Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

ROSE

B y Monday night, Mikey was going stir crazy from staying home all day. His fever had broken the night before, but I’d kept him home so he’d be fever-free for twenty-four hours before going back to school.

He and Ashley had been out of sorts when Mike’s parents had brought them home Sunday afternoon, but it wasn’t uncommon for them to be quiet after a visit with their grandparents. Then, when Mikey wasn’t excited about decorating the tree, I figured out pretty quickly that he was running a fever. Ashley confirmed that Mikey had been sick with a cold since Saturday night and Mike’s parents had still made him go to church. I’d been furious and had wanted to call them, especially since they hadn’t told us Mikey had been sick, but instead, I handed Hope to Joe and snuggled on the sofa with Mikey while we watched Elf , his favorite Christmas movie. After we finished the movie, Muffy snuggled with him as Ashley, Joe, and I decorated the tree. Hope sat in her bouncy seat, mesmerized by the lights.

On Monday morning, Joe took Ashley to school before he headed to Baton Rouge to get more lights, and I kept Hope home with me and Mikey. I didn’t get much work done at home, but I was more worried that I couldn’t be at the office to see Neely Kate. When I’d called her in the morning to tell her Mikey was sick and we were staying home, she seemed okay, but when I asked if she’d talked to Jed, she’d told me she didn’t feel like talking about it and quickly ended the call.

I still hadn’t told Joe, even though I was dying to get his opinion, but it wasn’t my information to share. I’d promised to keep it to myself.

Everything was back to normal on Tuesday. I took Hope to daycare after I dropped the kids off at school, then headed downtown to the office.

Neely Kate was already at her desk when I arrived. She looked up as I walked in and glanced down at my feet. “No Muffy today?”

I headed for my desk. “I figured she got enough peopling the last three days. Mikey pretty much squeezed the stuffing out of her Sunday night and yesterday while he was feeling bad, so I let her have some alone time to recover.”

She chuckled. “She loved every minute of it, and you know it.”

“True, but she didn’t run to the door today to leave with us, so I let her make her own decision.”

I sat down and booted up my computer, telling Neely Kate what little I had done the day before.

“Have you heard anything more from Joe’s mom?” she asked.

“Not a thing.”

“Do you think that means she accepted Joe’s answer?”

Joe and I had discussed it the night before, and he’d confessed that while he was relieved she’d given up so easily, part of him was disappointed too.

“I know it’s counterintuitive,” he’d said as we lay in bed, me nestled into his side. “I don’t want anything to do with her, but some small part of me wanted her to at least fight a little bit for me.”

“That makes perfect sense,” I’d said. “We all want our mothers to fight for us.” We’d been talking about Joe and his mother, but I couldn’t help wondering if Violet would be upset with me for not fighting harder to protect her kids. I didn’t know what else to do, though. Mike’s parents refused to listen to Joe or me, and the attorney said the judge likely wouldn’t change the visitation schedule until Mike had either been exonerated or convicted.

But Neely Kate was watching me now with a worried look. “Are you okay?”

“Honestly?” I asked, sitting back in my seat. “No. I’m worried about Joe. I’m worried about the kids, and I’m worried about you and Jed.”

She waved her hand. “Slow down and forget about me and Jed right now. Why are you worried about the kids? Is Mikey still not feeling well?”

I told her about the condition they’d come home in and how Mike’s parents had taken the kids to church despite the fact Mikey was ill. “I don’t know what to do about it,” I confessed, close to tears.

She studied me for a long moment, before she said, “You’ve got to talk to Mike.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

Nodding, she continued, “You have to go talk to him and convince him to think of the kids. Convince him that this shared custody isn’t working out and that this isn’t what Violet wanted. Tell him that his parents can see them once in a while, but not when they put their own needs over the kids, like they did this weekend. Because you know darn good and well, they only took him to church because, one, it’s their main source of socializing, and two, they wanted to prove they had their grandkids. It’s a one-upmanship for them, not because they actually want the kids.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed with that, but part of what she said felt true. They hated that I had partial custody, as though that meant they were deemed unfit, so they paraded the kids around whenever they had them, taking them to church and out for Sunday lunch.

“And if that doesn’t convince him,” she continued, “tell Mike to ask his kids what they want.”

I grimaced. “I don’t want to put them in that position. I don’t want to make them choose.”

“But what if they want to choose?”

I’d never considered their choice to be an option, mostly because our family attorney said it wasn’t. She’d said they were too young to decide what they wanted, but were they? If they were miserable at their grandparents’, shouldn’t they have a say in whether they went there or not?

Neely Kate was right. While the courts didn’t care what the kids wanted, surely Mike did.

“You’re right,” I said.

A grin of triumph spread across her face as she cupped her hand around her ear. “What was that?”

