Mending Fences

by Sherryl Woods

  “How did that sit with Ms. By-the-Book Dobbs?”

  “Truthfully?”

  “Of course.”

  “I kind of liked that he would consider breaking them for me.”

  Paula picked up the paper and fanned herself dramatically. “I really need to get another look at the man who’s got you talking about living your life on the edge.”

  “Oh, stop it,” Emily said. “Besides, it will probably never go anywhere at all.” The prospect left her feeling more than a little wistful. “The fantasy’s pretty amazing, though.”

  Paula regarded her with a sober expression. “Then maybe you need to stop making excuses for doing nothing and do whatever you can to make sure it becomes reality.”

  When Emily and Dani got home from school that afternoon, her daughter headed straight up to her room, disgruntled about still being grounded. Emily just shook her head and headed for the kitchen to pour herself a glass of iced tea. To her surprise, she found Josh at the kitchen table, munching on stale cookies and drinking what was probably the last of the milk.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you home this early,” she said, pulling out a chair across from him. “Don’t you have classes this afternoon?”

  “I decided to cut. I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m afraid Evan’s going to get away with what he did to that girl, Lauren Brown.”

  Emily frowned. “What makes you say that?”

  “You should hear what’s being said on campus. Everybody’s talking about her like she’s some big slut,” he said angrily. “It’s so unfair. They’re saying she’s accused other guys of the same thing, just to make herself feel important. There’s one rumor that she made all this stuff up about Evan because he wouldn’t have sex with her. It makes me sick.”

  Truthfully, it made Emily sick, too. “What do you say when you hear things like that?”

  “I’ve tried to tell some of these guys that she’s not like that, but they don’t want to hear it. The girls are worse. Most of them are so jealous that he asked Lauren out instead of them, they’ll believe anything negative that’s said about her. They all think I’m a traitor because Evan’s supposed to be my friend.” He regarded her earnestly. “It’s not about that at all, Mom. What Evan and his dad—I know they’re behind it—are doing is wrong, almost as wrong as what Evan did in the first place.”

  Emily was proud of the indignation she saw in her son’s eyes. “Is there anything more you could do?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not as if I’m totally credible. I hardly know Lauren, so how can I defend her? I’m just now getting to know her roommate and she is one hundred percent behind Lauren, so I feel like I should be, too, but I’m not sure how to do that.”

  “Are you still avoiding Evan?”

  He nodded. “Mostly. I ran into him the other day and he tried to get me to back him up, to tell people what a great guy he is. He wanted me to say publicly that I’ve known him for years and he’d never do a thing like this. I told him I couldn’t say that, that I believed Lauren.”

  Emily was impressed with her son’s strength. “I am so proud of you for standing up to him, though it breaks my heart that you had to. How did Evan take it?”

  “He looked like I’d kicked him in the gut at first. He was really hurt, you know. It made me feel awful.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Then he started getting all arrogant and mean, saying I was backing a loser and he wasn’t going to forget about it. He said our friendship was over.”

  “I’m sure he was just angry. He probably didn’t mean it.”

  “Oh, he meant it,” Josh insisted. “If you’d heard him, you’d get that. I can’t even repeat some of the stuff he said.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Emily said. “For both of you.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not like we’ve been hanging out that much recently, anyway,” Josh said with a shrug. “Still, it’s all such a mess. I talked to Dad about it over the weekend. He just says I should do whatever I think is right.” He regarded her with a helpless expression. “I’m not sure I know what that is.”

  “It sounds to me as if you’re already doing everything you can. You’re standing up for Lauren when you hear things that are lies. You’re not letting Evan use your friendship to his advantage.”

  He fell silent, then looked up. “I left out something else. Mr. Carter came over here while you were away. I guess Evan told him I wouldn’t go public and back him. Mr. Carter said it was time for me to stand up and be a man and defend Evan. He said only a coward would back down and let a friend face bogus charges like this. He made me feel like slime, or at least he tried to.”

