Page 11 of Kept in the Dark

Hailey introduced Trinity as she awkwardly twirled her hair, waiting to be acknowledged. “Oh, Gen, this is-”

“Trinity. I know! She looks just like you.” Genevieve embraced the teen as if she had known her for years. Trinity stiffened as she hugged the woman back.

The three of them made their way into the foyer and Hailey’s gaze drifted to the end of the staircase where her mother’s body had laid. From what she understood, Sara had pushed their mother down the stairs where Morgan Gallagher met her demise. Hailey wondered if her face flashed through her mother’s mind in Morgan’s last moments. Did she cry out for help or for her husband or maybe even for her own mother?

She visibly shook as chills ran up her spine. Hailey clenched her teeth and willed herself to look away from the spot that once held her mother’s dying body.

Genevieve said, “Your father is working right now, but Lauren is watching TV in her room. I’m sure she’ll want to see you.”

Movement caught Hailey’s eye, and she looked up to see Lauren standing on the landing.

“He hasn’t changed much since you were young,” Lauren said with a smile as she descended the stairs. “He’s at a shooting fundraiser with a few City Commissioners. You know how much he loves his guns. Every now and again I’ll tag along, but he claims I’m not nearly as good a shot as he is.”

Hailey’s arrival had interrupted her stepmother’s night as she was clearly getting ready for bed. She donned a pink shorts-and-button-down pajama set and her face was void of makeup.

A curvaceous blonde with eyes as blue as ice, she was a sweet woman and drop dead gorgeous. Though she’d never admit to it, she had a nose job and breast implants that enhanced her already natural beauty. Hailey didn’t have to wonder why her father chose to marry her. Lauren looked good on camera, and she stroked his ego.

Maybe that wasn’t fair to the pretty blonde, but it was the truth. Sure, the woman was kind and engaging, but David only cared about one thing: his reputation.

Trying her best to push her way into the inner circle of the local politicians and businessmen, Lauren became her father’s secretary when Hailey and Sara were sixteen. She wasn’t overly ambitious, but she was driven enough to get her foot in the door at the mere age of twenty. That clearly paid off because she played a significant role in David building his political career.

Hailey suspected Lauren fancied her father for some time and took her chance with David when Morgan died. Surprisingly, it worked, because David married Lauren only a year after Morgan’s death.

Truthfully, Hailey didn’t dislike Lauren, but she didn’t love her either; something that was largely due to Lauren only being four years Hailey’s senior.

Granted, Hailey didn’t know much about her. Only that she’d been raised by a simple country couple who adopted her when she was three and that she’d moved to Auburndale shortly before she started working for David.

“Hi, Lauren. Thanks for letting us stay here,” Hailey said. She motioned her hand toward Trinity. “This is my daughter, Trinity.”

“Hi,” Trinity said softly as she raised a hand to wave.

Thankfully, Lauren didn’t try to hug Hailey or Trinity, and Hailey appreciated that Lauren didn’t force a relationship. Hailey had moved away by the time Lauren and David started dating, so she never had to wade through the awkwardness of living with a stepmother.

“Of course. Y’all can stay anytime.” Her thick Kentucky accent oddly soothed Hailey. “Help yourself to anything you’d like. Nothing has changed since you left, even though I keep trying to convince David to update it a little.” Lauren winked at Hailey, and she immediately felt at ease being back in the grand estate.

The four stood silently until Lauren took in a deep breath and smiled. “Well, I’m going to hit the hay, but y’all are more than welcome to stay up and get settled or just relax. I figured you’d want your old room, Hailey, and Trinity can stay in Sara’s since they’re adjoining.”

Hailey smiled. “That’s fine with us.”

Lauren walked back up the stairs and disappeared down the hall.

“Well, I’m heading out, girls,” Genevieve said. “I told Lauren I would wait around for you because I just couldn't wait to see you.” She kissed Hailey on the cheek, then Trinity.

Once Genevieve was gone, Hailey carried their small suitcase up the stairs and showed Trinity where they would be staying. The teen stopped abruptly in the hallway to look at the photos that sat on a decorative table. She picked up a small gold frame that had been shoved to the back of the table, all but hidden behind another framed photo. Hailey assumed it was Genevieve who made sure it didn’t get put into a box or thrown into the trash.

Trinity studied the faces that stared back at her. “Is this your mother?” Trinity asked.

Hailey gently took the frame from her daughter and smiled. It was a candid shot of Morgan holding Sara and Hailey on each hip. The twins were four years old, both in corresponding outfits. All three girls smiled brightly, Morgan’s sparkle in her eye still present. It would be years later, but that sparkle would eventually diminish. Hailey could hardly remember it all.

“Yes, that’s my mother,” Hailey said proudly.

“She was really beautiful. You have her eyes.”

A lump formed in Hailey’s throat, and she quickly blinked back tears. “Then so do you.”

Trinity smiled and Hailey placed the photo back on the table as Trinity walked into the bedroom, leaving Hailey alone.

Her heart ached all over again, remembering that Trinity would never meet the woman Hailey called mother. Trinity was right; Morgan Gallagher was beautiful. But more than that, she was funny, kind, and smart. All things Trinity inherited from her.

---