“Whatever,” he growled, dismissing it.
“The shoes?” Kate asked, eyebrows raised slightly. Carol leaned forward and told the whole story. As much as she knew of it. When she finished, Michael was furious.
“You’re trying to paint me as the bad guy here and I’m not. All I’ve ever tried to do is protect my wife and help her in any way I can. You’re trying to make it look like I’m controlling when I’m just trying to make things easier for her. I’m not controlling, I’m just trying to help in any way I can.” His sincerity was absolute.
Astonished, Carol looked closely at him. He really meant what he said. She wondered fleetingly, Then why do you keep doing the wrong thing?
Kate was wondering the same thing, but then Mehalia entered with some small bite-size quiches, followed by a platter of small round hash browns. There was no more conversation as appetites were assuaged.
Elizabeth escaped to the bedroom to compose herself. She drooped on the bed, feeling worn. After a moment’s indecision, she reached for the phone.
“Adrienne?”
“Hello.” Adrienne looked at the clock. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I know I asked you to come over later, but could you get here sooner. I need . . . someone on my side.”
“How soon do you want me there?”
“Now?”
“I’m on my way. And Elizabeth?”
“Yes?”
“Sun dogs, for Pete’s sake!”
Elizabeth laughed with relief into the dial tone. Of course. Why did she let herself get so unbalanced? Just the mention of the words sun dog calmed her spirit. It was easier to let the sad memories that had been conjured up for all to see to slip away. Even though she had yet to see one, the mere thought of a sun dog filled her with hope.
Another thought occurred to her; recently, Father Jacobs had been preaching on faith, not feelings. She might feel like giving up . . . but she had to believe in what she was doing and have faith things would be all right. No matter what.
And whether or not she had that much faith was something she wouldn’t, couldn’t consider.
Adrienne hung up the phone and turned to see Ian shaking his head. “I’m sorry, sugar, but there aren’t any sun dogs out right now; the sky’s as blue as a robin’s egg. Not a cloud in the sky. Maybe you should call her back and tell her.”
She felt a wellspring of love. “Ian, no, not real sun dogs, the sermon of the sun dogs, remember? Elizabeth knows what I meant. She needs me, wants me to come right now.”
He nodded, then asked, “Want me to go with you?” She shook her head and started gathering her things. He followed behind her trying not to lecture.
“Promise me you won’t take over and try to fix everything?” He meant it. He knew his wife through and through, even as she laughed and protested.
“Me?” she said, pressing a hand to her heart. “You’ve got to be kidding. I’ll just be there holding her hand, I promise.”
Head cocked, he gave her a look of wry disbelief. She held up a hand, her face now serious. “Okay, I promise. Besides, they have this lawyer there. I’ll just keep the others from beating up on her too much.”
“Okay.” He brightened. “Go, then, Dree, and you’ll kindly ignore the fact I’m hearing the lure of the river creatures. Instead of hopping on those chores you wanted me to do, I’ll be going fishing in your absence. I’ll do my best to bring back supper; how’s that?”
“I’ll be counting on it,” she said as he knelt down to give her a hug and a kiss.
Then he sat back. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you? We have fish in the freezer.”
She looked at him fondly, knowing how much he enjoyed fishing, but he still was willing to join her if she needed him.
“You’re a sweetheart,” she said, even as she shook her head, offering a grin. “No. You’ll only remind me I should be tactful and behave myself. Go and enjoy.”
She was still smiling as she loaded herself into the van. She refused to think any further than the moment she was in and hummed as she worked the gears and pulled out onto the lane.
Elizabeth heard the van and met Adrienne at the door. “Come. Everyone is eating. I hope you’re hungry.”
“I’ll manage to eat a bite or two, thanks.”
Adrienne rolled behind Elizabeth to the family room and cheerily said hello as Elizabeth introduced her.
Virginia Mae, recognizing the name, asked stiffly, “Are you the one Elizabeth told me about who instituted a drag race with your friends in motorized carts?” Clipped disapproval underlined every word.
