“He’s okay now,” Gladys said to Carter and Ava. “Sometimes he puts that giraffe in a drawer like he’s putting it down for a nap. Then he can’t remember exactly where he placed it.” She stood, wiped her hands on her apron. “If I’ve looked for that giraffe once, I’ve looked for it a thousand times.”
Ava stepped farther into the room. “Miss. Kirshner, what’s happening with your son? Is he autistic?”
She nodded. “Worst case the doctors around here have ever seen. Can’t do anything for him. When your daddy was alive, I took Robert to a whole slew of medical people. They tried all sorts of things, but in the end, Robert is just like he is.”
Carter was puzzled. “Miss Kirshner, did our father help you with Robert’s expenses?” he asked. Such generosity was uncommon for Raymond Cahill.
“You bet he did. He had to. Your daddy is Robert’s father.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CARTER RECOGNIZED THE same shock he was experiencing in Ava’s eyes. “Maybe we should go back to the living room and discuss this further,” he said. “Will Robert be all right?”
Gladys nodded. “Yes, he’s okay now.” She placed her hands on her son’s face again, demanding his attention. “Mama’s going in the other room now, Robert. I’ll be right here if you need me. Can you play for a while so Mama can talk to these nice people?”
Robert did not give an answer, but he held the giraffe close to his chest and began crooning a song.
“How old is Robert?” Ava asked when the adults had taken seats in the living room again.
“Twelve.”
“Has he always been like this?”
“I didn’t notice anything was wrong until after his second birthday,” Gladys said. “Other babies were trying to talk and walk. Not Robert, so I knew something was up. And then it was one doctor after another.”
“And our father knew his connection to Robert?” Carter asked.
“He knew from the time I first found out I was pregnant. He made me quit my job. I worked in an auto parts factory until the baby came, and then I had to get your daddy to pay for child care. After a while, Robert being like he is, I couldn’t work at all.”
“Did our father go with you to the doctor’s appointments?” Carter asked, trying to determine the extent of Raymond’s involvement with the child and perhaps discover a shred of decency in the man.
“A few times, but he made it clear to me from the start that he had a business to run and a family to go home to every night. A real family,” she added bitterly.
“Did Robert have a relationship with our father?”
“You couldn’t call it a relationship,” Gladys explained. “Ray was here enough so that Robert finally stopped reacting to him with fits and temper tantrums. Raymond stopped coming at all two years before he died, and honestly, Robert didn’t seem to notice the difference. For the last three years it’s just been Robert and me, and a few aid workers sent by the county.”
Ava sat forward, a look of relief on her face. “Does he go to a school designed for children with his challenges?”
“He went for a while to the Blackthorn School in Ridley two mornings a week. The public school system paid for it.”
“Did he quit going?” Ava asked.
“Yes. Robert would become so upset that I’d just have to go get him. He couldn’t seem to adjust. Now I let him stay home with me. I can’t work, obviously, but thanks to your father’s money every month, I’ve managed.”
Carter was forming a clear picture of how the money chain started, and how it progressed. Either his father truly felt an obligation to this child or he was simply paying hush money to his mother. “When did my mother first hear of Raymond’s support of Robert?”
“I went to see her two days after the funeral. It was a bad time for your mama, but I couldn’t wait. Your daddy’s payment was late, and I had to pay the electric bill. Plus the town was about to shut off my water.”
“Is this also the first time my mother learned of Robert’s existence?”
“It was. Truthfully she wasn’t as surprised as I thought she’d be.” Gladys folded her hands in her lap. “She’s a good woman, your mama. She never questioned that it was her responsibility to keep up Raymond’s payments.”
Carter felt a need to clarify the misconception. “Miss Kirshner, I don’t think my mother...”
“She agreed,” Gladys stated emphatically. “Didn’t even object when I asked her to sign papers saying she would continue.”
Oh, Mama, why didn’t you come to us when this happened? Carter cleared his throat. “And my mother’s continued the payments all this time?”
“It may not seem right to you, Mr. Cahill, but I didn’t have any choice.”
“Frankly, Miss Kirshner, I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Carter said. “I know my mama wouldn’t want you and your son to be homeless.”
Gladys nodded. “Robert’s here. He’s healthy as a horse in most respects. And I love him. When he gets to be an adult, I don’t know what will happen to him. Maybe he’ll have to go into a care facility. I’m not going to live forever. But right now he has to be with me full time. That’s the way I want it.”
Carter stood. “Thank you, Miss Kirshner, for providing this information. Ava, I guess we heard what we came for,” he said. “Might as well head back to Holly River.”
Ava followed him to the door. “Thank you for your time, Miss Kirshner.”
“You’re not planning to stop the payments, are you?” she asked. “I don’t think your mama’d like that, and I’d hate for this to get messy with lawyers and all.”
“No, ma’am, we wouldn’t want this to get messy,” Carter said, though he didn’t know what the family was going to do about this situation. His and Ava’s lives had changed in the last hour. And Jace’s would, as well. The Cahill children had a half sibling whose existence had been hidden for years. Their father had not been the sterling leader in the community he’d professed to be. And Cora Cahill was sacrificing every day to make up for her husband’s infidelity. This was already a messy situation.
