CHAPTER 98
Early the next morning, Rayna and Chris were on Beth's doorstep. They had been worried the
night before when their sister had cancelled their plans. It had been difficult enough to get her to
agree in the first place. Their plan was to confront her about the need to get on with her life.
Beth and Adam stirred in one another's arms, moaning their irritation at the loud pounding coming
from the front door.
"Beth we know you are in there. Open up." Chris's called out.
"I better get that … I'm surprised Cassie hasn't …" her words were interrupted by the baby crying
from her room.
"You get the sister. I'll take care of the baby." Adam said as he slipped out of bed and pulled on
his jeans and the shirt he'd discarded the night before.
Beth pulled her robe on and padded down the hallway, brushing the hair back from her eyes and
squinting at the bright sunlight flooding the main room of the house.
"Would you keep it down? You woke the baby." Beth said as she let her sisters in the door.
Chris didn't have time to comment that she didn't hear Cassie complaining when Adam came
down the hallway carrying the baby.
"Oh my God!" Chris and Rayna gasped at the same time. They looked at Beth, who was
beaming ear to ear and back at Adam who was as casual as if he'd only seen them the day
before. "But I thought you thought he was dead." Chris managed.
"I did." Beth replied, moving to take the baby and smile up at Adam.
"How could you do that to her?" Rayna was the first to lose her temper. "How could you make
her think that?"
"Rayna just stop." Beth told her sister. "It wasn't Adam's fault. He couldn't get to us or get word."
Her sister's weren't buying it. Adam and Beth had discussed what they were going to tell the
family. He knew her father already suspected he'd lead a life that was less than on the up and
up, so they decided to play on that. He had some government credentials and knew that he
could convince them that although he'd left that line of work, some of it had followed him. It
probably wouldn't make her family feel any better about things, but Beth wasn't going to let them
interfere.
"We don't really want to go through the whole explanation over and over with the family." Beth
told her sisters. "So if you two can take care of Cassie's breakfast and get her dressed, Adam
and I will get dressed as well and we can go up to the house to tell Daddy and everyone else."
Her sisters hated waiting, but after all their sister had been through … couldn't deny her.
Forty-five minutes later they were sitting around Peter Harris's kitchen table with her sisters, their
husbands and both her brothers and their wives. All the children except for the babies were
outside playing well out of earshot.
They all listened as Adam explained that a piece of his past had caught up with them in Europe.
"They made it look as if I were dead and I had to go under cover for awhile. You don't know how
much I agonized over what this was doing to Beth, but I couldn't do anything about it." The look
he gave his wife only reinforced the truth in that statement.
As they predicted the night before when discussing her family's reaction, Beth and Adam could
see they were not pleased. It wasn't that they disliked Adam, but so much had happened to their
sister in the past two years.
Her brothers in particular eyed Adam with mistrust. "Is it over? Can you guarantee us that
nothing like this will happen again?" Kyle asked pointedly.
"There are no guarantees in life." Adam replied. "I'll do everything I can to make sure nothing
ever touches Beth or the baby again, but I won't tell you something just because it would make it
easier to swallow."
"I don't like it." Justin interrupted. "The best thing for our sister would be if you left."
"If Adam leaves, I leave with him and so does our daughter." Beth set her jaw and looked directly
at her brother.
"Beth this is crazy? Haven't you been through enough? How much more can you take? You
were already only a shell of yourself these past months. If it hadn't been for Cassie, seriously we
wondered if you wouldn't have lost it completely." Justin argued back. He wasn't finished. He
turned to Adam and began to tell him just what it had been like for his sister.
"Do you have any idea how many times one of us would go by the house and if she did let us in,
we'd see her eyes all red and swollen and realize she'd been crying for hours? Do you know
what it's like to watch your sister sit and stare into space like some zombie and not even hear her
daughter crying because she was too wrapped up in her grief? Did you happen to notice how
much weight she's lost?"
Adam knew it had been bad for Beth, but hearing specifics tore at his heart. Beth could see the
guilt and pain her brother's words were causing and moved to lace her fingers with Adam's
beneath the table.
