You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) (33 page)

“Oh, this one is beautiful,” Charleigh said of a delicate blue and white knitted blanket she held on her lap. She sat on the lid of a trunk in Madie’s attic as they sorted through old baby things that had once belonged to her children and grandchildren.

“I thought you might like it. That was the first blanket I knitted for any of my grandchildren,” The old woman called from across the room where she was going through an old box.

“This was Jamie’s, then?” Charleigh held it a little bit tighter.

“Yes, and so are these,” Madie replied, holding up a pair of tiny white shoes for the other woman to see.

She brought the box over to sit next to Charleigh. Holding the tiny objects in the palm of one hand, both of them stared for a while. Taking a deep breath, the younger woman finally reached out and took them in both of her own hands, holding them like the world‘s most priceless treasure.

To Charleigh, the only other things— people— who ever mattered most were her dad, Jamie, and her children. And since she’d lost those two men from her life, all of her energy was focused on her precious baby boys. Still, Charleigh wanted to be able to tell them about their father, and to show them tangible proof that he had actually existed. These shoes were a part of the puzzle.

“Can I have them?” Charleigh asked, breathlessly, as she looked into Madie’s face. Tears brimmed her eyes, threatening to spill over.

              “Of course, you can, sweetie,” the old lady replied, putting a comforting hand on Charleigh’s knee. “You can have all of the things in this box. All of it was Jamie’s when he was little.” She began pulling more items out of the box.

There was a tiny sailor suit, and matching hat. There was a porcelain containe
r, with his name scrawled across the side in pale blue paint, with his first lost tooth inside. A knitted cap, and several other items, as well.

“Why do you have these things?” Charleigh asked, laying the outfit on top of her swollen belly.

“Greg sent them to me to hold onto for safekeeping,” Madie replied, taking the matching white sailor hat from the box and placing it on Charleigh’s head. “Do you think Claudia was going to save anything like this?” Of course the question was a rhetorical one. Nothing mattered more to Claudia Davidson that herself.

“It’s such a shame how that woman could treat her own children like that,” Charleigh scoffed just as the babies started to kick. “Don’t you agree, my precious soccer players?”

Madie reached out to touch Charleigh’s belly. After a moment, she stood up. “Are you hungry? How about some tea and lemon crème cake?”

“Are you kidding? We’re always hungry,” Charleigh called over her shoulder. She had the box in her arms and was already headed for the stairs.

              In the kitchen, Charleigh sat at the island counter with a glass of ice-cold milk and two pieces of the cake. She’d already finished off one piece of the delicious dessert, and began on a second with a sigh. When that one was gone, she looked up at Madie and smiled.

Wiping a few crumbs away from Charleigh’s face, the old woman smiled a little herself. She was enjoying this time they were spending together. They hadn’t done that in a while. Just the two of them together, talking, or painting, or working with the horses. Not that Charleigh could work with the horses in her current condition, but it was still nice for Madie to be able
spend some time with the girl.

“Have you thought of any names yet?”

“Tons. I have a ten page list. Front and back. I can’t make up my mind,” Charleigh replied, picking at the remaining crumbs on her plate.

“What do you like the most, then?”

Looking past Madie and out the window above the sink, Charleigh saw Cord come out of the stable with Abernathy and let the doors slam behind him. This made her smile.
So, he thinks that he can break this horse? Good luck.
Charleigh had thought the exact same thing, and look what that got her. A miscarriage, a few fractured ribs, and another battle scar. Not that Charleigh thought Cord shouldn’t try. She’d actually have like front-row seats to see what happened. There was no mistaking that that stud was definitely destined to be a part of the Matthews stock. Abernathy was just as hard-headed as the other males in the family.

“I
like Caleb and Jacob best, but then there’s that thing about rhyming names that I hate,” Charleigh said, going back to the subject at hand. “I couldn’t stand the way Denise named Kyle and Connor. The only thing in common in their names is the short ‘c’ sound, but that was annoying enough for me.”

“If
that’s what you like, then that’s what the babies should be named.”

Charleigh took a long gulp of her milk. “Wouldn’t that make me a hypocrite?”

“No, my dear Charleigh. Not at all,” Madie chuckled at the sight of the young woman with her milk mustache, “I think it’s okay if you changed your mind. That was quite a while ago.”

