Point of Attraction

by Margaret Van Der Wolf

  “Damn right, Georgie Girl, damn right.” He closed the door with a smile.

  Georgie sighed and made her way to the kitchen, and like before, the voices reached her. She listened, thinking Nick was right. She was an eavesdropper.

  “So you’re a writer?” Paula was asking Mason while unpacking the groceries.

  “Writer-wanna-be,” he answered. “Your mom’s the writer.”

  Georgie almost spoke up, but Paula went on. “Yes, she is. And when you’re not a writer-wanna-be?”

  “Oh, such subtlety, Counselor,” Steven said, popping in from outside through the laundry room. “You want to know something, flat out ask the man.”

  Georgie moved closer to where she could see them, but unless they turned, they could not see her.

  Paula had the good grace to blush before returning to her unpacking, but it was Steven that now held Georgie’s concern. Something had happened out on the patio. The earlier spark was now gone from his voice and mood. As Lucy stepped in, he gave her a sharp look, then softened it immediately.

  So she hadn’t imagined it, Georgie thought. Great. Couldn’t life just leave this family alone? Bite your tongue, Georgie. Bite your tongue.

  April was in the corner seat at the table, letting the whole thing unwind while Cassie, like always, stood near by ready to defend whomever might have need. Ryan was also in a corner, but against the counter and near Paula.

  “Steven, you can be so, so...” Paula turned around to face her brother, but Georgie stepped out. “Mom.”

  “What’s going on?” Georgie asked, with as much bubbly as she could muster and went to stand by Mason. “I know my children, who have been the pride of their dad’s and my life, would never be rude to a guest in this house.”

  “We were just...” Paula tried to explain.

  “We?” Steven laughed, waving a defensive finger. “No, no, no, dear sister. You are all alone on this one.”

  “She’s your mom too, Turkey.”

  “Paula,” Georgie started out, wanting her daughter to stop, but when she felt Mason’s hand on her shoulder, she was the one who stopped. That she had taken Mason’s lead on this did not go unnoticed by those around her.

  He then motioned a gentle, but firm, offering that they all stop, making her think of the stereotype police negotiator of films. Georgie caught sight of a shoe tip in the hall. Nick. And she breathed in relief, certain he was going to come in and help, but the shoe disappeared. Ryan too did not enter the confrontation. Rightly so, she realized. This was about the Gainsworths. A moment later Georgie heard the shower come on.

  “I think I can put some issues to rest here,” Mason said. “My name is Mason Madison Montgomery...”

  “Three Ms?” Cassie asked.

  “Cassie, sit down.” April’s voice was calm as she tugged at Cassie’s sleeve, but Cassie merely brushed aside the urging grasp.

  “I’m in your mother’s writing class,” Mason went on. “When I am not in class, I’m writing. When I’m not writing, I am serving and protecting the fine citizens of Portland.”

  “You’re a policeman?” Steven asked, half laughing. “Go get him, sis.”

  “But I want you to know,” Mason quickly added, “I would like very much, and I hope you’re all okay with it, to date your mother.”

  Georgie felt her lips part in awe.

  “Where it goes from there,” he added, “will be between her and me.”

  “But you’re married,” Paula said, pointing to his hand.

  “Paula!” Georgie scolded, but once more Mason’s hand lay gentle on her shoulder.

  “You can take off the ring,” Paula went on in a softer tone, “but the stain is still there.”

  “Oh, man,” Steven said.

  Though Georgie heard a mixture of disappointment and pain in her son’s voice, all she could do was stare at Mason’s hand, at the pale ring on the finger where the sun had been kept out. Mason too was looking down at it.

  “I guess I forgot to put it back on this morning,” he said.

  Instinctively, Georgie’s thumb felt for her own rings and realized she’d never put them back on after looking at them this morning. Daisy had distracted her, as had Paula’s phone call. Or... had it been Sam? The thought lay comfortably on her mind.

  “My wife died four years ago,” Mason said.

  Time lay suspended, accenting Paula’s soft, “Oh.”

