Page 89 of Proof

“Mother Ashby, would you like some milk or sugar for your tea?” I asked as I reached for the cup of milk between us. Renly had already added several things to her tea to make it to herliking, but it was easy enough to act like the nervous partner who was meeting his boyfriend’s family for the first time. Mrs. Ashby didn’t respond to me. Her eyes were focused on the garden outside.

“I’ve already taken care of it, Mr. Ferguson,” Renly said sharply.

I looked up at him and then shifted my eyes back to Cass’s grandmother. She hadn’t reacted verbally in any kind of way to my question or Renly’s response, but after his declaration, she did lift the delicate teacup to take a sip of the tea. When her eyes met mine, I reached for my own cup and took a sip, holding her gaze the whole time. The old woman stiffened before lowering the cup back onto the spotless saucer.

I kept my eyes on Cass’s grandmother as I said to Renly, “Of course, Renly. Please forgive me. I was… I was injured a couple of years ago while in the line of duty and my thoughts get jumbled sometimes.” I shifted my eyes to Cass and then reached for his hand. He automatically took it. “A lot of times,” I said softly.

Cass and I gazed into each other’s eyes like lovesick teenagers. Renly coughed loudly to remind of us his presence.

“Sorry, Renly,” Cass said. He played his part and pulled my hand up to his lips so he could place a soft kiss on the back of it. “Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.”

Instead of shifting his eyes to Cass, Renly’s impenetrable gaze stayed on me. “Yes, Mr. Ferguson, bad business all that,” he said with a small wave of his hand. There was no genuine concern for the injury I’d alluded to. “It was my understanding that you have no memory of that unfortunate incident.”

“It’s true, he doesn’t remember anything from that night—” Cass began.

“Yet,” I added quickly, sending Cass a hopeful smile.

He managed to keep his own smile on his face, but I could see the anger in his eyes. When we’d left the houseboat, our plan had been for me to play the role of the shy, quiet boyfriend who was clueless as to the true impact of the injury he’d suffered. Remaining quiet and letting Cass do all the talking was supposed to give me the time and freedom I needed to observe without needing to interact. At most, Cass had only wanted information that we’d been seen together to get leaked. Like my brother, he’d been adamant that we stick to the plan that I still had no memory of the shooting. That was actually the truth, but the point had been to make sure that was still widely known.

With the single word I’d just uttered, I’d painted a target on my back. If the person who’d shot me had even the slightest inkling that I might be starting to get my memory back, they’d have no choice but to put me down because I could clear Cass’s name for real and the hunt for the true killer would be on.

I’d laid the trap and placed myself as bait squarely on it. Unfortunately, it meant I was putting Cass in the line of fire too, but that had always been inevitable. Cass might not have wanted to bait the hook today, but Renly’s interest in the current state of my injury was impossible to let go.

“There were some bumps along the way when he… whenwesaw…” I let my voice crack.

“It’s okay, baby,” Cass said to me, his voice sorrowful. To Renly, he added, “Let’s just say things didn’t go so well when we ran into each other after I was released.” He pulled me forward so he could run his finger lovingly over the scar at my temple.

Cass gave me the slightest of nods. Knowing he was on board, even if he didn’t necessarily like it, made it easier to play my role as the innocent, oblivious victim who didn’t know when to stop talking. “I started seeing these pictures in my head. Like really short movies. I saw enough of them to know Cass would never hurt me,” I murmured. I continued to sound like naiveprey being lured to its death. “And as you know, Cass is almost as much a member of my family as he is of this one,” I said as I nodded toward Mrs. Ashby. “There’s a lot to figure out, but the one thing we do know for sure is that we want to do it together,” I added as I lovingly looked at Cass.

“That is good news indeed. Mrs. Ashby will be delighted to have Mr. Ashby vindicated. Then, perhaps, you will be able to visit with her more,” Renly said to Cass, his voice dripping with insincerity.

Cass released me and turned in his chair so he was looking at his grandmother. “Mother Ashby, are you feeling okay?” He sounded truly concerned about his grandmother and her lack of participation in the discussion, but I had a different take on her silence.

He had to repeat himself several times before Mrs. Ashby turned around. “Cassius,” she said in delight. “You’ve come home.”

Mrs. Ashby tried to stand, but Cass was prepared for the move because he quickly jumped to his feet and leaned over her so he could hug her without her needing to rise.

“Yes, Mother Ashby, I’m home,” he responded. My heart broke for him as he clung to his grandmother. Cass definitely wasn’t pretending.

This time, when Mrs. Ashby saw me, she repeated her earlier question. “Cassius, have you made a new friend at school?” she asked, a wide smile on her face as she clasped her hands together.

“Yes, Mother Ashby,” Cass said. Behind his patient tone was a hint of despair. The knowledge that he was losing his beloved grandmother to such a cruel disease was taking its toll on him. He was the strongest man I knew, physically and psychologically, but he wasn’t impenetrable. Like everyone else,he had his kryptonite, and the woman who’d raised him as her own was clearly on that list.

Before Cass could say anything else, Mrs. Ashby’s expression changed from one of delight to one of confusion in the blink of an eye.

“Chandler?” the old woman asked as she looked me up and down. “No!” Mrs. Ashby said sharply before snatching her hands back from Cass’s hold and trying to stand. Her wild gaze shifted from me to him. “Cassius, my little rose, come, you must hide. Your grandfather cannot know you are here!”

With surprising strength, Mrs. Ashby climbed to her feet and tried to drag Cass away from me. I remained completely still as I watched the scene unfold.

“Come,” she said desperately. She grabbed Cass’s wrist and struggled to pull him closer to her. “Chandler, you must stay in the closet no matter what! Your father isn’t angry with you, my little boy,” she whispered as she gently clasped his cheek. Tears began sliding down Mrs. Ashby’s face before she covered her eyes with her hands and began to sob.

“Mrs. Ashby,” Renly said calmly, forcing Patricia Ashby to focus on him instead of Cass. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit? I’m sure your grandson will come to see you again very soon.”

Her eyes kept shifting between me and Cass. “Chandler is here? Chandler?” she called.

Although Cassius’s legal first name was Chandler, he’d never let anyone refer to him by the name he shared not only with his father, but his grandfather as well. As Renly began walking past Cass, presumably to escort his grandmother to her room, Cass reached out to touch her arm. Patricia pulled back, her eyes now filled with hate.

Cass was visibly confused and upset at his grandmother’s behavior. She’d gone from confusing him with his grandfather to then thinking Cass was his father. The elder Chandler, Cass’sgrandfather, had been the aggressor in both scenarios. Cass’s father had been the child she’d had to hide from her husband the first time around, then it had been Cass himself who she’d been trying to protect, this time from his grandfather. By the end, it hadn’t been clear which Chandler she’d suddenly seen when she’d looked at Cass.

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