The Word Game (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

IDA

“
Thanks for helping with the boys this morning, Mom.” Tricia stood at the door, coffees in hand.

“That’s what I’m here for.” Ida grabbed her coffee from her daughter’s hand. “It’s starting to get nippy out there. The boys need new hats and gloves.”

“We have lots. I just need to dig the totes out of the basement, something I should have done weeks ago, I guess.” Tricia unwrapped her scarf and set it and her coat aside before she followed her mom.

Ida knew she was blessed to live so close to her grandchildren, and she never wanted to take that for granted. She only wished Alyson would let her help as often as Tricia did.

“How was the meeting today?”

“Depends on who you ask. Katy was . . . different. She surprised me with how she acted toward Rachel.”

“My Katy?”

“Yes,
your
Katy.” Tricia rolled her eyes. “She’s ten going on thirteen and has the hormones to prove it. I don’t remember being like that at her age.”

Ida chuckled. “Oh, honey, not only were you like that . . . you were worse. There was a reason why your father took your door off its frame, don’t you remember?”

Tricia shuddered. “Then don’t be surprised when I start shipping her over here every so often.”

“Oh no you don’t.” She loved her children and grandchildren, but she would not be
that
kind of grandmother. “I didn’t do that with you, and you won’t do that with her. That’s what being a mom is all about.”

Tricia sat down at the table and sighed. She looked miserable, and it broke Ida’s heart.

“It was hard, Mom. Harder than I expected it to be,” Tricia said. “I’m proud of Katy for telling the truth, but I know it was hard for her to break Keera’s trust too. I just hope this doesn’t hurt their friendship.”

Ida reached across and laid her hand over her daughter’s wrist, which she noticed was bare. Where was her bracelet?

“It’s going to be okay,” she said.

Tricia moved her arms, dropping her hands into her lap and sighed. “Is it? Aly has her meeting this morning. And then it’s Myah’s turn. The police are going to get involved. We all know that.” She cleared her throat. “When I was leaving, this woman arrived and came right in to Rachel’s office. I think she was from Child Protective Services. It’s getting serious.”

“Of course it is.” Ida nodded. “And Myah and Keera are going to need you now more than ever. So be there. We’ll be there for her too.”

Tricia sank back in the chair and sighed.

“Why don’t you send your sister a message to drop by? There’s some strudel left over from last night.” She had to hide it from Gordon this morning so he wouldn’t eat it all.

“It’s a wonder I’m not five-hundred pounds with the way you feed me.” Tricia pretended to groan, but Ida knew better. Like father like daughter. Her strudel had always been one of Tricia’s favorite dishes. “And I already did.” She gave Ida a cheeky smile, and it warmed Ida’s heart.

Ida puttered around her kitchen cleaning it up and setting the strudel on a plate. She also grabbed some healthier muffins that she kept in the freezer to defrost for Alyson.

Her gaze kept going to her daughter’s bare wrist, and she remembered something she’d picked up as a Christmas gift, but maybe . . . maybe she’d give it to her today.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she made her way to her craft room. She moved a few piles of wrapping paper and gift bags and eventually found what she was looking for.

“What are you doing?” Tricia stood there in the doorway. “How can you find anything in this room?”

“I know exactly where everything is. And you shouldn’t be in here.”

“Why?” Tricia chuckled. “Are you embarrassed to actually have a room that isn’t spotless and organized?”

Thankfully, Ida heard the teasing in her daughter’s voice.

“Oh, Scher dich weg,”
she said.
Be off with you. “Go on, get.” Ida forced her daughter out of the room and back into the kitchen, where she handed her the little gift box.

“What’s this?” Tricia hesitated as she glanced at the box.

“Just a little something I found for you, that’s all. Nothing special. But,”—she waited as Tricia unwrapped the bracelet from the tissue—“I noticed you weren’t wearing your bracelet today, so . . .” She let her voice trail off, not sure how to finish the sentence. Tricia’s scar on her wrist was another thing from the past they didn’t talk about.

“The clasp broke on me. I think it got caught on something,” Tricia said quietly as she gazed at the brown leather cuff bracelet where the words
strength courage love
were etched on a beautiful band. “This is so pretty, Mom. Thank you.”

Ida reached out and gave her daughter a hug before she took the bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist. “I thought of you when I saw it.” She smiled up at Tricia and knew her love for her daughter filled her very being. “I’ve never known someone with more strength, more love, and more courage than you. Ever.”

Ida patted her daughter’s hand and walked back toward the kitchen table.

“Mom,” Tricia called out. Ida turned around. “Thank you. For everything. But you know it wasn’t your fault, right?”

