Chapter 49.

Maud

 

 

It was summer, which meant that Cara would not be at the University; she would be home. And home, of course, meant Jared's house, which was what had been planned, what they had all worked to achieve, and uphill work it had been; Maud had never seen a pair of people so determined not to meet each other. They ignored all hints; they avoided all opportunities.

But they had finally come together anyway – Carter's idea had worked; Jared's article had proved useful, although it had certainly taken long enough – and now Cara's clothes hung in Jared's closet beside his, and they had moved her dresser into the corner by the window, and found another desk to fit into the study. Her flowered china bowl held fruit from the farmer's market on the breakfast bar, and she had installed her own, larger coffee maker in the kitchen.

With the neighborhood in and out, as they were, they probably needed the larger coffee maker. Cara was part of this unofficial family as Maud had never been. They had mostly disapproved of her, which was, she thought, to be expected. They would certainly have picked up on her difference. She did not belong with them. Cara did; she had been accepted at once, as Maud had known she would be.

Chazaerte had come down with Maud, but he left to check out the woods, after which, he said, he had business of his own. Maud stood here alone in Jared's living room, full of familiar furniture, full of memories, empty of people at the moment, because Jared was at the Institute and Cara was at the Hardesty house. Mimi and Ann, Al and Gina were at the picnic table outside playing Hearts; she could hear their voices through the windows that Jared, and Cara too, typically left open, relying on insect repellers rather than Climate Control. Jared always said he didn't like the processed air. Apparently Cara felt the same way.

Maud knew a great deal more about Jared's preferences than Cara's.

And she supposed she would have to do something about that, but she had no idea what. It was a bit late to play at being the girl's mother. It had been obvious to Maud for some time that she and Cara had little in common; they were unlikely to be friends. She was, as far as Maud could tell, watching, a quiet, solitary person, dutiful, leading a regulated life. She was very intelligent, knowledgeable in her own field, and she and Jared had a number of shared intellectual interests which would hold them together after the sexual attraction died down. And Jared had always been drawn to shy women, women with problems; look at some of his regulars from his Agency days.

So Maud expected that this pair would be stable enough, now that they had finally come together. But a lot of things were happening that she had not expected. She had not expected to speak with Jared again. She had not expected to be standing here in his living room, as she was, waiting for Jared to come home, rehearsing what could be told and what was better not revealed. Lalia had done as well as she could, surprised as she had been, but that made it more urgent that Maud clarify the situation.

She hoped that she would have an interval of private conversation with Jared, because Cara would have many questions she did not want to answer. Jared's questions were difficult enough.

Outside, Al was leaving the picnic table, despite protests from the other three players. "Lillian's awake by now," he said, which apparently settled the matter in his mind.

"What about Clyde?" said Ann to Mimi.

"He's fixing the kitchen chute. It spit garbage at us this morning," said Mimi, shuffling.

"There must be something we can play with just three of us," said Gina.

"Maybe if Cara comes home," said Ann, and then she glanced toward the intersection at the D'ubian corner. "Is that Jared's car?"

"He might play if Cara's busy," said Gina, on a hopeful note.

Jared's car pulled into his carport and a moment later he emerged, jeans and one of those abominable T-shirts, and his briefcase in hand. "So who's winning?" he called to the trio at the table.

"Al was winning," said Mimi, "but we couldn't talk him into a second game. He thought Lillian might be awake and he headed back there. And Clyde is fixing our chute." She eyed Jared. "Cara," she told him, "is up at the Hardesty house giving Phyllis a hand. How would you like a nice game of Hearts to pass the time until she gets home?"

"You need a fourth player, don't you," he said, grinning, and she nodded, shuffling the cards. "Well, let me get rid of this thing," he said, swinging the briefcase, and started up the steps to his house, whistling. Maud sat down in the little armchair and folded her hands in her lap, and he opened his door, walked inside, and froze, looking at her.

"Oh, hell," he said, which was not exactly the greeting she had expected.

"You wanted, I believe, to talk to me," she said.

"I knew this past week was too good to last," he said, and he dropped his briefcase on the breakfast bar with a clunk and spun on his heel and walked back out to the porch, leaving the door open. "I am out here," he announced, in a raised voice carrying back into the living room and out into the street. "I am standing here in the sunshine in full view of my entire neighborhood, where everyone can see and hear me, and if anyone wants to talk with me, they may join me."

