Page 39 of Kept in the Dark

Trinity was right, but she had said it to hurt Hailey.

Trinity wiggled a finger at Hailey. “You spent my whole life convincing me she was a bad person and now all of a sudden, I’m supposed to forget everything? I don’t think so.”

Trinity crossed her arms and turned around on the bed, no longer wanting to talk to Hailey.

A pang of guilt rippled through Hailey. Leave it to her thirteen-year-old to unknowingly put life into perspective. Her daughter was right. It wasn’t fair for Hailey to expect Trinity to forget the last thirteen years of Hailey’s claims that Sara was guilty.

Hailey said, “You're right, I’m sorry. This is a lot to take in and I shouldn’t expect you to change your mind at the snap of a finger. Honestly, even I’m having a hard time making sense of everything. But she’s my sister and I owe this to her.”

“You told me she wasn’t a good sister, so why do you even care?” Trinity snapped.

Hailey calmly got up and walked to the other side of the bed. She kneeled down on the floor, looking into her daughter’s eyes. “Honey, there’s a lot of stuff that happened between Sara and I that really strained our relationship. And maybe she wasn’t always a good sister, but I wasn’t either. There were plenty of times I was awful to her. But the fact of the matter is that I love her, and she needs me right now. She needs us.”

Trinity looked away and scowled. “Yeah, well, I don’t like her.”

Hailey smiled at Trinity and cupped her face. “I don’t expect you to understand everything that’s going on, but I do expect you to be respectful. Sara is downstairs and I’d like for you to meet her.”

Trinity pulled her face from Hailey’s grasp. “No way! I don’t want to meet her!”

Hailey tilted her head. “How about we talk about this again when you’re ready and we’ll see how you feel then.” She added, “Just give her a chance, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Trinity said as she rolled her eyes.

Hailey simply nodded, not wanting to rush her daughter’s decision. And really, at the end of the day, she couldn’t make Trinity love Sara. To the naked eye, Trinity appeared to be a rebellious teenager who didn’t want to listen to her mother, but Hailey knew better. She was being protective of Hailey. She appreciated the sentiment, but it was time for the two of them to move forward.

Hailey left the room and joined everyone in the kitchen.

Sara was telling Genevieve a story, making the woman and Trey laugh. Hailey smiled, happy to hear laughter. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought she’d ever hear such a beautiful sound. Nor did she think she and Sara would make amends, or that she and Trey would be able to be in the same room together.

But as much as she wanted time to stand still and live in this moment for a little while longer, Hailey knew she needed to address her mother’s diaries. She hadn’t planned to ask Genevieve about her father’s affair, but now that they were all together, the opportunity was right in front of her. They needed answers.

Once the laughter died down, Hailey said, “Gen, did you know about my father’s affair?”

Everyone at the table stopped and looked at her, caught off guard. Genevieve almost spit out her coffee. “Excuse me?” She shifted nervously in her chair.

“In the diaries you gave me, my mother said he had an affair with someone, and they had a baby together. She never said who it was.”

Genevieve stood up. “I don't know what you're talking about.” She went back into the kitchen to get creamer.

When the woman sat back down, Hailey gently touched her hand. “Sara is innocent and that means we have to look at every angle to figure out who really killed my mother. I know you love my father like a brother, but if you want to help Sara, you’ll be honest with us.”

Genevieve looked at Trey for confirmation. He nodded, despite not fully believing Sara to be innocent.

Sara was holding her breath.

Hailey heard the soft beat of a song as Trinity and Cecilia listened to music, not realizing the depth of the conversation that was happening below them.

Genevieve glanced at Hailey, then at Sara, studying their faces for a few moments before saying, “Your mother was a week past her due date. We were out getting some last-minute outfits when her water broke.”

Genevieve’s smile slowly faded away. “No one could get a hold of your father, so I rushed over to his office and when I opened the door, I found him kissing another woman.” She shook her head. “I’ve never been so angry in my life.”

She paused and put more cream in her coffee. “While we were in the waiting room at the hospital, he begged me not to tell your mother about the affair. And he did it while we waited for the doctor to tell us if your mother was going to live or die. She was dying on the table, and he was more concerned with me keeping my mouth shut.” She shrugged. “I half expected him to threaten me, but he didn’t. He just…begged.”

“Did you tell Morgan?” Trey asked.

A single tear escaped Genevieve’s eye and fell to the table, the weight of a decades long secret finally lifting off her shoulders. Genevieve quickly wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “I couldn’t be the one to break up their marriage, I couldn’t do that to you two girls. He told me Morgan already knew and had threatened to leave if he ever saw the woman again. He promised to end things, and we never spoke about it again.”

Genevieve looked at Hailey and Sara and took each of their hands. “I have regretted that choice for the last thirty-one years. I should have told your mother.” She looked away. “Maybe it would have changed what happened to you girls in that house.”

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