Mia Like Crazy (28 page)

As we drove up to the meticulously maintained farmhouse, I noted the cows contentedly chewing grass at the back of the field. The Chesneys came out to greet us as we stepped out of the car.

I introduced them to my sister-in-law and, as expected, they were surprised. Mrs. Chesney looked down at her clothing as though she wasn’t sure if she was dressed well enough to meet a multi-millionaire.

“Can we invite you in?”

“Thanks,” I answered. “But we really only need a few seconds of your time.” I paused, expecting Meridith to jump in with the good news, but she seemed unusually tongue-tied.

“The paperwork is complete,” I finally said. “Meridith has signed this property back over to you.”

The couple was in obvious shock. “Just like that?” Mr. Chesney asked.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s a done deal.”

As the Chesneys began thanking Meridith profusely for her kindness, she appeared more and more uncomfortable.

Finally, she blurted out. “I don’t think this much gratitude is in order, considering how my father probably acquired the land in the first place.” Her face was crimson. “What I really came to say is, I’m sorry for what my father did, and I apologize for any emotional discomfort it may have caused your family over the years.”

I hadn’t understood the embarrassment Meridith felt at being the daughter of a man of such low virtue. It never occurred to me that my wealthy, sophisticated sister-in-law could be as ashamed of aspects of her own family background as I was of mine. It reminded me again that money really didn’t solve every problem. I now regretted that I insisted on her presence.

Mrs. Chesney spoke up. “Ms. Vaughn, I don’t see how you could have even been born when this happened. We certainly don’t blame you, and we’re appreciative because, as soon as you knew the situation, you remedied it. It’s obvious you managed to grow up to be a kind, honest person.”

“Well, I relied on Mia’s assessment of you. That was all it took. I’m happy to do it.”

“In that case,” Mrs. Chesney said. “Let me show you the spot where my daughter is going to build her house. You know, she got married a couple of months ago.”

Meridith brightened as she heard about the plans her actions had made possible, and I felt a sense of relief.

Chapter Seventeen

As I drove from store to store, I thought about how I’d been having the best holiday season of my life. We had taken the kids trick-or-treating on Halloween, Meridith and Drew had cooked a fabulous feast at Meri’s house for Thanksgiving, and Drew and I were invited to join Meridith and the kids for Christmas.

I remembered how, at Thanksgiving dinner, Meridith had asked each of us to name the things we were thankful for. We went around the table from Molly to Ben to Meridith. I was touched that I was on both of the children’s lists, but it was Drew’s sister’s speech that most astounded me.

“I’m always thankful to have my wonderful children, and for my home and health…and sanity,” she said. “But I’ve been especially blessed this year. It meant the world to me to get to know my brother, even if I had to force myself on him…” She looked pointedly at Drew. “And I’m so happy he now spends his holidays—and cleaning lady days—here with us.” He met her eyes briefly, then looked down at his empty plate as though his sister’s open sentimentality was too much for him.

“And more recently, something has happened that has brought so much joy into all of our lives—when Drew married Mia.” Meridith’s eyes glistened with moisture as she turned her attention to me.

“This may sound strange, coming from a sister-in-law, but I knew that first day at the diner, when I looked into your eyes, you were meant to be here with us. I know you believe I tried so hard to keep you around for Drew’s sake, and of course I’d do anything for him, but I’m not completely unselfish in my motivations. The truth is I’ve gotten something out of all of this too, something I’ve wanted my entire life—a sister
—
and I’m thankful every
day for her.”

I was so surprised and touched by Meridith’s words, I wasn’t sure I could speak without breaking down into sobs.

But it was my turn, and everyone, including the children were staring expectantly at me, so I cleared my throat and said, “This is the first Thanksgiving I really feel like I have something to be thankful for. In fact, this is the first real Thanksgiving dinner with family I’ve ever had. I wasn’t sure real-life families ever had days like this…moments like this.” I paused to blink back the tears that were threatening to slide down my cheeks. “I always thought I would find happiness in money and success, and that most people were obstacles I had to overcome, like my parents were. I’ve learned so much in the past few months about the feelings and relationships I didn’t even know were missing. My priorities have changed completely. My whole life has changed, and the people responsible for it are sitting here at this table. So, I am thankful for my favorite sister-in-law Meridith…” a tear slid down my face as Meri’s eyes met mine, “my favorite nephew Ben, my favorite niece Molly…”

“Hey,” Molly exclaimed, “I’m you’re only niece!”

“But it doesn’t keep you from being my favorite one!” I said. “And last, but certainly never least, my favorite husband Drew, who did me the biggest favor of all when he talked me into marrying him.” As I turned to him, I saw his eyes fill. He looked away.

After several seconds of silence, Meridith spoke. “Drew, it’s your turn.”

He gazed around the table at each of us, one by one, looking as though he was thinking very profound thoughts. Finally, his gaze rested on me.

“Ditto,” he said. Everyone laughed, and he leaned over and kissed me firmly on the lips, right in front of his family.

So, I was thinking fondly about that day as I drove Drew’s car around, doing my Christmas shopping.

I was planning to take cabs or borrow a car from Meridith, but when I told Drew I was going Christmas shopping and he couldn’t go, he gave me his car keys as though he did it every day.

