Page 89 of Reckoning

“No good deed goes unappreciated,” Abel said.

But Lilith was the one who saw the meaning. “That little boy. Bless his sweet heart. The fact that he’s starting to think of someone else instead of what he experienced is the first sign of healing. Tate, my son, accepting his gift is helping him, as much as his family is helping you.”

“I know, Mom. I knew why he needed to do it, but it’s sure a gift to me I never saw coming,” Tate said.

“You won’t be paying rent!” Abel said.

“Right, but I will be paying yearly taxes, and getting homeowner’s insurance, and then a car payment. Taking rent off the list of all that is going to be huge.”

Lilith poked Abel.

He winked at her, then gave Tate another thump on the shoulders. “Uh…about that car payment. Your mom and I are transferring the title of her car into your name. It’s your graduation/going-away present from us. We’d always planned to do it when we moved, but now we’re all moving sooner than planned.”

Tate’s eyes widened, and then his eyes welled. “Thank you both. I thought I was going to be leaving home with a suitcase full of clothes and catching a bus to New Orleans to find a place to live, and now this is all happening. I will make you proud. I promise.”

“Oh, honey, we’ve been proud of you since the day you took your first breath, and we thanked the Good Lord for giving you back to us again when you were so sick after you started school. This is all working out how it’s meant to be. Now go back to that laptop of yours and see what’s next for you,” Lilith said.

Tate was walking on air when he went back to scanning through messages. Then the text came from Dan Stennett with the address of the house and the name, address, and phone number of the New Orleans lawyer.

Just knowing he’d have a decent roof over his head and a safe place to live was everything.

* * *

The next day, Briar began her last semester of high school. Walking into the building and knowing she wouldn’t see Tate in the halls or in classes left her feeling off-center and lost.

It took a while for the members of the senior class to learn Tate Bandy already had a diploma and was in the process of moving away. Then in typical teenage fashion, they forgot about it and him.

The first day ended as Briar began to figure out life without him while knowing she was going home to a disgruntled father. She was living between a rock and a hard place.

But she was still irked with their next-door neighbor for spying on her and tattling on her to her dad. Instead of going straight home, she stopped off at the neighbor’s house first and knocked on her door.

The door opened, and Virgie Grayson’s eyes widened in slight dismay.

“Why, Briar, what on earth? Are you okay?”

“No, ma’am, I am not. I do not appreciate being spied on, or tattled on, or having to deal with a meddling busybody like you thinking you’re telling my dad something he doesn’t already know. I’m giving you fair warning. I am not a child. I am already of age. I will be leaving home at Christmas break, because I’m smart, and I’ve been working hard all the way through school for the four-year, full-ride scholarship I was awarded at Tulane University. I don’t give a royal flip what you think about my business, but it’s not your place to interfere between my father and me. He knows where he stands with me. Do you understand?”

“Whatever,” Virgie muttered, sniffing her disapproval of some teenager talking to her like this.

Briar saw it and didn’t give a damn. “Good. I’m hot and I’m tired, and I’m going to the house now and start making supper for me and Dad, and that’s all you will ever need to know about my business. Do. We. Understand. Each. Other?”

Virgie’s mouth was open, but there still weren’t any words coming out.

“That’s what I thought!” Briar snapped, then turned and strode across the lawn and into their yard without looking back.

She felt good about speaking up and putting that woman in her place. Even slamming the front door behind her as she entered the house felt good.

She changed out of school clothes into shorts and a T-shirt, then went back down to the kitchen and got the last Mountain Dew out of the fridge and drank it in Tate’s honor as she began to work.

When Roger came home later, she could tell by the look on his face that Virgie Grayson had complained, but he said nothing. Either he didn’t have the guts to confront her or he didn’t want to.

Roger knew he and the neighbor had both been out of line, but he was hoping when her new car was delivered, she would look at him more favorably. He didn’t want the last months of his daughter’s time beneath this roof to be volatile. He wanted peace. Just peace, which meant he also had to quit stirring the pot.

“Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and black-eyed peas for supper. You have time to change and drink a beer before it’s ready,” she said.

“You don’t have to cook for me, you know.”

She paused, confused by the comment. “I ate at the school lunchroom today, which means I came home hungry. I’m cooking to feed both of us.”