Lost Innocents

by MacDonald, Patricia

“At the prison?”

  “The prison chapel. It was a modest affair,” he said.

  “How in the world did those two ever get together?”

  “It was one of those penpal romances. A lot of the prisoners have them. This one led to marriage.”

  “I had a feeling she led kind of a lonely life,” said Maddy.

  “I’m sure you’re right about that,” said Nick. “It started out with her sending him books, and one thing led to another.”

  “And Sean?” Maddy asked.

  “Oh, he’s theirs all right.”

  “I thought prisoners didn’t…I mean…you know…”

  “Have sex?” he asked, recognizing her discomfort.

  Maddy nodded.

  “Oh, they have sex,” he said, smiling wryly. “In fact, theirs was something of a shotgun wedding. Not that there was anyone holding a gun to Terry’s head. He was perfectly willing. And nobody in her life really seemed to care that much about Bonnie. But yes. He’s theirs. I baptized him myself. Only a couple of months ago.”

  “Oh,” said Maddy, surprised, relieved, and at the same time oddly disappointed.

  Nick noted her reaction. “You were hoping perhaps that you were harboring kidnappers?”

  “No,“said Maddy, frowning. “No, of course not. Maybe…I guess I’m just feeling for that mother. Wishing she could have her baby back safe and sound. It tears your heart out to see that young couple on TV.”

  “It’s terribly sad,” he agreed.

  They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their tea. “I’m awfully glad you came by,” Maddy said. “You’ve really eased my mind.” Then she cocked her head to one side. “Why did you come by? Weren’t you leaving today?”

  “Yes,” he admitted. “Yes, I’m afraid so.” He fished around in the pocket of his jacket. He was wearing his civilian clothes, and Maddy thought for a moment how much less severe he looked in a blue oxford shirt than in his black cassock.

  “Here,” he said, taking out a thin silver bracelet and laying it on the table between them. “I found this hooked on my gray sweater.”

  “But how…?” Then Maddy blushed furiously, remembering their brief embrace in his office. “I can’t believe it. I didn’t even miss it.” She picked up the bracelet and looked at it.

  “I figured you would want it,” he said.

  Another silence fell between them, and this time they both knew that it was a reluctance to face their final good-bye.

  “Well, I’ve still got to load up my car, before I get on the road,” he said, standing up.

  Maddy stood as well, wiping her hands on the front of her jeans. “Will you get there tonight?” she asked.

  “No, I’m…getting kind of a late start. I’ll stop and spend the night somewhere. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  Maddy suddenly did not trust her voice.

  Nick forced himself to smile. “Walk me to my car?” he asked.

  “Okay,” Maddy whispered. She was overcome with a sudden, keen sorrow for the loss of him. When they got outside, she was glad that it was too chilly to linger. They faced each other without smiling.

  “I’m sorry, Nick,” she said.

  He didn’t mean to touch her, but he didn’t want her to see his eyes, so he reached out and pulled her to him, and she pressed against him fiercely. The smell of her hair and the feel of her slight body in his arms made him hold her too long. He heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, and he let go of her as if she were red hot.

  Doug pulled up beside Nick’s car and got out. Bonnie clambered out behind him, Sean fussing angrily in her arms. In the front seat on the passenger side, Terry Lewis rested one huge tattooed forearm across the window and leaned out.

  “Father Nick,” he cried.

  Nick’s face lit up at the sight of him. He strode over to the car and gently shook the other man’s hand. “Hello, my friend. I heard you were in an accident.”

  “Out of the frying pan into the fire,” Terry joked, showing his crooked teeth when he smiled.

  “Let me help you out of there,” said Nick. He opened the door and reached in, half lifting the bulky man out of the seat.

  “Thanks, Father,” said Terry, straightening. “No more trouble. I promise.”

  Nick smiled and turned to Bonnie. “Hello, Bonnie. I was told you and Sean were staying here.”

  “Father Rylander,” she said, surprised.

  “You better take care of this guy.”

  “I will,” she said with her customary abruptness. She looked down shyly at her shoes.

