Forever Fall (9 page)

Luc had only been in this part of town a few times before. It was no less depressing than it had been on his previous visits to roust out hooky playing teens. “Where’re we going?”

“I have a stop to make before I go to the office.” Mandy glanced at him, then back to the road. “I have to check on one of my clients.”

A few minutes later she stopped in front of a rundown house that Luc suspected was once someone’s garage and had been converted into a very small house. However, this house stood out from the rest. The occupants had obviously made an effort to clean it up. The structure was sorely in need of paint, but no junk littered the grass-spotted yard, and all the windows were intact. A pathetic pot of bright yellow chrysanthemums sat on the front porch.

Mandy shut off the car’s engine and turned to Luc. “Come in with me.”

His first impulse was to decline, but then he wondered if perhaps there was an irate husband or father in there that posed a threat to Mandy. Although, after the way she’d dressed him down, he didn’t see her as needing protection from anyone, the idea that someone might hurt her caused him deep concern and gave him the push he needed to accompany her.

“Let’s go.” He climbed from the car, totally unprepared for whatever lay behind the unpainted door.

Luc followed Mandy to the front door of the little rundown house. No sooner had she knocked than a high-pitched wail that reminded him of the
robo
baby emanated from inside.

“Who is it?” The answering voice sounded like that of a young girl.

“It’s Mandy, Alyce.”

“Come on in,” the girl called back.

Luc waited while Mandy opened the door and motioned him to accompany her inside. The little house, while definitely in need of work, was dust free and swept clean, but cluttered. Baby clothes in need of folding were piled on a threadbare chair. A pair of running shoes was tucked under the scarred coffee table, and several dirty dishes and an empty baby bottle sat on top. An open book lay face down on the sofa.

Just then a harried looking, young girl, who couldn’t have been more than seventeen, emerged from a side room carrying a crying infant of perhaps six months. The girl was dressed in what Luc recognized as the uniform of one of Terri’s Tearoom waitresses. Her hair needed combing, and her face was devoid of makeup. The purplish circles beneath her eyes attested to a lack of sleep.

“Lucas Michaels, this is Alyce Walker.”

“Hello, Alyce.”

“Hey.” The baby’s crying had subsided to a few hiccups. “I didn’t expect you until Wednesday, Ms. James.” Alyce shifted the baby to her shoulder and gently rubbed its back.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by to see how things are going.” Mandy didn’t look at Luc. Probably because he knew she was lying about being in the neighborhood. “How’s Lili doing?”

Alyce looked down at the baby. “She had a bad night last night. Neither of us got to sleep until after four. I think she had a tummy ache.” Alyce collapsed on the sofa. “I’m working a double shift today, and I’m beat already. I’ll be half dead when I come home.”

Mandy sat down next to her and took the baby. “Have you done anything about signing up for your GED?” She began to gently rock the baby, and soon its eyes closed in sleep.

Alyce sighed and leaned back against the sofa. “I haven’t had time. It seems every time I get a spare minute, Lili needs something. Between her and work, my day is shot.”

Luc had been listening silently to the conversation, but this was something he could take care of. “Alyce, I’m the high school principal. If you get your information to me, I can arrange for you to take the courses, if you’d like. I can get the papers you’ll need to fill out and give them to Mandy for you. Then it’ll just be a case of you taking the classes and passing the final exam.”

Alyce’s face lit up for a moment, and then the excitement died like an extinguished candle. “I don’t know when I’d have time to take the classes. Lili takes up so much of my time, and then there’s the babysitter problem. I can’t afford to pay anyone to watch her.”

“No need to give that a thought.” The voice that came from the door Luc had neglected to close behind him startled them all. Granny Jo Hawks stood in the doorway. She stepped into the house and scooped Lili from Mandy’s arms. Lili woke up and emitted a faint cry. “I can watch this precious little one while you get your diploma. Got nothing else to do.”

“But I can’t pay—”

“Did I say anything about wanting to get paid?” Granny smiled. “I have no need for extra money.” She winked at Luc. “I’d probably just squander it on nonsense anyway.”

