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Just as if he’d asked her to join him for tea and crumpets.
She slid across the seat. He helped her out, then held on to her hand. It was small, but strong. He rubbed the callous on the side of his index finger over her palm. The sound of rushing water kept them company as they walked toward the river. He heard the chatter of a squirrel, the call of a mockingbird, everything but Emma giving orders. For someone who liked to talk so much, why did she have to choose now to get quiet? Her silence unnerved him, and he spoke without thinking. “I brought Petie here earlier.”
“Did he settle, then?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “The two of us needed to talk.”
She bristled. “You certainly did. I suppose we can only be grateful that something positive came out of that ugly incident. You’ll never do that to him again.”
Her prickly response should have set him off, but instead it felt good, almost relaxing. She knew exactly what that baby boy meant to him and how much he regretted what he’d done. Still, he didn’t want her to get too full of herself.
“You’ve got to toughen them up when they’re young or they’ll turn into pansies.”
She had the gall to laugh. “Give it up, Kenny. When it comes to Peter, you’re putty.”
“Yeah, well, he’s pretty special.” He smiled and started to change the subject, then realized he wanted to talk it over with her. Not exactly on a personal basis, more a professional one. She was an expert in child development, wasn’t she?
“See, the thing is . . . the old man can be tough, and . . . I just worry about Petie, that’s all.”
Those honey-sweet eyes of hers zeroed in on him like high-tech weapons. “You’re afraid your father will be as bad a parent to Peter as he was to you?”
He immediately bristled. “My father did what he needed to. After the way my mother behaved, he sure couldn’t fawn all over me, too.”
“No, but I suspect he went too far in the other direction. I’ve seen this happen with several of my students. From what you’ve said, your father doesn’t seem to have been around much when you needed him, and when he was around, I can only imagine that he was highly critical of you.”
“Mrs. Sneed called me at work. She said you ripped the head off Mary Beth’s Barbie doll and then threw it down the sewer. Only a coward does something like that to a girl. A nasty little coward.”
“I was a brat.”
“Yes, well, quite a bit of that was his fault. I’m certain you were desperate for his attention, and misbehavior must have been the only way you could get it. You were a healthy little boy being suffocated by a highly neurotic mother, and your father didn’t seem to have interceded when he should have. Really, Kenny, you received such appalling parenting that it’s a wonder you didn’t end up mutilating small animals. It’s not surprising that you still resent him.”
“I never said that.”
Nothing stopped Lady E once she got going, and she went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “You really need to forgive him, you know. For both your sakes.”
He shrugged, acting real casual. “I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”
“And then there’s the problem of Peter. You’re afraid your father is going to neglect him the same way he once neglected you. That Peter is going to have to win his love as you did, instead of simply being given it as a birthright.”
He forced his stiff jaws to open in a yawn. “You’re so full of it you should be fertilizer.”
Instead of getting huffy, she actually squeezed his hand, which, until that moment, he’d forgotten was tightly clasped around hers.
“Don’t worry so much about Peter. Shelby isn’t like your mother, and I’m certain she’ll prove to be a staunch defender of his rights. I also suspect your father
has learned from his mistakes. The way he looks at you when you’re not watching is quite heart-wrenching. And even if I’m wrong, Peter has something in his favor you didn’t have.”
He scratched his arm and looked bored. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“You, of course.”
He felt as if he’d taken a sucker punch, which made it hard for him to respond as casually as he wanted. “Not a hell of a lot to take to the bank.”
“Quite a lot, actually. Unconditional love is very powerful.”
“I guess.”
“When you think back on your childhood, Kenny, I hope you give yourself credit for having survived so well. It’s hard to imagine anyone getting much worse parenting than you.”
