Past Due (19 page)

Easing his hold on Tanner’s arms, Tres spoke calmly, “I don’t blame you for being angry and I full well deserved what I got, but this ...will not help anyone.”

“I feel better,” Tanner spat.

Tres let go of him and touched his lip. Maureen dug out a hankie and blotted the blood. “Tanner Scott. I’m ashamed of you. Fighting? You think that solves anything?” Maureen stammered, her face blood red, her shoulders shook.

“Leave the boy alone, Maureen. He has the right to defend his mother.”

Maureen handed Tres the hankie. “Nobody needs to defend anyone. This is a misunderstanding. Do you understand that, Tanner? It is all a misunderstanding!”

“Misunderstandings shouldn’t turn your life upside down,” Tres answered.

Maureen reached out and dragged her grandson to a chair, “Sit. I’ve seen enough and I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior. Your mother is going to be fine. She wouldn’t want you beating up...Mr. Coulter.”

Tanner sat. He glared at Tres. Maureen shook her head and sighed. She looked up at Tres. He shrugged, his swollen, bloodied lip turned down in a frown. “I’ll leave you two alone. Maureen, you’ll let me know when there are updates?”

“Of course,” she assured. Once Tres disappeared, Maureen turned her attention to her grandson. “I don’t know what all you heard...”

“I heard plenty.”

“Well, you may have misunderstood some things. Tres hasn’t done anything to deserve you beating him up.”

“Prove it.” Tanner leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Mom was fine until he showed up.”

“Oh, Tanner. I ... how about a soda? Can I get you a soda?” Tanner nodded. Maureen patted his leg, “I’ll get you one ... and I’m going to check on Tres.”

Maureen found Tres leaning against the wall in a quiet corner of the public waiting room. He stood up straight as she approached. “Did you hear something?”

“No. Just wanted to check on you.”

“I’m fine. You should be with Tanner.”

“He’s fine. Well, he will be fine.”

“I never really thought about how he would take it. I guess I’ve done a pretty good job of only thinking about myself.”

“Mr. Coulter, you…”

“Worry about Tanner. I’m fine.”

Maureen knew better, but she could think of nothing to say.

***

Twenty minutes later, a nurse stuck her head in the waiting room and announced they could see Jenna for a few moments. Rushing to the room, Maureen searched Jenna’s face for any sign of a mental break down. She looked the same as she did this morning, tired and worried. Maureen flew to her and hugged her tightly. “Were you wearing your seat belt, darlin’?”

“Yeah, if not I’d have been thrown out of the car.”

Maureen nodded. “Suppose if you wanted to go and kill yourself, you’d have left the seatbelt off,” Maureen surmised.

Jenna sighed and leaned back against the pillows, “I know. I keep telling them I fell asleep, that a psych evaluation is ridiculous. But I’ll have to do it. Dr. Campbell says my insurance may not cover the hospital stay if it’s possible my injuries were self-inflicted.” Jenna looked up at the ceiling. “Just my luck, huh?”

Maureen gasped. “But you need to be home.”

“I need to stay out of the poor house, too.” Jenna rubbed her forehead, “I’m such a damned idiot, Maureen. I’ve made an absolute mess of everything.”

“Well, I’ll be honest…things are in a bit of turmoil. That’s why you need to be home. There has to be a way to work this out. If it’s just money, then I…”

“You don’t have the kind of money this hospital bill will rack up. Lord, every time they took me for a scan of this and that, I kept hearing money bells ring.”

“Have you talked to your insurance company? Maybe call Teddy, your auto insurance may…”

“I’ve already bugged Teddy. I don’t want him to tire of me. And I only have liability on my car. No, Mr. Campbell seemed pretty sure and I don’t want to risk it. Besides it’s only ten days.”

“Maybe Tres could...”

“No,” Jenna interrupted, sitting up straight, “You’ll say nothing to Tres. Tell him they’ve ordered me there. Don’t you dare tell him I just can’t afford to go home. I mean it, Maureen.”

“Jenna, the lies have to end….”

