Taking Charge

by Mandy Baggot

“Sugar, there’s some real pretty gold ones over here,” Nancy called.

  “Have you thought about a stole or a wrap? It’s bound to be windy by the lake,” Martha added.

  “This was such a bad idea,” Robyn murmured to Sarah.

  “Well, I’m going to try this one on,” Sarah said, taking a dress down from the rack.

  “Just one? The crazy women over there are expecting me to make a whole day of it!”

  “Come on, I don’t see the problem. You’re looking for something beautiful to wear when you marry Cole. Cole, the gorgeous guy you met on a plane, the one who swept you off your feet, the guy who adores you,” Sarah reminded her.

  “I know. That’s why it’s got to be right,” Robyn said with a frustrated sigh.

  “It’s nerves,” Sarah decided.

  “It isn’t nerves, I’m not nervous. I have nothing to be nervous about, right?”

  “Then look excited about it! You’re getting married! On Friday!” Sarah reminded her enthusiastically.

  “I know!” Robyn said, this time with a happy smile.

  She was excited. She was so excited she could almost burst. Cole was amazing.

  “Then let’s get an assistant to help us try on everything in the whole damn store,” Sarah suggested.

  “We’ll need snacks,” Robyn said.

  “I’m not totally sure about the feathers,” Robyn said.

  The dress, Pam’s choice, had a figure-hugging boned bodice with ostrich feathers sewn in and a full skirt. She wasn’t sure whether to hold her arms out straight or bend them at the elbows and cluck like a chicken.

  “You look like a Thanksgiving turkey before the plucking,” Nancy stated.

  “I’m not sure it’s you,” Martha agreed.

  “Oh, I think it’s beautiful. It really complements your hair, honey,” Pam said.

  “My hair looks like feathers?” Robyn exclaimed in horror.

  “That wasn’t what I meant,” Pam began.

  “Na. I hate it,” Robyn declared for about the twentieth time.

  “Try on the gold,” Nancy suggested.

  “Try on the ivory bodice, full skirt, and the fur wrap,” Martha piped up.

  “How about this one? The beads are so delicate,” Pam said, holding up another intricately designed gown.

  “I think I’m going to try this one,” Robyn said, picking a dress off the rack of gowns the assistant had chosen.

  “Oh no, not that one. There’s nothing to it, it’s so plain, honey,” Pam exclaimed, putting her hands to her face in horror.

  “You are definitely going to need a shawl with that,” Martha remarked.

  “Yeah, sugar, a sequined one at the very least,” Nancy added, putting a handful of pretzels into her mouth.

  “I like it,” Sarah said, nodding at Robyn encouragingly.

  The dress was cream, had a scalloped neckline, and spaghetti straps.

  “Try it on,” Sarah said.

  “With this,” Nancy added, passing over a sequined bolero.

  “Or perhaps this?” Martha said, finding a fur shrug.

  Robyn took both items offered and the dress and disappeared into the changing rooms, anxious to rid herself of the feathered frock she had on.

  She closed the door and tugged at the zipper. None of the dresses had felt right yet.

  “It isn’t going to be that cold by the lake,” she heard Nancy remarked to Martha.

  “It isn’t Vegas either,” Martha commented back.

  “I thought she would like something that makes more of a statement. I mean it is the most important day of her life,” Pam added.

  Robyn unfastened the door and opened it a crack to listen. She peeked out and saw Pam picking up a gown that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a limited edition Disney Princess.

  “It’s all a rush though isn’t it? I mean she hasn’t had time to plan anything, let alone consider the importance,” Martha said, folding up a fluffy cape.

  “What you mean by that?” Nancy snapped immediately.

  Robyn smiled at her almost step-mom’s defensive attitude.

  “Well, I can’t be the only one here who thinks this marriage decision is far too hasty,” Martha stated frankly.

  “I agree,” Pam admitted.

  “Well I don’t. When you know, you know—end of story,” Nancy replied.

  Robyn nodded her head and felt something inside her warm even more to the woman she’d thought was such a bad influence on her dad.

