Promise to a Boy

by Mary Brady

  What did a man from the flatlands see when he looked out over the neighborhood? Did he see the houses, the white clapboard, the stone and the log-cabin wannabees, all stout enough to withstand heavy snows and each sheltering a family with their own story? Did he see the trees, some as old or older than the town and each planted by the wind, the squirrels, or human hands?

  Surely he had to see the mountains in the distance, hazy and ancient, and some would say full of mystery and lore. Always mountains. Beautiful mountains that kept the rest of the world at bay—most of the time.

  How had this day gone from playing Candy Land to feeling as if she had been hurled off the top of the Gumdrop Mountains?

  Instead of pressing her for information she did not really have, Jesse’s brother’s broad shoulders drooped.

  She wanted to reach out and comfort him.

  She scrunched her hands into fists. Always the nurse. She could not comfort the whole world and especially not this man—the one who could be the enemy. Kyle came first. She needed to protect him. I’d be scared… If I had to go and live with strangers. Kyle’s words chilled her.

  What if it came to that? What if Reed Maxwell came for his brother and settled for a boy who might be his nephew? What if he knew for sure about Kyle’s heritage and had come for his nephew in the first place?

  No matter what, he couldn’t just take Kyle away without cause.

  What if he had cause? What if he knew why she had fled back to St. Adelbert?

  Abby cringed, but then she put the thought away. She had to. She was getting ahead of herself. It could be Jesse was not Kyle’s father at all, and her sister just kept the man close because she liked having a fan club. That was not at all beyond her sister, but if Abby believed that, maybe she believed the moon was made of green cheese, too.

  Reed had a missing brother and he had a mother, who probably missed her son. Nursing had taught Abby almost everyone had feelings for one of their own.

  Whatever Jesse and Lena did was not this man’s fault nor his mother’s, and what lived in Abby’s past was Abby’s alone. She couldn’t tell Reed he had a nephew because she didn’t know if he did, and it would be unfair to give him and his mother that kind of hope.

  Nor could she feel good about sending him away. Again, there had to be a balance point somewhere between the compassionate human being she should be to this man and the vigilant protector she felt she had to be when it came to Kyle.

  She bowed her head. “Jesse hires me to do his cleaning and laundry. I just cleaned his apartment and washed the sheets again a couple days ago. I can repeat the cleaning and do the laundry before Jesse gets home.”

  “I can pay you, better than Jesse did.” The man didn’t pull his gaze from the horizon. “Hell, Jesse could pay you better than he did.”

  “You’ve already paid me enough.” She tucked her fingers under her thighs. “Tell me about your mother.”

  “A piece of work.”

  “She must miss Jesse if she sent you looking for him.”

  He gave a short bark of laughter at that. “My business partner accuses me of coming out here to look for Jesse so I could get away from my mother. He might be right.”

  “You ran away from your mother?”

  “I know how this sounds, but she used to be a nice, tidy drunk who never bothered anyone.”

  Abby turned and leaned her back against the decorative post so she could see him better. The look of regret on his face said he wasn’t kidding about his mother, either.

  “Jesse didn’t talk about your mother much, not specifically, or any of you. He seemed content to think of all of you as some distant, vaguely related people, and he didn’t seem to need to have any of you in his life.”

  “I don’t think any of us can blame him for that, but last year our mother sobered up, and eventually she realized she’d been drunk almost her whole marriage, for sure most of the time her sons were growing up.”

  “That must have been hard on you and your brother.” As dear and funny as her mother was, Abby knew what it was like to be ignored by a parent.

  “When we were younger it was hard. Once we were old enough, it seemed like an advantage. We mainly got our way, any car we wanted, parties at the house, apartments of our own at too young an age.”

  “What about your father?” Since she had hardly known her own before he ran away, Abby found herself wondering about other people’s fathers and how they related to them.

  “He’s probably exactly as Jesse described him. He was either gone or negotiating with someone and couldn’t be bothered with his family.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Kids can survive a lot.”

