Oh, Lord! Did she just say that? The sadness Charleigh felt inside immediately changed to anger.
Nobody had the right to speak to her like that, especially not Claudia. The woman had no reason to call the babies Charleigh was carrying… Oh, she couldn’t bring herself to even think the malicious word.
“How dare you call me and say such a thing?” Charleigh demanded. “If it was possible, I would jump through this phone and wrap my hands around your throat.”
“You’re an impertinent little tramp, aren’t you?” Claudia snapped.
“It comes from years of having to deal with people like you,” Charleigh retorted. She beat her fist on the marble countertop.
“I’m only speaking the truth. If you—”
“Your version of the truth,” Charleigh shot back before Claudia could say anymore. If she thought that she could railroad Charleigh, she had another thing coming to her. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. If you did, you’d know that I don’t want— or need— anything that Greg may have left to Jamie. What did he own? A couple of over-decorated houses? Some cars? Six percent interest in Davison?”
“How do you know about—”
“The six percent?” She finished Claudia’s sentence for her. “Well, you see, I found out all about that back when I came to New York with Jamie. Not that it matters, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Just to knock you down a couple notches.” Charleigh went on to explain, “Some time back your father got himself into a real mess. Whatever it was, Greg didn’t go into the details with me. But he— your husband—came to my parents and asked for help to keep daddy-oh out of the pen and the company from sinking.
“They agreed to help and came to an arrangement that my parents acquired a controlling interest— ninety-four percent— in Davison, and Gerald would run it until he retired. Greg would take over after that, until I turned twenty-five or both of my parents passed away, which I would then either become CEO or appoint one. Is that plain enough for you to understand?”
“It still doesn’t explain how you know about the other.” It sounded as if the wind had been taken out of Claudia’s sails.
“Oh, I forgot about that.” Charleigh had to think for a moment. The adrenaline rush was a little intense. “The ninety-four percent has raked up quite a bit of pocket change over the past twenty years. It’s in the billions, Claudie-dear. The hundreds billions, which was put into a trust for me. Your husband was supposed to oversee it but never touch it. Greg got greedy, but what he didn’t realize was that my dad had an eye on it, as well. When Dad confronted him about it, he agreed to hand over his six percent of the company in return for Dad’s confidence.
“This past June— as a favor to your children; because I love Jamie— I signed that back over to Greg. So, you can shove that itsy-bitsy piece of Davison straight up your rear end, because I own the rest of the cake. I’d love to be of assistance if you need any help.”
Being able to unload all of that on Claudia made Charleigh feel somewhat better. Having to keep it such a guarded secret was burdensome. It also helped for her to show Jamie’s mother that she wouldn’t take any more from the evil, spiteful woman.
“You think I care. So my father doesn’t own that dead-weight company anymore. That doesn’t matter,” Claudia seethed. “I’m warning you. I’ll make you regret the day you were born if you try to mess with me. I’ll take everything you own.”
“I don’t really care, you old battle-axe.”
“I’ll take those little bastards and make sure you never see them again.” Claudia came back and disconnected the call.
Slowly, Charleigh pulled the cordless phone away from her ear. She stared at it speechlessly. The fear of what Claudia might do was like a powerful punch in the stomach.
If Claudia wanted to take everything Charleigh owned, then she would gladly hand it over. But to threaten to take away her babies. Her children. The last reasons she had for living. That was even worse than anything else.
They were a part of her. More importantly, a part of Jamie. The babies were Charleigh’s flesh and blood. Her heart. And just the idea of having them ripped away was utterly the most terrifying thing that could happen.
“No, no, no, no, no, no!” She screamed over and over.
Charleigh let the phone fall to the floor. The sound of every small, intricate piece breaking apart didn’t register in her mind. Oh, what was she going to do? She couldn’t let Claudia or anyone else take her babies away. I just couldn’t bear it, Charleigh thought, putting a hand to her belly.
“No, no, no, no, no, no!” She continued to scream.
