Chapter 16
16
Cormac could see the Suburban Louisa drove at the edge of the parking lot and hoped he wasn’t too late. He’d argued with himself for too long, trying to talk himself out of coming. It was none of his business. He shouldn’t get involved. His sisters had a right to their own opinions and could decide for themselves how they wanted to act. It wasn’t his job to police them, especially since he still didn’t know for sure that they were wrong about what had gone down with his father.
But in the end, he couldn’t bear the thought of Gia being confronted in public, couldn’t allow his sisters to go after the woman he’d seen crying in the backyard. Gia had been through too much already—and she was going through a lot now.
As soon as he could find a spot to leave his truck, he jammed the gearshift into Park, turned off the engine and jumped out, cursing his father as he jogged in for putting him in this untenable situation. Protecting Gia against his own family would cause a rift he’d have to live with long after she was gone. Louisa would probably quit the clinic, which would leave him in the lurch. And if she and Edith got mad enough, it could be quite some time before they were willing to speak to him again.
If he had to bet, he’d say even his mother would advise him not to get involved.
But he hadn’t asked his mother for her opinion. Since Louisa and Edith wouldn’t listen to him, and his father wouldn’t try to stop them, he felt he had no choice.
The hostess at the restaurant looked startled when he threw open the door and marched past her without a word. But he didn’t have a second to waste. He was familiar with the restaurant. They hosted parties in the back room, so he knew exactly where to find the Banned Books Club.
Because of his own loose association with the group, and how long it’d been since high school, he was surprised to find so many people there. But Gia had always been popular. For a moment, he thought he should’ve left it to one of her many friends to stand up for her. There might be a little shouting, then his sisters would leave. No big deal. Gia didn’t need him.
He could still get out before anyone saw him...
But what if it didn’t go down that way? What if no one stood up for her and Gia felt attacked from all sides? What if she was further traumatized and had to go back to therapy? She’d only come to town to say goodbye to her dying mother, for God’s sake!
He couldn’t let his sisters do what they had planned. So instead of grabbing hold of that final excuse and turning around, as he desperately wanted to, he entered the room just as Louisa was pointing at Gia while yelling at someone else, “I know her mother has cancer! I’m just sorry it isn’t her!”
There was a collective gasp. Even Louisa’s husband, Victor, turned to gape at her. That was when Cormac’s eyes locked onto Gia’s face—and he saw the blood drain out of it. “You’re a truly nasty person,” she said to Louisa, and even though she’d spoken quietly, she’d spoken into absolute silence, so everyone heard it.
Louisa burst into tears but continued to point at Gia while trying to excuse what she’d said. “She destroyed my father’s life! She broke up my family! She’s been lying all this time! Can you imagine being fourteen years old when a fellow student accuses your father—a respected English teacher—of sexual misconduct? Talk about embarrassment and humiliation! You have no idea!”
Cormac pushed his way through those standing between him and his sisters. “No, Cormac,” he heard someone say. An arm even came out to stop him. But he knocked whoever it was away. He wasn’t here to gang up on Gia as that person probably thought.
“Louisa, Edith, that’s enough,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Why do you think Mom divorced Dad? Because she knew things we didn’t, right? She had a reason to believe that Gia was telling the truth, and I believe that now, too. I’m only sorry it took me so long to figure it out. If I’d listened sooner, with an open mind and heart, maybe I would’ve had the chance to convince you that it’s Dad who’s been lying, and you wouldn’t be so set on this stupid confrontation.”
“Cormac, you need to stay out of it.” Victor came to his wife’s defense, but Cormac whipped around to face his brother-in-law and challenge him in return.
“If you can get into it, I can. And I don’t think coming here was the right thing to do. You need to help me convince your wife to go home.”
Louisa had been so distracted by the battle she was waging that it took a second for his presence to register. To him, in this moment, most of the people around them were nameless and faceless, except Gia. Maybe it was the same for his sister, because when she saw him, really saw him, the fight seeped out of her like a balloon that’d been filled but not tied. “I can’t believe you’d do this,” she murmured. “I can’t believe you, of all people, would turn on me!”
“I’m not turning on you,” he clarified as gently as possible. “I’m trying to stop you from making a terrible mistake. You’re hurting someone who’s been hurt enough!”
“And what about me? Haven’t I been hurt enough?” she demanded, once again finding her full voice, then ran from the room.
Edith looked from their departing sister to the many faces staring back at her to Cormac and started to cry herself. “What have you done?” she said to him and ran after Louisa.
Victor and Dan quickly followed their wives, leaving Cormac facing a roomful of shocked Banned Books Club members and a stunned Gia.
“I’m sorry,” he said to everyone at large. “I should’ve come sooner. Maybe I could’ve headed them off at the door or something. I was... I don’t have a good excuse. But please don’t blame my sisters for this. It’s my father’s fault. Everything’s his fault.”
“So he did do it?” someone called out, seeking the confirmation they’d all, no doubt, craved for years.
Cormac was tempted to say he didn’t know . That was the truth. He hadn’t been there that night. But he couldn’t equivocate now. He’d only make Gia hate him again—and possibly cause more anger and division—by trying to remain in the middle. “ I think he did.”