“Why, yes I am.” Adrienne chuckled. “And I’m so glad to see you up and about. I understand you sprained your knee, poor thing! That must have hurt.”
This was said with such empathy, Virginia Mae immediately brightened and eagerly spoke about herself. “Oh, it was my ankle, and the pain was intense, my dear, intense. I was coming down the stairs of the front porch and the banister rail I was holding popped right off. I couldn’t believe it. I fell down three steps and my ankle was twisted under me. If it hadn’t been for my neighbor seeing me, I probably would still be sprawled out there on the ground.”
“Neighbors are wonderful,” Adrienne agreed. Elizabeth, trying to keep a smile from taking over her face, sat down next to her friend. Adrienne turned and winked. Then she looked with interest at the lawyer, who looked more like a grandmother.
“Kate Wilkins . . . Kate Wilkins, where have I heard that name before?” Adrienne mused out loud, tapping a finger against her mouth. Then it dawned on her.
“You helped free that man on death row last year! Yes, because of evidence you discovered that the prosecutor withheld. Bravo.” Adrienne beamed while Kate merely shrugged.
It was only then Elizabeth suddenly realized who she was. “You’re Mark Wilkins’s widow! I’ve heard about you; I don’t know why we never met.” She looked at Kate Wilkins with new respect. The story had made it in the Washington, D.C., papers as well as state papers, and she easily remembered it.
After Mark Wilkins’s death, Kate, who had worked alongside him for over forty years, realized she didn’t want to fade into history. It would have been easy letting her sons run the law firm her husband had built. Mark Wilkins had created the class-action lawsuit to save citizens from big corporations; huge fees and settlements had made it one of the largest firms in the East, known for its aggressiveness.
When Mark Wilkins died, Kate grieved and then took stock of her life. She enjoyed her grandchildren, but she enjoyed law just as much and discovered she wanted to litigate. So, at age sixty-five, she read for the law, having learned more than enough by being her husband’s legal assistant as any Ivy League law school graduate. She took the bar and easily passed, then set out to change the course of history where she could.
To her mind, the humanity of law had got lost in the shuffle and she saw, too often, people who didn’t get the kind of representation they needed. She aided several mothers who had lost their children simply because the men who left them had more money and power. Where she could, she leveled the playing field.
Of course she had seen the infamous picture of Elizabeth and learned a little more about the Whittakers from her son; she was interested enough to come and visit. She already had some ideas of what they could do, but it would all depend on Elizabeth.
Kate Wilkins sensed Elizabeth might have the heart to go the distance, but wasn’t sure her body could take the strain. If she took this case to court, stress would stay tight and taut as a rubber band hovering at its breaking point. Moral fortitude couldn’t keep the physical body from wearing out, no matter how hard someone believed.
“You got someone off death row?” Virginia Mae didn’t think too much of that and looked at this woman who was of her generation but certainly didn’t act it. She should be home playing with her grandchildren, baking cookies, she thought. Doing genteel, womanly things.
“He w
as innocent,” Adrienne pointed out, wanting to make sure Elizabeth’s mother understood.
“If someone is innocent, how do they get to be on death row?” Virginia Mae thought it ridiculous. Innocent people didn’t find themselves in such a situation. If he hadn’t done the crime he was convicted of, surely he had done something just as awful. It made perfect sense to her.
“Yes, well, his family was pleased,” Kate said drily. She focused on Adrienne. “I understand you started this support group?”
“Guilty,” Adrienne quipped.
Michael’s eyes narrowed at her casual irreverence. He had heard about her, of course, little bits here and there. For some reason their paths had never crossed before today. He knew how much Elizabeth liked this woman, as well as her husband, so it was with interest he sat back to listen.
“Why?”
“Why did we start the group?” Adrienne asked, wanting to be clear. Kate nodded. Adrienne thought for a moment. Eyes twinkling like stars, she couldn’t resist. “Misery loves company?”
“Good grief!” Virginia Mae’s eyes glared with accusation at her daughter, who had brought this uncouth person into their midst.
