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Her tone was biting, and it surprised all the occupants in the room. His Mom gathered herself with a cleansing breath. When she continued, she sounded more like herself.

“I don’t want to be… angry. It is just that you seem to have forgotten none of those conversations were truthful. A huge lie festered between us.”

“Grace, that isn’t true. Other than…” He flicked his hand between the two men. “…them and the situation that brought them about. I have never lied to you. I have been honest with you.”

“Good, because that is what I and the boys need. Your complete honesty.”

“Grace, please don’t make me do this. Not like this… in front of them,” Larson pleaded.

All his attention was focused on Grace and getting her back.

“I must insist. It be exactly like this. It’s important to me, Larson.”

Right before his eyes, Larson conceded. His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head in defeat. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

His mom straightened up in her seat. “How did you meet Concetta?”

“I don’t know why that is important,” Larson answered.

The sentence was barely out of his mouth, and his mom was on her feet.

Her features were pinched, in a mix of disappointment and anger.

“Let’s go,” she announced to the other occupants in the room. Apparently, today wasn’t the day to waste her time.

“Wait. No. Please sit,” Larson pleaded.

She folded her arms over her chest.

“Connie worked as a cleaner at the office.”

His mom resumed her seat.

Encouraged, Larson continued. “I know I was wrong. At the time, I was in a poor frame of mind. All your thoughts were on your goal of becoming a mother. I felt like there was no room for me.”

You son of a bitch.

Emmanuel wanted to say something about the direction this conversation was heading in. As if, sensing his desire, Ivy placed a hand on his thigh. When he looked at her, she shook her head ever so slightly.

“Go on,” his mom prompted Larson.

“I caught her reading when she was supposed to be working. She apologised. From there, we started talking. It was amusing at first that she didn’t know who I was. For once, I wasn’t the heir to Scotts. It was refreshing.” He stopped and cleared his throat.

“Alright, so that is how you met. How did it escalate from there?” His Mom pressed when Larson wouldn’t continue.

“I saw her eating in the break room. I would join her. Then one day she brought me some food as well. I wanted to return the favour. I took her to a restaurant a few times. Back then, it was one of the few places open so late. It was beside the Lancaster…” He trailed off.

It was then it became clear what it was costing his mom to get the answers. Before she closed her eyes, he saw the pain flashing across her face.

“Being that close in proximity moved things along. How long did it go on for?” she asked.

“Twice,” Larson answered.

Emmanuel’s mom arched her eyebrow in challenge.

“I won’t go into any further detail about what went on between us. This is bad enough. I failed you when I broke our wedding vows. It was twice. Of course, I shouldn’t have let it get that far. As soon as we both realized that neither of us understood what the other wanted, it was over.”

What kind of double talk was that? Emmanuel wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

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