             
As she was walking out to her truck, Charleigh decided to take a detour and go down by the stable and corral. Just to see whether Cordell had achieved what he had set out to do with Abernathy. He deserved her congratulations, if somehow he had.

After putting the box of Jamie’s baby things in the passenger seat of her Tahoe, Charleigh headed in that direction. Unfortunately, they weren’t in the corral. That meant that she’d have to walk farther to the stable, and her feet were beginning to swell again. Charleigh needed to get home soon and prop them up.

Taking her time, she wanted to make sure that there weren’t any pot holes in the way. The ranch hands were good about filling them in with gravel as soon as a new one was found, but there was always the chance that one had been overlooked.

Just as Charleigh was reaching out for the door handle, the door swung open and almost knocked her backwards. Luckily, Cord was able to stop the door just centimeters before contact.

“What is it with me and doors?” Charleigh let out a nervous laugh as she stepped aside.

“You get in the way of a lot of moving objects, do ya?” Cordell asked. Exiting the building, he smiled.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you coming.”

“Oh, don’t apologize. My own fault. I always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The shock of almost being struck by the door, and the embarrassment of never quite knowing what to say to this man without feeling foolish, caused Charleigh’s mind to go blank. She completely forgot the reason why she’d walked all that way on swollen feet. Why couldn’t Charleigh just ask him how his ride with Abernathy went? Stunned, she stared wild-eyed at Cord.

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t make it to your baby shower. I did get you something, though. It’s in the house,” he told her, breaking the silence.

“Oh, you were invited? Good.” Charleigh stammered, still trying to calm herself. “I was kind of worried. I thought maybe you got left off the guest list somehow. It was an impromptu thing, I think…”
Ok.
Now she was having a problem with word vomit.
Shut up, now!!!

“No, I’d planned to be there, but Daisy got kicked by one of those Jerseys and had colic.”

“Daisy had colic? Is she okay?” Charleigh asked as she moved toward the stable door. Why hadn’t anybody told her that the horse had been injured and sick?

“She’s fine now,” Cord said, reaching out to touch her arm. “That was over a month ago. No need to worry now.”

“Well, I’m glad you took such good care of her,” Charleigh replied. “And I appreciate that you’re taking care of mine, too, since I can’t.”

“What are friends for?”

“Is that what we are?” Charleigh asked. Her question made Cordell turn red. “No, I just meant…”
Open mouth; insert one swollen foot
.

“I know what you meant, and yes I consider you my friend,” Cord said with a smile. He cocked his head to his right. “Come on. Your present’s in my cottage.”

The inside of Cordell’s house wasn’t what Charleigh had expected. What that was, she still wasn’t sure, seeing how Cordell was a bachelor and all, but this
definitely
wasn’t it. In the tiny living room, there was a brown threadbare couch against the wall nearest to the front door. An old patchwork quilt was spread across its back. A wooden rocking chair was setting in the corner. A thirteen inch television set on a scarred coffee table against the farthest wall. There was a painting of horses, which Charleigh recognized as a piece of Madie’s work, among other western-themed portraits on the wall above. A saddle was balanced on a sawhorse on the other side of the room, behind the door. An equally worn area rug covered the wooden floor.

Beyond the tiny space, there was an even smaller kitchen and dining area. White plates and bowls were clean on a dish drainer next to the sink. There was a small round table and two mismatched chairs. Now, Charleigh realized what the matter was. The space was clean. Neat. Homey. She’d lived with two men, other than her Dad, and she was constantly having to pick up after both Gavin and Jamie. Maybe, Charleigh had just f
igured, all men who had never been married, were the same. This definitely proved her presumptions were wrong. 

“Here it is,” Cord said, going over to pick up a large blue gift bag from the floor between the furniture.  “Madie helped me with all the pretty paper that’s sticking out the top.”

She watched nervously as Cordell sat down on his couch, not sure whether or not to sit down next to him. There was no polite way to accept the gift and then leave, Charleigh knew this. After all, he’d been nice enough to buy her a gift, even though he didn’t have to. She had more than enough for both of the babies, which Cordell had seen for himself when he’d come and put together all of the baby furniture.

He’d been there as they watched the Twin Towers collapse, and again when Claudia called to tell Charleigh that she’d had Greg and Jamie officially declared dead. The man had seen Charleigh at some of her weakest moments. So, why did she always get so nervous around this man? Maybe the reasons she thought she shouldn’t were the exact same ones for why she was.