  Georgie’s heart thumped against her ribs. Steven walked to his sister’s side and hugged her. It was times like this that her heart swelled with pride at the job Sam had done in teaching Steven the rites to being a man, the older brother, the pillar Georgie and Paula had needed when Sam died.

  “Be happy for her, Counselor,” Steven murmured.

  Georgie heard Paula take a deep shaky breath a moment before she side-stepped her brother and came to Mason.

  “It’s not you, Mr. Montgomery. It would be anyone standing where you are now. I knew it might happen one day.” She shrugged and raised her eyebrows with a touch of innocence Georgie hadn’t seen in her daughter for a long time. “I just thought it would be some time tomorrow, not today. You know?”

  Mason offered Paula a nod and a smile. “I think I do. You can drop the Mr. and call me Mason, if you want, or not.”

  Paula blinked, her face a multitude of emotions, then slowly extended her hand.

  Nick walked into the kitchen with a grin, hair still dripping. That was one quick shower, Georgie thought as he rubbed the towel over his head, then tossed it into the hamper just inside the laundry room door.

  “Did I miss anything?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair to comb it, and Georgie had to admit, he had his innocent look perfected.

  “No,” Paula said. “Just me being a brat.”

  Nick hugged her and said, “Well, Counselor, so long as you don’t do that in the courtroom, you’re all right.”

  “Okay,” Steven said, regaining some of his lighter mood. “Let’s say we get back to partying? And Mom, what’s Daisy’s fascination with the back fence? Hope you don’t have a coyote up there. It was big, whatever it was. Lucy and I heard it scurry off.”

  Nick’s head snapped up, eyes narrowed, then quickly corrected himself, but not before Georgie noticed, and when she looked up at Mason, she saw he too had noticed.

  “They normally don’t come down this far,” Nick said. “But neighbor dogs might do a little roaming.” He went into the living room and came out slipping into his jacket. He motioned Mason to follow, then looked to Steven. “Come on. I’ll show you how to really cook a chicken.”

  “Oh, like you do a lot of barbecuing,” Steven said.

  “At least when I barbecue, I cook real meat.”

  “Red meat’s not good for you, Uncle Nick.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nick grumbled. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got going out here.”

  Mason walked out after the two men and Lucy, taking with him the room’s heat and Georgie rubbed her arms as she watched them go out the door. She then went to the sink to look out the window. Mason stood by Nick as he poked and basted the cooking dinner while laughing with Steven. Lucy stood nearby. There was something about the way she stood, arms wrapped about herself... aloneness, lonely and alone. After a moment Mason and Nick made their way to the left corner of the yard, where Daisy still paced, her attention set on the trees and wild ivy growing up the slope. The men’s walk was a slow meander, now and then glancing at each other.

  “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  Georgie strained to hear the men even though she knew she’d have to open the window to do so. They leaned into each other, Nick’s arm indicating the area to the left of the property. He must be talking about the road curving up the foothill.

  “Mom?”

  “What? Oh. Paula, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Georgie said, feeling guilty at her lack of attention, but she kept glancing at the two men.

  “He seems nice,” Paula said.

&nbs
p; The sadness in Paula’s voice jolted Georgie. Grief shadowed those beautiful features, her hazel eyes afraid to meet hers, and Georgie hugged her daughter with a whisper, “Yes, he is. I know he’s not Daddy, but he is nice.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  Paula was reaching to the wide windowsill above the sink, and picked up Georgie’s wedding rings. “You took off your rings too.”

  Georgie took them, held them between her fingers. “I slipped them off this morning to look at them for just a minute.” She looked into Paula’s eyes, cupped her face in her hands and sighed. “And I think your Dad, decided it was time to leave them off.” With a smile, she placed the engagement ring on Paula’s finger. “Your Dad would want you to have it. I’ll save the wedding band for Steven for whatever he wants to do with it.” She slipped the gold band into her pant pocket then looked to Paula. “If it’s okay with you.”

  Paula’s arms wrapped around her, and she whispered in a shaky voice. “Yeah. Of course it’s okay.”

  Georgie glanced over at Cassie. April gave her a thumbs up while Cassie brushed fingertips to the corner of her eyes then came to hug them.

