Page 68 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

“What?” She sat up in bed and stared down at him with wide eyes. “Oh no. Cyril, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

He shifted up and leaned against the headboard. “Most people don’t know because we don’t talk about what happened with her. Losing her that way was hard enough, but to deal with everything that came afterward. That’s what really tore the family apart.”

“What happened after?”

Concern and compassion filled her eyes. Her hand lightly rubbed his thigh as if she were trying to comfort him. He didn’t want either of those emotions to go away when he told her the full story. Guilt tried to wiggle its way through his heart and shut his mouth. He’d given his dad until the wedding to tell the full story, but he couldn’t do this. After everything that happened between them, he knew in his gut that not telling her the entire truth and letting her find out from someone else would be a mistake he couldn’t come back from.

“I was out of town, and it was just her and my dad at the house. They were watching TV and then my dad went up to bed and my mom stayed downstairs to finish her show. She was a night owl like that. She said late at night was the best time to get her alone time.” He smiled at the memory. Sometimes he would stay up late watching a movie or TV show with her long after his dad went to sleep.

“When my dad got up the next morning and she wasn’t in bed he didn’t think much of it. She would fall asleep on the couch sometimes, especially when she was up late watching television. When he went downstairs and she wasn’t there, he first thought maybe she’d gone to the store for something, but when he found her cell phone still plugged into the wall he started to worry. The car wasn’t missing, neither were her keys or wallet, just...her.”

“She was just gone.”

Cyril nodded, remembering the barely contained worry in his dad’s voice when he’d called Cyril to find out if he’d heard from his mom. “He called the police. They came, checked the house, searched for clues and that’s when they found blood.” Imani gasped. Her fingers dug into his thigh, but she didn’t speak. Cyril continued reciting the story. “There was blood in the kitchen, near the back door. That’s around the time I got home. Just in time to overhear one of the cops say this was going from a missing person to a possible homicide investigation.”

“They didn’t know she was gone already. How could they say that in front of you and your dad?”

Cyril remembered the skepticism in the eyes of the cops. The way they hadn’t believed from the start that his dad had no idea what happened to his wife. As soon as they’d discovered the blood, the detective made it clear he thought Preston was involved. The words stuck in his throat. Mentioning the suspicion, the original arrest and near conviction of his dad could turn the compassion in her eyes to suspicion and mistrust. That’s exactly what happened with his mother’s relatives. The same people who’d loved and trusted his dad during the twenty years of his parents’ marriage hadn’t believed he knew nothing about what happened. Even when another suspect came forward and was ultimately convicted.

He looked into Imani’s eyes. He stopped himself from tightening his hold on her. He wanted to keep her close so she wouldn’t pull away, but he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t force her by his side to deal with this, too.

“Because they thought—”

The front door slammed. They both froze then spun toward the closed bedroom door. Before he could get out of bed his dad was yelling down the hall.

“Cyril! You up?”

His eyes met Imani’s. “He’s back?” she said in a shocked whisper.

“Why is he always up at the crack of dawn?” Cyril muttered.

They scrambled out of the bed. He grabbed his pants from the floor and slid them on while Imani searched for her bra.

He scanned the floor for his discarded shirt and snatched it up. “Stay in here. I’ll see what he wants and get you out of here.”

“Thank you. I’m not ready to deal with this right now.” She started picking up her discarded clothes.

“If we keep this up, we’ll have to tell them eventually.”

She frowned as she bent to look under the bed. “Yeah, but not when I’m naked and can’t find my panties.”

“Good point.”

Cyril hurried to the door and slipped out just as his dad approached his bedroom. “Why are you yelling this early in the morning?”

Preston frowned at Cyril. “Linda is worried. Imani didn’t come home again last night.”

Cyril’s heart jumped to his throat. Did they know she was there with him? “She was with Halle and Tracey last night.”

“I know but the last time she stayed out with Tracey she texted her mom to let her know. Now she didn’t call and she’s not answering her phone.”

He relaxed and placed a hand on his dad’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s fine. Go back over to Ms. Kemp and tell her not to worry. I’ll go check with Tracey and Halle.” He tried to turn his dad down the hall but Preston stayed firm.

“She called Halle, but she said she wasn’t there. She can’t reach Tracey. What if they’re in trouble together.”

“Then I’ll go out to the bed-and-breakfast and check.”

His dad shook his head. “I don’t like this. I know she’s grown and all, but she can’t keep making her mom worry like this. Peachtree Cove is small, but that doesn’t make it perfect. Anything can happen.”

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