Chapter 25 #2
Sarah squeezed his hand, letting him know she was thinking the same thing.
Her comical grimace nearly made Owen laugh out loud.
He certainly hadn’t expected to laugh this morning, but he had to admit it felt pretty damned good to have most of the power for a change.
He and his mother had the truth on their side, and there was comfort in that.
Over the course of the morning, Tom called Slim, David and Blaine to the witness stand to testify to Sarah’s condition the night she arrived on Gansett Island bruised and battered.
“Did Mrs. Lawry tell you how she came to be so egregiously injured?” Tom asked Blaine, who was the last to testify.
“Yes, she said her husband beat her after she served undercooked chicken for dinner.” Blaine had worn his dress uniform to testify. “From what she said, a verbal altercation escalated into a physical confrontation that left Mrs. Lawry severely injured.”
“The defense will ask how a woman so badly injured could’ve managed to travel hundreds of miles,” Tom said.
“We all wondered that, too,” Blaine replied. “Personally, I think she was fueled by fear and a desire to get to her son, where she knew she’d be safe.”
“Objection,” the defense attorney said. “Speculation.”
“Withdrawn,” the prosecutor said. “Nothing further.”
Blaine held up well under questioning from the defense attorney before he was dismissed from the witness stand. The judge then called a recess for lunch.
As he watched the proceedings all morning, Owen’s nerves had been stretched nearly to the breaking point. Laura had held his hand the whole time, her support never wavering.
“That went well,” Dan said of the morning’s testimony. “Slim, David and Blaine were very credible and held up well under cross.”
Tom agreed when he joined them. “I’m feeling good about this. With Sarah’s testimony and Owen’s, we will paint a pretty good picture of what went on.”
“We still don’t have anyone outside of our family who was aware that this had been happening for years,” Owen said.
“I wish we did,” Tom said frankly. “It would definitely cement our case. But I think we’ll be okay without it.”
The words I think didn’t do much for Owen’s nerves. He turned to leave the courtroom and thought he was seeing things when his grandparents appeared in the doorway. “Mom. Look.” He directed Sarah’s attention to the older couple waiting for them.
Adele wore her white hair in a stylish bob and was dressed to the nines in a red suit and heels. Her husband was tanned from spending his days on the golf course in Florida, but his twinkling blue eyes lit up with delight at the sight of his eldest grandchild.
“Oh… Oh wow.”
“Who is it?” Laura asked.
“Adele and Russ.” After working for them for close to a year, Laura certainly recognized those names.
“Did you know they were coming?”
“I had no idea, and neither did my mother.”
Sarah was in tears as she hugged her parents. “What’re you doing here? You didn’t say you were coming.”
“Of course we’re here,” Adele said. “We wouldn’t be anywhere else.” She hugged Owen tightly, surrounding him with the scent of Chanel No. 5 that took him right back to childhood summers on Gansett.
They all moved into the corridor, where Owen had the pleasure of introducing his grandparents to Laura.
“It’s so lovely to finally meet you in person,” Adele said as she hugged Laura.
“I’m so happy to meet you, too,” Laura said.
While she chatted with his grandparents, Owen shook hands with David and Blaine, who were leaving to go home. “Thank you again for this. I’ll never be able to tell you how much it means to us that you came.”
“We’ll be hoping for a positive outcome,” David said.
“Keep us posted,” Blaine added.
“I will.”
“Hopefully, you’ll be on your way home very soon,” David said.
“Let’s hope so.”
They said good-bye to Sarah and left for the airport, where they would catch a commercial flight back to Rhode Island.
Frank came in pushing Holden’s stroller and met Owen’s grandparents, who made a huge fuss over the baby they’d heard so much about.
“There’s a great diner across the street,” Frank said. “Holden and I had some coffee there earlier.”
“I’m starving,” Sarah announced.
Owen was glad to hear she felt hungry, because all he felt was sick. Then his father emerged from the courtroom, coming to a halt when he encountered the gathering in the hallway. The look he gave Sarah had her shrinking right before Owen’s eyes. Old habits died hard.
“Move along,” Owen said to his father.
“Watch yourself, boy.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a boy anymore, so you’d be wise to watch yourself and the way you talk to my mother.”
“Still playing the role of the hero, huh?”
“Still playing the role of the dickhead, huh?”
“Move along, Mr. Lawry,” Tom said. “You’re under a restraining order that prevents you from contacting your ex-wife. This counts as contact.”
“I’ll move along, but you should’ve taken the deal, Sarah. You’ve got nothing against me.”
“Move,” Charlie said in a tone that forced Mark to take notice.
“What’s it to you?”
“Keep talking, and you’ll find out.”
Sarah took Charlie by the hand. “Don’t bother, Charlie. He’s not worth it. Let’s go have lunch.” Sarah led him and her mother to the door.
As Laura and the others followed Sarah, Owen hung back. “Go away and leave us alone,” he said to his father when the others were out of earshot. “You’re nothing to us, and we like it that way.”
“Your mother will come around,” Mark said confidently. “She always does.”
The statement had Owen laughing out loud. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Laura came back to look for him. “Are you coming?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m coming.” As he walked away from his father, he felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. Mark Lawry no longer had any power over him, his mother or his siblings. No matter how the trial worked out, he couldn’t hurt them anymore.
He took Laura’s hand and smiled at her, feeling more like himself than he had in weeks.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her expression filled with concern.
“Everything is just fine. It’s absolutely fine.”