Seems Like Old Times (32 page)

She burst into tears.

"No more questions, Your Honor."

o0o

Tony was called to the stand next. Under his attorney's
guidance, he explained about the Circle Z and that his father also lived there.

"When did you buy this ranch?"

"Two and a half years ago," Tony answered.

"Why?"

"I used to live there, my dad still worked there.
When I heard it was for sale, I knew it would be a good place to raise my
son."

"When did you leave baseball?"

"Two and a half years ago."

"Why?"

"My son was nearly seven, and I thought that,
particularly as he got older, he'd need a father to watch over and guide him,
especially since his mother wasn't interested in raising him."

"Do you throw lots of parties?"

"No."

"Have lots of women at your place?"

"Hardly!"

"My learned colleague brought up the fact that Lee
Reynolds is in court today, and that somehow means you're involved in fast
living. What can you tell the court about her presence here today?"

"Her real name is Lisa Marie. We went to school
together.
We’re old friends, that’s
all. Her aunt is
moving to Miwok, and staying at Lisa's place. When Lisa heard this trial would
be today, she offered to come along for moral support. That's all there is to
it."

"Do you expect to continue to see her?"

"She's engaged to someone in New York. I have no idea
when or if she'll visit Miwok again."

"Thank you, Mr. Santos. Now, about your ranch, does
your father still live on your ranch property with you and Ben?"

"He does."

"Does he help take care of his grandson?"

"He sees Ben every day. The two of them are quite
close."

"As are you and your son."

"Yes, we are."

The attorney glanced at Catherine, then the judge.
"No more questions, Your Honor."

Catherine's attorney stood. "Isn't it true that you,
Mr. Santos, grew up without a mother?"

"She died."

"Did you ever wish she hadn't died?"

Tony stared at the woman,
then
shrugged. "Sure."

"So, even though you had a father, you'd say that
there was something different, something special, about a mother that you
missed, right?"

Tony glanced toward his attorney, then back to Catherine’s
attorney. "I don't know."

"You do know that there's a difference between a
mother and a father, right?"

"I guess."

"And yet, you wish to deny your son the right to know
his own mother, when you yourself admit that you missed having a mother of your
own. How can you be so selfish, so heartless
--
"

"Objection!"

"--to both of them, Mr. Santos.
How can you keep this woman and her child apart?"

"I object to this line of questioning!" his
attorney bellowed.

"Sustained."

"No more questions, Your Honor."

o0o

Following the closing arguments, the judge announced that
he would issue his decision in a day or two.

Lee and Vic walked out of the room. Tony stayed behind
with his attorney, looking shaken. Lee waited near the door to join him when he
came out.

Before he appeared, though, Catherine stepped through the
doorway. Her eyebrows rose when she noticed Lee. She squared her shoulders and
approached her. "So, you’re Lee Reynolds, in the flesh."

"Catherine." Lee nodded curtly.

"I never expected to see you here. Do you slum for
kicks these days, or is this how you always have fun?"

Lee gave the woman a cold stare. What was behind this
attack? "I wasn’t slumming until a moment ago."

"She speaks!
And without a
teleprompter yet!"

Lee wasn’t about to waste her time trading barbs with this
person. "Why are you doing this, Catherine?"

Catherine’s eyes narrows. She folded her arms. "Is it
so hard for you to believe that I want my son?"

"Your motherly instincts are a little belated, aren't
they?"

"I can make it up to him."

"You're wrong. Ben may forgive you for walking out on
him, but he'll never forget it. He'll never trust you."

Catherine's eyes turned hard. "I could use those
exact words about you and Tony. I know all about
your
seeing him when you were here a few months ago--how you went after him to
relive your youth. Well, it’s gone, Lee Reynolds. Have you looked into a mirror
lately?"

Was Catherine jealous? Is that what was behind her venom?
"You know nothing about Tony and me."

