Grace sat in a separate leather recliner much like Barney’s by the fireplace at home. Taffeta was shocked by the older woman’s appearance. Grace, who had at one time set the fashion gold standard in her upper-end social circles, now looked skeletal and frighteningly pale. Her hair, once a shimmery salt-and-pepper, had turned almost white. Still cropped short, it had no shape or life and lay over her head like a limp cap.
Before, Taffeta would have greeted Phillip’s mother with an affectionate hug. Now she wasn’t sure of her reception or how to behave. “Grace,” she murmured softly.
Grace smiled sadly and extended a bony hand. “Taffeta. It’s so lovely to see you again.”
Even Grace’s voice sounded fragile. Taffeta grasped her cool fingers and then couldn’t resist hugging her. “I’m so sorry about the problems with your health, Grace.”
“It’s Mom to you,” she said firmly. “And it always will be.”
Taffeta felt her mouth start to tremble. “Mom,” she repeated. “The best one I ever had.”
“The only one you ever had,” Grace said with a wan smile, “but I’ll take it. You are the only daughter I’ll ever have.”
Behind her, Taffeta heard Cameron already questioning Barney about his job. Did he aspire to become the sheriff of Mystic Creek someday?
Barney replied, “Sheriff Adams is the man for the job right now, and I’d never consider unseating him. He has worked hard to get where he is today. But when he retires, I’ll definitely run for the office. I was born in Mystic Creek and grew up there. It’s my town, and I care about the people there.”
Giving Grace’s hand a gentle squeeze, Taffeta went to sit beside her husband. She could tell by her ex-father-in-law’s expression that he was impressed by Barney’s answer. Cameron appreciated a young man with ambition, but he frowned upon those who had no scruples about climbing over older men to reach a higher rung on the ladder.
The conversation moved forward. Cameron spoke briefly of Phillip. “We’re very disappointed in him.” He glanced at Grace. “We don’t know where we went wrong in raising him, but we definitely made some serious mistakes somewhere along the way.”
Taffeta hated knowing that these two wonderful people blamed themselves for how their son had turned out, but she could think of nothing she might say to ease their pain.
“Anyway . . .” Cameron looked straight at Taffeta. “Both Grace and I feel that we owe you an apology. We were wrong to support Phillip during your trial, wrong to believe the things he told us. I’m so sorry for the part I played in that.”
“And so am I,” Grace inserted, her voice so faint that everyone gave her undivided attention. “He’s my son, and I’ll always love him. But that doesn’t mean I like him.”
Cameron took over. “When your son tells you that his wife has viciously abused your granddaughter, you’re inclined to believe him. It was inconceivable to us that Phillip would tell such a terrible lie. Please forgive us for being so blind.”
“Over time,” Grace put in, “it became more and more apparent to us how totally screwed up Phillip is. When I began to suspect that he’d lied about you, I gently questioned Sarah. The child has no recollection of a single time when you were mean to her. I believe she grew terrified of you only because Phillip told her awful things.” Grace spread her hands. “And we helped him do that, I’m afraid. Not many kind words were spoken about you in this household for several months, and I’m sure Sarah overheard our diatribes sometimes. Three-year-olds are impressionable.”
Taffeta couldn’t think what to say and was relieved when Barney broke in. “Everyone in this room probably has regrets, but it’s more important now to focus on the future and Sarah’s well-being.”
Barney turned to Taffeta. “Sweetheart, I know it’s hard for you to talk about it, but I think you should tell Grace and Cameron about Sarah going to school with bruises.”
As Taffeta related her conversation with the private investigator, Cameron clenched his teeth and Grace closed her eyes. They both looked devastated.
Cameron said, “Grace and I are very aware that Phillip has been a complete jackass. You must have wondered why we didn’t hire someone to care for Sarah in our home to keep her away from him.”
Taffeta chose her words carefully. “I suspect that Phillip used Sarah as a bargaining chip to get more money from you.”