I groaned good-naturedly. “You’re right, and I have no trouble admitting that you’re right, so what’s with the gloating?”

“I just like to hear it, is all,” she said, giving me a smug grin.

“We got me sorted out, so what’s going on with you and Jed? You refused to discuss it yesterday when I called. Does that mean you still haven’t told him?”

She turned back to her computer. “I have something else in the works.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”

A tight smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “I’ll tell you after it’s done.”

“Why do I not like the sound of that?”

Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at the screen, sitting upright in her seat before she answered. “Yes?”

That was weird. She didn’t usually answer her phone like that. She obviously knew who had called but wasn’t excited to talk to them. That or their call made her anxious, which led me to believe it was about Jed.

She was silent as she listened for a few moments, then said, “Okay. Thanks.” Then she hung up.

I watched as she placed the phone on her desk, then pretended to go back to work.

“Who was that?”

She forced a laugh. “I thought I was the nosy one.”

“Was it about Jed?”

She glanced over at me and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, Rose.”

I considered pressing her, but I didn’t want to force it out of her. I wanted her to tell me because she wanted to. “Okay, but if you change your mind, I’m here and ready to listen.”

Releasing a groan, she got to her feet. “I’m gonna get some coffee at the coffee shop. You want me to get you something?”

“Sure.”

I gave her a look that made her face soften.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “It’s not personal. I just need to keep this to myself right now.”

“Okay,” I said. “I trust you.”

Something flickered through her eyes, but it passed too quickly to interpret. “Text me your order,” she said, rushing for the door, leaving me to wonder what I’d done to send her running. Why would telling her I trusted her upset her? My thoughts went to dark places, but I quickly shut them down. There was no way Jed or Neely Kate would betray me or Joe. There was no denying we’d all been part of the mess, some of us more than others, but so far, our names had been kept out of it. She’d sooner go to prison herself than implicate any of us. So, what did she feel guilty about?

I grabbed my phone and texted her to get my usual drink plus a blueberry muffin. I’d just pushed send when the bells on the door rang. Had Neely Kate changed her mind about telling me what was going on? “I was just sending you?—”

My voice cut off when I saw Betsy Simmons walk into the office.

She gave me a tight smile. “Hello, Rose. I wondered if maybe we could maybe grab some coffee and have a chat.”

My chest tightened as I pushed my chair a few inches away from my desk. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She took several steps closer to me. “I realize Joe isn’t interested in seeing me, and I’m trying to respect his wishes, but Rose…” She stopped in front of my desk. “I have a grandchild I saw for a mere few seconds when I dropped by your house on Saturday. I’d like to get to know her. She’s family.”

I stood behind my desk. “Because she’s blood?”

“Of course,” she said as though it was a foolish question.

I nearly snorted, but thankfully pulled it back before it escaped. Little did Betsy Simmons know that her grandchild wasn’t really blood. But there was no way I was going to tell her that.

“You need to speak to Joe about that, not me.”

“Rose,” she said, her voice softening. “Can we just speak, mother to mother?” When I didn’t say anything, she took it as an invitation to continue. “I confess that I’ve made mistakes. Quite a few of them, but what Joe doesn’t seem to remember is that his father had a hold over all of us. Me included. There were many things I didn’t agree with, but I had no choice in the matter. J.R.’s will ruled all.”

I had no doubt about that, but I also knew she hadn’t been kind to Joe after his father died. Maeve had gone to see him in El Dorado twice and both times, she’d seen Betsy at her finest, meaning her worst.

“Again,” I said, “you’ll need to talk to Joe about that.”

“Rose,” she pleaded with tears in her eyes. “I love my son, and I’d love to get to know you and your daughter too—Hope, is it?”

We hadn’t told her Hope’s name, but it wouldn’t have been hard to find out. Which is why it seemed like she hadn’t put much initial effort into investigating her grandchild if she thought she had a grandson.

“Betsy,” I said, “I refuse to go behind Joe’s back.”

“How would you feel if Hope turned her back on you when she’s grown? Wouldn’t you do anything you could to reconcile, even going to her husband asking for help?”

“Or her wife,” I said. “She’s too young to know who she’ll end up with.”

Betsy cringed at that, confirming what I’d suspected. She was still as judgmental as she’d been before. She was merely better at hiding it now. There was no denying that other than her parents, she was alone. But there was also no denying she’d gotten herself there.

“Before Kate’s death, there might have been a chance of Joe relenting, but your absence from Kate’s memorial service was too much for him. He swore he was done.”

She looked away, a tear falling down her cheek. Was it real or part of her performance to convince me to help her?

“I was too distraught,” she said. “My doctor gave me too much Xanax, and I slept for two days straight. When I came to, I realized I’d missed it.”

