Ben was about to investigate Sissy’s grandparents when someone knocked on his kitchen door. He sighed, feeling frustrated. He still knew so little about Sissy’s family. He left Finn asleep by the desk and found Barney on his porch.
“Hey, bro,” Barney said. “I need to talk to you.”
“Terrific. I’m kind of busy. What is it?”
Barney pushed his way inside. “I just thought you’d like to know that Sissy’s mother is back in town.”
Ben’s heart skipped a beat. “Is she here to bail him out of jail?”
“She did bring him money.”
“That figures. Sissy says her mom will stand by her crazy bastard of a husband, no matter what. Does she know that he tried to rape her daughter?”
Barney, in uniform for work, went to pour himself some coffee. As usual, he forgot to remove his Stetson. Ben forgot half the time, too. “Oh, yeah, she knows. But you’re wrong about her standing by her man. She left him. Not sure when, but I get the feeling it’s been a while even though the divorce only recently became final. The money she brought Doug is his legal half of their assets, a directive from her attorney.” Barney grabbed a jug of creamer from the fridge and added a dollop to his mug. “I heard her tell him that if she ever sees him again, she’ll say hello with a loaded twelve-gauge and aim for his balls.” He glanced up. “Considering what he’d done to her daughter, we searched her for weapons when she came in, afraid she might shoot him.”
“And?”
“She was carrying. I think she was so upset about what he’d done to Sissy that she meant to put a bullet between his eyes. She didn’t admit that. She claimed she has a permit to carry concealed and just forgot to take the pistol out of her pocket. Adams checked, and she is licensed to carry. He also discovered that Bentley assaulted her a few months ago and she has a restraining order against him. He could have arrested her for bringing a weapon inside the building. Instead he took possession of it and gave it back to her as she left.”
Ben gave his brother a shocked look. “Really? Sissy describes her mom as a spineless wimp.”
Barney shrugged. “I’m not questioning Sissy’s opinion of her mother. But abused women can get counseling. Her name is Doreen. She now uses her maiden name. At the jail, she made her ex-husband sign a notarized document prepared by her attorney that releases her from any further financial obligation to the jerk. I was one of the witnesses. Adams was the other one. The notary came in from the bank.”
“Wow.” Ben’s mind was racing. “Good for her. And she tried to sneak in a weapon? I’m liking her better and better.” Ben pressed a hand to his forehead. “I didn’t mean that. And yet I do. I wanted to kill him when I saw what he’d done to Sissy. I can totally get how Doreen must feel if she loves her daughter.”
“Sissy resembles her in build and facial features, only her mom is a redhead and fair skinned with freckles. You can definitely tell they’re related. Doreen is staying at the Dewdrop Inn. Room forty-three. Checkout is at eleven. If you want to meet her, you’d better hurry. She could leave early.”
Ben grabbed his hat and jacket. “She’s leaving town even though she knows her daughter was almost raped by her father? What the hell? You’d think she’d at least stop by the café.”
Barney leaned his hips against the counter. “Cut her some slack, Ben. Do you really think Sissy wants to see her?”
Ben sighed. “No. I get you.” He opened the door and whistled for Finn, still asleep in the office. The dog came running. Ben tipped the brim of his hat to his brother. “I’m headed for the Dewdrop. Cross your fingers. I really want to talk to her.”
Chapter Twenty-three
That night, Sissy was about to close the café when a slender woman walked in and took a stool at the counter. Only two other customers remained in the café, Lynda and Tim VeArd. Sissy nearly dropped a pan when she recognized her mom. She stared at her, wondering how she dared to show her face.
She stomped from the kitchen on her walking cast and faced Doreen over the counter. “Get out!”
“Oh, God, your face. If he gets out with a slap on his hand, I swear to God I’ll find him.”
“I said ‘get out.’”
“Unless I’m physically forced, I’m not leaving. Your father lied. I played no part in what he did. You can call the cops to carry me out of here, but all you’ll learn from them is that I tried to sneak into the department this morning with a loaded gun. I wanted to kill the son of a bitch for what he did to you.”
