Devil’s Claw

by J. A. Jance

  Still sobbing, Kristin nodded. “It’s in the car.”

  “Butch,” Joanna called. “Kristin’s going to spend the night. Would you mind bringing her luggage in from the car? Put it in Jenny’s room.”

  “Oh, not Jenny’s room. I couldn’t do that,” Kristin hiccuped as Butch walked past her on his way to the Geo. “Couldn’t I sleep on a couch or something? I don’t want to put anyone out…”

  “Nonsense,” Joanna said, bodily pulling her over the threshold and into the living room. “It’s all right. Jenny won’t mind.” As Joanna guided Kristin toward the couch, she called to her daughter. “Jenny, where are you?”

  “Right here.”

  “Go to your room and gather up whatever you’ll need for tonight, and for tomorrow morning as well. Kristin’s going to need to use your room tonight. You can sleep here on the couch. And as soon as Butch finishes bringing in the luggage, I’d like both of you to go to the kitchen and make some cocoa. I think Kristin needs some privacy.”

  Joanna was grateful when Jenny did as she was told without so much as rolling her eyes or asking a single question. Once Jenny and Butch had retreated to the kitchen and closed the door, Joanna turned back to Kristin, who had managed to stop weeping by then and was noisily blowing her nose.

  “I never thought they’d throw me out,” she choked miserably. “I always thought my parents loved me.”

  “They do love you,” Joanna said. “They’re just hurt is all.”

  “It’s not like I’m a seventeen-year-old kid,” Kristin continued. “I’m an adult. Even if I live at home. I have a job. Ever since I graduated from high school, my dad’s made me pay room and board. You should have heard some of the awful things he said to me, some of the terrible names he called me.” Kristin stopped and shook her head as another deluge of tears threatened to fall.

  Joanna reached out and took Kristin’s hand. “You’re going to have to forgive your parents,” she said softly. “Both your mother and your dad.”

  “Forgive them,” Kristin echoed. “Why should I? My father’s the one who called me a slut! He said I was no better than a common…” She faltered to a stop again, unable to continue.

  “It doesn’t matter what your father called you,” Joanna said. “Forget about it. And it doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, either. This has far more to do with you and Terry than it does with either one of your parents. Have either of you changed your mind about what we discussed this morning?”

  Kristin shook her head, tossing her wild tangle of blond hair around her tear-ravaged face. “Just like you suggested, we made an appointment to talk to Reverend Maculyea,” she said. “But the soonest she can see us together is tomorrow afternoon after work.”

  “But you and Terry still want to get married?”

  “Yes. Terry offered to come home with me to talk to my folks so I wouldn’t have to do it alone. He wanted to ask my father for my hand in marriage. Now I’m glad he didn’t. My father probably would have taken after him with a baseball bat.”

  “Does Terry know where you are right now?” Joanna asked.

  Kristin shook her head. “No,” she whispered.

  Taking the telephone from its cradle, Joanna passed the handset to Kristin. “Call him,” she said. “Let Terry know where you are. That way he won’t call your house and antagonize your parents any more than they already are. That way, too, in case he already has called your house, he won’t have to worry about where you’ve gone. In the meantime, I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll go to the kitchen and see how that cocoa is coming.”

  Joanna started to walk away, but Kristin reached out and stopped her. “You’re sure it’s all right if I stay here tonight? You’re sure you don’t mind?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Joanna replied with a rueful smile. “After all, it’s my fault. If you hadn’t been following my advice about telling your parents what was going on, they still wouldn’t know anything about it, so you’d still have a place to spend the night.”

  Leaving Kristin alone, Joanna headed for the kitchen. There she found Butch and Jenny standing at the stove peering into a pan of made but not yet steaming cocoa. “What’s going on?” Butch asked.

  “Kristin’s having a little disagreement with her parents,” Joanna explained. “She lives with them, and they asked her to leave the house tonight.”

  “That sounds like a big disagreement to me,” Jenny said. “What’s it all about?”

