She merely wanted the people she trusted to remain present.
That was the secret at the center of everything.
Not scandal.
Not betrayal.
Not some dramatic conspiracy.
A promise.
A frightened young woman had asked her sister and brother-in-law to make sure her son always knew he had somewhere to belong.
And in their fear of losing him, they had hidden the story that might have made him feel most secure.
Logan sat very still.
“All those years,” he said, “I thought Mom kept the truth from me because she was afraid I wouldn’t consider her my mother.”
Robert nodded.
“She was afraid.”
“But Elizabeth never wanted me protected from the truth.”
“No.”
“She wanted me to know I belonged.”
Robert’s eyes lowered.
“Yes.”
Logan rubbed his hands over his face.
It would have been easy for him to become angry.
Maybe the old Logan would have.
Instead, after a long silence, he said, “I wish you had told me.”
