Take Me Home (14 page)

As she watched him stride back down the walk, Claire reflected that her old classmate hadn’t changed all that much. He was still as trim and fit as when he’d led the football team.

“Is he married?” she asked Holly as he ducked into the driver’s seat of the cruiser.

“I thought you liked Tim.”

“I do.” Claire was startled by Holly’s reaction. “I mean, I was just curious about Robbie. I haven’t seen him since high school.”

“No, he’s not,” Holly said, “but it’s not for lack of the ladies trying. Twyla Bradford was bragging that he had bought her an engagement ring, but it turned out to be a cameo ring for his mother. Twyla was good and embarrassed.”

Claire was savoring the normalcy of her sister’s little tidbit of gossip when the light faded from Holly’s eyes. “Anyway, Robbie’s still a bachelor and seems to want to stay that way.”

Holly went back to the couch in the living room, and Claire followed. “Listen, when I take the girls to the stable, I want you to go right to bed. I’ll run them to Joe’s Drive-In for dinner, so you don’t have to fix anything. Okay?”

“You don’t need to do that.”

Claire blew out a sigh of exasperation. “I know I don’t need to. I want to. I like Brianna and Kayleigh. I like being a real aunt to them.”

“You really do. It just surprises me.” Holly looked up from tracing the welting on the couch cushion. “Claire?”

“Yes?” An odd note in her sister’s voice made her sit down on the couch. “What is it?”

“I’ve been so stupid,” Holly burst out as tears traced glistening tracks down her cheeks. “I believed everything Frank said about you. He told me you were a snob and you didn’t care about Brianna and Kayleigh. He tried to get me to stop you from
coming down here. He said you were just doing it to play the grand lady helping out her poor little sister.”

Each sentence seemed to jab Claire in the heart. She sat stunned as Holly kept talking.

“That’s why I kept pushing you away all the time—to make Frank happy. I even thought that’s why he asked for the divorce, because he was mad at me for letting you come. You’ve been so good to me, and I’ve been horrible. I’m so sorry.” Holly’s sobs shook her whole body.

“Holl, it’s okay. Take it easy,” Claire said, leaning forward to take her sister’s hands in hers.

“Frank made me doubt you, and I believed him.”

Claire remembered how thoroughly Milo had convinced her she was a failure at work and at marriage. She loved Milo, so she trusted him; Holly had done the same with Frank. Both men had abused that trust. “You should have told me Frank didn’t want me here. I didn’t mean to stir up trouble between you.”

“There were already problems between us; that’s why I tried to keep you at a distance. I didn’t want you to know my marriage was in trouble.”

“Jeez, I’m divorced myself. I would have understood.”

“I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I’ve been all alone here since you went to New York and Mama and Daddy moved to Florida. Frank has been my world.”

“Oh, sweetie, I know exactly what you mean,” Claire said. “I’ve been there too.”

All her sister’s strange behavior made sense now. She could feel the barrier between them crumble. There might still be a few bits of hurt lying around, but she could deal with those. She pulled her sister into a fierce hug and received the same embrace in return.

Claire waited until Holly loosened her hold before she said, “There’s one question I’ve been wanting to ask you. When you
told me you didn’t want to go to marriage counseling, you said it had to end. Why?”

Holly dropped her face in her hands for a few seconds before she sat up and squared her shoulders. “You know all those charges we found on Frank’s bills?”

Claire nodded.

“I shouldn’t have been surprised by them. Frank cheated on me before. He swore it was a one-night stand because he was drunk and lonely on the road, and it would never happen again. He implied it was my fault because I was always so involved with our children.”

“Oh no, sweetie, tell me you didn’t believe that!” Claire was furious on her sister’s behalf. “What an asshole!”

“I realize that now, just like I realize it wasn’t the only time.”

“I wish I could have helped you through that.”

“It was too humiliating to talk about,” Holly said.

“I get that, but I hate the idea of your blaming yourself for his infidelity.” Now that Holly had admitted to this much, Claire wondered whether she should challenge her sister about the physical abuse she was convinced had also taken place. Frank’s strategy of isolating his wife and discrediting anyone who might help her sounded like a textbook abuser. Brianna said her father had hit her mother before. Yet Holly continued to maintain that this was the only incident.

As Claire hesitated, Holly spoke again. “Anyway, he promised it would never happen again, so I let it go.” She looked down at her hands before she lifted her head to gaze straight into Claire’s eyes. “I did it for the girls. So they would have a mother and a father together while they grew up. Can you understand that?”

Claire nodded. She too felt a fierce desire to make Brianna and Kayleigh’s world a perfect place.

But would her sister ever admit that the price might have been too high?

“C
AN TWO PEOPLE
have the same whisper horse?” Brianna asked.

Sharon shot a querying look at Claire, who was holding Brianna’s hand as they stood outside the tack room. Claire gave a tiny nod.

“I don’t believe anyone’s ever asked me that before.” Sharon rubbed her chin with her free hand. “Some horses can handle more than one set of secrets, but the horse has to be very special.”

“Is Willow very special?” Brianna asked.

“Willow? Willow could handle
four
sets of secrets.”

Brianna’s look of relief was profound. Claire hadn’t realized how much the little girl wanted to unburden herself.

“Okay, then,” Claire said. “Let’s go see Willow.”

