A Mother's Conviction (Secrets Series Book 3)

by Karen Lenfestey

  “I’m asking you not to give up on him. Deep down, he’s really hurting. This rift between you isn’t good for either of you. Can’t you try and make amends?”

  Beth took the letter off the desk and placed it back in her purse. “Mom, there’s nothing more I can do.”

  # # #

  Outside, the rooster crowed as Melodie updated her LinkedIn profile. Supposedly this was the way people networked these days. She didn’t understand it and that’s probably why she hadn’t had any job offers. In fact, she welcomed the interruption when Zoe climbed out of bed and requested French toast before school. Mothering. This was what she knew how to do.

  After breakfast, Zoe brushed her teeth and Melodie walked her to the bus stop. As they approached the street, Melodie saw Conner and Bella there. Something about his unshaven face and confident stance made her nervous. She reached to tuck her hair behind her ear, but every strand was still in place up in her bun. What was going on with her?

  “G’morning,” he said.

  She nodded and watched as her daughter rushed to her friend’s side. Bella stood three inches taller than Zoe and her dark hair contrasted with Zoe’s blonde, but they started chattering like they were perfectly matched.

  Bella held up her wrist, showing that she was wearing the Lego bracelet Zoe had given her. “Thanks again. Too bad Legos don’t come in turquoise.” The girls giggled and Bella switched subjects. “One of the barn cats had kittens. They’re so cute! You have to come over after school today to see them.”

  “Lucky!” Looking down at her skirt, Zoe twirled around in a circle. How a girl could love both soft skirts and blocks with sharp edges baffled Melodie.

  The school bus came barreling down the gravel road and squealed to a stop in front of them. Zoe waved to her mom and climbed on board behind Bella.

  After the bus left, Conner turned to her. “What are you up to today?”

  “Good question. I need to find a job.”

  “Another interview then?”

  “The day after tomorrow.” She was starting to panic, but she didn’t want to say that out loud. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities around here.” Country life had originally sounded perfect for the three of them, but now she was out here without any friends or family. She felt so alone. Sure, she had Zoe, but she didn’t want to burden her child. And it wasn’t her daughter’s job to keep her company.

  “I’m sure it doesn’t help that you don’t really want to go back to work.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to work. I just want there to be balance and I know being an attorney requires being married to your job.”

  “I know what you mean. I’ve always worked long hours and now that I’m here to fix Bella dinner every night and hear about her day, I see how much I was missing. We’re closer than ever. I don’t want to lose her.”

  “Lose her?”

  “I mean lose that. I don’t want to lose that connection.” He looked away.

  “It’s obvious she loves you very much.”

  Kicking a piece of gravel, he seemed uncomfortable with the compliment. “Well, I’ve got a lot to do today. Will you bring Zoe over after school to see the kittens?”

  “Oh, don’t feel like you have to invite us over.”

  “Bella really likes Zoe. I think she feels like Zoe’s her little sister or something.” His eyebrows pinched together and a troubled look crossed his face.

  She wondered what he was thinking, but didn’t want to pry. Part of her wondered what that blonde chick had needed to talk to him about, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that she cared. “Well, off to find a job.” She waved and headed home.

  As she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, the phone rang.

  It was her mom. “How’s Zoe like her birthday presents?”

  “She loves the GoldiBlox you got her.” Zoe had assembled the miniature dunk tank in record time, then moved on to something else, but Melodie didn’t say that part. She didn’t want to hurt her mother’s feelings, who’d been tickled to learn the toy was invented by a female engineer.

  “Like father like daughter, I guess.” Melodie winced when she thought of Paul and how he liked to build things. Her mother continued, “And does she like kindergarten?”

  “She already made a new friend.”

  “Of course she did. She’s so outgoing and sweet.”

  “You forgot perfect.”

  “Yes, she’s perfect. She’s my granddaughter, after all.”

  Melodie laughed. On this, they could agree.

  “How’s the job hunt?”