Ida’s hand came up and brushed the air. “It’s nothing. A mother likes to buy her daughters gifts, that’s all.” She didn’t like getting overly emotional about these things. And despite what Tricia said, they both knew it was her fault. She should have seen, should have noticed . . . should have protected her daughter better. Ida understood Alyson’s deep need to protect her daughter. She understood all too well.

“Wasn’t it Oprah who said ‘Love is in the details’?”

Ida’s gaze tilted upward as if recalling a memory, but then a very small twitch began to show at the corner of her mouth. “Well, it was someone obviously wise. Although, I like to think I was the one who said it first.” She struggled to keep the smile off her face, but as Tricia’s eyebrow arched, she couldn’t help herself.

“Now, tell me what else is bothering you. How can I help?” Ida reached over and placed her hand on one of Tricia’s and squeezed.

Tricia weighed her words, knowing her mother wasn’t going to like what she was about to say. “We have a lot of secrets in our family.”

“Tricia.” Ida didn’t need her daughter to say anything else. “Some secrets are best left alone. Let it lie. Leave it in the past. Please.”

Her daughter shook her head and tears fell from her eyes. “I can’t. Not anymore.”

“Why? Why now?”

“Because of Keera.”

“Keera is a child. You’re an adult. There’s a big difference.” Ida grabbed a dishcloth and began wiping down her counter.

“I was only a few years older than her, and Aly was her age.”

Ida scrubbed hard at the imagined stain. She did not want to talk about this. Why did Tricia have to dredge all of this up now? Wasn’t it enough that they had to go through this with Myah?

“This is going to be hard enough on your sister. You know how she is at this time of the year. Why bring back painful memories when you don’t have to?”

“Don’t you think it’s hard on me too?” Tricia’s voice broke, and Ida buried her head even more. “Mom, look at me. Please.”

Ida slowly looked up and saw the desperation on her daughter’s face. She dropped her cloth and rushed over, enveloping Tricia in her arms.

“I know it’s hard on you. But you’ve always been stronger.” Ida kissed Tricia’s forehead.

Tricia held out her wrist and pushed the leather apart until her scar was visible. “I’m not strong, Mom. I just know how to bury my pain.”

“No, no. You don’t bury. You dealt with it. I know you did. You never needed me. You were always so strong. Reminded me of my own Mutter. So strong.” Despite all the hardships growing up, her own mom never cried, never broke down.

Tricia started to laugh while she cried at the same time. “The strong one is Alyson. I realized that last night. She knows who she is. She was the one who noticed Keera, Mom. Alyson did. The one we thought weak. The one we keep trying to protect.”

“Then we did a good job.” Ida straightened. She didn’t understand what Tricia was saying. There was no comparison between the two girls. Alyson always lived in the past, letting it control her.

Tricia didn’t say anything, and Ida wasn’t sure what she’d said that was so wrong.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

MYAH

Late Monday morning

Myah kept her hand on Keera’s back as they made their way into the school and to the main office. They sat there, in the most uncomfortable seats imaginable, while they waited for Rachel.

Myah wasn’t too familiar with Rachel, despite her being good friends with Alyson.

“I don’t want to do this, Mom. I really don’t. Please? Can you just tell her that it was all a mistake?”

“I can’t, Keera.” Myah rubbed her arms to ward off a chill.

This wasn’t the first time Keera had asked this of her. It broke her heart to hear the fear in her daughter’s voice, but it also made her more determined to make sure her daughter got the help she needed.

“Keera?” Rachel stood there, dressed smartly with her hair pulled into a bun. She smiled. “Myah, thanks for coming in.”

Myah nodded and followed Rachel down the hallway and into her office. She held Keera’s hand all the way, hoping to offer her daughter some reassurance.

She halted when they came to the open door. She’d assumed it would be just them, the three of them in this meeting.

“Myah, let me introduce Sandra McAdams, our school board trustee. And this is Ms. Jacobs, from Child Protective Services.” Rachel clasped her hands tightly in front of her and waited while Myah stood rooted with Keera at her side. “Do you want to come in and sit?”

“Of course.” Myah forced a smile on her face as her daughter glanced up with fear in her eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered.

“Keera, thank you for coming in. I spoke with your teacher already, so she knows you’ll be slightly late to class.”

“She knows I’m in here?” Keera’s eyes grew wide, and her gaze dropped down to her hands immediately after she spoke. “Does she know why?”

“Don’t worry. What you say in here is strictly confidential. All she knows is that we’re meeting in here with your mom.”

Keera bit her lip. “Okay.”

The social worker stepped forward and sat in one of the empty chairs, and then Rachel sat in the other.

“Keera, my name is Debra. I’m from Child Protective Services, and the reason I’m here is because I try to help keep kids safe and make sure no one is hurting them. I know it’s not easy being here, and you’re probably really scared, but I just have a few questions to ask you, okay?” The social worker sat at the edge of her chair, her hands folded over her knee and smiled.

