A Turn in the Road - Debbie Macomber [111]
“Ah, yes, you and Andy Williams,” Bethanne said, teasing her.
“Mom, promise you won’t tell anyone about that, okay?”
Bethanne tried not to smile. “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope you’ll let me drive you home,” Grant said as they took the exit to the airport off the Bee Line Expressway.
“Andrew said he’d pick us up,” Bethanne told him. “We planned that before we left.” She’d missed her son and there seemed to be a hundred things she needed to discuss with him. Now that the wedding was just a few weeks away, they had to go over all the details for the rehearsal dinner.
“We can call him from the airport,” Grant said. “There’s no need for him to go out of his way when I have a car arranged.”
Bethanne shrugged. She didn’t want to make an issue of this, although she’d looked forward to reconnecting with their son. They’d talked while she was on the road, but nothing compared with a face-to-face conversation.
“Well, what do you think?” Grant pressed.
“It’s fine, if that’s what you want.” She made an effort to disguise her lack of enthusiasm.
Grant didn’t speak for several minutes. “I guess what I’m saying is that I want to be with you for as long as I can. If you’d rather ride home with Andrew, I understand.”
Bethanne offered him a brief smile. “I’m happy to spend time with you, too.”
He smiled and held her look. “Are you, Bethanne?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. She noticed that his hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Annie and I had a short conversation earlier. She wanted my opinion of Vance and whether she should forgive him. I more or less told her to ditch him. Any man who’d treat my daughter the way he did isn’t worthy of dating her.”
“Daddy,” Annie protested from the backseat.
“Then she reminded me that I was asking you to forgive me.”
“I forgave you a long time ago,” Bethanne said.
“But do you trust me?”
She hesitated. “I think so.”
“I don’t want there to be a single doubt in your mind. I told Annie and I’m telling you that there’ll never be a repeat of what happened with Tiffany. I give you my word.”
Bethanne looked straight ahead. He’d given his word before, standing in front of the minister at her family church; he’d promised to love and protect her, to remain faithful until death. She wished she could block out the doubt and tell him what he wanted to hear. It would be so easy to claim she trusted Grant. So easy to assure him that the thought of his cheating again had never entered her mind. Only, she’d be lying.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“I believe you’re sincere,” she said, not quite answering his question.
“You can trust me, Bethanne.”
She smiled, hoping that would provide him with the reassurance he seemed to need.
She tried to concentrate on their relationship, on giving them another chance. Yet she couldn’t dismiss her feelings for Max. She wanted to be with him. But she was with Grant, who so clearly loved her.
Grant placed his hand on her knee and Bethanne smiled over at him again, a noncommittal smile. He was trying so hard. But she couldn’t give him the answer he was asking for, not now and maybe not ever. As she kept telling him, she was very different from the woman he’d once loved; the changes in her life had been dramatic. One thing was sure—she’d meet this challenge the way she’d met every other one in the past six years.
When they boarded the plane without Ruth, Bethanne was afraid her mother-in-law would miss the flight. Ruth was the last person to walk on, having waited outside security as long as she could in order to be with Royce. When she settled into her seat next to Bethanne, her face glowed with happiness.
“Royce is booking his flight to Seattle right this minute,” she said, fastening her seat belt.
“So you’ll be together again soon.”
Ruth nodded. “Bethanne,” she whispered, “am I an old fool? Is it possible to fall in love again at my age?”
“Ruth, good grief, you’re not old! Besides, age shouldn’t matter. Does Royce make you happy?”
“Oh, yes, but, well, there are complications. His family’s in Florida