Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  Michelle went back into the family room and Kent sat where he was for a long time trying to make sense of all that had just happened. Most of all, it was rather confusing even to him that his brother who had an alcohol problem was attacking him for a little bit of gambling. It just didn’t make sense at all to Kent.

  Later, after supper, Kent was sitting in the family room watching TV with Michelle. He was thankful that they were watching some kind of animated movie instead of all those silly sitcoms.

  When the movie ended, Kent turned the TV off and was about to suggest that Michelle get ready for bed when she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

  “Mommy always fights with her boyfriends just before they leave.”

  Kent didn’t have to think very hard to see that Michelle was drawing a parallel between those fights and his argument with Larry that afternoon. Boy, he felt about as low as you could get.

  “Michelle. Larry and I are not just brothers.” She gave him a wide-eyed look. “No, we’re much more than that. We don’t look or act very much alike, but we are actually twins.”

  When Michelle didn’t say anything, he said, “Do you know what twins are Michelle?”

  She nodded her head quickly. “Yes, Harry and Gary in my class are twins.” She frowned. “But they look exactly alike. No one can tell them apart.”

  “Well Michelle, sometimes when a mommy has a baby, there just happen to be two of them in her tummy instead of one. And sometimes they look exactly alike and sometimes they don’t.”

  He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled to the surface. “Especially when one is a boy and the other is a girl.”

  She giggled. “Yeah, boys and girls can’t look exactly alike.”

  He certainly hoped she’d leave it at that and was relieved when she only said, “Girls have longer hair and don’t like to get dirty like boys do.”

  He wasn’t going to take this discussion any further, at least not this evening.

  * * *

  Grace thought dinner was going to last forever as they often did on some Sunday afternoons. She had waited to talk to her dad about Kent. She had been watching Matt from across the table and realized that he was waiting too.

  Finally, the dishes were clear and Grace, her mom, and Betty Sue joined the men in the living room. She turned to her dad and said, “Where is Brianna?”

  He smiled and said, “She’s in the family room watching something on TV.”

  As soon as Grace joined her mom on a sofa, her dad cleared his throat, looked at Grace then Matt. “Okay, you two. I know when you have something on your mind. So go on, out with it.”

  Grace almost laughed at the smug look that her big brother sent her way. She nodded back at him hoping he would take the hint that she wanted him to start things off.

  Matt picked up her signal and began. “Well Dad, Grace told me what you told her about Kent this morning.”

  When their dad didn’t respond, Grace said, “Mom, did you tell dad that you think Kent is having bad headaches?”

  Her dad answered. “Yes, she did.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sure this is all about Kent and his gambling.”

  He looked at each of his children in turn again, then said, “Okay, let’s take a look at all that we know about Kent’s recent behavior.”

  He looked around the room and when no one spoke, he continued. “Well, according to Larry, he’s spending a lot of time in the casino. He didn’t act as if he recognized Wally last night. And we think he may be having bad headaches.”

  He looked at each one again. “Does anyone have anything else to add to the list?”

  Matt looked at Grace before he said, “Well, Larry told me that he saw a stack of bills on Kent’s table the other day and they were all marked overdue.”

  Grace heard a gasp from her mom and noticed that she and Betty Sue both had startled looks on their faces. They probably didn’t know much of what had just been revealed. Those looks were quickly replaced by ones of concern.

  Her dad was speaking again. “Okay, what we need to do then is plan some sort of intervention. I heard that Kent’s parents are flying back to Arizona this afternoon.” He looked at Grace. “How well do you know his sister Sheila?”

  She frowned slightly. “I’m afraid I don’t know her very well. She was a senior when I was a freshman. But I do think that if I talked to her about Kent, she would listen to what I have to say.”

  “Good. Matt. Can you talk to Larry?”

  “Sure Dad. But what do you want us to say to them?”

  He seemed to think about that for a moment then said, “I think that all we can do for right now is get his sister and brother here so we can all discuss the situation and try to come up with a direction to go.”

  That sounded good to Grace. She’d been wondering all day how her dad would react when they talked to him about Kent. She was truly thankful that her dad had so much training and experience in counseling. She’d been sure that he’d know just what to do.

  She was going to have to pay more attention. Her dad was talking again and this time she’d missed some of it.

  “I’m sorry Dad. What did you just say? My mind was on other things there for a moment.”

  He gave her a knowing smile that told her that he knew exactly what she’d been thinking about.

  “That’s okay little one. I was just saying that we should try to get Larry and Sheila over here tomorrow evening.”

  Again, he thought for a moment. “Don’t anyone talk to Kent about any of this before we can get everyone together to form a plan. Okay?”

  Grace couldn’t believe it. Her great big brother was blushing.

  “Uh Dad. I’m afraid I already said something to Kent yesterday as he was leaving the party.”

  Grace watched, as several emotions seemed to fly across her dad’s face. “That’s okay Matt. You didn’t say much did you?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, I just told him I was worried that his gambling was getting out of control.”

