Everything he wanted in a woman. He wasn’t sure why he held back on taking their relationship further.
“Where’s Zane?”
She nodded at a door. “He’s in there with Rachel. She’s taking care of him.”
“Taking care of him? What happened?” Fear edged its way up his spine and his nerves tightened.
Annabel touched his arm. “Calm down. Zane is fine.”
Her touch had a calming effect. He took a long breath. “What happened?”
“After first class, the kids went to their lockers to get ready for second period. Dudley McCray was bragging about how fast his horse was and how he was going to win the Founder’s Day Horse Race. Zane told him he had a fast horse, too, and he just might win. Dudley got mad and said no egghead Rebel was beating him. He then pushed Zane and Zane fell backward onto the floor, his books going everywhere. The kids rushed to help him, but he got to his feet, saying Dudley was upset because he was afraid Zane was going to beat him. Dudley told him he wasn’t afraid of any egghead Rebel. Zane replied that only idiots weren’t afraid. That really got Dudley angry and he went after Zane, but the hall monitor was there and several teachers kept him from hitting Zane again.”
“Zane’s not hurt?”
“No, he was very calm. I have to get back to class. I’ll talk to you later.” She gave him a smile and walked off down the hall. He watched her for a moment, thinking she could be his future, but he was tied to the past with a boulder around his neck pulling him down. Why he kept holding on, he wasn’t quite sure. But the days ahead would provide closure or more heartache.
He opened the classroom door and went inside. Zane was sitting in a class chair and a very pregnant Rachel was stroking his hair as if to soothe him, and his son was eating it up.
“Hey, Dad.” Zane jumped to his feet when he saw Jude.
Rachel kissed the top of Zane’s head and said, “Your dad’s here and I have to get back to class.”
“Did they tell you what happened?”
“Yeah. Are you okay?” He looked Zane over to see if he had bruises or scratches on his face or arms.
“Yes. You told me to never fight unless it was necessary and it wasn’t. I can hurt Dudley with words. He’s an idiot. He thinks he’s going to win the race, but he’s not. You and Uncle Quincy said I have the fastest horse.”
Jude squeezed his son’s shoulder. “Son, we believe that Bear is fast, but a lot of things can happen in a race and I want you to be prepared for that.”
“Okay, Dad. But Bear can win.”
Jude squatted in front of his son. “I will be there supporting you all the way. I want you to do something for me, though.”
“What?”
“I want you to stop bragging about Bear at school. At home, that’s different. We’ll let Bear do all the talking on race day.”
Zane winked. “Gotcha, Dad.”
Sharon opened the door. “The principal will see you now.”
Jude stood. “Are you ready?”
“I’ve never been to the principal’s office before.” For the first time a note of anxiety entered Zane’s voice.
Jude patted his son’s back. “It won’t be so bad.”
As they walked toward the principal’s office, Zane asked, “Did you ever have to go to the principal’s office?”
“Yep. Your uncle Phoenix got me into a lot of trouble with his antics.” And Paige. They’d been caught kissing in his truck after the bell had rung and had been sent to the principal’s office. He wouldn’t share that, though.
“Did you get punished?”
“Not as much as we got punished at home. We couldn’t go anywhere on Saturday or Sunday. We had to work.”
“Are you going to punish me?”
“No, son. The principal will take care of all that.”
The meeting was short. Zane was sent back to class and told all talk of the race was off-limits in school. Dudley was sent to a classroom by himself to read alone and think about what he’d done.
Jude sat outside in his truck for a while reflecting on those days of long ago. He and Paige had been too young to get involved so seriously. But no one could have told them that at the time. Even so, Jude would never regret having Zane. He wasn’t going to apologize to Paige for going back to get him, either. That was his decision and he would stand by it to the day he died.
He started the engine. Now he had to tell Zane’s mother about her son. It would be one of the hardest things he would ever have to do.
* * *
PAIGE CHANGED OUT of her suit into jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers. They were cleaning out the house and it was dirty work. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, emphasizing all the pain and sorrow that had happened within the walls.
“Hey, the refrigerator still works. How about that?” Staci diligently wiped it out with bleach and water. Staci had had the electricity turned on days ago so they could work. They had two weeks and they planned to repaint inside and out to make it attractive to a buyer.
The house was a nice three-bedroom two-bath brick home their mother had bought with the insurance money from her parents’ death. Or more to the point, Uncle Harry, Darlene’s guardian, had bought it for them. Uncle Harry and Aunt Nora had lived next door and they had been a godsend when they were growing up. Uncle Harry had died when Paige was fifteen. And Nora had followed six months later. For the first time the three Wheeler children were alone in the world. But Luke had already joined the army and that left just Staci and Paige and their mother.
Uncle Harry’s house had been willed to the three children, but Darlene had sold it and made them sign the papers. With the money, she’d bought a new car and a used one for Staci. She’d blown the rest on frivolous stuff. They didn’t live that far from the school and after Staci graduated and went to work, Paige walked to school. But after she fell in love with Jude, he always picked her up.
Jude.
He’d gotten her through high school. He’d gotten her through so much of her horrendous life. And then...
“How did your talk go with Jude?” Staci asked, frowning at the pan of dirty water from cleaning the fridge. “We can keep our cold drinks in here while we’re working and that’s probably it. The owners will probably dump it.”
“We didn’t get to talk much. He got a call from the school about his son and he left quickly.”
“Did he say anything about his son or his wife or girlfriend?”
“No, and I really don’t want to know. I just want him to go with me to talk to Mrs. Carstairs.”
Staci stopped what she was doing to look at Paige, who
