“Quit that.” Howe snatched the flower to prevent further mayhem. “It’s over.” He helped her to her feet as P.J. got up. “Sorry, Judge,” Howe said. “This man pushed his way into our home and refused to leave.”
“Do I need to call 911?” the judge asked, clearly entertained.
P.J. glared at Howe. “You haven’t heard the end of this. I meant what I said.” He tried to storm out, but the effect was lost because he had to tiptoe through the marbles.
Charles turned to Howe with a grim, “Was that the guy?”
Howe didn’t answer. “Judge, I apologize about all this. When I tried to push him out of the house, things got physical, and Patti jumped into the fray.”
“I’m glad she’s not mad at me,” the judge quipped. He bowed slightly to Patti. “Well done, young lady.”
Her cool restored, Patti made a brief curtsy, followed by a
dazzling smile. “Thenk yew.” She straightened her peasant blouse. “I found it very . . . empowering.”
“You were lucky he didn’t hurt you,” Charles scolded. “You should have called the cops.”
“I couldn’t,” she said. “He threatened to . . .” She shot a troubled glance the judge’s way and didn’t finish.
“The important thing is, he’s gone,” Howe intercepted. “If you’ll give us a minute, Judge, we’ll clean up this mess, and I’ll fix you something to drink.” He rubbed his sore jaw where P.J. had connected. “I could use a double.”
“I’m the one who should apologize,” the judge responded. “Charles drove me down to speak to the county bar association, and I convinced him to drop by on our way back. We should have called.”
“Nonsense,” Howe dismissed. “Your arrival was divine providence. Nothing like a judge as a witness to stop a fight.”
“Glad to be of service.” The judge motioned Charles back toward the car. “Come on, Charles. Let’s head back to the office.” He nodded toward Howe. “This’ll stay between us. Unless you need me to testify.”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Howe assured him.
“Don’t bank on it,” the judge said. “Atkinson’s pretty vindictive. I’ve seen him in action.”
So the judge knew P.J. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
Howe saw them out to their car, then came back to find Patti crying and sweeping up the marbles. “Aw, honey, it’s over.” He took the broom and hugged her. “Everything’s okay. Don’t cry.”
“I just hate this, all of it,” she said.
“I know. So do I.”
“We have to tell Gamma about those awful lies before somebody else does,” Patti moaned out. “Like,
now
.”
“I know. I’ll do it.”
She wiped her eyes. “No. Let me. Gamma listens to me.” She exhaled, looking old beyond her years, and it made him sad to see it. “Then I want to go see Mama and tell her it’s all right. Where is she?”
Howe was through hiding things. “I had a house in the mountains where I used to go when I was up to no good,” he told her. “I gave it to your mother, so she’d have a place of her own. It’s on Lake Blue Ridge.”
“I’ll tell Gamma first, then go up tomorrow.”
“Patti,” he told her. “You were very brave to defend me. I’m proud of you. But I don’t want you fighting my battles with your mother.”
“I won’t, Daddy. This is about me and her.” She handed him the broom. “But first, I’m going to Gamma’s, then I’m getting a double cheeseburger and fries. Then I’m going to bed.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She grabbed her purse from the credenza. “Can I take your car?”
He nodded, tossing her the keys. She took three steps, then turned back to say, “I love you, Daddy. I hate what you did, but I still love you.”
He didn’t deserve such grace. “I love you, too.”
And she was gone, leaving him alone in the house once more.
On her way back from the point with an armful of fresh pine boughs, Elizabeth was enjoying the cool weather when she saw Howe’s car disappear down her driveway.
She stopped in her tracks on the graveled path. He wouldn’t come without calling unless something awful had happened.
To Patti? Oh, God.
Dropping the branches, she sprinted for the house faster than she knew she could run. When she neared his parked car, she barely had enough breath to call his name, but she didn’t get an answer. Hands shaking so hard she could hardly work the key, she let herself into the house. “Howe?”
