“It’s a chance we’ll have to take.” Victoria’s frown made the hair on the back of Miranda’s neck prickle.
Laura nodded. “If we want to fix things.”
“What do you want to fix?” Troy eyed them curiously as he slipped his arm around her.
“Our family,” Victoria said. “We need to find out what happened so we can figure out how to solve the problem and bring our families back together again.”
Why was Miranda even surprised? This was her sister they were talking about here, with Laura Granger tossed into the mix. A crazy combination no matter how she came at it. “What do you mean fix our family? What makes you think anyone wants to be fixed? I mean, if you two want to play nice, then have at it—”
“Not us, big sis.”
Miranda barely got a chance to brace herself before Laura said, “Our mothers.”
“They haven’t talked for decades and seem content with the arrangement.” She tried to sound reasonable, but didn’t quite manage. These two had lost their minds. “What on earth makes you think that’s likely to change?”
“Take a look at this.” With a few maneuvers of the mouse and some blips and beeps, Laura enlarged the pImages** on the computer monitor to reveal two familiar faces.
Miranda had honestly never realized how much her mother and Laura’s looked alike. Her brief interactions with Aunt Suzanne, mostly at Westfalls Academy where the woman had once worked, had left Miranda with the memory of long dark hair and a wardrobe that favored comfort over style.
But while the woman wore long skirts and a minimum of makeup, a closer examination revealed Laura’s mother to be as striking as Miranda’s own.
The hair was different. The features were different, yet so much about the fine-boned face was the same…the soft full mouth…the deep blue eyes…the aching look that made her face seem raw.
And her own mother…Miranda barely recognized her anguish. She’d watched her mother conduct press conferences filled with rabid reporters and not flinch, but here her expression openly wore the weight of too many years.
“Guess what they were looking at,” Laura said.
“Each other.” Victoria’s voice was soft, affected in a way Miranda had never heard her before. “Tyler caught them on film. Can anything be worth this sort of heartache?”
Miranda didn’t know what to say. Seeing this only drove home how right she’d been to worry about her mother.
When Miranda had married, Troy had been stationed in Virginia, close enough for her to return home for frequent visits. But not long into their marriage, he’d received orders to the naval base in San Diego. She simply couldn’t make it home as often, and her mother had lost an important part of her support system.
Miranda knew because she’d felt the loss, too.
Victoria was more concerned with her own life than she’d ever been with their family. And given their prominence around town, her mother simply didn’t have many friends she could trust or confide in. Certainly not many who understood the stresses of her position in a political family.
But even more concerning was what could happen if the reason for their grandfather’s secrecy turned out to be some scandal. Miranda disliked airing personal business in front of Laura Granger, but as Victoria had chosen to collude with the woman…
“Mother doesn’t need this sort of stress right now. Neither does Father. His opponents will be looking for anything they can find to crucify him with. Even some old mystery. If Mother wanted to talk to Aunt Suzanne, don’t you think she’d pick up the phone and call her?”
Laura shook her head, her hospitality-perfect expression fading behind a thoughtful look. “I don’t. I think our moms are behaving exactly like they’ve been expected to behave.”
“As who’s expecting them to behave?” Troy didn’t give Miranda a chance to ask as he leaned in close.
“The senator,” Laura said. “When he and my mom had it out all those years ago, he told her to choose between her family and my father. She made her choice, and he disowned her. They were very young and the situation was cut-and-dried. He expected my mom to stay away and Miranda and Tori’s mom not have any contact. That’s exactly what they’ve been doing.”
Victoria finally lifted her gaze from the monitor where their mother’s face stared back with that haunted expression. “I’m not convinced that’s what they want. Look at Mother, Miranda. If this is really what she wanted, would she hurt like this after so many years?”
“You’re not a mind-reader, Victoria. You can’t know that’s what’s happening here.”
“No, I can’t,” she agreed. “But I don’t need to be inside her head to know she’s lonely and sad. Isn’t it worth at least a shot? With you living across the country, and me moving to Las Vegas, wouldn’t you feel better knowing she has someone she cares about in her life again?”
Miranda wasn’t sure what surprised her more—her sister’s conviction or her insight into their mother’s situation. She’d honestly thought Victoria didn’t pay attention to what went on in their family. But looking at her sister now…well, she could see that Victoria cared.
Unfortunately caring didn’t mean her sister would act in a fashion that wouldn’t stir up talk about the family, and getting a Ford and a Granger together would stir up talk. “Do you think Grandfather will just smile and wish them well?”
“I don’t know what Grandfather will do. But I’m willing to bet if this family bands together, Mother and Aunt Suzanne won’t have to spend the rest of their lives pretending they don’t want to see each other to please a selfish old man.”
Her vehemence left Miranda momentarily speechless, giving Laura a chance to stand and circle the desk. “I don’t want to see your family in an awkward position. But I think Tori’s right about this. If we pull together, we can change things. We’ve all been acting how we were expected to act. You and I are living proof.”
Troy squeezed her hand and she knew he was gauging her reaction, but she wouldn’t give any of them a reaction.
Trying to bridge the rift between their families could only stir up trouble, and that’s not what she wanted for her mother right now. This craziness would only wind up ticking off their grandfather once and for all, getting Victoria disowned, and then her mother would have to contend with splitting her loyalties between her father and daughter. And Miranda would be clear across the country and not much help.
“What are you talking about, Laura?” she asked. “We’re proof of what?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately.” Laura sounded thoughtful. “When I think about our years at Westfalls, I realize I didn’t dislike you because of who you were. I honestly never made an effort to know you. But I hated being compared to you and always coming out on the short end.”
As much as Miranda hated to admit it, she could relate. Their families were as different as caviar and peanut butter, and being from the caviar side might have afforded her the benefits of wealth and privilege, but along with those benefits came some responsibilities. Public visibility and living up to the standards that generations before her had established were only two of them. Another was pleasing her grandfather.
She sensed Troy drinking this all in. Aside from an overview of family history, she’d never explained the details of her relationship with Laura Granger. As far as she was concerned, Laura was past history, but he couldn’t miss there was more water under this bridge than he knew.
“What is it you want from Miranda?” he asked.
“This is the first time we’re