  Melodie slumped onto the living room couch and ran her palm across the soft suede. “Not so good.” She tried to hide the vulnerability in her voice, but couldn’t. “I have to find something soon.” She would not mention the unpaid mortgage. “But don’t tell Dad. The last thing I want is for him to move in and try to farm.”

  “I don’t know why you stay out there in the middle of nowhere. Like I said, you’re always welcome to come home. You don’t need to pay us rent or anything. It will give me a chance to spend time with Zoe and it will give you a chance to find work.”

  The thought of moving home scratched an open wound. That would be like stepping back into the role of helpless daughter. “I appreciate the offer, Mom. But I need to figure this out on my own.”

  After she hung up, she vacuumed like she did every day. It was important that you could see only the vacuum tracks on the carpet and not any footprints. That made the house look perfect.

  # # #

  Willow ran to answer the ringing phone. It was weird how she wouldn’t talk to most people face-to-face, but she blossomed on the telephone. The first week of school, her teacher had called Beth to express concern about Willow’s lack of classroom participation. Beth told her to be patient and when she’d mentioned how Willow liked the phone, the teacher had started calling for little chats with her student in the evenings. Slowly, Willow had begun talking, albeit very quietly, in her first grade class. Beth assumed it was the teacher on the line now.

  Her daughter gave her a quizzical expression. “Will we accept a call from the Tennessee Women’s Correctional something–or-other?”

  Beth’s stomach lurched as she grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

  A monotone operator asked, “Will you accept the charges for a collect call from the Tennessee Women’s Correctional Institution? A Gola Moon is on the line.”

  “Uh, sure.” Beth waved for Willow to go to her room, but the girl stood there, staring. Beth put her hand over the receiver. “Willow, you can play PBS Kids on the office computer, if you like.” After a second of pondering, the girl darted upstairs and out of earshot.

  “Hello?” a husky voice came over the line. “Willow? It’s your Momma.”

  “This is Bethany, Willow’s foster mom.”

  “Oh, I wanted to talk to Willow.”

  “Well, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Is there a message you’d like me to pass along?”

  “Did she get my letter? Is she gonna come visit?”

  “We got your letter. I’m afraid we won’t be able to visit.”

  “What about putting money in my account? I really need some things. You don’t know how hard it is here.”

  Beth chewed on her lip. “I can’t imagine.”

  “Yesterday someone stole my shampoo while I was in the shower. And when I tried to get it back, I almost got written up. Thank God I didn’t or they might not give me parole.”

  “What? You’re up for parole?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not holding my breath. All it takes is for there to be one woman on the board who has it in for me. Just like that damned judge. I think it’s because I’m so striking. Women’ve always hated me because of my looks. Just wait until I get out of here and can put on some mascara and lipstick. The men could never keep their hands off of me when I was all dolled up. You know what I mean?”

  Beth didn’t speak.

  “Well, maybe you don’t.”


  This woman sure knew how to make her uncomfortable.

  A cough came over the line. It sounded like a smoker’s cough. “So what does my Willow look like? I hope she takes after me.”

  “I believe she has your dark hair. And she has these amazing blue eyes.”

  “She definitely didn’t get those from me. But is she pretty?”

  “I think so.” She thought of the teasing Willow sometimes told her about. The whispers in the cafeteria about her limp and scar. Kids on the bus calling her Hop-Along. Other people didn’t see what Beth could.

  “Hopefully, I’ll get out soon and can see for myself. Now, is there any chance you could put some money into my account?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Conner hid in the back of the conference room in order to avoid eye contact with his ex. He sat behind an elderly woman next to a row of empty chairs. Apparently no one else cared enough to show up. He’d driven all night to get there by nine a.m., suffering Bella’s wrath because he’d asked Sunny to stay with her. That’s how important this was.

  Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Gola faced a long table of six middle-aged men and one woman dressed in suits.

  The woman in the center adjusted her cat’s eye glasses and shuffled some papers. “I’m going to read your crimes for which this parole hearing has been called. You were convicted of driving while intoxicated and two counts of vehicular homicide. Is that your understanding?”

