The President's Daughter - Mariah Stewart [70]
“I sure will. Thanks again for coming out.”
The car left, and Jude, weary with the knowledge that the moment of truth had come, led her daughter by the hand into the living room. There was no question in Jude’s mind that the driver of the van was somehow connected to the past. Why, after all these years?
“Simon Keller,” Jude muttered. “Someone must have followed Simon Keller. He was here earlier today . . . and dear God, there had been a van across the street, by the park. . . .”
“Mom, what are you talking about? What has this to do with Simon?”
“Dina, there’s something we need to talk about. . . .”
Dina’s heart began to thump. The only time she had ever heard that touch of uncertainty in her mother’s voice was the day that Jude had called to tell her that she had cancer. Her own earlier near miss was shoved into the back of her mind, for the time forgotten.
Please, God, not again.
“Oh, hell, there’s no easy way to do this. Dina, there’s something I need to tell you. Something we need to talk about. I know that I should have said something long before this, but—”
“It’s back, isn’t it?” Dina’s eyes welled with tears.
“What?” Jude asked.
“The cancer. It’s come back.”
“Oh, no, no, sweetheart. I’m fine.”
“You are?” Dina lowered her face to her hands and burst into tears.
“Oh, Dina, I’m sorry. There’s just no easy way to do this. It never occurred to me that you’d think I was sick again.” Jude sat next to Dina on the steps and wrapped her in her arms, just as she had so many times over the years when something or other threatened to break her daughter’s heart. Oh, if things could only be so uncomplicated again . . .
“I’m not sick, sweetheart.” Jude rocked her just slightly, savoring the feeling and wondering if she and her daughter could ever again be as close as they were at that moment. “I’m afraid it’s nothing quite that simple.”
“Simple?” Dina’s jaw all but dropped. “Simple? I’d hardly call what we went through a few years ago simple.”
“Well, once you hear what I have to say, you may wish that that had been the news.”
“Mom, are you crazy?” Dina was horrified. “There’s nothing—nothing—you could say that could be worse than that.”
“Save your judgment till you’ve heard me out.” Jude paused, praying for some last-minute divine inspiration. When none was forthcoming, she took Dina’s hands in her own and asked, “Do you remember when Simon stopped by here a few weeks ago?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you remember why he said he’d come here?”
“To ask you about an old friend of yours from college. Did you ever find out why he wanted to know about her?”
“Oh, I knew what he wanted to know and I knew why. But at the time, I just didn’t know how much he knew.”
“Mom, you’re not making any sense.”
“You were right when you said that anyone would have expected Blythe and me to stay close after having roomed together for three years. We had.”
“So what was he looking for? What had she done? What was the big secret?”
“She . . .” Jude swallowed hard. Here we go. . . . “Blythe had an affair with Graham Hayward. President Graham Hayward.”
“Holy shit!” Dina’s eyes widened. “Your friend was sleeping with the President? Wow, Mom, you must have run with a racy crowd back then.”
“Not at all. Blythe’s relationship with Graham was not a casual fling. Oh, maybe it started out as merely a flirtation between a powerful man and a beautiful young woman, I don’t know. I didn’t know how it started.” Jude looked skyward. So much more to say, and she didn’t want to continue. . . . “Blythe said that they were soul mates. That they were deeply in love.”
“And that’s what Simon wanted to talk to you about? About your friend’s affair with the President?”
“Yes.”
“Couldn’t he have found that in newspapers or magazines from the seventies?”
“Back then, things weren’t as openly discussed. Actually, no one knew about their affair. The ironic thing is that he—Graham—had this reputation for being so moral. A great family man—”
“And no one who knew about it spilled?” Dina nodded. “Impressive that he was