Retreat to Woodhaven (The Hills of Burlington Book 2)

by Jacie Middlemann

  "No."

  "And Mom knew that. Don't remember it as what you weren't able to do. Mom would want you to remember it as what you were going to do. What she knew the two of you were going to do. The plans you made...together. That's what was important to her." He pulled her up. Looked straight into eyes that belonged to their mother. "Mom always said you were her best friend who just happened to be her daughter. That meant the world to her. If you must remember something, remember that." He sighed as the tears fell. "I really wish you wouldn't do that." But he held her and remembered the last time they'd held each other like this. Tears had fallen then too.

  "Hey," a yell came from the bottom of the steps. "Mary! Are you guys up there?"

  "Come on." Dave handed his sister the white monogrammed handkerchief he never left home without. "I'll go first and give you a minute to lose the tears."

  "Come on, come on, come on!" Mallie chanted. "You're never ever going to guess. Come on!"

  "What on earth is it?" Mary managed from behind her brother, hearing the excitement in Mallie's voice that calmed her concerns about her aunt that had immediately sprung to mind upon hearing her young cousin's shout.

  "Come on," Mallie grabbed both their hands and pulled. "You just have to see." She turned back towards them even as she continued to walk towards the door of the main house. "We've been calling you forever. When I went out to run down to your house I just happened to see the door up there was open."

  "What's going on?" Dave asked now, intrigued despite himself.

  "You'll see." Rushing in front of them she went in first through the door. "I found them." She rushed over to the table, grabbed Casey's hand and held it out. "Look at this rock!"

  Mary heard her words and the implication of them sank in quickly. What she saw first was the utter sense of joy on her cousin's face.

  "That is," Dave cleared his throat. "One big rock," he finally said and gave his cousin a hug. "I bet that set him back some."

  "Yes." Casey laughed. "I picked it out."

  "Figures." Dave hugged her again. "Where is he?"

  "Recovering."

  "More like he's out hustling some real estate to pay for it." Carrie teased good naturedly.

  "Actually," Casey said more seriously, "it was his grandmother's." She tilted the ring back and forth, watching as it caught the light. "He said he'd get a new one but I chose this." She looked around the table, surrounded by her family, even Jake had trudged down when Mallie had called his house. "It felt right the moment he put it on."

  "So when's the big date?" Jake asked, still taking it in that his little sister was making the big jump she'd avidly avoided up till now.

  "Soon." She smiled to herself. "We're not getting any younger."

  "Speak for yourself." Charlie leaned over to give her niece another big hug. "I'm personally going backwards on my birthdays and feeling younger as I go."

  "If anyone can do it, Mom, it would be you." Carrie said wryly, privately thrilled at her mother's growing enthusiasm. A year ago they couldn't get her to go to the store, now they couldn't get her to stay in one place longer than it took to figure out where to head next.

  Dave leaned back and listened to the women of his family talk over each other and somehow know what the other said. He heard plans being made, ideas discussed, decisions made. Who said women could talk something to death and never get anywhere. He caught Jake's eye and shared a common thought, women were simply wired differently. And he knew without a doubt, somehow he'd make it back for this wedding. Promising himself and thinking again of his mother, he knew he'd be back soon. Very soon.

  

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  "Dave," Mary paused at the bedroom door. She hated seeing him pack. Held on to the knowledge that he would be back soon, before the month was out. Sooner if he could manage. "Court just called. He knows you're getting ready to head out but he wanted to bring his aunt by for a few minutes. It seemed important so I told him to come on over."

  "That's fine. It's not like I'm on a hard and cast schedule. I figure to drive tonight until I'm hungry then stop for dinner and find a place to stay for the night. Hopefully both will be in the same place." He stuffed the last of his clothing into the overnight bag he brought with him wondering why it was always fuller going back than when he started out even though it was all the same stuff. Ignoring his sister's muffled groan of dismay over his method of packing he answered the question she was trying to figure out how to ask without sounding nosy.

  "Court has an aunt who might be interested in working at my new practice." I'm sorry Mama, he apologized up front for his language even if all he did was think it to himself. But Holy Mary Mother of God, saying those words and knowing it was really going to finally happen really made him feel good. He couldn't remember when he last felt good just from what came out of his mouth. He was really going to have his own law practice.

  "That must be them." Mary left him to his final look around the room to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything while she went to answer the knock at the door.

  He didn't have to follow the voices far, the house wasn't big enough to get lost in let alone not know where you were going. It was a comforting if not small though. He could see Daniel fitting right in. Once he installed a huge big screen TV over the fireplace and talked Mary into getting the house wired for internet and every other conceivable high tech connection there was available in the city.

  And if he'd had the chance to notice there were tears flowing before he'd gotten too far into the room so that he could have backed up unnoticed, he would have done just that. The look he shared in a single moment with Court was the age old bonding between two males caught in the middle and unable to removed themselves from an emotional event they had no clue of the cause nor how to handle. What can I do to stop it and if that's not possible how can I get out of this was all either could think of.