“Can you tell me a little about your sleepover at Katy’s house Friday night?”

Keera’s face scrunched up. “Like what?”

Debra uncrossed her legs and smoothed a hand over her knee. “Like things you did, games you played . . . anything like that.”

“We watched a movie then some videos, had a dance-off, and then went to sleep. Stuff like that?”

Debra nodded. “Stuff like that is perfect. I was at the dance recital. I thought you were very good.”

Keera cocked her head slightly. “You were?”

“I was. I know a few girls who were up there with you. I could tell you’ve been dancing for a long time, but it probably helps that your mom is a famous dancer too, right?”

Keera nodded. “And Eddie too.”

Debra kept her attention solely focused on Keera, but Myah noticed a subtle shift to her posture, almost as if she needed Keera to bring up the subject of Eddie and not the other way around.

Please let this work, Myah prayed. She needed Keera to open up, to admit that something happened.

“That’s right. Eddie was your mom’s dance partner before they married. So he’s been in your life for a long time, hasn’t he?”

Keera nodded.

“Have you always gotten along?”

Keera shifted in her seat and frowned. “No. He’s not really at the top of my favorite list, you know? I was glad when my mom asked him to leave.” She peeked at Myah out of the corner of her eye, and Myah sighed.

“Is this true, Mom?” Debra turned toward Myah, an interested look on her face.

Myah nodded. “It was something Keera and I talked a lot about. Her and Eddie . . . they never really got along, and that’s not what I wanted for Keera. So before we separated, I made sure Keera was okay with it.”

“And you were?” Debra asked Keera.

Her daughter nodded.

“Do you see much of Eddie now that your mom left him?”

Again, her daughter nodded, but this time her movement was a bit jerkier.

“He’s been asking to see her more and more,” Myah mentioned.

Debra’s lips pursed together. “Is that right, Keera?”

Confused, Myah looked toward Rachel, who only shook her head. Then it clicked—Debra probably needed to hear it from Keera, without any help from her. Myah sighed and sat back in the chair.

“He’s been wanting to take me for breakfast and teach me some new dance routines.”

“Do you like spending time with him?” Debra asked.

Keera remained silent.

“When he teaches you the new dance moves, are you guys alone?”

“It’s okay, honey,” Myah said quietly.

Once again, she’d let her daughter down. They shouldn’t have been in this situation to begin with—she should have protected Keera more, seen the signs, refused Eddie any access to her the moment he left the house.

Because she knew nothing had happened between them while he’d still lived with them, right? She would have known. Besides, Keera hardly ever stayed at the house alone with Eddie—whenever Myah had a late class or anything, Keera always made arrangements to either go with her to the dance hall or beg to be dropped off at Tricia’s house.

Oh god.

How had she not seen it? How could she have been so blind?

“Myah?” Rachel was at her side, squeezing her shoulder. “Myah, are you okay? How about we step out into the hall for a moment, will that be okay?”

Dazed, Myah looked up and caught the look of concern on the faces around her.

“Myah?” Rachel held out her hand for Myah to take.

“I’m sorry, I just”—she had a hard time swallowing—“I just remembered something.”

“No worries. We’re okay in here if you need a moment.”

Myah followed Rachel out into the hallway, wiping at the tears that streamed down her face. She waited for the door to close before she covered her face with her hands and silently sobbed.

Rachel placed her arms around her, holding her tight while Myah cried against her shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rachel murmured.

Myah shook her head. “It’s not. It’s all my fault. I never . . . Oh god, I never saw it. How could I have let it . . .”

Children should always be able to trust their mother to protect them, to shelter them, to keep them from harm. What she’d done was the worst thing possible—she’d brought a monster into her daughter’s world.

“What’s going to happen now?” she’d tearfully asked Rachel once she managed to regain a little bit of composure.

The look on Rachel’s face was hard to see. “Debra needs to make sure something did happen. Once she knows, the police will need to get involved. They’ll want to talk to you as well.”

Myah sagged against the wall. “I should have seen it. Why didn’t I? I was just complaining to Tricia a few days ago that things were off with him. Why didn’t I see it?” She shook her head, upset with herself.

“Myah, you can’t blame yourself. You can’t. Sometimes the person closest is the last one to know. What’s important is that we’re here, now, trying to give her the help she needs.”

Rachel handed Myah a tissue and then went to get her a drink of water. By the time she returned, Myah had calmed herself down.

Now was not the time to fall apart.

As Rachel arrived, she turned toward the door and noticed Debra had stood up and was motioning them to come in.

Myah went immediately to her daughter, who was hunched over, her arms wrapped tight around her body. Debra pulled Rachel to the side and quietly spoke to her.

“Honey, are you okay?” Myah knelt down on the floor and gently wiped the tears that flowed down Keera’s face. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. It’s going to be okay.”