The old man almost smiled. “I guess there’s truth to that.”
He sat down in the booth, and Kayla’s hostess skills turned to automatic pilot. “May I get you something to drink?”
Mr. Amick shook his head, giving her a distasteful look. “No. I’ve got to watch my sugar intake. I don’t want to end up a diabetic.”
It looked like he’d made it thus far. If he wasn’t diabetic yet, I figured high-sugar drinks wouldn’t have time to catch up with him in whatever time he had left. I managed to keep my mouth shut as well as reprimanding myself for thinking such mean thoughts. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt rather annoyed by him. That he’d been digging around in our lives. In my life. It was stupid. That was the job Kayla was paying him for. Like there was anything left people didn’t know anyway.
He pulled file folders out from his briefcase and laid them on the table. By the time he appeared done, there were seven different folders barely contained on the table. I glanced at the labels. For a second, I couldn’t quite make them out due to the shaky handwriting. Until I read my own name on one of them, and then it clicked. One for each of the members of my family, except Bailey. And one for Stewart and Noah.
I glared at him, reaching for the folder. “You investigated my boyfriend?”
Mr. Amick put his hand over Noah’s file before I could grasp it. “Yes. Did you want me to be thorough, or give you an answer you couldn’t trust?”
Kayla grabbed my knee under the table. “Sorry, Mr. Amick. We’re both stressed. It’s been a rough week or so.” She laughed nervously. “More than that, I suppose.”
He smiled at her, clearly only liking one of us. “That’s fine, my dear. Very understandable.” He began to rearrange the folders, moving Noah’s far away from me. “Now let me explain how I went about things. I don’t want there to be any confusion about how I came to my conclusion. You see—”
“So you did come to a conclusion?” Kayla interrupted him. “A definite one?”
“Ah, yes, my dear. I did.” He opened the file on my mother. “As I was saying, if you—”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Amick.” Kayla spoke up again. “But can you just jump to the end? Tell us what you found out?”
“I really think it’s best if you let me—”
“Just tell us if Dustin did it.” Kayla’s voice rose, enough that a couple of other patrons glanced over. “Did he really try to get people to say such horrible things about Randall?”
Mr. Amick stared at her, the battle between answering her question or following his protocol clearly waging in his head.
“Please, Mr. Amick.”
A beautiful, desperate woman wins every time.
“No, Ms. Morgan. Your husband did not do those things.”
Kayla sucked in a panicked breath, on the verge of tears, then froze. Her hand tightened on my thigh once more. “What did you say?”
“I said Dustin Morgan did not try to get people to bear false witness against Randall Morgan. Though he did indeed initiate contact with Stewart Appleton.”
Letting out a rush of air, Kayla sagged against me. “Oh thank God!” The tears she’d gallantly been holding back broke free at last.
I had to force my mouth to close and then open again. “Are you sure? And if it wasn’t him, who was it? I still don’t believe it was Stewart.”
“No, sir. It wasn’t Stewart, and yes, I am quite certain.”
For the second time in my life, I wanted to bash my fist into someone else’s face. “Then who was it?”
Mr. Amick shook his head, his expression clearly stating he felt like it should have been obvious. “Your father. Vincent Morgan.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
THIS TIMEI wasn’t alone on the couch as I faced my parents. Dustin sat on the opposite side of me, closer to the fireplace, and Kayla sat in the middle, claiming her position as part of the family.
Dustin arranged the meeting without telling our parents I would be there.
He also requested he lead things off, that he wanted his chance to stand up to our father. I wasn’t overly fond of that idea. In my way of thinking, I was the one who’d been wronged, and I should get first punch.
I nearly said as much as the three of us, and Noah, met the night before. However, Kayla pleaded with me without ever saying a word—I could read her thoughts from a quick glance—to let her husband have a chance to regain some of his pride, his strength.
