The hellion

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Fall moved on with no perceptible changes in the attitudes of either Beth or Everett. In October Rachel listed her house with a realtor, believing the decisive move would force her father to accept the idea of her upcoming marriage, but he remained unyielding. The few times Rachel confronted Beth at Tommy Lee's house the girl was chilly and aloof, escaping to her room as soon as possible.

In November the realtor found a buyer for Rachel's house, and with that enormous obstacle overcome, she and Tommy Lee set the wedding date for the Saturday following Thanksgiving. But as the holiday approached, they still had not overcome the other obstacles that were casting shadows over their future together. And they both wanted very much to begin their married life without clouds hanging over their heads. They had done all they could to give the two time to accept the idea of their marriage, yet neither had.

And so, they agreed, it was time for an ultimatum.

The November wind was chilly, catching at Tommy Lee's trouser legs as he strode purposefully from his office, crossed Jackson Avenue, and covered the distance to the First State Bank of Russellville. He flung the door open, marched inside, and stopped before the receptionist, who looked up with a cheery smile.

"I want to see Everett Talmadge."

"If you'll have a seat over there, I'll ring him."

Tommy Lee was too agitated to have a seat. He stood, his feet widespread, before the receptionist's desk, eyes riveted on the glass cubicle that was clearly visible in the far corner of the bank. He saw Talmadge reach for his phone; then the receptionist spoke.

"There's someone here to see you." Talmadge appeared to be distractedly scanning something on his desk when the woman answered his unheard question. "It's Tommy Lee Gentry."

Talmadge's head came up with a jerk and his eyes met Gentry's across the width of the business floor. His lips moved again and the receptionist asked Tommy Lee, "What is this in regard to?"

Still staring at the bank president, Gentry replied, "Tell him I want to make a deposit."

The woman pivoted the mouthpiece below her chin. "But depos..."

"Just tell him!" Tommy Lee interrupted.

Obediently she brought the phone to her lips. "He says he'd like to make a deposit, sir."

Even from this distance, Tommy Lee could see the belligerent expression overtake Talmadge's face before his mouth worked again.

"Deposits are made at the teller windows, Mr. Gentry," came the relayed message.

"I'll make this one personally with the president," Tommy Lee informed her, then added impatiently, "Never mind. I can see he's not busy. I'll just go right in."

"But, Mr. Gentry..."

Tommy Lee was halfway across the room before the woman could rise from her chair. He opened the door without knocking to find Talmadge already on his feet, then slammed it with a resolute thud that shook the glass walls. He dropped a portfolio in the middle of the desk with a slap, then confronted his foe head-on.

"It'll take more than a timid receptionist to keep me out this time, Talmadge."

"There's a whole row of tellers out there. Any one of them can open an account for you."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? But you're not getting off that easy, not this time! We're going to have this thing out once and for all-you and me." Tommy Lee planted his hands on his hips while his face took on a stubborn look to match any Everett Talmadge had ever exuded.

"I don't want or need your money in my bank, Gentry."

"This isn't about money and you know it-but my money's going to be here whether you like it or not. I'm sick and tired of driving up to Florence to do my banking, just because you had a burr on your ass twenty years ago and decided you'd show me who was boss. Well, I've proved myself, financially-without your help. I ran a quarter of a million through that damn Florence bank last year, and I've just closed my accounts there, so get used to the fact that you'll have to face my success along with a few other things."

"Gentry, I can have you thrown out of here!"

Tommy Lee bent over the edge of the desk, demanding, "And exactly what would that settle? Throw me out-go ahead!" He straightened and flung a hand in the air. "But you can't throw me out of your daughter's life, so isn't it time we both tried to live with the fact and reach some kind of compromise… for her sake?"

Talmadge only glared, standing stiffly with his brow beetled and his hands knotted into fists.

"I love your daughter and she loves me, and all the feuding in the world isn't going to change that fact."

Talmadge emitted a disdainful sniff and eyed Gentry askance while moving with calculated laziness around his desk chair. He stood behind it rolling a pencil up and down between his palms. "Been seein' any of the local trollops lately, Gentry?" he asked unctuously.

