The face was so battered Robert barely recognized his other niece lying there, and he fought a wave of nausea when he figured out why Cain wanted Danny. “Oh my God.”
“No, God had nothing to do with this, so tell me where I can find your bastard son. Because, believe me, uncle, if I have to beat it out of you…” She stopped, not needing to finish the threat. “In the mood I’m in now, I may rid myself of the whole more troubling side of my family.”
“Danny couldn’t have done this.”
“The idiot left a note pinned to what was left of her dress, so tell me where I can find him. I know he keeps you in booze and cigarettes, so you have to know.”
The sniveling man tried to look up at Cain, causing her to tighten her hold on his hair. “What happens to me if you kill Danny?”
“You get to live, which is more than generous on my part. After all, much of what Danny turned out to be came from his upbringing. Be grateful he hasn’t brought a plague on the rest of your house with this atrocity. Not yet anyway.”
“I don’t know where he is. Honest, Cain.” A punch to the kidneys made him regret the lie, and this time she left him on the floor.
“I tried to do this the easy way. Remember that.”
It looked like the worst of it was over and she was leaving. “What does that mean?”
“It means you stand with Danny on this one but, more importantly, against me. Go home and wait for your son and Giovanni Bracato to protect you. In your moments of lucidity, pray I’m kinder than this when I strike back and that I make it quick, but this is hard to ignore.” She waved a hand toward the gurney.
“He’s my son, for God’s sake.”
The slap to his face was so hard it knocked him into a table stacked with surgical supplies, and when he put his hand up to cover the sting, it came away with blood.
“You can live the rest of your life not reminding me of that fact.”
“You stay away from my family, Cain.”
“Just like yours stayed away from me and mine? Don’t threaten me, you useless piece of crap. I guess the old saying ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ isn’t just bullshit, now is it? Don’t worry, though. I’m on my way home to fire up the chainsaw. Baxter trees from your orchard won’t be a problem for much longer. Danny might have thrown the first punch, but you should know me by now. When I’m done there won’t be a Baxter left standing. I don’t give a fuck if you’re my family or not.”
“You can’t do that.” He tried to wipe off some of the drool and blood that oozed down his chin.
Cain grabbed him by the hair again and dragged him back to the gurney. With one flick of her wrist she pulled the sheet back and showed him all the damage Danny had done. “She didn’t deserve this, or to be related to the human garbage you’ve inflicted on the world.”
Robert gave her an address and dropped to his knees with his hands covering his face. Even if Cain left the rest of them alone, the memory of Marie’s marred skin would sear his brain forever.
“I don’t think Robert will ever invoke the name Danny Baxter in our presence again.”
The boy nodded and gazed back out toward the farmland they were leaving behind at a fairly quick pace. “How can you forgive Emma?”
Cain picked a piece of lint off her coat as a way to delay her answer. The truth was love. Her love for Emma had blinded her to her responsibilities, a mistake she’d never make again. “I’ve lived with this memory from the moment I found Marie near our house and, trust me, blaming your mother was the last thing on my mind. I’m the head of the Casey family--me, not your mother. I blame myself every day for what happened. I don’t need to forgive her.”
Hayden turned in the seat until he was fully facing Cain. “Then maybe it’s time you learn to forgive yourself and think about the good things you did while Aunt Marie was alive. Maybe you didn’t give her enough credit, Mom.”
“What do you mean by that? I loved her.”
“I know you loved her, but you did so much more. All you had to do was give her a home and keep her safe, but you went way beyond that, didn’t you? She told me you took her to a movie once, even though you didn’t want to go. One of those old ones playing at the Prytania. She remembered how much fun she had going out to dinner and then that movie. She even told me how you took her over to the pub after the show and got her as many Shirley Temples as she wanted.”
“Yeah, I remember that night. Marie always liked the pomp and circumstance that came from the idea of dating. She just didn’t understand it was supposed to involve someone you loved or were interested in, not your sister.”
Hayden laughed, remembering the stars in his aunt’s eyes when she told him about the night. “But you did love her, and doing stuff like that for her only proved it. So what if she didn’t know the rest. You were her hero, Mom. She said in the movie the character died at the end, but she told her husband that love meant never having to say you’re sorry.”
“
Reaching over, Hayden covered his mother’s hands with his own. “Aunt Marie told me one day my mom would come back and we could be a family, but I had to remember Emma loved me, so she didn’t have to say she was sorry for leaving. She didn’t want me to be mad when she
“Your aunt was smarter than she let on. Hayden, I don’t want to make this decision for you. Whatever relationship you want to have with your mother will be fine with me. Don’t put my feelings first this time. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“I promise to do that, if you promise to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Marie. Danny did it, Mom
