Never Say Never

by Tina Leonard

  “You have to understand,” he said, shaking his head. “Nina and I were not a perfect couple. But we did know each other very well in some ways. As parents, we were learning, and enjoying the process. Even if we didn’t see eye to eye on how the money got spent, or how much of her mother’s interference I would put up with, when it came to the baby, we both wanted to do things right. I can’t build a shrine to Nina; she wasn’t perfect. If she were alive, she damn sure wouldn’t build a shrine to me because I made enough mistakes in our marriage to test the patience of a saint. But damn it, I tried. And I believe in my heart Nina is not smiling about her mother’s actions.”

  “I think Maxine feels like she’s going to be left out, Dustin,” Jill offered quietly. “I think that’s what’s rubbing her the wrong way about me.”

  “Left out of what?”

  Jill took a deep breath. “Let’s go along with what she appears to be imagining. As difficult as it is to pull this one up, let’s envision us sending out wedding announcements.”

  “Oh, boy.” Dustin’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Yes.” Jill nodded. “Pretty scary. But work hard at this, Dustin. We’re getting married, which we already know is going to bother Maxine because she desperately misses her daughter. Life is now going on without Maxine…”

  “Praise God. I don’t think your mother likes me all that much, but at least she doesn’t appear to be quite as devious.”

  Jill stared at him for a moment. “We’ll get back to that later. Life, as Maxine views it, is leaving her out as we stand at the altar. Marsh is the best man, and Joey is the ring bearer.”

  For the first time, Dustin brightened. “He’d look kinda cute in little tux tails and boots.”

  That stopped Jill for a second, Dustin noticed. He wondered what he’d said.

  “Never mind.” She took a deep breath. “What I’m getting at is the first thing on Maxine’s mind is if she should even attend our wedding.”

  “Did we invite her?” Dustin didn’t think he had. Why set himself up for trouble?

  “Well, I don’t know. We’d have to read Emily Post or something. If you leave her out, in such a small town, you risk offense and gossip. If you include her, you risk Maxine sitting in a pew pricking a voodoo doll that looks like you while you’re saying your vows.”

  “I’m starting to see.” For the first time, and probably because he was hearing it from a woman’s point of view, Dustin really was beginning to understand.

  “Okay. Now you’ve got three grandmothers in the picture, all of whom want to spend Christmas with Joey during the holidays. You know they’re not all going to break bread at the same table, so you’re going to have to do some shuffling. Naturally, Maxine does not want to be left out on Christmas Day, but in her heart, she’s scared to death she will be.”

  “If I had my choice between her and Lana, it would be Lana, hands down.” Dustin shot a grin at Jill when she tried to look insulted.

  “Do I detect some cynicism where my folks are concerned, Dustin Reed?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “But I could tell they didn’t cotton to me. I’ve got to tell you, most parents have been glad to welcome me into their home.”

  “It wasn’t really you they were concerned about,” Jill said, not looking directly at him anymore. “I told you, they’ve been very concerned about my wedding breaking off.”

  “I thought we just got married, pin pricks and all.”

  “I…” Jill looked adorably confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, we went through the whole scenario. It felt pretty real to me.”

  “It did not! I was just trying to tell you how Maxine might feel, not that I’m in the perfect mood to empathize with her right now.”

  Dustin tried to act outraged as he leaned Jill back to kiss her. “That’s just like a woman, to lead a man on. Here I thought we had something serious going…”

  The ringing of the doorbell quieted the waves of desire pounding in his blood. Dustin sat up, tucking his shirt back in. “That’s Joey, I guess. Maxine hedged when I asked her when she’d be bringing him home, but maybe she decided to come on.”

  Jill didn’t follow him, which he thought was probably smart. The less Maxine saw of Jill, maybe the less upset she’d get. Now that he had a clearer vision of what might be upsetting her, he intended to let her know that, despite their differences, he wanted her to always have a special relationship with Joey.