Tommy Lee resisted the urge to settle his fist in the middle of the old man's face as he went on resolutely, "I've asked her to marry me and she's agreed. Now, we'd like to do it with your blessing, but if not-so be it. We've been fighting the whole damn world, it seems-you, my daughter, even each other at times-but we're done waiting. We're going to be married next Saturday."

Talmadge's eyes remained cold. "For how long?"

Tommy Lee swallowed his pride and said stiffly, "I'll admit, my past is far from spotless, but I don't feel compelled to justify it to you as long as Rachel trusts me enough to marry me, and she does."

Talmadge flung the pencil onto the desktop. "Rachel's got a bad case of conscience because of this affair she's been carryin' on with you-it's badly colored her judgment."

Tommy Lee ground his back teeth together and met the insolent eyes directly, softening his tone slightly. "Can we quit butting heads for just five minutes and talk about what really matters?"

"And what matters more than Rachel's happiness?"

Tommy Lee braced his hands on his hips and studied the man before him, wondering how a person came to be so pugnacious and bullheaded. "All right, I'll say it straight out. Rachel had our illegitimate baby, and we gave her away against our wishes. I'll admit I've carried a grudge over that for years, but Rachel and I have both learned to live with it, and we're willing to put it in the past if you are."

Talmadge's face took fire, and he turned away. It was the first time Tommy Lee had ever seen the man come up short of words, but still there remained that damnable stony pride.

The younger man gestured in appeal at the back that was turned against him. "Can't you see what you're doing to her? She doesn't want to have to choose between us, but if you keep fighting me, I can't guarantee she won't. And if she chooses, it'll be me-then what will you have gained?"

Talmadge said nothing, so Tommy Lee tried one last time. "What do you say we bury the hatchet and at least make an attempt to grin and bear each other?"

"And you'd have your revenge at last, wouldn't you?"

Tommy Lee bit back a sharp retort, sighed, and dropped his chin to stare absently at a granite pen holder on top of Talmadge's desk. It was just like the stubborn old fool who owned it-cold, unfeeling granite.

He looked up at Talmadge's back. "I'm going to make your daughter happy, in spite of what you think. She wanted me to tell you she's found a buyer for her house. We'll be living out at my place on the lake, and Callie Mae has agreed to come to work for us, just as she has for Rachel. When and if you finally decide to..." Tommy Lee shook his head, realizing the man would probably never soften. "Well… you're welcome there any time." Tommy Lee sighed, slowly picked up his portfolio from the desk, and added quietly, "I'll see one of the tellers on my way out."

Crossing the main floor of the bank to a teller's window, Tommy Lee did not see Talmadge draw the draperies, sealing himself into his cocoon of loneliness. Nor did he see Talmadge fall wearily into his desk chair, prop his elbows on the desk, and drop his face into shaking hands while guilt besieged him and he wondered how he could ever face Rachel and Tommy Lee as husband and wife after the years and years-not to mention the child-he'd stolen from them.

Rachel drew her car up before the Russellville High School only minutes before the bell signaled the end of the day. She slipped on a pair of warm gloves, stepped into the windy afternoon, and after slamming the car door behind her, crossed the street to the row of school buses waiting with their engines running.

Three times she asked, "Does this bus go out old Belgreen Road?" before she found the right one.

When the students came pouring out of the building she studied their faces, waiting beside the door of the bus with her coat collar turned up, holding it together at the neck until she finally caught sight of Beth approaching with one of the girls who'd come into the store with her. The girl spied Rachel first, came up short, and poked Beth in the ribs.

"Hey, Beth… somebody waiting for ya."

Beth glanced up at her friend, then followed the direction of her eyes, and planted her feet.

Her companion immediately swerved away from her. "Listen, Beth, I'll see ya around, okay?" she said, and disappeared into the stream of moving bodies. Beth dropped her eyes to the ground and moved toward the door of the bus as if to pass Rachel without a word.

Rachel calmly stepped in her way. "You won't be riding the bus today."

Defiant brown eyes snapped up. "Oh, yeah?"

