AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You never know, Mom. It could be another twelve before it happens again.” Sara slipped her mother’s long wool coat off a hanger. “It’s a little chilly tonight.”
They stared each other down for several long moments before Bernice’s mouth worked and her gaze slid away. “I don’t go out much anymore.”
Which was the understatement of the year.
“It’s time, Mom,” Sara said gently as she held out the coat. “Put this on and come along. It means a lot to me.”
Bernice frowned and pursed her lips. “Where’s that dog of yours?”
“He’s at my apartment, and he’ll be fine until I get back.”
After a final moment of hesitation, Bernice went into the kitchen and took the casserole from the oven, then allowed Sara to help her with her coat. “We won’t be late?”
“I would love to take you shopping after dinner, but we can come right back if that’s what you want.”
“What I want is to stay right here, not chase all over creation,” Bernice grumbled as they walked out to her SUV. “At my age, arthritis and cold weather are a bad mix.”
She maintained a stubborn silence all the way to the lake, but as they stepped into Josie’s Steak House, Sara heard her draw a shaky breath. “It’s okay, Mom. You’ll be fine.”
The evening crowd hadn’t arrived yet, but there were a few couples in the main dining area. Several people looked up and nodded in greeting, then turned back to their menus.
“Isn’t this pretty?” Sara continued. “I love the rustic decor. Look—that little alcove over there has a great view of the lake.”
Sara had checked out the place earlier and reserved that table knowing it might be a more comfortable setting for her mother. And sure enough, Bernice nodded in agreement.
Over their salads, her mother sat stiffly in her chair, her face pale. But by the time their dinners arrived, the tense set of her shoulders had relaxed a few degrees.
Sara closed her eyes to savor another bite of fresh walleye. “I’d forgotten how wonderful this is.”
“More than I could possibly eat, though,” Bernice responded. “And more than I could ever afford. Not you, either.”
“But this is your birthday, Mom. While I’m here, I’d like for us to go out more often and have a good time.”
“How can you pay for this?” Bernice frowned at her twice-baked potato. “Did you find a job?”
Sara couldn’t reveal, not even to her own mother, that she was on a DEA assignment. Over the years, she’d allowed Bernice to believe that she had a low-level government office job in Dallas. “Not yet. But I’ve been careful with my money, honest. I’ve got savings.”
“Hmmpf,” her mother snorted. “And what happens next week or next month? What will you do then?”
“I’ll be fine. Really.” Soft strains of Rachmaninoff filled the air, reminding Sara of the music she’d unexpectedly heard the day before. “Mom, do you remember Earl Stark?”
Bernice stilled, a forkful of asparagus in midair. “The junkman? Of course.”
“He had a son, didn’t he? I don’t remember ever seeing him in school.”
“He must have been a good ten, fifteen years older than you. I don’t think he went to school very long.”
Sara laid her utensils by the side of her plate. “But surely—”
“One of the kindergarten teachers was a customer of mine. Leon was big for his age, and he viciously swung at her in class one time. Tore the sleeve of a lovely wool dress I’d just made for her and gave her an awful bruise.”
“A kindergartner? But why?”
“I think she was trying to get him to hang up his coat. He’d gotten out of control a few times before, but not as bad. After that incident, she said Stark never sent him to school again.”
Sara thought about the huge, silent man who’d shuffled across the yard to hand her that note. If angered, he’d be nearly unstoppable, yet there’d been no sign of hostility in those pale, blank eyes. “But the law—”
“The county sent out some social workers and even the sheriff, but Stark insisted the boy had gone to live with relatives and no one saw him around town for a long time.” Bernice shrugged. “I don’t think the county was very good at following up back then, though. After a while, everyone just forgot about it.”
