The house and its owner lay beneath her; the mountains rose above. She began to climb.
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Cal stalked into the family room with Jane"s purse clutched in his hand and strode over to the French doors that led to the deck, but he still couldn"t see any sign of her. That meant only one thing. She"d taken off up the mountain.
He knew she walked most days, but when he"d asked her about it, she"d told him she never went far. Well, she"d obviously gone far today, so far she"d gotten lost! For someone with an IQ of 180, she was the stupidest woman he"d ever met.
"d.a.m.n!" He flung the purse down on the couch. The latch flew open and the contents spilled.
"Something wrong, C-Man?"
"What? Uh, no." Cal had forgotten about his youngest brother Ethan. When Ethan had shown up at the gate twenty minutes earlier, Cal had made up an excuse about having to return a phone call and stuck him in here while he"d tried to find a clue to his missing wife"s whereabouts.
Buying himself a few days" extra time before he introduced Jane to his family was proving to be even tougher than he"d thought. Ethan had been back from his ski trip for three days, his parents from their vacation for two, and all of them had been hounding him.
"I was looking for my wallet," he lied. "I thought Jane might have put it in her purse."
Ethan rose from an easy chair near the fireplace, which was large enough to roast a Honda, and walked over to peer out the patio doors. Cal"s anger softened a bit as he gazed at his brother. While he and Gabe had shone on the playing fields, Ethan had made his mark in school theatrical productions. Although he was a decent athlete, organized sports held no appeal for him simply because he"d never been able to grasp the importance of winning.
Blond, more slightly built than either Cal or Gabe, and heartbreakingly handsome, he was the only one of the three Bonner brothers who took after their mother, and his male-model good looks had caused him to endure an endless amount of ribbing from Cal and Gabe. He had thickly lashed light brown eyes and a nose that had never been broken. His dark blond hair was conservatively cut and always combed. Normally he favored oxford shirts, neatly pressed Dockers, and penny loafers, but today he wore an ancient Grateful Dead T-shirt and jeans. On Ethan, the outfit looked like Brooks Brothers.
Cal frowned at him. "Did you iron that T-shirt?"
"Just a little touch-up."
"Jesus, Eth, you"ve got to stop doin" c.r.a.p like that."
Ethan smiled his Christ smile solely because he knew how much it irritated his big brother. "Some of us take pride in our appearance." He regarded Cal"s muddy boots with distaste. "Others of us don"t care how we look."
"Can it, a.s.shole." Cal"s language always deteriorated when he was around Ethan. There was just something about the kid"s unflappability that made him want to cuss. Not that it bothered Ethan one bit. As the youngest of three boys, his brothers had toughened him up at an early age. Even as children, Cal and Gabe had sensed that Ethan was more vulnerable than they were, so they"d made sure he could take care of himself. Although no one in the Bonner family ever admitted it, all of them secretly loved Ethan best.
Cal also respected him. Ethan had gone through a wild period, during college and into his early twenties, where he"d drunk too much and slept with too many women, but when he"d received the call, he"d made up his mind to live as he preached.
"Visiting the sick"s part of my job," Ethan said. "Why don"t I just look in on your new wife?"
"She wouldn"t like it. You know how women are. She wants to be all fixed up before she meets the family, so she can make a good first impression."
"When do you think that"s going to be? Now that Mom and Dad are back in town, they"re champing at the bit to meet her. And Annie"s really rubbing it in because she"s seen her and we haven"t."
"It"s not my fault all of you chose now to go gallivanting around the country."
"I"ve been back from my ski trip for three days."
"Yeah, well, it"s like I told everybody when I came over for dinner last night, Jane got sick right before you got back. d.a.m.ned flu. She should be feeling better in a few days-next week at the latest-and then I"ll bring her over to the house. But don"t expect to see much of her. Her work"s real important to her, and she can"t spend too much time away from her computer right now."
Ethan was only thirty, but he regarded him through old, wise eyes. "If you need to talk, C-Man, I"m willing to listen."
"There"s nothing for me to talk about except the way everybody in this family wants to stick their noses in my business."
"Not Gabe."
"No, not Gabe." Cal jammed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. "I wish he would."
They each fell silent, preoccupied with thoughts of their wounded middle brother. He was down in Mexico, on the run from himself.
"I wish he"d come home," Ethan said.
"He left Salvation years ago. It"s not home to him anymore."
"I guess no place is home without Cherry and Jamie."
Ethan"s voice tightened, and Cal looked away. Anxious to break the mood, he began picking up the contents of Jane"s purse. Where was she? These past two weeks he"d forced himself to stay away and let his temper cool.
He also wanted her to feel her isolation and understand that he was the one holding the key to her prison. Unfortunately she didn"t seem affected.
Ethan came over to help. "If Jane"s flu is this bad, maybe she should be in the hospital."
"No." Cal reached for a small calculator and pen so he didn"t have to look at his brother. "She"s been pushing herself pretty hard, but she"ll feel better as soon as she gets some rest."