That was definitely not what Maud had expected. She abandoned her pose in the little armchair and came as far as the door; he was leaning against the porch railing with his arms folded, glowering at her. "What in the galaxy is the matter with you?" she demanded, and leaned back against the door frame and folded her own arms and glowered back. "I promised to come and talk with you –"

"So you did," said Jared. "So talk."

"Very abrupt," said Maud. She looked out over the lawn at their audience; Mimi let the cards slide out of her fingers and Ann froze with a glass of coculi juice in one hand and her mouth open. Gina was looking closely at Jared, and than at Maud; she was, Maud realized, trying to Hear them. That was amazing. Since Lalia's glowing report, Chazaerte was inclined to brag about it as if it had been planned; he himself did not have this ability, although he certainly had the genes, but it was hardly a personal accomplishment. He had managed to select a genetically compatible partner, that was all.

Whoever thought that in this generation – and among the other pressing concerns, they must somehow measure the extent of the talents these children had. Willis didn't seem to have anything extraordinary, but Gina certainly did. No one had checked. It had not been thought necessary, not so soon.

And then there was Jared, and that was another matter. She needed to know more about this talent he had hidden all the years she had known him, and she had hoped for a little time to discuss that privately, but she could see this wasn't the moment. He didn't get angry easily. He hated quarrels, preferred negotiation and compromise, although he was not above a little gentle manipulation to get his way. In over twelve years together, she could count the number of fights they had had on one hand. He was angry now, angry and hurt and irritated, if she, who had no Ears, could guess. He and Cara had come to some sort of understanding, she supposed, and he was afraid that her arrival would upset this. He intended any conversation with Maud to be out in the open, preferably with witnesses, and he wasn't in the mood to negotiate or compromise at all.

Okay, out in the open, she thought. "Do you," Maud inquired, "have questions?"

"Oh, yes," he said. "I have all sorts of questions."

"Well?"

"To start with," he said, "just to make it very clear where we stand, you are the mother of Cara and what's-his-name. Correct?"

"His name is Chazaerte," said Maud, amused; Chazaerte had apparently made a poor impression on Jared and Issio both. "And the answer is yes; I am their biological mother."

She glanced at Gina, wondering exactly what effect this was having on her. Oddly enough, this was her granddaughter, another of those things she hadn't expected to deal with in person. And the funny thing was, Gina resembled CeeAnn, the hair, the eyes; when she grew up –

Those blue eyes were focused on something, Maud realized, and she glanced past Jared and saw just a flutter of movement, someone coming up along the f'Alzen porch next door. Jared, his back to the drive, didn't notice, and if Gina was able to Speak with him, he wasn't listening.

"Biological mother," he repeated.

"You know very well," said Maud, irritated in turn, "that I didn't give birth to Cara – or Chazaerte either; I barely knew his father." She had, in fact, consented to this arrangement only on condition she was never required to deal face to face with him; she had been young then, concerned that her mother's genetic line not be lost, even if it required an unpleasant partner to ensure this, but she didn't have to actually touch this person.

"And Cara's father?"

"Some big beautiful blond guy," she said at once, and had the pleasure of seeing the spark in his eyes, acknowledging the hit, even if he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of smiling. She slanted a quick look at the f'Alzen yard and saw that the person frozen by their front step was, as she had suspected, someone with an interest in the conversation. Cara must have come out of the back door of the Hardesty house to avoid those annoying trumpet fanfares, and she could not have missed hearing Jared; he was speaking very clearly and rather loudly, making sure everyone could hear. She wondered if he knew Cara was there.

"So you're her mother. Do you know," he inquired, "what that makes you?"

"I'm sure you plan on telling me," said Maud.

"Oh, I do. That makes you," he said, pointing a finger at her, "my future mother-in-law. What do you think of that?"

"Does this mean –"

"Furthermore," he interrupted, folding his arms again, "do you know what else?" She opened her mouth and shut it again, risking another quick look next door; Cara was moving closer, very quietly. Sofi was coming off the porch behind her. "That makes you the grandmother of my children," he said. "Consider that."

"Shall I knit booties?" she inquired.

"Not for a few years yet," he said, "but you might start looking up patterns."

"I am so relieved that my knitting talents will not be required immediately," she said. "I'm afraid I'm sadly out of practice. Is this your way of announcing that you have popped the question, my dear Jared?"

"This is my way of announcing," he said, "my dear Maud, that I intend to as soon as I think she might be, shall we say, receptive? When she can feel a little more secure; when, for instance, she isn't being driven crazy by dead women wandering in and out of our house without invitation. I would like," he said, "to get to that point. I would like that very much."

