Chapter 13 - Lesley

It was the night before Alfie’s school was starting at the end of the summer, and he couldn’t find his homework.

“Mrs. Browning told us to bring it to class in the morning.” Alfie was whimpering as he searched the desk in his room. I was searching with him – just like we had been for the past hour.

“I’m sure we’ll find it, honey. It has to be here somewhere,” I said, looking through all the drawers again. I could sense that he was about to cry and I hoped that we could find it soon. “Shall we check your dad’s cabinet? Maybe he collected all his papers off the kitchen table earlier and took your homework with him,” I suggested.

Alfie’s eyes brightened up immediately. “Yes!” he squealed and ran out of his room and into Connor’s bedroom. I followed him there, chewing on my bottom lip nervously in the hopes that we’d find the homework there.

Connor’s bedroom was as neat and tidy as ever. I’d been in there only a couple of times in the past few weeks that I was living on the ranch. Alfie was already rummaging through the cabinet, throwing his father’s files and papers on the floor in excitement.

“Alfie! Don’t do that. You’re messing up your father’s files,” I scolded him and bent down on the floor to start picking them up again. I knew how much Connor liked his things to be neatly arranged.

Alfie wasn’t paying attention to me as he sifted through his father’s papers. More files and letters came flying to the ground where I was kneeling now. I clucked my tongue, allowing the kid his couple of minutes of anxiety, and kept collecting whatever fell on the floor in a pile.

Then my eyes fell on a file that had my last name printed on it. It looked old, yellowing on the edges, and I picked it up in surprise. How many Evans families did Connor know? Alfie was still muttering while I knelt on the floor and opened the file. It was packed with letters and important looking papers. My eyes ran over the words in a rush, although none of it was making sense to me – not at first glance – until I read my father’s name: Michael Evans. My brows furrowed in shock.

“Found it! Lesley, I found it!” Alfie was squealing with joy and I slapped the file shut. I could feel my hands shaking, but I forced a weak smile on my face.

“Found what?” Connor’s voice greeted us at the door of his bedroom and Alfie went jumping to him. The file dropped from my hands to the floor, but Connor hadn’t noticed.

“You hid my homework in your cabinet, daddy!” Alfie squealed and Connor lifted him up in his arms. I turned to them, forcing myself to smile. Connor’s eyes sparkled, and he looked tanned and flushed as he looked into my eyes.

“Ready for dinner?” he asked and I nodded my head, hoping that he couldn’t see the shock on my face.

***

At dinner, I sat beside Alfie like I usually did and watched him talking enthusiastically about his latest drawings. Connor listened interestedly and, sometimes, I caught his eyes when he looked in my direction. I couldn’t hold his gaze.

What business did he have with my father? We had been nothing more than neighbors all our lives, and I had heard nothing about my father working with Connor or his family. More importantly, in the past weeks of our relationship . . . when we had spent hours talking and lying on the cool grass of the fields staring up at the stars after making love, he had failed to mention any business he had with my family.

“Lesley?” Connor’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up to find Alfie and him staring at me.

“You’re not hungry? We’re done with dinner already,” he said and I looked down at my plate. I hadn’t eaten anything.

“Not really. I’ll clear the plates. Alfie, you should hurry up to bed, you have to wake up early tomorrow for school,” I said, and Alfie jumped off his chair and ran upstairs. Alone in the room with Connor, I kept my eyes averted as I started clearing the plates.

He came over to me at the sink, wrapping his arms around my torso and holding me close to himself. I was tempted to just ask him – to bury my face in his shoulders and just tell him everything I was feeling, but I couldn’t. First, I needed to find out what was in the file.

“I’m going to go to our spot for a smoke. Join me there after you’re done with Alfie?” he said and kissed my cheek lightly. I nodded my head and waited till he had left the kitchen. I waited till I heard the back door open and shut before I ran up to his bedroom again. The file was still on the floor where I’d left it, so I sank down to flip through it.

My eyes ran over the words, my brows were furrowed. I read and re-read the financial statements till everything slowly started to make sense. Bad investments. Money lost. Savings depleted. The numbers didn’t make sense at first, at least until I tried to dig deeper into the records. Connor had served my father as an investment advisor. There were some bad bonds involved. My father had invested all his savings into them, including the mortgage on our house. He’d taken out loans to make these investments . . . It all failed, and he lost everything.

The file fell from my hands and I leaped up off the floor. I clasped my mouth with both hands, realizing that I was panting from shock and anger. In a rush, I stuck the file back into the cabinet and ran out of the bedroom, hurrying to see if Alfie had tucked himself in.

I wanted to make sure that I was securely locked in my own bedroom before Connor returned to the house, looking for me.