“No, Maureen. I won’t have him paying my bills. Good God…after all I’ve done to him already? Then to saddle him with a boat load of debt? I just can’t.” Jenna started to cry. Maureen ran to her and scooped her into her arms and rocked her like a child. “Promise me, Maureen? Promise you won’t tell him about my financial problems?”

Maureen nodded and promised. Jenna relaxed. Maureen settled her back against her pillows and tucked the blanket around her. She brushed the loose hairs from Jenna’s face and told her, “He’s here.”

“Who? Tres?”

Maureen nodded. “And Tanner.”

“Tanner? Is he all right?”

“A little worried.”

“Oh, goodness, Maureen, does Tanner wonder why Tres is here?”

“I, uh, I couldn’t tell you exactly what is going through that child’s mind right now. I can say I think he believes Tres is somehow to blame for all this.”

“Oh,” Jenna rubbed her temples. “This just keeps getting worse.”

“Exactly why you need to be home.”

“Maureen, I don’t even have the money right now to pay my deductible.”

“But Jenna, I have some money.”

“Please, Maureen, do we have to have this same discussion every time?”

“Well, until you start to be sensible, then I’d say absolutely.”

“I love you, but save your breath. I have a plan already in mind and you’ll not change it, so don’t try. I don’t want to argue.”

“Do I get to know the plan?”

“Of course. I plan to do the week evaluation. I’m fine, they’ll stamp me as good, then I’ll go home. Teddy is going to represent me if Tres challenges my custody, so I need to raise some money to pay him. I figured, if you agree, I’d rent my house to the fall tourists to raise some money.”

“Oh, you know I would love to have you. But a custody battle? Jenna, please. He loves you. You can work this out without fighting.”

“I just have to be prepared. Love may not be enough to fix all that I’ve messed up. And I’ve certainly messed things up. Oh, Maureen, I am such a failure. What have I done? Tanner probably would be better off without me.”

“Nonsense!” Maureen looked over her shoulder as if the tiny Mr. Campbell would pounce from a corner with an “I told you so”. “Stop that silly chatter. You did what you thought best. Somehow it all got twisted. We’ll get to the bottom of it all and find a peaceful way to do it.”

“He hates me.”

Maureen huffed and puffed, her lips opened and closed, though the right words must have escaped her. Finally, she said, her face red and her tone clipped, “Pure nonsense. He is worried sick over you. I’m fed up with all this bad energy. I want some positive feelings, and I want them now.”

“What’s wrong Maureen? What happened?”

“Nothing. You just keep saying how bad you are. Tres is a wreck. Tanner is worried sick. I’m tired of it all.” Maureen straightened the blankets and adjusted the pillows once again as she spoke. “You’re going to get this all worked out. Do you hear me? And it’s not with lawyers and such.”

Jenna nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. “The first step, the easy step, is raising some funds. You’ll set up the rental arrangements for me?”

“Certainly.”

“And I have another favor. Would you call my dad? If I had died tonight ... with the way I’ve avoided him it would have crushed him.”

Maureen looked relieved. She smiled, “I’d be more than happy to. As a matter of fact, I called him right after the sheriff phoned me. He wasn’t home, so I left a message. Then I phoned a minute ago and told him you were all right. Figured if you were gonna be mad, then so be it. Right is right and he’s your father.”

“Thank you. You always do the right thing.” She gave Maureen’s hand a squeeze. “I guess now, I need to see Tan. He’s probably worried sick and wondering why I drove so far north.”

“And Tres?”

Jenna took a deep breath, “Yes, him too. But send in Tanner first.”

Maureen escorted Tanner in. Jenna spoke with her son, gave him as bone bruising a hug as she could muster with sore ribs. She added a kiss to his forehead and promised him everything would be all right. She assured him she was healthy and warned him to listen to Nanny till she got home. They avoided the topic of Tres all together, discussing instead his day at the beach, the weather, and the waves. Small talk exhausted, Tanner was ready to go with Maureen, who promised to take him to get something to eat.