Sissy, still furious, stared hard into her mother’s eyes. “How’d you know he was in jail unless he called you?”
“He did call. He needed money, and I still owed him his half of our marital assets. I knew he was in jail here. I thought maybe he’d been arrested for stealing a car. But when I pulled into town, I stopped at a café for breakfast at the edge of town. The place was abuzz with all the sordid details of how Sissy Bentley’s father broke into her café, beat the hell out of her, then tried to rob her and rape her.” Doreen’s larynx bobbed. “When I heard that, my whole reason for coming changed. I wouldn’t need a signed and notarized release from a dead man.”
“It’s illegal to enter a public building with a loaded gun,” Sissy countered back.
“I got the permit to carry concealed after the bastard attacked me the last time. I normally keep the weapon in the glove box unless I feel threatened by him. But this morning, I put it in my coat pocket before I went into the sheriff’s office. When a deputy found it, I told the sheriff I forgot I had it in my pocket, so he gave me a pass.”
Sissy could no longer believe a word her mother said. “Wow, I’m so impressed. Suddenly mama bear comes out. Where was she when he beat the hell out of me countless times as I was growing up? Where was she the night he tried to rape me right before I graduated from high school?” Sissy didn’t care if her customers heard. They were her friends. Everyone in town already knew her parents were no good. “Don’t come in here with another bullshit story. Trick me once, shame on you. Trick me twice, shame on me. I won’t fall for it.”
Doreen’s face went white, her mouth slack with shock. “In high school? He tried to rape you in high school? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sissy crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. “Jeez, let me think. Maybe because he broke my cheekbone twice and you never did a thing about it, including taking me to a doctor? Maybe because you let him throw me against walls? Maybe because you let him kick my puppy to death for peeing on his piece-of-crap rental floor? Maybe because all you ever did when he beat me was to sometimes throw yourself in his line of fire to take the punishment yourself?”
Doreen bent her head. Her thin shoulders shook with silent sobs. Sissy stared at her, feeling nothing. Nothing. Her mother had betrayed her for the last time.
Then, when Doreen regained her composure, she looked up, her eyes aching with regret and pain that ran so deep, not even Sissy could fail to see it. “You’re right,” she said so loudly that Sissy winced because the VeArds remained in the café. “My name is Doreen. I married an abusive man. I bore him a child, a beautiful little girl, and I didn’t have the courage to protect her when he turned on her. I didn’t have the courage to protect myself. I believed I was stupid, ugly, worthless, and helpless.”
Sissy’s heart caught. This sounded like a speech her mother had made many times in front of others, a confession for which there was no absolution. Doreen slid off the stool and turned toward the two individuals who remained in the café. “I deserve nothing from my daughter but her contempt. Nothing I ever say or do can make up for how I failed her.”
Counseling, group counseling, Sissy thought. Her mom had told her that there was nothing Sissy could say to her that she hadn’t already said aloud countless times to people in her group. Sissy felt as if a huge, cruel hand of steel was crushing her heart.
“Mama,” she cried.
Doreen whirled to face her. She reached into her pocket and slapped several folded sheets of motel stationery on the bar. “I came to bring you this, a list of all your relatives on both sides with details about all of them. Read it. Contact them. Go meet them. You come from good stock.”
Sissy gasped. “Ben talked to you!”
“Of course he did. The man loves you and is trying to save the relationship. There’s not a thing wrong with you genetically. And if you love him and lose him because you’re an idiot, it’s on you. You’re an adult. The stupid choices you make now are on your shoulders, not mine.” As Doreen walked out, she added, “I included my phone number. If you’d ever like to speak with me about all this, I’ll be grateful if you call.” Just as the door was nearly closed, Doreen pushed it ajar to add, “I did watch my rearview mirror all the way here the day I came to see you. I never saw your father’s truck, but a little red sports car was behind me all the way into town. I’ll bet Doug stole it. Have the sheriff follow up on it. Maybe Doug will be charged with car theft along with everything else, which will keep him behind bars longer. He shouldn’t be on the streets.”