“Then you did the right thing,” someone else said. But there were obviously those who didn’t agree. Ruth Stinson looked as though she’d been struck before she walked out of the room, presumably to see if Louisa and Edith were okay.
Cormac’s gaze landed on Gia once more. “I didn’t want this to happen,” he told her. “Again, I’m sorry.” He didn’t wait for a response. He’d done all he could. He’d taken a stand—publicly—against his own father and sisters, which, hopefully, had saved Gia the pain she would otherwise have felt. But he’d upset Louisa and Edith. He’d always been close—and united—with his sisters.
But he couldn’t see that he’d had any other choice.
After she got home from the Banned Books Club meeting, Gia sat out by the pool. The lights were on at Cormac’s house and she was hoping he’d come out so she’d have the chance to speak with him. But he didn’t. She wondered if he was too busy being harangued—on the phone since he didn’t seem to have company—by his sisters, their husbands or his father. His mother, if she’d heard about it, might not be happy with what he’d done, either.
Without him, the Banned Books Club meeting would certainly have gone much worse. There was no telling where the fight the Hart sisters had started would end.
She still couldn’t believe he’d shown up and defended her . It’d been such a relief just to know that he’d finally realized she was telling the truth; what he’d done tonight was well beyond her expectations. She was grateful to him, of course, but she was worried about the repercussions. What would his father do? What would his sisters do? Would this cause him to be estranged from the other members of his family? And if so, how long would it last? Years?
She winced at the thought of that, especially since she wouldn’t be in Wakefield for much longer. They were the ones building their lives here.
He probably shouldn’t have gone to the restaurant. But she couldn’t help admiring the fact that he had. That had taken guts.
She remembered him confronting her the day his father was fired and had to admit he was the type, right or wrong, to stand up for what he believed.
Her phone rang. It was Eric. Soon, he’d be shutting down Backcountry Adventures and heading to Glacier National Park, the trip she’d been looking forward to taking with him but would now have to miss.
“Hey, how’s your mom?” he asked when she answered.
Gia glanced at the dark house. Her parents had been asleep by the time she returned because she and Sammie had gone out for drinks afterward. Ruth had never come back into the room where they were having the reunion and wasn’t answering her phone, so Gia had no idea what’d happened to her. “She’s fragile but hanging in.”
“And your sister? She still glad you’re there?”
Mention of Margot reminded Gia that she hadn’t heard from her all day. She’d been planning to drive by the house after the party tonight, but then the confrontation with Louisa and Edith had occurred and thrown the rest of the evening off course. By the time she and Sammie were ready to call it a night, she’d been so distracted she hadn’t even thought of Margot. It would’ve been too late to knock on her door, anyway. Maybe Ida had heard from her. “I think so. She’s taking some time off and letting me handle things on this end.”
“She probably needs the break.”
“I should’ve come sooner,” she acknowledged.
“You’re there now. Make the most of it, okay?”
She smiled. He was thirty-eight going on fifty-eight. She always told him he was the oldest, wisest soul in the room. “I am, for the most part.”
“So...it’s not as bad as you anticipated?”
“It’s every bit as bad. But...” She stood up to peer over the fence into Cormac’s backyard before sitting down again. “There’ve been some welcome surprises, too.”
“I’m happy to hear it. Just wanted to let you know that everything’s going well around here. You don’t have to worry about the business. We’re closing out our biggest season ever. I still wish you could go to Glacier with me, but I’ll send you the pictures I take so you can enjoy the sights along with me.”
She was afraid that would make her more jealous than happy, but it was such a kind gesture that she couldn’t say no. “Thank you. Give my love to Coty and kiss Ingrid for me.”
“Coty and Ingrid send their love right back,” he said and disconnected.
She checked her watch. It was nearly midnight. But she was tempted to call Margot anyway, just in case she could reach her sister. She wanted to talk to someone who would actually understand the significance of what’d happened tonight. She was still so shocked by Cormac’s appearance.
Again, she got up and looked over the fence. He was definitely still awake. She saw him pass in front of the kitchen window, but it looked like he might be shirtless, which meant he was probably preparing for bed.
She told herself to leave him alone—leave the whole thing as it was—but she didn’t know if she’d have a better opportunity to thank him and to tell him that she didn’t expect him to stand up for her. She actually preferred he didn’t so she wouldn’t have to worry about the impact on his life. It was enough that he believed her; she didn’t want him to go to war with his family.
She went back inside to get the Duke sweatshirt he’d loaned her. He’d put her shirt on the fence last night, but she’d been hanging on to his, secretly hoping for the chance to speak with him again. Now she was glad she’d held off returning it for a day or two. She could go to his place under the guise of returning it and thank him for what he’d done tonight at the same time.
The temperature seemed a lot colder once she stepped back outside. She knew she probably shouldn’t go over so late—he certainly wouldn’t be expecting company. But she knew she wouldn’t sleep well if she didn’t get the chance to say what was on her mind.
Once she let herself through the gate and walked around to his front door, she knocked softly and heard his dog bark as she shifted nervously on her feet.