  Emily’s temper flared. “Ken tried to bully you into taking Evan’s side?”

  Josh nodded. “I told him he could say whatever he wanted about me, but that I wouldn’t lie to protect his son. I told him that trying to ruin Lauren’s reputation was really low, too.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Mom, I get why he’s desperate. I know what’s at stake for Evan, everything he ever dreamed about, and I feel bad about that. I really do. He’s worked hard practically forever to be a big football star and it’s all about to go up in smoke.” He regarded her earnestly. “But he shouldn’t get away with this. I’ve seen what this did to Lauren. When I was over at their apartment the other day and Jenny introduced me, I held out my hand to shake hers and she jerked away. She was scared, Mom. Of me. Think what he must have done to make her feel that way. How does a woman ever get over something like that?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” she told him sorrowfully. “Does she have a good support system?”

  “She has Jenny,” he said. His expression brightened perceptibly. “And she’s pretty amazing.”

  Emily smiled at his response. “Then one good thing has come out of this. You’ve met a truly admirable young lady. Maybe you could bring her home sometime. Lauren, too. I’d like to meet them both.”

  Josh flushed. “Maybe sometime,” he said, his tone noncommittal.

  “Just so you know they’d be welcome anytime,” she said.

  “Did you know I’d talked to Detective Rodriguez?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “He seems like a pretty decent guy,” he said.

  “I think so, too.”

  He studied her anxiously. “Have you let him talk to Dani?”

  She shook her head.

  “She could know more than she’s saying, Mom. I don’t want to think about the same thing happening to her, but it could have. Now that I’ve seen how it affected Lauren, I think we should know if it happened to Dani, too. She’s been acting kinda weird since all this started, almost as if she feels guilty about something.”

  “I’ve noticed the same thing, and I know you’re right. I’ve tried more than once to get her to open up, but she won’t even discuss Evan.”

  “You want me to try?”

  She thought about that. Maybe Dani would open up to her big brother under most circumstances, but not about this. “I don’t think so,” she said eventually. “I’ll try again. If Evan did do anything to her and she’s been keeping it to herself, she’ll need her mother.”

  “Okay, but if you change your mind, let me know.”

  “I will,” she promised.

  “I guess I should go upstairs and study. Any chance we can order pizza for dinner?”

  “Didn’t you have pizza every night while I was away?”

  He grinned. “What can I say? I love pizza. It’s a perfect meal. Just about all the food groups in one.”

  “Fine, but I’m ordering it with mushrooms and green peppers, so there’s at least a smattering of vegetables on it.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “It already has tomato sauce.”

  “Tomatoes are a fruit, actually.”

  “Well, there you go. It’s even better than I thought.”

  He started from the room, then turned back. �
�Do you think I should contact some of the girls Evan dated in high school? I’ll bet anything at least some of them had a problem with him, even if they never talked about it. I have e-mail addresses at college for a lot of them.”

  Emily gave the offer some thought. She knew whatever Josh found might be invaluable to the police, but the toll it would take on Josh and Evan’s friendship—whatever was left of it—would be high. “Do you really want to do that? It’s bound to get back to him that you’re actively trying to find backup for Lauren. It will sever the friendship forever. Maybe you should just pass the contact information along to Detective Rodriguez.”

  “You’re probably right, but not because of my friendship with Evan. That’s pretty much wrecked,” he said without any evidence of regret. “I know we were really close when we were kids, but lately…” He shrugged. “He’s changed, or maybe I have. I don’t know. Is it awful that I can’t stand up for him?”

  She saw how hard he was struggling to find his way through this quagmire and sought to be reassuring. “No, it’s honest, and it shows you’re learning that character matters even more than popularity and athletic skill. Lots of people change and grow apart over the years. It’s no reflection on either of them.”

  “But you don’t feel the same way, do you? You still think Evan’s okay?”

