“Do you think she did that to appease her own feelings?” Pem watched her grandma as Linda stiffened up. Grandma did the same thing. “It was her grandchildren that—”
“Yes, it was. We all know that. Even if we didn’t want to remember, you people would be reminding us all the time. She was at my house that morning, getting me up and out of bed. Making breakfast for the other children when my sister-in-law just didn’t want to move. After arranging a sitter for me, she gently bullied me into getting a shower, getting dressed. Not one camera was there when she sat and cried with me. Telling me that she was so very sorry that it had happened to me. I didn’t want to go to the service, because we’d be seeing my husband for the last time. It would be real then. His death like the others. But she didn’t let me wallow in self-pity. MaryBeth told me that a lot of the people would be watching me and the others, and we had to make our husbands proud of us.” Linda stood up then. “MaryBeth taught me something that day too. That when I don’t care for something that is being said to me or about me, I don’t need to let it go because I’m hurting. I need to stand up for myself and the others that might not be able to and make it right. Making it right is tossing you out of my house. Right now. That woman did this not because she had to, but because she wanted to. And I’m wanting you to get out of my home right now.”
The news station was stunned. Everyone there at the place just looked at one another. But there was more, and Pem left it running even after they broke away for a commercial. Moving through the bit where they were advertising that there was a recall on lettuce, Pem stopped when the young news reporter was standing on the sidewalk outside of what she knew to be Linda’s home.
“I must apologize to Linda. I was wrong in asking about the grandchildren of the Blacks. I was wrong, too, in what I said about Mrs. Black. I’ve never met the woman, but I have heard from other spouses of the officers that she’d been to their homes as well. Helping where she could, and even watching four little ones while the husband took a shower and had a few moments to himself. I am deeply ashamed of myself for what I did just now.” She looked down the street, then back at the camera. “I wasn’t threatened with termination for saying these things just now. Nor was I told that I’d better make it right. I’m saying this because I heartfully feel this way. I was no different than my counterpart at the funeral services, and I am deeply sorry for my actions.”
Pem turned the television off and continued to watch her grandma. When she finally turned to her, Pem smiled. Her grandma had been through so much of late that it was really good to see her smile at things again.
“I spoke with Austin last night. He’s going to come here for a little while. I don’t know that living here is a good option, but he said that you and Theo had arranged it for him.” Pem said that Theo had spoken to her last night too. “He was going to kill himself. When he called me here the other day, he told me that he was going to end his life to be with Caroline. He also told me that she’d done this sort of thing several times before.”
“That’s what Theo told me. Caroline was really pissed off that Austin didn’t save her this time. Cindi, as you know, can see ghosts, and her thoughts on this thing with Caroline are that she deserved what she got. For crying wolf all the time when there wasn’t anything there.” Grandma nodded but didn’t speak. “Uncle Austin wants to try and make amends for all the things he’s done to not just you, but to everyone. Theo thinks he’s sincere in what he wants to do.”
“What do we do about Patrick?” Pem asked her how much she’d heard about him. “He’s called here a few times. Twice while you were with Austin and Theo. He told me that since you were gone, I could have him stay here for a couple of nights without you knowing. I didn’t let him just so you know.”
“I know that, Grandma. You, of all people, would know what he’s like more than anyone else. What did he want from you?” She told her. “Money. It’s always about money with him, isn’t it? I’m assuming he’s asking you for it because he figures that since you sold the land, you might owe it to him or something?”
“Yes. That’s just what he said. That since I’d sold off his inheritance, I should be forking over money to him when he wants it. When I mentioned that I might need it for my golden years, he told me he could help me along with that, so I could just give him all of it right now. I do believe he meant he’d kill me for it.” Grandma looked at her again when she said that was what he was saying. “Do you really think he’d try and help me along toward my death so he could have money?”
“Yes.” She hadn’t even hesitated when she answered her. “When I was little, he would take Mom’s pain medication so he could get high off it. I believe he even sold off a good deal of it as well. I’d put nothing past him. I keep thinking about him laughing when he was being taken back to his cell at the police station. Why? What did he find that was so funny then?”
“I did the same thing, wondering about that. So, while I had him on the phone, I asked him. He said that the perfect Austin had children that were just like their good old uncle. That ‘Mr. and Mrs. Perfect, my shit don’t stink’ had bad boys.” Grandma got up to get down her teacup and put her finger on the rim. The hot brew filled the cup immediately. “I never thought I’d love this thing so much. To be able to have just a nice relaxing cup of tea makes me feel good.”
Pem wondered if there was magic in the cup in addition to the magic to fill it. Something that would make sure that Grandma was less stressed. She decided she didn’t care. So long as her grandma was enjoying it, it could have brandy in it for all she cared.
As Grandma sipped her brew, Pem got up to find some scones. These were something she never thought she’d enjoy as much as she did. Scones were the most wonderful invention ever as far as she was concerned.