  Nick leaned over and planted a kiss on the fussing baby. “And take good care of Sean. He’s a fine boy.”

  “Terry has to go in now,” said Bonnie.

  Doug caught Maddy’s eye questioningly. “I’ll tell you in a minute,” Maddy whispered.

  “Well, I have to be going, too.” Nick gave Doug a false smile and extended his hand. “Just stopped to say good-bye.”

  Doug reached out and shook his hand. His face was grim.

  Bonnie put an arm around Terry and began to help him toward the walkway. Nick climbed into his car without looking back. Maddy felt Doug encircle her waist with his arm. Maddy concentrated as hard as she could to keep back tears.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Maddy turned away from the sight of Nick’s departure and sighed. Doug looked at her suspiciously. Just then there was wailing from the direction of the car. “Will you get Sean?” Maddy said, herself from disengaging Doug’s possessive arm. “I’ll go open the door.”

  She saw that Bonnie and Terry were slowly approaching the house, and she realized that she had not seen Terry standing before. She noted that he was not a tall man— not much taller than his wife.

  As they approached the front steps, Maddy rushed up to the door and opened it. Terry’s face was pale from the exertion.

  “Come on in,” she said. “I’ll bet you’re glad to be out of that hospital.”

  Terry nodded and carefully hoisted himself up on the front steps. Bonnie hovered beside him anxiously. Terry stepped into the foyer and looked around.

  “Are you all right?” Bonnie asked.

  “I’m fine,” he said. His eyes surveyed the Blakes’ modest house. “This is a palace,” he said sincerely.

  “Thank you,” said Maddy. “Come in and sit down.”

  “I want to hug my boy. That’s the first thing I want to do.”

  “He’s right in here,” said Maddy, pointing to the living room. Doug had removed Sean from the car and brought him inside.

  Terry seemed to straighten up at the prospect of holding Sean. He limped toward the door of the living room and looked inside. “There he is,” he cried.

  “Don’t you dare try to pick him up!” Bonnie warned. She rushed past her husband and swooped down on Sean, lifting the startled baby off the floor. Sean started to wail.

  “Why don’t you sit down here and we can put him beside you,” Maddy said.

  Terry frowned but did as she suggested, falling heavily onto the couch and rubbing his stomach as he got himself settled. “Okay,” he said. “I’m ready for him. Bring him over here.”

  Maddy watched curiously as Bonnie brought the child to his father. A father he scarcely knew, she thought, yet Sean stopped crying as he sank into the sofa beside Terry. He looked up wide-eyed at the pitted, swarthy face, and with one little hand he reached up and tugged at Terry’s mustache. Terry let out a cry of delight and began to play peek-a-boo games with the child. Maddy glanced at Bonnie, expecting to see an indulgent smile on her face. Bonnie, who stood back with her arms crossed over her chest, looked on instead with stormy eyes.

  Maddy approached her tentatively. “Listen, Bonnie, I’ve been thinking…Terry really shouldn’t be climbing the stairs. There’s a foldout bed in the playroom you could use. I didn’t want to move your stuff until I spoke to you about it.”

  “We won’t need it,” Bonnie said bluntly. “We’re leaving.”

  “T
oday?” Maddy asked. She felt a combination of surprise and relief. But at the same time, she was concerned about Terry, who had had such recent surgery. He seemed frail and in pain. “Are you sure that’s wise?” she asked. “Is your husband able to travel?”

  “We’ll be all right,” said Bonnie.

  “But where will you stay?”

  “What difference does it make to you?”

  “Bonnie…I’m concerned about you, all right? I promised Ni…Father Rylander that I would look out for you.”

  “Look, I know why you took us in,” said Bonnie. “It wasn’t to be nice. You were worried about the accident. That we might take you to court.”

  “That is totally unfair,” said Maddy, wounded at the baldness of the accusation but acknowledging the partial truth of it.

  Bonnie made a face as if she smelled something rotten.