Mandy stood. “Then it’s settled. Luc will arrange for the classes and testing, and Granny will watch Lili.”

A lone tear slid down Alyce’s cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”

Luc smiled. “Just say you’ll do it. You have no excuse not to now.”

Alyce looked from one to the other of them. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“That’s my girl. Now you go finish getting yourself dressed for work, and Lili and I will settle in for a girl’s night.” Granny Jo flashed a beaming smile.

Alyce grinned, then jumped to her feet, hurried into a room off the living area and closed the door. Granny lowered herself into a rocker and began rocking the baby. Moments later, Lili’s eyes drifted shut.

Luc smiled at Granny Jo, amazed at how quickly she’d been able to put the child back to sleep. “I take it that you’re babysitting?”

“Yep. I take care of Lili a couple times a week so Alyce can go to work. Been doing it almost since this sweet little girl came into this world. That girl’s a good momma and proud as they come, but she can’t do it all by herself.” She shook her head and made a
tsking
sound with her tongue. “Her own family disowned her when Alyce got in the family way. Won’t have anything to do with her. Her momma said her life had been ruined by Alyce, and she wasn’t gonna let Alyce’s brat ruin it further. So, somebody had to step in and help out.”

Luc noticed that Mandy flinched when Granny talked about Alyce’s mother and how she thought Alyce had ruined her life. Was that just sympathy for Alyce, or had it touched a raw spot in Mandy? Having seen her passion for this project and the way she fought for it at the school board meeting, he’d come to believe she was driven by more than just her job or a social obligation to these teens.

On the ride to the garage
to pick up his car, Luc was silent. His thoughts, however, were not. He couldn’t get Alyce and Lili and their lot in life out of his mind.

His father’s philosophy that
nothing is forever
had been ingrained in Luc and, over the years, had colored much of his thinking, but after witnessing the kind of life Alyce led, he wondered if that prediction applied to this young girl. With a baby to support, no education and a dead-end job waiting tables, he didn’t see how she could do it, even with a GED. Where would she find the time and money to pursue a career that would provide a good enough living to leave her present lifestyle behind? All in all, this looked a lot like
forever
to him.

He couldn’t imagine Shannon’s family allowing her to live under these conditions, but he had to wonder how many other teen moms, who didn’t come from affluence, or whose families had disowned them or didn’t have benevolent neighbors like Granny Jo, had to endure these hardships alone. And what about the children? Did they, like Alyce’s mother, live with resentment because their teen years had been stolen from them by an unwanted, unplanned for child?

Suddenly, the guilt he’d been feeling about going along with Asa’s plan to keep the
robo
babies out of the Family Planning classes felt like he had the
Queen Mary’s
anchor on his shoulders.

But he also kept coming back to Mandy’s reaction to Granny’s statement about Alyce’s mother. At first, he’d thought he’d imagined her reaction, but the more thought he gave it, the more he was convinced it had struck a raw nerve. Was that why this project had become an obsession with her? Had she lived that life?

When Luc arrived back
at the lake house, he looked surprised to find Mandy on the porch reading a book. At breakfast she’d told him she’d had work to catch up on at her office. He got out of the car, strolled to porch and flopped down in the rocker beside her.

“I thought you were going to work at your office.”

She glanced up from her book. “I was, but I decided that I’d like to come back here and just soak up the peace and quiet. Going to see Alyce always—” She couldn’t finish. “I just hope Lili has a better life than most of those babies born to mothers too young to take care of them and love them, or who feel they’ve ruined their lives just by being born.”

“Alyce seems to adore Lili, so I don’t think that will be the case.” He was silent for a few moments. “What about the father?”

Mandy shook her head. “He decided his life without encumbrances was more important and signed over all rights to the child.”

“Doesn’t he pay support?”

Again, Mandy shook her head. “Alyce said if he disowned their child, then she didn’t want anything from him but his absence. In this instance, instead of the mother feeling like the child ruined her life, the father was afraid Lili would ruin his.”

