Read Online To Helen Back by Susan McBride - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan McBride
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married for ten years. We did have two kids together.” Her shoulders slumped and for a moment she looked away. “It was important for me to be here, you understand. Sort of like watching the last five minutes of a move that I’d missed.”
“I see,” Helen said, sizing up the former Mrs. Grone and thinking that, despite the physical differences, perhaps she and Shotsie weren’t so unalike after all. Both had formed attachments to a man best described as headstrong. Both seemed deeply affected by his death, despite Delilah’s tough façade.
“It’s strange to think he won’t be around to fight with anymore,” Delilah said, and glanced up at the chapel.
Helen followed the direction of her gaze and saw a pair of men in dark suits emerge from the vestibule. They guided the wheeled contraption upon which Milton’s casket lay. They lowered it carefully down the steps and to the curb where a long black hearse awaited. Hardly breaking a sweat, they pushed the casket into the back, the trolley collapsing, and closed the doors behind it.
Helen read the words printed on the hearse’s tailgate: MORGAN & FAMI LY. ONLY THE BEST FO R YOUR BELOVED’S FIN AL REST. She shook her head, thinking that advertising showed up in the most inappropriate of places.
“So his ticker just went out on him all of a sudden, huh?” Delilah said, nibbling on the tip of a red-painted nail. “Then he smacked his head on a rock when he fell.” She shuddered. “All that blood. Christ, but it must have been tough for Shotsie to see him lying on the ground like that.”
“It was,” Helen admitted, finding it difficult to believe that Milton had died just two nights before. “We’d just come from the town meeting and no one was very happy about—”
She stopped herself, Delilah’s words suddenly striking a chord.
Helen cocked her head. “How did you know he’d struck a rock?” That tidbit hadn’t appeared in the paper, though it was hardly a secret, considering the two dozen townsfolk who’d been present when Milton was found. Still, Helen found it hard to imagine anyone in River Bend phoning Delilah Grone to gossip.
“Well, Mrs. Evans, it’s like this,” Delilah began, her hands fiddling with the strap of her handbag. “I came to town to meet with Milt that night, of all the rotten timing. I’d been after him for a while to pony up what he owed me. It was only fair, right? I mean, he skipped more child support payments than I could count, and forget the alimony!” She let out a noisy humph . “I wanted to work something out with him, but Milt wouldn’t budge. ‘Go on and sue me,’ is what he said, and he laughed, like I wouldn’t go through with it.” Delilah kicked gravel with her shoe, not meeting Helen’s eyes. “I called him a dozen times to try to get together but, lately, whenever I phoned, he hung up.”
She shifted on her feet and tossed back her red hair, as though trying to shake off bad memories. “It was hard, scraping by, especially when the boys were young. I barely saw a red cent from Milt, and me just working part-time back then. Those were tough days. Real tough.”
Helen could only imagine what it had been like. Being a mother had been hard enough with a husband who’d supported her in more ways than one. “Didn’t the courts pressure Milton to pay his child support?”
“The courts?” Delilah snorted. “They just shoved me from one social services boob to another. I mean, they apologized right and left, but nobody did a damned thing.”
“Certainly Mr. Grone could afford it,” Helen said.
“I’ll say he could,” Delilah replied, and her eyes flashed with anger. “He hardly spent a penny of what he earned, and he’d been working since he was a kid, doing construction and laying down roads for the government. His father didn’t help him out, so Milton knew how to save his checks. He probably had a bundle earning interest in the bank all these years, and I’m sure he didn’t
“I see,” Helen said, sizing up the former Mrs. Grone and thinking that, despite the physical differences, perhaps she and Shotsie weren’t so unalike after all. Both had formed attachments to a man best described as headstrong. Both seemed deeply affected by his death, despite Delilah’s tough façade.
“It’s strange to think he won’t be around to fight with anymore,” Delilah said, and glanced up at the chapel.
Helen followed the direction of her gaze and saw a pair of men in dark suits emerge from the vestibule. They guided the wheeled contraption upon which Milton’s casket lay. They lowered it carefully down the steps and to the curb where a long black hearse awaited. Hardly breaking a sweat, they pushed the casket into the back, the trolley collapsing, and closed the doors behind it.
Helen read the words printed on the hearse’s tailgate: MORGAN & FAMI LY. ONLY THE BEST FO R YOUR BELOVED’S FIN AL REST. She shook her head, thinking that advertising showed up in the most inappropriate of places.
“So his ticker just went out on him all of a sudden, huh?” Delilah said, nibbling on the tip of a red-painted nail. “Then he smacked his head on a rock when he fell.” She shuddered. “All that blood. Christ, but it must have been tough for Shotsie to see him lying on the ground like that.”
“It was,” Helen admitted, finding it difficult to believe that Milton had died just two nights before. “We’d just come from the town meeting and no one was very happy about—”
She stopped herself, Delilah’s words suddenly striking a chord.
Helen cocked her head. “How did you know he’d struck a rock?” That tidbit hadn’t appeared in the paper, though it was hardly a secret, considering the two dozen townsfolk who’d been present when Milton was found. Still, Helen found it hard to imagine anyone in River Bend phoning Delilah Grone to gossip.
“Well, Mrs. Evans, it’s like this,” Delilah began, her hands fiddling with the strap of her handbag. “I came to town to meet with Milt that night, of all the rotten timing. I’d been after him for a while to pony up what he owed me. It was only fair, right? I mean, he skipped more child support payments than I could count, and forget the alimony!” She let out a noisy humph . “I wanted to work something out with him, but Milt wouldn’t budge. ‘Go on and sue me,’ is what he said, and he laughed, like I wouldn’t go through with it.” Delilah kicked gravel with her shoe, not meeting Helen’s eyes. “I called him a dozen times to try to get together but, lately, whenever I phoned, he hung up.”
She shifted on her feet and tossed back her red hair, as though trying to shake off bad memories. “It was hard, scraping by, especially when the boys were young. I barely saw a red cent from Milt, and me just working part-time back then. Those were tough days. Real tough.”
Helen could only imagine what it had been like. Being a mother had been hard enough with a husband who’d supported her in more ways than one. “Didn’t the courts pressure Milton to pay his child support?”
“The courts?” Delilah snorted. “They just shoved me from one social services boob to another. I mean, they apologized right and left, but nobody did a damned thing.”
“Certainly Mr. Grone could afford it,” Helen said.
“I’ll say he could,” Delilah replied, and her eyes flashed with anger. “He hardly spent a penny of what he earned, and he’d been working since he was a kid, doing construction and laying down roads for the government. His father didn’t help him out, so Milton knew how to save his checks. He probably had a bundle earning interest in the bank all these years, and I’m sure he didn’t
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