Not seeing any way out of it, Charleigh sat down on the closest end of the couch.

“I hope you like ‘em,” Cord told Charleigh, not seeming to notice her discomfort. “I saw these and thought of your babies.”

Charleigh smiled and removed the tissue paper from the top of the bag. There were several items inside. Two blue and white bibs that read ‘I’m the sheriff of these here parts.’ Each had a little embroidered badge on it. There were rattles and stuffed ponies inside the bag. And two tiny Wrangler western shirts. Charleigh couldn’t help laughing. They were so adorable.

“Thank you so much. I love them,” Charleigh replied, laying the two shirts on her belly.

At the same time, the babies seemed to get in a wrestling match as they moved around wildly. Fighting for a little extra legroom, Charleigh imagined. Cord watched with surprise as Charleigh’s belly seemed to move and become misshaped under her shirt.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” He asked, shifting his eyes from her large bump to her face and back again
...

Charleigh shook her head. “It is uncomfortable sometimes, but not painful.” Forgetting the nervousness, she asked him, “Do you want to feel?”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Charleigh took his hand and placed it on her stomach, noticing the calloused, rough skin of his palm.

One of the babies seemed to turn over under Cordell’s fingers, and he yanked his hand away as if he’d been bitten. The man looked up into Charleigh’s eyes. He was taken aback and yet still a little curious at the same time. It occurred to Charleigh that the man was finally coming to the realization that there really was something living inside that humongous mound. Two somethings, to be exact.

“Are you sure it’s okay for them to be moving around like that in there?” Cord asked.

“Yeah,” Charleigh replied. “There’d be cause to worry if they didn’t.”

Cord nodded with understanding. She watched with delight as Cord’s face lit up with amazement as he reached back over to touch her stomach once
more

Gavin sat on a bar stool in Charleigh’s kitchen, watching as she waddled around the room to prepare their dinner. He still found it rather strange to be in this house. He’d helped Charleigh pick out tile samples, granite countertops,
and light fixtures. It had been Gavin’s idea to put the sunroom in as an area for Charleigh to paint.

He was supposed to have lived in this house with Charleigh as her husband. They’d never made it over the threshold as man and wife.

In fact, the first time Gavin had been in the completed home was just a few months ago when he and Brad came to pick up Charleigh and take her to the baby shower.

He wasn’t going to dwell on what was never meant to be, though. Mainly because Charleigh wouldn’t let him. They had come to an agreement that they could be friends again, without hashing out all the old war wounds. She could forgive as long as Gavin was
able to forget. Gavin was able to forget as long as he knew that he had Charleigh’s forgiveness.

And that was the reason why he was sitting in her kitchen now. Brad was there, too, sitting on a bar stool next to him. Cordell Allen was there, as well. He moving around the large area with easiness, as if he’d been there on a regular basis. According to Charleigh, Cordell was taking care of the horses for her. Making sure that they had enough feed and hay, water in the trough, and that they were getting plenty of exercise since Charleigh couldn’t do it herself. Being pregnant and all.

Somewhere along the way, they had become friends. They actually had a lot in common, after all. Two orphans.

Gavin took a sip of his beer and looked over at where Cord and Charleigh stood side by side at the stove. They were laughing at a joke that, apparently, he hadn’t heard. Brad was laughing, too, so it must have been at Gavin’s own expense.

“Dude, wake up,” Brad laughed, elbowing his best friend in the side.

“Hey, what?” Gavin stuttered. He put a foot down on the floor to prevent himself from falling backwards.

“I asked if you wanted your burger rare, medium-rare, or well-done,” Charleigh said. She took a sip of orange soda, watching him over the rim of her glass.

“Um, medium,” Gavin replied after he took a moment to clear his mind and think about it. “You know I don’t like them well-done, Char. You make them charred.”

“Well, I like to make sure that
my
meat isn’t still mooing.” She took a platter piled high with raw beef and headed toward the backdoor.

“Hey, Charleigh, let me help you with that,” Brad exclaimed and quickly moved to her side.

“It’s ok. I really could have carried that on my own,” she told him as they disappeared out the door.

“What’s with your friend?” Cordell asked as he peeled potatoes for fries. He tilted his head toward the exit.

Gavin knew exactly what the other man meant. He could only smile. “Brad’s had a thing for Char since high school. First, I got in his way. Then, Jamie. I guess now he thinks he has a chance.”

