Page 52 of The One Who Risked it All

Her eyes darted to the window, then back to me. “It’s not a pleasant story, dear. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Please,” I urged, reaching out to clasp her hand. “I can’t keep living with this divide, not knowing why it exists. How am I supposed to move forward when the past keeps holding me back?”

Like keeping me from fully embracing the heart-flipping, butterfly-inducing feelings I got around Eli.

My grandmother’s fingers tightened around mine, her resolve visibly wavering. “I suppose you’re old enough now,” she murmured, more to herself than to me. “And perhaps... perhaps it’s time the truth came to light.”

I held my breath, sensing we were on the cusp of something momentous. Whatever Grandma was about to reveal, I knew it would change everything.

“It all started with your grandfather,” she began, her voice barely above a whisper. “Kenneth.”

I remembered Grandpa Kenny a little, but he’d died when I was young.

“Kenneth was a well-respected veterinarian. And his business partner was Harold Wells, Senior.”

I nodded. I had known about the business partnership falling apart, so I was following.

“Harold’s daughter, Carol, worked at the clinic after school. Bookkeeping, cleaning, helping however they needed.” My heart sank at the sad tone of my grandmother’s voice.

“I made excuses for years, denied it to everyone and myself. But... I knew. My Kenneth slept with that girl, Carol.”

I gasped, struggling to comprehend. Grandma stared out the window. “It was a scandal. Carol was young, barely out of high school, and Kenny was married with a child.”

Married to Grandma, I reminded myself. My heart cracked for how hard this must be for her to recount.

“The affair itself was bad enough,” Grandma continued, her eyes growing misty. “But then Carol found out she was pregnant.”

“Oh no,” I whispered, my heart sinking for the younger version of my grandma who’d been betrayed by her husband.

Grandma’s voice cracked as she spoke. “Kenny denied everything. He refused to acknowledge the child, left Carol to face the consequences alone. The town all but shunned her. She claimed he had pressured her, and the entire thing grew worse and worse.”

I watched as a tear slipped down my grandmother’s cheek, and I felt my own eyes welling up in response. The weight of decades-old pain hung heavy in the air between us.

“I can’t even imagine how Carol must have felt,” I said, my mind reeling. All those years of family tension, the cold silences and pointed glares... it all stemmed from this betrayal.

Grandma dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “It tore our family apart, Carla. The pain, the lies... it was like a poison that spread through both the Putnams and the Wells.”

I sat there, stunned, as the pieces of our family’s broken history began to fall into place. Suddenly, all those years of tension made a twisted kind of sense. And all I could think was: How on earth was I supposed to face Eli now?

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. My mind raced, trying to process the bombshell Grandma Putnam had just dropped. Anger bubbled up inside me – anger at Grandpa Kenny for his cowardice, at the unfairness of it all. But mostly, I felt an overwhelming sadness for Carol and the child who never knew their father.

“What happened next?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Grandma’s eyes clouded with memory. “The Wells family stood by Carol through it all. Supported her, defended her against the rumors and gossip. But your dad...”

I leaned forward, my heart hammering. “What about my dad?”

“Jim couldn’t accept it,” she said, shaking her head. “He refused to believe his father could do such a thing. Kenny never admitted anything. Jim called Carol a liar, said she was trying to ruin the Putnam name.”

“Oh, no,” I muttered, feeling sick. My own father, taking the side of a man who’d abandoned his own child. I thought of all the times Dad had spoken proudly of the Putnam family values. How could he have been so blind?

Grandma continued, her voice heavy with regret. “The friendship between Harold and Jim crumbled. The business partnership between Harold Senior and Kenny obviously fell apart. And the rest, well...” She gestured vaguely, encompassing decades of hurt and misunderstanding.

I sat back, feeling drained. All those years of feuding, of cold shoulders and muttered insults – all because of one man’s betrayal and another’s refusal to see the truth. And here I was, caught in the middle, my heart tugging me toward Elijah Wells despite it all.

“Grandma,” I said, my voice thick with emotion, “does Dad know now? That Grandpa lied?”

I watched Grandma’s face, searching for any hint of what she might be thinking. Her eyes, wise and warm, met mine with a mixture of hope and caution.

---