Cameron nodded. “You guessed right. And I stupidly called his bluff. I knew Phillip wanted no part of being a parent and thought he’d back off when I told him no. Instead he grew furious and left with our granddaughter.” Cameron bent his head to stare at the floor between his feet. “I panicked and called him. At that point, I was willing to give him the money. But he upped the ante.” His eyes dark with shadows, he met Taffeta’s gaze again. “I’m a successful man, and I’ve invested wisely, but the amount Phillip demanded would have drained all my accounts.” He glanced at his wife. “We have great health insurance, but it doesn’t cover everything. I couldn’t give him what he wanted, not with so many medical bills rolling in, so he kept Sarah.”
“Oh, Cameron, I’m so sorry.” Taffeta meant that from the bottom of her heart. “How horrible that must have been.”
“It was beyond horrible. We could do nothing without taking Phillip to court to get custody, and we were advised against it because of Grace’s poor health. Even if we were both in excellent health, we aren’t exactly prime candidates at our age to raise a little girl. We have Sarah now only because Phillip is tired of the responsibility. The child cramps his style. He can’t always find someone to take care of her.”
Grace straightened in her chair. “You aren’t the only one who hired an investigator. We did as well, and we were notified a few times when Phillip left Sarah alone in his car at night while he partied in a bar. Cameron called the police twice, hoping to get him arrested for it, but by the time the cops got there, Phillip had already left.”
Cameron lifted a shoulder and smiled sourly. “I think our son has a friend at the police department who tips him off. It’s the only explanation for how he evaded arrest.”
Taffeta winced. Poor Sarah. She was too young to be left alone in a car, even in broad daylight. The child must have been terrified.
Cameron gestured limply with his hands. “Grace and I understand and sympathize with your yearning to get your child back. The time that Sarah spent with her father has impacted her in many negative ways.” He flapped his wrist again. “Grace has been so ill that she can’t help me deal with that, so I’ve been winging it, and I’m afraid I’ve done a pathetic job of correcting Sarah’s behavior. I’m an old man. I adore that little girl. It about kills me to criticize her. I’m her grandpa. It’s supposed to be my job to love her, spoil her, and let her parents take care of the discipline. Unfortunately Phillip dumped her off with unsavory people and was apparently oblivious of the changes in Sarah.
“But all of that is beside the point. It’s clear to both Grace and me now that Phillip lied, not only on the stand, but to us countless times. We’re willing to support you in any way that we can if you decide to fight for custody. Sadly, that may take a while, possibly more than a year, because you must first get your conviction overturned in appellate court.”
Taffeta reached for Barney’s hand. “I can’t allow my little girl to remain in her present situation for over a year. At any time, Phillip can come back for her.”
“Sarah will be staying with us from now on. Phillip knows now that I can’t or won’t buy him off, and if there’s no money in it for him, he’s finished playing daddy. When Grace is too sick to take care of Sarah, we have a good friend who will come in to help out.”
Taffeta battled tears. She had no idea how long it would be before her case would be heard in appellate court. Until her conviction was overturned, she couldn’t hope to get custody unless both Cameron and Grace would vouch for her in front of a judge. She wasn�
�t certain that they were willing to do that.
As if Cameron read Taffeta’s mind, he said, “I’ve checked into your options. Family law is my specialty. Until a judgment in your favor is handed down by the appellate court, you don’t have a prayer of getting custody. Even if Grace and I stand firmly behind you, it would be highly unlikely. What judge in his or her right mind would grant custody to a convicted abuser?”
Taffeta vised her fingers on Barney’s. A tremor ran through her.
Cameron flashed her a sympathetic look. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, Taffeta. I’m only stating the facts as I see them. What Grace and I can do is go before a judge in private chambers and request that you be allowed frequent and unsupervised visitation with your daughter. I know you want more than that, and I know you deserve more than that, but at least, if Grace and I are successful, you’ll be able to see Sarah often while you wait for a ruling from the appellate court.”
Barney spoke up. “If Taffeta wishes to ask a judge for a reversal of the custody ruling, would you and Grace be willing to vouch for her?”
