The Christmas Clock and A Song For My Mother: A Kat Martin Duo

by Kat Martin

  She scrubbed hard on the spot. She was almost finished when the doorbell rang. She glanced toward the front door, for an instant thinking it might be Reed. Probably not since he had been there just that morning. She always looked forward to his visits. In high school, she’d had a crush on him but once he’d met Carol, he had never really noticed her again.

  With a sigh, she climbed down the ladder. Tossing the wet rag into the sink, she wiped her hands on her apron and crossed the living room. For an instant, when she spotted the uniform through the window, she thought she was wrong and Reed had returned but when she pulled open the door, another officer stood on the porch.

  “Hello, Emily.”

  She stepped back, letting Deputy Patrick Murphy walk past her into the living room. “Hi, Pat.”

  He took off his brown felt hat and held it in both hands. “I... ummm... thought I’d stop by... see if there was anything you might need.” He had brownish red hair and hazel eyes. He had a nice smile, though he was a little bit shy about using it.

  She tried to smile in return, but all of a sudden, she felt exhausted and wound up just shaking her head. “The sheriff was here this morning. He brought me some milk. That’s all I really needed.”

  Patrick turned his hat brim in his big, lightly freckled hands. He was a year younger than she was. She knew because he had also gone to Dreyerville High.

  “I… ummm ... noticed your yard needs some work. With winter over, the shrubs are growing like crazy. The bushes could use a trim, get spruced up a bit. Be nice to put in some spring flowers.”

  She glanced out the window. “I’ve been so busy with the house I... I hadn’t thought about the yard. I’ll have to get out there this week.”

  He blanched. “I didn’t mean for you to do it. I was thinking... you know, maybe I’d stop by and do it for you.”

  “That isn’t necessary, Patrick.”

  “I’d like to help, Em. I mean... if you wouldn’t mind.”

  She released a shaky breath. “That’s very nice of you, Pat, but—”

  “I could start tomorrow. My shift ends at three. It would only take me a couple of days.”

  He was trying to help. Everyone had been so nice since Randy died. It made her guilt even worse.

  “That’s really kind of you... if you're sure you wouldn't mind."

  Patrick smiled. “I wouldn't mind at all." He was a nice looking man, she thought. Even the slightly crooked nose he had gotten in a fist fight in high school didn't detract from his appearance. She wondered why he wasn't married.

  “I'll be here tomorrow after my shift is over. I left my phone number the last time I was here. You still have it, right?"

  If she did, she had no idea where it was. “I'm sure I do." And she could probably find it. Before Randy died, she had been so disorganized. It was one of the things he disliked about her but she was better about it now.

  “If you need anything, just call and I'll pick it up on my way over."

  She nodded, gave him a weary smile. “Thank you, Patrick."

  “I'll see you tomorrow, then."

  She walked him to the door, watched him through the window as he made his way along the cement walkway. The car door opened and he slid behind the wheel. The engine roared to life. He backed out of the driveway and drove away.

  The deputies who continued to stop by were all friends of Randy's. They all felt sorry for her because her husband had been killed.

  She wondered if they would still want to help if they knew he'd been planning to leave her, that as far as Randy was concerned, their marriage was over. He didn't love her anymore, he had said. She was a terrible wife and mother and he was leaving her for someone else. How he had managed to keep it a secret, she would never know. Maybe the woman was married. Emily still had no idea who the woman was and didn't want to know.

  All she knew was that Randy had told her he wanted a divorce and he was taking Timmy with him when he left.

  He had made the announcement just hours before he had been killed.

  As she thought of that day, guilt expanded inside her. She should have loved him more. She should have been a better wife, better mother. She should have kept the house cleaner, learned to be a better cook.

  She shouldn't have felt that instant of relief when he said he was leaving.

  She wondered what would happen if the deputies found out her secret, wondered if they would abandon her, the way her husband had planned to do. Her chest felt tight the way it did sometimes when she thought about Randy.

  She looked up to see Timmy racing into the room. Surely it hadn't been an hour yet. Surely it wasn't time for his nap to be over. But there he was running toward her, his baggy jeans flapping, his T-shirt flattened against his narrow little boy's chest. He grinned as he crossed the room.

  “Can we color now?" He had Randy's same brown eyes, same light brown hair. But in most ways, she thought he was more like her than his father.

  She knelt in front of him with open arms and he ran in for a hug. She loved him so much. The cleaning could wait until later. Her son was more important.

  “Get your coloring book and put it up on the coffee table."

  “I'll get it!" He raced over to where he had left it on the floor.

  Randy had said she was a bad mother. That she left Timmy with a sitter too often, that she should have quit her job and stayed home to take care of them both.

  She didn’t work anymore. She just stayed home and took care of her boy.

  Sometimes she thought she would go crazy.

  5

  Reed stood at the door leading into the sunroom, where a fierce Ping Pong tournament was still taking place. The kids had been playing for hours and were surprisingly well matched. Ham usually beat most of the kids in the neighborhood but Katie was holding her own.

  She slammed the white ball down, Ham missed the return and she let out a peal of laughter. Ham laughed good-naturedly in return.