  "Let me go see if I can find some tissues." He was almost out of the room before his sister stopped him.

  "Dave, come meet Court's aunt. You'll be able to let Dad know you met her. They're cousins."

  He turned already in motion of offering his hand to the woman busily in the process of drying her eyes. Thank God for small unrequested favors. "I'm pleased to meet you..."

  Court stepped in to make the introductions that he'd been unable to do until this moment. His aunt had started crying almost immediately upon seeing Mary. He imagined if he still had a hard time with the eerie resemblance to his mother, her sister definitely would have a difficult time with it. "Dave, Mary," he nodded at both of them, "This is my Aunt Natalie..."

  "Just call me Tallie." She laughed lightly, her laughter as light and airy as her voice. "Everyone always has," she looked at the two in front of her including the woman who reminded her so much of her sister. "Including your father."

  "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know that I was able to have the chance to meet you," Dave said honestly. He also knew his father would quietly wonder what had prompted his decision to move to Burlington. The announcement to leave the family firm wouldn't surprise a single one of them. His destination would.

  "Court tells me you're looking for someone to help set up your office."

  Over the course of the next twenty minutes, and when it was over Dave still wasn't certain exactly how it happened, he had a feeling no one in the room other than Tallie understood how it happened, but he'd hired her. He had no doubt she could do the job. He also had no doubt she could probably do it better than him with her eyes closed and one hand broken. When the door closed behind them he looked at his sister who surprisingly was looking only slightly less shell shocked than he.

  "Do you have an idea what just happened?" He asked slowly, trying to play the conversation back in his head.

  Mary had no such problems replaying the conversation back. And she knew exactly what had happened. Court's Aunt Tallie really wanted this job. Understood her age and family connection might work against her and rather than tak
e the chance of not being able to work around Dave's concerns she simply bulldozed right through them.

  "I think she is perfect for the job." When it came right down to it she didn't care how the woman went about easing herself into her brother's office. And she'd be perfect for keeping him from becoming too much of a recluse. He may not have picked up on some of her less than subtle questions but Mary had. Tallie didn't believe in people being alone and in her mind Dave had been alone far too long. She wondered how Court avoided her efforts as long as he had. She laughed at her brother's expression. He had obviously come around to the same conclusions as he replayed the conversation back through his head. And that only made her think of how long her brother had been alone and why.

  "Dave..."

  He heard the hesitation and understood it. They'd discussed a lot that had been on the back burner but there was one item both had tiptoed around. Everyone tiptoed around it for one reason or another. He should have known at some point or another his sister would get tired of the effort.

  "Dave, we've never talked about your divorce and all that went on before and after." Mary was prepared to be shut down. She wasn't prepared for his sudden move to sit easily on the couch facing the front door.

  "It was a mess I grant you but beyond that what would you like to know?" He hated talking about it only marginally more than he hated thinking of it. He'd wasted years of his life and wasn't thrilled with being reminded of it.

  After a brief debate with herself she decided to remain standing. Because she hadn't anticipated the question or the willingness to discuss it she debated longer about what to ask and settled with what was most important. "Are you okay?"

  If he was surprised by the question he didn't show it but she recognized the slightest of easing in his stance. Even seemingly relaxed as he was on the couch he'd been holding himself rigid, prepared for who knew what she might ask him.

  "I am now." And he sighed. She didn't want to ask and Lord only knew he didn't want to talk about it. But maybe it needed to be said. Maybe if he could say it all out loud at least once it would lessen its importance. Isn't that what holding it inside did? Made it more important than it was.

  "Dave, I..." she stopped when he held his hand up for silence like a teacher in a classroom.

  "I had a gambling problem, Mary. We all know that." He ran his hand roughly through his already tousled hair. "What you didn't know, what took me a long time to realize and then longer to come to grips with, was that Amy's family were helping me along that road to perdition. Even encouraging it to some extent. And why not, they made money off of it and me."

  If Mary could have taken a picture of herself at that moment she knew it would show her jaw just inches from the floor. She simply couldn't take it in. Couldn't begin to comprehend what her brother was telling her. "I don't understand..." and couldn't get much beyond that.

  "Neither could I." He shook his head. "Not for a long time." He stood, no longer able to appear casual about it as he wanted to. Paced, ended up in front of the window where he no longer had to look into his sister's shocked eyes. "One of her brother's a bookie." He sighed, wondered how it had all gone so wrong without him seeing. "At first I just didn't think much of it. In the world they live in lots of people do it for some extra bucks. It's not like I was going to report him or anything."

  "But it's ..."