  “I agree with Nancy. I mean I know me and Mickey have had our ups and downs just lately but…” Sarah started.

  Wow! Now her best friend was wading in with support. She needed to make more time for her. Now the roadhouse was up and running she should really set aside some time for Sarah.

  “They’ve known each other just over a week,” Martha said.

  “I know and I think all this stuff with Jason being raked up again is affecting her judgment,” Pam carried on.

  “Who’s Jason?” she heard Martha ask.

  Robyn closed the door again and hurriedly removed the dress. She looked at the one hanging on the peg on the door and she put it over her head. It slipped down over her shoulders, fell lightly over her breasts and dropped to the floor. She looked at her appearance in the mirror, turning to the side and back again. She picked up the sequined bolero and put her arms into it. It would have been perfect on Nancy but made her look like a chorus girl. She took it off and swapped it for the fur shrug Martha had given her. It made her look like Bugs Bunny. She discarded it on the floor and looked at herself in the mirror. The simplicity of the gown made it beautiful. It made her look beautiful.

  She pushed open the door.

  “Jason’s a guy that was convicted of raping me. What do you think?” Robyn announced as she stepped out of the changing booth.

  “Oh my!” Nancy said as she looked at Robyn.

  “You look amazing!” Sarah told her, tears pricking her over-emotional eyes.

  “Like a princess,” Pam added.

  “It’s perfect,” Martha agreed.

  “You think? I tried the bolero on and the shrug, but it just didn’t feel right,” Robyn told them.

  “Nah, too jazzy for the dress and as I keep saying, you don’t need thermal wear for the lake in autumn,” Nancy said, making her point and looking at Martha.

  “How much is it?” Sarah wanted to know.

  “Hey, I told you that don’t matter. We have Eddie’s plastic,” Nancy said, and she started to ferret in her leopard print bag for her purse.

  “It’s two hundred dollars,” Robyn announced proudly.

  “Jeez! Are you kidding me? I was hoping to pay a lot more than that. I mean, if you get a dress for two hundred dollars, Eddie’s going to expect me to find one for that sort of price and I have bigger plans. Much bigger plans,” Nancy informed her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this Jason?” Martha asked seriously.

  “It isn’t the sort of thing you bring up over lunch when you first meet your future mother-in-law. And by the way, it has nothing to do with why I’m marrying Cole. Is that clear for everyone?” Robyn asked, her eyes meeting all of theirs.

  “I told them, honey. I said when you know, you know,” Nancy said.

  “And if anyone isn’t fully on board with this wedding, and I mean one hundred percent, then you don’t have to come. We only need two witnesses, and I don’t care if that’s the drummer and the bassist from Special Guest,” Robyn told them firmly.

  “We just have reservations because it’s happening so quickly, that’s all,” Pam said.

  “Well, speak for yourself, because I don’t have reservations—not one,” Nancy said supportively.

  “Me neither,” Sarah agreed.

  “Martha?” Robyn asked.

  “I know Cole knows his own mind and I trust his judgment,” Martha spoke sincerely.

  “Good! Then can we please pay for this dress and get out of here?” Robyn asked.

>   “Hey, what about me? I’ve tried stuff on but I haven’t found anything I like yet,” Sarah said, passing Robyn the bowl of pretzels.

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry. Here I am carrying on and…” Robyn began, feeling bad.

  “I’m only kidding! I only came to get an idea. I mean, I don’t even know what size I’m going to end up yet, do I?” Sarah stated with a laugh.

  “You planning a long engagement, honey?” Nancy asked her.

  “Yes, we think so. What, with the baby and everything, it will give us a chance to save up,” Sarah said.

  “Long engagements aren’t my thing. Too much time for the guy to change his mind,” Nancy remarked.

  “Dad hasn’t changed his mind,” Robyn reminded her.

  “That’s because he knows if he did, I’d chop off his…”

  “His beard! He loves his beard, does my dad, but Nancy’s not really into facial hair…not that she’d tell him,” Robyn interrupted.

