Road to Redemption - Michelle Dalton Page 0,15

conversation which has nothing to do with you.” Mina relented.

“If it has nothing to do with me then why did you speak about me?” Lullu retorted, spun around, and stomped off.

Good Lord, when it rained it surely did pour. How was she going to navigate her family through this without scaring her daughter for life … or admitting that you’re still in love with him?

She fought back the last thought.

No, there couldn’t be love left for Raymond—not after all these years and all that pain. She should hate him, despise him, find a way to get him off the program. Her heart thumped and her chest froze.

God damn this bloody asthma!

The following Sunday Morning saw Mina, and Derek Le Roux watching Lullu train while her mom cooked lunch.

“Look, Oupa,” Lullu called out as she performed a rear-ways up position on her pony.

The old man’s eyes lit up. “That’s my girl!” He threw Lullu a thumbs up.

“I don’t know how your nerves hold it.” He looked to Mina as she approached, shaking his head.

Mina waved a quick hello to Drina, Lullu’s coach.

“Look Derek …,” now was the best time to broach the subject.

“Ray doesn’t know, does he? How have you managed to keep all this from him?” The crisp blue of Derek’s eyes softened as he placed a hand on her shoulder, glanced to Lullu, then returned his attention to her.

“I—erm …”

“What, my dear?” The lines between his eyes deepened.

“He saw Lullu with me the other afternoon.” She bit her bottom lip as she reached into her pocket for her inhaler. She’d been using it a lot more recently. No guesses as to why.

“And?”

“And nothing.” Mina straightened then glanced to where her daughter was practicing before returning her hard gaze to rest on Derek.

“He wrote to me. He’s been doing that a lot of late,” Derek said.

“Shit. All communications are checked before being sent out.” Mina shook her inhaler and brought it to her mouth.

“Easy now, my dear. He didn’t put it in so many words. If whoever checks the emails and letters has no idea there’s a connection between the two of you, then believe me, they’d wouldn’t have read what was stated between the lines,” Derek soothed.

Mina closed her eyes and held her Ventolin-laden breath a moment longer before releasing it and giving her would-be father-in-law an angry glare. “Look, I don’t want you discussing me around any of the others when you see Ray. Please, Derek.”

The old man sighed. “You can’t keep it from either of them forever, my dear; it’ll only cause more pain. Besides, my son already has an inkling. Please don’t hinder his recovery.”

“Don’t speak to me of pain, old man. I know I can’t bubble wrap my daughter, but I swear, if it’s within my power to prevent my child from getting hurt in any way, I will do so.”

A look of regret flashed across Derek’s face.

“Did you have a hand in all of this?” realization dawned on Mina.

Derek gave her a sheepish glance.

“Shit Derek!” Mina hissed at him.

“I’d do it again in a heart beat my dear.” He stood a little straighter, his lips pulled tight and his eyes flashing with determination.

“Sorry,” Mina whispered harshly as they both turned to watch Lullu dismount her horse using a rear-ways forward leap and tumble, “But you can’t continue to complicate matters. And you’ll certainly not tell him about Lullu!”

“It’s not my story to tell. But if he asks, I will not lie to my son. I’ve kept this from him for too long.”

Mina sighed and swallowed back her anxiety. “And if he fails rehabilitation, gets sent back to prison? What do I tell my daughter?”

“I don’t think he’ll fail this time. I truly believe Ray wants to atone and grow. Do better; be better.” Derek’s voice carried an assuredness a part of Mina desperately wanted to believe. “He wasn’t always a rotten apple. I don’t know what happened, but something broke him inside, the same something that is desperately trying to right his wrongs and step back in to the light.”

“We’ll see,” she replied, scuffing her booted foot in the sand.

“Just know there is one thing both your ma and I have that neither of you do.” Derek slid his arm around her and squeezed.

Mina had never known her father, and Derek Le Roux was the closest person to a paternal figure she’d had growing up. “And what is that?”

“Wisdom and the experience of life.” Derek pulled her into a hug.

“So what ya think, hey