his ticket for the next Canes game.”
“Really?” He looked at Cal and I could tell that he
was half pleased, yet half puzzled. “You sure, son?”
Cal nodded. “She likes them, too, and I heard
Grandma talking with Aunt Kate ’bout how y’all haven’t
been out together since . . . since” —his eyes suddenly
misted—“since I came to live here.”
I was stricken, knowing that he was thinking of Jonna
again and that he probably felt a stab of heartsick long-
ing for his mother, for the way things had been all his
life. Another moment and I might have weakened.
Fortunately for the cause, Dwight beamed and tousled
Cal’s hair. “Thanks, buddy. We really appreciate that,
don’t we, Deb’rah?”
“We do,” I agreed. “Right now, though, Cal and I are
on our way to pick up the others. We can swing past a
grocery store if you want something special for supper?”
“Don’t bother. By the time you get back, I’ll be
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MARGARET MARON
dressed and they can ride with me to see if the nursery’s
got in those trees I ordered. I’ll pick up some barbecue
or something.”
Cal was quiet on the drive over to Kate’s, but shortly
before we got there, he said in a small voice, “I really am
sorry we were mean to Jake and got Aunt Kate mad.”
“You might want to tell that to Aunt Kate next time
you catch her alone,” I said, not being real big on pub-
lic apologies. As a child, I much preferred a few quick
swats on my bottom to the galling humiliation of having
to apologize to someone in front of everybody. There
were no cars behind us, so when we came to the stop
sign, I paused and turned to face him. “And just for the
record, Cal, as long as you try to do right by Jake, this
is over and done with so far as I’m concerned.”
“You’re not still mad at me?”
I smiled at him. “Nope, and I don’t hold grudges
either.”
His look of relief almost broke my heart.
“Look, honey. Stuff happens. I know you wish things
could be the way they used to be, but they aren’t and
there’s no way anybody can change it back. Your dad
and I know this isn’t easy for you. There’re going to
be times when you think you hate everybody and that
everybody hates you. When you make bad choices and
do things you know you shouldn’t, then yeah, I may get
mad for the moment. But you need to know right now
that I do love you and I love your dad and I don’t care
how mad we all get at each other, I’m not going to stop