Rachel raised one sardonic eyebrow and replied coolly, "Oh, yeah. Unless you want me to make a scene in front of all your new friends by attempting to drag you off bodily to my car. I imagine they'd find it quite amusing, don't you?"

Beth considered a moment, gave a one-shouldered shrug and trudged around the hood of the bus, leaving Rachel to follow. They crossed the street, climbed into the car, and drove off with Beth slumped down in the seat in a typical pose of adolescent rebellion.

Rachel's opening question straightened Beth's spine perceptibly and brought her halfway out of her slouch.

"Have you ever been in love, Beth?" There came no answer, but Rachel didn't need one to see she had captured Beth's attention fully. Nor did Rachel forget for one moment that she was speaking to a girl whose mother had been outraged by an innocent teenage kiss. "What's the matter?" She gave Beth a half-glance, then returned her eyes to the windshield. "Somebody give you the idea that you couldn't possibly feel such an adult emotion at fourteen?" Rachel let a ghost of a smile tip up one corner of her mouth, knowing her passenger eyed her keenly. "Don't let 'em fool you. I fell in love at fourteen-well, let's be conservative and make it fifteen. After all, it was a long time ago and I could be off by a year or so."

Rachel flicked on the left-turn signal, looked over her shoulder, and changed lanes, then kept her eyes on her driving. "I fell in love with your daddy, and-wonder of wonders-he fell right back. It came as something of a surprise after all the years we'd known each other. Of course, we've told you a little about those years, but I wanted to show you something. You don't mind going for a little ride before I take you home, do you?"

Rachel glanced at Beth to find herself being covertly studied, but immediately the dark eyes darted toward the front-obviously the girl was trying to decide what to make of all this. The car turned onto Cotako Street, and Rachel drew up at the curb in front of the two familiar houses. She let the engine idle, rested an arm along the back of the seat, and pointed. "This is the house where your daddy grew up, and where your grandpa and grandma Gentry still live. And that… is where I grew up, and where my daddy still lives. See that window up there?" Beth's head swerved. "That was my bedroom window, and this one was your daddy's. Remember when we told you the story about the tin-can telephone we tried to rig up between our rooms? Well, I just wanted you to see how close we really lived.

"We were just children when our daddies planted this row of boxwoods here, but about halfway down they left one bush out, and that's where we all used to cut through between the two houses. If you look really close you can still see the spot."

Rachel put the car in gear, pulled away, and headed up the hill while Beth craned her neck for a last glimpse of the houses. "I remember the day we started first grade. Your daddy and I walked bravely up this hill to school, holding hands. I don't know who was more scared-him or me." She chuckled softly, remembering. They arrived at the top of the hill and she glanced across to the red-brick building and the adjacent playground, noting that Beth did the same. "Once he got himself into big trouble and ended up in the principal's office for punching Dorsey Atwater during recess because Dorsey said something nasty about me-funny, I don't even remember now what it was."

The reminiscing went on as Rachel drove to City Park and circled the small lake surrounded by pole fences, scattered hardwoods, and yuccas. A trio of geese drifted on the water, but otherwise the area was deserted. She passed a small building housing a snack bar and canoe rental, and a swimming pool, closed for the season. "Ah, the hours we spent out here. There was no pool, in those days, but we lived in the lake. Whole summers, with all the friends we'd grown up with."

As she drove on down Waterloo Road, which led through the park, Rachel recalled the many nights she and Tommy Lee had parked out here, and had a moment's pause to hope telling Beth was the right thing to do. So far she hadn't said a word, and it was difficult to gauge the impact-if any- her words were having on the girl.

"I guess you might say this is where we fell in love." They left the park behind and headed for the country. "As I told you, we weren't much older than you when we discovered it. We used to park down by the lake and talk about getting married." Rachel let a smile linger on her lips. "We'd pick out names for our future children, and make up stories about the house we wanted to have-it'd have lots of windows and natural wood, and it would face a lake and have fireplaces and be carpeted in blue-oh, you know how it is when you're making up fairy tales."

