Protecting Her(71)

“I think he knew it would upset us. I think that’s why he did it.” I shouldn’t have said that. Eleanor is very loyal to Holton and doesn’t like people saying anything bad about him. She already admitted what he did was wrong, which was her apology. I should’ve accepted it and moved on.

“Where did he take Garret?” she asks.

“Apparently they went to see some of Holton’s friends. I don’t know who, and I don’t know where he took him.”

She thinks for a moment, her brows still furrowed, her gaze on the floor.

“Eleanor, is something wrong?”

Her head jerks up and she fakes a smile. “No.” She stands up. “I’m sure Holton will not do such things in the future. I should be going.”

“You don’t have to leave. You just got here.”

“I have an appointment to go to.” She walks to the door. “Goodbye, Rachel. Tell Garret to enjoy his Halloween.”

“Okay. Bye.”

She leaves, and I’m left wondering what she knows that she’s not telling me. The way she reacted when I told her what Holton did makes me think she knew something that she didn’t want me to know. Maybe she knows who these friends are that Holton took Garret to see. Maybe she doesn’t like them.

Garret runs downs the stairs. “Mom, where’d Grandmother go?”

“She had to leave.”

“I built a tower with those blocks. You should see how high I made it!”

“That’s good, honey. I’m glad you like them.” I lead him over to the couch and we sit down. “Garret, where exactly did you go yesterday with your grandfather?”

“I already told you. We got ice cream.” Garret’s bouncing up and down on the couch. He can’t sit still. He’s too excited about Halloween.

“But before you got ice cream, where did you go?”

“To a big house. Like a hotel.” He picks up his toy car from the coffee table and starts driving it over the couch.

“So it was a hotel?”

“No, but it was big like a hotel. Even bigger than Grandfather’s house.” He moves to the floor, driving his car over the rug. “It had lots of rooms. And we went in this one room with a long table and we sat there and they asked me questions.”

“Who asked you questions?”

He shrugs. “Other grandfathers. I don’t know their names.”

“How do you know they were grandfathers?”

“Because they were old and they dressed like Grandfather and talked like him.” He continues to drive his car around the floor.

“Did you know any of these men?”

He shakes his head. “No. Grandfather said they’re his friends.”

“What did they ask you?”

“About school and stuff.”

“What stuff? What else did they ask you?”

“Who my friends are. Stuff like that.” He looks up at me. “Can I go outside now?”

“Sure.”

He jumps up and runs to the back door to go outside. I don’t understand this. Why would Holton’s friends want to talk to Garret? Holton could’ve just told them about Garret. They didn’t need to meet him. And if these men were all dressed like Holton, that means they were all in suits, which means they likely all have jobs. So why would they want to meet Garret in the middle of a workday?

When Pearce gets home, I tell him what Garret said about Holton’s friends.

“Do you know who these men are?” I ask him. “Did your father tell you?”

“No. But my father’s friends frequently meet socially during the day. They’re at the office well into the evening so they like a midday break. That’s not unusual.” He kisses me. “Now where’s my little football player?”

“In the back yard. He’s waiting for you.” I hug Pearce. “Thanks for coming home early. Garret’s really excited about you taking him trick-or-treating.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“I have to stay here and hand out candy.”

He takes a piece of chocolate from the giant bowl of candy I have sitting on the counter. “This is a very odd tradition. Handing out candy to children.”

I laugh. “It’s not odd. You’re the odd one for never going trick-or-treating.”

“Dad!” Garret comes running in, then stops suddenly, pointing at Pearce who’s unwrapping a chocolate bar. “Hey! Mom said no candy before dinner.”