Read Online Dark Truth by Mariah Stewart - Free Book Online Page B

with my coffee and get to work.” Regan looked up from the frying pan where she was cooking two pieces of golden French toast. “You know how it is when you live alone.”
    “I do.” Nina nodded.
    “If you’d like to help, you could set the table. The plates are in the cupboard to your left, the flatware in the drawer next to the sink.”
    “Sure.”
    Nina placed her cup on the counter and proceeded to set the table. Regan chatted about the weather, the winery, Mitch. It wasn’t until they’d sat at the table and started eating that Regan asked, “Did you sleep well?”
    “Very well. Thanks.” Nina smiled and wondered if Regan knew she was lying through her teeth. All she could think about was how she was going to approach Regan with the truth about her father. She couldn’t very well say,
So, Regan, you remember that professor we talked about last night—the one who was convicted of raping and murdering four students—did I mention that he was my father?
    What did one say?
    She needn’t have worried about how to broach the subject. Regan beat her to it.
    “I didn’t sleep well at all,” Regan was saying as she helped herself to sausage. “I woke up at three this morning and could not fall back to sleep. Don’t you just hate when that happens?”
    Nina nodded.
    “So I came downstairs here, thinking I’d work a little. Turned on my computer, started tracking some research for the book you and I talked about when you were here the last time. I printed out a couple of articles, and was just about to turn off the computer when I started thinking about your story. Your professor.”
    Nina stopped chewing, and set her fork quietly on the edge of her plate.
    “Your father, Nina?” Regan asked gently.
    “Yes.”
    “You could have told me straight away.” When Nina started to protest, Regan assured her, “Of course I understand why that would have been hard for you. I’m not blaming you for not coming right out with it. I’m just saying, it would have been all right.”
    “It’s something I never talk about. I’ve never told anyone about what happened in Stone River. No one.”
    “You’ve never discussed it with anyone?” Regan’s eyes widened slightly.
    “No one. How do you tell people that your father died a prisoner, after being convicted of such terrible things?”
    “You were in college there at the time,” Regan stated. “The articles I found mentioned you only briefly, right after the time he was arrested, but I noticed there was no further mention of you throughout the proceedings.”
    “I’d gone to live with my aunt—my mother’s sister—immediately after he was arrested. I hadn’t been back to Stone River until my stepmother died.”
    “You didn’t keep in touch with her?”
    “Not really.” Nina shrugged. “Birthdays and Christmases, she sent presents and cards, but I never reciprocated. I just wanted to excise that entire time of my life. I didn’t want any reminders. I just wanted to go on with my life.”
    “And your aunt permitted you to do that?”
    “She encouraged it.” Nina looked up and saw the look on Regan’s face. “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. She didn’t like the fact that my father and mother had divorced, didn’t like the fact that my father remarried. Even after all those years, she still harbored resentment toward him, and toward Olivia. I think she believed that my father had had an affair with Olivia while he was still married to my mother. I don’t believe that was true. I don’t think my father even met Olivia until a long time after my parents were divorced, but I’ll never know for sure. My aunt believed what she wanted to believe. She was my mother’s older sister, and always felt very protective toward her. She was just as happy to have no contact with Olivia whatsoever.”
    “And your father? Did you have any contact with him after his arrest?”
    “Very little. We communicated only about my schooling and that