Cordell came rushing in the back door. He’d been out in the pasture, taking care of her horses as a favor to Madie, when he heard Charleigh’s blood-curdling yell. Instantly, the thought that something had happened to the babies came to his mind, and he had to come to see what he could do to help.
When he saw her sitting on the stool, eyes closed, screaming at the top of her lungs, he didn’t know what to think. She didn’t look physically injured. There was no blood or anything, but she was screaming and holding on to her stomach.
“Charleigh, talk to me,” Cordell said, cupping her face in his hands. “Are you hurt?”
Charleigh opened her eyes. Frantically, she began to speak, “She’s going to try to take the babies away, Cord. She swore she would do it.”
“Wait, who? What are you taking about?” He didn’t think she was making a lot of sense.
“I can’t let it happen. Jamie. It’d be like losing him all over again. I’d die.”
“Charleigh, you’ve got to calm down, now.”
She brought her hands up to Cordell’s forearms, squeezing tightly. Her nails were like teeth, digging into his skin. Charleigh started shaking her head, chanting again like she had been when he burst through the door.
If that didn’t beat all! He couldn’t talk to her in the emotional state she was in. Somebody needed to calm her down. Madie. Cordell peeled Charleigh’s hands away. He picked her up, still in her silky pajamas and robe, and headed for the backdoor.
***
Later, back at the ranch, Cord and Lenore sat in the living room while Madie tried to get Charleigh calmed down upstairs. They didn’t talk to one another, most likely because they didn’t know what to say. Lenore sat in her usual place in one of the velvet wingback chairs next to the fireplace, knitting a baby blanket for Charleigh. Cordell was across the room on the couch, picking at a splinter in his hand.
It hadn’t been easy for him to try and get Charleigh in his truck, mainly because she was flailing like a fish in his arms. She’d cried hysterically the short distance back to the ranch. It was difficult to understand anything she said through the tears. Cordell just tried to convey to her that it would all be okay after they got back to Madie’s and got everything sorted out. He didn’t think she was convinced. Judging by the sound of his voice, he had barely convinced himself.
A single pair of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. The two people raised their heads at the sound and turned toward the doorway. Shortly, Madie appeared, looking exhausted. Lenore and Cordell stood in unison, waiting for an explanation.
“How is she?” Cord asked.
“For now, she’s okay. She’s sleeping up in Jamie’s old room,” Madie sighed, coming to sit in the chair beside her sister’s. She hunched over, putting her head in her hands.
“Did Charleigh say what made her so upset?” Lenore asked, looking over to Cord.
“Claudia called to tell Charleigh that she had Jamie and Greg officially declared dead. Which we already know,” Madie added, shaking her head. “She started in on Charleigh about Greg’s assets and what Jamie would’ve got. Told Charleigh not to expect anything. She called the twins…” She shook her head a second time. “I won’t say what she called those babies.”
“I can imagine.” Lenore clenched her jaw.
“Anyway, Charleigh shot back. Said she didn’t want or need
anything from her. Apparently, though I didn’t get many details, Gerald Davison did some illegal dealings a couple decades ago, and Mike and Mandy helped bail the company out. It comes down to Charleigh holding a controlling interest in Davison.”
“And?” Lenore asked when her sister didn’t go on.
“When Claudia found out, she threatened to take the twins away from Charleigh.”
“That’s what she meant,” Cordell said. The two old women looked over at him curiously. Nervously, he stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “All the way here, she kept telling me that she ‘couldn’t let that woman take her babies away.’”
“That’s impossible.” Lenore knelt down to pick her knitting up off the floor that had fallen when she stood earlier.
“It’s never going to happen.” Madie held her hands out in front of her. “Claudia would have to prove that Charleigh was unfit. This coming from, I hate to say it, because I love my grandchildren, but a woman who should’ve never been able to procreate in the first place.”