  “I’m trying to keep an open mind. I haven’t seen him in the same situations you’ve seen him in, so I trust your judgment about his behavior toward women. I just hate thinking that the sweet boy who spent so much time here could have changed so dramatically. And I feel absolutely awful for what Marcie and Caitlyn are going through.”

  “Yeah, me, too. It must really suck for them.”

  “That’s why I don’t want to do anything to make it worse, more for their sakes than Evan’s.” She studied him worriedly. “That’s one reason I think you should just give the names and contact information for the girls to Detective Rodriguez. Getting any more deeply involved yourself would really hurt Marcie and Caitlyn.”

  Josh shook his head. “I get what you’re saying, Mom, but the girls might not be as candid with him,” he said. “At least I can break the ice for him.”

  “I’m sure he’d be grateful.” She smiled at the young man who was maturing faster than she’d realized. “I imagine Jenny will be, too.”

  “I’m doing it for Lauren,” he insisted.

  “Either way, you’re doing a good thing for all the right reasons and I’m proud of you.”

  He looked embarrassed by the praise. “Whatever. I’ll be down when the pizza gets here.”

  Dani had heard her brother talking to her mom downstairs. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it had to be serious for the conversation to have gone on so long. Usually Josh mumbled a greeting and went straight to his room. She had a funny feeling they’d been talking about Evan again, and maybe her.

  She opened the door to her room when she heard Josh on the stairs and went out to wait for him.

  “What were you talking to Mom about?” she asked, blocking his way.

  “Just some stuff,” he said.

  “Was it about me?”

  He regarded her quizzically. “Why would we be talking about you?”

  “Because I know you do it all the time lately. You think I’m hiding something about Evan.”

  Josh didn’t deny it. Instead, he looked her in the eye. “Are you?”

  A part of Dani wanted to burst into tears and say yes and then let it all out, every ugly detail, but she simply couldn’t get the words past the lump in her throat. Not to the brother she’d always looked up to. He’d never see her the same way again.

  “No,” she mumbled.

  To her surprise, Josh put his hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me, kid. If you do have something to say, you should tell me or Mom. We’d understand. So would Dad.”

  How could they? Dani thought miserably. They knew she’d had a crush on Evan. They were bound to assume that she’d thrown herself at him, but it hadn’t been like that. She’d wanted him to kiss her, sure, but nothing else. None of what had happened after.

  Once again, she drew in a deep breath and leveled a defiant look at her brother. “Nothing happened.”

  Josh didn’t look as if he believed her. Oh, he clearly wanted to, but skepticism was written all over his face. Dani backed toward her room.

  “When’s dinner? Did Mom say?” she asked.

  “She’s ordering pizza now,” he said.

  “How’d you talk her into that? She never does it when I ask.”

  Josh rubbed her head with his knuckles. “She likes me best,” he told her. “Always has.”

  “In your dreams,” she retorted, glad that he’d dropped the whole subject of Evan. As annoying as it was when Josh teased her, she still liked it. On his good days, he was the best big brother ever. On the other days, well, she’d gotten used to him being a nuisance.

  Even as she thought that, she remembered how close Caitlyn had always been to Evan. No wonder she was struggling with everything that was going on. She loved Evan just as fiercely as Dani loved Josh. If Josh were in trouble—not that he ever would be—Dani wouldn’t want to believe the worst about him. Maybe she ought to cut Caitlyn some slack for not being so quick to condemn Evan, even though she had to know the truth about him. Just because Dani had good reason to hate him didn’t mean she could expect Caitlyn to. First chance she got, maybe she’d even tell her that.

  Though they’d had a good time in Sanibel, they’d both been on the defensive. Dani had missed the way things used to be. With all the trouble going on, maybe they could never have that same easygoing camaraderie again, but she’d like to try. She’d always thought she and Caitlyn would go through life being almost like the sisters neither of them had.

  It was wrong to let this whole mess with Evan destroy that, too, she concluded. He shouldn’t be allowed to steal one more thing from her. He’d stolen her innocence and her ability to trust, and that was more than enough.

