Keeping Secrets & Telling Lies by Trice Hickman Page B

him. She wondered why she couldn’t bring herself to tell Debbie that Parker made her feel that way, too.
    Victoria rested her back against the tub, feeling still and numb. She knew she couldn’t admit those things to Debbie, because if she did, it would only be a matter of time before she found herself walking in her friend’s troubled shoes.
    Strange and Unsettling ...
    Ted watched the people hurrying to and from their cars in the crowded parking lot several stories below. He was standing at the window in his mother’s dimly lit private hospital room, wondering what medical tragedy had brought the visitors to the same place where he now stood. Had they come to grieve a loved one, as he was doing, or had they received good news, allowing them to leave with peace of mind?
    He dug his hands deep into the pockets of his khakis, trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. He’d been poring over production reports when the call from his sister, Lilly, came just yesterday.
    The last few months had been particularly busy for him. Ever since he and Larmar Williams, his 50 percent partner in the company, had decided to take ViaTech public next spring, things had been moving at a rapid speed. He’d been traveling the country, meeting with potential shareholders and company executives at their six remote locations, making sure their numbers were primed and ready for inspection.
    It was challenging to run a multimillion-dollar company, manage his various real estate investments, and find time to spend with his wife and child. Some days were exhausting, others were exhilarating, but none had ever felt like the last few hours—strange and unsettling.
    Ted walked from the window and sat in the stiff vinyl-covered chair beside his mother’s bed. Waiting was the hardest part. He knew he had to stay busy, so he finished his copy of the Wall Street Journal, responded to several e-mails on his laptop, then made a few phone calls. An hour later the sun had faded into night. His sister had already gone home to her family, leaving him and his mother alone.
    Carolyn had not awoken since seeing him earlier that morning, and now Ted was wondering if he’d ever see his mother’s eyes staring into his again or hear her voice one last time. Just as his thoughts were beginning to turn down a dark corner, he heard his name spill from her lips. At first he thought it might be wishful thinking, but when her eyes fluttered and her mouth fought to form a smile, he thanked God for one more chance. Springing from his chair, he moved to her side, taking her frail hand in his as he bent over to get closer.
    â€œYou made it,” Carolyn whispered.
    â€œOf course I did.” Ted smiled back at his mother, looking at the skin and bones that lay before him. Carolyn had always been a beautifully put together woman, meticulous in her appearance. But as Ted scanned her pale, wrinkled face, looking at her sunken cheekbones and the gray strands sprinkled at the base of her temples, he realized that it was true: the human body was just a shell that wore out over time. The sight of his mother’s listless body almost brought tears to his eyes, but he held them back.
    â€œTheodore, there’s so much I need to tell you,” she said, struggling to pull her words together.
    Ted shook his head. “Just rest. Don’t strain yourself.”
    â€œNo, you don’t understand.... There are things you must know.”
    The urgency in his mother’s voice made Ted feel more uneasy than witnessing her visibly fragile state, because although her words were barely audible, her intent was direct and serious. He leaned in closer. “What is it, Mother?”
    â€œI need to tell you about my past.”
    Ted remembered her doctor mentioning that patients could become confused and disoriented, a result of the heavy doses of morphine used to ease their pain and keep them comfortable near the end. He thought that