Movement drew her eye to the front porch, where she spotted not Howe, but her daughter.
“Patti!” Relief erased the distance between them. The next thing she knew, Elizabeth was on the porch and whirling her daughter in an ecstatic hug. “Ohmygod, when I saw the car, I
thought something must have happened to you, and your father was afraid to tell me over the phone.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Mama.” Patti hugged her back just as hard. “I just wanted to surprise you.” The look she gave Elizabeth was without artifice or resentment. “Is it okay if I stay?”
“More than okay,” Elizabeth said. Something big must have happened for Patti to be so affectionate. Part of Elizabeth wanted to believe her daughter had changed, but another part wondered what her daughter was up to. “That would be fabulous.” Elizabeth kept her arm around Patti’s shoulders as they went inside. “There’s a second master suite you can have all to yourself.”
Unnaturally clingy, Patti clasped her arms around Elizabeth’s waist. “This is beautiful, Mama,” she admired. “Did it come this way?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Nope. I did the whole place over, right down to the napkins.”
Patti pulled free of Elizabeth to run her hand across the hutch. “I probably would have, too. Considering.”
Elizabeth stilled. “Considering what?”
Patti turned, her expression matter-of-fact. “What Daddy used it for before he gave it to you.”
Stunned, Elizabeth subsided onto the arm of the club chair behind her. “Who told you about that?”
“Daddy did.” Patti regarded her with a maturity and compassion Elizabeth had never seen. “He told me everything. About everything, including that idiot guy who came to our house and told lies about you.”
Elizabeth gasped. “P.J. came to our
house
?” No, no, no!
Patti nodded. “Yesterday, right after Daddy picked me and Gamma up at the airport.”
Oh, Lord. “Was Gamma there when he came?”
“No, but I was.” Patti beamed in triumph. “Don’t worry, though. Daddy defended you. Then, when the guy threatened to lie to everybody, Daddy
socked
him right in the face. Split his lip and put him
on his ass
.” She pointed to the floor for emphasis. “But then he knocked Daddy down and was gonna kick him, so I jumped on his back and beat the bastard with an umbrella.” She hardly seemed traumatized. “It was very cool. But then Charles and the judge came in and ruined everything.”
“Judge Etheridge?” Howe hadn’t called to tell her.
Of course, Elizabeth could understand why.
“Once there were witnesses, the guy left.” Patti sighed, inspecting the hutch. “The judge even offered to testify against the guy, but Daddy said that wouldn’t be necessary.” She faced Elizabeth. “That guy
was
lying,” she asked in a very small voice, “wasn’t he?”
Elizabeth had never anticipated having this conversation with her daughter. But after what Patti had seen, there was no point in trying to cover anything up. “I did see him for a while,” she admitted. “Strictly platonic, at first. Then he started pressuring me for an affair, so I broke it off.” How stupid she’d been. “Nothing happened.”
She’d known better, but had seen him anyway. “I can’t believe he actually came to our house and got into a fight with
your father.” She felt sick, just thinking about it. “I guess I learned the hard way that it’s not safe to play with fire.”
“Hell, Mama,” Patti said. “Who could blame you? Daddy burned down the whole freakin’ forest.”
That was one way of putting it.
At least Patti didn’t blame her. Elizabeth exhaled, long and slow. “I’m just sorry P.J.’s lies might get out and embarrass you and your brother. I’ve worked so hard since I married your father to be respectable, no matter what. I still can’t believe I jeopardized that for a little male attention. I blew it.”
Patti came over and gave her a hug. “So you’re human. Frankly, I find that a relief. It isn’t easy being the daughter of a perfect mother.” She wasn’t complaining, just stating a fact, and it gave Elizabeth a new perspective on how things looked from Patti’s side.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about things up here,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve taken a long, hard look at myself. Back home, I kept myself so busy, I never had to do that. But I should have.
