Read Online After Dark by Beverly Barton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Beverly Barton
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She sank down on the steps, a feeling of hopelessness encompassing
her. How much more could her son endure? What was his final breaking point?
She had to keep him safe from anything and anyone who might harm him.
And that included Johnny Mack.
"Has Johnny Mack gone?"
Lillie Mae stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Lane glanced at the rail-thin old
woman who had been her only confidante and dearest friend for the past
fifteen years. "Did you send that note to Johnny Mack?"
Standing at attention, like a
proud soldier, Lillie Mae said, "Yes, I sent the note. Even if he doesn't
realize it right now, Will needs his father-his real father. And whether
you'll admit it or not, you need Johnny Mack, too. You need a strong man at
your side if you're going to fight and win this battle. And it's way past
time for Johnny Mack to pay the piper."
Edith Ware opened the door to
Mary Martha's room. Jackie Cummings jumped up out of the chair in front
of the television in the sitting area and smiled a warm greeting to her
employer.
"Come on in, Miss Edith."
Jackie all but bowed to her. Edith
liked subservience in her employees. Actually, she appreciated subservience
in all her relationships, even in her marriage. There had been only
two people she had never been able to bend to her will. Her first husband,
John Graham. And his bastard son, Johnny Mack Cahill.
Edith motioned for Buddy Lawler
to follow her as she entered her daughter's sanctuary, a room that
had changed little since Mary Martha was twelve. Pastels and lace and
girlish frills. French Provincial furniture and a wall curio filled
with dolls.
"How is Miss Mary Martha doing
tonight?" Edith asked.
"She ate a few bites of supper,"
Jackie reported "She's been sitting peacefully over there in her
rocker for the past hour."
Edith turned her attention to
her child. Her thirty three-year-old child. Her only child, now that Kent was
dead. Mary Martha possessed an innocent beauty that was deceptive.
Flawless pale skin. Waist-length strawberry blond hair. And pale brown
eyes that seemed incapable of seeing into the real world.
"What's that she's holding?"
Edith took a step closer and barely stifled the gasp that came immediately
to her lips.
"It's just a baby doll,"
Jackie said. "She's been toting it around all day. And tonight she's
been rocking it and singing to it. I hope that's all right. I didn't see
any harm in her playing with her doll."
"No, of course not."
Edith bit down on her bottom lip. No harm at all for her mentally unstable
daughter of thirty-three to play with a doll as if she were a six year-old.
Without glancing back at the hired nurse Edith said, "Why don't you
take a break, Ms. Cummings. Buddy and I will sit with Mary Martha awhile.'
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I wouldn't
mind a smoke."
"Remember to go outside for
that," Edith said "No one has smoked in this house since Mr. Graham
died. The day he died, I burned every damn box of cigars he had."
"I'll go on the back
porch." Jackie nodded hell to the police chief as she excused herself.
Edith moved slowly toward her daughter,
halting as she came up behind the rocking chair. "She's been like
this since the afternoon after Kent's funeral, thought surely by now
she would have improved."
Mary Martha rocked back and forth
in the white wooden rocker. Holding the life-size baby doll in her arms,
she crooned to it as a mother would to a child.
Edith caressed the top of Mary Martha's
head. "I'm afraid to let a psychiatrist examine her. There's no
telling what she might say."
"Then, we'll make sure she's
taken care of until she's ready to come back to us on her own terms."
Buddy Lawler knelt in front of Mary Martha and spoke to her in a soft, caring
voice. "How are you tonight, sweetheart? I hear you ate a little
bit of supper. That's good. You gotta eat more.
her. How much more could her son endure? What was his final breaking point?
She had to keep him safe from anything and anyone who might harm him.
And that included Johnny Mack.
"Has Johnny Mack gone?"
Lillie Mae stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Lane glanced at the rail-thin old
woman who had been her only confidante and dearest friend for the past
fifteen years. "Did you send that note to Johnny Mack?"
Standing at attention, like a
proud soldier, Lillie Mae said, "Yes, I sent the note. Even if he doesn't
realize it right now, Will needs his father-his real father. And whether
you'll admit it or not, you need Johnny Mack, too. You need a strong man at
your side if you're going to fight and win this battle. And it's way past
time for Johnny Mack to pay the piper."
Edith Ware opened the door to
Mary Martha's room. Jackie Cummings jumped up out of the chair in front
of the television in the sitting area and smiled a warm greeting to her
employer.
"Come on in, Miss Edith."
Jackie all but bowed to her. Edith
liked subservience in her employees. Actually, she appreciated subservience
in all her relationships, even in her marriage. There had been only
two people she had never been able to bend to her will. Her first husband,
John Graham. And his bastard son, Johnny Mack Cahill.
Edith motioned for Buddy Lawler
to follow her as she entered her daughter's sanctuary, a room that
had changed little since Mary Martha was twelve. Pastels and lace and
girlish frills. French Provincial furniture and a wall curio filled
with dolls.
"How is Miss Mary Martha doing
tonight?" Edith asked.
"She ate a few bites of supper,"
Jackie reported "She's been sitting peacefully over there in her
rocker for the past hour."
Edith turned her attention to
her child. Her thirty three-year-old child. Her only child, now that Kent was
dead. Mary Martha possessed an innocent beauty that was deceptive.
Flawless pale skin. Waist-length strawberry blond hair. And pale brown
eyes that seemed incapable of seeing into the real world.
"What's that she's holding?"
Edith took a step closer and barely stifled the gasp that came immediately
to her lips.
"It's just a baby doll,"
Jackie said. "She's been toting it around all day. And tonight she's
been rocking it and singing to it. I hope that's all right. I didn't see
any harm in her playing with her doll."
"No, of course not."
Edith bit down on her bottom lip. No harm at all for her mentally unstable
daughter of thirty-three to play with a doll as if she were a six year-old.
Without glancing back at the hired nurse Edith said, "Why don't you
take a break, Ms. Cummings. Buddy and I will sit with Mary Martha awhile.'
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I wouldn't
mind a smoke."
"Remember to go outside for
that," Edith said "No one has smoked in this house since Mr. Graham
died. The day he died, I burned every damn box of cigars he had."
"I'll go on the back
porch." Jackie nodded hell to the police chief as she excused herself.
Edith moved slowly toward her daughter,
halting as she came up behind the rocking chair. "She's been like
this since the afternoon after Kent's funeral, thought surely by now
she would have improved."
Mary Martha rocked back and forth
in the white wooden rocker. Holding the life-size baby doll in her arms,
she crooned to it as a mother would to a child.
Edith caressed the top of Mary Martha's
head. "I'm afraid to let a psychiatrist examine her. There's no
telling what she might say."
"Then, we'll make sure she's
taken care of until she's ready to come back to us on her own terms."
Buddy Lawler knelt in front of Mary Martha and spoke to her in a soft, caring
voice. "How are you tonight, sweetheart? I hear you ate a little
bit of supper. That's good. You gotta eat more.
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