A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,126
Or you?”
“What are you getting at?”
Sun took a deep breath, hoping she was not starting something she couldn’t back up. “I could be wrong. I don’t want you to worry he’s been lying to you, and I would be talking to him about this, but my deputy said your husband had to make a quick trip into Santa Fe.”
Mari’s lips thinned. “His daughter was almost murdered, but God forbid he miss an opportunity to get his wine into another national chain.”
“I’m sorry.”
She smoothed her frown. “No, I am. He’s been working so hard. I do understand. And this meeting was set up weeks ago. If he missed it, he may never get a second chance, but some things are just more important, you know?”
“I do,” Sun said, though she saw his side, too. In Mr. St. Aubin’s eyes, his daughter was safe and sound. He could resume his normal activities without worry.
If only that were the case.
“But I have to say,” she continued, “he’s never told me he had a child with anyone else.”
Sun pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “And . . . you?”
The flash of emotion on Mari’s face told her everything. She dropped her gaze to the bank card she’d put on the table. After a long moment of contemplation, she swallowed and said, “He doesn’t know.”
“Your husband?”
She nodded. “He doesn’t know that I had a child. It was . . .” She cleared her throat and began again. “It was a mistake.”
“Mari, we all make mistakes. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I didn’t tell my parents for months, until I could no longer hide the evidence.”
“How did they take it?”
She shook her head as though embarrassed. “Anger. Disappointment. Humiliation.”
“So, not well.”
“Nope. Not my parents. See, everyone else makes mistakes. My parents are perfection incarnate.”
“Oh, I think I met them at the fairy ball in Fantasy Land.”
She chuckled, but the memory was a bitter one. “Two hours after I told them, we were at an adoption agency, filling out papers.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I am. They made me feel so ashamed.” She locked a determined gaze onto Sun’s. “I will never let anyone make me feel that way again.”
“Good for you. Did you know the father well?”
“Not really. We’d met at a party. Both of us drunk. He owns a plumbing supply company in Chicago now. Married with three kids.”
“Did you ever tell him about the baby?”
She shook her head. “I know what you’re thinking. He had a right to know, but my parents threatened to kick me out. I was only sixteen, and they did not want that boy in our lives. Like it was all his fault.”
And once again, Sun offered up a silent thank-you to the powers that be for giving her Cyrus and Elaine Freyr.
“I left home soon after that. They never looked at me the same again. I was lost for so long, and then Forest happened.” Her face brightened as a happy memory bubbled to the surface.
“I was a waitress working the night shift when Forest St. Aubin walked in. Or, well, stumbled in. He was so drunk.” She laughed at the memory. “I let him sleep it off in a corner booth, then got him a cab when my shift ended. He came back the next night to apologize, and the rest is history.” She looked at Sun then, as though pleading for her to understand. “They didn’t even let me look at him before they took him. The baby.” She dabbed at the wetness on her cheeks.
“I know what you’re going through, Mari. If you ever need someone to talk to.”
“Oh, honey, you can’t possibly.”
She took Mari’s hand. “I can, actually.”
When her meaning sank in, Mari cupped both her hands around Sun’s. “Did you—? What happened?”
Sun felt the corners of her mouth tilt up, and she whispered, “Auri.”
Mari’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, my god. She’s amazing. She’s . . . Should I have kept him? Should I have tried?” A fresh round of tears slid down her face.
“No, Marianna. You can’t compare your situation with mine or anyone else’s. You did what you had to do.”
“Wait.” The truth was sinking in at last. “Is he . . . Did—did he do this?”
Already knowing what the answer would be, Sun brought out her phone and pulled up a picture of one of her very own, Deputy Lonnie Price. Or the man posing as Lonnie Price.