They ate in silence for a few minutes. Grandma would sip her tea quietly. Pem was conscious of the sounds she was making chewing her treat. Just then, when someone knocked at the back door, both of them jumped in their seats and giggled. Pem got up to see who it was.
She’d been told she could see beyond the door. A few days ago, Theo had told her to be careful when she opened the door with her dad around. Putting her hand on the door, she could feel the person on the other side. It was her dad. Whatever he wanted, he was really pissed off about it. Moving back from the locked-up door, she touched her finger to her mouth to have Grandma not speak, and they made their way to the middle of the house.
“I don’t want to have to deal with him, do you?” Grandma said she’d had enough of dealing with people for a lifetime. “Yes, I know what you mean. It’s mostly just him. Always with his hand out, wanting me to give him something. He was like that with his dad too. If it wasn’t money, it was something that would cost money.”
The two of them stood in the pantry, a large open space between the dining room and the kitchen. Pem, to keep herself from going out there and braining her father, started opening cabinets to see what they had in them. She didn’t remember ever being in this part of the house much more than to pass through.
“What the hell is this thing?” Grandma told her, and Pem laughed quietly. “What would I have a use for a cake breaker for?”
“My mother had one. I think there was one in the house Harold and I had as well. You cut cakes, like angel food cakes, with it. It’s for a delicate cake you might bake. What did you think it was for?” Pem laughed, feeling her face heat up. “Now, I have to know.”
“I thought it was some sort of comb you’d have to use when your hair was simply out of control. You have to admit, Grandma, that’s what it looks like.” She did agree with her, and Pem realized that she could no longer hear her father at the back door. “I was thinking that you and I should take a little trip into town. I have a few things I’d like to pick up, and also some things to mail.”
Theo had sent all the bills he’d been able to collect in her uncle’s office back with her. Ther
e were quite a few of them too. It seemed to her that he was more past due on one bill than she had been in all her monthly bills when she’d been living alone. They’d not told anyone that they were helping him with his bills. She didn’t care how anyone felt, but if Austin was to move back here, she didn’t want anyone to look at him oddly. If it was his desire to start fresh, she wasn’t going to have him worry about being able to make ends meet.
As they were coming down the stairs, she heard her dad out at the front door yelling. She heard him telling her to get her ass out there and to give him some money. She tore open the door just as he was taking in a deep breath to no doubt yell at her again.
“What the fuck do you want?” He drew back his fist as to hit her, she thought. “You do, and they’ll never fucking find where you stood last. Tell me what you want so I can tell you no and go on about my business.”
“I want you to give me some money. Not a pittance either. I want some real money.” She said as far as she knew, all money was real money. “Don’t be a bitch, Pem. Give me some right now. I’m your father, and you should be giving me some of what you have in the first place. Living here in this big house, you should be able to at least hand over a few things I can pawn. That should keep me until you get some cash on you.”
“Why is it you’re only my father when you want something from me? Not that it matters—you’ve never been a real father to me anyway. I’m not going to give you money. Nor am I going to give you a place to live. You’re not welcome here any more than you were when I lived at my other place. Go away.” She felt her grandma come up behind her. Dad looked at her and opened his mouth. “Grandma isn’t going to give you anything either. We’re finished with your shit.”
“Mom, I’m in a hard place here. I haven’t got anywhere to live. I don’t have anything for food. Even the places I’ve been thinking on staying are gone. And that’s all your fault. How could you tear down our family home? I had plans of living there until such time as you could afford to get me a place of my own. You know, you should want to give me money. My kid didn’t embarrass you like Austin’s did. I always knew those kids of his were mean. I mean—”
“Do shut up, Patrick. I’ve a headache, and it’s your fault. I didn’t tear the house down. The construction company did. But it mattered little to me that they did it as I no longer owned the land. I made a nice tidy profit, and I’m thrilled to be living here with Pem and her lovely husband, Theo.” Grandma came around her and poked Pem’s father in the chest with her finger as she continued. “Those boys didn’t embarrass me. You are the one that does that, every day you’re upright. Get a job, Patrick. You’re much too old for me to have to support you. Not that I ever did once you started whaling on Pem. When Austin arrives, I expect you to stay away from him as well.”
“Austin and Caroline are going to move in there with you guys? That’s fucking wrong. What the hell did he do that makes him so special? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing at all but to raise up two of the worst kids in the history of all kids being born.” Grandma told him he was the close second. “You’re just being mean now. There isn’t any call for you treating me like this, Mom. I’m the good one. If they get to live there, then I’m going to—”
“Caroline is dead.” Pem could tell that he’d not known that. Only telling him the highlights, Pem continued with what she thought he needed to know. “She killed herself several days ago. Austin was ready to join her, but Theo was there to help him get his shit together. And he did. Unlike you, he’s going to get himself a job here and support himself.”