“Now that I know she’s calm, I think that I ought to head back over to Charleigh’s house, and finish up the work, if y’all don’t mind,” Cord spoke softly. “Tell her that I hope she feels better.”
“Thank you, Cordell,” Madie said. “You did the right thing, bringing her back here.”
“Well, ma’am, I figured if anyone could get through to her, make any sense out of what she was sayin’, it would be you.” He backed toward the doorway. “I’m gonna go. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Take your time. We’ll be fine here.”
When he was gone, Madie turned to look at her sister. She wouldn’t dare say what she was dying to in front of Cordell, but now that it was just them, Madie needed to vent. Hearing what Claudia had said, it aggravated the hell out of her.
Something needed to be said— or done— to let that awful woman know who she was messing with. It wasn’t just Charleigh that Claudia was picking on. It was the whole clans of Randalls and Matthewses.
And Claudia needed to know what would happen if ever the impulse to act on those threats arose.
“You know what I’m thinking?” Madie asked.
“You’re not going to go up there, are you?”
“No, though I should. I’m simply going to call and try and make nice with my nasty daughter-in-law,” Madie said. “Then, I’m going to call Terry and see what kind of legal action can be taken to keep that wicked woman away from Charleigh, and those babies once they’re born.”
“You really think Claudia will do something, sister?”
“There’s not a doubt in my mind,” Madie replied. She stood up and went to find her address book. “Whether she tries to do something through the courts, or those babies simply vanish without a trace, Claudia will try something.”
“Well, then, we just need to figure out something to stop her in her tracks.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Gavin stepped through the opened front doors of the church with his mother on his arm. From there, he could see that a crowd had already gathered in the chapel. But the people of Magnolia weren’t there for any kind of church services, they were there to give condolences and show their respect for his uncle and cousin.
In the air was that eerie kind of silence a person always hears at a funeral, only the low hum of whispers, maybe because they were afraid speaking at their normal volume-level would wake the dead. At least that was the way Gavin thought of it. What made it even more eerie was that there weren’t any caskets in front of the pulpit, only two enlarged pictures of the deceased. One for Greg, and one for Jamie. And there were floral arrangements hanging on metal displays and potted plants placed on the floor around them.
Linda tapped him on the shoulder. He leaned down to her ear-level. “Son, I think we should go to the dining hall with the rest of the family.”
Oh, wouldn’t Charleigh love to see his face. Especially on a day like this.
“No, you go ahead,” Gavin whispered. “I’ll just find a seat in the back.”
His mother nodded and went on her way.
As he said, Gavin found a seat on the very last pew, at the farthest end from the center aisle. Sitting alone, it gave him a chance to look around at all of the people. Almost everybody he could think of was there in the church. The mayor and her husband. The county sheriff and his family, who just happened to be related to one of the deceased men’s ‘widow.’ If that’s what you wanted to call Charleigh since she and Jamie had been only a matter of days from tying the knot.
Mister Healy, who owned the grocery store, was sitting in the pew next to Mister Mason, who owned the Hardware store. Neither man ever went to funerals. It was rumored that the reason was the two old men believed that they would be attending their own soon enough.
Gavin looked up to the front of the church. He looked at the two pictures of the smiling men. His Uncle Greg hadn’t been around town during the time Gavin was growing up, but he always sent some pretty good Christmas presents. He always remembered his nieces and nephews, and his brothers and sister’s birthdays, even if it was just a card with a couple hundred bucks in the mail.
He hadn’t known Jamie. Didn’t give himself the chance to. Mainly because the guy was standing between Gavin and the second most important thing he wanted in life. Charleigh. Of course, Brea, his daughter, was the first.
Seeing them around town together, even when he was with Andrea, just got Gavin’s goat. But Charleigh made it pretty clear the last time that they’d seen each other that they didn’t have a future. From what he got out of their conversation, they probably wouldn’t have even had a past, either, if she would’ve listened to her heart and not been so scared to be alone. Hearing that still hadn’t been such an easy thing for him to swallow, either.
