Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES) (20 page)

“What’s going to happen to her? Where is she?”

“She’s at the morgue, and I never asked her if she had family.” Andy held Laura and Gabriel and could have kicked himself as he realized he never wanted to get too personal with the staff.

“I don’t know what happened to them
, Andy, but I know she told me she lost her family years ago. She wouldn’t talk about it, just said it is what it is. You know Aida; if she didn’t want to talk, she didn’t.”

Andy laughed softly under his breath
, but it was far from joyful. There was something about Aida where she could have made him do anything and feel guilty for all of his shortcomings at the same time. She had been the only person he needed to respect him. For the life of him, he didn’t know why it had mattered so much.

“Andy
, we can’t leave her there if she has no family who is going to look after a funeral, getting her clothes, burying her, saying goodbye.”

“I’ll handle it. I’ll take care of all the arrangements. I don’t want you to worry about it.” Andy kissed Laura on the top of her head. “Come on
, let’s go have dinner.”

Laura slid off his knee
, and Andy supported her arm while she stood up. “I’m not hungry, Andy. I don’t think I can eat.”

Andy lifted Gabriel in his arms and stood up. “You have to
, Laura; you’re nursing. Come on. I bet you’re hungry, too, Gabriel?”

But he just shook his head. Andy ushered Laura into the kitchen and sat Gabriel in one of the chairs. “Come
on, let’s see what’s for dinner. I’m sure once we taste it, we’ll all realize how hungry we are.” Andy lifted the tin foil from the casserole dish that was sitting on a hot mitt beside the stove. “Mmm, shepherd’s pie smells good.”

Laura was looking lost
, and her eyes were red rimmed as she stared at Andy.

“Laura
, get some plates.” He gestured with his head to Gabriel. It took Laura a second, but then she understood what he was saying, and she nodded and forced a pathetic smile to her lips, grabbing three plates from the cupboard. The three of them picked at their first dinner, which should have been filled with joy, celebration, and excitement but instead was shadowed and filled with the emptiness of the passing of someone they all loved and who had been so much a part of Andy and Laura.

***

Laura felt an unbearable sense of loss. All the excitement and love she felt for Andy, for their new life, and today—well, her heart felt as if it had been shattered.

She’d bathed the babies side by side with Andy, and she’d nursed them again
, and now they were asleep in the bedroom beside theirs. The monitor was hooked up and sat in its holder beside the bed. She was nestled on her side, her hand resting under the pillow, and she listened to the background noises as Andy settled Gabriel and got him ready for bed.

She still couldn’t believe what Andy
had done, separating them from his family, starting a new life with just them. It was a dream, but her dream had also included a spot for Aida. She’d assumed the old woman would always be a part of their life.

Laura swiped at the tear that slid down the side of her nose
. She felt such a closeness to Andy and was surprised at how he’d become her everything. He was the father Gabriel deserved to have.

“We have to
be real quiet. See your brother and sister sleeping? Well, you’re their big brother, and you get to help me look after them and your mom, too.”

“Where’s Aida
?”

Laura watched the monitor and held her breath
, waiting for Andy to respond. She’d been so wrapped up in her own grief, tired and still recovering from the babies and surgery, that she’d left all this to Andy, but he was making it so easy for her, and she loved him for that, especially for his broad shoulders, which held her and her son up and sheltered them from everything bad.

“Aida is now with
angels. She finished what she had to do here. Do you know what happens when you get old and die?” Andy asked her son, and she found herself listening and believing that he knew everything and exactly where Aida was now.

“No.”

Laura jammed her fist into her mouth. Of course her little boy didn’t know what death was. Thank God he’d never experienced it before.

“Well
, we all come here, and we all have a purpose, something we need to do. When we’re done, that’s when we leave and go home. It’s a wonderful place, surrounded by angels. And that’s where Aida is. I like to think that she’s watching over us now, happy and smiling because she just wanted our family, you and me, your mom, Chelsea and Jeremy, together and happy. She’s always going to be with you. You have to close your eyes and think of a fun time with her, and she’ll be right there.”

“Can she see us now
? Can she come back and visit?”

“No
, she can’t come back, but you can see her anytime you want just by closing your eyes and remembering her face, remembering a happy time and how much she loved you.”

Andy must have left the babies
’ room, as she couldn’t hear him anymore. She stared at the monitor, her heart full of what he’d said. Laura had never had much faith and had certainly never spoken with Gabriel about angels, except Andy had made her heart lighter by what he’d just said about Aida.

“Hey
, what are still doing awake?” Andy strode into their bedroom in sock feet, his blue jeans hugging his hips, his silver belt buckle featured an engraved eagle. He sat beside her on the bed and swept his fingers through her hair.

Laura reached up and linked her fingers with his. “I heard what you said to Gabriel. I never would have come up with that. Do you really believe Aida is watching over us?”

He glanced away and squinted as if trying to think of something to say. “I do, Laura. Aida was a tough old bird, and she put up with absolutely no crap of mine and called me out any chance she got.” Andy pulled his hand away. “Just believe it, Laura. I believe that she’s happy for us and where we are now.”

Laura watched something in Andy
she hadn’t seen before. It was love for her, and she truly believed he spoke from the heart by what he said.

He bent down and kissed her. “Go to sleep.”

“Are you coming to bed?” she asked, rising up on her elbows when he started out of the room.

“Not quite yet. I have a few things to take care of.”