  “You guys,” she murmured with an extra pat to each, then went back to April’s side.

  Steven and Lucy came in, together yet not, and Georgie knew they were merely doing their best to get through the evening. She imagined they were going to have a long talk afterward, and decided to wait before giving her son the gold band in her pocket. He didn’t need to deal with this tonight. The time would show itself.

  “Chicken won’t be long,” he said, while giving his sister a stern hug. “Hope all is going well in here.”

  “It’s going good,” Paula smiled back, then went to Ryan for a quick embrace.

  “That’s my girl,” Ryan said, pressing Paula’s head to his chest with a gentle pat.

  Mason and Nick entered, both smiling, but Georgie thought their grins pasted caricatures over worried faces. Questions itched to be asked, but she swallowed them. This evening would be a long one and there was no way to hurry it. She would just have to wait it out.

  “Well, we’d better start the salad,” Georgie said, bending down to pull out a large bowl.

  “Mom?” Paula asked. “What’s wrong with your neck? Looks like scratch marks.”

  Steven walked over to have his look, touching the marks. “Mom? Those are scratches.”

  Georgie slid her hand over her neck, pushing aside her children’s hands. She had been so nervous about Mason meeting her children she had forgotten all about the scratches.

  Chapter fifteen

  Though the welts were gone, Georgie could still feel the scraped skin; the area still tender to the touch. Great. How was she going to explain it?

  “I don’t know about anyone else,” Nick said, “but I’m hungry. You want to know more about those scratches, you’d better feed me.”

  “If The Bad Penny had anything to do with them,” Paula said, sliding out the cutting board, “I hope you used heavy duty sterilizer.”

  Cassie laughed while working the garlic seasoning into the butter for the sliced bread. “She’s got you pegged,” she told Nick.

  Nick tugged at Paula’s hair in payment. “You’re picking up your mother’s sharp tongue. I’d keep a rein on it, Ryan.”

  “Oh, right away on that,” Ryan said, folding up the last of the paper sacks.

  Georgie held back any retort. Nick was defusing the moment, and Mason was following their lead by also saying nothing. Already Steve and Paula were entering the depths of getting the meal together, their mood very much like that of the children Sam insisted cook meals on those special weekends. “Don’t want you two starving when you get out on your own into the unsuspecting world,” he would say, and he taught them the best. He was a gourmet.

  “What did Doctor Eckert say?” Cassie asked Paula, adding her support in the change of subject.

  Paula leaned into Cassie with a nudge. “Everything is A-okay. I go see her again next month. I still wish you were my doctor.”

  “No can do, Kiddo. You know that. If I were any closer to you, I’d be your mother. But I’ll be there. Never doubt that.” She turned and Georgie saw that mischievous twinkle. “We’ll all be there to make sure Ryan doesn’t pass out.”

  “Good thing my ego isn’t made of glass,” Ryan said, wrapping his arm around Paula.

  Lucy remained within the motions of the group, but cautious, almost reserved, until she excused herself to use the guest bathroom.

  Cassie leaned into Steven with an elbow jab. “It’s okay, Dr. Steven,” Cassie whispered, and winked at Georgie. “Life is too short to let other people’s hang-ups harm you in there.” She poked at his heart. “It will either pass and be a bad dream, or stay and become a wall you can’t scale. Either way... it’s not in your power to control. All you can do is work with the outcome.”

  With a nod of understanding Steven returned the elbow nudge with a quick pat on the shoulder, and they both returned to the meal at hand.

  Georgie sighed deeply but said nothing. Her life would have been much harder to go on with after Sam’s death were it not for this gathered group of people. Yet she hurt for her son and Paula. They both took a hit tonight; different wounds, but only they could mend those cuts. She sighed, sadly accepting the fact. It was no longer in her power to heal their hurts.

  ~~0~~

  “But, Mom,” Paula said, smoothing the cling wrap over the leftovers she had arranged on a platter, while Cassie helped load the dishwasher. “You have to report it. It is a hit-and-run.”

  “That’s what I told her,” Cassie said.