  Reed couldn't help but smile. Katie was a sweet little girl. If Carol had lived, they might have had more children. After Ham was born, both of them had wanted to try for a girl, but Carol miscarried two times in a row and the doctor thought it would be unwise to try again too soon.

  The years slipped past. They were considering another attempt or possibly adopting a baby when Carol had been killed.

  A chill slid through him. It had been raining that night, the wind blowing up a gale. Carol had been returning from a visit with her mother, who lived in the next county over. The roads were slick and the curve wasn't banked quite right. Neither driver was held responsible. Something just went wrong.

  Fate took Carol that dark night four years ago and part of Reed just shut down. Ham had only been eight at the time. The boy had finally recovered from the devastating loss of his mother, accepting his circumstances and moving forward again.

  Reed wished he had progressed as fast as his son. It had only been lately that he had begun to think of more than work and Ham, more about himself and what he wanted out of life.

  Which returned this attention to Ham and Katie and the Ping Pong match being played in front of him. His thoughts strayed from Katie to her mother, who was prettier than he would have guessed.

  Winnie was only in her fifties but she hadn't aged well. Her face was more wrinkled than it should have been, her shoulders already a little stooped. She limped slightly, an old injury of some sort, he guessed.

  He wouldn’t have expected the daughter to be tall and straight-shouldered, slender, with what appeared, in the snug-fitting jeans she'd been wearing, to be long, very nicely shaped legs.

  Winnie’s gray hair and hazel eyes hadn't prepared him for the daughter's blue eyes and shiny blond hair. She wore it in a neat French braid but little wispy curls escaped, making him curious as to what it would look like if she left it unbound.

  He hadn't really been attracted to a woman since Carol had died. Hadn't felt that little kick in the gut a man feels when he meets a woman who appe
als to all his male instincts. But today, he had actually thought of asking Marly Hanson to go out with him.

  He liked Winnie. And Marly's daughter seemed a well-adjusted, well-cared-for child, happy, considering all she had been through. If Marly was anything like either one of them, he might be interested in getting to know her, maybe even taking her out.

  But a date was a major step. The barbecue was a compromise. Safer. No pressure on either of them. If they didn't get along, she’d go home and that would be the end of it.

  And it was clear Katie would enjoy it.

  He watched the kids play and felt a pang because he and Carol hadn’t been able to have more children. Maybe it would happen if he ever remarried. It didn't seem possible at the moment, but there was always a chance.

  Life had a way of going in directions you didn't expect.

  It had already happened to him once; it could happen again.

  Reed wasn't sure how he felt about the notion.

  Winnie ended up taking Katie to church on Sunday morning while Marly stayed home and worked on some of her lesson plans for the class she would be teaching in Detroit in the fall. Or at least that was what Marly had said.

  It made Winnie sad to think that her sins had driven her daughter away not only from her but also from God.

  Sitting in the long mahogany pew, she reached over and squeezed Katie's hand. The child had been quiet throughout the service, the subject of which had been forgiveness. Years ago, Winnie had forgiven Marly for running away, for leaving a hole in her heart that still hadn't mended. She just wished her daughter would consider forgiving her.

  As the service came to a close, the Reverend Gains walked up the aisle and stepped out onto the porch in front of the tall, arched doors to greet his flock as they departed. Winnie urged Katie up from the pew and wandered along with the congregation toward the door.

  The church was old and lovely, with an old-fashioned tall, white steeple and stained glass windows that let in rainbow-colored light. Katie adjusted her knit cap, this one blue to match her Sunday church dress, and they slowed as they reached the minister, who conversed with several members of the church.

  He turned, smiled in Winnie’s direction. “Hello, Winifred.”

  “Reverend.” He was a tall, heavyset blond man with warm brown eyes and the kind of smile you could trust. “And this must be your granddaughter, Katie. You mentioned she was coming for a visit.”

  “That's right. Katie, say hello to Reverend Gains.”

  “Hello, Reverend.”

  The minister glanced around and Winnie knew he was looking for Marly.

  “Mom didn’t come,” Katie told him. “She said the steeple would probably fall off if she went back to church after all these years.”

  The reverend just smiled. “I remember your mother. Tell her I said we're willing to take our chances. Tell her my wife and I would both be pleased to see her in church again.”

  “I'll tell her but I don't think she'll come.”

  Winnie led Katie away, glad her granddaughter wasn't as antisocial as Marly had become. Maybe tonight would be better.

  She found herself smiling. Her daughter might try to pretend otherwise but she was still a beautiful young woman and Reed Bennett was an extremely attractive man.

  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if—

  Her chest clamped down as if she were suffering one of her asthma spells. Unless something changed, Marly wouldn’t be staying in Dreyerville long enough for something wonderful to happen.

  The joy Winnie had been feeling slowly melted away.

  The barbecue that evening went smoothly. The weather cooperated by remaining unseasonably warm and to her dismay, Marly discovered she was actually enjoying herself.