  He opened the door, prepared to greet Maxine quickly and stop any spiteful words from leaving her mouth. His own snapped shut when he saw who was standing on his porch. “Evening, Mr. Reed,” the man told him.

  He recognized Maxine’s lawyer at once. With foreboding, he automatically nodded.

  “The Copelands are going to keep Joey until the custody hearing,” the lawyer said without preamble. “Maxine is terribly concerned that her grandson is in an environment at this time that is inappropriate for him.”

  “She’s always claimed that,” Dustin snapped. “What’s changed?”

  “Specifically, your choice of household help. The woman appears to be poor quality for overseeing the care of your son.”

  “You tell Maxine—”

  The lawyer held up a hand. “Please, Mr. Reed. I’ve been instructed to file papers with the court, which I can do tomorrow, if you press my client on this issue. She is in no mood to heat this battle to a more emotional point; however, she will do that if necessary. Considering the situation, I recommend we leave it as it is.”

  “You’re not my damn lawyer,” Dustin growled. “Don’t give me advice.”

  The man backed off the porch. “Mr. Reed, any further conversation between us is probably not prudent. Considering the lateness of the hour and the nature of the situation, I chanced stopping by instead of merely calling you with Maxine’s instructions. I hope I won’t find that I erred in this matter.”

  Dustin advanced on him. “I suppose you want my gratitude.” He bit off saying, “I’ll show you my gratitude with my boot if you don’t get out of here,” realizing that threatening Maxine’s lawyer was foolhardy, and this visit could very well have been engineered to get a violent reaction from him. It would certainly be the killing blow for his hope of retaining custody of his son. Despite the red fog of anger and fear crowding his brain, Dustin forced himself to turn around and put one foot in front of the other until he’d reached the sanctuary of his foyer. He closed the door, and then his eyes.

  Joey wasn’t coming home. A judge would decide now whether Joey would ever come back to Dustin at all.

  “Maxine.”

  “Yes. Let me go into my office.” Instantly recognizing the private investigator’s voice, Maxine switched the cordless phone for one in her office that allowed her more privacy. “What have you found out?”

  “It wasn’t too difficult to discover who Dustin’s housekeeper is. She used to work for a firm in Dallas, but she was fired recently.”

  “Fired?” This was an interesting piece of news. “How do you know?”

  “It wasn’t too difficult to run some inquiries. She had worked at the same company for a long time, so it was listed as her source of income on certain applications that were in her credit files.”

  “But how do you know she was fired?”

  “I called the Personnel Department. As you know, all they will verify is that she worked there for a certain length of time. However, I did indicate that speaking to someone who had known her closely would be helpful as I was trying to determine whether she was an appropriate choice for a loan to cover college expenses. I said that she’s interested in getting an MBA degree.”

  “That was a good story.”

  “Good enough to get me through to a very helpful man named Carl Douglas, who said he was a longtime associate and close friend of Jill’s. According to Mr. Douglas, Jill was fired because her work wasn’t up to the company’s required standards, though he personally felt they should have given her another chan
ce.”

  “So, all she’s fit for is washing Dustin’s clothes. Interesting.”

  “Yes. I’m not sure we can totally rely on this guy’s word, though. He didn’t know anything about a baby, which seemed strange to me if they’re such close friends.”

  “All I needed to know was that this housekeeper isn’t on the up and up. In fact, this scenario is becoming more and more clear to me. The reason the stories don’t jive is because Jill McCall is neither housekeeper nor family member. She’s some little trollop Dustin managed to get pregnant, and they’re worried to death I’ll find out about it. Obviously, she isn’t a high-quality individual, or she wouldn’t look like so many miles of bad road.”

  “Is there anything else you want me to find out?”

  “Not right now,” Maxine said thoughtfully. “I’ve sent notice over to the ranch that should keep Dustin and Eunice on their toes for a while. As I see it, everything is just the way I want it right now.”

  “Let me know.”

