The Object of His Protection - Brenda Jackson [29]
He crossed the room to give her a peck on the cheek. “Hi, Mom.”
“Drey. If you’re hungry, I can make—”
“No, I’m not hungry,” he said, taking the chair across from her and thinking that he didn’t want to put anything in his mouth just yet that would diminish Charlene’s taste. He wanted to savor it for a little while longer.
He glanced around the kitchen and saw all the pots on the stove. “You’ve been busy,” he said, when it was quite obvious that she had been. She once told him that she did a lot of cooking when she was nervous about something.
Evidently that was the case now.
Deciding to get to the heart of the matter, he said, “Mom, the last time we talked you shared some things with me. However, I left before you could finish telling me everything.”
He knew that was putting it mildly since he hadn’t given her a chance to tell him anything else. The dam had burst once she had admitted that Harmon Braddock was his father. It was pretty obvious how upset he’d gotten that day upon hearing it. He had walked out angry, mad at the world, especially at her for not being truthful with him for all those years.
“All right, where do you want me to start?” she asked, her voice low and shaky.
“From the beginning. I want to know how you and Harmon Braddock met.”
She said nothing for a moment while studying the teacup. Then she began speaking. “As you know I came to this country at the age of twenty as part of an international exchange program with Stewart Industries.”
“Yes.” He had heard that part before a number of times.
“Well, one week I got to attend a conference for Stewart Industries. Harmon was staying at the same hotel. We met at the hotel bar and I thought he was the most handsome and charismatic man I’d ever met. That week we became involved in an intense affair.”
“Did you know he was married?”
She met his gaze. “No, I didn’t know, at least not at first. Apparently he and his wife were having marital problems. However, once he told me the truth, that he was a married man, I threatened to break things off.”
“But you didn’t.” He wished his words hadn’t sounded so accusatory.
“No, I didn’t break it off. I was convinced that he would leave his wife to be with me.”
“Did he tell you that he would?”
She shook her head. “No. I just assumed that he would. I was young, inexperienced and in love and I thought that he would leave his wife because he was unhappy at the time. He didn’t. After about a few months he ended things between us, and said he and his wife were going to try and make their marriage work.” His mother paused for a moment before adding. “Not long after that I discovered I was pregnant.”
Now it was Drey’s time to pause to absorb everything his mother had said thus far. Then he asked, “Did you tell him you were pregnant?”
“No. I was scared to tell him so I kept it a secret. It was during that time, not too long after me and Harmon broke up, that I met Ronald. He wanted to take me out and I told him up front that I was pregnant, but that didn’t matter to him. Ronald had fallen in love with me and wanted to make my child his own.”
Drey didn’t say anything but he sat there, looking out the window at her flower garden. His gaze returned to hers when he asked, “But Braddock eventually found out about me.” He figured as much since the man had sought him out.
“Yes. I ran into him one day and he saw me pregnant. He put two and two together and realized the child was his. I was still hoping he wanted me and actually told him that I would end my relationship with Ronald if he left his wife. He said it was too late. His wife was pregnant and he was worried about the potential damage it would do to her if she were to find out. So we decided to cut our losses and move on, go our separate ways. I married your father and worked hard to make him a wonderful wife.”
Drey held back his brutal retort that she hadn’t given his father anything less than what he’d deserved. Ronald St. John had been a wonderful husband and father. Had his mother only shared part of her love