Simple Deceit (The Harmony Series 2) by Nancy Mehl

deception.
    Sweetie took a deep breath and locked her eyes with mine. “It’s Sam’s mama. She didn’t die in no car wreck. She’s alive. When hewas a little boy, she just went off and left him, Gracie. Dumped him off in front of a church—just like that poor little baby you found last night.”

Chapter Five
     
    A t first, I couldn’t seem to find a response to Sweetie’s shocking statement. Finally I managed to say, “Why did you lie? Why did Sam lie—to me?”
    She cleared her throat again. I knew she did it out of nervousness, but it was beginning to get on my nerves. “One day Bernie told Sam they was goin’ out to eat and then to the movies. She never had much money, so Sam was pretty excited. Kept him outta school even. Sure enough she took him to a burger joint for lunch and then to a movie. After that she drove over to the church where Sam had been goin’ with a neighbor boy. She told him to wait there for her while she ran a quick errand.” Sweetie wiped away a tear. “That’s the last time he saw his mama. A couple hours later she called the church and told them to call me. That’s how he came to stay in Harmony.”
    My mind went back to the conversation we’d had about the abandoned baby the night before. Sam had been strangely silent and changed the subject without much discussion. Suddenly his reaction made sense.
    “I know tellin’ a fib is a sin, Gracie, but how could I let that littlboy tell folks the truth?” She shook her head. “I told him to tell everyone his mama died in a car crash to save him from embarrassment. Maybe it was right, maybe it was wrong. But now it’s caused this problem between you, and it just ain’t right. Sam reacted so bad to that note because it reminded him of what happened to him so long ago. I think he sees some of his mama in you—the good parts. But this thing with the baby… Well, it just hit too close to home. Stirred up some kinda feelin’s he ain’t dealt with yet.” She wrung her hands together. “You just gotta wait it out, Gracie. I know he’ll come around. If you wanna be mad at someone, be mad at me. I’m the one who caused this unholy mess.”
    Frankly, at that moment I was somewhat angry with both of them. But the picture in my mind of Sam waiting for his mother, wondering where she was, overcame my bruised feelings and evoked deep compassion. “Sam did tell me once that I reminded him of his mother.”
    She nodded. “I thought so. You see, there was lots of good things about my sister, Bernie. She was so pretty, and when she laughed, it sounded like sunshine. She loved animals, and she had a good heart. Saw things really deep, you know? Had a way of findin’ the good in folks—same way you do.”
    “Her name was Bernie?”
    She nodded. “Bernice. We called her Bernie ever since she was small. She just weren’t no Bernice. Just like I weren’t no Myrtle.”
    I frowned at her. “You make her sound like a good person. But she left her son. That’s certainly not a good thing to do.”
    “I know that. This may sound silly to you, but I believe she left Sam at that church because she loved him. She was hooked on drugs back then, and she didn’t think she could take good care of the boy. She thought I’d make a better mama than her.” Sweetie covered her face with her hands for a moment. When she brought them down, I could see her anguish. “I hope she was right. I beentryin’ my best all these years. I sure love that boy like he was my own.”
    “So what you’re saying is that when I showed him that note, he thought maybe I actually
had
left my baby—just like his mother left him?”
    Sweetie held up her hands in surrender. “I know it sounds nuts, Gracie, but yeah. I think that’s exactly what happened. That boy loves you so much it almost hurts. But this situation made him think of his mama. I think he’s afraid you’re gonna hurt him like she did.” She eyed me carefully. “I know Sam seems all growed up and