Forget all that and just count yourself lucky that she didn’t lead you on indefinitely.
But when the phone rang and he nearly broke a leg trying to get to it, he had to admit that maybe he didn’t want to forget about her. At least not yet.
“Mason? Oh, I’m so glad I caught you. I thought for sure you’d be out somewhere.”
Alex. He sat on the arm of the couch and tried not to sound disappointed. “Why would you think that?”
“Debra told me you’ve been seeing someone. Is it serious?”
His “relationship” with Jolene was the last thing he wanted to discuss with Alexandra. “Not exactly. Sorry to disappoint you.’
She gave a little laugh and moved on as if the subject hadn’t really interested her at all. “Oh, I’m not disappointed. I just thought it was nice, that’s all. It’s really time that you got a life of your own. Something other than work, that is.”
“Fun as it is to talk about my love life with you, you want me to call Debra?”
“Not yet. How’s she doing with the suspension?”
“Surprisingly, not bad. She spent yesterday at the Cultural Center, and the day before she went with me to the job site. I put her to work hauling decorative bark chips in a wheelbarrow.”
Alex laughed. “I’ll bet she loved that.”
“She didn’t complain as much as I thought she would. I talked to the school district this afternoon. She should be able to go back to school on Monday.”
“That’s good, Mason. I’m glad. I wasn’t really sure about this arrangement when I sent her to stay with you, but I just didn’t know what to do. I have to admit, I think you’ve been good for her.
The compliment surprised him. “Thanks, but it’s not just me. My friend—Jolene—has done a lot to help, too.”
“This is the woman you’re not serious about?”
“It’s the woman who isn’t serious about me,” Mason admitted. “The story of my life.”
“I was serious about you,” Alex protested. “I just had trouble with Debra and me always being second place with you. I even understood why you were so driven to succeed. Except I needed more than you could give me.”
“Well, at least I’m not repeating the same old mistake over and over again. Jolene seems to need a whole lot less time than I’m willing to give.”
“I’m sorry. Truly. I’m not just saying that.”
She sounded sincere. “Thanks. It doesn’t help but it’s nice to hear.”
She laughed softly. “I’m glad we’ve been able to put the past behind us, Mason. It’s good for Debra’s sake that we can get along.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“I guess I’d better warn you why I’m calling.”
The smile slipped from his face. “You’re calling to take Debra back?”
“No. Relax. I promised you six months, and you’ll have them. I have some news for her, but I don’t think she’s going to be happy about it.”
“What kind of news?”
“Bill and I are expecting a baby. Debra’s going to be a big sister.”
“That’s great, Alex. I know you must be thrilled.”
“I am, but I’m also worried about Debra. She had such a tough time sharing me with Bill, I just don’t know whether this will push her off the deep end. What do you think?
Mason shrugged and glanced toward his daughter’s door. “She’s a little calmer now than she was. We actually have conversations now and then, and less than half of them involve screaming. She might not take it as hard as you think. When’s the baby due?”
Alex hesitated just long enough to rouse his suspicions, and when she answered, she confirmed them. “In September.”
“So you were already pregnant when you sent her to live with me.”
“Yes.”
“Is that why you sent her away?”
“Don’t say it like that! I sent her to stay with you because I felt like death warmed over all the time. She and Bill couldn’t be in the same room for five minutes without a fight, and I simply couldn’t deal with them.”
He watched the last, frail wisps of smoke drifting out of the open door. “You should have told her the truth, Alex.”
“And let her think I sent her away because of the baby?”
“She’s not stupid. She’ll figure it out anyway.”
“Maybe so, but at least I feel better now. If she gets upset, I can talk with her. Reason with her.”
He thought about the pain he’d seen on Jolene’s face when she told him about her mother’s lie. “The trouble with that is, she’ll be so focused on the lie she won’t hear what you’re saying. There’s no excuse you can give her that will make up for lying to her in the first place.”
“She’s a child. She doesn’t need to know every little thing.”
“I wouldn’t call a brand new brother or sister a little thing, would you?”
Alex’s voice grew tight and tense. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. I need you to work with me, Mason, not against me. Please don’t tell her this is something she needs to be upset about.”
A knot of tension tightened in his neck, and he rubbed the spot in a vain attempt to get rid of it. “I’m not working against you, Alex. And I’m not planning to influence Debra’s reaction, so relax. Just don’t be surprised if she’s more upset about the lie than about the baby, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Right. Well, we might as well get this over with. Get her on, okay?”
He put the phone down and walked slowly down the hall. He wasn’t looking forward to the next few days, and he couldn’t help being a little annoyed with Alex for choosing tonight to tell Debra. Just when things had started looking up.
Give thanks for all the opportunities to grow a little each day, he told himself. But today, he would have been a whole lot more thankful without the opportunities he’d been given.
HE WAS SITTING at the kitchen table nursing his second cup of coffee the next morning when Debra came in, hair tousled, eyes puffy. She stood just inside the door, her arms crossed. “Did she tell you?”
“Who? Your mother?”
