Three For The Road. Shannon Waverly
Читать онлайн книгу.
no matter how upset you are with her now, you still love her. I know you do.” Mrs. Pidgin placed the envelope on Mary Elizabeth’s knee. “Here. It isn’t much, but it belongs with you now.”
Giving in to curiosity, Mary Elizabeth opened the envelope and pulled out a yellowed photograph. “Oh.” The sound she made was barely audible.
“Ayeh, that’s him, your real father. A handsome fella, wasn’t he. You have his eyes.”
Mary Elizabeth gazed at the man in the photo with a mixture of fascination and denial. He was slim, good-looking, young. A carpenter’s belt, heavy with tools, hung around his hips. Behind him rose the Drummond house with its sun room under construction.
Swallowing, she slipped the photograph into her open purse on the floor. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Wait. I have something else.” Mrs. Pidgin grunted as she tipped to the right, pushing her hand into her left pocket this time.
Mary Elizabeth’s eyes popped when she saw what the woman pulled out. “Where did you get such a thing?”
“Oh, it isn’t a real gun.”
Mary Elizabeth looked at her skeptically.
“Believe it or not, this is only a toy, a water pistol. My Alfred bought it for our grandson, but Judy wouldn’t allow him to keep it.”
“I can see why. It looks so real.” Mary Elizabeth gazed at the lethal-looking toy. She’d heard such things existed. She’d even read about them being used in robberies, but she’d never actually seen one before. “And you want me to...”
“Yes, take it. Here.” The housekeeper placed the water pistol in Mary Elizabeth’s lap. “I wish I had a real weapon to give you, but—” she shrugged “—this might work if you’re ever in a bind.”
Mary Elizabeth stifled the urge to laugh. She thought Mrs. Pidgin’s fear of traveling had put her over the edge, but she said a polite thank-you, anyway, and slipped the gun into her purse.
Mrs. Pidgin breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Now, another thing...” She dug into the pocket again. Mary Elizabeth was beginning to feel decidedly like a knight in a medieval tale, being given magical gifts before setting off on a quest.
“Here’s my cousin’s phone number in Orlando and my sister’s in Gainesville. If you ever need help, anything whatsoever...”
Mary Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll call. I promise I will.” She took the slip of paper and filed that in her bag, as well.
“You have enough money?”
“Yes, and my credit cards, too. Don’t worry.”
Mrs. Pidgin took Mary Elizabeth’s smooth, slender hands in her plump, work-reddened ones. “I have only one more thing to ask.” Her voice lowered. “If things don’t work out for you, you’ve got to promise me you won’t let pride prevent you from coming back.”
Mary Elizabeth turned her head and gazed out the windshield toward the perfectly sheared shrubs gracing the perfectly manicured lawn that surrounded Charles Drum-mond’s perfectly perfect house.
“I can’t promise that,” she replied hollowly.
“I know it hurts now but—”
“Hurts? Learning you aren’t who you always thought you were doesn’t ‘hurt.’ It’s more like having your entire world turned inside out.” Or maybe, she thought, like discovering that gravity doesn’t work anymore. Your footing is gone and you’re spinning away from everything that’s familiar, out of control, with nothing to hold you safe.
Turning, she saw that the housekeeper’s red-rimmed eyes had filled again.
“But such a big step.”
Mary Elizabeth pulled her hands away and placed them tentatively on the steering wheel. There was nothing tentative about her voice, however, when she said, “I have no choice. I have to go. There’s nothing left for me here. Charlie’s in London doing graduate work, and Susan has her own family to keep her busy. We were never close, anyway. All I have, really, is you.”
Mrs. Pidgin wiped her eyes and rasped a string of curses, all directed at Charles Drummond.
“Don’t be angry with him, Mrs. P. It couldn’t have been easy for him all these years, either. Every time he looked at me, he must’ve been reminded of my mother’s infidelity. Actually, he did more for me than anyone in his position was obligated to do.”
“Ayeh,” Mrs. Pidgin affirmed bitterly. “All those insulting lectures, all that criticism... and the restrictions he imposed! It’s a wonder you didn’t choke on all he did for you.”
Mary Elizabeth shook her head. “He was instilling values, Mrs. P. Punctuality, neatness, frugality. I have no complaints. Just the opposite. I led a privileged life here. Just look at the house where I was raised. I had the best clothes, went to the best schools....”
“Only because he was afraid. If he didn’t give you those things, same as he gave your sister and brother, people might wonder why he’d singled you out. And if there’s one thing your...Charles can’t abide, it’s having folks think anything’s wrong here. He’s the proudest fool I ever met.”
“You’re right. And that’s the reason—one of the reasons—I’m leaving. I don’t want him feeling shamed or unable to hold up his head in town just because I refuse to get married.”
“Just? There’s no ‘just’ about it.”
“Right again. Getting married is hardly a trivial step.” Mary Elizabeth smiled, trying to shift the conversation onto a more cheerful path. “Besides, it’s past time for me to leave the nest. I’m practically ancient, Mrs. P.” But the brightness slid from her voice when she said, “I need my independence. I want to finally be free.”
The two women fell quiet. Outside the motor home, birds chirped noisily in the maples that bordered the property. The foliage looked played out, even a little tired. The calendar might say it was still summer, but the sky was too blue, too dry and clear. Change was in the air.
Finally, the older woman said softly, “You’ll call me when you reach your friend’s, won’t you?”
“Of course. And you won’t tell Charles where I’ve really gone until I tell you it’s safe?”
“Ayeh.” Mrs. Pidgin gazed at her a long, worried moment. “Well, I can’t think of anything else, so maybe we should get on with your packing. Is there much more?”
“Only the rocker from my room and the cat.” Mary Elizabeth rose and the woman followed. But at the door of the RV, Mary Elizabeth turned. “Before I go, I’d like you to know...” She fidgeted self-consciously with the buttons on her jacket. “I mean, what I want to say is...” She swallowed, and then simply wrapped Mrs. Pidgin in a fierce hug. The woman patted her consolingly while tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks.
“I know. I love you, too, Mary Elizabeth.”
* * *
EVEN THE PHONE BOOTH brought a smile to Pete Mitchell’s eyes. You just didn’t see those things anymore, only the open half-shells that looked like something out of Star Trek and didn’t exactly encourage a guy to linger or say anything personal.
The glass bi-fold door closed with a familiar squeak-thump, recalling hot summer nights, cheap after-shave, and dialing Sue Ellen Carlisle’s number while friends serenaded him with cat calls and whistles from the drugstore corner.
Pete lifted the receiver, noted the rotary dial and got the urge to call everybody he knew. He called his office.
Outside the booth, morning sunshine glittered over the dewy, deep green lawn in front of the Rest E-Z Motel. Old Adirondack chairs, ignorant of the fact that they had become a hot new item in backyard furniture, dozed under a stand of maples and