"I survived Justin." Beth replied gently. "I know it was hard on all of you to support me through it
all, but you were here and I survived. And I appreciate your being there for me more than you will
ever know, but Adam is here now and I love him with all my heart. That isn't going to change."
Peter Harris hadn't said anything. He'd simply been sitting and listening. However he wasn't any
happier with this than Justin or Kyle. He also knew that Beth's love wouldn't be shaken for this
man. He just wished he knew how he could find a measure of peace when he could swear Adam
was holding something back.
"Adam, let's go for a drive." Peter Harris said as he stood from the table, surprising everyone as
he reached for the truck keys.
"Daddy …" Beth started to protest, but Adam put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. Your father
has questions. In his place, so would I."
Adam followed Beth's father outside and into the truck. They drove up over the pasture to a
shady spot just over the rise before Peter Harris stopped the truck and got out. Adam did the
same.
"You want to tell me what really happened?" Mr. Harris asked. "And don't give me that cock and
bull story about government work. We both know it's a nice story, but isn't close to the truth."
Adam met the man's gaze directly. No wonder Beth could read him so well. She got the trait
from her father. Still he said nothing.
"Let me tell you what I think." Peter Harris continued when Adam didn't appear to be forthcoming.
"I think you and your friends have something else that ties you together than you would lead us to
believe. I think whatever it is has something to do with why you disappeared. I talked to Joe and
to Duncan and they were too careful. I knew they knew something they weren't saying."
"And if I told you that I had no intention of discussing this with you?" Adam asked.
"Then I'd remind you that I would do anything for my daughter and my granddaughter. I'd ask
you to imagine what you would feel in my shoes if you thought there was a danger that you knew
was hanging over Cassie's head and couldn't find any peace because you didn't even know what
it was." Harris told him. "And then I'd let you know that I realize nothing I say or do will change
my daughter's mind. I have no power to keep her away from you even if I wanted to … and I
don't want to. I know that you are her life now. I just need to know what she is facing so I'll be
able to live with it. You can trust me son. I would never reveal anything, because I have a
suspicion that if I did I would put Beth and the baby at risk. I'm right aren't I?"
The two men regarded one another for a long time. Adam searched the man's face and weighed
his words over and over. What was said between them after that, Peter Harris took to his grave
without even discussing with his daughter. Whatever it was, it was enough for the man to insist
his sons leave things as they were and not continue to try and push Adam out of their sister's life.
Suffice it to say that for many years to come, there were nights that Adam and Peter Harris would
spend sitting alone on the porch or in the den. When Cassie was older, she once asked her
Grandfather what he and Daddy found so fascinating to talk about.
"History." Her Grandfather replied simply. "We both enjoy discussing history."
Richie showed up at the Harris house after much of the discussion was over.
"Did you get in touch with MacLeod?" Adam asked him as they watched the children playing from
the porch.
"Yeah. He was a little suspicious, but when I told him that Beth needed he and Joe … he wasn't
about to say no." Richie replied. "They'll be here tomorrow night."
Adam nodded and thanked him.
"So how did it go with the family?" Richie asked, not missing the looks Beth's brothers were still
giving Adam.
Adam shrugged. "It will get better … I hope. I can't say I blame them."
Richie understood. "She loves them, but she loves her life with you more. They will see that …"
Adam nodded and continued to watch the children playing in the yard. It would be a good place
for Cassie to grow up, but if her family couldn't accept him … then as much as he would hate it,
he wouldn't stay.
It was getting late and Adam was about to help Beth gather up Cassie's things when Peter Harris
pulled him to the side. "This came while you were both away."
Adam looked at the unopened envelope addressed to Beth. The return address was the clinic in
Atlanta. "I'm leaving it up to you whether she sees it or not. I think we both know what her
reaction will be. It's up to you to decide." Her father said before walking back into the house.
Adam knew instinctively it wasn't a "how was our service" questionnaire. From what Beth told him
before about the procedure and from what he knew on his own, they had implanted 3 fertilized
eggs hoping one would take, and exactly one did take. Walking away from the house, he
carefully opened the letter and stared at the page. The clinic had 2 more eggs that belonged to
her that had been held in reserve in case the others had not taken. They wanted to know if she
wanted them destroyed, or if she wanted to donate, or … if she wanted to undergo an additional
procedure.