“Aw, I’m kidding. I’m kidding,” Adrienne hastened to explain to the older woman, thinking Elizabeth’s family definitely did not have a sense of humor about these things. “I started it because there wasn’t anything around here like it. And the Northern Neck is so large geographically, we figured we’d get more people by opening it up to people with different problems. We all can relate to the same issues.”
“Such as?” Kate probed. Virginia Mae had averted her head, as if she wasn’t listening. Michael was frowning, but with concentration. He was trying his best to understand the attraction this group could have for his wife.
“Such as abuses of handicapped parking places, of entering stores that are so filled with merchandise you can’t shop with a cart, much less a wheelchair.” She shrugged. “People who like to tell us what we should be doing—that’s always rich. And others who insist that perhaps if we tried a little harder, we’d do better, perhaps our lives would be a little different; you know, mind over matter crap. Like people using semantics to tell us disease is really dis-ease. You get rid of the ‘dis,’ and you will presumably be at ease.” Adrienne rolled her eyes, disgusted.
“You see”—she motioned to Elizabeth—“we relate. We know how maddening it is to know you used to be able to do something but now you can’t. Sometimes you have to either get really, really mad or just sit and cry, get it out of your system to go on.”
She looked at Elizabeth. “Have I left anything out?”
Elizabeth nodded. “That we are pluggers extraordinaire.”
“Well, that, too. Those of us who have chronic illnesses the doctors can’t really treat, well, we plug along as best we can.” Another thought struck her. “Oh, and once you lose something, you tend not to take anything else for granted.” She thought of Carl and clarified, “Well, you shouldn’t.”
Kate nodded. “Now, can you explain to me why . . . you began this little experiment in which Elizabeth has been charged with possession, with intent to distribute?”
Adrienne clasped her hands in front of her. “At our first meeting in January, one of our members, who has MS and had been using a walker, someone who had complained vigorously about being so sick and tired of being sick and tired, came to the meeting and astonished us.” She glanced at Elizabeth.
“She came in walking, then running, then doing jumping jacks, all the things she couldn’t do the month before.” Elizabeth was still buoyed at the memory.
Adrienne nodded but then looked straight at Kate. “But we can’t use her name. She had nothing to do with helping us get the drug or anything.”
“Couldn’t she have gone into remission? A complete remission? I’m sure that’s what her doctors say happened,” Kate wondered.
Again, Adrienne nodded. “Of course, because that’s the easiest explanation. Now, she didn’t tell them she was smoking a joint, but what she thinks is that the drug therapy she’s on worked synergistically with the marijuana and, at least for her, did something miraculous.”
“Did it help anyone else?”
Elizabeth and Adrienne looked at each other. “It helped me gain some unneeded weight.” Adrienne frowned. Elizabeth just shook her head and shrugged.
“Elizabeth’s not on any of the therapies,” Michael felt compelled to point out, looking at her quizzically. “Why did you think it would help?”
Elizabeth wouldn’t look at him, irritated she could still feel her face burn with color. “I have been on one of the therapies. Since January.”
He was floored. “Why didn’t you tell me? This is wonderful,” he said, ecstatic that she was finally taking care of herself. The moment was short-lived.
“I’ve discontinued it.” It was a lie, she knew, but she couldn’t bear to see him gloating. Why did he always have to think his way was the only right way?
“But why?” He couldn’t believe it. In scant seconds he had been slammed between hope and despair: She finally did something right and now she quit? Why did she have to be so recalcitrant, so unreasonable, especially when the stakes were so high?
Elizabeth merely waved a hand, dismissing his concern. “I don’t want to talk about it now.”
His face reddened and he bit his lip to keep from saying another word. Adrienne was fascinated. So was Kate Wilkins.
Virginia Mae, however, was as unhappy as her son-in-law. Why had her daughter become so headstrong, so unreasonable? The old woman wondered if it was something she had done as a mother. She couldn’t think about it now. Instead, she grabbed a tiny quiche and shoved it into her mouth, blinking away tears.
