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As Ben walked up the path to Canyon's front door, he studied the fourth "No Trespassing" sign he'd seen in the last five minutes, this one nailed to one of the porch's posts. Underneath this one, the hand-written message read, "Just in case you missed the other ones."
He smiled, but at the same time, the signs gave him a creepy feeling even though he’d been invited by Amberlin, and it had been approved by the big dude she sang with. He paused at the front door with his fist a few inches from it and took a couple of deep breaths before rapping on the door with a crisp knock that he hoped sounded more confident than he felt.
It had been good to see Amberlin after so much time, and the time had sure been good to her. She was no longer the cute, precocious little girl he’d grown up with at Golden Acres. She’d transformed into a beautiful young woman with a mane of golden hair that highlighted the high cheekbones and slightly turned up nose and full lips, all of which was capped off by an amazing voice that seemed to come from heaven itself.
And she asked me to dinner, he thought, so buck up and relax. You've got this. He knocked on the door a second time. A moment later the door opened and there before him stood the vision of youthful beauty that he'd imagined in his mind. Damn, she's even prettier than I'd remembered, he thought as he smiled at her.
“I hope I’m not too early.”
“No, not at all. You’re right on time,” Amberlin replied returning his smile. “Come on in.”
“What’s with the signs?” Ben asked as he followed her into the living room.
“Oh, those,” Amberlin said with a touch of embarrassment. “Those were my mom’s idea. They’ve kinda worked. We were getting people coming out wanting me to...well, you know...”
“So the rumors I heard were true?”
Amberlin waved him to a chair and sat down across from him on the mismatched couch. “I don’t know. Things have gotten a bit out of hand here lately.” She told him about Matty’s accident falling through the ice and the subsequent visit by Maybelle.
As Amberlin talked, Ben heard other voices coming from the next room—what sounded like a conversation that was becoming more heated by the minute even though he couldn’t quite make out the words.
Amberlin looked in the direction of the voices. “I’m sorry. I need to let you know...” but before she could get any further, Ben heard from the next room a very clear and loud woman’s voice, “...I just don’t understand why we should be feeding the kid of the preacher who murdered my father.”
“That’s my mom,” Amberlin said turning back to Ben. “I’m sorry. This may have been a bad idea. She’s pretty upset...”
“No, that’s okay,” Ben replied. “I understand. Maybe I should go.”
But before he could move, the door behind Amberlin flew open and in walked a red-faced Evelyn. She stood in the middle of the room and looked around.
“Well, where is he? Where’s the snot-nosed little punk?” She directed the question to Amberlin.
Ben stood up as Amberlin waved a hand in his direction. He stood as tall as he could to show Evelyn that at over six feet, he was no longer a snot-nosed anything. "Hello, Mrs. Gentry. I'm Ben. It's good to see you again under hopefully better circumstances."
Evelyn stared up at him. At just a little over five feet, he half expected, even hoped his larger size would calm her down a bit, but then he really didn’t know this lady.
“So you’re that rat-faced Reverend Stover’s son, the one that lied to the cops and framed me for my father’s murder?”
“Well, I’m sorry about that,” Ben replied, suddenly feeling more like a snot-nosed little punk than he had a moment before. “I didn’t really tell the police anything.” He paused and took a deep swallow. “I just didn’t correct what my folks told them.”
“Oh, well, then that makes it all peachy keen, doesn’t it?” Evelyn countered, taking a step towards him. “Why, I should...”
“Evelyn, that's enough. Behave yourself." Ben heard the authoritative voice of another woman. He looked over Evelyn's shoulder as another woman Ben didn't recognize entered the room from the same door Evelyn had come through.
“Yeah, Mom, calm down,” Amberlin added as she stepped between him and her mother. “Ben is here as a friend. It’s not his fault what happened. Besides, that’s all in the past now.”
“Hello, Ben, I’m Miriam. I was one of Evelyn’s nurses at the asylum. It’s good of you to come over. I think this is a perfect time for us all to sit down and sort these matters out...in a calm way as four adults,” she said, staring directly at Evelyn. “Please, sit down.” She motioned Ben back to his chair, then waited until Evelyn joined Amberlin on the couch before sitting down on the straight back chair next to it.
“Now, I understand from Amberlin that you play the guitar and sing as well,” Miriam said, smiling warmly at him.
“Yes, ma'am. My guitaring is better than my singing, but I can carry a tune okay."
Ben heard a groan come from Evelyn. Miriam glowered at her.
“I apologize, but Evelyn was confined to the asylum for so many years that her social skills need a little polishing.”
“Yeah, thanks to Missy Stover...oh, hey, that’s your mother isn’t it?” Evelyn snarled. “And I’m expected to sit here and play nice with her kid...the only one who could have spoken up and cleared my name?”
“I'm sorry about that," Ben said, growing more uncomfortable by the second. "I was much younger then and my mother warned me to keep my mouth shut, or I'd end up with social services taking me away from them. They're far from perfect parents, but at least I knew what to expect from them. Ending up in some orphanage or being raised by a foster family was just too much to think about with all that was going on."
“I understand, Ben, really I do,” Miriam said before Evelyn had a chance to react. “But maybe now is the time for you to come forward and clear matters up. We can all go to the police and...”
“No way!” Evelyn shouted, rising to her feet and glaring at her. “I’ve spent most of my adult life a prisoner in that damn asylum, and now I’ve tasted freedom. There’s no way I’m going to go back to being a prisoner. Turning myself in and placing my freedom at the mercy of some judge and this kid’s testimony is way too risky. Bad idea. Not happening. No way.”
A long pause ensued while everyone stared at each other unsure what to say that could relieve the tension. They were still staring at each other when Ben heard someone knocking on the front door.
“Holy hell, if that’s one of those damn townsfolk...” Evelyn started.
But Miriam interrupted. "Calm down, Evelyn. Let Canyon take care of it." As she spoke, Canyon walked into the room on his way to the front door, a look of concern on his face.
“Everyone keep your voices down. That’s Sheriff Otis. I saw him driving up while I was coming in from the barn.”
As he spoke, Ben noticed Evelyn’s face blanche from a reddened look of anger to a pale look of fear. Despite how she’d been treating him, he felt sorry for her and understood where much of her anger came from. She’d been mistreated by life and had suffered for years at Missy Stover’s hands. So have I, Ben thought. Not in the same way, but still she’d made his life hell for many years, as well. They had at least that much in common.