Page 31 of Forever Christmas
“It is a little strange to be going up there without either of their kids,” Mom says as Dad enters the highway.
“Let them have some fun,” Dad says. “Gavin’s right, nothing will happen until late afternoon, and it will be evening before anyone can see him.”
I sit back in my seat, watching all the same sights go by as the night before. It feels strange to bewithout Gavin, but I’m glad he’ll get some happy time with his sister. Mom seems eager to mend her rift with Gavin’s mother.
“Did you ever tell Mr. and Mrs. Mays about the wedding?” I ask Mom.
“I took some pictures over,” Mom sighs. “I sure wish Alaina would have brought June. She just wouldn’t do it without Robert.”
“Gavin didn’t want his father there,” I say. Neither did I. The two of themtogether could wreck any occasion.
Mom turns to me. “How bad was it, Corabelle? I can’t believe neither one of you came to tell us Robert was hitting Gavin.”
“I’m not sure if Gavin left anything out with me. But he often had welts on his back and legs. Sometimes on his face.”
“His face!” Mom exclaims. “We would have seen that!”
“He’d stay pretty scarce when that happened,” I tell her.
“Didno one notice at school?” she asks.
“I think the teacher asked him about it once, but he didn’t tell her,” I say.
My father smacks the steering wheel. “We would have taken him in,” he says. “Did he hurt June? We will intervene.”
“No, he leaves girls alone. It was just about Gavin. I guess he got more frustrated with him.” I remember the wrench in the air. So awful.
“Did you ever see it?” Momasks. Her eyes are wide with worry, probably picturing the things I might have witnessed.
“No, he came close, but he’d behave himself around me. That’s why I went over there so often.”
Mom’s hand flutters to her cheek. “I thought you were helping with the flowers.”
“I was. But that was why. I’m not particularly good at gardening.”
“My word,” she breathes.
“Maybe it IS better if he keels over,”Dad says.
“Arthur!” Mom exclaims.
“You think we want a man like that around our grandchildren?” Dad’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “I don’t blame Gavin for leaving him out of the wedding.”
The wordgrandchildrengets me. I’ve had myself in check since we arrived, but now tears spring, burning the corners of my eyes. I have to pull it together or Mom will surely guess.
Of course shelooks back at me at the worst time. “Corabelle, honey, you okay?” She reaches in her bag and passes me a Kleenex. “You worried about Robert?”
Ha, no. “Just rough times,” I say.
“How is grad school going?” Dad asks. “Easier without being a TA?”
I hadn’t told them about the adjunct position I turned down, only about finishing my master’s without serving as a teaching assistant. Since I’m finishingmidyear, I made that my excuse.
“Definitely,” I say, wiping my eyes. “I should get my thesis in on time easily.”
“Then straight into the doctoral program?” Mom asks. “Are you already admitted?”
“No, applications are due by the end of summer.” I won’t send one in, of course. I’ll have to take at least a year off with the baby. It’s a mess, actually. If something bad happens, I won’t have a babyor school. I guess I’ll go back to Cool Beans for another gap year.