  “Jesse said he was cut off from the family because he didn’t conform.” She wanted to say to their idea of what a human being should be. She might be prying, but if Kyle’s happiness depended on her knowing what kind of people Jesse’s family were, then she had to dig.

  “I suppose, in a way he was. Jesse was cut off from a paycheck he wasn’t willing to work for. He has a trust fund he never touches and prefers to do his own thing, be his own man. My rebellious brother, the cliché.”

  “That is so Jesse. He tries hard to be different from his family, or his idea of what his family is like or what any family might be like. Sometimes he could be a real pain and sometimes he’s just cute.” Abby smiled at the thought. “As long as he was free to move about, without any real entanglement, he seemed happy.”

  “Our mother wants to see him. I suspect she wants absolution or something. She wants the family she never really noticed before. Maybe she finally deserves her family, her children and who knows, maybe grandchildren some day.”

  Abby didn’t know what to say to that. His brother was funny and often irresponsible and now he was missing. A dread grew inside her. If Jesse was Kyle’s father, what would his family do? They had money. Money often spoke louder than signed papers. Would they try to take the boy, take him to Chicago and make him live, afraid, among strangers?

  Abby wanted to shriek at her runaway imagination.

  But she needed to consider all the possibilities, not let herself be blindsided, not again. She wouldn’t let Kyle down and she wouldn’t let Lena down now that her sister was trying so hard to reform in the army, to grow up. And Abby knew she couldn’t do anything to keep Reed from looking for his brother, but she couldn’t sit here any longer catastrophizing, either.

  “I hope Jesse comes back soon, for your mother’s sake.”

  “She’d appreciate it.”

  “Well, I have things to do,” Abby told him, pushing up from the step. Things that didn’t involve getting to know this man or his history or encouraging him to hang around St. Adelbert.

  Or taking a chance on spilling things she didn’t know if she believed herself, like Jesse and Lena possibly having a child together.

  REED STUDIED THE WOMAN standing over him. Her riot of dark brown curls swept along her jawline and somehow seemed perfect for the angles of her face. She was attractive in a natural, unmade-up fashion. Her figure was tantalizing. But her eyes struck him the most. They flashed light brown, almost yellow like the color he imagined a mountain lioness’s eyes to be.

  He stood and faced her. He had no business noticing her eyes. “Thanks for your time.”

  “I hope your mother gets to say whatever she needs to say to Jesse.”

  “I shouldn’t have bothered you with my mother. I have no idea why I did. Tired, I guess. I was in Denver yesterday.”

  “You drove through the night from Denver? You are tired.”

  “I suppose I look pretty bad.” He brushed his hair back. There was a little extra to push around, as he was a couple weeks past his usual cut. “I slept somewhere in Wyoming, but not long.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say you look bad, but you do look tired. I wish I had answers for you, but I truly have no idea where Jesse might hike in Utah or where he might have gone after he left.”

  He could see the uns
aid “if” in her eyes. He believed her. She was skittish and protective of the boy, but there was an open honesty in the way she presented herself, something missing from most women in his life, for that matter, most of the people in his world. Something that must have made him feel compelled to spill out his history to her. Yeah, he was tired.

  “I have a few things to do, too, people to talk to. I found a couple uncashed checks and paycheck stubs in Jesse’s apartment. I guess I’ll start with those people.”

  “You might want to get some sleep first.”

  The door to the house popped open, and they both turned to see the boy come charging out like a small bull.

  “Aunt Abby. Aunt Abby!” he called in the high-pitched tenor of a small child.

  “You rascal. Is the movie done already?” she asked as the boy stopped just before crashing into her. She leaned over and scooped him into her arms and stood. He grinned ear to ear and when he did, a big dimple showed in one cheek.

  Reed hadn’t missed the look of alarm on the woman’s face when the boy opened the door. He hadn’t missed the look of love, either, as she clasped him in her arms.

  “Gramma’s on the phone and she said to go out and tell you to stop ’gnoring her.”

  She shot a look at Reed and rolled her eyes. “I have to go. I have a mother, too.”

