Page 131 of Deception

“Good,” Clayton said. “I was getting uneasy when you didn’t text me back.”

Madison winced. “I didn’t think to.”

“That’s okay. Come on in. I’m going after coffee.”

He squeezed Madison’s shoulder when she brushed past him, and she thanked him with her eyes. Once they were in the room, an awkward silence fell until Madison noticed Terri was dressed in street clothes. “Are you leaving?”

“The doctor discharged me. I plan to return to the Hampton Inn, at least until tomorrow.”

“No, come to my grandfather’s house...” She owed Terri that much after she’d helped them defuse the bomb.

“We’ll see.” More silence followed.

Surreal. That was the feeling Madison experienced as she studied the woman sitting on the side of the hospital bed. It wasn’t that she didn’t know what Terri looked like—she’d talked to her at least three or four times since meeting her last week. But it was the first time seeing her, knowing she was their mother.

At least now she knew where they got their blue eyes and heart-shaped face. Not the blond hair, though. Had that come from their father’s side? There would be time to ask questions about him later.

What did she even call her? Mom? No. That’s what she’d called her adoptive mother. Terri? That sounded so ... what? Not quite right. Madison glanced at Dani. From her expression, she was having the same thoughts.

Madison didn’t have to figure that out yet, not when she had so many other questions. Like why?

“Why?” Terri asked, her voice cracking.

Heat infused Madison’s cheeks as she looked up at her birth mother. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I said that out loud.”

“It’s okay. It was the same question I asked for years. But you have to understand I didn’t have any choice. I never wanted to give you up.”

“Then ...”

“I was in the ninth grade and barely fifteen when you were born. My mother didn’t tell me, but she’d arranged for your and Dani’s adoption well before your birth. I had no say-so in the matter.”

Dani blotted her eyes with a tissue. “Did you get to see us at all?”

Terri nodded. “I refused to let them put me to sleep, like my mother wanted,” she said with a wry smile. “Thank goodness the doctor was sympathetic to me and allowed me to have a spinal block. I’ll never forget when he laid you both on my chest, and I felt your heartbeats.

“Mother never intended for a bond to be formed, and if there’d been any way I could have kept you, I would have. But know this—as soon as I turned eighteen, I started looking for you. That’s when I discovered Mother had the records sealed.”

“I found a copy of the adoption papers in Grandfather’s safe-deposit box.” Madison flexed her fingers. She hated to ask about the money, but she had to know the answer. “Did you know your mother got fifty thousand dollars from each of our adoptive parents?”

“Fifty thousand dollars? I don’t understand.”

“Grandfather had contracts in his safe-deposit box, and that was the figure on the papers.”

Terri’s shoulders sagged. “I should have known it was more than the ten thousand she gave me when I turned twenty-one.” She turned and looked first at Dani then at Madison. “I haven’t touched it ... been saving it to give you if I ever found you.”

Terri wiped a tear away. “But the worst part is you two were separated. I’m so sorry.”

Madison would never forgive Judith and her grandfather for that. Tears sprang to her eyes, and Madison pressed her lips together to keep her chin from quivering. Saving the money for them erased any doubt she might have had that Terri was telling them the truth. Impulsively she wrapped her mother in her arms and found that Dani had the same thought.

Sometimes crying was good for the soul, and this was one of those times. When their tears dried, Madison squeezed Terri’s hand. “Let’s go get your things from the hotel.”

There was a knock at the door and Clayton entered the room. Immediately his face alerted her to bad news. Before she could ask, he said, “I’m afraid Judith didn’t make it. They had to take her to surgery, and her heart stopped on the table.”

“No.” Terri closed her eyes, and pain filled her face. After a minute she opened them and turned to him. “Do you think they would let me see her?”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Dani said. “You’re still shaky.”

“Yes. It’s something I need to do.”

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