  “It’s private, Jenny,” Joanna said after a moment’s thought. “If Kristin wants to tell you, that’s up to her, but you’re not to ask-not under any circumstances. Is that clear?”

  Jenny nodded and sighed. “Is it because I’m too young?” she asked.

  “It’s because it’s nobody’s business but Kristin’s,” Joanna replied. “Now, how about that cocoa? Is it almost ready?”

  “Coming up,” Butch said. “Jenny, get out the mugs, would you? I’ll pour. We’ll let your mother serve.”

  Minutes later, Joanna returned to the living room taking two cups of cocoa and leaving Butch, Jenny, and the two dogs still confined to quarters in the kitchen. Kristin was just hanging up the phone.

  “You talked to Terry?” Joanna asked.

  Kristin nodded. “You were right. He had already called the house, talked to my father-or had been yelled at by my father-and he was worried sick. He wanted to come right over, but I told him not to. That I was fine and that I was going to stay here overnight. I told him I’d meet him for breakfast in the morning-before work.”

  She took the cup of cocoa Joanna offered her, tasted it tentatively, and then set it down on the end table. “Is it true that the same thing happened to you and Deputy Brady? Or did you just say that to Terry and me this morning to make us feel better?”

  “No,” Joanna said. “It really did happen.”

  “And what did your parents do?”

  “My father was already dead.”

  “And your mother?”

  “She was upset,” Joanna admitted. “She was actually very upset.”

  “And how long did it take her to get over it?”

  “Never,” Joanna said.

  Kristin’s eyes widened. “Never? You mean she’s still mad about it?”

  Joanna nodded.

  “But you seem to get along all right,” Kristin objected. “I mean, your mother calls and talks to you. I saw her at the shower on Sunday. She seemed to be having a good time.”

  “We get along all right now,” Joanna said. “About as well as we’ve ever gotten along, but that one issue is always between us. We hardly ever talk about it, but it’s still there. That’s probably how it will be with your father, too. Eventually he won’t be so angry. In fact, once the baby’s born and he’s a grandfather, your dad will probably come around. But things have changed between you and him, Kristin. Your father is used to always having the last word. Now he’s come up against a situation where you’re making your own decisions without consulting him and without doing things the way he wants you to, either. He’s just now learning the hard lesson that he’s going to have to let you go, and he doesn’t like it.”

  “You make it sound like an ordinary part of growing up.”

  “It is an ordinary part of growing up,” Joanna said. “Being pregnant is a complicating factor, but it’s not the only one. This may seem to be a big deal to your parents, but in the larger scheme of things, it’s not important. You and Terry love each other. You’re going to get married and raise this child together. That’s what’s important. That’s all that’s important.”

  Once again Kristin’s blue eyes brimmed with tears. “When you first came to the department, Sheriff Brady, I didn’t like you very much,” she admitted after a moment. “I’m sorry I made things so tough for you.”

  Joanna smiled. “I didn’t like you very much, either. I think we both felt threatened, and now we’re over it.”

  “The same way my parents may get over this?”

  “Exac
tly the same way,” Joanna replied. “Just give them time.”

  By the time Kristin finished drinking her cocoa, Joanna could see that the day’s emotional upheaval had taken its toll. “Go to bed, now,” she said. “The bathroom’s that way. We have only one, so we’ll all have to take turns. Once you have a decent night’s rest, you’re going to see the world through much different eyes. I have a feeling you haven’t been sleeping very well the last few nights. There’s nothing like tossing and turning to wear a person down.”

  “How did you know that?” Kristin asked.

  “Believe me,” Joanna replied, “it was more than a lucky guess.”

  Once Kristin had retreated to Jenny’s room and while Jenny was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Joanna walked Butch out to his car.

  “I couldn’t help overhearing what she said to you on the porch. How pregnant is she?”

  “Just barely,” Joanna said. “But remember, there’s no such thing as slightly pregnant. You either are or you aren’t.”