"I know a lot more than you think! I know you hurt him.
But as the years went by, he got over it. And now, he's one of the coldest,
hardest bastards I know. "

"I can’t believe you were married to the man and be
so wrong about him. There's nothing cold or hard about Tony," Lee stated.

"You’ll find out. You don't know him as well as you
think." Catherine’s eyes were cold and flat. "At least I've got a son
to fight for. You haven't got a damn thing, Lee Reynolds. You're no more useful
than yesterday's news." Catherine spun on her heel and stormed down the
hall. A clerk stepped out of a room in front of her and she pushed him aside
and kept going.

Lee said nothing, holding herself still so she wouldn't
shatter into a thousand pieces.

Dr.
Durelle
, looking and acting
almost gnome-like, stepped out of the shadows and glanced up at Lee.
"I...I'm sorry." He lifted his arms in a gesture of helplessness,
then
hurried off in the direction of his wife.

Lee stared after the woman. She shut her eyes a moment,
trying to block out the ugliness and pain of Catherine's words. Tony had warned
her.

After a short while, Catherine briskly strode back down
the hallway, her husband following about three steps behind. Lee folded her
arms and stood her ground. If Catherine wanted to play ugly, she was ready to
accommodate her.

Just as Catherine neared, the courtroom door opened and
Tony stepped out. They arrived at almost the same spot, face to face, and for
the first time, they looked directly at each other. The air between them
crackled with hatred--and something more.

Lee stood as if rooted to the spot as she watched Ben's
parents together. Despite the bitterness, the two of them had a bond, a living,
breathing wonderful little boy that they had created. She saw them both stiffen
,
then Tony stepped back and let Catherine pass. She abruptly
turned and reentered the courtroom.

Lee had never felt as alone as she did at that moment.
That other woman, that travesty of motherhood, had no right to be here.
Or...was she the one who had no right?

She turned to the window and looked out, seeing in the
reflected glass the elegant woman Lisa Marie Reynolds had become. Who was the
real
person--Lee or Lisa?

Tony walked to her side. She faced him, cool and in
control as always. "I'm so sorry, Tony. I never imagined my coming here
could be used against you. I’ll do anything possible to correct it."

He leaned both hands on the windowsill. "I don't
think it'll matter much one way or the other."

"You did a good job deflecting criticism in the way
you explained our relationship."

"I tried."

She waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t.
No words, it seemed, were left between them.

After a long pause he said, "There's nothing more we
can do here. We may as well go home."

When Lee got back to the Circle Z, she went to look for
Ben. Tony and Vic hadn't arrived yet. They had been delayed by Tony's attorney
as they were leaving the courthouse.

Lee found Ben in the barn brushing his horse, Evening
Star. The boy shot her a solemn, brown-eyed gaze, not at all surprised to see
her, and with studious concentration returned to his chore.

"Hello, Ben."

"Hi." His tone was downcast, his voice soft.

Lee patted the filly's nose.

"Is Dad home?" he asked, still brushing.

"He's on his way."

There was a long pause, with only the sound of the brush
raking through the horse’s coat being heard. "Is it over?" he asked.

"We just have to wait and see what the judge
decides."

Ben's hand stilled a moment, the brush in
mid air
. "Oh."

Lee picked up another brush and began working the other
side of Star's coat.

"It'll be okay, Ben. You'll see."

"I guess I'm going to have to go live with her."

"Not necessarily. Your dad tried very hard to make
the judge understand he wants you here."

"Maybe."

She was shocked.
"Maybe?
Of
course he did."

Ben shrugged. "Maybe my dad's tired of me. My mom
didn't want me, you know. I heard my dad say that. Sometimes I even hear him
say it's a lot of work to raise a kid by himself. I got into a fight in school
last year and broke Larry Larson's finger. Dad was really mad."