She nodded, looking glum. “About the baby?”
“She told me.” He set his cup on the table and shifted in his chair so he could see her better. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s stupid. She’s too old to be having babies, isn’t she?”
“Not exactly.” He grinned. “She has a few more good years left.”
“You mean she could have another one?”
“I suppose she could. Would that bother you?”
She flounced toward the cupboard, glaring at him as if he’d just announced that the world was flat. “Well, duh! Of course it would bother me. First she ships me off here, then she starts having babies. Bill’s babies. She’s going to forget all about me.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Mason assured her.
She pulled a box of Marshmallow Puffies from the cupboard and reached for a bowl. “What makes you so sure?”
“Well, just look at you. You’re a great kid. You’re smart, and you’re funny—when you want to be. You’re a strong diver, and you’re pretty darn cute to boot. How could anybody forget about you?”
Her eyes narrowed into a sharp accusation. “You did.’
“Not true. I never forgot about you.”
“That’s a lie.”
“No, it’s the truth.” Mason opened the fridge and pulled out the milk. “I might not have been the world’s greatest dad, but I always loved you.”
Debra scowled at him, but she stopped arguing that point and switched to another. “What’s she doing having babies, anyway? That’s just gross. We’re learning about it in health class, and it’s disgusting.”
Not the talk Mason had been gearing up for all night, but maybe he should have been. Any dad with a half a brain would figure that talk about babies and pregnancy would lead straight back to sex, wouldn’t he? “They’ve t
aught you all about it, huh?”
“Not all about it.” Debra carried her breakfast to the table and dropped heavily into a chair. “Just enough for me to know that I never want to do it.”
Mason ducked his head so she wouldn’t see his grin. “Never?”
“Never.”
He took a minute to compose himself. “You know, I don’t think there’s a dad in the world that wouldn’t take a few victory laps if he heard his daughter say that, but in the interest of fairness I probably ought to warn you that someday you’ll change your mind.”
She brushed a stray hair from her forehead as she splashed milk into the bowl. “No, I won’t.”
“Okay. Fine. Frankly, I’m good with that. But if you ever do change you mind, be smart, okay? Did they talk to you about protection?”
“Like condoms?” She made a face and nodded.
“Something like that. Twelve is far too young for any of that, by the way.” He sipped coffee and added, “So is thirteen. And fourteen. And…”
Debra scooped up a spoonful of cereal and eyed him. “Do you ever do it?”
He spit out a mouthful of coffee and stared at her in disbelief. “Did you just ask me if I have sex?”
“Well, do you?”
“No. Not recently. Not that it’s something I’m comfortable talking about with my kid.”
“If you did, would you use protection?”
“Yes.”
“If you did, would it be with Jolene?”
Mason stood abruptly. “Okay, conversation over.”
“Does that mean yes?”
“It means this isn’t a conversation I’m going to have with my twelve-year-old daughter.” He poured the rest of his coffee down the sink and opened the kitchen blind to let the sun in. “Hurry and get dressed so we’re not late.”
“But you like her, don’t you.”
“I like her a lot, but that still doesn’t mean I’m going to discuss this with you. We’re supposed to be talking about you and how you feel about your mom being pregnant.”
“I already told you, it’s gross.”
“Maybe you won’t think that once you get home and see the baby.”
She slurped up another mouthful of cereal and answered with her mouth full. “I’m not going home,” she said. At least that’s what Mason thought she said. It wasn’t easy to tell around all the Marshmallow Puffies.
“Well, not until November or so, but—”
“I’m not going home at all,” Debra said with a bob of her head to show that she meant business. “I’m staying here. With you. Forever.”
JOLENE COULD HARDLY breathe as she made the long walk from the street to Thea High Eagle’s door the next evening. A light rain had fallen earlier, and now puddles lined the sidewalks and the lights shimmered in the moist air. Her heart hammered, and a thousand thoughts raced through her mind.
Maybe she should wait until tomorrow. Maybe she should call first. Wouldn’t that be the polite thing to do? Probably. But if she didn’t go knock on that door now, she might never find the courage. She’d put this off for so long, she wasn’t even sure what to say.
Her stomach lurched as she climbed the steps, and she could have sworn her heart stopped beating entirely as she pressed the doorbell. From inside the house, she heard the bell peal. In just seconds her life would change forever. She knew it as certainly as she knew that the moon was climbing in the night sky and the day would dawn tomorrow.
After only a few seconds, the door opened and Thea stood in front of her. She looked surprised, then wary. “Osiyo. It’s Jolene, isn’t it? Am I remembering right?”
Jolene had rehearsed what she wanted to say a dozen times on the way across town, but getting her voice to work was even harder than she’d expected. “Yes, you’re remembering right. I’m sorry to bother you, but I wonder if we could talk.”
Thea looked her over uncertainly. “If it’s about the Center, I’d rather wait until tomorrow. I’ll be there from eleven until three.”
“It’s not about the Center,” Jolene said. “At least not directly.”
Thea’s uncertainty turned to suspicion. “How did you find me here? Did someone at the Center give out my address?”