Rachel adjusted her hands on the wheel and went on. "Anyway, our parents always seemed happy that we were dating each other, but then when I was sixteen… I found out I was pregnant." She saw Beth's head snap around to stare at her, but carefully kept her eyes on the road. "Tommy Lee and I were scared at first, but after talking it over we decided there was nothing to be scared about. After all, we were in love, and by the time the baby was born we'd be seventeen and there'd be just a little of our senior year left in high school, and somehow he'd manage to finish, and so would I. So we decided to get married.

"But when we told our parents the news we found that they had other ideas." Rachel drew a deep breath, but kept carefully unemotional in her recital. "They talked it over and decided that the best thing to do would be to send me away to have the baby, and so I ended up in Michigan."

Rachel didn't need to turn her head to know she had captivated Beth's full attention now. She added quietly, "But they wouldn't tell your daddy where I was."

"Things were much different then, and when the baby was born I had little to say about it. The decision had been made by all four parents that she would be given up for adoption, and she was.

"But I did have a say about one thing. They let me name her, and I quite naturally chose the name your daddy and I had dreamed about for a girl… I named her Beth."

There was a sharp indrawn breath, but Rachel trained her eyes straight forward and resisted turning to Beth as she continued with her story.

"The decision about giving up the baby caused a tremendous backlash of guilt and remorse. Our parents could never quite face each other again, and it's been years and years since they've talked to each other. And Tommy Lee… he blamed his mama and daddy, and though he's been married to several women, he could never seem to find happiness with any of them. I had a… a good marriage, but my husband and I could never have any children, and that complicated matters between myself and my parents, though it wasn't their fault-they had no way of knowing how things would turn out at the time they made the decision about the adoption.

"Well, it's been a muddle for years. Your daddy and I avoided each other as much as possible until… well, until my husband died. It had been twenty-four years, but when we saw each other again…" Rachel spread her hands and let them fall back to the steering wheel, giving a short helpless smile. "It might have been easier for all concerned if we hadn't gotten together again, but what we felt for each other was too strong. We could no more have fought it than…" She chanced a peak at Beth and found her sober, listening attentively. "Well, love is a strange thing. It always seems to have its own way."

They approached the turn onto Tommy Lee's property, and Rachel added plaintively, "It can hurt a lot. But it can heal, too."

The car came to a halt in the curved drive before the cedar house with its glossy black doors. When the engine stilled, it left an immense silence between the two passengers. The November wind tilted the tips of the trees, and beyond the house the lake was gone again, drained away until spring dictated its return. The oaks now bore rusty leaves, and the hickories had gone to husk. Autumn… with Thanksgiving imminent. If things went right there could be so very, very much to be thankful for.

Rachel looked across at Beth to find her staring at her thumbnails, which were locked together. Beth blinked hard, then looked out her window. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "This was the house you planned, wasn't it?"

Softly Rachel answered, "Yes, Beth, it was."

"And he named me Beth, too."

Rachel wisely remained silent.

"Did you ever see her again-that other Beth?"

"No, but it doesn't matter anymore."

"Except that she's my half sister." She turned tear-filled eyes to Rachel, adding, "And they're my grandparents."

"I know," Rachel replied sadly. "And I'm working on that. I believe, in time, everything will come out right. Your daddy is as stubborn as all the rest of them in his own way. But he's promised to do his best to set things right before our wedding." Rachel could see she had given Beth a lot to digest in such a brief time. "Your daddy and I thought you were old enough to know, but he asked me to tell you because… well, he was a little self-conscious about parts of it." Rachel touched Beth's shoulder. "Oh, Beth, dear, please try to understand him. He's been through so much pain and he loves you so very, very much."

The huge, brimming tears spilled onto Beth's cheeks as she tried valiantly not to cry.

"I don't want to take him away from you, don't you see? I want to share him with you, just as he wants to share you with me. You're not the same Beth we lost, and I would never substitute you for her in my mind, but… but doesn't it seem prophetic that you both have the same name… as if you were given to us as our last chance to have a daughter to love?" Beth's lower lip trembled and she clamped it between her teeth while Rachel appealed tenderly, "And I would very much like the chance to get to love you, Beth."