Silence descended on the café. Tim and Lynda sat at their booth as if they were statues. Sissy practiced deep breathing to calm herself. With a horrible, chilling wave that surged through her body, she realized her father had lied. Her mom truly had left him and gotten a divorce. She’d turned her life around after years of counseling. And Sissy had not only rejected her but also humiliated her.
So upset her gaze was fixed on nothing, Sissy jumped with a start when Lynda’s warm hand grasped hers. Sissy realized Tim was standing at the counter as well. Her friends. Lynda, the fiery one with a huge heart, said nothing. Tim, who was just as caring, said, “Sweetheart, I think you just made a huge mistake. I heard about your mother going into the jail with a gun. Everyone’s talking about it, saying she meant to kill him for what he did to you. Nobody said anything in front of you, I’m sure, for fear of embarrassing you. But I happen to believe your mom meant to take him out, and I can’t blame her.”
Lynda piped in with, “Neither can I. If Tim did that to our daughter, I’d pull the trigger and ask questions later.” She elbowed her husband. “Not that he ever would. But when he served in the navy and was away for months on end, I lived on base, in military housing. My friend next door was just like your mom, dealing with an abusive husband. She got beaten down until she believed she was ugly, stupid, and good for nothing. Then her husband got transferred. I never saw her again. But a few months ago I got a letter from her. I have no idea how she found my address. She told me she stayed with her husband for years before she found the courage to leave him. She went home to her family. She’s mending her relationships with her kids. After two years of counseling, she got a good job and now has a new husband. She’s finally happy.”
Sissy realized Lynda’s story about her friend closely resembled the one Doreen had told her at the Straw Hat.
“It sounds like your mom failed you a lot of times,” Tim said.
Sissy nodded. “Yes, but now I think she’s finally got her head on straight. I shouldn’t have been so awful to her.”
“It can be fixed with a phone call.” Tim looped an arm around Lynda and led her toward the door. “Dinner was great! We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sissy was left alone to stare at the folded stationery that her mother had left on the counter. She finally sat at the bar, opened the notes, and began to read. A tremulous smile touched her mouth and deepened more as she perused each entry. At the end, she saw her mom’s phone number and dialed it.
“Hello,” Doreen said. She sounded as if she were speaking on a car phone.
“It’s me,” Sissy said. “I’m sorry I was so horrible to you, Mama. My father told me you were in cahoots with him and knew he was here.”
“No. I told you he’s been stalking me. I think he stole that red car to follow me that day, and that’s how he found you. I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on it then. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s stolen a car. Normally he didn’t drive them any distance, though. Too risky.”
Sissy toyed with the papers. “Thank you for the notes about my relatives. They sound like such wonderful, stable people.”
“They are. You need to meet them.”
“Mama, can you drive back? Maybe spend the night so we can talk and mend our fences?”
“I’ll come back another time and look forward to it. But right now you have a far more important relationship to mend, Sissy. Ben is a wonderful young man. I don’t want you to lose him. When you’re with him again, I’ll drive back for a slumber party.”
* * *
After ending the call, Sissy stared down at her phone. It took all her courage to do it, but she dialed Ben’s number. He answered so fast she suspected he’d been waiting for her to call.
“Hi,” he said, his deep voice pitched low. “You pissed at me for talking to your mom?”
Sissy squeezed her eyes closed. If he was worried about her being angry with him, maybe they still had a chance to put the pieces back together. “I was miffed at first.” Her smile returned. “But unless my mom lied, I know so much more about my relatives now. My paternal grandfather is a minister married to an English teacher. My dad has a sister who’s a vet! She was awarded Vet of the Year in that county three years running. And on my mom’s side, my two uncles are professionals, one an attorney and the other one a dentist. I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. Your father was an apple that fell far from the tree. And your mom—well, shit happens. She married him when she was so young. They eloped, she used fake identification to lie about her age, and he immediately started browbeating her and physically abusing her.”
