Part 18 (2/2)
”Oh, I didn't mean to imply otherwise,” Cathy a.s.sured him. ”I'm afraid that since Seth is living with his grandparents for the time being, I'm out of the loop on his social life.”
”This rally is one of Patsy Floyd's Uniting-Christians projects, isn't it?” Lorie asked.
”Yes, I believe so,” Donnie replied. ”However, I've been a.s.sured that it is a nondenominational event, and no Methodist doctrine will be included.”
Cathy quickly glanced from Lorie to Jack. She noted the way Lorie's mouth twitched and how, with a broad grin, Jack glanced down at his feet.
”Seth, since you're here, would you like to see the rest of the house?” Cathy asked. ”I can show you your room first and-”
”Not tonight,” Seth answered coolly, glaring at Jack. ”We don't have time.” He looked pleadingly at Donnie. ”We'd better get going, hadn't we?”
”Uh, yes, yes, I guess we had.” Donnie seemed taken off guard by Seth's sudden need to leave. ”I look forward to seeing you in church Sunday, Cathy.” He glanced from Lorie to Jack. ”And y'all are, of course, invited. Anytime. Anytime.”
Before Donnie finished issuing his invitation, Seth was opening the front door. Cathy followed him out onto the porch, catching up with him and grabbing his arm.
”Why are you acting this way?” she asked him.
”What way?”
”I'm happy that you wanted to stop by to see me and our new home. I wish you wouldn't rush off in a huff just because Jack is here.”
”I don't like him.” Seth pulled away from her and walked down the steps and into the yard.
Cathy followed. ”You don't know him.”
”Are you dating him?”
She groaned silently. ”Is that the reason for your bad att.i.tude? You don't want me to start dating because you think I'd somehow be disloyal to Mark...to your dad if I did?” She laid her hand on his shoulder, ignoring the fact that Donnie Hovater and his daughter stood on the porch directly behind them and possibly could hear their conversation. ”Mark would not disapprove of my dating. He would want me to go on with my life.”
”Dad would expect you to date someone like Brother Hovater.” Seth looked her square in the eye. ”Granddad says that Perdue guy is bad news, and he's a trained killer and all messed up in his head.”
Cathy wanted to scream. Actually, she wanted to strangle J.B. How dare he say such things to Seth. And about Jack, of all people. Count to ten. Say a prayer. Do something to keep from exploding and taking your anger out on your son. Count to ten. Say a prayer. Do something to keep from exploding and taking your anger out on your son.
”Jack is a former Army Ranger,” Cathy said as calmly as possible. ”He's a decorated soldier. Your grandfather's choice of words implied something altogether inaccurate.”
”Are you saying Granddad lied?” Seth demanded vehemently as he jerked away from her.
”Sorry to interrupt,” Donnie said as he and Missy approached them. ”And I certainly don't mean to interfere in what appears to be a family disagreement, but, Seth, son”-he patted Seth on the back-”your grandfather would expect you to show your mother the proper respect. And I'm sure she didn't mean to imply that J.B. lied. I believe she was trying to tell you that J.B. might have been misinformed about Mr. Perdue.”
”So, he used to be a soldier,” Seth said. ”They train soldiers to kill, don't they? Dad didn't believe in killing. He believed in turning the other cheek, in loving your fellow man.” Seth paused for half a second, and when Cathy simply stared at him, uncertain how to respond, he went on. ”After what you've been through this past year, the last kind of guy you need right now is somebody who's got his own mental problems.”
Seth had rendered her momentarily speechless. Who had her son become in the year she'd been away? Where was the compa.s.sionate, tenderhearted, caring young man she had raised? J.B. had done a good job of trying to turn Seth into a duplicate of Mark, and she hated him for doing it.
”You and I will talk tomorrow,” Cathy said. ”I'd like for you to have lunch with me.”
”I don't know. I'll have to ask Granddad.”
”I have an idea,” Donnie interrupted again. ”Why don't Missy and I take you and your mother out for lunch tomorrow after church? I'm sure your grandparents won't object.”
”Yeah, sure, thanks. That would be great.” Seth looked at Cathy, waiting for her to agree.
”Yes, thank you,” Cathy replied.
Donnie spread his arms out, placing one around Seth's shoulders and the other around his daughter's waist. ”Come on, kids. It's nearly eight o'clock. Y'all don't want to be late. This thing is from eight tonight until eight in the morning, right?”
”Yes, sir,” Seth said.
”Yes, Daddy, eight to eight.”
Cathy stood in the yard and watched Brother Hovater back out of the driveway. He threw up his hand and waved. She waved back at him and smiled.
Donnie seemed like a very nice man. He had certainly tried his best to act as a mediator between Seth and her tonight. She appreciated his offer to take them to lunch tomorrow, which would give them time to talk without J.B. being involved.
Jack came up behind her so quietly that he startled her when he spoke. ”Are you all right?”
She gasped and jumped simultaneously.
”Sorry,” he said.
She turned and faced him. ”It's okay. And yes, I'm all right, but not happy about hearing my father-in-law's words come out of my son's mouth.”
”All the more reason you should do everything you can to regain custody of Seth,” Lorie said from where she stood on the porch.
”I hate that my being here tonight bothered your son so much,” Jack said. ”But you have to know that he's not going to approve of your dating, no matter who the guy is. No man will live up to his father. Not in his eyes.”
Lorie and Cathy exchanged quick oh-my-G.o.d glances, and then Cathy looked directly at Jack. ”That wasn't Seth talking tonight. That was J.B. Before I went away, before my breakdown, Seth and I were very close. He was my son far more than he was ever Mark's. Seth and Mark had a good relations.h.i.+p, but...I can't let this happen. I cannot lose Seth. I will not allow J.B. to manipulate him this way.”
”I wish there was something I could do to help you,” Jack said.
”There isn't, but thanks. I'll deal with this in my own way and in my own time.”
”Come on, you two,” Lorie called. ”I'll put on a fresh pot of decaf and we can eat our dessert.”
Jack slipped his arm around Cathy's waist. She felt his touch in every nerve in her body. A tingling warmth spread through her, an odd mixture of excitement and contentment. Side by side, the strength of his big body comforting her, they went up the steps, onto the porch and into the house.
Jack and Deputy Willis were holding down the fort tonight, and so far, more than four hours into their eight-hour s.h.i.+ft, things had been relatively quiet. He glanced at the wall clock. It was already three-thirty Sunday morning. The night dispatcher had taken a total of five calls, and all of them had been easily handled by the night-s.h.i.+ft patrolmen on duty. With little to do, he'd found himself thinking about Cathy. When he had returned to Dunmore and taken the job with the sheriff's department, he'd been at loose ends, uncertain what the future held. Now, here he was back home only a few weeks and he'd hired a contractor to restore his old home and he was pursuing a girl who'd dumped him for another guy nearly seventeen years ago.
Well, maybe he wasn't actually pursuing Cathy, just renewing their old friends.h.i.+p and seeing where it went. And to be fair, he supposed he couldn't accuse her of dumping him. He'd been the one who had left her behind when his unit had been sent to the Middle East and he'd wound up spending months as an Iraqi prisoner of war. What had he expected her to do when he'd been reported missing in action?
Just as he lifted his coffee mug to his lips, Jack heard a ruckus at the front entrance, where Deputies Gipson and Dryer were escorting a group of teenagers into the building. He set the mug down on his desk and headed toward the officers and a gang of grumbling youngsters. He counted seven in all, four girls and three boys. Two of the girls were crying, and one of the boys, a redhead, looked scared to death.
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