"I'm sorry," the older woman said. "I cry rather easily these days. For a long time I never did."
"You know, Calder told me you used to protect him as much as you could, sometimes at your own expense. I imagine you gave him all you could manage, and I'm going to be totally unfair and ask you to give him one more thing."
"What's that?" Caro asked steadily.
"Time. He thought he understood what was going on between you and his father, and now that's all been turned on its head. He needs time to take it in, and he has to get to know you all over again."
There was silence for a moment, leaving Cassie wondering if she had overstepped her bounds. Finally, though, her mother-in-law said in a subdued voice, "Thank you. That's good advice."
Cassie strove to lighten the moment. "You know, I was shocked when Calder's friend Scott told me that Calder was Stephen West. I'd read his books and admired them, and now Scott was telling me that the most inarticulate man I knew had written these eloquent, sensitive books. I'd have been more likely to believe the sun would rise in the west."
His mother's eyes brightened a little. "I wasn't surprised a bit," she said quietly.
"I like your new look," said Calder as they finished dinner, "but it takes some getting used to."
His mother laughed lightly. "If you think this is hard to get used to, you should see what I looked like just after I left! I was so tired of having to dress to Joe's orders that the first place I stopped was a Goodwill store right by the train station. I bought a couple of rather appalling outfits, and changed into one of them and left my old clothes behind. I cut my hair with a pair of scissors in the restroom at the station. I looked horrible, and I loved every minute of it. Your father would have died on the spot if he had seen me."
Cassie couldn't help laughing, both at her mother-inlaw's evident delight in her misbehavior and Calder's failed attempt to hide his shock. "I can just imagine it," she said. "Did you have that all planned out, or was it an impulse?"
"Oh, I had every detail worked out. I'd been planning it since the story about Stephen came out."
"Joe's brother?" Cassie could feel the tension emanating from Calder. "It sounds like that upset him a lot."
"Anything about Stephen upsets him. It always has," said Caro. "When we were first married, he was miserable for days every time he came back from seeing Stephen, and he'd talk about how things would be different when his father died. But by that time he was already running for the Senate, and Matthew was lieutenant governor and beginning to make a national name within the party. They were both too vulnerable to scandal. So nothing ever changed for Stephen, except that Joe stopped being upset after seeing him and started to be angry instead."
"I hadn't realized he cared about Stephen," Cassie said.
"Oh, never doubt it, Joe loved Stephen. He idolized him as a boy, and it was a huge shock for him when his hero came home from Korea barely able to talk. Then, when his father refused to acknowledge Stephen, Joe had to become one of his jailers, and he hated himself for it. Stephen was his weak spot. Joe never cried when his parents died, but he cried when he heard Stephen was dead."
"And came home angry at me," said Calder bitterly.
"Yes," his mother said. "But that's Joseph all over. He can't tolerate feeling pain. He has to take it out on someone else." She looked as if she wanted to say more, but stopped.
Cassie nudged Nobska, asleep under the table, with her foot until he got up and stretched. "Calder, I think Nobska's getting restless. Would you take him out so he can run for a bit?"
He gave her a grateful look. "Sure. Come on, pup."
"I'm sorry," Caro said once the door had closed behind him. "I suppose I shouldn't have said that. I really don't want to drive any more of a wedge between Calder and Joe than there already is."
"I don't think you need to worry about that," Cassie said, feeling awkward. "It's just his uncle Stephen is a sore point. Calder identifies with him. And it's hard for him to hear what you went through."
"It wasn't bad before the boys were born, just the occasional cutting comment. He didn't like having to share my attention with them. That's when he started trying to control everything I said and did." She paused, and for the first time bitterness entered her voice. "You have no idea, my dear, how much easier it is to tolerate abuse yourself than to watch your children being abused and be helpless to stop it. Joe knew it, and he used it against me."
Cassie was at a loss for what to say. She had never heard of Calder before they met, but everyone knew who Caro Westing was. She was American royalty, along with Jackie Onassis, Princess Grace, and Caroline Kennedy. And here she was at Cassie's dining room table, talking about her troubled marriage. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you, but I'm not looking for sympathy. Overall, it's been much better in the last few years, at least until just recently. I'm trying—rather clumsily, I'm afraid—to tell you something about Calder. I imagine he's told you what Joe could be like, but he never saw the whole picture. Sometimes Joe would attack him for something he did, but more often it was for no reason at all, because when Joe was angry at me, he'd take it out on Calder. He knew that hurt me worse than anything he could say to me. But poor Calder—what he learned was that nothing he did would ever be good enough. No matter how hard he tried to please his father, he never could for long, and he always blamed himself. And Joe—he never understood it was making Calder hate him, because what he was doing to Calder seemed so mild to him compared to the kind of discipline he had as a child."
