“I CANNOT GET INVOLVED with this again.”
Julia heard the heartache in Gloria Donovan’s voice and wondered at her decision to make a phone call in lieu of driving to Knoxville. Face-to-face, she might have had a better chance to convince Gloria of what she believed. But a phone call was faster and Gloria’s son and grandson required attention now.
“Eli didn’t do this, Mrs. Donovan.” Julia’s voice quivered as she paced her living quarters, the reclaimed wood floor reminding her anew of Charlotte Portland.
“He’s always proclaimed his innocence even when it was a lie.” The other woman’s breath hitched as if she fought tears. “I had such hope for my son this time. I truly thought he’d transformed. Every moment we spent together, the phone calls, even the foundation proposal, was the man I always dreamed my son could be. But now, this. Again. It’s too hard. I don’t think I can bear another loss.”
“Then don’t let it happen. Believe in the man you know today, not the Eli of the past. He’s paid his debt and worked hard at making a new start. He’s worried sick about Alex. Do you actually think he’d commit a felony with him in the car?”
“Oh, my—” Gloria’s gasp registered horror and disbelief. “Alex was with him?”
“Yes, and Eli would never do that. You have to know that. You’ve seen them together. Eli would take on a den of lions for Alex.”
“He does adore the boy.”
“Nor would Eli destroy the chance you’ve given him to be part of your family again. He loves you, and deeply regrets the heartache he caused.” Julia had to make her understand. Alex’s future, as well as Eli’s, was at stake. “He was thrilled over the foundation’s acceptance of his proposal and excited about the offer to head the new project. Good things were happening in his life. He believed he could make a difference.”
“I believed it, too.”
Julia gripped the cell phone like a lifeline. Indeed, it was Eli’s lifeline. Alex’s, too.
“The charges don’t make sense. You have to see that.”
“I don’t know...”
“He was ashamed, Gloria, and humiliated. Ashamed of being in jail. Ashamed of me seeing him there. He didn’t want you to know. In fact, he sent me away. All he asked was that I take care of Alex.”
“Thank goodness, he’s with you.”
Julia’s shoulders slumped, remembering the terrible, tearing moment. “He isn’t.”
“What? Where is he?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Social services picked him up at the police station, and even though I told them he lived with me, they refused to let me take him. Instead, he’s going to total strangers in the foster system, and unless Eli is exonerated, that’s where he’ll stay.” Her voice caught on a sob. “He’ll be scared and worried, and who knows how much he’ll regress. I’m concerned about what might happen to him emotionally. He’s already lost his mother, his aunt, and now his daddy.”
“I don’t understand. Why did they refuse you? Being with you in the familiar makes more sense.”
“I’m not a relative.” Though she’d take him in a heartbeat if she could. “That’s the main reason I called. You’re—”
“His grandmother.” Gloria’s voice was quiet, thoughtful. “Darling Alex. He must feel frightened and terribly alone.”
“He doesn’t have to be. Please. I have the social worker’s number. Call her. Come and get Alex. Give him back his family.”
A long pause ensued in which Julia wondered if she’d pushed too hard and if Gloria had ended the call. Finally, the other woman spoke. “Let me have the number. And Julia?”
“Yes?”
“I know some very good attorneys.”
Relief flooded through every bone in Julia’s body until she felt as fragile as the old letters lying on her bed.
“You’ll help Eli?” Thank God, thank God!
“You’re quite convincing.”
“You won’t regret this.”
“I sincerely hope not.”
* * *
ELI WAS ARRAIGNED the next day. A well-dressed attorney from Knoxville stood at his side although his parents were absent, not that he’d expected them. He’d let them down again, however unintentionally, and was still stunned that they’d retained an attorney on his behalf. He hadn’t expected anything at all. In fact, he’d preferred they never knew, but that was inevitable.
They’d welcomed him back into the Donovan family, given him the job of his dreams and offered him a future with the foundation, a way to regain his self-respect and make a good life for Alex. And once again, he’d kicked them in the teeth.
If his parents didn’t hate him, they should. But they cared about Alex.
Julia had returned to the jail last night with news that Alex was with his grandparents. Eli had nearly wept with gratitude. He’d never considered the legalities of child care or that being charged with a felony would rob him of his right to determine who would care for his son.
Worry about Alex burned his gut like acid.