“I’ll never understand why she stayed with him.”
Ben sighed. “Sissy, go online and read about emotionally and physically abused women. You’ll find answers there.”
Sissy clung tight to her phone. “I need to visit Homesville and meet both sides of my family. Maybe then, I can get everything into perspective.”
“Would you like some company? Moral support?”
“I think this is something I need to do alone, Ben. I called to ask if you’ll bear with me and wait until I get back.”
“Wait? Wait for what, Sissy?”
She groped for an answer. “I need you to give me a chance to meet my other relatives. If everything my mom says is true, there’ll be no reason for me not to marry you.”
“You have no reason right now,” he said, with a new edge of firmness in his voice. “So, no, I won’t wait. You’ve already put me through enough hell.”
Sissy’s heart sank. “So no matter what I find out in Homesville, you’re finished with me?”
“That isn’t what I said. I said I won’t wait for you to go there and convince yourself that you’re genetically sound. Have you ever heard about people taking a chance on love?”
“Yes, but this has nothing to do with love.”
“I disagree. I need to know that you’ll love me, no matter what. I need to know that you’ll stand beside me. No buts, no conditions. We can adopt children. Couples do it all the time.”
Sissy wondered what had happened to the sane and logical conversation she’d planned to have. Somehow it had turned around on her. “But you want your own children.”
“I want you more, and over the last few days, I’ve had nothing to do but think. I had to prove myself to you, over and over, before you could trust me. Now I’m asking you to prove yourself to me. Do you love me? Or maybe I should ask if you love me enough. When you go to Homesville, I want you to go with my ring on your finger. I want a commitment from you. Will you love me no matter what? I’m a forever kind of guy. I’ve been up front with you about that. What if I’m sterile or have a low sperm count? What if I get genetic marker testing and find out I have a high risk o
f getting leukemia, or colon cancer, or any other scary thing? Are you going to bail out on me?”
How could he believe she might walk away from him? “No, of course not. I’d still love you.”
“Well, right back at you. Excuse my French, Sissy, but you breaking our engagement over your possible genetic flaws was a bunch of bullshit. It still is a bunch of bullshit. You think about that, and then you get in touch with me. And, by the way, if you decide you’re truly committed to this relationship and want to reinstate our engagement, this time you can ask me to marry you.”
Sissy was too flabbergasted to respond. Her mouth was dry. She waited, but all she heard was flat silence at his end. She licked her lips. “Ben? Are you there?”
There was no answer. Sissy went to stare out at the dark street. No matter how she circled it, she had screwed up, big-time. Ben was right. Breaking their engagement for the reason she had was absolute bullshit. What if he were genetically predisposed to get certain kinds of cancer? How would she feel if he backed out of their relationship because he might pass that propensity on to their children? Two people who truly loved each other stayed together, no matter what. They faced all the storms and rough patches together. Real love was unconditional. She didn’t come with any guarantees and neither did he.
* * *
Ben was in his recliner, trying to concentrate on an episode of a series he’d started watching after Sissy broke up with him. Then he heard a knock coming from the entryway. Nobody who frequently visited his home went to the front door. They knew he used only the side entrance.
Finn sprang up from his nap and emitted a joyful bark. A slight smile curved Ben’s mouth. Finnegan loved members of Ben’s family, but only one person incited him to react with that much excitement. And of course Sissy wouldn’t know to use the side door. She’d been to his house only once. He was damned glad she’d found a good kitchen assistant, because that part of their relationship had to change. He needed to be with her more when she wasn’t working, and as long as she put in fifteen hours a day, seven days a week, that couldn’t happen. He wanted to take her out to dinner a couple of nights a week. He wanted to prepare her a meal here, where they could sit at his table. Going to see a flick together again would also be nice.
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