“We won’t need to involve any lawyers, ma’am,” he said as he followed Ava out the door. “I’ll keep you informed as things progress.”
“I just can’t believe this,” Ava said when they were in the car. “Daddy cheated on Mama. That overly righteous, narrow-minded, son of...”
“I know, Ava. I know. But what’s done is done.”
“I wonder if Mama ever had a DNA test performed to prove that Dad is Robert’s father.”
“We’ll ask her, but knowing Mama, she might have accepted the woman’s story as gospel.”
Ava nodded. “It’s not going to be easy to confront her about this, but we have to. Should we talk to her today?”
“Do you see any reason to wait?”
“No. And we have to let Jace know what’s going on. Let’s clear the air and hopefully one of us will figure out what to do.”
* * *
MIRANDA HAD ASKED Lawton to meet her at church on his lunch hour. If he’d been working on cars, he didn’t look it. He had on a clean shirt.
He smiled when she greeted him and checked his watch. “Just have a few minutes, Miranda. Don’t want to take advantage on the first day of my new job.”
“I understand.” She knocked on Reverend Babbitt’s office door, and he indicated they could come in.
Lawton’s smile faded. “I’m guessing this meeting has something to do with me.”
“Absolutely.”
He shook his head. “I should tell you, Miranda, this is my first time at church since I’ve been back. I went to services a few times in prison, but I’d hardly call myself a practicing Christian.” He wrung his hands. “And nobody in town would either. I don’t want anyone to pressure me to pick any church.”
“This isn’t ab
out you going to church regularly, Law,” she said. “This is about you meeting people and taking a first step in becoming part of the community.”
“What do you mean? The folks in this town aren’t anxious to have me be part of the community. I can tell you that.”
“Only because they don’t know you, the way you are now at least. I’m hoping to change that. And the best way to do that is to have you talk to the reverend with me.”
The minister stood behind his desk as they entered his office. Reverend Babbitt was a kind man. Miranda had listened to his sermons through her growing years. She hoped, and prayed a bit, that his kindness would extend to her cousin this morning.
Dressed in cotton pants and casual shirt, without his robe, his glasses perched on his nose, the reverend seemed approachable. Miranda noticed that Lawton seemed to relax.
She explained everything she’d done to help Lawton acclimate to life outside prison. “So you can see how well Law is doing, Reverend. He started a new job today. And before that, he’d been helping Jace Cahill at the tree farm. He has his driver’s license and a decent place to live.”
“I understand our police chief has been helping you, Law. Is that right?”
“That’s right, Reverend. Carter has been great. He’s helped me a lot.”
“I certainly respect Carter,” Babbitt said, folding his hands on the top of his desk. “I’d like to help, but I don’t see what you think I can do for you.”
Miranda cleared her throat. “You may know, Reverend, that I am a social worker for the state of North Carolina.”
He nodded.
“I’ve worked with other inmates once they’ve been released. I understand what they need to lead productive lives and not fall into the cycle of returning to prison. I’ve pretty much done all I can for Law. The only part of his rehabilitation still lacking is his contact with other people. I was hoping you could help with that.”
Babbitt nodded slowly. “Well, Miranda, church folks are supposed to be forgiving. And they’re supposed to believe in second chances. Attending church for an hour on Sunday is a start for Lawton, but I don’t know that it will make a whole lot of difference until people get to know him personally.”
“I agree,” Miranda said. “That’s why I’d like you to suggest a community project, perhaps one associated with the church...or not, that Law could participate in. He’s strong and a good worker. And you have your weekends free, right, Law?”
Lawton indicated that he did.
Babbitt reached for a pencil and tapped it lightly on his desk. After a moment he said, “I have something in mind. The town council is looking for volunteers to improve the equipment at Vanover Park. Some of the swings are worn out, and the slide needs to be replaced. We don’t want any of our young’uns to hurt themselves.”
“No, of course not,” Miranda said. “That sounds perfect for Lawton.” She glanced at her cousin and was grateful to see his nod of approval.
“And there’s another advantage. It’s mostly the young men in town, fathers of young kids and even a couple of young professors from the college, who are heading up the team to modernize the park. Lawton would be among people his own age. I can’t guarantee that this idea will be a success. That’s up to Lawton and the guys he’ll be working with. But it’s a beginning, a way back into the town’s good graces. If you give me the go-ahead, Lawton, I’ll speak to Craig Jones and tell him we have a new volunteer. Then you show up on Saturday at the park, and he’ll put you to work.”
“That’d be fine, Reverend,” Lawton said. “I’ll be there.”
Miranda shook the pastor’s hand. “I appreciate this,” she said.
“No problem, Miranda. But do me a favor. Don’t encourage your other cousin, Dale, to come around the park while Lawton’s there. I don’t want any trouble, and trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes.”
“I doubt this is something Dale would be interested in,” Miranda said. “Lawton hardly sees Dale anymore anyway. Isn’t that right, Law?”
“Haven’t seen him since I moved into the McNulty place,” Lawton said. “And I like it that way.”
As they walked to the church parking lot, Miranda said, “Is that true, Lawton? You haven’t seen Dale for days?”