Bored, Carol looked around. “When is Kellan getting here?”
“Anytime,” Elizabeth said, glad to change the subject. She grinned at Adrienne. “She’s coming with Gregory.”
Adrienne’s eyes widened. “How on earth did they meet each other?”
“She came to visit me after the—ah—encounter with the police, and he stopped by to tell me that Dr. Meade said, and I quote, ‘Tell that little girl I’d be glad to testify on her behalf about what medical marijuana can do.’”
“Dr. Meade?” Kate took notice. “But I know him! He saved my life once.”
“What?” All eyes turned to look at her even as Virginia Mae wondered disparagingly, “Who is this Dr. Meade?” Her voice implied he couldn’t be much.
Kate spoke to the room at large, ignoring her. “It was several years ago. The whole family was at our place at Lewisetta, and my leg suddenly started throbbing. This all happened before he had to cut his hours back. I knew if anyone could help, he could. I drove myself over, thinking it must be a pulled muscle. As soon as he looked at my leg, he fixed me with those piercing dark eyes and told me, ‘Kate, I’m going to call the rescue squad. You have got to get to the hospital immediately. You’ve got a blood clot.’
“By the time I got to the hospital it was hurting so much I couldn’t walk. They immediately started pumping blood thinners through my veins, and within twenty-four hours I was able to go home. My husband took Dr. Meade a huge box of candy and told him how much he appreciated being able to bring me home in his car, rather than in a casket.”
“It was that serious?” Virginia Mae asked doubtfully, trying not to be impressed in spite of herself.
The lawyer nodded. “It was. And as far as I’m concerned, he is one of the best.”
“I agree.” Adrienne nodded vigorously.
Elizabeth smiled. “I think I need to plan to go see him myself.”
Michael wondered why and almost said so, since she didn’t listen to medical professionals anyway, but he stopped himself. It would be better all around if he kept his mouth shut. It was a fact that didn’t improve his mood. They don’t understand, he thought.
Nor do I, he suddenly thought. Looking around at everyone seated in the spacious room, he wondered wh
at thoughts were going through their heads. He looked at Elizabeth, and was comforted and irritated in the same moment at how relaxed she appeared.
Adrienne suddenly leaned forward to speak to Kate. “I meant to tell you before, everyone in our support group is completely behind Elizabeth on this a hundred percent . . . a thousand percent. We’ll help raise money for her defense any way we can. The reason we haven’t come forward to admit to our culpability in this is simply because one, we don’t want to make things worse; and two, none of us have very deep pockets.”
Startled, Elizabeth turned to Kate. “As a matter of fact, I don’t have deep pockets either. You know I had never thought about the expense. I’m astonished to say I don’t know how I’ll pay for this.”
“Don’t worry about it, Elizabeth; arrangements have been made.”
The flatness of Michael’s voice discouraged questions, but Elizabeth paid no attention. “What arrangements?”
“We can discuss this later,” Michael said tersely, not wanting a lengthy dissection of their finances in front of strangers.
Her lips thinned as she heard the finality there. Of course Michael would take care of it, Elizabeth thought angrily, never thinking to apprise his wife of the details. He had always been like this, and she had allowed it, fool that she was.
Michael could see Elizabeth was upset, and was surprised, but it made his own irritation level start to rise.
“What has happened to the gentleman you said gained some benefit from smoking the drug?” Kate asked Adrienne, who seemed to know most about the situation.
“As a matter of fact, I got a phone call this morning. I’m afraid he’s in the hospital. The pain got unbearable last night.” She looked around at everyone else. “You see, he has no family, just an aide who comes in daily.”
Her sad eyes met Elizabeth’s equally concerned ones. “When I leave here, I’ll be going to see Carl.”
Kate, ever the astute attorney, never displayed emotion unless it was effective. Her face was a mask, her voice toneless. “Sorry to hear about that. You don’t think he’d be able to testify at a trial if it comes to that, then?”
A Sundog Moment Page 32