  14

  Grady’s frustration was mounting. Everywhere he went, he and Naomi were running into a wall of silence—the university community, the athletic department, Evan’s old high school, the neighborhood. No one wanted to say anything bad about the star athlete, while quite a few were all too eager to disparage Lauren Brown. The tide was shifting, turning Evan into the victim. Grady knew he could thank Ken Carter for that. A well-planted rumor here, a sly innuendo there, and Lauren became the calculating woman who was trying to ruin a boy’s life.

  Grady was at his desk, trying to figure out what he could do that he hadn’t already done when he looked up to see his uncle crossing the squad room. Luis Rodriguez was sixty now, with strong shoulders, a long stride, and salt-and-pepper hair. He ought to be thinking about retirement, but he’d turned down every incentive the City of Miami Police Department had offered him. He liked his beat in the Little Havana neighborhood where he’d been a patrolman for his entire career. He was obviously off today, since he was out of uniform and wearing neatly pressed khakis and a pale blue guayabera shirt.

  “Tio Luis,” Grady said, walking over to give the older man a hug. “What brings you by?”

  “I’ve been reading the paper, listening to the talk on the radio and on the street. I thought you might need a friendly ear about now. You have time for lunch?”

  “I’ll make the time,” Grady said, calling over to Naomi to let her know he’d be out for an hour.

  Naomi grinned at his uncle. “Luis, don’t you dare let him near any French fries,” she said. “He eats entirely too many.”

  “We’ll stick to good, healthy Cuban food,” his uncle promised her.

  Naomi frowned. “Are you sure that’s not a contradiction in terms?”

  “Hey, young lady, you tell me what’s wrong with black beans and rice? Complex carbohydrates, yes?” Luis said with indignation. “You know I always take care of my nephew, sí?”

  “I’m counting on it,” Naomi told h
im.

  When Grady and his uncle left the squad room, Luis regarded him solemnly. “She is concerned about you. She is warm, compassionate, not bad to look at. Perhaps you should consider—”

  Grady sighed. It wasn’t the first time someone in his family had speculated about a romance between him and his partner. The meddling was off base and exasperating, though he should have grown used to it by now. Naomi did a better job than he did of shrugging it off.

  “Don’t go there,” Grady said. “Naomi and I have a working relationship, nothing more.”

  Luis remained undaunted. “I’m just saying that having such a beautiful woman care about you can’t be a bad thing. You need someone special in your life. You’ve been alone too long.”

  “You’ve been talking to my mother again,” Grady guessed. His mother wasn’t above enlisting her brother-in-law’s assistance in fixing his love life.

  His uncle shrugged. “She, too, worries about you. It’s time to stop blaming yourself for what happened with Kathleen and Megan and move on.”

  “And I really don’t want to go there,” Grady warned as he climbed into his uncle’s flashy sports car. His aunt had worried that the car was just the beginning of some midlife crisis, but Luis insisted it was nothing of the sort. The car was just the fulfillment of a long-held dream.

  “Has Tia Delores ridden in this yet?” he asked his uncle, determined to change the subject to something that would put Luis on the defensive for once.

  Luis sighed heavily, his expression sorrowful. “She says she doesn’t trust it or me, that we’re too old for a car like this. She thinks we should drive a nice, safe sedan.”

  “You sure she’s not sneaking out while you’re working and taking it for a spin around the neighborhood?” Grady asked.

  “I wish she would,” Luis said as he pulled into the parking lot at Versailles, one of the oldest and most popular Cuban restaurants in the heart of Little Havana.

  Inside, Luis called out greetings to several of the regulars who were standing at the counter in front ordering Café Cubano, the thick, sweet coffee that came with a real jolt of caffeine and a generous dollop of local gossip spoken in Spanish or, in a very few instances, heavily accented English. He led the way to a table in the back, near one of the ornate, etched mirrors that harked back to the decor of many places in Havana in a happier era before Castro.