In a sweeping motion Beth threw herself into Rachel's arms. "Oh, Rachel, I'm… so-so sorry," she sobbed. "I didn't know."

Rachel felt tears sting her own nose and eyes. "Of course you didn't."

"More-my mother used to… to say terrible things about how Daddy couldn't forget his `precious teenage lover,` and I that-took her side. I hated you because I thought if it will-wasn't for you… well, you know."

Beth retreated from Rachel's arms, hung her head, and self-consciously wiped her eyes.

"Yes, I know. You've been very mixed up about where I would fit into your affections, but please believe me-I would never try to take your mother's place. She'll always be your true mother." Rachel reached up to tip Beth's chin and meet her tear-filled gaze. "But you and I could be friends, couldn't we?" Beth swallowed, and her lips quivered as Rachel went on in a softly appealing voice. "Your daddy made a lot of mistakes along the way, Beth, but all he was really trying to do was be happy. It hurt him terribly to lose his children. He felt guilty and inadequate as a father and as a husband. But now you've brought him the chance to try again."

Beth swallowed hard and admitted, "I was such a br-brat."

Rachel laughed shakily and touched the silky bangs that had gotten messed. "I wish I could disagree with you, but I'm afraid you had me thinking the same thing for a while."

"Do you think he'll ever forgive me?"

Rachel smiled and hugged Beth hard, then leaned back to look into her eyes. "Believe me, there'll be nothing to forgive if you'll only give us your blessing for our wedding Saturday."

"I'll do more than that. Maybe..." But suddenly she stopped.

Rachel ducked her head as if to peer up into Beth's downturned face. "Maybe…?..." she encouraged.

Beth looked up hopefully. "Well, I was thinking, maybe I could be your maid of honor, or whatever you call it."

"My attendant?" Rachel returned, surprised. "You'd really want to?"

Again Beth shrugged sheepishly. "I think you deserve it after the hard time I've given you." Then she dropped her eyes self-consciously. "You never even told him what I did in your store, did you?"

"What good would it have done? That was something between you and me, and I wanted to try to work it out without having him worry about it."

Beth looked up, and suddenly a light seemed to brighten her eyes. "Wait here!" she ordered, and jumped out of the car, then slammed the door and ran toward the house. Puzzled, Rachel did as ordered.

When Beth returned, she stuffed the silver bangle bracelet into Rachel's hands. "Here. Put it back in the showcase where it belongs."

"Oh, Beth, it's only worth..."

"No! Take it back and sell it!" Then in a more subdued tone she added, "I've never been able to make myself wear the dumb thing anyway."

Rachel tucked the bracelet into her purse. "Okay, back to the store it goes. And in the future, if you want to argue about your father, what do you say we do it honorably, straight to each other's faces?"

"Argue? But-but…"

"You don't think we're going to live together in one house, three adults..." Rachel considered Beth before amending, "Well… almost three adults, and never disagree, do you? Your daddy and I have a lot to learn about being parents, but if there's one thing this family is going to do, it's talk things out. I've had all I can take of stubborn people who hold grudges for years and years and refuse to talk them out."

Beth smiled at Rachel for the first time ever. "All right. At the first thing you do that I don't like, I promise to get on your case."

Rachel laughed, too, and a tremendous weight seemed to have been lifted from her heart.

"Since we've agreed to talk things over there's something I should ask you. Would you be terribly disappointed if we let Georgine go? I'm afraid your daddy and she don't get along too well."

Beth made a face. "Georgine's a crab."

Rachel chortled, then put in, "I probably shouldn't say so, but your daddy agrees wholeheartedly. We have someone in mind to replace her. Callie Mae worked for my family when I was a girl. Your daddy and I were the light of her life, and we've promised her she can come and work for us as soon as we're married."

"You mean, she knows everything?"

"Everything. Including the fact that she'll have another teenager to coddle."

Beth's eyes lit up and another broken piece seemed to fall into place.

"Oh, Rachel, I think… well, it seems like…" Beth seemed unable to voice all her newfound feelings, and finally blurted out, "Well, all of a sudden, I just can't wait!"

And as the two shared a last embrace, their newfound amity seemed a portent of peace ahead.