  “If her parents threw her out, what kind of people are they?”

  “Fallible people,” Joanna answered. “People who are doing the best they can. They’re like parents everywhere-wanting what’s best for their children and being upset when results come short of the mark.”

  “Wait a minute,” Butch said. “Are we talking about Kristin Marsten’s parents, or are we talking about some other parents I could name?”

  “All parents,” Joanna said after a moment. “Your mother and my mother included.”

  “No! You can’t mean it.”

  Joanna reached up and kissed him. “But I do mean it,” she said. “Maybe after all this time I’m finally growing up, too. Now good night. Drive carefully.”

  Back in the house, Joanna hurried to clear the dining room table of paperwork before Jenny emerged from the bathroom. By the time a pajama-clad Jenny headed toward the couch, Joanna had refilled the briefcase and snapped it shut.

  “Mom,” Jenny said, as Joanna stopped with her finger on the light switch.

  “What?”

  “Will you ever get so mad at me that you’ll kick me out of the house?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Well, Kristin must have done something really awful for her parents to get that mad at her.”

  “It wasn’t so very awful,” Joanna replied. “And it’s something a lot of people have done before her-your mother included.”

  “Really? Whatever it is, you did it, too?”

  “Yes. Good night, now. I told you it was none of your business.”

  “Good night.”

  Thoughtfully, Joanna went into her own bedroom and undressed. When she first lay down on the bed, she thought she would have a hard time falling asleep. But she didn’t. In fact, she fell asleep sooner that night than any night in recent memory.

  Maybe it was because on that night she went to bed knowing that one way or the other, the long warfare with Eleanor Lathrop Winfield might finally be coming to an end. Well, maybe not a complete end, but at least Joanna could see the possibility of a truce.

  CHAPTER 20

  Joanna’s eyes popped open with the sun, and her first thought on waking was, Three days to go. Most of the time she was able to compartmentalize her life enough that the wedding didn’t overwhelm her, but that morning it all seemed to be too much. No matter how hard she tried, she’d never get everything caught up at work. And the same was true at home. She’d never have the house in the kind of shape she wanted it to be in before Jim Bob and Eva Lou came to stay for a week to look after Jenny and the ranch while Joanna and Butch went off on their honeymoon.

  And where were they going on their honeymoon anyway? Butch knew because he had made all the plans, but other than telling her she needed to have her passport in order, he had told Joanna nothing. Their destination remained top secret.

  “But what kind of clothes am I supposed to pack?” she had asked.

  “Minimal,” he had replied.

  “What does that mean? Beachwear? What?”

  He had shrugged. “Not beachwear,” he had said at last, relenting. “But again, I’d bring along as little as possible.”

  By the time Joanna arrived in the kitchen, someone-Kristin, it turned out-was already in the shower. Joanna went out to feed and water the animals. When she had finished her chores and came inside, Kristin was already dressed for work.

  “I’m on my way to meet Terry for breakfast,” she said. “I told him we’d better go early so neither one of us will be late for work.”

  “Good,” Joanna said. “Are you feeling better this morning?”

  “Much. I really did get a decent night’s sleep for a change.”

  “And no morning sickness?” Joanna asked, thinking about the dreadful bouts of morning sickness that had almost hospitalized Marianne Maculyea during the early stages of her pregnancy.

  “None.”

  “You’re lucky then.”

  A momentary shadow crossed Kristin’s face. “Right now, I don’t really feel very lucky,” she said.

  “Well,” Joanna said. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  The extra shower had taxed Joanna’s aging hot-water heater. By the time Jenny emerged from the bathroom, Joanna had to settle for a very quick and barely lukewarm shower. On the way to work, Jenny seemed subdued.

  “What’s wrong?” Joanna asked.

  “Is it going to be very different?” Jenny asked.

  “You mean after Butch and I get married?”

  Jenny nodded.