“My own family was so awful,” she went on, “I always swore I’d do my best to make ours perfect. To be a perfect mother and a perfect wife, with perfect children. But all that did was make me, and your father, miserable. And you. Perfection is a cruel master, for everybody concerned.” Elizabeth stroked her daughter’s hair. “I’m so sorry, honey. I want to be your mother, not your warden.”
Patti let out a wry chuckle. “Does this mean I can have my car back?”
Elizabeth smiled. Couldn’t blame a kid for trying. “Sure. Soon as you pass a quarter at school, it’s yours.”
“Ah, yes,” Patti said without rancor. “School.” She stilled. “Actually, I’d like to talk to you about that.”
Uh-oh.
“Mama, I know you and Daddy always wanted me to go to college”—here it came—“and I can understand that. I really do. But we all know I’m not cut out for academics.”
“I thought you liked being at Georgia,” Elizabeth said.
“I love everything about it, except for the classes,” Patti admitted. “I did okay at first, because I took the easy courses. But last quarter I had to take core academics.” A weighted pause followed. “I didn’t fail because I didn’t try, Mama. I failed because statistics and French and college algebra are too hard for me.”
Elizabeth frowned, wondering if she was being conned. But Patti sounded so sincere.
“I’m not saying I didn’t party,” Patti admitted. “I did, but only on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the time, I really studied. Honest to God, Mama, I did. You can ask anybody in my sorority. They even tutored me, but I just didn’t get it.” She sounded so discouraged. “I’m not smart like Charles, Mama. I’m no good at memorizing stuff, and tests make me so nervous, I can’t remember half of what I did get. It’s so embarrassing, doing your best and failing, anyway.”
“Oh, Patti.” Elizabeth had never even considered the fact that Patti might not be able to do the work. She’d just assumed that partying and socializing had gotten in the way. “I had no idea.”
“How could you know?” Patti said. “I sure didn’t want to tell you I was too stupid for college. I’d rather you thought I was partying.”
“Wow.” Elizabeth’s expectations for her daughter did a global shift. “If you don’t go to college, what would you do?” She needed to rephrase that. “What would you
like
to do? Or have you thought that far?”
Patti got up and crossed the rug to sit facing Elizabeth, her face animated. “I have thought about it. A lot.” She paused for effect. “I’d like to go to art school. A good one. Believe it or not, I found out in art class that I’m really good with painting and design. I mean, I always did well with stuff like that, but my professor was amazing, and she taught me so much.” She waggled her hand. “Not the computer kind of art. The real stuff. And I love decorating magazines. Maybe I could be a designer.” Elizabeth hadn’t seen Patti so excited about anything since she was little. “Or even a builder. I’ve dreamed up a zillion imaginary houses in my head.”
“Is there any particular school that interests you?” Elizabeth asked. “We could go look at some together, if you’d like.”
“I’d like.” Patti smiled, hands gripping her knees. “I wish we could have talked like this a long time ago.”
“Me, too. But I guess we get there when we get there. At least we can do it now.”
“I’m glad we don’t have any more secrets to hide,” Patti said. Testing the new bridge between them, she shifted to the subject that had hovered over them since she’d arrived. “I understand why you kept what Daddy was doing a secret. I know you were just trying to protect us. But now that Charles and I know, and Daddy’s changed, you don’t have to worry anymore, no matter what that awful guy says. We’re all gonna be okay.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“Believe it.” Patti turned a sad smile toward Elizabeth. “All the way up here, I was thinking about how I’ve treated you. I was such a brat. But that’s over. If Daddy can change, so can I.” Her voice broke. “I know I made your life miserable. Can you forgive me?”
How many years had Elizabeth ached to hear those words? Now that she did, she prayed that she and Patti could find a way to get along through the ups and downs to come. “Of course I forgive you.” Though she hated what had brought them to this, she was glad for the change it had made in her daughter. Patti had grown up. “You need to forgive your daddy, too.”
“If he was still cheating, I don’t think I could,” Patti said. “But he’s so different now, it’s easy to let go of all that stuff. He’s still a dope, though, for sending you away.”