“It’s true. He’s in real trouble. I’m not sure of all the details, but Carter told me they’d found stolen goods, and he believes Dale has something to do with it.”
For once Miranda didn’t think Carter was jumping to the wrong conclusion. She’d seen enough of her cousin Dale on this visit to suspect he was capable of anything. “You stay away from him, Lawton,” she said. “You know Dale. He’ll try everything to get you involved. And if he is guilty, he’ll try to get you to take the blame.”
Emily, who’d sat quietly in the minister’s office while the adults talked, left her mother’s side and skipped around to slip her hand into Lawton’s. “Yeah, Law,” she said. “Stay away from Dale. You’re really nice now, and he’s not.”
Lawton smiled down at her. “Thank you, Emily. I’m gonna try to keep it that way.”
“Why didn’t you tell cousin Lawton about us leaving, Mom?” Emily asked when she and Miranda were in the car. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No, honey. We’re still going on Wednesday. You and I will stop by Lawton’s cabin tomorrow night to tell him goodbye. I didn’t want him to feel that we were abandoning him right after he started a new job. But he’ll be fine after we go. And now that Reverend Babbitt has a project for Law to work on, my job here really is done.” She reached over and patted Emily’s knee. “We have to go back, sweetheart.”
Emily sighed. “I kind of thought...”
“What, honey? What did you think?”
“Well, I thought that maybe since you found out that Carter wasn’t a ghost, that maybe he would be your boyfriend. You’ve spent lots of time with him. And he’s always smiling.” She gave her mother an earnest look. “You can have a boyfriend now that you’re not married, you know.”
“Yes, I know, but as much as I like Carter, it won’t be him. He lives here in Holly River, and we live in Durham.”
“It’s not so far. Daddy came over and visited us, remember?”
“Yes, I remember. But please, Em, don’t count on us coming back here anytime soon, okay?”
Emily nodded. “I’m just kind of sad about it, that’s all.”
“So am I, honey,” Miranda said softly. Whether it’s now or fourteen years ago, leaving is always hard.
* * *
CARTER AND AVA arrived back at Cora’s a little after three that afternoon. Carter immediately noticed that Miranda’s car was not parked in front. They entered a house fragrant with roasting pork. Cora had always been famous for her slow-cooked barbecue.
“Where have you two been?” she asked when they came in the kitchen to find her.
“We had an errand to run,” Ava said, sniffing the air. “That smells delicious, Mom.”
Cora stared at Carter. “I thought I’d fix something special today since Miranda will be leaving soon.”
Carter stood stock-still in the middle of the room. “What are you talking about? When is she leaving?”
“Wednesday. Just told me this morning. She didn’t tell you?”
He pretended an indifference he didn’t feel. He’d just seen Miranda a few hours ago when he’d come to pick up Ava, and she hadn’t said a word about leaving. Apparently Ava didn’t know either. His mother’s words had struck him. “No, she didn’t mention that,” he said. Shaking off his stunned reaction he added, “I knew she was about done helping Lawton, but I didn’t know she was going so soon.”
Ava gave him a slight punch to his shoulder. “See? You happy now?”
“Maybe you should have asked her,” Cora snapped at him.
“Asked her what?”
“To st
ay maybe.”
“I can’t suggest what Miranda does with her life.”
Cora released a long, deep sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but it’s obvious that whatever you had years ago could be fanned back to life with a little effort.”
Carter pulled out a chair and sat heavily. “We aren’t interested in renewing what we had.”
Ava responded with a bitter-sounding chuckle.
“Speak for yourself, Carter,” Cora said. “I can tell when a lady is interested in a man. And, child, Miranda is interested in you. Why, she can’t take her eyes off you. Don’t be a prideful fool and let her go without a fight this time.”
This situation was getting out of hand, and Carter wasn’t going to just sit here and take an all-out assault from both women. “Mom, I didn’t let her go last time. She made her decision and I was forced to live with it.” He glared at his mother. What had happened here? He and Ava were prepared to talk to their mother about her involvement with Gladys Kirshner, and all of a sudden he was the target and Cora was acting like a ballistic missile. “Don’t rewrite history, Mom. It is what it is.”
Cora harrumphed and took a cooked potato from a pot in the sink. “I’ve got to make potato salad,” she said. “Now, tell me, what sort of errand took half the day?”
Ava shot a look at Carter, and he returned it with a let’s-get-this-over-with hunch of his shoulders. At least they would be changing the subject.
Ava pulled out two more chairs. “Come and sit, Mama. This could take a while.”
Cora put her peeling knife on the counter, wiped her hands on her apron and came to the table. “What’s going on?”
Carter indicated a chair and she sat. “We went to Wilton Hollow today, Mama.”
Her eyes widened, but she made no sound. Her lips thinned as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
“I guess you know why we went there,” Carter said.
“I have a lot of questions, but I’m figuring you interfered in business that’s none of your concern,” she said.
“Mama, how can you say that?” Ava leaned over the table. “You are sacrificing every month for this woman and her son. Meanwhile your house, your lifestyle, everything you deserve at this time of your life is being put on a back burner.”
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