"She sure doesn"t look like one of your bimbos."
"How do you know what she looks-?" He lifted his head and saw Ethan studying her photo on the driver"s license that had fallen out of her wallet. "None of the women I dated were bimbos."
"They weren"t exactly rocket scientists." He laughed. "This one practically is. I still can"t believe you married a physicist. The way I remember it, the only thing that got you through high-school physics was the fact that Coach Gill taught the cla.s.s."
"You"re a d.a.m.ned liar. I got an A in that cla.s.s."
"Deserved a C."
"B minus."
Ethan grinned and waved the driver"s license. "I can"t wait to tell Dad I won my bet."
"What bet?"
"The age of the woman you married. He said we"d have to schedule the wedding ceremony around her Girl Scout meetings, but I said you"d come to your senses. I believed in you, bro, and looks like I was right."
Cal was irritated. He hadn"t wanted everybody to know that Jane was twenty-eight, but with Ethan staring at the date of birth on her driver"s license, he couldn"t deny it. "She doesn"t look a day over twenty-five."
"I don"t know why you"re so sensitive. There"s nothing wrong with marrying someone your own age."
"She"s not exactly my age."
"Two years younger. That"s not a big difference."
"Two years? What the h.e.l.l you talkin" about?" He s.n.a.t.c.hed the license away. "She"s not two years younger than me! She"s-"
"Uh-oh." Ethan backed away. "I think I"d better go."
Cal was too stunned by what he saw on the license to hear the amus.e.m.e.nt in his brother"s voice, nor did he notice the sound of the front door closing a few moments later. He couldn"t take in anything except the date on the driver"s license he held in his hand.
He scrubbed the laminate with his thumb. Maybe it was just a smear on the plastic that made the year of her birth look like that. Or maybe it was a misprint. d.a.m.ned DMV couldn"t get anything right.
But he knew it wasn"t a misprint. There was no mistaking those grim, condemning numbers. His wife was thirty-four years old, and he"d just taken the sack of a lifetime.
"Calvin, he"ll be comin" to fetch you before long," Annie Glide said.
Jane set down the tea she"d been sipping from an ancient white ceramic mug that bore the remains of an American flag decal and gazed at Annie across the cluttered living room. Despite its unorthodox decor, this house felt like a home, a place where a person could belong. "Oh, I don"t think so. He doesn"t know where I am."
"He"ll figure it out soon enough. Boy"s been roamin" these mountains ever since he was in diapers."
She couldn"t imagine Cal ever wearing diapers. Surely he"d been born with a belligerent att.i.tude and a full set of chest hair. "I can"t believe how close your house is to his. The day I met you it seemed as if we drove several miles before we got to those awful gates."
"You did. Road winds all the way "round Heartache Mountain goin" through town. This morning, you just took the shortcut."
Jane had been surprised when she"d reached the notch in the mountain and looked down the other side to see the tin roof of Annie Glide"s cabin. At first she hadn"t recognized it, but then she"d spotted the colorful wind sock flying at the corner of the porch. Even though it had been nearly two weeks since they"d met, Annie had greeted her as if she"d been expected.
"You know how to make corn bread, Janie Bonner?"
"I"ve made it a few times."
"It"s no good lest you fold in a little b.u.t.termilk."
"I"ll remember that."
"Before I took so sick, I used to make my own apple b.u.t.ter. Nothin" as good as cold apple b.u.t.ter on warm corn bread. You got to find you real soft apples when you make it, and watch yourself peelin" "em "cause ain"t n.o.body on earth likes to bite into a big tough ol" piece of peel when they"re expectin" good smooth apple b.u.t.ter."
"If I ever make any, I"ll be careful."
Annie had been doing this ever since Jane had arrived, tossing out recipes and bits of folk wisdom: ginger tea for colds, nine sips of water for hiccups, beets to be planted on the twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, or twenty-eighth of March, but no later or they"d be puny.
Despite the improbability of her ever using any of this information, she"d found herself taking it all in. Annie"s advice represented the continuity between one generation and the next. Roots went deep in these mountains, and as someone who had always felt so very rootless, each tidbit seemed like a solid link with a family that had a history and traditions, everything she craved.
"... and if you"re gonna make you some dumplin"s, put a egg in that dough and a pinch of sage." She started to cough, and Jane regarded her with concern. When she recovered, she waved her hand displaying fingernails painted a bright cherry red. "Listen to me goin" on. It"s a wonder you haven"t just said, "Annie, shut your yap; you done wore out my ears." "
"I love listening to you."
"You"re a good girl, Janie Bonner. I"m surprised Calvin married you."
Jane laughed. Annie Glide was the most unexpected person. The only one of her grandparents Jane had ever known had been her father"s self-centered and narrow-minded mother.