“Are you okay, Andy?” He was carrying everything on his shoulders, but there was a shadow in his expression of something heavy, and she could only think it was because of Aida. “I mean, you’re handling all of this, and I want to help, Andy. I’m not being fair to you, letting you handle all of this.”

“You listen to me
: I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m looking after you and Gabriel. You go to sleep, because we could be up a few times tonight, and I can only help with part of it.” Andy watched her for a minute before pulling the door partially closed and striding away, and she listened to the squeak of the stairs as he climbed down.

“Thank you
, Andy,” she whispered. “I love you so much.” She shut her eyes, feeling the weight of what she’d carried before lift away.

Chapter
30

Andy held the sealed brown envelope in his hand. There wasn’t anything stronger in the house to drink than lemonade
, and right now he’d have killed for a shot of whiskey. Maybe tomorrow he’d rectify that, but tonight, as he sat in the kitchen, he slit open the envelope and pulled out a small recorder wrapped with a single sheet of paper.

He unfolded the stiff white paper and recognized Caroline’s logo on the bottom of the page. But it wasn’t his mother’s writing. The clean
, neat script was all Aida.

My dear Andy,

If you’re reading this, then something has happened to me. It’s cowardly on my part, but I’ve not been well for a while, and my old body has broken down on me. I don’t have the fight I once did. I lost that years ago. Please keep Laura and dear Gabriel safe, and those precious babies.

I’m depending on you. I know you can do this. I was hard on you
, but I could see in you a love for your family that I don’t think you realized was there. Just love them, protect them. That’s all they want.

When Laura left you, she cried for you every night. She thought I didn’t know
, as she tried to muffle her cries in her pillow. But I knew. Only someone who’s been there and seen that, who has been beaten down, having lost everything because life decided to kick her in the head, could know what she felt. She’s a good girl, and she loves you. Don’t screw it up!!

Andy rubbed his chin and couldn’t help the laugh that only Aida could bring out of him. Even from her grave
, she had a way of kicking him in the ass that he appreciated.

You’ll see that I stuck a little recorder in there. Well
, what you do with it is your decision. Only you can decide what to do with this. I’m sorry to sound so cryptic, but no one can tell any of us how we hold someone accountable or whether to forgive and walk away.

T
here are times when right and wrong isn’t so black and white. Going into war and taking a fight on may end up hurting the ones you love and may not be as simple as you think. Take that from an old woman who’s made every mistake and learned and lived with all the regrets and consequences of her actions.

So when you listen to this tape
, it’ll be your choice what do with it.

Bless you, Andy Friessen, and remember, whatever you decide, I’ll not judge you. All I ask is that you’ll forgive me.

Aida

Andy held the small recorder and turned it over in his hand, wondering what the hell the woman had on here. But this was Aida; what he’d come to expect from her was nothing short of the unexpected.

He pressed the play button and adjusted the volume. He could hear kitchen clatter and voices he didn’t recognize
, then rustling.

“Aida
, you’ve been with this household for how many years?”

Andy felt his heart squeeze at the cold voice of his mother.

“Fifteen years,” Aida said.

“Well
, I’m trying to find out how loyal you are, Aida.”

“Loyal. I do my job
, Missus Friessen. I cook, and I stay out of your business.”

“Ah
, yes, you do that, which I much appreciate. There is one thing. Not much goes on that I don’t know of, and that includes the past and present of anyone who works for me. It’s important for me, shall we say, to stay current. Aida, you were the whore of rich man. You got pregnant, and when he found out, he promised he’d marry you, do right by you, the foolish boy, but his family found out and took your child. They told him what he was to do, and you were left with nothing. Oh, you tried to see her, were even arrested. The last time, you served, what...?”

There
was a clatter and a moment of silence.

“Ten years of hell on some trumped
-up charge.”

“Arizona has quite a reputation
, doesn’t it, Aida? What was it like, being locked in a cage twenty-three hours a day?”

“You’re a cruel woman
, Missus Friessen. What do you want?”

Andy couldn’t believe what he was listening to, and
he felt anger and rage burning on Aida’s behalf. What the hell was his mother doing, digging up dirt on Aida? He didn’t know any of this and shut his eyes at the horrible secret she’d carried, at the hell she’d lived through. He felt for a moment as if he was eavesdropping, and then his rage burned at how this could have happened. What had she been doing in jail? It couldn’t be that easy, but he also knew that when people had money and power, they could make anything happen, especially to someone who didn’t matter. For some reason, Aida had left this for him, and she wanted him to hear it. It was her story, but it was also something that could have happened to his wife. He’d never let that happen.

“If you’re telling me you’ve hired someone to dig out all the dirt and skeletons from my closet
, and for what purpose but your own kicks, it’s beyond me, Missus Friessen, but if this is your way of getting rid of me, well, I’ll save you the joy of firing me and bid you goodbye, and I quit.”

“Oh
, not so fast, Aida. I don’t think it’s in your best interest, since you violated your parole by leaving the state, even though you left the state—how many years ago was it now, Aida? Do you know what they do to parole violators in Arizona, even after all these years? Since it was kidnapping and extortion, they tend to throw away the key.”

“You can’t kidnap your own child
, and there was no extortion, just a fancy lawyer and a family who bought witnesses to create the illusion of what they wanted.”

Caroline laughed again. Andy recognized her trademark laugh
. He’d heard it many times when she was holding on to something that would get her everything she wanted.

“
Missus Friessen, what do you want?” Aida asked with a sharpness in her voice that Andy had not heard before.