Midnight Remedy (21 page)

“Your father didn’t want to marry me.” She couldn’t tell him that his father had already been married.

“Why?” His voice rose in agitation. “He didn’t want to marry you ‘cause of me? That’s why.”

“No!” She stretched out her hand toward him, but he drew back, still staring at her accusingly. “Cole, that’s not true. He didn’t want to get married because he didn’t love me. It had nothing to do with you.”

“But what about me? Didn’t he love me, either?” His voice shrilled, his chest heaved. His small fists clenched in anguish.

Roger wouldn’t even acknowledge him—another thing she’d never tell him. “It wasn’t like that, honey. I love you so much I wanted you all to myself.” Even to her it sounded lame.

“No, you’re lying!” Cole shouted. “My daddy didn’t want me, and you don’t either! You said I was a mistake! You
said
it! I bet you wish you’d never had me!” He tore out of the house at top speed.

Piper ran to the door. Cole dashed across the pasture with Jumbo in lumbering pursuit. She didn’t follow, deciding instead to send Charlie after him. His great-grandfather could get Cole to listen better than anyone. But listen to what? Six years old, she thought. So young, so impressionable. And right now she knew he felt like he couldn’t depend on anyone.

Her son hated her. Burying her face in her hands, she gave way to the scalding, bitter tears of regret and misery. She’d never told Cole a thing about his father and then suddenly she hit him not only with his illegitimacy, but the fact that she thought he was a mistake. She’d done the one thing she’d sworn never to do and made him doubt his self-worth. Because she’d been afraid and had selfishly avoiding telling him the truth.

“I didn’t leak that story, Charlie. A temporary clerk did it, and she’s been fired.”

He took a seat and said, “Don’t matter much who leaked it. What matters is my little girl’s life is being made a misery.”

“Dave and I are doing everything we can to get the story dropped. I’ve been going crazy since this happened. She hasn’t said a word to me, not one.” Wearily, Eric leaned his hips against the front of his desk and shoved his hand through his hair. “I need to see her.” More than a need, it was an obsession. “I’ve got to talk to her.”

Unimpressed, Charlie cracked his knuckles. “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

“Get her to see me.” Eric stuffed his hands in his pockets and scowled at him.

The old man shook his head, a half smile hovering on his lips. “Not a chance, Doc. Not a dog’s chance.”

Damn the old coot, Eric thought, he’s enjoying how miserable I am. “You don’t understand, I’ve got to talk to her,” he repeated. “We were seeing each other before all this happened. Hell, we’ve been seeing each other for weeks. I miss her.” He waved his hand in the air. “I care about her. And I care about Cole, too. Talk to her for me, Charlie.”

Considering him from under bushy brows, Charlie stared at him for a long moment. Finally he spoke. “Cole came home from school that first day with a split lip and black eye. Kid called him a bastard. And you can guess what they called his mama. Natcherly, Cole up and busted him one. He wasn’t sure what the words meant, but he’s a smart kid. He knows when he’s being insulted. Now, I wonder whose door she’s laying that at?”

His, obviously. Eric spread his hands. “If I could stop it, or change it, don’t you think I would?”

“She’s not ready to talk to you, Doc. Maybe won’t ever be.”

He dragged his hand through his hair again. “How did Cole handle it?”

“‘Bout like you’d expect. Didn’t understand a lot of the talk. Piper tried to explain it to him. Try tellin’ a six-year-old that his daddy didn’t want him and that you weren’t married when you had him.”

Eric winced. “What did he do when she told him?”

“Yelled at his mama and ran off. A while later I found him and talked to him some. He’ll be okay. Maybe.”

“God, I hate it that he’s going through this. I wish there was something I could do for him.”

Charlie snorted. “Well, you mighta thought of that before you talked Piper into giving that remedy to your friend.”

“I didn’t expect anything like this to happen.”

“Piper told you it would. You should’ve listened to her.”

He was right, dammit. Dead right. “Has Kimberly been any help?” Eric asked, unable to refute him.

“Kimberly called up screeching the next day. Says she’s talking to people. All I know is those reporters are still hanging around.” The old man’s shoulders shook as he chuckled. He laid a booted foot across one knee and put his hand on the other. “The last reporter who stuck his head in where it didn’t belong has a dent the size of the Rio Grande Valley in his head. Piper beaned him with a clay pot. Always did have a good aim.”

“I want to help her.”

Bushy brows drew together. “Piper needs a man who’ll love her enough that her past won’t matter to him.”

Eric shoved himself away from his desk to pace the room. “I don’t give a damn about her past. She knows that.” Didn’t she?

Charlie regarded him steadily. “Doc, right now the only thing she knows is that you wanted to sleep with her.”

Eric stopped pacing and stared at him.