“No, actually I got it from Mason Blackfox.”
“From Mason?”
“Yes, he— He’s been a good friend.” When Thea made no move to invite her in, she blurted in desperation, “I think you knew my mother.”
Confusion clouded her grandmother’s eyes. “Your mother?”
“Her name is Margaret. She used to be Margaret Starr.”
One hand flew to Thea’s throat and her eyes grew round with surprise. “Oh, my. You’re Maggie’s daughter?”
Jolene couldn’t imagine her mother going by a nickname but, then, she wouldn’t have believed any of this a few weeks ago. “I am.”
“Why didn’t you say so before?” Thea motioned Jolene inside. “Well, then, of course. Come in out of the rain. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.”
Profoundly relieved, Jolene followed the small woman into a large room dominated by a loom and a half-finished blanket in shades of red, yellow and gray. Against the far wall, baskets tumbled over one another and thin strips of wood and a stack of handles lay on a large workspace. Another blanket hung on the wall, and still another over the arm of a chair.
Jolene turned slowly, taking it all in, trying to get a feel for the woman who lived there. “Mason told me you’re a master craftsman. He didn’t mention that you also weave blankets.”
“I do many things. Come. Sit. Tell me about Maggie. How is she?”
“She’s fine.” Jolene sat and waited to drop her bombshell until Thea was comfortable. “My mother tells me my father was your son, Billy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THEA’S EXPRESSION changed dramatically at that news. Suspicion, confusion and hope all mingled together on her face. “Billy’s child? But that’s impossible. He’s been gone—”
“For thirty years. I know.” Jolene tried to smile, but her lips felt like cold lumps of clay. “Apparently, my mother was pregnant when Billy was killed in Vietnam.”
Thea closed her eyes. “And she never told me?”
“She never told me, either. I only recently found out.”
“But how can that be?”
“She was…I mean, she thought…it’s a long story. I didn’t know who you were when I met you at the Center. Mason didn’t tell me until later.”
“Mason knows who you are?”
“Yes.
“I see. And this is true, what you say? You’re really my granddaughter?”
“According to my mother. I believe her.”
Thea leaned forward and studied Jolene for so long, she had to grip the armrests to keep from fidgeting. “There is a lot of your mother in you,” Thea said after what seemed like hours. “But I see my son, too—in your eyes, your chin, even the tilt of your head as you look at me.” Her eyes brimmed with tears and she sat back in her chair with a sigh. “Why did she tell you after all this time? If she’s kept it a secret for thirty years, why now?”
“She probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t stumbled across an old photograph of her with Billy while I was working on a case.”
“A case?”
“I’m a police officer.”
“And you found a photograph of Billy and Maggie together? After all this time?”
“It was at Mason’s house. That’s how we met. Not because of the picture, really. I was there for another reason.”
“I see.”
“I wasn’t even on a case,” Jolene said, suddenly worried that she might have added to the doubts about Mason. “I was giving Debra a lift home. After a party.”
Thea crossed her legs and set her rocking chair in motion. “You seem very sweet.”
Jolene laughed uncertainly. “Thanks, but sweet isn’t a word most people use with me. Comes from working on the narcotics squad for too long, I guess.”<
br />
“A police officer. Isn’t that something. Billy would have liked that.”
The quick rush of pleasure she felt surprised Jolene. “Would he?”
“He was a warrior, that son of mine. Always wanting to right some wrong or protect someone who needed help. An Aniwayha born to the Anisahoni. His father never understood, and neither did his brothers. It wasn’t easy on him, I can tell you that.” She was silent for a moment. “Why didn’t your mother tell you about Billy? Was she ashamed?”
Jolene shook her head quickly. “She says she wasn’t, and again, I believe her. She says she loved Billy, but she was confused and frightened after he died. And worried her parents wouldn’t accept me.”
Thea stopped rocking. “They always had trouble accepting the marriage. It was hard on Maggie right from the beginning.”
“But that doesn’t excuse her for hiding the truth from me all my life.”
“My son adored your mother and the rest of us adored her, as well. If she kept a secret from you, she must have thought she had a reason.”
“What reason can there be for lying?”
“It’s easy to second-guess, but you’ll never know if her choice was right or wrong, will you? Your life is what it is, and you are who you are because of that choice.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“But it is. You can accept it or not, that’s up to you. You can make this difficult and move through your life with anger and hostility toward your parents, or you can accept what happened and love them. It won’t change anything except you.”
The slight reprimand surprised her, but in some strange way she didn’t understand, it made her feel as if she belonged to this small woman with the intelligent eyes. “You’re probably right. I just don’t know if I’m ready—”
“What will it take to make you ready?” When Jolene didn’t answer, her grandmother nodded knowingly. “It’s in your hands, child. If you had known sooner, you might not be who you are right now. And the important thing is that you’ve found us and you’ve come home. You’re here when you were meant to be here, so let’s not waste time with anger.”
If only it were that easy.
Sherry Lewis - Count on a Cop Page 20