  Gola braided a small section of her charcoal hair. “I guess so.” Her face displayed more lines than he remembered.

  “Is there a statement you’d like to make to our panel?”

  Nodding, Gola unfolded a yellow lined paper. “Basically, I’m sorry. I’ve done my time and been a model prisoner which is all I could do to try and make up for my mistakes. I know there isn’t any way to undo what I’ve done, but I’ve suffered plenty for it. I’ve missed seeing my daughters grow up, I’ve missed their birthday parties and their Christmases. The years I’ve spent in here I can never get back. Not for my sake so much as for theirs. They are the reason I’m asking that you grant me parole. They need their mother. I’m the only one they’ve got.”

  “Thank you for your statement. We’ll look at your risk assessment. Age at first arrest?”

  Gola hesitated. She was probably wondering how much they knew. “Eighteen, but that was just for underage drinking. It’s not like I committed a real crime.”

  The man closest to Conner lowered his eyebrows in disapproval. The woman who was in charge continued. “Since this crime was related to substance abuse that adds points to your risk assessment level.”

  “But I’m clean now.”

  The business woman held up her hand. “Please let me finish reading this. You will have another chance to speak in a minute.” She looked down her nose at the file in front of her. “You’re not a gang member and you haven’t had any discipline write-ups for the last year, so that’s in your favor. I see you’ve done some programming while incarcerated including victim impact and drug and alcohol counseling. Therefore, your risk assessment is relatively low. So, if we release you, what’s your plan?”

  “Um, I’d go to AA and try to get a job. I’ve earned my cosmetology license while I’ve been here. Mostly my plan is to get my daughters back. My youngest, Willow, is in foster care and I’ve been told that if I stay clean, I can regain custody. My other daughter, Skye, has been kidnapped from me and I plan to do everything in my power to find her.”

  “Kidnapped?” the balding man asked.

  Conner raised his hand. “I’d like to say a few things if I may.”

  The woman looked at him. “Are you here in support of Gola’s parole?”

  “Absolutely not.” He saw Gola turn around and scowl at him. “I’m here to say that I’m Skye’s father and she is better off not being around her mother. When Skye lived with her mother, Gola would go out drinking and bring home a different guy every night. Sometimes she would stay gone and leave her daughters to fend for themselves. In fact, Child Protective Services took the girls away because of Gola’s neglect. Whatever you do, do not let this woman out. Society is better without her in it and her daughters are no doubt happier.”

  The panelists conferred in hushed voices until the woman removed her glasses. “For the record, your name, sir?”

  Swallowing, he said his given name. “Conner Walker.”

  Gola sneered at him. She was careful, though, to make sure the parole board didn’t see. “Don’t listen to him. He abandoned Skye when she was a baby. He’s an alcoholic too. I’ve been clean for two and a half years.”

  Leaning forward Conner pointed his finger at her. “Yeah, because you were locked up.”

  The head of the parole board held up her hands trying to calm them down. “All right. You’ve said your part. Now let’s get back to procedure. Miss Moon, tell us about your work assignments in prison.”

  “I was on the crew in the kitchen and kept my nose clean. If you let me out, I swear I’ll never drink again. I’ll never leave my girls alone. They’re all I’ve got. Maybe I didn’t appreciate them before, but now I get it. Please, please let me go home to my babies.”

  Conner shook his head in disgust. Within an hour of her release she’d be at a bar trying to get a guy to buy her a drink.

  “Okay. I do see here that you’ve worked the program while you were in here. Would you agree that your crime had a great impact on the victims’ family?”

  Tears shone in Gola’s dark eyes. “Of course. I killed a man and his child. But I didn’t do it on purpose. See, that’s how I’m different than the other women locked up in here. They have criminal minds. They hurt people on purpose. If I hadn’t had this disease, which they’ve told me that’s what alcoholism is, it’s a disease. If I hadn’t had that disease, I never would’ve hurt nobody. I’ve paid for my mistakes. Before serving time, I was in a coma and my youngest daughter almost died.” She wiped at a tear that had made its escape down her cheek.