"You are still holding my death against me," said Maud. "I thought Lalia explained it all to you. You should try to get over this sense of resentment, you know."

Ann had spotted Cara too; she and Gina exchanged a quick glance and Mimi caught her breath and raised her eyebrows at Ann and Gina.

"Maud," said Jared. "I’m not holding your death against you. Lalia did talk to us." A slight emphasis on the "us". "I can't say she explained it all. And what I am holding against you are your frequent unannounced visits. No one wants his mother-in-law popping up in his bedroom without warning; no one wants to come home from work and find her sitting all by herself in his living room waiting for him."

"I popped up in your bedroom," said Maud, "because you were seriously ill. And," she added, lifting a finger to silence him, "it is indeed my business, regardless of my relationship to either of you; you were poisoned by one of the enemy, which is a concern to us. As for sitting in your living room waiting for you – how do you know I was waiting for you? Such arrogance! I might have been waiting for my daughter."

"Entirely reasonable," said Jared, "considering the close relationship the two of you have. You must have exchanged at least twenty words by now."

"Well, I might want to be closer to her," said Maud. "You could consider that."

"I could," said Jared, "but I don't think I will."

Sofi, green eyes wide, was standing just beside Cara, who had paused again at the edge of the driveway. She was concentrating on Jared, but she lifted her eyes to Maud, briefly, and Maud tried to meet her eyes with a friendly expression. She owed her that much.

"So," said Maud, "if you don't need booties yet – blue or pink, by the way?" Jared looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, all right, no levity," she said. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Well, to begin with," he said, "you might give us a little warning when you plan to drop in. And you might arrange to visit when both of us are at home. Apparently you are able to tell when things are happening here, although I don't know how; I assume that you can tell who is in the house at any given time. Parenthetically," he added, "I don't suppose you'd care to explain that?"

Under no circumstances. "Not particularly," she said. "Have you considered that we may have, what do your friends say, Ears of our own?"

"I have considered it," he said. "You don't. Dr. Maarchesin does, but you don't."

"And you do," she said, eyeing him, "and I never knew it before Linden's World; you managed to conceal it." And she would love to know more about that. She thought it was interesting that he was willing to have this mentioned in front of Ann and Mimi. And she noticed that Gina stole a look at Cara, who was listening very intently but with no air of surprise. Maud wondered if Jared had told her, and stifled a momentary flash of jealousy, that he would share this with Cara and not with her. She had absolutely no right to complain; she knew this.

Jared shrugged. "Does it matter?" he said, neither confirming nor denying.

"Actually it might," said Maud.

"But it doesn't explain how you know what is going on here," said Jared. "I gather those things you wear –" he nodded at her pendant – "have something to do with the way you come and go. Maybe how you communicate with one another. But I don't see how they could tell you about our activities."

"They don't," said Maud, "but there are many other ways,and none of this is at all important. Don't interrupt your tirade; it was delightful. You want me to do what, phone ahead before I visit?"

"I want you to respect my relationship with Cara. Your daughter," he said. "And to respect her relationship with me. And to use the phone, or ring the doorbell, if your species can do anything so mundane."

"Dear Jared," said Maud, shaking her head, and then she raised her voice to address Cara and Sofi by Sofi's porch. "You see?" she said, looking right at Cara, "to what depths I have descended? He has cast me off for you. Remember this, my girl, if you ever doubt him."

"I don't," said Cara, and Jared spun, stared at her, winced and turned away again; he gave Maud a single glare and she didn't need Ears to see his embarrassment.

"Oh, hell," he said, very softly.

"So you haven't asked her," said Maud, keeping her voice low.

"No, and I've put her in a hell of a position," he murmured, "in front of everyone. Including you."

Cara came on across the drive and up to the porch steps, and he took a deep breath and turned to her.

"I apologize," he said. "I made assumptions I had no right to make."

"What I want to know," she said, "is why you spoke to –" she visibly revolved through her mind the various titles and names she could give to Maud. "— my mother," she said, "before you spoke to me."

So "my mother" was the relationship she was the least violently opposed to; that surprised Maud. She stored it in the back of her mind for future consideration.

"That," Jared said, coming to some sort of decision, "is actually a very good question. Shall we discuss it somewhere a little more private?" He put out his hand and she took it and came with him across the porch; Maud, arms still folded, stepped out of the way. "Go join the ladies at the table," Jared said to her, not even looking at her. "They need a fourth for Hearts."

He and Cara vanished inside; the door shut and the lock engaged with an audible click. A moment later all of the windows they could see darkened.