A group of five adults who Gavin didn’t recognize came and sat down on the pew beside him. He scooted closer to the armrest to make room for all of them.
The room went silence. People were twisting around toward the back of the chapel. Gavin and the others sitting beside him turned to do the same. In the doorway of the double-entrance, the Matthews family stood. Charleigh was in the very front of the group with a guy and a girl Gavin recognized from pictures around his Gram’s house as his cousins, Kevin and Jenna.
Charleigh’s face was pale; her cheeks were already streaked with tears. Her eyes were fixed on the pictures down that long walkway ahead of her. Gavin watched as the others began to move forward. Only Charleigh stood still, blocking them from moving far.
Jenna reached over and took her hand. It seemed to startle Charleigh as she looked over at the young girl beside her. Gavin noticed how she visibly jumped by the contact. Jenna said something to her, and they both slowly began to move together toward the seats reserved for the family in the very front.
Madie and Lenore walked side by side, holding hands. Next was Will, the next eldest child of the Matthews family, followed with his wife Lilly. With tears in her eyes, Linda, the only daughter, was on his other side. Austin, the youngest, was right behind with his hand on his sister’s shoulder.
Then, there was Chris and his wife, Laura-Kathryn. They were followed by all of the grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Gavin was the only Matthews not among the group.
His eyes followed them. He was mostly focused on Charleigh. She looked sad and tired. Lost. It made Gavin wonder, maybe if he hadn’t screwed up the way he had with her and they were still married, if she would look the same way if it had been his funeral.
Gasps were uttered at the sight of Charleigh stumbling. Kevin and Jenna both reached out to her. Her Uncle Josh, who sat close by, got up from his seat to help her. But she quickly recovered, waved them all away, and continued on her way.
When everybody was final settled, Pastor Wilkerson got up from his seat behind the pulpit and began to speak. He began with a prayer, and the church choir sang a few hymns. When they finished, Daniel Wilkerson talked about Greg, and the
years they had known each other.
“Every afternoon after school— and sometimes during school,” He said, getting a quiet chuckle from the mourners, “you could find Greg and Mike down at that little creek behind the schoolhouse with a couple of cane poles and a can of worms. It’s gone now. The new baseball complex was built over it a few years ago, but every time I go down there for a ball game, I always find my mind wandering back to those few times I skipped school to go fishing with them.”
About Greg’s accomplishments, his family, his business.
“Magnolia is a small farming town. It’s the kind of place all the youngsters dream of leaving behind and few ever do. Greg made the dream become a reality. He went to New York, against his father’s wishes, and married his sweetheart. He raised three great kids, and ran a multi-billion dollar company. But what was more important is that Greg kept his faith until the day he died. He…”
After that, Kevin had to block out what the preacher was saying. It was all a pack of lies. Wasn’t this guy, a man of God, always supposed to tell the truth? There was no reason for Pastor Wilkerson to sugarcoat the truth about Greg Matthews, because all three of his children had always known the real truth.
Maybe his father did get out of the town he hated, but he didn’t go to New York to marry his ‘sweetheart.’ It had been obvious to Kevin from an early age— to Jamie and Jenna, as well— that his parents had a rocky marriage until the day he died.
And as for his father’s faith, Greg had never gone to church. Not even on the rare occasions that their mother dragged them all to Mass— always with a Nanny in tow— to show off her new cosmetic procedures to the rest of her over-done friends. The only thing Greg Matthews had faith in was the all-mighty dollar.
Beside him, Charleigh began to wail with sorrow. It occurred to Kevin as he reached over for her hand that the preacher was now talking about Jamie.
“I only met Jamie a handful of times. The first was almost a year ago when he came to church with his grandmother Madie for the annual Christmas show. He came to town with a ton of burden bearing down on his shoulders, and I could see it in his eyes. Jamie was a lost young man. But I think he came to town at just the right time, because there was a young woman here who was just as lost, and I’d like to think she was waiting here for him.”
You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) Page 22