  “Ask her if I can come to her house, please, please, please,” the boy said with one small hand pressed to her cheek as Abby carried him up to the door. She turned and gave Reed an uncertain wave before disappearing into the house.

  He couldn’t help but wonder if she were for real.

  She seemed so, well, nice, and she could carry a forty-five-pound child as if he weighed five pounds and she seemed to enjoy it. Definitely not like most women in his life.

  He headed back to the apartment to retrieve the ad dresses he should have brought with him. Very tired.

  The sooner he found Jesse, the better. If he brought his brother back home for their mother to apologize to, his part would be finished. He could get back to running his business. His partner could feel as if he had a partner again.

  Abby Fairbanks thought his brother was cute. He hadn’t thought of Jesse as cute—ever. He was only two years older than Jesse, and had missed being aware of Jesse’s cute stage, maybe because he was too young himself at the time.

  Who would know? Some long-gone nanny?

  Reed thought of the smiling face of the little boy who had come running out of the house. The boy was cute also, not that Reed usually noticed such things; kids didn’t play much of a role in his life. When the boy had come out onto the porch, grinning, he had that same familiar look about him. Though all little blond kids looked alike to him, this one was definitely the kid in the picture on Jesse’s bedside table.

  ABBY SENT KYLE TO TALK to his grandmother for a couple minutes while she wrung her hands, gnashed her teeth and wondered. How far should she have pushed her sister to find out if Jesse was Kyle’s father? More important, would Kyle gain anything by knowing right now who his father was?

  And then there was her mother’s latest crisis—finding a husband, preferably one for her daughter and one for herself. There was always some urgent necessity in her mother’s life. Usually Abby felt like the only sane adult member of her family. Today, even that was iffy.

  One thing she agreed upon with her mother was the light Kyle had brought into their lives. Her mother turned uncharacteristically responsible when Kyle was around. If Delanna Fairbanks kept it up, she might actually figure out she was all right by herself just the way she was, and so was Abby.

  Kyle giggled in the other room. Abby sighed. She had to talk to her mother sooner or later.

  When she went into the living room the phone was missing from its usual spot on the low wooden table beside the window. She didn’t see Kyle, but the chocolate-colored thermal drapes, which had been pulled back to let in the summer light, fluttered in the still indoor air.

  She sneaked up and called softly into the fabric. “Boo.”

  Kyle squealed with delight and pulled the curtain away from his face. “Aunt Abby, you got me. Bye, Gramma. Here.” He shoved the phone at her and tore off for wherever it was a boy went when the adult in charge was busy on the telephone.

  “Finish picking up your toys,” she called after him and then said into the phone, “Hi, Mom. I didn’t give a single thought to going out with you and the undertaker guys.”

  “Liar, liar.” Her mother laughed on the other end. “You’ve been doing nothing but thinking of ways to turn me down. The Fullers are such nice men and I think they prefer to be called funeral directors.”

  “Yeah, well. There’s always hope you’ll come to your senses and realize I’m old enough to choose my own dates.”

  “You might be old enough, honey, but you’re not willing enough. Anyway, that’s not why I called.”

  “Thank God!” Abby perched on the arm of the chair by the window.

  “I’ll be thanking God when you’re not an old maid anymore.”

  “Gee, Mom, I love you, too. Why did you call if it wasn’t to point out my shortcomings?”

  “Oh, I called about that, too.”

  “Mother.”

  “Lighten up, Abbs. I called to badger you into letting Kyle come and stay with his beloved grandmother for a few days.”

  “Beloved grandmother—that would be you I take it?”

  “You’re a very funny child. I know it’s weird, but I love being his Gramma.”

  “He’s that kind of kid.”

  “So, can he come?”

  Abby knew this would happen one day. He already stayed with his grandmother while Abby worked and if she ever had a life, her mother offered to take him all evening. Even all night, her mother had said with a sly grin. Kyle did love his grandmother. He took to her the first time he met her and she might be where he inherited his charm.

