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Chapter 20

Now what do I do? Do I tell him the truth or do I pretend I have no idea what he is talking about? Lester started talking to me while I was have my inner dialog. I just stood there staring at him and had no idea what to even say to him.

"Why is everyone lying to me?"

With every word he spoke, he got louder and angrier.

"What do you want me to say, Lester?"

"How about the truth, I think I deserve it?"

"How did you find out?"

He sat there quietly for a few minutes before he spoke.

"The last few weeks something has felt off, things with Courtney haven't been right. I thought if I talked to my dad I could get some answers and try to figure out what to do. So I went to my parents house today and told them that I just wanted to stop by and have lunch, but when I got there I saw that the baby was there. Momma was just about to put him down for his nap and my dad wasn't home yet, so I went into the family room and picked up one of the photo albums, I saw pictures of us at our wedding. I thought things were confusing before, that just made it worse. When I heard Momma coming back into the room, I put the albums down and sat there with her to wait for my dad."

"Well then I guess you know that Ric and I are not having an affair, he has been a really good friend to me since you disappeared."

"What happened to me?"

"You were scheduled to go Rangeman Boston for some business, your plane crashed and we were all told that you were dead."

"Obviously it wasn't that long ago."

I wasn't sure how much to tell him, but after looking in his eyes I knew I couldn't hold back anything.

"No, it wasn't that long ago. The accident happened in June, it was the day after I told you I was pregnant."

"But why keep it a secret, why not just tell me the truth when I came back?"

He looked so hurt and confused, I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and make it all go away.

"Your doctor's, they told us that if we told you what happened it could cause setbacks with your memory. Do you remember the crash?"

"No, I remember waking up in the hospital. I had a broken arm, broken ribs and some cuts and bruises. Courtney was there when I woke up and told me that I was in an accident, but she never said what kind and I was so out of it I never asked."

Something didn't sound right here, I just didn't know what it was yet. My spidey sense was working into overdrive. I was about to ask him about the hospital he was in but his phone rang.

"You better get that, it could be important."

"So is this, I don't care who is on the phone."

I heard Jake crying through the monitor so I told him that he might as well answer it while I went and tended to Jake. A few minutes later I came back down with Jake in my arms.

"Is everything okay with him?"

"Yeah, he just needs to be changed and I think he maybe hungry. Would you like to hold him while I get his bottle ready?"

I came back in when the bottle was ready and just stared at father and son, the looked perfect together. After a few minutes of watching them I finally walked over and handed Lester the bottle and sat next to him on the couch.

"I don't mean to spoil things, but shouldn't you be at home with Courtney?"

"That was her on the phone, she has been out of town since yesterday morning. She was calling to let me know that she would be home late tonight. With her being gone, things in my mind have seemed clearer. Like I said before something with her just feels off and I am just not sure what it is."

"What do you mean?" I probably should have asked where she was, but I just didn't give a damn.

"Well last night for example, I kept picturing a party at a nightclub. You were there, most of the guys from Rangeman, and some of my family was there as well. I think it was for my birthday, we were standing at the bar and a guy came over to us and then there was a fight, I think you punched him in the face."

"I remember that night, it was your birthday and the guy was Joe Morelli, my ex-boyfriend. Lester, how long have you felt like something was off with Courtney?"

"Since I woke up in the hospital, but the last week or so it has been worse. I just can't seem to put my finger on it."

Now it was time for my phone to ring, I looked at the caller ID and answered.

"What's up Ric, kind of late isn't it?" I listened for a minute and he told me he was just pulling up outside and wanted to talk to me. "Ric is here and he needs to talk to me."

"Do you need me to go?"

"No, I think we should both talk to him."

I heard Ranger come in the front door, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lester sitting on the couch with Jake in his arms.

"What is going on here?"

I noticed Lester standing up, he came over and placed a sleeping Jake in my arms. "Thanks for talking to me tonight Beautiful, but I really do need to get home. Courtney will probably be back by now and she will be wondering where I am, besides it looks like you two have some things to talk about. I will see you both at the party tomorrow night."

Before either of us could say a word he was gone.

"Stephanie, what the hell was that all about?"

"He is starting to remember. After Rachel dropped me off tonight I decided to go to bed early, I came down here to make sure everything was locked up and Lester was sitting on the couch. He knows that we are married and that Jake is his son, he apparently saw pictures of us today, from our wedding. He is really confused, Ric, and I don't know how to help him."

"Right now, neither do I. We have been looking into Courtney's background to see what she has been up to the last few years, and so far it looks like she has been a model citizen. We have also been looking into the crash and something seems off with it, I just can't put my finger on it."

"Do you think Courtney could be involved in whatever happened to him?"

"Maybe, but let's wait and see what we can come up with before we start pointing any fingers."

"Fine, you should get going, it's getting late and I am sure Rachel is wondering where you are."

"Yeah, are you still driving up to Celia's with Rachel and I?"

I nodded and walked him to the door and we said our Good nights and then I went up to bed for another night of no sleep. I couldn't help but think that Courtney was the key to this whole thing.

TBC