Breath of Scandal(142)
Light shone beneath Graham's bedroom door. She knocked, then pushed it open. He was lying in bed, watching TV with what appeared to be little interest. "May I come in?"
"It's your house."
Ignoring that crack, she moved to the foot of his bed and sat down. "I get the hint. You're mad at me."
He battled over whether to continue sulking or to vent his anger. The latter won. "Wouldn't you be mad at me if I had embarrassed you half to death? Jeez, Mom, you treated me like a kid in front of Dillon and Mr. Patchett."
"What I did might have appeared unreasonable to you, Graham, but I was extremely upset."
"You had a total cow over nothing! I wasn't even that late getting there."
"That wasn't entirely it. I was upset because you were with Neal."
"Why? He was nice. And you know him, so what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that I know him all too well. He is not nice. "
"He seemed to be," he muttered belligerently.
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"I'm sure he did. He oozes charm, but he's rotten to the core, Graham. You'll have to take my word on this. Stay away from him. He can be dangerous." He made a scoffing sound. "I mean it. The next time he comes near you, I want to know about it immediately."
Swathed in teenage obstinacy, he studied her for a moment. "You've changed, Mom."
"Changed?" I 'Ever since we moved here, you're uptight all the time. -I've got an enormous job to do, Graham. In addition
to the TexTile plant, I'm acquiring property for the parent company, doing all the-"
"Are you trying to buy land from some people named Parker?"
Jade looked at her son with surprise. "How did you know that?"
"Mr. Patchett mentioned it today."
Jade had heard nothing from Otis Parker since their last conversation by telephone. She had vacillated between calling to pressure him and giving him time to consider her offer. Graham had confirmed her suspicions-the Patchetts were on to her.
Dragging her thoughts back to Graham's, she said, "You know how busy I am. I've got a lot of important matters on my mind. You're old enough to understand that."
"But you had lots of work to do when we were in New York, too. You didn't get all bent out of shape over it. What's happened?"
She reached up and combed back his hair with her fingers -If I've seemed high-strung lately, it's because I want to do well on this project. And because I want you to be happy here. You are, aren't you? You like the house?"
"Sure it's great, only "Only what?"
"I've got all that explaining to do to my new friends." "Explaining?"
"About why I haven't got a dad, and about Cathy not really being related to us. You know, all that shit I always have to explain." He picked at a loose cuticle. "I know
you've always told me we were aspecial family. Unique." He raised sad blue eyes to hers. "I don't want to be special, Mom. I'm tired of being unique. I wish we were normal, like everybody else."
"There's no such thing as normal, Graham." "Well, most people are more normal than we are."
As big as he was, she pulled him into her arms and pressed his troubled face against her throat. "Sometimes things happen in our lives that we have no control over. We have to make the best life possible with what we're given to work with.
"I wish with all my heart that you had enjoyed a 'normal' family life. It didn't work out that way. I'm sorry. I've done the best I could. I'm still doing what I believe is best," she added, thinking about Cathy and Dillon's advice that she tell Graham about the rape. She couldn't. Her son was having a difficult enough time adjusting to a new home and burgeoning maturity without afflicting him with her tragedy.
"I know you are, Mom. Forget I mentioned it." He pulled away and gave her a faint smile.
"I apologize for embarrassing you today in front of Dillon, and I promise not to do it again."
"Were you with him tonight?" "Yes. Why?"
"Just wondering."
"What?" she asked on a laugh. "You're grinning like a opossum. "
"I think Dillon likes you, that's all."
"Of course he likes me. We couldn't work so well together if he didn't like me."
"Come on, Mom. You know what I mean." "We're friends."
"Uh-huh." He smiled with an air of superiority. "Do you think I'll be as tall as he is when I finish growing?" He glanced toward the framed photograph on his bureau. "How tall was Grandpa SperTy?"
On his thirteenth birthday, Jade had officially given him his grandfather's Medal of Honor and the picture she had always treasured. From the time he was still smafl enough
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to sit in her lap, she had told Graham the story of her father's valor in the Korean conflict. She had never told him his grandfather's death was a suicide.