Tommy Lee and Rachel had decided to go together to visit Gaines and Lily Gentry. Verda was already winding up the cord of the vacuum cleaner when Tommy Lee stepped through the door of Panache. He had come straight from work and wore a brown tweed sports coat and tie beneath a crisp oyster-colored trench coat, its collar turned up. The wind had messed his hair, and as he closed the door and turned, he combed it back with his fingers.

Watching, Rachel marveled again at the powerful swell of emotions his appearance never ceased to create in her breast. It was more than just the missed years-oh, they were part of it-but there was pride in how much he'd changed, exhilaration in the thought of their future, and a vibrant sexuality that scintillated between them each time they encountered each other.

Seeing him, that first glimpse as he entered a room, rounded a corner, opened a door as he had just now, brought the most astounding response. Her heart accelerated as it had long ago, and she felt warm and knew her cheeks grew pink each time his eyes sought her out as they did now across the scented shop.

"All ready, darling?" he asked, crossing to her, touching his lips briefly to hers.

"Almost. We're just closing up." She moved to the armoire and switched off its light, then to her desk to tamp some papers into a neat pile and push the chair beneath the kneehole.

Verda looked on benevolently-by now she had grown used to Tommy Lee coming in this way. There was a new glow about Rachel since she'd been seeing him, and he was looking sexier than ever, though today he wore a distant, worried expression.

Verda offered, "You two go on. I'll lock up."

Rachel flashed her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Verda. See you tomorrow."

It was a drive of only minutes from the store to Cotako Street. As they pulled up before the Gentry house, Tommy Lee was silent and introspective. He smoked his cigarette voraciously, though Rachel was quite sure he didn't even realize he had it between his fingers. She reached over and brushed the back of his hand.

"Are you sure you want me to come in with you?"

The hand turned over and his fingers gripped hers. "Yes. Please. I need you."

"You're sure you wouldn't rather talk to them alone?"

But the pressure on her fingers told her how tense he was, how much he relied upon her for moral support. She leaned over to kiss his cheek and said, "All right, then, let's get it over with."

It felt awkward, standing on the front step waiting for someone to answer the bell-after all, they'd scampered at will into and out of this house for years. Tommy Lee stood with his hands buried in his coat pockets, his collar still turned up, his expression grave as he stared at the black metal mailbox beside the door. The wind lifted his coattail and slapped it back across his thigh, and Rachel placed her hand on his sleeve to squeeze his arm reassuringly.

The door opened and there stood Lily, gaping as if they were ghosts, holding the edge of the door and not moving a muscle.

Finally Tommy Lee said, "Hello, Mother."

His words seemed to shake her out of her trance. Her lips opened and her eyes skipped from Tommy Lee to Rachel and back, but though her throat worked, no sound came out. So Rachel added, "Hello, Lily."

At last Lily found her voice.

"Have-hello," she said, though it was no more than a weak, breathless squeak.

"We wondered if we could talk to you and Daddy."

"Which-why, of course. Come in. Come in." Suddenly she was all action and smiling solicitousness, stepping back and waving them in with fluttery, nervous gestures. "Well, my gracious, what a surprise this is. I was just… Come, sit. Where did he… Gaines?" she finally called, glancing around as if she'd misplaced him.

"Lily, where are my slippers?" came his voice from upstairs.

Lily flapped her hands. "Oh, that man, forever losing something. Just… Would it… Excuse me just a minute." She went to the bottom of the stairs and called up, "Gaines, we have company. Leave your shoes on."

"Company? Who?"

"Come see," she answered.

A moment later Gaines Gentry appeared at the foot of the stairs, and when he saw who stood across the room he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes zeroed in on Tommy Lee, held for some time before shifting to Rachel momentarily, then settling on his son again. Disbelief registered on his face. His cheeks began turning an electric pink, and finally his feet started moving.

"Well, this is a surprise."

"Hello, Daddy. I hope we're not interrupting your dinner," Tommy Lee began.