He’d really messed up this time. Seven years ago, he’d believed himself to be the only one to suffer for his crimes. He knew better now. His family had suffered. Mindy had suffered. And this time, his son would suffer. It tore him apart. The little man must be wondering why his daddy didn’t come get him.
Sweating and scared, Eli quickly gazed around the courtroom and spotted a lanky man in city blues. Trey Riley had come, a good guy who’d spent a couple of hours in his cell last night going over every detail of the case. His friend wanted to help him, but how did he account for all that crack cocaine?
The money was easy to explain and easier to prove. His mother had given him an advance on his salary with the foundation, but the cocaine was a mystery.
No one believed the drugs had been there when he’d bought the car, not even him, though Trey was tracing the vehicle back to the last owners. He and Trey had been under that car and all through it. They would have found contraband if it had existed.
Besides, according to Trey, someone had phoned in an anonymous tip, claiming Eli tried to sell the drugs to a friend. Someone knew those drugs were there and that someone was not him.
When Trey had asked about enemies, Eli had laughed a short humorless bark. A man didn’t go to prison without making a lot of enemies. Even here in Honey Ridge, he’d bumped up against a few people—Valery’s boyfriend and Julia’s squeaky-clean, lawyer ex. He had his suspicions, which he’d shared with Trey, but suspicions weren’t proof.
He’d even made a list of places he’d parked his car for any length of time, though the concept of someone slipping drugs under the fender well in front of Ace Hardware or the grocery store sounded ridiculous even to him.
Except for the shuffle of feet and papers while the accused waited to see the judge, the courtroom was respectfully quiet. When his turn came, the judge asked him to stand. His attorney, Jenkins, stood with him, fastening his coat front. Eli wished for the suit he’d bought a couple of weeks ago instead of the demeaning jailhouse orange.
As he rose, Eli made a quick survey of the courtroom, and his heart lurched, stuttered and his breath stopped.
Near the rear of the rectangular room, the Sweat twins sat as prim as Victorian schoolmarms, white straw purses on their laps and lemon-yellow dresses bright enough to rival the sun. Next to them, in a soft blue suit he’d never seen, was Julia.
He’d told her not to come. He’d not wanted to smear her good name, to taint her with his dark paintbrush. Why hadn’t she stayed away?
Sweat pooled at the base of his spine.
The judge was talking, reading the charges one by one. The words came in a blur. Eli’s ears roared and his heart beat so hard he thought his chest might crack open. He stared down at the polished table, at the tidy folder of paperwork on his lawyer’s side. Going back to prison would hurt. Losing his son would be the end of him.
“Do you understand the charges against you, Mr. Donovan?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“How do you plead?”
With every last vestige of dignity he could muster, Eli lifted his eyes to the judge and told the truth, wishing it would be enough and knowing it wasn’t. “Not guilty.”
* * *
“MOTHER SHOULDN’T HAVE called you, David.”
Julia plucked a weed from the rose bed at the side of the house and listened to her ex-husband tell her what she should and should not do in the matter of Eli Donovan.
“The news is all over town, Julia. I already knew before she telephoned that you’d made Donovan’s bail and brought him back here. People talk.”
“I didn’t pay his bond. Not that it’s anyone’s business.” The Sweat twins had, and though no one in Honey Ridge was ever surprised at anything the ladies did, Eli had been deeply touched. A mere token, the twins had declared, for the time he’d cleared their clogged gutter. Besides, they did not believe for one moment a man who looked that much like Colonel Champ would be involved with something as inappropriate as drugs.
David, on the other hand, believed the worst.
“Your mother is worried. So am I. What were you thinking to let an ex-con come back to your place of business?” He slipped a hand in his pants pocket, gray jacket opened wide to display a belly kept flat by hours at the country club. “You should rid yourself of this scum today before you get hurt.”
“Oh, you’re one to talk to me about getting hurt.” She sat back on her knees and rubbed a clean part of her glove over an itchy cheek. Everything about this conversation made her itchy. No matter how smart he was at law, David had a lot of nerve showing up here again. “Shouldn’t you be at the office? Or at home with your pregnant mistress? Oh, excuse me, I meant wife.”
“You’ve become bitter. It’s not an appealing attribute.”
Julia’s peel of laughter made him blink. “Neither is adultery.”
David lifted both hands. “I just wanted to help.”
“No, you didn’t. You wanted to gloat. If you wanted to help, you’d have offered your services to Eli. Or you would be trying to help Trey discover who planted those drugs in Eli’s car.”