“That’s nothing new and nothing unusual either. Piper’s a grown woman now, old enough to decide what she wants. But hell, son,” he said scornfully, “she needs more than that. If that’s all you’re after, she’s better off without you.”

“Damn you, Charlie, that’s not all it is.”

“Coulda fooled me. I never heard any talk about love or marriage. The way it looks to me, either you love her or you get out of her life and let her get on with it.”

“Of course I love her!” Eric shouted. “For God’s sake, do you think I’d be standing here humiliating myself if I didn’t?”

Charlie grinned, and sat back. “No need to shout, Doc,” he said mildly. “I’m not deaf yet.”

Hands fisted and his chest still heaving, Eric glared at him. His eyes narrowed. “Are you happy now?”

“Reckon so,” he stated with a satisfied nod of his head. “Somebody had to push you to see it.”

“I’ve known it for weeks. But it’s not going to do me a bit of good if she won’t even cross my path.”

“You mighta known it but you haven’t told her. What were you waiting for, son?”

Eric shook his head wearily and ran his hand over his brow. “What does it matter? It’s too late.”

Charlie grunted. “Give her some time, she’ll come around. If she loves you, that is.” He rose and stomped over to the door. Turning, he looked Eric over. “Guess you’ll just have to be patient, Doc. See you around.”

The next day, his doorbell rang.
Eric couldn’t stop the brief, futile stab of hope that it might be Piper. He opened his door to see Cole standing on his doorstep, clutching something in his hands that appeared to be wiggling. Taking a closer look, he realized it was a horned toad.

Solemnly, the little boy gazed at him, his brown eyes looking too large for his face. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” He stepped back and let him enter. “What’s going on, Cole?”

“My horny toad’s sick. I know you said you couldn’t fix animals, but
 . . .
” He hung his head and didn’t say anything else.

Eric squatted down and took the toad from him. It looked like a small, flat pineapple, just exactly like he’d expect a horny toad to look. Its skin felt rough, which from what he could remember from his youth, was normal. Small, beady eyes blinked at him.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Won’t eat,” Cole mumbled.

“What have you been trying to feed him?” He didn’t believe for a minute that was why the boy was here, but he allowed him to get to the real reason in his own time.

“Bugs, grass. You know, stuff.” Shrugging, Cole looked away. “But he won’t eat anything.”

“Maybe he’s just not hungry,” Eric ventured, trying to keep the conversation going. His knees hurt, he wasn’t used to squatting for long periods.

“I think he’s sad,” Cole said, the hint of a tear shining in his eye. “Nobody
 . . .
” His voice broke and he continued, “Nobody wants him.”

Looking into Cole’s dirt streaked face, Eric recognized the pain in his eyes. “I don’t know a lot of animal medicine, but I do know that sometimes their owners can help them because they can tell us things that the animals can’t.”

In a quiet little voice Cole said, “His daddy hates him. His daddy ran away ‘cause he hated him.” Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. “His mom doesn’t want him neither.”

Eric put his hand on the little boy’s shoulder and squeezed. “Are you sure about that?”

Cole nodded mournfully and managed to stop crying after a moment.

Unable to kneel any longer for fear his circulation would cut off, Eric rose. “How did you get here?” It was too much to hope that Piper had brought the boy, but Eric found himself hoping nonetheless.

“Lynn brought me. She’ll be back.”

Eric wondered how Lynn knew where to drop Cole, but then realized Effie must have told her Eric’s address. Effie would do anything for Cole. Even if she was almost as mad at Eric as everyone else.

“Come on.” Gently, Eric prodded Cole along toward the kitchen. “Maybe some cookies will help.”

“Maybe. What kind?” he asked with a little more interest, setting his pet on the floor.

“Gingersnaps.” Eric picked up Cole and set him on the table so that he was nearer eye level.

“I like chocolate better.” Cole started to swing his leg.

Eric grinned. “Me too, but this is all I have.” He watched Cole munch on a cookie. Though he was still upset, the boy seemed a little calmer now. “Would it help if I talked to your mom?”

Violently, Cole shook his head. Through his cookie he said, “My mom’s real mad at you. I heard her talking to Grandpa.”

“Yeah. She’s upset.” The epitome of understatement. Detested him was more like it. He didn’t want to imagine what she’d been saying to Charlie.

“Is that why you haven’t been to see me?”

In a gesture of defeat, Eric lifted his shoulders. “It’s not because of you. Your mom
 . . .
” How to put this delicately? Your mom hates my guts wouldn’t cut it. Eventually he settled on the basic truth. “Your mom doesn’t want to see me right now.”

Lower lip protruding, he fixed Eric with an earnest, unblinking gaze. “Are you sure?”

What was this? “She’s made it pretty clear that she doesn’t want me around.” It was all he could do to remember who he was talking to and not make his own feelings about the absurdity of Piper’s reaction clear.