  “All right,” said Maddy. “All right. I was a little worried. But I was concerned about you, too. Everyone has their reasons. I’m no better than the next guy.”

  Bonnie relented. “You don’t have to worry. We have insurance. I put Terry on my plan when we got married. The car is insured in my name. You won’t hear from us after we leave.”

  Maddy thought about Doug, who had disappeared into the kitchen, and about how relieved he would be. He had been so nervous lately. This would certainly make him feel better, although she knew he wouldn’t trust the news. He’d be certain that the Lewises would change their mind. Nevertheless it was bound to cheer him up, no matter how much he might doubt their reassurances.

  “What are you two gals talkin’ about?” Terry asked. Sean was grasping his thumb, and Terry was moving it up and down.

  “About leaving,” said Bonnie.

  “I was saying that you don’t look like you’re in any shape to move,” Maddy said.

  Terry sighed. “I’ve had better days,” he admitted.

  “Would you like anything to drink? A cup of tea?”

  “I could use a cup of coffee if you’ve got it.”

  “Sure,” Maddy said brightly. “Bonnie, do you want anything?”

  Bonnie shook her head and sat on the sofa, on the other side of Sean. They made a touching picture there, Maddy thought. They had been through a lot. She thought of all that Nick had told her about them. Terry had lived through a nightmare the likes of which…Maddy thought about Doug. The likes of which we could understand, she thought. It was possible for an innocent man to end up disgraced, unjustly imprisoned. Not only had Bonnie stood by him, she had even married him. Clearly she believed in her husband, Maddy thought. There was something admirable about it, really. One more day, she thought. Surely we can manage that. They deserve a break.

  Maddy went into the kitchen and put the water on. Doug was sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up at her, an antagonistic expression on his face. She could feel him watching her as she moved around the kitchen, automatically scooping out the coffee, placing the mugs on the counter. Maddy knew something was brewing beneath his silence and his steady gaze. She pretended not to notice.

  “What was he doing here?” Doug demanded.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Maddy looked into the hallway and closed the kitchen door, gesturing for Doug to whisper.

  “He came to return my bracelet,” she said, indicating the delicate silver-linked chain encircling her wrist. Doug frowned at the bracelet, a gift he had given Maddy on their first anniversary. “How did he come to have your bracelet?”

  Maddy could not avoid thinking of how the bracelet had gotten caught on Nick’s sweater. She recalled the impulsive embrace, the surprising depth of feeling between them, and her face reddened. “It got snagged on something when I was in his office…when I went to see him.”

  “Went to see him about what?” Doug asked.

  “I went to talk to him,” Maddy said irritably.

  “Is that why these people are still here? Because he is so chummy with them?”

  “No. They are still here because that man got out of the hospital not an hour ago.”

  “I asked you to get rid of them but, hey, whatever Father Nick wants…”

  “Leave him out of this. He has nothing to do with it.”

  “Pardon me,” said Doug. “It seems like what I need is last on your list…”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” said Maddy.

  “Don’t tell me I’m imagining this. I’ve seen how that priest looks at you. He gazes at you like a sick pup. Do you think that was just a friendly squeeze he was giving you in the driveway?”

  She felt both guilty and resentful of his accusation. The fact was that nothing illicit had happened between herself and Nick. She had to remind herself that she had nothing for which to apologize. “Don’t be disgusting, Doug. We’re close friends. He’s leaving today, and he was saying good-bye.”

  “Well, maybe that’s how you see it,” he snapped.

  Maddy shook her head. “Do you want coffee?” she asked evenly.

  “What, are you waiting on them, too?”

  “Never mind,” said Maddy.

  “If he’s so damn fond of these people, why didn’t he take them in? No, he expects you to do it. Why should you do what he wants? I mean, what claim has he got on you? Unless there’s something I don’t know about.”

  Maddy glared at him. “Even if that were true of Nick, which it’s not, how could you show so little faith in me? How could you even think, for a minute…”

  “Hey, sometimes things happen,” said Doug with a shrug.