"No… no!" Gaines responded eagerly. "We hadn't started yet. Your mother was just setting the table." He stood near enough to touch, but both he and Tommy Lee refrained from reaching out to each other. Rachel sensed his breathlessness and noted a trembling in his hand as he patted his shirtfront and repeated, "Well, this is quite a surprise. Tommy Lee." And as if just now remembering himself, Gaines turned to include his other visitor. "And Rachel, too."

"Hello, Gaines."

Tommy Lee cleared his throat. "We'd like to talk to both of you if you have a minute."

"Why, sure, sure… let's sit down. Lily, is there any coffee?" he rambled nervously.

"No," Tommy Lee interjected. "No coffee for us. We'll only be a minute."

"Well, sit down anyway. Can I take your coats?"

The whole thing was starting out just as Rachel had suspected it would, with everyone walking on eggshells. Gaines's face was so bright by now he looked in danger of having a stroke, and Lily wore a porcelain smile that made it quite impossible to look her in the eye. Finally they were all perched, Gaines and Lily on overstuffed armchairs, Tommy Lee on a davenport beside Rachel, the only one to lean back with any semblance of composure.

Silence fell for several uncomfortable seconds. Then Tommy Lee cleared his throat, rested his elbows on his knees, and chafed his hands together, studying the floor between his feet, finally glancing up to ask, "So, how have you both been?"

"Fine!" they replied together, then glanced at each other sheepishly while the room grew tingly with tension.

"Me, too. I ah… live out on the lake now."

"Yes, we heard."

"My daughter lives with me."

"Your daughter!" Lily said, as if surprised.

"Yes, the one you've seen with me at church."

"Oh, yes, of course. My, but she's pretty."

Tommy Lee allowed himself to smile, raising his eyes to Rachel as if for fortification. "Rachel says she looks like you." Lily grew fluttery again, and Tommy Lee cleared his throat and lurched to his feet, then began pacing nervously.

"We, ah… Rachel and I have been seeing quite a bit of each other since her husband died."

"We were so sorry to hear the news, Rachel. Such a young man."

"Yes… well…" Rachel searched for something to say to cover the awkward moment. "Tommy Lee has helped me tremendously to get over Owen's death."

She lifted her face to Tommy Lee, and their eyes met and held as he added, "And Rachel has helped me, too. I've been managing, with her help, to get my life back on track." He drew a prolonged breath, and she offered a smile of reassurance to force him on. "I was running pretty wild there for a quite a few years… thought I had the world by the tail, but actually I was on a self-destruction course. Rachel made me realize that." Still their eyes communicated as he added more softly, "Rachel's made me see a lot of things."

Gaines and Lily observed the tender expression passing between the two and dropped their eyes to the carpet, but their son suddenly seemed to draw himself back to the present, squaring his shoulders and facing the two seated on the matched chairs.

"You see, it's because of her that I'm here. She and I… we're…" Tommy Lee's troubled eyes wavered from his mother to his father. Then he swung around, took two jerky steps toward the fireplace, shoved one hand through his hair, and mumbled, "Oh, hell." Finally he spun to face them once more, and when at last he said what he'd come to say, it came out all in a rush. "Rachel and I are going to get married this Saturday, but before she would agree to it she made me promise to come here and settle things with you, so here we are."

Not a sound adulterated the silence. From the kitchen came the smell of supper cooking, while in the living room four uncertain people faced one another, each waiting for the next one to say something.

Lily was the first to respond. She pulled her lips together long enough to breathe, "Married?" Her eyes were enormous as she looked up at her towering son, who stood with his hands buried in his coat pockets, a defensive scowl on his face.

"Yes, married. We thought you should know."

Lily's face was pale as parchment, and she touched her heart and looked to her husband for a reply, but he was as surprised as she. Though they had seen Rachel and Tommy Lee exchanging hellos on the church steps, they had no idea the two had been seeing so much of each other.

Tommy Lee crossed to his mother's chair and hunkered down before it, taking her hand. "I love her more than I could ever begin to tell her. I've never stopped loving her. Having her in my life again has given me the strength to turn it around in the nick of time. But she's very wise, more so than any of us three…" His eyes moved to a stunned Gaines, then back to Lily. "She realized that a lot of what was wrong with my life stemmed from the bitterness I felt toward you two. And I want it over. Over and done with." Then he ended softly, "Don't you?"

