"There's always another secret..." – Brandon Sanderson
By the start of the summer season, Memorial Day had rolled around and Emily still hadn't returned to Grayson Manor.
"Grammy, can you make my hair look pretty?" Hannah tugged on Victoria's arm, insistently. "Mommy promised she would but she can't because she isn't here."
Her matter-of-fact tone of voice pulled on Daniel's heartstrings, but his youngest daughter failed to notice how it affected him. Victoria bowed down and brushed the blonde curls from her sweet face, "Of course, I will, baby. Get dressed first, though, okay?" Hannah dutifully raced back into her bedroom and Victoria followed her son out onto the terrace, which overlooked the Porter's beach-house. It reminded him of Emily, still, and Victoria appreciated how much he missed her. The whole family had, in fact, even Victoria. His eyes were decorated with a blue pattern underneath, proof that Daniel hadn't slept well without his wife. "Have you spoken to Emily?"
Daniel shook his head, solemnly, "She won't accept my calls."
"Perhaps, you'll have more luck at the Art Auction," Victoria instilled hope in him, "She wouldn't miss an opportunity to see the children."
"With Nolan Ross on her arm," he bitterly countered. "I remember the days she and I would spend in that house, mom." Daniel's year with Emily, before they were married, seemed so simple when he reflected. Back then, the worst crime his parents had committed was their involvement in his D.U.I. case. "I don't know if she feels the same anymore, mom. I don't know what's real, what isn't..." he shook his head, free. "Maybe I'm starting to realise how confused I am."
"Daniel, if there's one thing I've learnt, it's not to wallow in the past. It will only wear you down," she advised her son; she eyed the beach-house, her memories equally as bittersweet as his were. "My relationship with your father was complicated. I manipulated him into loving me, despite his wife. He risked his position at Grayson Global, he divorced her and married me. After all that, he somehow had me convinced we were meant to be together." She rose an eyebrow, ashamed of her previous indiscretion, "But, when you play such a pretence, the lines can become blurred. I ldid love your father. The years we were married, before David, weren't an act and I refuse to believe that the years Emily remained married to you were either. No matter her name, she loves you."
His mother's defence of Emily warmed his soul, and Daniel's lips curled upwards into a delicately soft smile. "All this time, I thought you would hate her until the day you died."
"I did die, remember?"
Daniel's face whitened, unamused, and his tone became serious again. "Do you think she'll be able to understand the decision I made?"
"You won't know, unless you try." His mother's reply didn't provide Daniel the motherly assure he had hoped for, but it was enough. "Come on, get ready. I don't want to be late for my first formal appearance." She left Daniel, in search of her youngest granddaguhter. "Hannah," she opened the child's bedroom daughter, where the little girl was in the midst of battle with her hairbrush.
"I can't undo the knot," Hannah whined, furiously, with her father's pout.
Victoria stifled her laugh, as she retrieved the hairbrush, "You know, your aunt Charlotte hated brushing her hair when she was your age. If she had wet hair, she would refuse to let me touch it. Then, when she woke up for school, it would be an awful mess!" She carefully disengaged the hairbrush from the bountiful curls, reminiscent of the nine year old, who had hidden behind the kitchen counter in the summer storm of '93. "She always wanted an older sister to help her because it wasn't very cool to have her mother help," Victoria added, in a feigned serious tone. "But she learnt how to do it herself, and she'd probably be much better at helping you, too."
"Why can't Charlotte come back?" Hannah frowned, confused, "You did." When Victoria didn't reply, Hannah satisfied herself, "Maybe she will, one day."
Fairly soon, the Grayson family, bar one, gathered in the foyer of Grayson Manor. "Everybody ready?" Daniel checked.
"To see the mother who abandoned us and the ex-boyfriend I've lied to for weeks," Sophia cringed at her own explanation, "Sure, why not?"
"We're off to a brilliant start," Daniel remarked, down-heartened by Sophia's mood, and Victoria nudged her granddaughter's arm. Before anyone could say another word, the doorbell rang and Charlotte answered, to discover her mother and Nolan. "Em..."
"Nolan and I decided the family should arrive together," Victoria informed the family, feigning innocence, biting her bottom lip when both Daniel and Emily appeared to be irritated by the surprise sprung on them. "Come on, now, we don't want to miss the arrival pictures."
Nolan and Victoria hustled the children out the front door, and Daniel apologised, "I'm sorry, I should have known my mom had this little scheme planned." Emily remained eerily silent, since Nolan had been able to fool her, too. "There's no reason why we couldn't make the best of the situation," Daniel offered, before they reached the waiting driver outside.
Her hand smacked against his chest, holding him in position and out of earshot from their children. "Your mother and Nolan may decide they want to play cupid to keep themselves occupied and, for the sake of the children, this time, I'll play along but no part of today makes any difference to your betrayal, Daniel. You made a decision that concerned our entire family and didn't bother to consult, or even warn, anyone of us beforehand." The others impatiently waited for Daniel and Emily to enter the car, so Emily shook her head, "I won't discuss this any further but this is far from over, Daniel."
The sombre mood, though Daniel and Emily attempted to disguise it, shadowed the event, as the family were driven to the docks. Nolan and Victoria forced awkward chit-chat between themselves and the children. Upon arrival, the Grayson family posed in the perfect pretence, with polite refusal to comment on the recent headline. Nolan immediately darted toward the bar, while the children entertained themselves with friends, and Victoria addressed the press, with regards to her return in the Hampton's social scene. Meanwhile, Daniel and Emily were abandoned, together, in moody silence. Emily accepted the very first offer of Champagne and Daniel pulled his wife aside, "We really need to talk."
"I already told you," Emily brushed him off, discretely. "Not here."
Daniel pleaded, unashamedly. "Then, where? You won't accept my calls, you refuse to see me."
"Ashley?"
Emily's eyes were diverted behind her husband, where the old family friend approached from, "Hello."
"How are you?" Ever-gracious, Emily leaned in and kissed the other woman's cheek. "I heard you were back in New York, I couldn't possibly speculate why. The last I heard, you had moved back to London and, now... you're here." The passive-aggressive nature of her tone didn't evade Ashley, or Daniel.
"I flew back to New York for work-related business," Ashley confirmed, "Daniel called me an hour before I was due to fly back to London and I received an invitation to this event, so I decided to stay, for old times' sake." She paused, "I fly back to London next week."
"Miss Davenport," Victoria's unforgettable voice caressed her name, "You are the last person I expected to see."
"A one-time visit, Mrs. Grayson," Ashley didn't hide her nervousness well.
"You're not here alone, are you?" Emily pried, as she finished off her drink in one mouthful.
"Actually... no." Ashley subtly motioned for her escort to approach the group, and a young man, who appeared to be Charlotte's age, strolled toward them in an Armani suit. Emily stared into his unmistakable brown eyes. "Edward, I'd like you to finally meet Daniel, Emily and Victoria Grayson. They're old friends."
Daniel and Edward shook hands and Emily exchanged her empty glass for a full one. "Well, well, well... just when you think it couldn't get any worse." The name of the former Grayson patriarch, those all-too-familiar brown eyes, and the Grayson posture he held with minimal effort. His wife's comment baffled Daniel and Emily twisted her lips, furiously and hysterically amused, "It suddenly makes sense; why you hired Ashley, why she came back..." Her eyes were filled with hated, "I may have pretended to be someone else for twenty years but I wasn't the only one lying. Now, who's the fool?" She whispered to Daniel, "Congratulations, daddy!"