Early the next morning, Rayna and Chris were on Beth's doorstep. They had been worried the
night before when their sister had cancelled their plans. It had been difficult enough to get her to
agree in the first place. Their plan was to confront her about the need to get on with her life.
Beth and Adam stirred in one another's arms, moaning their irritation at the loud pounding coming
from the front door.
"Beth we know you are in there. Open up." Chris's called out.
"I better get that … I'm surprised Cassie hasn't …" her words were interrupted by the baby crying
from her room.
"You get the sister. I'll take care of the baby." Adam said as he slipped out of bed and pulled on
his jeans and the shirt he'd discarded the night before.
Beth pulled her robe on and padded down the hallway, brushing the hair back from her eyes and
squinting at the bright sunlight flooding the main room of the house.
"Would you keep it down? You woke the baby." Beth said as she let her sisters in the door.
Chris didn't have time to comment that she didn't hear Cassie complaining when Adam came
down the hallway carrying the baby.
"Oh my God!" Chris and Rayna gasped at the same time. They looked at Beth, who was
beaming ear to ear and back at Adam who was as casual as if he'd only seen them the day
before. "But I thought you thought he was dead." Chris managed.
"I did." Beth replied, moving to take the baby and smile up at Adam.
"How could you do that to her?" Rayna was the first to lose her temper. "How could you make
her think that?"
"Rayna just stop." Beth told her sister. "It wasn't Adam's fault. He couldn't get to us or get word."
Her sister's weren't buying it. Adam and Beth had discussed what they were going to tell the
family. He knew her father already suspected he'd lead a life that was less than on the up and
up, so they decided to play on that. He had some government credentials and knew that he
could convince them that although he'd left that line of work, some of it had followed him. It
probably wouldn't make her family feel any better about things, but Beth wasn't going to let them
interfere.
"We don't really want to go through the whole explanation over and over with the family." Beth
told her sisters. "So if you two can take care of Cassie's breakfast and get her dressed, Adam
and I will get dressed as well and we can go up to the house to tell Daddy and everyone else."
Her sisters hated waiting, but after all their sister had been through … couldn't deny her.
Forty-five minutes later they were sitting around Peter Harris's kitchen table with her sisters, their
husbands and both her brothers and their wives. All the children except for the babies were
outside playing well out of earshot.
They all listened as Adam explained that a piece of his past had caught up with them in Europe.
"They made it look as if I were dead and I had to go under cover for awhile. You don't know how
much I agonized over what this was doing to Beth, but I couldn't do anything about it." The look
he gave his wife only reinforced the truth in that statement.
As they predicted the night before when discussing her family's reaction, Beth and Adam could
see they were not pleased. It wasn't that they disliked Adam, but so much had happened to their
sister in the past two years.
Her brothers in particular eyed Adam with mistrust. "Is it over? Can you guarantee us that
nothing like this will happen again?" Kyle asked pointedly.
"There are no guarantees in life." Adam replied. "I'll do everything I can to make sure nothing
ever touches Beth or the baby again, but I won't tell you something just because it would make it
easier to swallow."
"I don't like it." Justin interrupted. "The best thing for our sister would be if you left."
"If Adam leaves, I leave with him and so does our daughter." Beth set her jaw and looked directly
at her brother.
"Beth this is crazy? Haven't you been through enough? How much more can you take? You
were already only a shell of yourself these past months. If it hadn't been for Cassie, seriously we
wondered if you wouldn't have lost it completely." Justin argued back. He wasn't finished. He
turned to Adam and began to tell him just what it had been like for his sister.
"Do you have any idea how many times one of us would go by the house and if she did let us in,
we'd see her eyes all red and swollen and realize she'd been crying for hours? Do you know
what it's like to watch your sister sit and stare into space like some zombie and not even hear her
daughter crying because she was too wrapped up in her grief? Did you happen to notice how
much weight she's lost?"
Adam knew it had been bad for Beth, but hearing specifics tore at his heart. Beth could see the
guilt and pain her brother's words were causing and moved to lace her fingers with Adam's
beneath the table.
"I survived Justin." Beth replied gently. "I know it was hard on all of you to support me through it
all, but you were here and I survived. And I appreciate your being there for me more than you will
ever know, but Adam is here now and I love him with all my heart. That isn't going to change."
