Susannah's Garden (Blossom Street #3)(75)

Again her mother had confused her with her aunt. Perhaps she resembled Jean more than she’d realized. She patted her mother’s hand. It would be impossible to get any information from her; it’d been a mistake to try.

“Who were Doug’s friends?” Susannah asked, making one last attempt. She crouched at her mother’s side.

“There was Ronny Pedderson.”

Ron and Doug had been in Boy Scouts together, Susannah remembered.

“Ronny lives in Portland now. His mother told me all about him and his family. Doug never had a chance to marry.” Fresh tears brimmed in her tired eyes.

“Yes, Mom, I know.”

“He and Scotty were good friends, too.”

“Don’t think about it anymore,” Susannah murmured. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Why did you ask about Doug?” Vivian was sobbing openly now. “George never let me talk about him, you know. Every time I brought up his name, he’d get angry with me.” She pulled a tissue from the pocket of her dress. “I couldn’t pretend we never had our son, but that was what George wanted. It was like everything gentle and good inside him died with Doug.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom.”

“You were my only joy.” Vivian lifted her hands to Susannah’s face. “I know you didn’t get along with your father. I tried to make him see that his attitude hurt you both, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Mom, please, let’s not talk about it.” Vivian was suddenly recalling things clearly, and that seemed even worse than her forgetfulness, because her memories brought pain.

Her mother nodded, sniffing a little.

Susannah left ten minutes later, filled with regrets. Every decision she’d made this summer had created disastrous consequences. Restlessness had led her on this quest to find Jake; her need had become a foolish obsession. Now she was paying the price, and it was far too high. For everyone.

Sitting in her car, Susannah got out her cell phone and after the briefest of hesitations, called Joe at his office. He was with a patient, but Miranda, the receptionist, said he’d contact her in about ten minutes.

Susannah parked in the shade at Colville City Park. The pool was at one end, with lawn and trees at the other. She sat and waited for Joe’s call, watching mothers and young children at play, teenagers on bicycles, elderly couples strolling and holding hands.

Although she’d been expecting the phone to ring, she was startled when it did.

Call display told her it was Joe’s office. “Hi,” she said, knowing this would be a difficult conversation.

“I got your message.” From his tone she could tell he was still upset with her.

Her nervousness made her stomach jumpy. “I saw the private investigator this morning.”

He didn’t ask for the results. He’d said he didn’t want to know.

“She didn’t track down Jake and, frankly, I don’t care anymore. I’ve been such an idiot. Joe, I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked. “I’ve made a terrible mess of everything, and…and now Chrissie—” She couldn’t finish.

“What’s wrong with Chrissie?” he asked.

Susannah swallowed her tears and blurted out the ultimatum their daughter had given her. “Chrissie insists she’s moving to Colville to take care of her grandmother and if we don’t let her live in the house, then she’ll move in with Troy Nance.”

“What?” Joe exploded.

“I’m worried sick about this.”

“You told her absolutely not, didn’t you?” The anger in Joe’s voice was so unlike him, so out of character for her normally even-tempered husband. “What the hell is going on over there?”

“I told her I’d talk to you about it. She’s blackmailing us, Joe, and any argument I give her at this point will drive her straight into Troy’s arms.”

Joe was silent for a moment; he seemed to be mentally reviewing their options.

“Joe, I don’t know what to do.” She hadn’t intended to tell him this way, but once she’d heard her husband’s voice, she couldn’t stop herself.

“How should we handle the situation?” she asked after a minute or so of silence.

“I know Chrissie’s close to your mother,” he murmured. “Maybe she really feels she can help.”

“I’m sure that’s part of it, but I don’t want her around Troy. It’s not a good relationship.” She bit her lower lip hard to keep from telling him that Troy was almost certainly Jake’s son. No need to add fuel to that fire. “He doesn’t have any visible means of support.”

“Which means he’s probably doing something illegal.”

Susannah didn’t disagree. “You could talk to Chrissie, reason with her. She might listen to you,” she told Joe.

“She stopped listening to me a long time ago,” Joe said tersely.

“We can’t let her quit college. Not only that, Troy Nance is completely wrong for her. This relationship could ruin her life.” It didn’t take much imagination to recognize trouble brewing. If Troy was a drug dealer, which everyone in town seemed to suspect, he could be arrested at any time, and Chrissie would be guilty by association.

“Well, what do you suggest?” Joe asked.