A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [125]
He then placed her hand in his and led her into the house.
Erica, sitting in Brian’s lap on the sofa, glanced across the room at April, who likewise was sitting on the love seat in Griffin’s lap. She could tell from the look on her friend’s face she was happy and the thought that her mother almost ruined that happiness was unforgivable. She couldn’t wait to confront her mother about this. No wonder her father had been so eager to grab love when he’d gotten the chance to do so.
She cleared her throat, deciding if she didn’t get April and Griffin’s attention they would be headed back to the bedroom. She smiled when she thought of how when she and Brian had come back inside the house, April and Griffin had been behind closed doors. It hadn’t taken much to figure out what was going on so they had gone back outside to take a walk and to talk some more. They had stayed away from the topic of her mother. The conversation had been about them and how they intended to reschedule their wedding as soon as possible.
“Okay, April,” she said, deciding now was the time. “You indicated earlier that you had two additional things to cover. Tell me now because I intend to head back home.” And Brian would be coming with her. They had decided to confront her mother together.
She noticed the room suddenly got quiet, too quiet, and she studied April, who looked down as if she was nervous about what she had to say.
The tightening of Brian’s arms around her waist was a good sign that whatever April would be sharing with her would be more of her mother’s evil shenanigans, and Erica didn’t want to think what they could possibly be.
“April?”
April looked up at her. Erica could tell she was nervous. But why? “Tell me.”
April nodded. “You recall earlier when I told you that your mother tried breaking me and Griffin up by claiming Herbert Hayes was my daddy?”
“Yes, and you said you knew that he wasn’t, so that’s all good, right?”
“Yes, that’s all good. But what I didn’t tell you is that I know who my real father is.”
Erica lifted a brow. “Who told you? You’ve never known before.”
“Griffin told me. He overheard my real father talking to his father one day in the wine cellar when he was only sixteen, so he’s known all this time. He never had a reason to tell me because he figured I knew.”
“So, who is he? Was it Ivan Witherspoon like we thought?”
April shook her head. “No, it wasn’t him.”
“Who was it then?” she asked, noticing April evasiveness.
When April didn’t respond Erica glanced over at Brian and from the look on his face she could tell that he knew. She looked back over to April. “Okay, girlfriend, what’s going on? Who is your daddy?” she tried asking in a lighthearted way.
“Omar Delbert was my father.”
Erica’s eyes widened. “My grandfather?”
“Yes. And I have reason to believe he raped my mother when she was fifteen.”
Brian pulled Erica into his arms and held her while she cried. As soon as she had comprehended what April had said she burst into tears that she hadn’t been able to stop. He had felt her anger. Her pain. Her shame. To know that her grandfather had abused a fifteen-year-old girl had shaken her to the core. And when it had hit her that April was her mother’s sister and her own aunt, she had raced across the room and hugged April, welcomed her to the family and apologized for the shameful way both her and her mother had been treated by the Delberts over the years.
She had started shaking then. And she was still shaking. Trembling and crying. Brian continued to rub her back while whispering soothing words to her. Letting her know that above all else, he loved her and would be there for her.
April still had one other thing to tell her and, after the way Erica had broken down earlier, he figured it would probably be best if he went ahead and told her himself.
“There is one other thing we need to tell you, Erica. Something we think you need to know, sweetheart.”
She slowly pulled her face from his chest where she’d wet his shirt with her tears. She looked up at him. “I don’t think