Cord shook his head
, “Hope he’s not holding his breath…”

“
He’ll turn purple
,” both guys said at the same time. It made them laugh, since apparently that was one of Charleigh’s more familiar sayings.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she never gives any other man a chance. Did you ever see
Charleigh and Jamie together?” Cordell asked as he sprinkled Lowry’s Seasoning salt over the slices once he was finished.

“Once or twice,” Gavin replied, not wanting to say too much. He remembered the last time he’d seen Charleigh with his cousin, and it hadn’t produced the prettiest of memories.

“Well, I’d never seen that girl look at anyone else the way she looked at him. Not even at you.”

“Well, what’s your attachment to Miss Charleigh, then?” Gavin was a little peeved by this man who thought he knew her so well.

Wasn’t Gavin the one who’d dated her for four years? Wasn’t he the one she walked down the aisle toward? If Cordell Allen knew Charleigh as well as he thought he did, then why weren’t their positions reversed?

“I’m her friend, Gavin,” Cord replied confidently.
“I have no need to possess this woman. Just to be her friend and a shoulder to cry on if ever she needs one.
You
should know all too well that that wild heart of hers can’t be tamed.”

That was something about Charleigh that Gavin
did
know for a fact. She never let anyone tell her what to do or think. You could only provide her with what you believed, and she set out to make up her own mind. But even when she agreed with you, Charleigh still went about things her own way, on her own terms.

“What about my cousin then?”

“Your grandmamma and great-aunt would say that Charleigh tamed him,” Cord replied. He slowly dumped some of the raw potatoes into a deep-fryer on the opposite countertop, and then he turned to look at Gavin. “You still have your mind set on putting a bridle on that pregnant mare, don’t you?”

“What’s it to you?” Gavin stood on the other side of the island. His palms were flat against the smooth surface, fingers spread wide apart.

The two men stared pointedly at one another. One was daring the other to say or do something. Anything. Like two bulls fighting for the same heifer. One wanted her for himself, at all cost. The other wanted her to be able to make up her own mind, if and when the time ever came. Cordell wasn’t going to hold his breath that Charleigh in fact would ever choose him. He had nothing to offer the woman who had everything, except friendship. That’s all he asked for in return.

Finally the sound of the telephone ringing from the living room broke the staring match that the two men were in. Gavin struggled to clear his throat. Cord shook his head at the younger man, chuckling under his breath as he went to answer it.

“Hello,” Cordell said, answering the phone on the fifth ring.

“May I speak to Charleigh, please?” A woman’s voice asked from the other end of the line.

“Yes, ma’am. Who should I tell her is calling?” Cord asked as he moved back toward the kitchen.

After a moment of silence, the woman answered, “Tell her that it’s Jenna.”

“Okay. Just one second,” He told her, exchanging a look with Gavin as he passed through the room, and out the door into the backyard.

Charleigh was sitting on a wicker chair in the gazebo, where Brad was happily flipping burgers as he chatted her up. Judging by the tone of the other man’s voice, he knew Brad was trying his
best to impress her. Joking around. Trying to make her laugh. Cord could tell, though, that Charleigh was merely being nice to the guy.

“Charleigh, telephone call for you,” he said, stepping up into the gazebo. She looked up at Cordell, with a genuine smile on her face, thankful for the escape. “It’s Jamie’s sister.”

That announcement brightened Charleigh’s face even more as she took the phone from him.

“Jenn, how’s everything been going lately? Haven’t heard from you in a while. I was meaning to call you, but we‘ve both been really busy, I guess,” Charleigh began as she slowly took the steps from the pergola, one at a time, until she was headed back toward the door.

“Hello, Charleigh,” the woman on the other end said.

It was immediately apparent to Charleigh that she was not speaking to her friend but to the girl’s devious mother instead.
Oh, my Lord! Claudia?!

She took a deep breath and turned back to look at Cordell where he was still stood next to Brad at the gas grill. Even though she was several yards away, he could see that all the blood had drained from his friend’s face. He quickly came down the steps and headed toward her.

“Um… Hello, Claudia. How are you?”

“I’m
going to cut through all the chitchat and get straight to the reason for my call. I don’t like you anymore than you like me,” the older woman spat over the phone line.

“I’m glad that you share my sentiment,” Charleigh retorted. “Why do you even bother me if you can’t stand me?”