  “This chicken is wonderful,” she said to Reed, who sat across from her at the picnic table out in his backyard. She licked sweet red barbecue sauce from her fingers. “I’ll have to get your recipe.”

  He chuckled. “My recipe is, purchase a package of chicken that’s already cut up, put it on the grill, cook it till it’s brown, and slather it with any flavor barbecue sauce you buy at the store.” He smiled. “I’m really not much of a cook.”

  “You did just fine tonight.”

  He sank his teeth into a drumstick. When he swallowed the bite, he chased it with a swallow of iced tea. “How about you? You like to cook?”

  She ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “My mother was the cook in our family. Her meals were delicious.”

  Reed frowned. “Do you realize you and your mother both talk about each other in the past tense? You’re both still alive, you know.”

  Her lips tightened. “This life died for me a long time ago.”

  Reed sipped his tea, eyeing her over the rim of the glass. “I can’t believe Winnie was that bad a mother.” Marly’s gaze swung toward the woman standing in front of the card table cutting into the double-layer chocolate cake she had baked. Next to her, Katie and Ham waited impatiently for her to serve them a slice. The dog, Rufus, sat beside them wagging his tail, hoping for a piece of his own.

  “In most ways, Winnie was a wonderful mother. She went to every parent-teacher conference, made sure I had decent clothes, helped me with my homework, always gave me encouragement when I needed it.”

  “But . . .?”

  Marly shrugged, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “There were other, more important things she didn't do.”

  “Like . . .?”

  She straightened on the bench. “Look, it's really none of your business.”

  “No, it isn't. Except that I like Winifred Maddox and I'm starting to like you, too. Helping people is part of my job. Helping people I care about feels like the right thing to do.”

  “You can't help me, Reed. Too much has happened. Too many years have gone by. Too many old hurts that'll never mend.”

  “If it wasn't your mother,” he pressed, “it must have been your dad. What did he do?”

  A cold chill swept through her. She looked up at him and shook her head. “You don't give up, do you?”

  He smiled. “Not easily. Though in this case, I probably should.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I'd like to ask you out and you won’t say yes if I keep interfering in your business.”

  She laughed. She looked at him and felt a funny little lift in her stomach. He was even better looking in jeans and a light blue shirt than he had been in his uniform.

  “I haven’t been out on a date in years,” she said. “Not since before Katie got sick. Not often before that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. Probably because my experiences with men haven’t been very good.”

  “Men like your dad.”

  “That’s right. And my husband.”

  Her mother walked up just then and handed them each a piece of cake on a paper plate, along with a plastic fork. “I thought about putting chopped nuts on top the way you always liked,” she said, “but I didn’t know if Katie liked nuts.”

  “She loves them.” Marly looked down at the cake and could almost see the walnuts pressing into the thick chocolate frosting, something special her mother had added just for her. Her eyes swam for an instant before she blinked the image away. It was getting harder and harder to be stoic, to keep her distance the way she had vowed to do. She took a calming breath and slowly released it. “The cake looks great.”

  Reed took an oversized bite. “It’s delicious, Winnie,” he said around a mouthful and her mother beamed.

  “I’m glad you like it.” Winnie waited impatiently for her daughter to take a bite, then smiled at the look of pleasure Marly couldn’t keep from washing into her face.

  “It tastes even better than it looks,” Marly admitted but as she had said, her mother had always been a great cook.

  Winnie cast her a last soft glance as she walked away.

  “She loves you,” Reed said. “She talks about you all the time.”

&nb
sp; “In the past tense.”

  “As I understand it, you haven’t seen each other in years. Until you came back, there hasn’t been a present tense.”

  With nothing to say in reply, she took another bite of the delicious cake. Memories rushed in. She and her mother baking a cake just like this one, the kitchen filled with the aroma of cocoa and vanilla.

  Then her dad had driven up in his pickup, opened his door, and fallen out of the truck onto the cement driveway. Winnie had dropped the spoon in her hand and raced out to help him. At least he had waited until he got into the house before he slapped her face.

  “What is it?” Reed’s voice brought her back to the present. “You all right? You look kind of pale.”

  A slow breath escaped. “I was thinking of the past. For me, it’s never a good thing to do.”

  “Sometimes dealing with the past is the only way you can move into the future.”

  Marly took a sip of the frosty iced tea. “My mother told me you lost your wife. Have you been able to deal with that and move into the future?”

  He sighed. “I wish I could say I have. I’m trying. It’s harder than I thought it would be. Maybe you should at least give it a try.”

  Marly shook her head. “I’ve spent the last twelve years trying to forget all of this. Now I’m right back where I started. I can’t tell you how happy I’ll be to leave.”

  “When are you going?”

  “I promised Katie we’d stay a couple of weeks.”

  He smiled. “Plenty of time for that date.”

  Marly looked up at him. Why not? He was a handsome man, one who had other nice qualities as well. Why shouldn’t she make the best of a bad situation? “All right. When do you want to go?”

  “How about tomorrow? We could all go out for pizza and a movie. Unfortunately, it’s a school night for Ham but Katie’s welcome to come with us.”

  That was something new. A man asking her to go out with him and bring her daughter along.