  Shortly after that, Matt and Betty Sue went home. Grace and Brianna were going out the door when her dad touched her arm to stop her.

  “How close are you getting to Kent this time little one?”

  Grace could never get angry with her dad for what would seem like interference in her personal life the way most girls did with their parents. She knew without a doubt that he was only concerned about her wellbeing.

  Grace watched Brianna as she went on to their car and crawled into the backseat. Then she turned to her dad. “If you’re going to warn me off Dad, I’d say it’s probably a little bit too late for that now.”

  He smiled that fatherly smile that she’d always loved. “That’s what I thought Honey. In that case, we need to be very careful how we handle Kent’s problem.”

  She could only nod. The tears had started and she was afraid she’d start bawling if she didn’t get out to her car quickly.

  That evening when she was sitting with Brianna watching a nature film on TV, she decided that she should call Sheila tonight rather than try to catch her tomorrow at her office.

  As soon as she told Sheila who she was, Sheila seemed to sigh and said, “You’re calling about Kent’s gambling aren’t you?”

  Grace shook off her surprise quickly. “Yes, Sheila. I’m afraid I am. Did Larry tell you?”

  “Yes he did. But I was already wondering about Kent because he’s been having some terrible headaches. And I can’t talk him into going to see a doctor about them. He just says they’re stress related and they’ll soon go away.”

  Well, after that, it was easy for Grace to get Sheila to agree to go to the Livingston home the next night for a meeting.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Monday morning, Kent had troubles with Michelle for the first time since she’d come to live with him. She started out pouting and then she really dropped the bomb on him.

  They were sitting at the table eating cereal when she looke
d up at him with tears in her eyes.

  “You don’t love me either. You’re just like Mommy. You want to get rid of me all the time, just like she did.”

  Whoa, where did that come from? He thought quickly and realized that he’d been leaving her with his parents so he could go to the casino quite a bit. That would have to stop. But, how could he win back what he needed if he didn’t go there?

  He took a sip of coffee to stall and then looked at his still pouting daughter.

  “Michelle. I do love you ... and I do want you here. I’m sorry if it doesn’t seem that way with me being gone so much lately. But that’s going to stop right now. Okay?”

  She didn’t seem too convinced and he reminded himself that Shelly must have broken lots of promises to Michelle over the last five years. How could she ever trust anybody? Well, he was going to earn her trust, starting right now.

  She still didn’t look like she believed him yet.

  “Okay, Michelle, I’ll just have to prove it to you. And I will too.”

  After that, they finished their breakfast without talking any more and soon left for school.

  When he was walking into the elementary school with Michelle, Grace was coming out. He wasn’t sure, but for some reason, it looked like she was trying to avoid talking to him.

  She didn’t meet his eyes and she just said hi and then said she needed to get to her room to get ready for her first class. She then walked briskly toward the high school.

  Now what? What had he done to deserve that?

  He stood there in the parking lot watching her walk into the high school building. What was that all about? He thought for sure she would want to talk to him this morning. After all, he wanted to talk to her.

  He shrugged it off and went on into the elementary office.

  Later, as he sat at his desk in his empty room, Kent tried to figure out what had come over Grace. But he couldn’t think about that too much right then. He was still reeling from his discussion with Michelle earlier.

  On Mondays, it always took him a little extra time in the morning before school to get ready for the coming week. But today, his thoughts wouldn’t stay on his lesson plans.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about his fragile relationship with his daughter. How could he convince Michelle that he did love her and wanted to keep her with him more than anything? He knew that she hadn’t been able to trust anyone for a long time. He’d just have to be patient and win her trust.

  Sure, he felt certain that over time she would learn to trust him. But that would only happen if he stayed home with her and didn’t go to the casino.

  But how could he do that? He owed so much money in so many places that he was going to start having big problems soon if he didn’t start paying some of it off.

  He was still deep in thought when the door opened. He glanced up as Payne stormed in and stood over him, glaring down at him. Great, that was all he needed this morning.

  As the principal continued to glare down at him, Kent decided that he wasn’t going to let the pipsqueak intimidate him that way. He quickly stood and looked down on the much shorter man.

  “Jackson, your performance review is finished and when I present it to the board, I’m sure that I will be able to persuade them to at least suspend you if not dismiss you totally.”

  Kent never had liked the pompous little man who was always trying to intimidate all the staff. But he knew the guy couldn’t have enough on him to get him fired. As long as he’d been teaching there, it would take something major.

  “Look. I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know that you can’t fire me for what you perceive as incompetence unless you have lots of proof, which I know you don’t.”

  Payne shook his baldhead and his smile was much more of a smirk when he said, “No, but you can get fired for misconduct.”

  With that, he turned to go out the door. But Kent stepped up next to him and said, “What are you talking about?”

  Payne stopped and did smile then, but Kent thought that it was more of an evil smile.

