“I spoke to Helen earlier. She’s going to do everything she can to get the posts and pictures taken down. I have no idea how long that might take. I’ll go to Betty either later tonight or tomorrow and arrange some sort of meeting on Monday morning.” She shrugged. “I guess we’ll see where it goes from there.”
“I hate to sound harsh, but I have absolutely zero sympathy for Annabelle Litchfield. Whatever they do to her can’t possibly be enough.”
“That’s not the first time this has sounded personal to you,” she said, startling him with her perceptiveness.
J.C. tried to fend off more questions. “Okay, yes. I’ve seen the tragic outcome when something like this spirals out of control. There need to be serious consequences for bullies. I don’t care how young they are or how innocent their parents claim the behavior to be. It’s wrong.”
Laura nodded. “No question about it.”
He gave her a thoughtful look. “You sound equally fierce about this. Have you had your own experience with a bully?”
She avoided his gaze but eventually nodded. “Years ago,” she admitted.
“I can’t imagine anyone picking on you.”
She smiled at that. “I was a lot like Misty in some ways, a brainy kid and very shy. The only difference between us is that she’s a lot smarter than I was when it comes to getting involved with a jerk.”
“Meaning?”
“She knew enough to give Greg Bennett a wide berth. When the hotshot bad boy in school started paying attention to me, I fell for it. I thought I was in love. I thought he was, too.” She hesitated, then finally met his gaze. “And then I got pregnant, and he couldn’t leave me in the dust fast enough.”
J.C.’s anger stirred on behalf of the shy girl who must have been scared out of her wits by an unplanned pregnancy. “What happened?”
“My parents considered sending me to live with relatives out of town, but then they decided that keeping me in school would be a better punishment. They also insisted I give the baby up for adoption.” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “So, that’s what I did.”
“But the other kids made your life hell,” he guessed.
She nodded. “If I hadn’t had a teacher who stuck by me, I don’t know if I could have gotten through it, but she was determined I’d graduate and go on to college, so I couldn’t let her down. I figured if she was willing to stand up for me, then I had to stand up for myself.”
“And the baby?”
As she shook her head, the tears spilled over, rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know where she is. It was a closed adoption. I pray every day that she’s with a loving family, one who’ll stand by her if she ever makes the kind of mistakes I did.”
“And in the meantime, you’re standing by Misty,” he said.
“How can I not?” she said simply.
J.C. felt her long-ago pain and sorrow, saw the strength it had created in her and fell just a little bit in love.
“I want to be there Monday,” he said decisively. “You’ll let me know the time?”
She blinked away her tears, then nodded. “Of course. As soon as it’s scheduled. I’m sure you’ll be busy with patients. Will that be a problem?”
“Bill will just have to pick up the slack,” he said. “This is too important for me not to be there. I want to make sure everyone understands just how serious a matter this is.”
“Surely you don’t think anyone will try to sweep it under the carpet, do you?” she asked, looking shocked. “Surely Serenity’s not the sort of town to rally around a bully, no matter who it is.”
“I hope not, but given who we’re dealing with, I think it’s best to be prepared for any eventuality.”
No matter what, he would not sit by while another child was tormented and the perpetrator was allowed to go free. Once, with its tragic and very personal consequences, had been more than enough. Just like Laura, for his own reasons, he couldn’t let it pass.
13
After Laura Reed left, Diana turned to her precious daughter. “I doubt you’ll ever understand how terrible I feel about not being here for you while you were going through this. I’m so ashamed that I didn’t see how much pain you were in.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Misty said staunchly. “You’ve had your own stuff going on.”
“That’s no excuse,” Diana told her. “I’m an adult and I’m your mother. I should have seen that something wasn’t right. It’s my job to protect you and Jake, and I blew it.”
“You didn’t blow it,” Misty said, tears in her eyes. “You’re the best mom ever.”
Diana smiled at Misty’s determined defense. “Maybe once upon a time,” Diana said candidly. “But not lately. I’m going to fix this, sweetheart. I promise you. Not just the situation with Annabelle, but all of it. I’m going to pull myself together.”
She forced a smile. “Let this be a lesson to you, Misty. Don’t ever let yourself be so emotionally dependent on a man that you can’t figure out who you are without him. I wanted so badly for your father to stay that I lost sight of everything else, including who I am as a person. Believe it or not, once upon a time, I had my own goals, completely separate from us as a family. I need to get back to trying to achieve those. First, though, I’m going to get our family back on track.”
“Mom, I think it’s too late to fix things with Dad,” Misty said, her expression hesitant as if she feared saying that hard truth aloud might be too much for Diana.
“I think you’re right,” Diana concurred. “I just didn’t want to accept it. It’s up to your dad and me to figure that out, though. And we need to do it now, so we don’t go on hurting you and Jake. I guess I kept hoping I could wait him out, that he’d come to his senses and come home.” She gave her daughter a rueful look. “Blinders, huh?”
“Pretty much,” Misty confirmed.
Diana reached across the table for Misty’s hand. “Do you want to talk about this situation with Annabelle