  Georgie tried to listen, but once more, her attention was on Nick and Mason who were outside trailing Daisy while her Max sat in the middle of the yard looking at those gathered at the left corner.

  “That parking lot is dangerous,” Paula stated, and Georgie found her daughter’s arms wrapped tightly around her. “I don’t want to lose you, Mom. You have to be more careful when you walk out to your car. And get rid of that dark coat. I’ll have to get you something bright so you can be seen.” Paula finally stopped long enough to take a breath.

  “I’ll talk to Property Management at the next meeting about more speed bumps inserted at our end of the center,” Georgie quickly put in, trying to drop the subject. “But with the skimpy info we have, I doubt the police can do anything? I’ve already mentioned it to Mason. He wasn’t hopeful. We didn’t get anything off the plates.” She avoided looking at Paula, knowing that leaving out the part about no plates at all on the vehicle was the same as lying to her.

  “You know, if I had walked out like that, and not looked both ways, you’d have ripped me a new one.”

  “Yes, I would have,” she answered with a pointing finger at her daughter, then gave the barely rounded tummy a quick rub.

  “Yes, well... hello. You’re just as important to Steven and me. And what is with Steven and Lucy? They got sort of quiet. It’s not like him to leave so early.”

  Georgie took a deep breath as she tossed bones in the trash. “You have to admit, we are an overwhelming crowd. It’ll pass, I’m sure.” At least she hoped it would.

  Ryan walked in from the laundry room, rubbing his hands. “You about ready to head on out?” he asked Paula.

  “Just about. What are they doing out there?”

  “Oh, you know Nick.” Ryan got their coats and placed them over the chairs. “He was sure he heard a noise and saw a glint of something. Swore he got a whiff of cigarette smoke.”

  Georgie shivered in her warm house, but said nothing. Nick might be a lunatic at times, but he wasn’t an alarmist.

  “With the wind picking up,” Ryan continued, “I don’t see how he could smell anything other than wood smoke coming out of the chimneys. Which reminds me, I’d like two cords of seasoned wood. You guys know anyone selling?”

  “Yeah, on the windowsill there. The business card’s in the corner, but this late in the s
eason, you’re going to pay dearly.”

  “I know. This is only back up. We already have our wood, but I think we might have an extra long and extra cold winter.”

  “You think?” Georgie asked, running a finger along the condensation on the edges of the kitchen window.

  Ryan visibly shivered, and played along. “I don’t know, just an odd feeling I have. Cold, it says, very cold. Anyway, if we could get the city to clear those tree branches, we wouldn’t lose the power so often.”

  Georgie half smile. “When they finally decided what city our little area here belonged to, they got the power lines cleared. What a difference it made. But the card’s there.” She once more pointed to the window sill.

  Paula reached for the card, and pulled out the small vase with the rose. “What’s this?” Then quickly said, “Oh, Mr. Mont... I mean Mason.” She carefully pushed the vase back into its corner and handed Ryan the card before slipping into her coat. Once Ryan had his coat on, Paula hugged Georgie. “I’ll get used to it, Mom. Honest. He does seem very nice.”

  Georgie nodded and smiled.

  At their car, Paula opened the door and turned. “Mom, I’m worried about Steven.” Georgie saw her give the garage a quick cautious glance making sure neither Cassie nor April were there and lowered her voice. “He better be smart about this. Cassie and April are part of this family. Love him, love all of us.”

  “Yes, Dear.” She gave Paula’s shoulder a mother’s rub and pat, and leaned down to look across the seat at Ryan on the passenger side of the car. “Good night.”

  “Night, Mrs. G.”

  “Night, guys,” Paula called out with a quick wave towards the house.

  Georgie looked back. Cassie and April had come out of the house and were making their way through the garage heading for their car. They waved back, and Georgie moved out of Paula’s way so she and Ryan could drive out. After waving good-bye, she went to Cassie and April.

  “So it was M&M that gave you that rose?” Cassie asked, getting into their car.

  “No,” Georgie said. “I have no clue who might have left it under my windshield wiper. But it wasn’t Mason, nor Nick for that matter.”