“We’d be more than willing. But I honestly don’t think it’d be worth the effort. The odds are stacked against her.” Cameron glanced at his watch. “It’s time for me to pick up Sarah from school.” He met Taffeta’s gaze. “Would you like to stay until we get back so you can see your daughter?”
“I’d love to, but during our last visitation, Sarah grew hysterical. I don’t want to upset her like that again. I need to move slowly forward with her, I think.”
In a weak, tremulous voice, Grace said, “I’ve been working with Sarah on that. She may still be hesitant, but she won’t be terrified. She’s coming around and asks about you often.”
Taffeta sent Cameron a questioning look. He smiled and said, “I think you should stay, honey. When she gets here, don’t rush her. I think she’ll come around faster than you anticipate.”
Chapter Twenty
The next forty minutes of waiting for Sarah seemed like the longest of Taffeta’s life. Rigid with nerves, she clung to Barney’s hand, wondering when she’d come to count on him so much. Grace nodded off in her chair. Taffeta leaned closer to her husband.
“I’m so scared,” she whispered. “If she screams and shrinks away from me again, I think I’ll die.”
He untangled their fingers and slipped his arm around her. “I don’t think Grace or Cameron would have said it will be all right unless they believe it will be. Take a deep breath and try to relax.”
Taffeta did as he said, but her body remained taut with tension. She jerked when she heard the front door open. A second later, Sarah entered the room. At first glance, Taffeta thought the child looked adorable in a pink top and jeans. Her curly dark hair bounced on her shoulders with every step she took. But then, with mind-numbing shock, Taffeta noticed not only how much older Sarah was, but also that the little girl had a rhinestone stud in her nose and gaudy, dangling earrings in her pierced ears, and wore makeup, her eyelids smeared with dark liner, her cheeks slashed with too much blush, and her lips stained with bright red lipstick.
If not for Barney’s firm hold on Taffeta, she might have toppled off the sofa. Pain lanced into her heart. She had anticipated that this first meeting with her daughter would hurt. She had missed out on two years of Sarah’s life. There were storybooks that she would never be able to read to Sarah because they were no longer age-appropriate for her. Taffeta had missed out on watching the child learn to draw her first letters, listening to her bedtime prayers, taking her to the zoo and the park, and—well, the sense of loss that Taffeta felt was indescribable. But never in her wildest imaginings had Taffeta expected to see her child wearing garish makeup, earrings, and a nose stud.
She sent Cameron a horrified look. He lifted his hands in that helpless gesture again. Now Taffeta understood what he’d meant when he said that Sarah’s exposure to unsavory individuals had impacted her in a negative way.
Sarah ran straight to Grace, who had awakened. The frail older woman opened her arms, and the child gave her grandmother a careful hug. Even so, Grace winced.
“Shit, Grammy. I’m sorry.” Sarah drew back. “No matter how hard I try not to hurt you, I always fuck it up.”
Again, Taffeta wobbled on the sofa cushion and was grateful for Barney’s grasp on her arm. Where had Sarah learned words like that? She was only five. And why, oh, why were Grace and Cameron pretending she hadn’t said them?
“You have some very special visitors,” Grace said to the child. “Did your grandpa tell you about them?”
“Yes.” Sarah turned toward Taffeta, but her gaze halted on Barney. She stared at him for what seemed like an endless moment. Then her face went pale, the only color left because of the heavily applied cosmetics. Beginning to tremble, she cried, “A cop! What’s he doing here? Make him go! Now! I don’t like cops! They take daddies and mommies away to jail and leave little girls all alone with no food!”
Taffeta felt Barney stiffen. Then he pushed to his feet. Taffeta grabbed hold of his shirtsleeve. “Barney, no.” Only even as Taffeta uttered the words, she could see by her daughter’s reaction that his leaving might be the only option, at least for now. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Barney gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll take a drive. Don’t shorten your visit on my account. I’ll be fine. Call me when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll pick you up.”
Sarah ran to her grandfather and cowered behind his legs as Barney crossed the room toward the archway into the foyer. “I can see myself out,” he said over his shoulder. “Cameron, Grace, it was a pleasure to meet both of you.”