  “For a second there I thought she was going to say she’d chop off his balls,” Martha stated with a deadpan face.

  Sarah let out an audible gasp, Pam’s eyes widened, and Robyn whitened.

  “I think Cole’s given you a very straight laced image of me. So, just for the record, I go to the gym just to look at the weightlifters, I did a bungee jump last year and I’m still too scared to tell my family about it, and I’m buying so much brandy lately the cashier looks at me like I’m halfway to alcoholism already. Which I’m not, by the way, I just like brandy and I make a lot of cakes. What do you make Robyn?” Martha asked.

  “I usually make calls—to the takeaway,” Robyn admitted boldly.

  “Oh I’m with you on that one. I may bake, but nothing quite hits the spot like Mr. Chan’s sweet and sour pork,” Martha said with a smile.

  Chapter Forty-seven

  “Roadhouse was busy for a Monday, huh?” Cole remarked as he drove them toward the hospital.

  They had both worked a shift that night while Nancy spent some time with Eddie. Now they were going back to the hospital to visit Max.

  “People are still making use of those coupons,” Robyn said.

  “I’m glad it went good with Mom,” Cole said.

  “Was she okay getting the plane back? I said she could stay.”

  “I know, she told me, in between hiccupping and swigging back water. What were you feeding her?” Cole asked suspiciously.

  “It had nothing to do with food,” Robyn answered with a grin.

  “She told me you found a dress,” Cole stated.

  “I might have.”

  “So?”

  “Not telling. There’s a space right there, pull in that one,” Robyn said, pointing to a good spot outside the entrance.

  Cole stopped the car and turned off the engine.

  “Got the muffins?” Robyn asked.

  “Yeah. Listen, before we go on in…I got the information from the clinic today,” Cole informed her.

  “What did it say?” Robyn asked, her breath almost catching in her throat.

  “Jason wasn’t the baby’s father,” Cole said bluntly.

  Her bottom lip began to tremble, and she tried desperately to maintain control over the torrent of emotion welling up inside her.

  “You okay?” Cole asked, taking hold of her hand in his.

  “What have I done to him? All these years. All the time he spent in prison, all the things that everyone said, and Grant, I’ve treated him really badly,” Robyn blurted out all at once.

  “How were you to know? And you didn’t convict him, a jury did,” Cole reminded her.

  “I did convict him, the whole town convicted him. It’s horrible! How could this happen? I mean, the whole point of DNA evidence is so it’s accurate,” Robyn said, wiping at her eyes.

  “I’ve emailed everything over to Trudy, and what I’d expect them to do is run the profile through the police database. If the person who did this is in the system, they’ll know.”

  “But what if they aren’t in the system? We might never know,” Robyn said, running her hand through her hair.

  “Hey, this is a good thing. We know conclusively that it wasn’t Jason.”

  “There’s no doubt?”

  “None.”

  “So how long? Until the police know, well, you know, if the guy is on their database,” Robyn asked.

  “I don’t know. Trudy wasn’t there today, she’s back tomorrow. It could be tomorrow,” Cole told her.

  Robyn nodded.

  “You okay?”

  “What am I going to say to Jason? Sorry isn’t really going to cut it, is it? How do you give someone their life back?” Robyn asked, looking up at Cole.

  “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault,” Cole told her.

  “It doesn’t feel like that,” Robyn said with a sigh.

  “Pummel him! Hook him with the right! God damn!” Max exclaimed as he weakly punched his arms out, copying the boxers on the television.

  “He’s had it. He needs putting out of his misery now,” Eddie remarked, shifting in his seat.

  “My money’s on the guy in the red shorts…Dad! What are you doing here?” Robyn asked as she and Cole entered the room.

  “What you doing here, Buttercup?” Eddie asked, greeting them.

  “I asked first.”

  “Nancy dropped me here on the way to the roadhouse, house is quiet,” Eddie remarked.

  “He misses me, gal…what can I say?” Max said with a wheeze.

  “Well we were going to drop by the house after, but seeing as you’re here…low sugar brownies and pecan pie,” Robyn informed Eddie, passing a bag to him and putting a bag on Max’s bed.