  Conner rolled his eyes. She was such the actress.

  The woman running the meeting put down her glasses. “We’ll take your testimony under consideration. For the record, three letters of support for Gola Moon’s release have been filed. One from her counselor, one from her GED instructor and one from a church volunteer who has been helping Gola plan her re-entry into society. The parole board will discuss your case and consider the likelihood that you’ll transition back as a productive member of society.”

  “Oh, I will. I swear.”

  “You need four of seven to grant parole. We’ll let you know what we decide in about two weeks.”

  Conner rose. “No! Don’t let Gola fool you. She’s right that alcoholism is a disease. It’s very hard to resist and she’s never even tried. The only reason why she’s sober now is because she’s behind bars. Don't let her ruin her daughters’ lives again. I beg of you.”

  “Mr. Walker, we appreciate your opinion and we will take it under advisement,” the serious woman said.

  Gola raised her hand. “May I say something? It’s true I was a mess before, but I’m not anymore. The bigger crime would be to keep children away from their mother. No one else can love them the way I can.”

  Conner stormed out of the room.

  # # #

  After spending the day alone, cleaning the windows, buying groceries and then job hunting on-line, Melodie craned her neck looking for the school bus. With Zoe gone all day, it wasn’t as hard to keep the house neat. And there was only so much she could do to look for work. She was starting to get restless.

  She heard the bus’ loud engine as it turned onto the gravel road and came to a stop. Pulling on her sweatshirt, she ran out to the road just in time to see her daughter climb off the bus.

  “Mommy!” Zoe cheered as if she were her hero.

  “Hi! How was your day?”

  “Great.”

  Zoe had always been a sunny-side up kind of child, until Paul had passed. Melodie was pleased t
o see that disposition returning. “I’m so glad you’re home.” They embraced.

  Just as Bella stepped to the ground, the girl’s cell phone rang. She dug in her backpack and answered it. “Daddy? Where are you?” Her dark eyebrows scrunched together. “Okay.” She handed the phone to Melodie. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Encouraging the girls to step away from the road, Melodie put the phone to her ear as the bus drove off. “Hello?”

  A far-away and agitated male voice spoke over the sound of horns honking. “I hate to do this, but I’m stuck in traffic and my babysitter got called into work. Could you possibly take Bella home with you until I get back into the area?”

  “Of course.” She couldn’t let a little girl go home to an empty house. “Where are you?”

  “I’ll tell you when I get there. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem.” She’d just made caramel apples, so the girls could eat those for snacks. “Will you be back before dinner?” She had planned on having grilled cheese, but if she were cooking for more than two, she could make one of her old recipes like meatloaf and mashed potatoes. That had been Paul’s favorite and since he’d been gone, she hadn’t bothered with it. It saddled them with too many left-overs.

  “I’m not sure. I’m driving as fast as I can. Gotta go.”

  “Bye.” What kind of father didn’t make sure he was home when his daughter got off the school bus? She handed the phone back to Bella and pushed her judgment aside when she saw the girl’s scared blue eyes. “Hey, good news! You get to come to our house for a while.”

  “But I wanted to check on the kittens.” Her lower lip jutted out.

  Zoe nodded her head. “I wanted to see the kittens too.”

  “You can see them later.” She waved for them to head up her driveway. Although the girls dragged their feet, it didn’t take long for them to realize how happy they’d be together. Once inside, they scarfed down the caramel apples then ran to Zoe’s room.

  “Why are all of my clothes on my bed?” Zoe yelled.

  Melodie hit her forehead with her palm. “Oh, I forgot.” Since Zoe had recently experienced a growth spurt, she wanted her to try on her old clothes to see which ones needed to be donated. She walked upstairs to her daughter’s yellow room and saw the girls digging through the clothes. “We were going to play fashion show when you got home, but we can do it after Bella leaves.”