Mandy could feel him staring at her. She glanced nervously out over the smooth lake. Not a ripple shown in its glassy surface. When she realized he was still staring at her, she dipped her head as if going back to her reading. But reading was far from her mind. Visiting Alyce today had brought a lot of memories to the surface that she’d spent years keeping hidden.

She wondered if Alyce would one day look at Lili and accuse her of ruining her life. That precious little bundle had no idea what her life could become and how worthless her mother’s cutting remarks could make her feel.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“No.” Had her answer been too sharp? Had that coupled with her statement about kids ruining lives given too much away? She tried to cover it up with an innocent question, but in her gut she knew it was too late. “One of who?”

“Those unwanted babies. That’s why you work so hard at making their lives tolerable and preventing what Alyce is enduring from happening to other young girls.”

She sprang out of the rocker and started toward the front door. No one knew about her childhood, and she planned on keeping it that way. The humiliation of having people feel sorry for her because her mother neither loved nor wanted her was something she hated. She’d had enough of that in school and didn’t discuss it with anyone, and she was not about to discuss it with Lucas Michaels.

He stopped her with a gentle hand to her forearm. “I’m told I’m a good listener, so if you ever feel like getting it out
 . . . .
”

A wise comeback hung on the tip of her tongue. But then something she couldn’t identify, but that she’d kept locked in a dark part of her with the other things she didn’t want to acknowledge, escaped. She looked at him for the first time since he’d come home. Really looked at him. His expression held no condemnation, just compassion and understanding. She felt like she could talk to him. But she held back. Maybe someday. Maybe never. But it was nice to know that he’d offered.

She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.”

Luc sat in the rocker for a while after Mandy went into the house. He’d spent a lot of years reading the faces of the kids who’d been sent to his office for one reason or another. That expression and the verbal evasions were all too familiar to him. There was no doubt in his mind that Amantha James was hiding something.

Oddly, he wanted to relieve her burden, hold her and tell her everything would be okay. Protect her from any pain and hurt.

Now, where in blazes had that come from?

Rather than think about what had prompted the new and unnerving emotions concerning Mandy, he rose and went into the house. Just inside the door, he could hear raised voices drifting up the hall from the family room. He caught sight of Mandy standing just outside and to the left of the family room door, eavesdropping on the conversation. When she saw him, she placed a finger over her lips

As he drew closer, the voices became more distinct. One of them was Shannon’s, and the other was one with which he was very familiar. Jeb Tanner.

“It’s not like the thing is alive, Shannon.”

“Can’t Mr. Michaels and this Mandy person watch the baby for you?” This female voice was familiar as well, but Luc couldn’t put a name with it.

“No, they can’t. I told you. I’m the only one who can see to the baby.”

“Stop saying that. It’s a toy, for God’s sake, not a baby. Get real.” Jeb’s voice had gained in volume and impatience. By the sound of it, he was quickly losing his temper. Then in a calmer, but obviously forced voice, Jeb said, “Are you coming to the dance with us, or are we going without you?”

Silence.

“I can’t.” Tears filled Shannon’s voice. “I’m sorry, Jeb, please don’t be mad at me.”

“Come on, Darcy. We better leave Shannon to her
mommy
duties.”

Seconds later Jeb Tanner and Darcy Williams hurried past Luc and out the front door without even a hello in acknowledgment. They were quickly followed by Shannon, who was holding Joey by one arm. The wail of the
robo
baby echoed through the hall as she ran up the stairs to her room.

Luc glanced at Mandy, expecting to see triumph in her face. Instead he saw a sadness that tore at his heart. “What was that all about?”

Mandy walked into the family room and flopped down on the sofa. Luc followed. “Jeb and Darcy are going to the Fall Festival dance at the church, and they wanted Shannon to go, too.”

“How did they know where she was?”

“Seems they overheard Asa Watkins talking to his wife on the phone.” Mandy’s derisive tone closely resembled Luc’s when he talked about the School Superintendent.

Luc sighed. “Those kids will talk, and, if Laureene Talbot gets a hold of this information, it’ll be all over town
 . . .
with her usual embellishments. So much for keeping it under wraps.”

And so much for keeping his job.