  “You can be sure I will.” Maxine hung up the phone, lost in thought for a moment until she heard crying. Instantly, she rose, hurrying into the kitchen.

  Joey sat in his grandfather’s lap. David was trying his best to comfort the boy, with his stiff fingers and nearly useless arms.

  “What’s wrong, Joey? Did you fall?”

  “I…I wa—want to…to go home!” Joey cried. Tears poured down his cheeks and his eyes were huge with unhappiness.

  Maxine felt a stab of anxiety in her heart. “Joey, maybe we can play—”

  “I…I want my daddy!” he shrieked. “Daddy! Daddy!”

  David’s hands frantically worked to rub circles on Joey’s shuddering back. Maxine grimaced. “Here, let me do that.”

  She reached—to take Joey but he drew back from her touch.

  “No! I…want to…to go home!”

  “Well, it’s not time, Joey. You need to stay here a little while longer. You just need a little nap.”

  Joey hopped off of David’s lap. He ran from the room. Knowing what she was going to see there, Maxine forced herself to meet David’s gaze.

  “David, I…” She stopped herself. The condemnation was clear in her husband’s eyes. “David, you don’t understand. You didn’t see her. That woman is a mess, and strange things are going on over there. I truly don’t believe it’s the best place for Joey to be.”

  He pursed his lips. Then he shook his head. With one finger, he pointed to the doorway Joey had rushed through, then pointed to his own eye.

  “Damn it, David, he’s a child. Of course, he’s going to cry. A little homesickness is no reason for us to give up now.”

  Shaking his head again, he slowly turned his wheelchair and went to the kitchen window to look out. His back stayed turned to her.

  His lack of support infuriated her. “Damn you! Don’t you turn your back to me! After you spent our best years chasing after other women, I deserve your attention now! And don’t think that I don’t know that it’s the love you’ve harbored all these years for Eunice Reed that’s keeping you from seeing the truth of the matter.”

  He did turn around then. Maxine kept her vision trained on her husband. That accusation had definitely gotten a reaction from her carefully remote husband.

  But he was waving his hand in a negative manner. Maxine frowned. “Don’t try to dig your way out of it now, David. We’re too far gone in this custody battle to stop now.”

  Rolling his wheelchair to a kitchen drawer, he forced his hand to open the drawer and take out a pen and pad. Maxine watched impassively. There was no need for David to write anything down. She understood him clearly. She also expected him to rise staunchly to any defense of Eunice.

  Painstakingly, he wrote a few block letters, which looked more like a kindergartener’s writing than his own. “No affair,” Maxine murmured. “That’s not true, David. The private investigator says you made several jewelry purchases. I never received any of those particular items. They went to someone.”

  Again, he touched his pen to the paper. It rolled into his lap, but David managed to rescue it and tried again. “Vault,” Maxine read. “Why would you buy jewelry and put it in a vault? Everyone knows it’s not a secure investment in most cases.”

  David shrugged.

  “They weren’t enormously valuable purchases?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then why? Why couldn’t you just tell me?”

  He tightened his lips as if he were trying to decide if he could trust her. Private, he wrote.

  “You expect me to believe this story?” Maxine was incredulous.

  Her husband shrugged but didn’t remove his eyes from hers. For some reason, she had the uncanny feeling he was telling the truth. On the paper he penned Needed money with excruciating care.

  “Oh, David. You didn’t buy jewelry from women who needed money, did you?”

  He shook his head. Once more, his hand went to the paper. Loan.

  “Oh, for crying out loud, David. Do you mean to tell me you’ve been running a pawn shop out of the house all these years?” Though she tried to sound stern, inside Maxine was unspeakably relieved to discover David hadn’t been buying jewelry for other women. “Has anyone ever bought back their things?”

  She sighed when he shook his head again. “So we have a vault full of fairly worthless jewelry?”

  Want them some day, he carefully wrote.

