Page 66 of Inevitable Secrets

Taylor was having a hard time believing that someone could just go off the rails so far, but instead of voicing that she pressed on. “So what happened?”

“Well, he came back six months or so after he, well, left. And when he returned, he brought with him this vision, your mother, dear,” Nan clarified and then paused looking out into space, a small smile gracing her lips. “Elizabeth was just a natural beauty.” Nan reached one of her weathered hands out and cupped Taylor’s chin. Her touch was warm, with just a little scratchy dryness, but it was all a comfort to Taylor. “A beauty just like you. And she came in so very timid and polite. She was quiet and tried to stay out of the way but you had no choice but to be entranced by her.

“Cedric spoke to me and said she was a friend and that she needed a job. That he was hoping we could take her on as staff at Preston Manor. It was clear that Cedric wanted to help her. He told me enough to know she’d had a rough go of it and she needed a fresh start. But it was also clear that he did not think of her as just a friend.”

“What did he tell you about her?” Taylor questioned Nan, eager to get even a scrap of information on her mother.

“Not the information you’re looking for, Taylor dear,” she said gently. “Just that she had been tossed aside by those she trusted and had nowhere to go.”

Taylor nodded, accepting that Nan did not have the answers she so craved, and so instead kept her on the topic she did have answers for. “Why did you think Cedric didn’t think of her as a friend?”

Nan struggled for a moment, as if trying to find the best way to say what she was thinking. “Have you ever seen how plants bend themselves toward sunlight, move in whatever direction they can in order to get closer to the sun’s rays?” she asked Taylor. When Taylor nodded, she went on, “That was how Cedric looked at Elizabeth—like she was his food source. If she was in the room his eyes tracked her like prey.

“I agreed to take her on under the condition that if there was any funny business, or she didn’t pull her own, she was gone and Cedric agreed. I needn’t have ever worried though, because your mother was a fabulous worker. That day, she started with me in the kitchen and whatever I asked of her she did without question. I won’t lie, I was testing her. For two weeks I made your mother work like a dog and not once did she scoff or eye roll or back talk. Always please and thank you.”

Taylor bit her lip. It all sounded like her mom—hardworking, polite. She had drilled these two things into Taylor growing up, telling her constantly how vital it was to not just depend on her Preston name.

“And Cedric, he was just so happy,” Nan said. “He would come and check on her, smiling and his eyes brightening each time he caught a glimpse. He was completely and totally under a spell. Always making sure Elizabeth was okay, getting along fine, had everything she needed. He was completely and totally head over heels in love with Elizabeth, there was absolutely no doubt,” Nan said, and she shook her head slowly. “But Elizabeth, that girl did not feel the same.”

Taylor was ashamed, but she actually breathed a sigh of relief when Nan said that, one she hadn’t been aware she was holding. She thought of her mother and her gentle face, and great manners and soothing ways. The thought of her with beastly and erratic Cedric made her sick.

“Now do not misunderstand, Elizabeth cared about Cedric but it was definitely not the way he cared about her. He watched her, worshipped her with his eyes, but you never saw him lay so much as a finger on her. Elizabeth treated Cedric like a brother. She teased him, stuck her tongue out at him, rolled her eyes at his jokes. She touched him, but never in an intimate way. It was always like a sister—straightening a tie, picking off lint. Her fingers never lingered, the way a lover’s do. She had a great friend in Cedric and she looked out for him. She was there, I suspect, to make sure he stayed on track, that he stayed without the drugs. And he looked out for her, too,” Nan looked thoughtful. “He always hoped it would turn into more.”

“Did he tell you that?” Taylor asked. Nan sounded so sure of it she wondered if he had told her something.

“No,” she said with a small smile, “but you could tell. I think, no, no wait, Iknowhe was always hoping and waiting for it to turn into more. When she would pick lint off his suit jackets, he would stop breathing. You could see him absorbing, memorizing the contact.

“A few months went by, and Elizabeth stayed in the kitchen with me and she slowly met the family, your family. She was just as kind and polite with all of them.”

“Did she, I mean, when did she meet my dad?”

“Oh, well not for a while. He was away at this time, learning the business, going to meetings, working long hours. He had an apartment close to the city and he didn’t come home as often. So Elizabeth was here for about four months I would say before…” Nan faltered then. She left the words hanging and suddenly looked hesitant to go on.

“Before what?” Taylor pressed.

Nan wavered, finally swallowing and taking a big breath before she began again. “It was before Simon and Delia’s wedding. Simon had asked Cedric and Grant to be in it. Those three were thick as thieves, for years. And now they would all be in the wedding. So Elizabeth was in the kitchen working one evening a couple of days before the big event, and your father walked in.

“Grant’s head was down looking at something, and your mother was walking across the room, bringing this rather large tray of dishes over to the sink to be washed and they ran right into each other, literally right into one another.

“It got everyone’s attention because she dropped the pans she was carrying and his papers went flying and we all came to see and it was like something out of a movie. In the midst of all of that chaos was your mother and your father completely captivated with each other, just staring into each other’s eyes. People ran around getting the papers and grabbing the pans and the two of them just stood there staring at each other.

“So I introduced them and they shook hands but still the two never broke eye contact. And then Cedric came in, completely unaware of anything off and said he was so glad to finally introduce two of his favorite people.” Nan’s eyes focused on Taylor’s. “I felt my heart shatter for him, Taylor, I really did. There was an instant connection, a chemistry between Grant and Elizabeth. Cedric dinna see it, or maybe he just dinna want to see it. There is no doubt about it, Cedric wanted Elizabeth. He was in love with her. He was possessed by her. But Elizabeth never felt that way about him. And I know that before your father ever came into the picture, she made it clear they were just friends. She said as much, treated him as such, but Cedric just loved to be around her.”

The pair sat in silence for a moment, and finally Taylor spoke. “I remember seeing a picture of Cedric in Simon and Delia’s wedding and he just looked so happy,” Taylor remarked.

“Aye, he was. He had begged your mom to go just as friends. He was on cloud nine that day. I am sure being at a wedding with the woman that you love gives you all kinds of thoughts and probably blinds you. That is the only explanation I have for him not seeing what everyone, and I mean everyone, could plainly see.

“After their first meeting, your father kept making trips to the kitchen. Grant always found his way down when he was home—that boy could eat. But his trips to the kitchen were far more frequent and far less about food when Elizabeth was there. And Elizabeth, bless her soul, tried to ignore him, truly she did. She always sought out a task to do, busied herself. But it was no use. Slowly they started speaking to each other, and I think they stole time to themselves, eventually.

“Grant actually decided to start staying at home, sold his apartment. And still Cedric was going along, checking in on Elizabeth, making sure she was okay. Loving her with his eyes. And then, well, then he found out.”

“How?” Taylor asked, caught up in the romance of her mother and father.

“Well, Cedric caught them red-handed I’m afraid,” Nan said, and when Taylor opened her mouth to ask for more, Nan stopped her. “And that is all I will say about that.

“It was a huge blowup. The whole family was rattled for days. The boys were screaming and Cedric, well, his heart was broken. He had just been blindsided by the whole thing. So blinded by his own feelings that this was a giant shock. He said things, horrible things, to your mother.”

Taylor’s jaw tightened.

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