“Don’t be foolish, Julia. The man is a convicted felon. Tigers don’t change their stripes. He’s guilty as sin.”
“I disagree.”
“All right, then, cling to your stubborn fantasy, but when he’s ruined your business and broken your heart, where will you be then?”
Her handsome, smart, furious ex-husband strode to his Mercedes, slammed the door hard enough to send the birds fluttering from the trees, and roared down the driveway, leaving her to yank angrily at the weeds.
Valery came out on the front veranda and down the steps, white sandals making clip-clops on the wood. Her flowered skirt swirled around her trim, tanned legs. Dark hair loose and bouncing, she looked like an ad for summertime lemonade.
“What’s David doing here?” she asked.
“Bet you can guess.”
“Hassling you about Eli?”
“Bingo.”
At his name, the dog, sleeping in the shade of the eaves, lifted his head from his paws. His back end wiggled.
Valery grinned and patted the Aussie’s head. “Not you, Bingo. Go back to sleep.”
“My nosy, cheating, ambulance-chasing ex thinks I should kick Eli out. He’s bad for business.”
A masculine voice broke into the conversation. “He’s right.”
Both women jerked their attention toward the shaded area beside the back porch.
“Eli.” Julia stood, removing her gloves. “Eavesdropping?”
“Sorry. I was looking for you. We need to talk about this situation.”
She flapped the dusty gloves against her thigh. “Innocent until proven guilty. That’s the law.”
“You’re a stubborn woman.”
“I don’t believe in kicking a man when he’s down.” Her big talk was mostly bluster. She was scared of being wrong, of getting hurt, of being a fool. But sometimes a woman had to take a chance.
Eli shifted, posture tense. She could see he had something on his mind.
“I talked to my mother.”
“Good.” A lock of hair had come loose from her ponytail. She tucked it behind one ear. “Is she hiring a private investigator to figure out what happened?”
“I didn’t ask.” The lines of worry had deepened in the two days since his arrest. “Dad wants me out of the picture. They’re talking about taking custody of Alex.”
“Oh, Eli.” Julia sucked in a worried breath. “They have to give you a chance.”
“They’ve given me dozens. I think this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.” He raked a hand down his face. “Maybe Alex will be better off with them. He’ll have a good life. Things he needs.”
Julia’s heart twisted into a knot. “He has that with you.”
“Not if I go back to prison.” He stared down at his hands, those strong, work-weathered hands she’d come to admire. “I love my son, Julia. I don’t want to lose him, but if letting him go is the best thing for him...”
“Stop it!” Valery whirled on Eli with a vehemence that surprised Julia and had Eli taking a step backward. “Alex has had enough disruption to his life. He belongs with you. The courts will see that and put you on probation or something. They won’t separate you from your son. They can’t.”
“If I was a first offender, maybe. But I’m not.”
Valery’s face turned as pale as the magnolia blossoms.
“That’s just stupid.” She stomped off toward the house like an angry child.
All the rest of the day, the occupants of Peach Orchard Inn were tense and anxious. Julia was not surprised when Eli disappeared into the carriage house right after dinner and Valery drove into town in her red car. Left alone with her thoughts, Julia did the one thing that calmed her. She cooked.
The situation looked hopeless. No one could explain away the drugs, and only a handful wanted to believe in Eli’s innocence. Now, with the threat of losing Alex for good, her anxiety ratcheted up to red alert.
She assembled tomorrow’s breakfast casserole and afterward called Trey Riley to discuss the situation. He was no closer to answers than she was.
The Sweat twins telephoned. Or rather, Vida Jean called and Willa Dean spoke in the background so that Julia was hard-pressed to understand them both, particularly since Binky, the parrot, added his two cents at intervals. They had, they declared, spoken to Judge Hansen on Eli’s behalf. The judge’s mama was a Rothberger and therefore a second cousin to the twins.
Listening to their jumbled conversation cheered her, though minimally.
When they rang off, she reread Charlotte Portland’s letters, rechecked Mikey’s website, stared out the window at the light in the carriage house and resisted the temptation to go to Eli.
The house felt lonely without Alex. She felt lonely.
The admission troubled her some. She hadn’t meant to fall in love with someone else’s child.
Eli was desperately worried about him and planned a trip to Knoxville tomorrow. She hoped the Donovans would allow the visit. Both father and son needed the contact.
