Forgiven 2 of 4

Chapter 8

To say Kim was shocked it would be the understatement of the year, "Adam had to go in to work" she lied as she sat on the couch opposite his mother.

"That's too bad, your son is beautiful by the way" she fiddled with one of Anthony's toy cars "I know you must have a lot of questions, and I know I owe my son an apology" she was trying to keep it together, "I've wanted to come home so many times, but I always found an excuse"

"What has changed?" Kim asked, Adam hardly ever spoke of his mother and she never asked any questions.

"That I have a grandson, Bob and I kept in touch usually through email but he never told me about the baby" she tried to keep her voice flat, she was upset Bob never mentioned the baby "I ran into an old friend and she told me about Anthony" saying the name of her eldest son, still brought sadness she was hoping joy would soon replace it.

Kim didn't know how to handle this, she wasn't sure how Adam would feel, "listen, Adam won't be back until tomorrow, do you have a number you can be reached at?"

"Yes, I'm staying at The Ritz" she replied writing the hotel's phone number and her room number down, "please, have Adam call me"

As Kim read the note, she realized it was the same place Phil was staying "I will pass it along, Mrs" She paused, she didn't know what to call her "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name"

She smiled, "I'm Linda, Linda Sloane"

Amy raised an eyebrow, "you've remarried?"

"Yes, about fifteen years now" she stood to leave, "thank you for your time Kim, have Adam call me please" she started to leave and stopped at the doorway, "I would love to get to know all of you, hopefully Adam will let me"

Once Linda left Amy couldn't stay quiet any longer, "who the hell does she think she is? She's been gone almost twenty years, now she comes back?"

"Whats she like, why did she leave?" Kim asked thankful for the distraction, she needed something to think about other than how angry she was with Adam.

"Bob never said much about her other than she was devastated when Anthony was killed" her blood was boiling, "Bob was too, so was Adam and he ended up losing his big brother and his mother" she continued "when Bob and I got together, Adam was desperate for a mother, God Kim,she walked out on him. He use to cry himself to sleep, always wondering why his mother left"

"I'm thankful he had you, Amy" Kim smiled she knew how much Adam loved Amy "he loves you, he will always love you" she couldn't help but wonder if Amy was worried if Linda returning would hurt her relationship with Adam.

Amy sighed, "I'm sorry for blowing up, but Adam's like a son to me, and I don't want to see her hurt him, again" she took a sip of coffee "speaking of Adam, is everything okay, I know you have been crying and I know Adam isn't at work"

"We had an argument. He doesn't want me to have anything to do with my brother, and he doesn't want Anthony around him" she wiped a tear "I said some ugly things, and he dropped me off here"

"I'm sorry, Kim. Just so you know he's at my house, Bob said he's drunk as a skunk and currently sleeping it off" she patted Kim's leg "I know you know this, but Adam is stubborn and hard headed, but he loves you with everything he has. I'm not defending him by any means, but you have to realize he's scared for you and Anthony. What happened to you because of your brothers actions was horrifying and it scared him more than you'll ever know"

Kim shrugged her shoulders "I know all of that, and I'm trying to understand how he feels. I was the one held in that room, I know how awful it was. I still have nightmares about it, but he's still my brother. I have forgiven him, Adam needs to do the same"