  Maddy looked at him through narrowed eyes. There was something altogether too fluid about his idea of morality. “No, they don’t just happen,” she said bitterly. “Not if you don’t let them happen. I’m your wife. I made a promise to be faithful to you, if you’ll recall. I don’t take my promises lightly.”

  He lowered his eyes. “Let’s just drop it,” he said.

  She stared at him, and the memory of Heather on the doorstep returned. For a moment she wondered. Did he really believe that things could just happen, and he was helpless to prevent it? Could something have just happened between him and Heather? She tried to stop herself from saying it, but she couldn’t. “Heather Cameron was here today,” she said.

  “What the hell did she want?” Doug asked uneasily.

  Maddy sighed. She reminded herself that it was not fair to torment him. He had been cleared of those charges. She recalled Heather’s odd behavior and how reassuring she had actually found it. “I think she’s mentally deranged. She said she was jealous because she thought you were involved with some other girl named Karla.”

  “Karla?”

  “Another girl from school who has a crush on you or something. She was all bent out of shape, as if you were being unfaithful to her. Can you imagine coming here and saying that to me? It was loony. Kind of scary, really. I thought about calling the cops. I really did. But she left without making a scene.”

  “Karla…Needham?” he asked incredulously. “Has a crush on me?”

  “That’s not really the point, Doug,” Maddy said coldly.

  “No, of course not,” he said, shaking his head. “That Heather is a sick kid. She needs help.”

  Maddy felt certain that he was saying the words but thinking of something else.

  “So,” he said abruptly. “What did you find when you were playing Nancy Drew? Anything interesting? The map to the hidden treasure?”

  “Don’t patronize me,” she said.

  “I’m not.” He came around the counter and put his hands on her arms. “I’m sorry. I mean it. I’m sorry about Heather coming here and upsetting you. I wish I’d been here. I would have read her the riot act. And…I am curious. About our guests. Did you find anything?”

  Maddy looked at him ruefully.

  “Really, Maddy. I’m sorry. I was out of line.”

  “Yes, you were,” she said bitterly.

  “Okay, so…?”

  Maddy shook her head. “I didn’t find anything.
Nick had the interesting information.”

  “Ah,” he said, clearly wanting to make a sarcastic remark but restraining himself.

  “It seems that Mr. Lewis was released the day before yesterday from the state prison.”

  Doug jumped up from the chair. “My God. And you’re just telling me this! What were you waiting for? How could you just let me go on without knowing this? Without mentioning it?”

  “It’s not the way it sounds. He was in for a crime he didn’t commit. The real killer confessed, and Terry was released.”

  “Killer? Killer? Oh, great. You mean he was in for murder?” said Doug.

  “That he didn’t do,” whispered Maddy, gesturing for him to keep his voice down.

  Doug threw up his hands. “They’re in our living room.”

  “Well, they can spend one more night.”

  “Spend the night? You think I’m going to have a violent criminal in the same house with my family?”

  “Stop shouting,” said Maddy. “Look, I told you. He didn’t do it. He was released because he did not commit the crime. Nick told me all about it. He has been meeting with him in the prison these last few years. He said that Terry was amazingly strong about the whole thing.”

  “Oh, sure,” Doug cried. “One hypocrite endorsing another. You can’t really believe that, Maddy. I mean, use your brain.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? Nick is not a hypocrite.”

  “He’s the worst kind. Going around spouting Bible passages and lusting after my wife. Why should we take his word that this convict can be trusted? Oh, sure…. Let me tell you something, Maddy. That ex-con is not staying in this house. Do you understand me?”

  “Don’t you dare talk to me like that. It’s not just your house.”

  The kitchen door banged open and Bonnie stood there. “Terry needs his coffee,” she said.

  Maddy and Doug exchanged a stony glance, and then Doug threw open the kitchen door and started down the hallway to the stairs.

  “It’s almost ready,” said Maddy, lifting the kettle off the stove with a shaky hand.

  “What was he yelling about?” said Bonnie.

  “I just told him about Terry being in jail. Father Nick explained everything to me. Doug was a little bit surprised.”