I refused to take the car at first, saying I knew how much he valued the Corvette, but he said it wasn’t important anymore and, if I messed it up, we could pick out a new car together. After the initial shock wore off, I recovered and took the car.

I had never wanted so badly to choose the right gift for someone. This time, when Drew had tried to give me credit cards and cash, as he usually did when I went shopping, I gave them back. I still had some money from my old life, and I wanted his Christmas gifts to be purchased with money I had earned myself.

Of course, I got him some clothes I wanted to see him in, knowing he might not be able to bring himself to wear them. I stopped at a kitchen store and wandered through all the pots and pans, gadgets and contraptions, having no idea what to do with any of them. Finally, I asked the store clerk for some advice on the most popular items and called Meridith to be sure I was making good purchases.

After several hours of shopping, I had accumulated a number of gifts for Drew, yet, I felt I still hadn’t found “the gift”—the one from my heart. I tried to remember everything he’d said and done since I’d known him. There had to be a hint in there somewhere.

Then it came to me—the face on the Jack-o-lantern, and Dr. Schultz’s description of him as a child. I turned the car around, knowing exactly where I needed to go.

~

About a week before Christmas, Drew and I had just finished watching a movie, which I had lost interest in halfway through. I’d started to think about all of the unaccounted for time from his past. He had never spoken of his time in jail or the seven years afterward. I thought he might be sure enough of me now to talk about these things, or at least I hoped he was.

“Drew, I want to ask you about something, but I don’t want to pry, if you’re not ready to talk about it.”

“What is it?” I noticed he no longer tensed when I started asking personal questions.

“There’s a big part of your life that’s a blank page to me, like the time you were in prison and the years afterward, before you met Meridith.”

“A lot of it’s a blank page to me, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I only remember bits and pieces from the time I was arrested until after I got out of prison.”

“Do you mind telling me what you remember?” I placed my hand on top of his in his lap.

He adjusted my ring so it was centered perfectly on my finger. “I know I spent the better part of a year in the county jail waiting for the trial to start because my dad wouldn’t bail me out. I don’t have more than a split second memory of being in the courtroom or with my lawyer. Since they counted the time I served in the county jail as part of my sentence, I spent about a year in state prison. Altogether, I guess it was less than two years.”

He knitted his brow and stared into my diamond as if it were a window on his past life. “The first day I was at the state prison, some guys jumped me and tried to kill me.”

I gasped. The idea of Drew being badly beaten by convicts made me sick to my stomach. But he’d mentioned it so matter-of-factly. Then I remembered regular beatings had always been a part of his life.

“They’d seen me on TV. They were lifers with nothing to lose. It seems like I was at the hospital and the prison infirmary for a long time. I had a head injury. After I got out of the infirmary, I was put in something like solitary confinement for my own protection. I spent most of my time alone.”

“For how long?”

“The rest of my sentence.”

I gasped, thinking how utterly lonely he must have been. Had that finished turning him into a recluse? “What did you do every day?”

“I don’t remember. It’s like those movies where people wake up from an accident and realize they’ve lost years of their life. I’m not sure if the memory loss has to do with the injury or me being nuts. It’s not like I was a normal kid before all this happened. I can’t even remember the day I was released.”

“Where did you go after that?”

“I think my lawyer found me the little apartment I ended up living in. I guess he was a pretty good guy, but I told him to leave me alone. I couldn’t stand anyone trying to help me.” He seemed genuinely remorseful.

“How did you live?” I needed to fill in as many details as possible.

“Since my dad—Jack Larson—never bothered to make a will, he hadn’t officially disowned me,” he continued. “He died crossing the street. I do remember that when my lawyer came to visit me in jail to tell me about it, I thought
, ‘
That’s all it took to take that son-of-a-bitch out?” He shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe it. “Some distracted mom in a Honda? Where was she fifteen years ago?
’
I mean, how much worse could a foster home have been?”

He seemed lost in his own thoughts. “I really believed he was indestructible, like a god or something. If I’d known otherwise, I probably would have run him down with his Stingray when I as a teenager.” Drew looked as if he was savoring the thought, and I couldn’t blame him. “Anyway, my dad liked to pretend he had a lot of money, but he had a lot of debts, too. I think I ended up with about fifty or sixty thousand after the house was sold, plus the car. So I lived cheap, and did odd jobs for cash, and…well…survived.”

I placed my hand over his and he accepted it, threading his fingers between mine. “Did you have anyone at all during that time?”

“I didn’t want anyone. The one person I lived with all my life hurt me every single day, and then I got used to being alone in jail. I knew it wasn’t a real life, but it was the only one I could stand to have.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if the memories were causing him physical pain. “When Vaughn died and named me in his will, some lawyer managed to track me down. Since I had a regular income, I got this place and stayed in here alone as much as I could.

“A few weeks later, Meridith showed up at my door and I treated her worse than I treated you the first time we met. For some reason, she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer and she kept coming back. After a while, she started bringing the kids and had them calling me ‘Uncle Drew.’ Once you bring kids into the picture, they expect you to be a real uncle and everything. It gets harder to be a complete hermit.”