Read Online The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cory Putman Oakes
Ads: Link
you; they didn’t want to know. In case anyone tried to make them tell . . .” She trailed off, remembering. “I got the news the very next morning.I had very little time to make a decision. Your grandmother and your parents had many friends,” her eyes flickered up in Lucas’s direction, “who would’ve gladly protected you. I could’ve brought you to them. I strongly considered it. But in the end, I thought the best way to protect you, the most complete way, was to hide you not just from your parents’ and your grandmother’s enemies, but from their friends as well. I thought it would be better if you and I simply left that world behind us completely.
“And so we did. I moved you here, and I’ve managed to keep you hidden for eleven years. And from the very first moment, the moment you put your little hand in mine and followed me out of your parents house on that dreadful night, I’ve loved you just as much as any woman has ever loved a real granddaughter—even more, I imagine. Because I’m one of the very few people in the world who know how truly special you are.”
Tears prickled my eyes. Putting all of my questions aside for the moment, I reached over and hugged her as tightly as I could. She hugged me back, and I could tell she was crying too.
When we finally let go, something Lucas had said earlier popped back into my head. “What’s my real name?” I asked her.
Gran smiled.
“Your real name is Addison Rose Prescott. But your parents never called you Addison when you were little, only Addy. Not many people knew you existed, and among those who did, only a few of us knew your name. So I thought you should keep at least some of the name that your parents gave you. Your last name was the only one I changed.”
“Why Russell?” I asked.
Gran’s smile widened.
“After Rosalind Russell. She was my favorite film star, back when I was your age.”
I thought for a minute, flipping through my mental inventory of the old movies Gran and I had watched together, over theyears. “She was in a movie with Cary Grant, right? Where they’re both reporters?”
“That’s my girl,” Gran said proudly.
We were silent for a moment. The lamp beside Lucas flickered, bouncing strange shadows off of his face. He sat quietly, still as a statue, watching us. I was surprised by how unobtrusive his presence was; maybe my Lucas radar was malfunctioning after being in such close proximity to him for this long.
Finally, I asked the question I’d been afraid to ask for more than twenty-four hours, because I didn’t want the answer to be “because you’re crazy.” I wasn’t absolutely sure the answer would relate to our current conversation, although a small part of my brain was forcefully trying to tell me it would, that it had to. In any case, it seemed like an appropriate moment to lay all of my cards on the table, so I blurted it out. “Why have I been seeing things nobody else does?”
Lucas set down his teacup and stood up from his chair. “My turn.”
5
——
Lifting the Veil
I DIDN ’ T WANT TO LEAVE G RAN , not when I still had so many questions, but she rose from the table and pulled me up with her.
“He’ll explain things to you far better than I can,” she told me. “Go with him. You’ll be glad you did.”
Lucas, now at the front door, looked back over his shoulder at us. “Thank you for the tea,” he said to Gran, who nodded formally to him.
I walked over to him, and he held the door open for me.
“Back by ten o’clock, you two,” Gran called after us.
Unbelievable. Apparently there really were
no
exceptions to my curfew whatsoever.
Lucas still had my keys, and after he opened the passenger-side door for me, he slipped behind the wheel of Gran’s Oldsmobile for the second time that day.
We drove in silence. I began to think about Nate. What must he have been thinking when I suddenly disappeared from his side and reappeared, yards away, with Lucas? Did he think
“And so we did. I moved you here, and I’ve managed to keep you hidden for eleven years. And from the very first moment, the moment you put your little hand in mine and followed me out of your parents house on that dreadful night, I’ve loved you just as much as any woman has ever loved a real granddaughter—even more, I imagine. Because I’m one of the very few people in the world who know how truly special you are.”
Tears prickled my eyes. Putting all of my questions aside for the moment, I reached over and hugged her as tightly as I could. She hugged me back, and I could tell she was crying too.
When we finally let go, something Lucas had said earlier popped back into my head. “What’s my real name?” I asked her.
Gran smiled.
“Your real name is Addison Rose Prescott. But your parents never called you Addison when you were little, only Addy. Not many people knew you existed, and among those who did, only a few of us knew your name. So I thought you should keep at least some of the name that your parents gave you. Your last name was the only one I changed.”
“Why Russell?” I asked.
Gran’s smile widened.
“After Rosalind Russell. She was my favorite film star, back when I was your age.”
I thought for a minute, flipping through my mental inventory of the old movies Gran and I had watched together, over theyears. “She was in a movie with Cary Grant, right? Where they’re both reporters?”
“That’s my girl,” Gran said proudly.
We were silent for a moment. The lamp beside Lucas flickered, bouncing strange shadows off of his face. He sat quietly, still as a statue, watching us. I was surprised by how unobtrusive his presence was; maybe my Lucas radar was malfunctioning after being in such close proximity to him for this long.
Finally, I asked the question I’d been afraid to ask for more than twenty-four hours, because I didn’t want the answer to be “because you’re crazy.” I wasn’t absolutely sure the answer would relate to our current conversation, although a small part of my brain was forcefully trying to tell me it would, that it had to. In any case, it seemed like an appropriate moment to lay all of my cards on the table, so I blurted it out. “Why have I been seeing things nobody else does?”
Lucas set down his teacup and stood up from his chair. “My turn.”
5
——
Lifting the Veil
I DIDN ’ T WANT TO LEAVE G RAN , not when I still had so many questions, but she rose from the table and pulled me up with her.
“He’ll explain things to you far better than I can,” she told me. “Go with him. You’ll be glad you did.”
Lucas, now at the front door, looked back over his shoulder at us. “Thank you for the tea,” he said to Gran, who nodded formally to him.
I walked over to him, and he held the door open for me.
“Back by ten o’clock, you two,” Gran called after us.
Unbelievable. Apparently there really were
no
exceptions to my curfew whatsoever.
Lucas still had my keys, and after he opened the passenger-side door for me, he slipped behind the wheel of Gran’s Oldsmobile for the second time that day.
We drove in silence. I began to think about Nate. What must he have been thinking when I suddenly disappeared from his side and reappeared, yards away, with Lucas? Did he think
Similar Books