As she left, Maureen kept an arm gripped round Tanner’s as she escorted him past Tres. She motioned toward Jenna’s door with her head as she passed by. Tres caught his cue and nearly sprinted to the room. There he found her, beautiful though broken, her eyes red with tears. He sat beside her, his own eyes burned. Jenna touched his busted lip. “Tres. You’re bleeding.”

Tres blotted at his lip and added casually, “It’s nothing.”

Jenna leaned in for a closer look. “It’s not nothing. What happened?”

Tres shrugged.

“Who have you been fighting with?”

Tres shook his head, “Doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, Tres. It does too. And you’re still bleeding. This just happened. Who were you fighting with? Is that why Maureen was so upset?” She took a tissue and blotted the blood.

“I said it was nothing.”

Jenna shook her head, “Did you fight with someone at your house? Oh, Tres, I’m so sorry.” She caressed his face. “I did this to you. How can you ever forgive me?”

Tres squeezed her hand, “Jenna, you don’t need to apologize.”

“Yes,” she insisted, nodding her head emphatically. “Yes I do. I’ve thought a lot in the last couple of hours. I’ve thought about everything you’ve missed. And I understand why you were so angry with me.”

“Not right now, Jenna. We will deal with all of this when you’re better.”

“Oh, but Tres. It does matter.” Jenna couldn’t stop the sob. “I robbed you of so many precious memories. Like the day he was born. He was so soft and his fingers and toes were so tiny and wrinkled. And by the time he was six months old, he would sit around and sing, long before he could talk. And how he was eighteen months old before he’d walk because he’d rather be carried. And other things like how proud he was when he got his first little league trophy. His first day of school.” Tears spilled from Jenna’s eyes and Tres’s were glassy, the pain in his heart obvious on his face. Jenna looked at him and sighed, her heart breaking. “I robbed you of all of that. It’s all my fault. I won’t ask you to just pretend none of it matters. I have to find a way to make this better. And I will, as soon as I can.” Jenna wiped her eyes with her fingers, “I will explain to Tanner, but ...” Jenna felt the frustration choke her, “But I can’t right now. They won’t let me go home, and I don’t want to tell him here.”

“Are they going to keep you overnight?” Tres stroked her hand as he talked.

“No, Tres. They think I’m suicidal,” Jenna told him, her voice soft and apologetic. “I have to go for a ten-day evaluation.”

“That’s bullshit. I’ll get you an attorney. Fight any court order.”

“No, Tres. I have an attorney. Teddy ... and he uh, already said he doubts fighting it would help. I’ll just do it and get it over with.”

“Jenna,” Tres lifted her chin to look her in the eyes, “did you? Was this on purpose?”

Jenna’s cheeks reddened, “Of course not. When I got in the car at the hotel, I just wanted to be at home. I don’t really remember the drive at all. I certainly don’t remember the tree. They asked me why I didn’t use my brakes and I can’t say because I don’t remember.” Jenna took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. “I must have fallen asleep. I had my seat belt on, and like Maureen says, if I had tried to kill myself, I wouldn’t have buckled up. This is all absurd, but needs to be done.” Jenna cleared her throat trying to stop the tears from shutting down her voice completely. Her throat squeezed closed, but she managed to assure him, “So, when the ten days are done, we’ll work this out. I promise you. I’ll explain all of this to Tanner.”

Tres hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “If this was North Carolina, I could pull strings, but here in Virginia I don’t really know anyone. Well, no one but...”

“Please, don’t, Tres. It’ll be all right. I’ll be fine. It’s only ten days. That’s not so long. Then I’ll make it up to you anyway that I can. I promise.”

Tres closed his eyes and placed his cheek on the top of her head. “No matter what happens, I want you to know that I do love you, and I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

She said nothing. Her tears wouldn’t allow it. She buried her face in his chest and wished she could go back in time.

Chapter
14

Jenna folded her pillow in half and tucked it under her chin. Of all the directions her life could have taken—she never imagined this. Here she sat, alone, trapped in a room with white cinder block walls and ancient gray tile floors like the psych ward from a B movie. She yearned to return to the shore.