At eleven, she crawled into bed but couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, fluffed her pillow and listened to the comforting sounds of the house. The clock on the bedside table glowed a red midnight.
The negative voice in her head chided. What if Eli was guilty? What if, in her fragile state of mind, she’d been deluded by his handsome face and winsome ways? She didn’t want to be the lonely divorcée who foolishly believed the first man who showed her any attention. But what if David was right and she’d done exactly that?
Was this the way Eli’s mother felt? Did Gloria, too, want to believe in Eli but couldn’t quell the doubts?
She heard a noise in the hallway, saw a light come on and tossed the duvet cover back. Opening the door a crack, she said, “Valery?”
“It’s me.”
Julia stepped out into the hall. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Understandable.”
Julia couldn’t tell if her sister had been drinking and was ashamed to realize she’d opened the door for the purpose of finding out.
“Can we talk?”
Julia opened the door wider. She flipped on the overhead light and studied her younger sister. Valery’s eyes were wild and shifty.
“Is something wrong? You sound funny.”
“I’m not drunk, if that’s what you mean.” Valery’s lip quivered. She paced to the easy chair but didn’t sit.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell, and you seem upset. Did you and Jed have your weekly breakup? Is that it?”
“Eli won’t go to prison, will he? I mean, his parents will do something. They have money and power. They can fix this and he’ll get Alex back. Right?”
“They think he’s guilty. At least his father does.”
“But he didn’t do anything wrong!” Tears gathered in Valery’s wild eyes. “He’s innocent, Julia. This is all messed up and I don’t know what to do.”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“But that’s not true. If I—” She whirled away, hands to her face. Her shoulders began to shake.
A chill pimpled the flesh on Julia’s arms. “What are you talking about? What could you possibly do?”
“Nothing. Nothing. I just—” Valery slumped into the chair. “This is wrong. I hate this. Eli’s one of the good guys and sweet Alex. I—” Fidgety, wringing her hands, she jumped up and went to the door. “I need to go bed. Good night, Julia.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Julia rose at five-thirty, her eyes gritty from lack of sleep and worry in her chest as heavy as an eighteen wheeler. She put on the coffee and had a quiet moment on the veranda as the sun turned the skies pink and gold, expecting Eli to join her as usual. He didn’t and his absence spoke volumes. He was pulling away. Leaving her. Readying himself and her for the goodbye.
He was more afraid for her than himself.
At seven, she went to wake Valery to help with breakfast. Her sister was gone.
Annoyed, and remembering the bizarre late-night conversation, she texted Valery but received no reply. So she served breakfast to the guests and got on with the work of running a bed-and-breakfast. Today she simply could not deal with Valery’s problems.
From the back door she spotted Eli working outside the carriage house. He’d skipped breakfast.
Her landline rang. She dried her hands, wet from rinsing dishes, and answered. The call was for Eli. His attorney.
With a lump in her throat, afraid of more bad news, Julia hurried across the dew-wet grass with the message.
“You can use my cell,” she said, holding out the device and the number.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear from him.” Eli frowned at the numbers on the slip of paper. “Did he say what this was about?”
“No.”
He took a deep breath. Julia could see he was nervous. So was she. “Give me a minute here, okay? If it’s bad news, I—”
“You don’t have to say anything.” She longed to hold him, touch him, assure him that everything would be all right. He hadn’t touched her since this madness began, and she didn’t know if it was because of him or because of her.
She walked a few feet away to a small plot of purple verbena surrounding a birdbath. Mom and Valery had planted the showy flowers, but the birdbath had been Julia’s addition. Someday she’d have a big garden here.
Eli’s voice rumbled behind her, but Julia couldn’t make out the words.
She plucked a stem of citrus-scented verbena and held it to her nose.
The flow of conversation stopped. She turned just in time to see Eli slump down the carriage house wall.
“Eli!” She hurried to his side, flower crushed in one hand, pulse beating in her temple, knees shaky. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He sat on the shady grass, arms limp at his side, the cell phone in his lap. “They want me back at the police station right away.”
Her stomach knotted. “No. Why?”
His olive skin had paled to beige. “They’re dropping the charges. Jed Fletcher was arrested for planting the coke in my car. Here. At the inn. Late one night.”
The flower fluttered to the grass.
“Valery knew,” Julia whispered.
“Yeah,” he said. “She turned in her boyfriend. For me.”