Cassie had been curious about this piece for some time. "Calder seems to have liked his grandfather. I take it he was harder as a father than a grandfather."
"Lord, yes. Joe has scars. His father didn't believe in sparing the rod. When Calder was born, Joe said he was never going to raise a hand to a child of his, and he never did, except one time when he lost control. That was a nightmare. But he never realized how much damage he could do with words."
"What I don't understand," said Cassie with great care, "is why you're trying to defend him."
"Defend Joseph? Hardly. I'll never forgive him for what he did to my children. But I don't want Calder to believe his own father hated him when it isn't true."
Cassie studied her. She remembered what Ann Crowley said, that Calder didn't realize what he meant to his mother. "So you're still trying to protect Calder."
"If you will. He didn't deserve what happened to him. He was a very sweet child, you know."
Cassie smiled. "I can imagine. He's still very sweet, once you get to know him."
Chapter 24
CALDER AND CASSIE SPENT the next morning showing Caro the local sights, touring her past Nobska Light, located on the point of land that had given their dog his name, and visiting some of the historic captains' houses of Falmouth. After lunch, when the tide turned, they strolled along the beach by their house and showed her the pleasures of swimming in the bay.
By late afternoon, they retreated indoors, tired by the sun. Calder was showing some signs of strain, and Cassie wanted to make sure he had some quiet time. She suspected his mother might benefit from it as well.
When the phone rang, Cassie reached for it. She recognized Joe Westing's voice, as apparently she was expected to, since he didn't bother to identify himself. After perfunctorily asking her how she was, he said, "I understand Carolyn is there."
Cassie considered denying it, but decided it would be pointless. "Very efficient spy system you have."
"I want to talk to her." His tone was designed to brook no argument.
"I'm sure you do. Let me check with her." She clicked mute and looked over at Caro. "It's Joe. He's asking for you."
Caro blanched. Cassie asked, "Do you want to talk to him? You don't have to if you don't want to."
Her mother-in-law silently shook her head. Nobska, apparently sensing something was wrong, wandered over and sat down beside Caro, pressing his head into her lap.
"Sorry, she isn't feeling chatty," Ca
ssie said brightly into the telephone. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"You can put Calder on the phone."
She didn't need to ask Calder if he wanted to speak to his father. "I don't think he's feeling talkative either. We've had a long day. I'll be happy to take a message."
There was a pause. "Tell him he can't get away with this forever." His voice was angry.
Her eyes narrowed. "I'll pass that along. I'm sure it's very nice of you to call. It's dull for me, sitting around with two such untalkative people, and I'd hate to get so desperate for conversation that I'd have to go chat with some of the reporters hanging around town."
She heard the click of the receiver being hung up on the other end. Switching off the phone, she said to the room at large, "It is beyond me how a purportedly intelligent man can have failed to work out by now that I don't like being told what to do."
"What did he say?" Calder asked.
"Nothing much, just chucking his weight around."
"Excuse me," his mother said softly, and disappeared upstairs to her room, leaving a worried-looking dog behind.
Chris answered the lab phone with his usual "Yo." A pause. "Yeah, she's here. Can I tell her who's calling?"
Cassie looked up from her data analysis with annoyance. Once her thought process was interrupted, she had to go back to the beginning and think it through again. She should have told Chris to say she was out.
Chris's lanky body stiffened from his usual slouch. "Just a minute, please." He held out the phone to Cassie and whispered, "It's your father-in-law."
Great. Just what she needed. More of Joe Westing's idea of fun and games. She slammed shut the reference book and took the phone. "Yes, Joe?" She tried to sound as businesslike as possible.
"Cassie. How are you?" It was his cordial voice. That meant trouble.
Cassie stared up at the ceiling. "Busy. And you?"
"Very well, thank you. Since it's so dull for you with all the untalkative people around, I thought you might like a little conversation."
What was he up to? She drummed her fingers on the desk. Maybe he wanted to use her as a conduit for information to Calder. That would explain why he called her at work. "How very thoughtful of you."
"It's always a pleasure to chat with you. What have you been doing since we talked last?"
If he was hoping to pump her for information on Caro, he could think again. "I've been performing a multivariate analysis of covariance for the levels of littoral nitrogen to determine the parameters for my next protocol." That would teach him to ask nosy questions.
"How intriguing. I've been learning about prisons."
Tension slid down Cassie's spine. "Really?"
"They need to keep discipline there, you know. If
they suspect an inmate is up to no good, they can make his life difficult. Very difficult."
"So I've heard." She was aware of Chris watching her.