The sound of the front door closing echoed through the large house, yet Sarah still trembled like an aspen leaf in a brisk breeze. Cameron scooped the child up into his arms and sat on the sofa with her.
“Cops aren’t bad people,” he gently assured his granddaughter. “In fact, they’re our friends. When we need help, we can call for them, and they always come.”
Sarah shook her head. “No. They’re mean. My daddy said. He told me to hide under a blanket on the floorboard if I ever saw a cop. He said the cops would take him away to jail and leave me all alone in the car forever and ever without any food or water.”
Taffeta’s stomach dropped. Of course. Sarah’s terror of lawmen suddenly made perfect sense. Phillip had frequently left the child unattended in vehicles. In order to avoid any legal ramifications for endangering his child, he’d told her wild stories to make her so terrified of the police that she would hide from them.
In a faint voice, Grace said, “We’ll have plenty of time later to discuss whether policemen are our friends or our enemies, Sarah, but for now, Deputy Sterling is gone, you have nothing to be afraid of, and someone who loves you very much is here to see you.”
Sarah finally looked at Taffeta. “Hi,” the child said.
“Hi.” Taffeta tried to smile. She wanted to leap up and scoop her daughter into her arms. Instead she just drank in the sight of her. Beautiful, so beautiful. How long had it been since she touched her little girl? Her fingertips ached to feel her silken curls and satiny skin. And, oh, how she yearned to take her to the bathroom and scrub all that goop off her face. “That’s a very pretty outfit.”
“Thank you. Grammy says the color pops on me.” Sarah shifted on her grandfather’s knee. “She wouldn’t buy me the outfits I really wanted, though. She said they were sneezy.”
“Sleazy,” Grace gently corrected. “Getups like those are worn by women with no taste in fashion and are inappropriate for little girls.”
Sarah shrugged and cast her grandmother a snide glance. “Whatever, Grammy. You’re an old lady and don’t know what looks sexy.”
“Sarah!” Taffeta wanted to bite her tongue the instant she spoke. Scolding the child now, when Sarah barely remembered Taffeta, if she even remembered her at all, might get the two of them off on t
he wrong foot. Nevertheless, Cameron and Grace apparently weren’t giving the little girl guidance, and Taffeta couldn’t let such rudeness go unaddressed. “Your grammy loves you very much, and she deserves to be spoken to with respect.”
“You aren’t my boss,” Sarah popped back.
“No, I’m not,” Taffeta agreed. “But I do want to be your good friend, and a good friend always speaks up when somebody is making a mistake. I think you may have hurt Grammy’s feelings.”
Sarah gazed thoughtfully at Grace. “I’m sorry, Grammy. Did I hurt your feelings?”
Grace nodded. “No lady likes to be told that she’s old. And I’m actually not. I’m a pretty young lady trapped in an old woman’s body. I’m also very good at choosing clothing that enhances one’s appearance.”
Taffeta noted that Grace didn’t talk down to Sarah or avoid the use of big words. Just as the speech of Phillip’s friends had rubbed off on Sarah, so had some of Grace Gentry’s sophistication. Sarah didn’t talk like any five-year-old that Taffeta had ever met—not that she’d known all that many.
“It’s true, Sarah,” Taffeta inserted. “When I first met your daddy, I had no idea how to dress properly. Your grandmother took me shopping, and every time I reached for something that wouldn’t look good on me, she’d slap my hand.”
Sarah giggled. “Nuh-uh.” She flashed a questioning glance at Grace. “Did you really slap my mommy’s hand?”
Grace smiled. “Maybe a time or two, and only in a joking way. Her taste in clothing was abysmally poor.”
Sarah dimpled a cheek at Taffeta. “How come you hang out with cops?”
Taffeta wasn’t certain how to answer. She definitely felt it would be unwise to mention that she was married to Barney, at least for right now. She chose to reply, “I don’t normally keep company with cops. But that particular law officer is a wonderful person, and he’s my very close friend.”
New Leaf Page 24
