Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
Mawmaw’s cottage
His mother’s cottage in small-town Mooreville, Mississippi, proved to be the perfect place for Dudley to combine a compassionate leave with a long overdue vacation. The two of them sat on the front porch together watching a sunset.
The rope swing under a large oak tree in her front yard moved in the breeze, a stark reminder that his children might never play on Mawmaw’s swing again. It was all left up to Gloria Jean, who had primary custody since the divorce.
Still, the peace and quiet of the neighborhood was enough to scab over the worst of the wounds inflicted by his ex-wife.
But nothing would heal the gap left by Charlie until he was found. The Eliminator had kept his secret throughout the trial and still wasn’t talking.
Mawmaw was making up for his silence with nonstop chatter about Dudley’s future.
“This house will be yours when I’m gone, hon,” she told him.
“You don’t have to do that, Mawmaw. You might want to sell it and move into a nice place where they serve two meals a day and play bingo in the parlor.”
“Pshaw. It’s been in this family for generations and I aim to keep it that way. If I go before you retire, you’ll want to rent it out until you’re ready to move in.”
She spoke of death as if she might be planning to go on a vacation with her best clothes packed in her suitcase. Still, the house was important to her.
“I promise you, I’ll do that.”
“That’s good, hon. I’m going to pack up some dishes and small appliances for you to take back to your apartment in that city. You won’t have to buy a thing for it except maybe a microwave oven. And I’m going to give you the bedroom set in your old room.”
“You don’t have to do that, Mawmaw. It’ll leave the room empty.”
“Pshaw! I don’t care about stuff. I just care about my boys.”
She still spoke of Charlie as if he might suddenly appear around the corner of her cottage and say, “Man, that was some fishing trip! Did you miss me?” Dudley hoped the memorial service Laura was planning would give all of them some closure. Especially Mawmaw. Charlie was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.