A curtain moved; he was looking out at her. She dug her fingernails into her palms because she felt awkward. She couldn’t imagine he’d be happy to see her.
He held his dog back while opening the door. “Hey.”
She cleared her throat. “Sorry to bother you so late, but... Well, the light was on...”
“I’m up. No problem. Would you like to come in?”
She almost refused. She felt terrible barging in on him so late. But he was having to hang on to his dog, and she felt what she had to say might be better received if he didn’t have to worry about that. “Sure. For a sec.”
“Duke,” he said to his dog as he encouraged him to move out of the way so she could get inside. Then he closed the door and straightened while his rottweiler smelled her feet and legs.
“This has been washed,” she said, handing him his sweatshirt. “Thank you for letting me use it.”
“No problem. I left your shirt on the fence last night. I assume you got it.”
“I did.”
“I’m sorry about what happened at the restaurant earlier. Once I became aware that Edith and Louisa were planning to crash the reunion, I did what I could to talk them out of it. But they wouldn’t listen to me. Showing up probably made an even bigger scene, though. I just...didn’t know what else to do.”
He could’ve let it play out. Instead, he’d come to stop his sisters, despite what it would cost him on a personal level. “What you did was...courageous. I’m grateful. But I also want to make it clear that you should never do that sort of thing again.”
He blinked in apparent surprise. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to leave you in a worse place than you were when I came home. I’ll be in town only until... Well, you live in Wakefield, are building a life and a business here. It’d be better for me to just weather the storm, you know? I’d rather not get in the way of your relationships, especially with your family.”
He looked slightly baffled. “Even with my father?”
“Of course. It was never my intent to strip him of everything he had. I just... I wanted to get out of his class. I couldn’t be comfortable there after...after what he did. And it was only fair that I get the grade I deserved on that paper so I could go to college.”
“But you dropped out, anyway.”
“I was too messed up at that time. I couldn’t function like the other students.”
He frowned but she continued before he could comment.
“It wasn’t as if I had a big vendetta or something against your father. People make mistakes.”
“Let me get this straight.” Cormac scratched the back of his neck. “You’re worried about what will happen to me in all this?”
“I know what it feels like to be the person your sisters hate,” she said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
She was hoping he’d laugh with her and let it go at that. She’d delivered her message, told him to stay out of whatever happened so he wouldn’t get hurt and returned the sweatshirt he’d loaned her. Her job here was done. But he didn’t thank her for coming by and move to open the door. He continued to look at her as though he could see right through her.
“What is it?” she asked, growing self-conscious again.
“What my father did was terrible, Gia. We should’ve stood behind you.”
She waved a hand. “That was a long time ago. I just want to forget and move on...if he’ll let me.”
“If he’ll let you?” he echoed.
“He’s so afraid I’ll destroy the cover he’s created that he’s trying to make things difficult.”
“Now? How’s he making things difficult now ?”
She’d made a mistake speaking in the present tense. She didn’t want to tell him about the incident at Delia’s Big Buns, didn’t want to make him feel as though he had to continue to protect her. “I meant...in the past.”
Hoping to get out of the house before she could blow it even more, she turned to go but he caught her arm. “You haven’t heard from him since you came back to town, have you?”
“No,” she said immediately but spoke with a little too much force and couldn’t meet his eyes. She hated to lie to Cormac, of all people. She’d been called a liar by Mr. Hart and certain members of his family for so long, she understood the value of credibility.
His eyebrows knitted. “What’d he do?”
When she didn’t answer, he gave her arm a slight squeeze. “Gia, you’re not nearly as good a liar as I once gave you credit for.”
Just the word liar made her flinch—and tell the truth. “He...he saw me at Big Buns earlier today and kept driving past—back and forth, back and forth. That would’ve been okay. It’s a free country, after all. But he pulled in before I could pack up and leave. Blocked me in, actually, rolled down his window and started yelling at me in front of the other people who were eating there.”
Cormac’s jaw hardened. “What’d he say?”
“The usual.”
“He was trying to intimidate you and discredit your side of the story.”
“Yes. He feels personally betrayed. He thought he should be able to get away with what he did, that I shouldn’t have outed him. Maybe he even believes the punishment was way worse than the crime. And that could be true. How much punishment is enough for something like that? Does anyone really know? The actual encounter didn’t last long. From that perspective it seems the punishment might’ve been too great. But the repercussions have gone on and on, so from that perspective... I don’t know. All I can tell you is that it was terrible trying to defend myself with him twisting the truth like he did.”
Cormac shook his head. “Because this isn’t just about what he did. It’s about what he did after. And to think I was part of that...”
“You didn’t know any better.”
“I do now,” he said.
“I won’t be in town long,” she reminded him. “At this point, let’s just let it go. Maybe screaming at me while I was there satisfied his anger.” She said that but didn’t really believe it. Somehow, Mr. Hart had made himself the victim in this situation and still seemed to believe she’d wronged him .
“He’d better not bother you again,” Cormac said. “I won’t allow it.”
She gave him a pointed look. “We’ve been over this. You can’t get involved.”
“But I will,” he said.
And he’d proved it tonight.