Free THE GREAT BETRAYAL by Millenia Black Page B

inside the box.
    Leslie gasped.
    Speechless, she picked it up. Stared at it.
    It was her as a teenager. The same wild auburn hair, a mass of unruly curls. Jade green eyes set in a face smiling cheerfully for the camera.
    She stared at it.
    Then suddenly her eyes closed. She closed them against the shape of the mouth. The striking bone structure.
    Jeff’s mouth. Jeff’s jawline.
    Dear God. Jeff’s smile.
    It was Grace.
    Leslie’s heart began to race, and her palms grew moist. Her legs felt unsteady, but she could not move to take her seat. She was stiff—stiff with shame.
    The shame that had always been only a thought away all these years…an old, beleaguered friend always waiting to pay her a visit.
    Now it crushed her outright. Shame.
    Suddenly, unable to stand it any longer, Leslie broke free of the paralyzing trance and hurriedly took the container from the box. She unsnapped it, and the top popped open.
    Inside were more photographs, several photographs held together by a large plastic paper clip. The first one caused her breath to catch once again.
    It was taken the day of the barbecue.
    And there he was.
    Jeff. His lips locked with hers.
    The tears came then. They, too, had always been only a thought away. Fifteen years and she still cried for Jeffrey as if he’d left yesterday.
    The next picture was of him in mid-glide on the skateboard. His friend Brad could be seen not far behind, apparently trying to catch up with Jeff.
    Suddenly Leslie’s phone rang. She looked at the screen display. DAWN CHADWICK x3279.
    She couldn’t answer. Would Dawn’s feelings about her change once she finally knew about this? All these years she’d managed to conceal her worst deed. Her reason for hating herself. For scarcely being worthy of all that was good in her life—no matter how much she indulged in those things.
    As close as they’d become—having keys to one another’s homes, taking vacations together, calling each other to discuss almost everything, and even to discuss nothing at all—there was still a gap, a silent distance that stood between them. A wall they both wished wasn’t there, though it was never discussed. But she knew Dawn felt it.
    Her cell phone began to chirp. She glanced in the direction of her purse, kept in the bottom drawer of her desk. The intrusive noise seemed to ground everything all too well. This was it. The flight was finally over. They’d all have to know now. Everyone would.
    Including me , thought Leslie. Including me.
    Opening the envelope, she removed the note inside. It was brief and it was handwritten. There was no greeting.
     
    It’s a very strange thing, Leslie, but in all these years I never thought you had gone back down to Florida…yet there you are.
    It’s time to give an account. Your baby is now fifteen. I am enclosing all the pictures of her that I have kept over the years for your benefit, including a most recent one taken at her last birthday party. Isn’t it frightening how much she favors you? I’m not sure if I thought you’d ever come back after the first several years, but I knew this couldn’t go on forever.
    I must express my shock at discovering you remarried and had another child. Do you ever think of your firstborn, Leslie? How come you never tried to contact her? Thanksgiving is coming soon. I’m contacting you now because after the holidays we are planning to tell Grace the truth, and she may try to find you. Rumors have been in her ear for years, and we owe the truth to her. Right now she believes Beth to be her natural mother, and that Jeffrey was an uncle who died just before she was born. Aside from all that, I have fallen ill.
    Leslie, I don’t know when my time will come. But when it does, I want to go with a clear conscience. Beth is crushed, but I have convinced her that we must tell the child the truth. I love Grace very much, more than words can say. She is my first grandchild. I don’t want her to hate me forever.
     
    There was no