I had to wonder if she was being truthful, but it still wasn’t enough of an explanation. Besides, I wasn’t the one who needed to hear it.

“Betsy, I’m going to need you to leave,” I said, motioning to the door. It went against everything in me to be so rude, but to entertain her any longer felt like a betrayal to Joe.

She started to say something when the bells on the front door jangled again. We both turned our attention to the entrance, to see Neely Kate walking in, carrying two cups in a drink carrier and small pastry bag. My heart plummeted as a stunned Neely Kate froze in the doorway.

Betsy’s back stiffened as she gave Neely Kate her full attention, not that I was surprised she recognized the visual proof of her husband’s infidelity, and with an underaged girl, no less.

It took Neely Kate a few seconds before coming to her senses. “I see we have a visitor,” she said, trying to sound cheerful as she walked over to her desk, but I knew she was on guard, not that I blamed her.

Betsy looked as taken aback at the sight of my best friend, and it suddenly occurred to me that had Betsy been watching the office, waiting for Neely Kate to leave before making her attempt to ask me to intervene with Joe.

“Betsy was just leaving,” I said stiffly, hoping she got the message.

But Betsy continued to stare at Neely Kate before she took a step forward. “You’re Neely Kate, aren’t you?”

Neely Kate tensed. “Yes.”

“I’m Betsy Simmons, Joe’s mother.” She took a breath, contrition covering her face. “I only recently learned about your existence, and I’d like to offer you my sincerest apology.”

Neely Kate gasped. “Excuse me?”

“I bear no ill will toward you, Neely Kate,” she said. “You’re an innocent caught in all of this. I hear that you and Joe have a relationship now.”

I was shocked to see Neely Kate momentarily speechless, but then again, she’d been preparing to be attacked, not apologized to. I had been prepared for it too. Joe had said his mother hadn’t been pleased to learn of her existence.

“You hurt Joe,” Neely Kate finally said. “You broke his heart.”

“I know,” Betsy said, clasping her hands in front of her. “That’s why I’m here. To make amends.”

“He doesn’t want to have anything to do with you.”

Betsy cast a look over her shoulder at me, then turned back to my best friend. “I know, and I deserve every bit of recrimination that he has for me. But I’d still like to make up for my past actions and have a relationship with him.”

Neely Kate’s face softened. “I don’t think he’s open to that.”

“I know,” Betsy said, her voice breaking. “Do you think you could talk to him? Surely you of all people know what it’s like to be parentless. I don’t wish that for Joe. We need each other.”

That wasn’t the right tactic to take with Neely Kate. Her father would have likely had her killed had he known of her existence when she was a kid, and her mother had abandoned her when she was twelve. She didn’t want to have anything to do with either one of them. So color me astonished when Neely Kate said, “I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll talk to him.”

I barely held back my gasp of surprise.

Betsy rushed forward and grabbed Neely Kate’s hand. “Thank you so much.”

“Like I said, I can’t promise anything,” Neely Kate hedged.

“But trying is something,” Betsy said, then she gave me another glance. Her face was neutral, but I was pretty sure I saw a flash of anger in her eyes, which I was positive was a jab at me for not agreeing to try to convince Joe to talk to her.

Betsy shook Neely Kate’s hand a few times, then dropped it and reached into her purse. She pulled out a business card and shoved it at Neely Kate. “This is where you or Joe can reach me.”

Neely Kate took the card and glanced down at it then back up at Betsy.

Betsy tilted her head, studying Neely Kate for a moment before she said softly, “I can see a bit of Joe in you.” Then she gave her another smile and walked out the door.

Neely Kate and I watched her leave, then I turned to her. “Are you really gonna try to convince Joe to talk to her?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe?” Her eyes pleaded with me. “What if she really has changed? Maybe Joe should give her another chance.”

“I don’t like it,” I said, walking over to her desk and reaching for the coffee marked with my name. “I don’t trust her.”

“So, you don’t want Joe to talk to her?”

“I want Joe to make the decision he feels comfortable with, whether it’s talk to her or not. I don’t want him to feel pressured to talk to her. Besides, she took an entirely different stance on Saturday. She barely claimed any responsibility for any of what happened in his childhood or how she treated him and Kate. I don’t believe she’s seen the light. She’s just changed tactics.”

Neely Kate pursed her lips, staring out the windows that overlooked the square. Betsy was already out of sight. “All I know is, if my mother showed up and put this much effort into seeing me, I’d see her in a heartbeat.”

While I understood why she felt that way—her mother had literally abandoned her and deeply damaged Neely Kate’s psyche—it bothered me that I suspected Neely Kate wouldn’t meet with her out of curiosity’s sake, but because she still needed her mother to love her. Something I was pretty sure Jenny Lynn Rivers was incapable of.

Part of me was worried that deep down, Joe felt the same way.

What a mess.