  “Okay, what are you going to tell me? If you’re giving me sugar, low or not, then something’s up.”

  “I don’t care what you’ve got to say, I’ll have it anyway,” Max said greedily.

  “You two broken up already?” Eddie asked, eyeing Cole with suspicion.

  “No! Of course not!”

  “Then what?”

  “Jason didn’t rape me,” Robyn said bluntly.

  “Buttercup, we’ve been through this. Just because some guy says he saw him doesn’t mean…” Eddie started.

  “Cole got new DNA evidence. He didn’t do it, Dad,” Robyn said seriously.

  “Jeez,” Max remarked, his mouth half full of pie.

  “I don’t understand,” Eddie said quietly, as if finding the information difficult to process.

  “I was pregnant, Dad, after the rape. I didn’t keep it, but the clinic kept information, DNA profiling. Cole got the DNA profile of the father,” Robyn attempted to explain.

  “There’s no doubt. The profile doesn’t match Jason,” Cole informed him.

  “Just hold on one second. You’re not only telling me that Jason didn’t attack you, but you’re also telling me you were pregnant? And this is the first I hear about it?” Eddie exclaimed, his face reddening, his eyes bulging.

  “I didn’t tell anyone, Dad, I had an abortion.”

  “What about your mother?”

  “What about my mother?”

  “Well, why didn’t she call me? She was supposed to be looking after you,” Eddie continued.

  “I didn’t tell her, either. You know what she was like after the rape, making me shower three times a day and making me wear jumpers. She was ashamed of me, telling her about being pregnant would have made things worse. I just had to deal with it on my own. Anyway, that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that Jason didn’t do it,” Robyn said.

  “Then if Jason didn’t do it, who did?” Max wanted to know.

  “The police are going to try and find that out,” Cole said.

  “Dad?” Robyn said, desperate for him to say something.

  “I don’t know what to say, Buttercup,” he said, his voice faltering.

  “In a few days, we can finally put all this behind us. It can be a new start for everyone. You with your new body parts and me with a husb
and,” Robyn said happily.

  “Be good to put it all to bed before the wedding. Extra cause for celebrating,” Max said, chewing up the pie and spitting crumbs everywhere.

  “Dad, this is a good thing. Focus on the fact that it wasn’t Jason and he’s going to play for the Panthers,” Robyn begged.

  “Something doesn’t feel right,” Eddie said with a shake of his head.

  “Everything’s fine, properly fine, for the first time in a long time,” Robyn assured him.

  “Got any beer?” Max asked hopefully.

  “You okay?” Cole called into the darkness.

  Robyn was dressed in his robe, looking out of the window at the lake. Everything was still and calm. The water was lapping softly against the sand, and there was hardly a breeze to move the rust colored leaves on the trees.

  She didn’t respond to him. She was too engrossed in looking at the West Lake scene. He got out of bed and joined her at the window.

  “Hey,” he said, putting a hand through her hair.

  “Oh, hey. Sorry. Did I wake you up? Should I close the curtains?” Robyn suggested.

  “No, leave them. I like it,” Cole told her, putting his arms around her waist and holding her body to his.

  “Even though I don’t know who did it, I know who didn’t, and it’s like this weight’s been lifted off me,” Robyn said.

  “I can’t imagine how it must feel,” Cole said, holding her tight.

  “I’m going to see Jason tomorrow. I have no idea what I’m going to say, but I have to see him. Do you think he knows?” Robyn asked.

  “He’s always known, Robyn.”

  “Yeah, of course. He told everyone time and time again and we didn’t listen.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I should have known it wasn’t him. I mean, he’s Jason! Yeah, he was a bit dorky and weird at school and we didn’t hang out, but we spoke in passing about hockey. I knew he liked me, you know, had a crush, I guess. But I should have known he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. He was always sweet to me,” Robyn said.

  “You were told it was him.”

  “I know. I just want to make things right, somehow. But how can I give him all those years back?” Robyn asked.