“Because you are carrying my grandchildren.”

“Grandchildren?” That word sounded funny coming from Claudia Matthews. Charleigh knew she was up to something. “Why would you attempt to have a relationship with them when you can’t even stand your own children?
They
were raised by nannies.”

“My reasons are plain and simple. I don’t want them brought up as uneducated rednecks, just as their mother was.”

“
Just as
…”
Ooh, you wicked witch!!!
“Claudia, didn’t you attend college in Oklahoma? OU, right? The same year as Greg and my own parents? Now, I have pictures of their graduation, and you’re not in any of them.”

Charleigh took a short pause to add effect, “Oh, I take that back. I
do
remember one of you with them, but you were the only one not wearing a cap and gown. Why is that?” She gasped,” Did you
not
graduate that year? Did you graduate at all?”

That added fuel to the fire, Charleigh assumed. Claudia said nothing in defense of herself, though, Charleigh could hear the woman breathing, which meant that she was still on the line.

“Now, I admit, Claudia, that I may be a redneck, but at least
I
have a college degree. At least I’m not living on my trust fund alone.”

Claudia laughed. “What do you have other than a sinking company?”

“It’s the same company
your
father almost sank. If it hadn’t been for my parents’ money, it would have. If I sink it, well, then that only means it’s finally meeting the fate it should’ve had all those years ago,” Charleigh said, laughing a little herself. It caused Claudia to stop, because she knew that Charleigh couldn’t be intimidated this time. “And I have compassion for other people, discounting you, and I’ll pass that along to my children. The only things that you could ever teach them are about the latest plastic surgeries and about hate, because you don’t even love yourself. That’s why I’ll die before you ever lay eyes on mine and Jamie’s children.”

“We shall see about that,” Claudia yelled and disconnected the call on her end.

“Yes, we shall see,” Charleigh mimicked sarcastically as she hit the power button on her own telephone. She turned around to see Cordell standing behind her. “Ooh, that woman!”

“I’m taking it as that was Jamie’s mama and not his sister.”

“You guess right, Cord,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’ve got to do something to keep her away from us. She has her mind set on taking the twins from me.”

***

A couple of hours later, Madie and Lenore sat on the love seat in Charleigh’s living room. Gavin, Brad, and Cord were seated side by side on the sofa, and Charleigh was leaned back in her leather recliner next to the picture window. Her Granddad sat close by on a straight back chair from the dining room. Terry, who recently became the head of RandallCorp’s legal department, knelt next to the coffee table in front of them.

“Missus Davidson-Matthews has no legal right to your children, Charleigh,” he told her, writing as he spoke, “Biologically, she is their grandmother, but that doesn’t entitle her to visitation. Oklahoma has no law that says otherwise.”

“That doesn’t mean that she won’t try something, though,” Charleigh replied, shaking her head. “She has the kind of mentality… It’s about revenge, settling a score with my mother, who is long dead. If she attempts to do something to me, or to take these babies once they are born, I can guarantee she won’t be taking any legal measures to do it.”

The four other people arrived at the home shortly after Charleigh called them, frantically asking for their help. She knew that they would be able to help her figure out how to protect the babies from that horrible woman.

Especially Terry, with his legal expertise. He had gladly handed off all of his other cases to a trusted colleague, for not only a higher-paying job, but for less stress, in his opinion. He had also agreed that he continue to handle Charleigh’s personal affairs, if and when the need ever arose. This, Terry thought, was one of those times.

“Well, I can petition the court for an emergency protection order against her. I can call Judge Gordon and explain the situation to her,” Terry told her, nodding. He made a note for himself.

“And then what will happen?” Charleigh asked nervously. She looked around the room at the others who were silent.

“There will be a hearing ten days later to give Missus Matthews the opportunity to rebut.”

“Great,” Charleigh thought out loud. She shook her head, looking at her attorney. “Maybe we don’t need to do that. She’ll just make it worse on me if she comes down here.”

“It’s not a subpoena, Charleigh. She doesn’t have to show up for the hearing if she doesn’t want to,” Terry said, holding her gaze. “In that case, a Permanent Protective Order will be issued.”

“She won’t be able to call you anymore. She can’t come within one-hundred yards of you. If she does, you can call Josh who can contact the authorities in New York, and have her arrested,” John said, patting his granddaughter on the knee.