Peter Harris hadn't said anything. He'd simply been sitting and listening. However he wasn't any
happier with this than Justin or Kyle. He also knew that Beth's love wouldn't be shaken for this
man. He just wished he knew how he could find a measure of peace when he could swear Adam
was holding something back.
"Adam, let's go for a drive." Peter Harris said as he stood from the table, surprising everyone as
he reached for the truck keys.
"Daddy …" Beth started to protest, but Adam put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. Your father
has questions. In his place, so would I."
Adam followed Beth's father outside and into the truck. They drove up over the pasture to a
shady spot just over the rise before Peter Harris stopped the truck and got out. Adam did the
same.
"You want to tell me what really happened?" Mr. Harris asked. "And don't give me that cock and
bull story about government work. We both know it's a nice story, but isn't close to the truth."
Adam met the man's gaze directly. No wonder Beth could read him so well. She got the trait
from her father. Still he said nothing.
"Let me tell you what I think." Peter Harris continued when Adam didn't appear to be forthcoming.
"I think you and your friends have something else that ties you together than you would lead us to
believe. I think whatever it is has something to do with why you disappeared. I talked to Joe and
to Duncan and they were too careful. I knew they knew something they weren't saying."
"And if I told you that I had no intention of discussing this with you?" Adam asked.
"Then I'd remind you that I would do anything for my daughter and my granddaughter. I'd ask
you to imagine what you would feel in my shoes if you thought there was a danger that you knew
was hanging over Cassie's head and couldn't find any peace because you didn't even know what
it was." Harris told him. "And then I'd let you know that I realize nothing I say or do will change
my daughter's mind. I have no power to keep her away from you even if I wanted to … and I
don't want to. I know that you are her life now. I just need to know what she is facing so I'll be
able to live with it. You can trust me son. I would never reveal anything, because I have a
suspicion that if I did I would put Beth and the baby at risk. I'm right aren't I?"
The two men regarded one another for a long time. Adam searched the man's face and weighed
his words over and over. What was said between them after that, Peter Harris took to his grave
without even discussing with his daughter. Whatever it was, it was enough for the man to insist
his sons leave things as they were and not continue to try and push Adam out of their sister's life.
Suffice it to say that for many years to come, there were nights that Adam and Peter Harris would
spend sitting alone on the porch or in the den. When Cassie was older, she once asked her
Grandfather what he and Daddy found so fascinating to talk about.
"History." Her Grandfather replied simply. "We both enjoy discussing history."
Richie showed up at the Harris house after much of the discussion was over.
"Did you get in touch with MacLeod?" Adam asked him as they watched the children playing from
the porch.
"Yeah. He was a little suspicious, but when I told him that Beth needed he and Joe … he wasn't
about to say no." Richie replied. "They'll be here tomorrow night."
Adam nodded and thanked him.
"So how did it go with the family?" Richie asked, not missing the looks Beth's brothers were still
giving Adam.
Adam shrugged. "It will get better … I hope. I can't say I blame them."
Richie understood. "She loves them, but she loves her life with you more. They will see that …"
Adam nodded and continued to watch the children playing in the yard. It would be a good place
for Cassie to grow up, but if her family couldn't accept him … then as much as he would hate it,
he wouldn't stay.
It was getting late and Adam was about to help Beth gather up Cassie's things when Peter Harris
pulled him to the side. "This came while you were both away."
Adam looked at the unopened envelope addressed to Beth. The return address was the clinic in
Atlanta. "I'm leaving it up to you whether she sees it or not. I think we both know what her
reaction will be. It's up to you to decide." Her father said before walking back into the house.
Adam knew instinctively it wasn't a "how was our service" questionnaire. From what Beth told him
before about the procedure and from what he knew on his own, they had implanted 3 fertilized
eggs hoping one would take, and exactly one did take. Walking away from the house, he
carefully opened the letter and stared at the page. The clinic had 2 more eggs that belonged to
her that had been held in reserve in case the others had not taken. They wanted to know if she
wanted them destroyed, or if she wanted to donate, or … if she wanted to undergo an additional
procedure.