The look they exchanged was poignant as Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Tommy Lee, I've prayed for years to hear you say that."

"Why didn't one of you say it?" he asked, a shadow of hurt in his tone.

Her eyes dropped to their joined hands. "Stubbornness, I guess. Pride." She looked up into her son's eyes and added quietly, "Guilt."

Still holding his mother's hand he turned his head to include his father as he said, "Rachel and I want an end to all that. It's over. She and I have a second chance and that's all that matters now. Beth will be living with us, and-don't you see? It's almost as if Providence decided in our favor after all these years. She's not the same Beth we lost, but that doesn't matter. Isn't it time we all put that incident behind us? God knows I'm as guilty of keeping old wounds from healing as anybody. But now there's going to be Rachel… and me… and Beth. I… I'm anxious for you to meet her."

"Our… our granddaughter." Lily's face had all but collapsed with emotion. She struggled to hold back the tears, but they coursed down her cheeks.

Tommy Lee smiled crookedly and teased, "Well, it's nothing to cry about, Mama."

And at last they could restrain themselves no longer. Lily threw her arms around Tommy Lee's neck and he fell to his knees beside her chair, hauling her roughly against him. Looking on, Gaines stood and took a halting step toward them, and Rachel could tell by the expression on his face that he was having difficulty restraining his own tears.

When mother and son drew apart, Tommy Lee looked up to find his father hovering nearby. Slowly he straightened and the two confronted each other with a gravity that was palpable, while the eternal moment lengthened. Then they pitched roughly together and slapped each other's shoulders.

"Son…" Gaines choked.

Tommy Lee's eyes were closed, his throat working convulsively against his father's shoulder.

They backed apart, laughing self-consciously. Then Tommy Lee was striding toward Rachel, reaching for her hand to pull her to her feet and include her in the celebration. She went from Lily's arms to Gaines's, accepting and giving embraces with a residue of self-consciousness still making the scene very strained.

"We all have a lot of time to make up for," Lily offered.

It seemed to Rachel that Lily had shrunk over the years, and it made her realize how old their parents were getting. Yes, there was much to make up for. Lily tried several times to say something before finally managing to complete the thought.

"Would you… Thursday is… Well, I was just thinking, if you… haven't made any other plans, Thursday is Thanksgiving, and it seems we have a lot to be thankful for this year. Would you care to join us for dinner? And bring Beth, too?"

The eagerness shone in her eyes. Tommy Lee and Rachel both saw it there before exchanging a silent glance. Actually, they'd made plans for Rachel to spend the day with Tommy Lee and Beth at the lake house. But now she answered for all three of them.

"We'd love to. Is that okay with you, Tommy Lee?"

"Uh… oh, of course!"

The look of delight that came over Lily Gentry's face was radiant while Gaines patted his shirtfront and rocked back on his heels, smiling and nodding.

Tommy Lee and Rachel left minutes later amid more stilted farewell pats and hugs. When they were walking to the car, Tommy Lee asked, "So what about that turkey we bought, and the plan to move your stuff out to my house after dinner Thursday?"

"We'll leave the turkey in the freezer and move my things at midnight if we have to. As your mother said, we have a lot to be thankful for this year, and it will be auspicious to begin all together at a Thanksgiving table."

As Tommy Lee opened the car door for her he added, "Just about all together."

She glanced over her shoulder. The pecan tree was bare of nuts now, and beyond it the break in the boxwood hedge was merely a shadow. The sweetgum tree had dropped all its balls, too-everything looked wintry and cold. She lifted her eyes to the house beyond the hedge and thought of how wintry and cold its lone resident must be. Daddy, she thought, and her heart ached with pity for a man so steeped in pride he would remain in self-imposed exile rather than bend.

"We'd better go, Rachel," Tommy Lee said softly.

She looked up at him beseechingly. "Do you suppose he'll ever change?"

"It would take a miracle, I think."

As they drove away, Rachel's eyes lingered sadly on the dim light in her father's living-room window.