"I miss my garden. Had that worthless Joey Neeson plow for me a couple weeks ago, even though it goes against my grain to have strangers "round here. Calvin, he"s always sending strangers up here to fix things, but I won"t have it. Don"t even like family nibbin" in my business, let alone strangers." She shook her head. "I was hopin" I"d be strong enough to get my garden put in this spring, but I was foolin" myself. Ethan said he"d come by to help me, but that poor boy has so much work with his church, I didn"t have the heart to do nothin" but tell him weren"t no sissy boy plantin" my garden." She gave Jane a sideways glance from her crafty blue eyes. "Sure am gonna miss my garden, but I won"t have strangers plantin" for me."
Jane saw right through the old woman"s wiles, but it didn"t occur to her to be annoyed. Instead, she felt curiously flattered. "I"ll be happy to help you if you show me what to do."
Annie pressed her hand to her chest. "You"d do that for me?"
Jane laughed at her feigned amazement. "I"ll enjoy it. I"ve never had a garden."
"Well, now, that"s just fine. You make Calvin bring you over here first thing tomorrow, and we"ll get those "taters in right away. It"s real late-I like to do it at the end of February, during the dark of the moon-but they still might turn out if we get "em in right away. Then we plant onions, and after that some beets."
"It sounds great." She suspected the old woman wasn"t eating as well as she should, and she stood. "Why don"t I fix us a little lunch? I"m getting hungry."
"Now that"s a real good idea. Amber Lynn"s back from her trip, and she done brung over some of her bean soup yesterday. You can heat that up. "Course she don"t make it like I taught her, but, then, that"s Amber Lynn for you."
So Cal"s parents had returned. As she headed to the kitchen, she wondered how he was explaining not bringing her to meet them.
Jane served their soup in one china bowl and one plastic. She accompanied it with squares of corn bread from a pan on the counter. As they ate at the kitchen table, she couldn"t remember enjoying a meal more. After two weeks of isolation, it was wonderful just being around another person, especially one who did more than bark out orders and glare at her.
She cleaned up the dishes and was bringing a mug of tea to Annie in the living room when she noticed three diplomas among the clutter of paintings, ceramic ballerinas, and wall clocks hanging next to the doorway.
"Those belong to my grandsons," Annie said, "but they give "em to me. They knowed it always bothered me the fact I had to quit school after sixth grade, so each of "em give me their college diplomas the same day they graduated. That there"s Calvin"s hangin" at the top."
Jane fetched her gla.s.ses from the kitchen table and gazed at the top diploma. It was from the University of Michigan, and it stated that Calvin E. Bonner had received a Bachelor of Science degree ... with highest distinction.
Summa c.u.m Laude.
Jane"s hand flew to her throat. She whirled around. "Cal graduated summa c.u.m laude summa c.u.m laude?"
"That"s what they call it when a body"s real smart. I thought you, bein" a professor, would of knowed that. My Calvin, he was always smart as a whip."
"He-" She swallowed and fought to go on as a roaring sounded in her ears. "What did he get his degree in?"
"Now didn"t he tell you that? Lot of athletes, they take real easy cla.s.ses, but my Calvin, he wasn"t like that. He got hisself a degree in biology. Always liked roamin" in the woods, pickin" up this "n" that."
"Biology?" Jane felt as if she"d just taken a punch in the stomach.
Annie narrowed her eyes. "Strikes me strange you don"t know any of this, Janie Bonner."
"I guess the subject never came up." The room began to sway, and she felt as if she were going to faint. She turned awkwardly, sloshing hot tea over her hand, and stumbled back into the kitchen.
"Janie? Somethin" wrong?"
She couldn"t speak. The handle broke off the mug as she dropped it into the sink. She pressed her fingers to her mouth and fought a rising tide of horror. How could she have been so stupid? Despite all her conniving, she"d brought about the very disaster she"d tried so hard to avoid, and now her child wasn"t going to be ordinary at all.
She clutched the edge of the sink as hard reality overcame her rosy daydreams. She"d known Cal had attended the University of Michigan, but she hadn"t believed he"d been serious about it. Didn"t athletes take the minimum number of courses to get by and then leave before they graduated? The fact that he"d majored in biology and graduated with honors from one of the most prestigious universities in the country had such brutal ramifications she could barely take them in.
Intelligence tended toward the mean. That fact screamed at her. The one quality she prized in him-his stupidity-was nothing more than an illusion, an illusion he had deliberately perpetuated. By not seeing through it, she"d condemned her child to the same life of isolation and loneliness she"d lived herself.
Panic clawed at her. Her precious child was going to be a freak, just like her.
She couldn"t let that happen. She"d die before she"d permit her child to suffer as she"d suffered. She"d move away! She"d take the baby to Africa, some remote and primitive part of the continent. She"d educate the child herself so that her precious little one would never know the cruelty of other children.
Her eyes stung with tears. What had she done? How could G.o.d have let something so cruel happen?
Annie"s voice penetrated her misery. "That"ll be Calvin now. I told you he"d come after you."