  “It’ll be different for all of us,” Joanna replied. “We’ll all have to learn to practice patience. Are you worried about it?”

  “A little,” Jenny admitted.

  “How come?”

  “Last night when I went to bed, I thought about Kristin’s parents-about them throwing her out. I know you said you wouldn’t ever get so mad that you’d kick me out, but it could happen. What if you ended up loving Butch more than you love me? What if you had to choose?”

  “Fortunately, I don’t think that’s something either one of us will have to worry about.” By then they had pulled up at the gates of Lowell School. “Go now,” Joanna urged. “Have a good day.”

  Jenny made no effort to move or even open the door. “Where do I go after school?” she asked.

  Joanna frowned. “I’m not sure. I don’t remember what Butch’s plans are for today. I think you’re supposed to go to his place, but if it turns out he’s busy with his folks, we may have to make some other arrangement.”

  “See there?” Jenny asked, screwing up her face to keep from crying. “It’s already happening.”

  “What’s already happening?”

  “You’re not even married yet and you’re already forgetting about me. You can’t even remember who’s supposed to take care of me after school!”

  Joanna shook her head. This was the same eleven-, almost twelve-year-old daughter who was always insisting that she should be treated as though she were several years older than her chronological age. And yet, when the chips were down and when Joanna could have used a real almost-teenager, she found herself dealing with a child who had suddenly regressed to a petulant seven or eight.

  “Go to Butch’s,” Joanna said. “If that’s not going to work for some reason, I’ll call the principal’s office and have them send you a note.”

  Jenny shook her head, climbed out of the car, slammed the door behind her, and then trudged off through the school gate with her head down and shoulders slumped. She looked so sad, hurt, and alone that Joanna’s heart ached for her. She wanted to leave the Blazer where it was, run after her daughter, and hold Jenny close in a reassuring hug, which Jenny probably wouldn’t have wanted either-not there in front of the school where all her classmates could see. Besides, a glance at her watch said there was no time for that. There was no time either to steal a brief visit with Butch in his remodeled Victorian a bare three blocks from Jenny’s school.
Needing to hear his voice, Joanna called instead.

  “So how’s the bride on three days and counting?” Butch asked cheerfully.

  “Medium,” Joanna replied. “Jenny’s gone all teary and insecure on me. And it didn’t help matters that I couldn’t remember whether or not you were going to take care of her after school.”

  “Let me look at the Gantt chart on my computer for a minute.”

  “Gantt chart?” Joanna demanded. “What’s that?”

  “You might call it a flowchart. It’s a graphical project timeline. I downloaded it into my computer from the Internet. It’s for keeping track of projects. It helps you make sure that all available resources are allocated properly. Since you put me in charge of logistics for this wedding, I live and die by my Gantt chart.

  “Let’s see. Your brother and sister-in-law fly in from D.C. this afternoon. Your mother will meet them at the airport, and then they’re scheduled to have dinner with the Winfields. My folks want to take us out to eat tonight. It’ll just be the five of us-you, Jenny, me, and the two of them. We’ll probably go somewhere here in town. Mother had heard about the Copper Queen and wanted to eat there. I told her that would be fine.

  “Tomorrow night will be the whole group of out-of-towners-sort of a pre-rehearsal-dinner dinner. I’m voting for pizza for that one-probably out at your place, since you have more room than I do. Friday’s the real rehearsal dinner and-”

  “Stop,” Joanna interrupted. “It’s too much. Let’s just stick to one day at a time. All I want to know is yes or no-are you taking care of Jenny after school today?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Let’s leave it at that. You can tell me everything else I need to know from the whatever-the-hell-it-is chart when I need to know it.”

  “Gantt chart,” he repeated. “With two t‘s. But are you okay?” he asked after a pause. “You sound stressed.”

  I am stressed! she wanted to shout at him. I’m stressed beyond bearing!

  “I’m all right,” she answered carefully. “And I’m sure Jenny will be relieved to have a little bit of ordinariness back in her life for today at least.”