"But that's just for problem inmates. Of course, problems are in the eyes of the beholder."
The silky threat raised goosebumps on her skin. "What do you want from me, Joe?"
"You started this, and you're going to stop it. You're going to convince my wife she's better off coming home, and you're going to keep Calder in line."
"I don't know where you get the idea I have that kind of influence on either of them. Certainly not on Caro." Her chest felt tight.
"Perhaps you'd better think about how to get that kind of influence, unless you don't mind your little brother sitting in solitary confinement for the next twelve years. That's always assuming he gets paroled, which I wouldn't bet on."
Cassie tasted bile in the back of her throat. "You bastard."
"Don't call me names, Cassie. I don't like it."
No doubt Calder or Caro could come back with a smooth response, but it was beyond her abilities. "Good-bye, Joe." She slammed down the receiver.
She leaned her elbows on her desk and rested her face on her hands, fear racing through her. She couldn't let him hurt Ryan. Solitary confinement would kill him. Painfully, minute by minute, day by day, year by endless year.
Maybe she could convince Calder to play along. If he knew what was at stake, he'd be willing to go through the motions. He'd done it in the past. But that wouldn't work with Caro. She'd never go back, and Ryan would pay.
"Dr. Boulton, are you all right?" Chris sounded hesitant.
"No, I'm not all right!" she snapped. "Don't you have some work you should be doing?"
"Sorry." Chris slunk to the back of the lab and turned on the faucet to wash the glassware.
What was wrong with her? She'd never spoken to a student like that in her entire career. One conversation with Joe, and she was acting just like him. Poor Chris looked terrified.
"Chris, I'm sorry. I was upset by the phone call." How could she tell him Joe was arranging to torture her brother? How would she tell Calder? He'd blame himself.
"That's okay, Dr. Boulton." Chris sounded subdued. Cassie hoped he would never know what it meant to be as frightened as she was.
Chapter 25
CASSIE SPENT THE DAY trying to think up, and then dismissing, ways to keep Ryan safe. Playing along with Joe wouldn't last. Contacting someone from Ryan's old gang—they all stood up for each other, and they had power in the prisons—was too risky. Calling a reporter wouldn't help, because there wasn't anything she could do to prove Ryan wasn't making trouble, and drawing attention to him would make his life more difficult. There had to be an answer, but she didn't want to go home until she'd found it. It was too scary to think there was nothing she could do.
She stayed at the lab into the evening, even after Chris went home. The silence and darkness suited her.
A shadow fell across the desk. She looked up to see Rob's figure silhouetted in the doorway.
"You're here late," he said.
"Look who's talking. And I actually work here. Don't you belong down the street at WHOI?"
He tipped his head toward the window. "I was walking to my car, and I saw your light was still on. I know you go home early these days, so I came up to check if everything was okay here."
So he was still looking after her. "Thanks, but I'm just working late. It happens, even now."
"Did you have a fight with him?"
"Who do you mean?"
A ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "Your husband, of course."
"Everything's fine with Calder, not that it's any of your business. I have a lot to do before tomorrow." And she didn't want to go home until Calder and Caro were asleep. She'd called to say she wouldn't be home till the middle of the night. She couldn't face them yet. She wouldn't be able to pretend nothing was wrong.
Rob raked his eyes around the lab. "No experiment set up, and you're reading a journal. Doesn't look too critical to me." He took a step closer. "And Chris stopped by to see me and said you were really upset."
"The little traitor. I should have known."
"He's worried about you. He cares about you."
"And he'd love to see me ditch Calder for you. Sorry, no deal."
Rob pulled up a lab stool. "Well, I can't blame the boy for having good taste. So, what's wrong that you won't go home?"
"Look, I won't deny that I'm worried about something, but I can't talk about it, to you or to Calder, and you'll only make things worse if you try to help. So please, leave it alone."
He shook his head. "Sending me away won't help, because it'll just be Jim down here next trying to pry it out of you."
"With friends like you, who needs enemies?" She'd meant it as a joke, but it only reminded her that she did have a real enemy. A dangerous one.
"Yeah, well, if you ever start letting your friends know when something's wrong, we'll stop hassling you all the time."
He was going to make her cry if he kept this up, and she didn't want to cry. Not without Calder there to hold her. Calder. Suddenly she realized that was what she needed. Even if he couldn't do anything to help, sh
e needed to be with him. She'd always faced her problems by herself, but she couldn't do it anymore.
She grabbed her keys from the desk. "I've got to go." She stopped with her hand on the door and looked back at him. "Thanks for being concerned," she said with a catch in her voice.
He smiled wryly, as if finally accepting his dismissal. "Any time."
Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice Page 33