  "Illegal." He glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Very illegal. And before long that wasn't too terribly important to me. Added to that was the very real fact he was Amy's brother." He shrugged. "He'd do me a few favors here and there, felt really badly when I lost and he had to come to me for money I didn't want to part with. He was good at playing the role he'd set up for himself, even better at making certain I won a little here and there...just enough to keep me in the game." He turned around again, knew he needed to face his sister when he told what he'd spoken of to no one. Took a breath, pulled it from deep within. "Amy was pretty good at playing the concerned wife too. She did a really good imitation of wanting me to stop, to get help," he closed his eyes remembering her concern. Remembered the deep well of guilt he would feel as the tears welled in her beautiful eyes. "There were times I almost stopped, would have stopped." He looked at his sister. "Could have stopped. For her." Saw her understanding nod. Pushed at himself to continue. "Then her brother would come at me with these really great odds...I mean really...how could I lose? But I could and did. It wasn't until later...a lot later I understood that the closer I got to quitting the harder he would come at me with better and better odds." He struggled for a moment with the memories. Memories he had put aside, far aside to where they couldn't touch him. "I came home early one day," he shook his head wearily at the memory. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard that line. You wouldn't believe how many people's lives have been changed one way or another just because they came home early one day...unannounced." He laughed, an unpleasant and grating sound even to his own ears. "She was talking to him on the phone. Laughing about how gullible I was, how unbelievably easy I was to maneuver drunk or sober." He looked at Mary with eyes that bore the weight of that discovery. "I don't know if she ever even loved me." Before his sister could speak he continued, needing to say it all, tell it all to the end. "We argued, by the time it was over and she understood I wasn't going to be fooled any longer she spilled it all out. And when she was done telling me just how stupid and gullible I'd been I walked out. Filed for a divorce. Set an appointment with a therapist I never went to. But I haven't gambled since. Didn't much care about being sociable with anyone and everyone for a while but I haven't gambled since that day."

  Mary let it all sink in for a moment before she moved over to where her brother now stood and simply put her arms around him. "I wish you'd let me, any of us, help you. We would have. We would have done anything we could." And now she understood why all her calls to Amy had gone unanswered.

  "I couldn't," he tried to explain. "I was too angry with myself. It was all a scam to them. Amy, her brother, the whole family, they were all in on it in one way or another even if only just by their silence. Oh, they may not have all agreed or liked it but not a single one ever said a word to me. In my book that makes them every bit as culpable."

  Mary held him close, didn't let him edge away as she knew he wanted. "It's horrible what they did to you," she agreed softly, anger and pain warring within her. Anger for those who had hurt and damaged him out of greed and pain for all he'd gone through alone. "But that wasn't the worst of it was it?" She felt him stiffen. "She may not have loved you, Dave, and God knows she certainly didn't deserve you." She lifted her eyes, looked into his. "But you loved her and that would have made it so much more harder to bear." She felt the quaking tremor roll over him as she voiced what he couldn't.

  "I loved her," he agreed. "But I never knew her. Not really." He eased away, took his sister's hands in his when she finally let him. "It took me a while to figure that out." He smiled, cuffed her as only a brother could on the arm. "In all the years since the divorce nothing jolted me into reality more than when you came up here on your own. Did what you've talked about for years and made your stake here." He looked around the room filled with memories that had given him strength and hope from the moment he'd walked into the small house only days before. "Couldn't let my big sister show me up, could I?"

  "Not in this family." Mary said dryly.

  "Yes. Well..." he wasn't certain there was much more to say on that subject. The family, their family was what it was. But he wasn't finished. He wanted her to understand that he might have been pulled about as far down as one could be but he had pulled himself back up. He ran his hands through his hair needing to finish the telling but not certain how. "It wasn't always easy. There were times the need to put money down on a chance, any chance, was stronger than the need to breathe." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Thinking about it was nearly as difficult as talking about it. But he knew the telling of it was a test of how far he had put it all behind
him. "So I started taking different chances. Gambling of a different kind. A legal kind." The look in his eyes from his sister's view was as mocking as his tone was cynical. And the smile he gave her was only a short step away from scornful but amusement was threaded through it all and it was directed completely at himself. "I invested in the stock market." He couldn't hold back the laughter at the stunned look on her face. "And fairly successfully. Not always," he corrected. "But in the last couple of years since the divorce I've managed to dig myself out of the financial hole I put myself into, pay off everything that I settled to get the divorce, and have managed to put aside a healthy retirement and rainy day fund."

  "I'm not certain what to say." Mary couldn't wrap her arms around it. For as long as she’d known this man who was her brother he’d been adamant about not taking risks. In her mind the gambling had been a horrible disease. Investing in the stock market wasn't...but could be.

  Dave shrugged. "Every single time, and there were plenty, that I felt the pull...the urge to gamble I made an investment of some sort instead. Studied the market just like I would have studied the opponents in a game or the odds on a race." He didn't care to explain himself, had never chosen to. But the worry he saw in his sister's eyes made it easy. Made it more important to explain than the desire not to. "There's not a lot of difference between the two. The odds aren't always on your side but when they are the payoff feels just as good either way. Eventually investing became something I chose instead of something I needed." He smiled ruefully. "And along the way it's been a lot more lucrative than gambling ever was."

  "Okay. Okay." Mary took his hands. "All I want is for you to be happy."

  "I'm okay," Dave said quietly which made it all the more potent. "I'm working on the happy part of it but I'm okay now and I'm going to stay that way."