her husband.

John stood at the end of Bea’s hospital bed with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands crossed in front of his waist. It was the same peculiar stance he’d had in the school office earlier. It struck Bea as fake and pretentious. “No, I’m not in jail,” he said sullenly. “Would you like me to be?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Bea replied. “Don’t put words into my mouth, John Hughes. I’m not in the mood to fight with you.”

“Well, you seem to be feeling feisty this evening. What’s gotten into you?”

Lana bit her lip. Bea could tell her mother had a lot to say to John, but she would be respectful. John turned his attention to his mother-in-law. “Lana, would you mind giving me a few minutes alone with Beatrice?”

Lana turned to her daughter for the okay. “It’s alright, Mom,” Bea said. “Maybe you could find us some warm coffee?”

“Fine,” Lana said as she stood up and shuffled out of the room. “Shall I bring back three cups? Or just two?” she called back.

“Just two,” Bea said. “John isn’t staying.” Being assertive felt good.

When the door closed behind Lana, and Bea and her husband were alone, his demeanor changed. He sat down in the chair Lana had occupied and dropped the good-guy act. “We have a problem,” he said.

“Is it Max?” Bea asked, the concern evident in her voice. She didn’t want to sound weak, but the thought of something being wrong with her son pushed her in that direction.

“No, he’s fine, as far as I know,” John clarified.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.