  “How about Saturday, the day after tomorrow? He has a birthday party to go to in the morning and I’ll bring him over afterward.” Abby purposely kept the anxiety out of her tone. Letting go was hard, but she had to do it eventually. They probably wouldn’t let her room with him in college.

  “Hallelujah and praise the Lord,” her mother almost shouted into the phone. “Saturday would be great.”

  “And, Mom, you’ll probably hear soon enough, but Jesse’s brother is in town.”

  “Well, that is a surprise. Talk about a dysfunctional family. If what Jesse said is true, they make us seem sort of normal. Is he looking to see if Jesse left any money behind for him?”

  Abby thought of the expensive, if rumpled, clothing Jesse’s brother wore.

  “I don’t think so, and I’m not so sure Jesse was right about his family, at least not all of them. The brother seems to be, well, normal.”

  “Does he know where Jesse might have gone?”

  “No. Apparently they haven’t heard from Jesse in over a year.”

  “Yup. We’re the normal ones.”

  “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

  “So what’s the brother like and what’s his name?”

  “His name is Reed Maxwell and he’s tall, dark, handsome. Not my type.”

  “You’re killing me here, kid. What’s not to like about this one?”

  “Hmm, let’s see. He lives in Chicago and I don’t know much about him for starters.” Except that he’s sexy and…never mind.

  “Is he too rich for you or something?”

  “He might be.” He might also be Kyle’s uncle. That would stop her mother cold.

  “Why’s he here in St. Adelbert?”

  “He seems to be truly concerned about his mother. She wants to see Jesse badly.” For reasons her mother didn’t need to know. What Reed told her didn’t seem to be appropriate grapevine fodder.

  “So the mother loves her kids, and they might not be so bad after all. Are you done dodging my question about the undertakers?”

  “I thought they were funeral d
irectors, and you haven’t worn me down enough.” At least she had dropped the subject of Reed Maxwell.

  “A mother wants better for her children.” The tenor of her mother’s voice dropped and so did Abby’s desire to be flippant about the subject. Her mother did want better for Lena and her.

  “I am grateful for that,” Abby said.

  “Grateful enough to go out to dinner with me?”

  “And?”

  Her mother sighed in an exaggerated manner.

  “And Kenny Fuller and his son, Travis. Come on, Abby. I think becoming a nurse turned you into a fuddy-duddy.”

  “Let’s see. You mean since I learned how to take care of myself and didn’t need a mother to get dates for me?”

  “Stop that. All right, if you really must know. I can’t get Kenny to ask me out and I’m afraid he’ll say no if I ask him. This valley is so small, I can’t waste a chance like that. But if I tell him that we can get the two of you to go out if we go along, he’ll say yes. He has to—you’re a great catch.”

  “Mother!” Abby found herself comparing Travis Fuller to Reed Maxwell and her enthusiasm for the double date diminished even more.

  “Yeah, Mother, that’s me. Kenny’s a nice, respectable man. Both of them are, and if he gives me a chance, he’ll find out I’m a different woman than I was when we first lived here.”

  “You’re a good woman, Mom. You always were.”

  “You have to say that. You’re my kid. Have you heard from Lena?”

  “Not since the email I got last week. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” It had actually been twelve days and Abby wondered if it was time to escalate to worry. “And I’ll drop Kyle off in the morning tomorrow as usual and pick him up when I’m finished at the clinic.”

  “I’ll see you, and maybe I’ll get a date planned while you’re at work then.”

  “Don’t do it on my account.”

  “Goodbye, you ungrateful child.”

  “Bye, Mom.”

  Abby put the handset in the cradle, sat back and folded her arms across her chest.

  She wanted to ask her mother if Lena had ever talked about Kyle’s father, but knew it would do no good. If Lena had said anything, their mother would have said it didn’t matter or it wasn’t important. That’s what she had always told them when they asked, demanded, or even begged her to tell them about their father. He packed up and left when Abby was six and Lena was a toddler. The last thing Abby remembered about her father was him yelling at her mother about having to spend too much money on a kid for Christmas, more specifically, the doll Abby had to have.