Page 80 of The Healing Garden

She hesitated. “If you’re sure.”

Lila gave her a brief smile, then nodded. “Of course I’m sure, or I wouldn’t have suggested it.” She hurried away before Anita could reply.

Wyatt held out a chair for her to sit down. Carly had already helped herself to the seat on the other side of Sam.

Susan watched them with bright eyes. “Are you married? Dating?”

“Us?” Anita said. “No, we’re friends. That’s all.”

Wyatt nudged her knee with his knee. She nudged him back. “We are friends, but that’s not all,” he said.

Anita gaped at him, but Susan just continued to smile. “Young love is wonderful.” She released a wistful sigh, then reached for the glass at her place setting.

“Let me fill that for you,” Sam said, when she realized it was empty. He reached for the pitcher of ice water and filled her glass.

“Thank you, Sam,” she said, taking a sip, then setting the glass down. “Now, tell me about your children and grandchildren.”

Sam blinked as if he were trying to clear his thoughts. “Wyatt and his sister Paula are what’s left of my posterity.”

“Oh, I thought you had more...” Her voice trailed off.

“No,” Sam said. “Norma couldn’t have any more children after our daughter was born.”

Susan gave a slow nod. “I’m sorry to hear that. The town was gossipy about that when I returned. Said you had to get married on account of knocking her up.” She laughed, her cheeks flushed. “But knowing what kind of man you were, I was not surprised. You’d never run from your mistakes.”

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Sam said in a quiet voice, but it resonated across the patio.

Lila stepped outside just then, carrying two bowls of steaming soup.

Wyatt moved to his feet to take them from her. Lila didn’t return inside, though. Instead, she remained to listen.

“I didn’t mean that, Sam,” Susan corrected. “I just meant the gossip—”

He lifted a hand. “The gossips didn’t know anything.” He cast a glance at Wyatt. “Norma became pregnant by another man—her boyfriend at the time. He ditched her, and well...I married her and adopted her daughter.”

Anita was pretty sure this was new information to not only Susan, but to Wyatt himself. His whole body stilled as he stared at his grandpa.

“Gramps?” he said in a strained voice. “What are you talking about?”

Sam turned his head to look at him. “I married your grandmother so that her child would be legitimate. I cared for Norma very much, and over the months and years, I grew to love her deeply.”

Wyatt rubbed at his jaw. “You’re not . . . my grandfather by blood?”

Sam shook his head slowly, then reached for Wyatt’s arm. “Your mother was my daughter in every other way possible. Her biological father tried to visit once when she was a few months old, then disappeared again. He never actually saw her in person.”

Wyatt exhaled. “That’s a pretty major thing to keep from me my entire life.”

“I understand how you might think that, but in my generation, we kept things private.”

Wyatt closed his eyes for a moment, and Anita grasped his hand.

“You married Norma to save her reputation?” Susan said, her voice incredulous.

Sam turned his attention back to her. “Norma and I were good friends, and you had already written me about your engagement. It didn’t cross my mind that I wasn’t doing the right thing by moving forward with my life.”

Susan reached a trembling hand for her glass of water. After another sip, she said, “I came back, Sam. I saw the two of you in that old diner. You were sitting close to her on the same side of the booth, your arm around her. She laughed at something you said, and then you kissed her.” She drew in a breath. “I left after seeing you together, and that’s when I heard the two of you were engaged.”

“I didn’t know you came back,” Sam said. He was the one surprised now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”