She put down the brush and walked around Star to Ben's
side. "Ben, come here." She held out her hand to him. He put down his
brush and took it. She led him to a bench. Sitting down, she looked gravely
into his dark eyes. "Your dad would never grow tired of you. You mean everything
to him, Ben. He's fought for you every way he knows how. The problem is that
your mother loves you, too. Maybe she thought she didn't want you, but that was
years ago. She was much younger then. You're a lucky boy to have two people who
want you so much."

He stared at his shoes, his lower lip trembling. "I
think
it's
bad luck."

"It's never bad luck to he loved, Ben."

She ran her hand along his soft, thick hair, brushing it
back off his handsome face.
Her fingers, senses at her very
core, remembered similar softness, but dark as midnight.
She dropped her
hand.

"Whatever happens," she said gently, "never
doubt that your dad loves you and wants you with him very, very much."

He sat beside her and put his elbows on his knees then
bent forward so that his chin rested on his hands. He looked so
downcast,
she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled
him to her side in a hug. His frame was surprisingly small. She couldn't
remember having hugged a nine year old child before. Ben's shoulders were narrow,
his arms delicate, and the smell of him reminded her of playgrounds on a sunny
day. She kissed the top of his head,
then
squeezed her
eyes tight as she lay her cheek against his hair. He eased against her with
complete trust and acceptance.

"Well, that's my kid, all right," Tony said.
"Already he's got the prettiest woman in the county kissing him."

Ben and Lee looked up to see Tony in the doorway, his
hands on his hips, his feet slightly apart, and his eyes warm as he looked at
the two of them together.

"Dad!"
Ben broke from
Lee and threw his arms around his father's waist. "Lisa said you fought
hard for me."

Tony lifted the boy off his feet in a big hug, and kissed
him on the cheek. They were silent for a long moment, Tony holding Ben and the
boy with all but a stranglehold on his father’s neck. Lee could see Tony
struggle to hide his worry from his son. Then he lowered him to the ground.
"I told that judge if he tries to send you away from me he'd better be
ready to put up his dukes."

Ben’s eyebrows rose. "What're dukes?"

Tony and Lee laughed. "This." Tony lifted a big
fist, gently bopped Ben in the nose,
then
ruffled his
hair.
"Homework time.
Tomorrow's a school
day."

"Aw, Dad.
You're too
tired."

"I'm too tired? It's your homework. Go get
started."

"But I need help with math."

"Try it first,
then
if
you're still stuck, I’ll help."

"Hell, I mean, heck." Ben slumped off toward the
house.

Tony faced Lee. Awkwardness hung between them, created by
Catherine’s words, her ugly innuendoes. Lee didn’t say anything as she
approached him. She placed her hands on his chest. He held her waist, and they
stared until they could bear it no longer. With a groan, they came together,
holding each other tight. "I thought you’d hate me after that," he
said. "I shouldn’t have let you go there, shouldn’t have put you in the
line of her venom."

"I wanted to be there, to see."

He kissed her,
then
their arms
went around each other once more in a long hug, as if hoping that holding each
other could erase the ugliness of the day.

Finally, Tony held out his hand to Lee. She took it and
they followed Ben, hand in hand, up the hill.

Lee warmed from the scene before her. A vermilion sunset
glowed over the coast
range mountains
and cast the
clapboard house in rose pastels. Tony had made a loving home for himself and
his son. But Ben was his driving force. If he lost Ben, it could destroy him.

They found Ben sitting at the kitchen table, his backpack
with his books and binder unopened in front of him.

"Take your books out of there, Benjamin," Tony
said. "I'l1 start dinner and then help you."

"But I don't understand it!"

"Ben! Read the book, study the examples--you can do
that."

Lee stood back, her attention bouncing from one to the
other. Tony removed a package of hamburger from the refrigerator and put it on
the counter.

"What are you making?" she asked.

"Spaghetti."

"Oh, I'm a fine spaghetti cook." She took the
skillet from his hand. "You see to Ben, I'l1 put on dinner."

"You sure?"