Claire left Brianna just outside Willow’s stall while she clipped the lead line on the mare’s halter and tied her to her metal feed basket. Stroking the horse’s neck, she touched her forehead against Willow’s and said, “You’ve got a big job to do. You have to take care of a little girl’s troubles. I’m counting on you.”

Opening the stall door, she called Brianna in and handed her a horse treat. “Make your hand completely flat like a plate. Now offer it to Willow.”

“It tickles,” Brianna giggled as the mare’s whiskers brushed against her palm.

“Willow, this is Brianna. She needs your help.” Claire positioned Brianna in front of the big Thoroughbred. She was pleased when the child showed no fear as she reached out to pet the horse’s soft nose. “Just stay here where Willow can see you. It helps to look into her eyes while you talk to her.”

“Where will you be?”

“Just outside. Call me when you’re finished, and I’ll come in to untie her.”

“Will you be able to hear me?”

“Not if you’re just talking to Willow. Only if you call out loudly,” Claire promised. As she said it, she crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping the childish gesture would salve her conscience. She had every intention of eavesdropping on Brianna’s confession.

At the child’s nod, she slipped out of the stall, latching the door. Then she quietly opened the door to the adjacent stall, where a placid gelding named Ozzie was munching on his hay. As she came in, the buckskin horse turned around to look at her before going back to his chewing. Claire gave his flank a gentle pat and tiptoed to the wall adjoining Willow’s stall.

“Mama and Papa had another big fight last night.”

Horror welled up inside Claire as she heard the confirmation that this wasn’t the first ugly scene Brianna had witnessed between her parents.

“I think they’re going to get a divorce like Janelle’s parents did. She had to move away, even though she didn’t want to. I don’t want to move away, either. Kayleigh and I would have to decide who would go with Mama and who would go with Papa.”

Tears blurred her vision at the quaver in Brianna’s voice.

“But maybe it’s better if they get a divorce, because I’m afraid Papa will hurt Mama the next time he gets mad.”

Suddenly, it felt terribly wrong to listen to Brianna’s most private thoughts, even if Claire had done it with good intentions. She put her hand over her mouth as a sob caught at her throat. Stumbling to Ozzie’s stall door, she swung it open and bolted across the barn’s aisle.

After swiping her shirtsleeve over her eyes, she leaned one shoulder against the wall across from Willow’s stall so there was no chance of overhearing her niece’s words. She was mulling over how she could tactfully convince Holly to tell her children about the divorce without Frank’s presence when she heard Brianna call her name.

“Did Willow help?” she asked as she walked in the stall.

Brianna nodded as she stood stroking the mare’s nose. “Her ears move around, so I know she’s really listening.”

Claire knelt in the straw beside the little girl and the big horse.

“If you ever feel like talking to a person, I’d be happy to listen. Of course, my ears don’t wiggle, but I’d still hear you.”

Brianna nodded again, but asked, “Do you have another treat to thank Willow with?”

So the child wasn’t yet ready to let her aunt in on her heartbreaking secrets.

Even the mouthwatering scent of Joe’s Drive-In’s hand-cut french fries couldn’t keep Claire from choking up as she remembered Brianna’s overheard confession. Fortunately, Kayleigh was intent on describing every one of the kittens in the litter at the stable while Brianna interjected occasional questions. They didn’t seem to notice that their aunt barely tasted the creamy chocolate milk shake.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the car’s window.

“Do you have a headache?” Brianna asked, leaning forward between the seats.

“No, sweetie, I’m fine. Just a little tired. I had a busy day at work.”

“Did you sell any pictures?”

Claire swiveled around to look at her niece. She was surprised the little girl understood what she did at the gallery. “Two big ones by an artist named Len Boggs.” Which meant a very handsome commission check, which she planned to use to buy a replacement Lauren statue for Holly.

“Are they pretty?” Kayleigh asked.

“Very beautiful,” Claire said. “They’re paintings of real places all around West Virginia. The painter lives not too far from here.” She kept debating whether to mention Len Boggs to Henry Thalman. The man had real talent, but maybe it wasn’t good enough for New York. Milo’s scorn for the Castillos still haunted her, and she couldn’t bring herself to risk her reputation with her future boss.

“Can I see some of them?” Brianna asked.

“Sure. I’ll drive you by the gallery on the way home so you can see the ones in the window display.” Maybe seeing them through a child’s eyes would help Claire make up her own mind about Boggs’s work. “We’ll talk to your mom about coming over tomorrow to see the ones inside.”

Kayleigh made a face. “Isn’t it kind of like a library where you have to be quiet and behave yourself?”

“I’ll arrange a special private showing so you can make all the noise you want.”

“Okay, I’ll come,” Kayleigh said, her face brightening.

Claire reflected that it was hard to brood around children. As they finished their delicious but health-destroying meal, Claire flipped on the radio to the Disney Channel, and all three of them sang their way home.

When they pulled into her sister’s driveway, Kayleigh bolted out of the car, while Brianna slowly unfastened her seat belt.

“Aunt Claire, thank you for sharing Willow with me.”

Claire had a few things she’d like to discuss with Willow right now. “Tell me anytime you want to talk to her, and I’ll take you there.”

They went inside to find Holly sitting at the kitchen table as Kayleigh described the kittens for a new audience. Claire’s eyebrows rose as she noticed that Holly was wearing jeans and a floral-print blouse rather than the usual sweatpants and baggy T-shirt. “You look nice.”

Holly flushed. “Since the police are checking in on me, I thought I should get dressed.”