  “Oh I’m sure you probably do. You see, I have proof that you are shirking your duties as a teacher here to gamble in the casinos. Furthermore, it has affected your performance so much that some of the students and parents have complained to me about it. Even some of the other teachers are starting to speak up.”

  With that, he rushed out before Kent could say anything else.

  Kent sat back down at his desk and before he could begin to digest all that Payne had just thrown at him Larry burst into his room.

  “What was that jerk doing in here? Is he harassing you again Kent?”

  Kent crossed his arms on his desk and laid his head on them. He just grunted back at Larry and kept his head down.

  Larry sat down in the chair next to Kent’s desk. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, which was not quite normal for Larry.

  Finally, he reached out and laid a hand on Kent’s shoulder. “Are you having one of your headaches right now?”

  Kent raised his head then put it back down quickly. “What are you talking about?”

  Did everyone know about his headaches? He’d tried to hide them and thought he’d been doing quite well.

  Larry snorted. “Sheila told me that she’s sure you’re having some pretty bad headaches. She said they almost put you on the floor sometimes.”

  Kent waited to see if Larry was going to say more. When he didn’t Kent raised his head again. “Yeah, I’ve been having a few headaches. But they’re not as bad as Sheila thinks they are. It’s nothing to worry about. If they really do get bad, I’ll go to the doctor. Okay?”

  He could tell that Larry wanted to say more but the first bell rang and he had to get back to his classroom.

  * * *

  Grace’s Monday seemed to last forever. It was somewhat of a surprise to her since she usually liked Mondays. She always thought of them as the start of something new with her students and with Brianna. Lately, she stretched that last part to include all of her family. It was so great to be back home.

  But this Monday was different. In one way, it was definitely going to be the start of something new. Or, as she quickly amended, it could result in the end of anything between her and Kent. Oh dear!

  She was embarrassed when she thought of the way she had brushed Kent off earlier in the parking lot. She hadn’t handled that very well, had she?

  She had been afraid that if she talked to him very much that he’d know that something was wrong. All she could think about was that her dad had said not to talk to him about his gambling right now.

  Oh dear. She was afraid that she might have hurt his feelings. Well, she’d just have to try to make it up to him later. First, they all needed to meet this evening to decide what they could do to help Kent. For now, that was the most important thing.

  At lunch, Grace was so tempted to talk to Judy and Joanne about Kent but knew she couldn’t. Her dad had warned her and Matt to keep things as quiet as possible until they were able to come up with a plan to help Kent. Even though she trusted both women, she couldn’t take the chance that either one of them might let something slip accidentally.

  When Grace and Brianna finally arrived at her parents’ house that evening a half hour before the others were due to arrive, she was almost shaking with nervousness.

  She was glad when her mom took Brianna into the family room right away. So she went down the hall to her dad’s study. He was alone in there when she walked in. He was sitting in one of the four armchairs situated in a circle on the other end of the room from his desk. She also noticed that he’d brought in an extra chair since there would be five of them in there this evening.

  If Larry showed up that is. She didn’t have much confidence that Larry would want to help his brother. He’d always seemed to her like a very self-centered person who only looked out for himself. If anything, he had often gotten his brother into trouble rather than helping him out of it.

  He
r dad looked up from some papers in his hands and smiled at her. “Hey there little one. I’m glad you came early. I wanted to talk to you briefly, alone.”

  She sat in the chair next to him and waited for him to start. She had a feeling that this was going to be about her and Kent. She decided to lay it all out to him if he asked.

  He smiled at her. “Kent seems to be going through some troubled times right now. Your mother and I still think you two belong together.”

  Grace almost fell out of her chair in shock. Where in the world had that come from?

  He chuckled at the shocked expression on her face. “Oh Grace, I love both of my children, but a father’s love for his daughter is often different and even very special. I’ve always known that Matt could take care of himself. I also believed that God would reel him in when the proper time came.”

  When he continued, she thought his voice grew huskier and she loved him more than ever right then.

  “But you, little one, you’ve always been my greatest concern. I thought I would die when you married Randy. Your mother and I both knew that he was totally wrong for you. But we also knew that we couldn’t say anything. We were afraid that any interference on our part might turn you away from us.”

  Tears were streaming down her face now. “I wish you had said something Dad.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “You and I both know it wouldn’t have done any good.”

  He stood and carried the papers in his hands over to his desk. Once he placed them there, he came back and sat down again. This time, he placed his large hand over both of hers.

  “Your mother and I always thought ... and even hoped a little, that you would eventually marry Kent. That boy was so much in love with you. I guess you were about the only one around who didn’t know that.”

  Now she was really surprised. “Oh Dad, was I that blind back then?”

  He chuckled again. “Yes, I’m afraid you were. We watched as Randy more or less bought your affection, blinding you to what he was really like.”

  She groaned. “I’m afraid that was exactly what happened. I couldn’t see what he was really like until after we were married.”