  “Oh, David.” Wasn’t that just like her soft-hearted husband to loan out money to people for things of no value, then fully expect that several years later those folks would turn up to pay him for their junk? “What about Eunice?” she asked, hating to have to know the answer, but craving to know the truth just the same. His frequent visits to the Reed Ranch could have had nothing to do with business, she knew. Eunice didn’t need money, and David admired her far too much for their relationship to have been platonic. It squeezed her heart just to think of the two of them together. With one finger, David reached out and touched her wrist for just a moment. Maxine stared silently. He touched his finger to his heart, and then slowly, he again touched her wrist.

  It was as if all the breath she had in her suddenly expelled, leaving her limp and unable to speak.

  Maxine sank to her knees in front of David and put her head in his lap. She felt him touch her hair hesitantly; when she stayed still, he caressed the tight curls more boldly.

  For the first time in years, Maxine Copeland cried.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jill heard Dustin’s boots on the stairs. He didn’t stop at her room as she’d expected. Instead, he went down the hall to his own room. For a moment it was quiet, then she heard him talking loudly to someone.

  She knew she should get up and close her bedroom door. She should go downstairs and get something ready for him to eat. By the tone of his voice, she could tell the call was personal and one he probably wouldn’t appreciate her hearing.

  Getting up to make her way down the stairs, the sudden mention of her name caught her ears. Jill paused, knowing in her heart that what she was doing was going to hurt her. People who listened to conversations about themselves invariably got their feelings hurt.

  “Jill is not the problem, for chrissakes. I’m not sure what Maxine’s whole problem is, Roger. All I know is, I was informed that the Copelands have decided Joey is in danger. Until Thursday, I don’t get a chance to tell my side of the story.”

  He was silent for a few moments. “Jill has done a superior job of taking care of our family. I can’t imagine what Maxine thinks Jill has done wrong. I do know she’s been upset since she learned Jill was here.”

  Jill went down the stairs, her heart torn. On the one hand, she was warmed by Dustin’s support. On the other, she had cost Dustin his child. She should have known better than to stay on at the ranch, knowing Maxine’s vehement dislike of her. Oh, dislike was a weak word for the truth. Maxine had been determined to make certain Jill wasn’t going to stay a part of Joey’s life. Sh
e had warned them, and Jill had been a fool to ignore it. Dustin was a good man. He would never have asked her to leave. His temperament wouldn’t allow him to bend on an issue he believed in, and he honestly felt Jill was good for Eunice and Joey.

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t turned out to be good for the family in the long run.

  She set about making a light supper of sandwiches and soup for Dustin to eat. A moment later he ran down the stairs, slamming the front door behind him.

  As if it was an afterthought, the door flew back open.

  “I need to go out for a while, Jill,” he called into the house.

  “Okay!” she called back, her heart sinking.

  Hearing the door shut again, Jill went into the hall and opened the door to walk onto the porch. She waved to Dustin, and as he backed the truck up, he waved to her, too. The wind blew cold and bitter as she watched him leave. In her heart, Jill knew what she had to do. She had waited too long.

  Back inside the house, she rubbed her arms for a moment, thinking. Covering the sandwich with plastic wrap and putting the soup away for him to warm later, Jill made sure the kitchen was tidy. Then she got a few trash sacks. It wasn’t an efficient way to carry her few things, but she’d packed baby Holly’s things in her own suitcase, knowing Sadie would get around to returning it eventually.

  The suitcase being the least of her problems, trash sacks would have to do. Jill put her possessions in the bags, throwing her cosmetics in her night case. After she finished, she carried her things out to the car and stowed them in the trunk. Tears started to prick at her eyes, but Jill wouldn’t let them come. Not yet.

  Going back into the house for the, last time, Jill took a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer. She wrote a few lines, the hardest words she’d ever had to write.

  Dear Dustin,

  I find it necessary to resign my position as housekeeper. After the happiness I have known in your home, with you and your family, it is hard for me to leave. However, it is time for me to get on with my life, and to stop hiding from my problems. I hope you can understand.