Hand-Me-Down Love (25 page)

“
Why? What’s
in there?”

“
She talks
about when she met you and stuff like that. Personal stuff that
parents really don’t want to read about their children.”

“
Oh,” he
said. “Yeah, I guess you’d better copy that page.”

When they had
finished eating, Sean said, “I hate to say this, but I feel I need
to call Crystal back.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yeah. I
don’t know why she’s calling. I’ll do it with you right here.
You can hear every word I say to her.”

“
Okay.”

Sean hit the
Call button on the missed call.

“
Crystal, I
saw you called me,” he said.

“
Hey, Sean,”
she said. “I was calling to let you know that Pete died Friday
night. I knew you’d want to know.”

“
You’re
kidding.”

“
I wish I
were kidding.”

“
What
happened?” Sean couldn’t believe that old guy was gone.

“
He had a
heart attack. He called the ambulance but he was dead by the time
they got there. Poor old Pete.”

Sean didn’t
know what to say. He was speechless, thinking about Pete.

“
How old was
he?”

“
He was
eighty-eight.”

“
I had no
idea he was that old,” Sean said. “No idea.”

“
He had a
good life and I’m sure he had no regrets.”

“
I’m sure
about that,” Sean said, remembering the conversations he’d had
with Pete, the tales he had told about his youth, his wife, his old
age.

“
I know you
just got back there and everything so no one would expect you to come
back up. We’re having a little service for him at the bar tomorrow
night.”

“
Please let
everyone know how sorry I am and wish I could be there,”

“
Okay. Are
you doing all right?”

“
I’m doing
good.”

“
Did things
work out for you like you wanted them to.”

“
Yes, they
have.”

“
I’m happy
for you, Sean. I really am. I miss you. Good luck.” She hung up
before Sean could reply.

“
What
happened?” Marla asked. “Did somebody die?”

“
Yeah, that
old guy I used to talk to at the bar. He was eighty-eight. I never
knew he was that old.”

“
I’m
sorry,” Marla said.

“
He had a lot
of stories. I liked listening to him.”

He stood up.
“Let’s go to bed.” Marla followed him willingly, with Cody and
Lucy at their heels.

        

“
Michael’s
here to see you,” Jada said. Marla and Sean were in the courtyard
working on an old kitchen cabinet that needed a total overhaul. Sean
was removing the hinges and Marla was putting them in a plastic bag
to use later if they were any good. They looked at each other. It had
been several days since the unfortunate incident with Michael.

“
Go ahead,”
Sean said. “I’ll be right here.”

She walked over
to Michael, who was standing by the front door.

“
Hey,
Michael.”

“
Hey. Could
we go somewhere and talk.”

“
I don’t
know.”

“
Is he here?”

“
Yes.”

“
Can we step
outside then?”

She nodded and
followed him out the door. The August day was hot and humid.

“
I don’t
understand what you’re doing,” Michael said. “I thought we had
something going.”

“
I thought
so, too. I never would have gotten involved with you if I’d thought
differently. I thought I was over Sean.”

“
Sean. That’s
his name. I couldn’t remember,” he said. “It seems weird to me.
I know I said that the other day.”

“
Yes. I’m
sure you won’t be the first.”

“
I was pretty
upset. The bottom dropped out on me.”

“
I know. I
feel terrible about that because I know what a good person you are. I
care about you a lot.”

“
But not in
that way, huh.”

“
No. I was
going to tell you as soon as you got back. Sean wasn’t even back
here then, but I was going to tell you because I knew I couldn’t
love Sean and be with you. Even if Sean wasn’t here.”

“
I’ve lost
you twice.”

“
I’m sorry,
Michael.”

Sean walked out
of the front door then. “You okay?” he asked.

“
I’m fine,”
she said.

Michael looked
over at Sean. “You’re a lucky man,” he said, and then he walked
away, around the corner.

“
We need to
talk to my parents,” she said. “Are you ready?”

“
I’m
ready.”

“
I’ll call
them tonight.”

“
It’s going
to be all right,” Sean said as he hugged her.

“
Actually, I
think I’ll call my mother right now,” Marla said. “We need to
get this over with.”

She went back
inside and picked up her phone she’d left on the desk.

“
Mom?”

“
Hey, honey,”
Cynthia said. “I haven’t heard from you lately. Is everything all
right?”

“
Everything’s
fine, Mom. I was calling to let you know Sean is back.”

“
He is?
That’s great!”

“
He’s
staying over here with me, like before.”

“
Okay,”
Cynthia said.

“
We’d like
to come over and talk to you and Dad about something. Can we come by
tonight?”

“
Yes, of
course. What is this about? Is it bad news?”

“
No, not bad
news. I’ll tell you tonight. We’ll be over at seven.”

She walked out
to the courtyard. “We’re going over there tonight,” she said.
“Are you sure you’re ready?”