Dad started laughing, like hearing about his brother and his burdens were the funniest thing he’d ever heard. As soon as she had enough, Pem moved by him to her car. Her father had a way about him that no matter how hard she tried to stand up to him, he would end up making her cry. Grandma joined her a few minutes later and simply got in and buckled her seatbelt.
“I’ve told the staff that he was around, so they’d know to kick his ass if he tried anything.” Pem thanked her grandma. “No need for that. I’ve been thinking about Austin since this incident with your father. I want him to come here and try to get his shit together. Just like you said. If he doesn’t…. Well, with this family, we have ways of scaring people straight. Perhaps I should think of a way to get Theo to burn Patrick a little. Might do him a bit of good to know that this family isn’t one to mess with. What do you think?”
“I think you’re brilliant. And I love you.” She kissed her grandma on her cheek and looked out her front window to see her dad being chased off by a pack of wolves. “That’s a wonderful sight. Don’t you think?”
“I hope they bite him in the butt.”
They were both still laughing when they got into town. There were a few places they could shop, but decided to get lunch first. She loved spending time with her grandma, and she decided she was going to do it more often. Pem only hoped Austin would get his shit together as he claimed he wanted to do. If he didn’t, Pem thought Grandma had the best idea. She’d have Theo or one of the others take care of him.
~*~
Theo couldn’t wait to get home. He did feel pretty good about getting some things done for the other man. His bills were paid off, his house was on the market, and he had been able to get Caroline buried by her sons. The red tape concerning that had had him calling his Aunt Carson. There were only two spots, and the boys had taken up both spaces. Getting one more casket in the same plot had been taken care of by her.
Austin had decided to live near his mom to get to know her better. He had also decided to sell off his house. Theo had been concerned for a while that the state was going to take it from him. The families of the dead that had been killed by his sons were willing to forego the money he might have coming to him by way of selling his home. They were going to take the insurance money that had been in Caroline’s name. It had been worth a great deal more than the house would have been anyway. It might not sell either, and that was the biggest factor in them taking the insurance money. Aunt Carson had rushed it through. The fact that it hadn’t had a suicide clause in it was all that had saved Austin.
The contents of the house were being donated to the shelter house nearby. Anything of value, they’d packed up and taken with them. There was a pitiful amount of that too. As they were seated on his family’s plane, Theo asked Austin if he was all right.
“I don’t rightly know how to answer that, to be honest with you. You’ve done more for me than I believe I ever did for my own flesh and blood in all these years.” Theo told him they were family. “I’m sure you’re just saying that because you have to. But whatever the reasons behind it are, I’m grateful for your help. Once the house is sold, if it ever does, I won’t have a single reason to go back home. If you’re thinking I’m a terrible man for not wanting to visit the graves of my family, I do have a reason for it.”
“You can tell me if you wish. But I don’t think you’re being terrible. As you told me the other day, you need to make your own way in this world. Coming back there to visit the graves of your family won’t be moving forward, but only back.” He nodded. “You’re going to be just fine, Austin. I know it. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and you are making sound decisions.”
“I should be in prison.” He’d said this to him before since he’d been at his home with him. “I know you keep telling me that I had no way of knowing anything like that was going to happen. But I also know I didn’t pay as much attention to the boys as I probably should have. Or at the very least, kept up with what the neighbors and the schools were telling me.”
“Yes, you should have. But beating yourself up over it now, at this late date, isn’t going to bring them back. Nor will it bring Caroline back. As you said, Caroline was a grown woman playing deadly games. It was bound to happen, one of the times she played with her own livelihood, that you’d not be there in time to make sure she was treated. I told Pem tha
t you were going to be volunteering with the suicide hotline. She does as well three nights a week.” Austin told him he might learn a thing or two himself. “I don’t doubt that one bit. Even Pem said she was dealing with her depression a lot less than she had been since she’s been working the phones.”
Pem was waiting at the end of the ramp for them. MaryBeth was there as well, but he only wanted his mate. Grabbing her up when she leapt into his arms, she kissed him all over his face until she’d had enough. Looking over at her uncle, she grinned at him then told him that she’d missed Theo.
“I can see that.” They all looked toward where MaryBeth was still standing. “Is she upset that I’m here?”
“No. She’s not sure how she feels about you living here, but she is willing to meet you halfway. I think you should understand that she’s also afraid you’ll get into her heart again then leave. I don’t know that she can take that a second time, Uncle Austin.” He told Pem that he wanted this to work as well. “Then I suggest you take the first step toward that and go hug your mom. She needs it too.”
Theo set Pem down on the floor, and they walked hand in hand toward Austin and his mom. They were talking quietly, which Theo thought was the best way for the two of them to start off. As soon as Austin wrapped his arms around his mom and started crying, he hoped it was good news.
“Mom and I are going to work on this. I can’t tell you how happy I am about that.” Pem told him it was showing. “I hope so. We have a lot of years to make up for. A great many more hurts, but I’m going to do everything I can so that Mom and I can be together.”
Theodore: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 9