“
I’m ready,
Marla. I can handle it.”

“
I’m
nervous,” she said.

“
I know.”

After the shop
closed, Sean and Marla took showers to wash off the sweat from a day
spent in the heat. They drank a glass of wine before going out the
door.

The white
Victorian had been in Marla’s mother’s family since the early
eighteen hundreds, when a great great great and maybe another great
grandfather had built it. A huge oak tree more than two hundred years
old shaded the house. Azalea bushes framed the foundation, though
they were not in bloom in the heat of late summer.

Sean and Marla
got out of his truck and walked to the carport door.

“
This is it,”
Marla said.

“
Let’s go.”

Marla could see
her mother through the window, standing at the sink. Cynthia saw them
and opened the door. She hugged Marla and then turned to Sean. She
held out her arms and he hugged her. “We’ve missed you,”
Cynthia said.

“
I’ve
missed you, too,” he said.

“
Your dad’s
in the living room. I’ll get us all a glass of wine and be right
there.”

Bob stood up
when Sean and Marla walked in. He gave Marla a hug, then shook Sean’s
hand. “Good to see you, son.”

“
Good to see
you too, sir,” Sean said.

Cynthia came
into the room carrying a large tray of filled wine glasses and a
plate of cheese and crackers.

“
Let me help
you with that,” Sean said, standing and taking the tray from
Cynthia.

Finally, they
were all settled with a glass of wine.”

“
What did you
want to talk about?” Cynthia asked.

Marla looked
over at Sean, who looked back with encouragement.

“
There’s no
way to say this but straight out,” Marla said, looking at Cynthia,
then Bob.

“
Sean and I
are together.”

“
What do you
mean?” Cynthia asked, carefully placing her glass of wine on the
coffee table.

“
I mean we’re
together. We’re in love with each other.”

“
When did
this happen?” Bob asked from his chair, which seemed very far away
from them.

“
Right after
Christmas,” Sean said. He wasn’t going to make Marla handle
everything all by herself.

Bob and Cynthia
didn’t speak at first, and it was an uncomfortable silence.

“
What do you
think you’re doing, Sean?” Bob asked. “You’re telling me that
you didn’t even grieve Meredith for a year before you got with
someone else? Someone who is very likely a substitute for Merrie?”

“
That someone
else is your daughter, sir. Your other daughter.”

“
I’m well
aware of that,” Bob said. “But I can’t have you use Marla like
this. It’s not fair to her or anyone else in this family.”

“
I’m not
using Marla,” Sean said firmly. “I love Marla.”

“
Dad, he’s
not using me. We fell in love with each other.”

“
If you’re
so in love then why did you leave?” he said to Sean. “You were
gone for a long time.”

“
Yes, I was
gone for a while. I left to make sure that my feelings for Marla were
genuine. We both felt that we should be very certain about our
feelings.”

“
Sounds like
you ran away to me,” Bob said. “Like you ran away from everything
else after Merrie died. Making Marla do all your dirty work. Maybe
you don’t really know what love is. Maybe you’ve got it confused
with gratitude. Or helplessness.”

Sean couldn’t
believe how badly this was going. He had expected resistance, but not
this. Sean realized that Bob had been angry for a while at the way he
had handled his business after Merrie died.

“
I think we
should go now,” Marla said looking over at Sean.

“
No, not
yet,” he said. He turned back to Bob.

“
Losing
Meredith was the worst thing that ever happened in my life. In all of
our lives. I’ll always love her. If she hadn’t died, I’d still
be with her right now and forever. But she did die, and I was a
basket case. I don’t think I would have survived if it hadn’t
been for Marla. She saved my life.”

Bob started to
speak but Sean cut him off. “With all due respect, sir, why can’t
you understand why I would love Marla? She and Meredith came from the
same family, the same parents. You and Cynthia. Why wouldn’t I love
Marla? I’m not going to find anyone better than her. I’m not even
going to find anyone equal to her.”

Cynthia walked
over to the couch and sat beside Sean. She placed her hand on his
arm. Bob glared at Cynthia, then at Sean.

“
Look, I know
this is hard to understand. I know that a lot of people will think
our being together is wrong. They’ll probably think we started
something a long time ago. But I can’t help what they think.”

He turned to
Cynthia and hugged her. “Thank you,” he said.

“
I love you,”
she said back.

Sean stood and Marla
stood with him. “Now we can go,” he said.

“
Before we go, I
want to give y’all something that Meredith wrote before she died,”
Marla said. “I just found it recently.” She pulled the copy of
the diary entry out of her purse. It was folded in half. She handed
it to her mother, then gave her a hug.

“
Goodbye, Dad. I
love you.” Bob still sat in his chair, staring at the wall. He
didn’t look at them.

When they got back
in Sean’s truck, Marla broke down into tears.

“
Come here,”
Sean said, gathering her in his arms.