“I haven’t known him long, but I know himnow.And he seems okay.”
“He’s not.”She tapped her fingers togetherimpatiently.“And if he’s not sharing that with you I guess you twoaren’t as close as I thought you were.Which is a relief, ofcourse, but since you’ve cut him off from everyone else in his lifeit means that he hasno oneto really talk to.”She pausedas if for a response, but Lucas couldn’t think of a damn thing tosay.Maybe she was right.Maybe Mark was more unhappy than heseemed.And maybe Lucas was too clueless to do anything aboutit.
Mrs.Webber looked pleased that he was facingthe truth.“Three years ago he was a happy young professional.Loving family, good job, the respect of his community.And thenyoucame along.”Her tone was almost conversational but thewords were clearly designed to hurt.“I have no idea why you’vedecided to destroy my family, but you’ve done an excellent job.Jimmy was…” She shook her head almost violently and for one briefmoment Lucas could see the genuine pain behind her cool façade.Butshe got herself back under control quickly.“At least Jimmy wasquick.With Mark, you’re dragging it out.I don’t know why.”Nowher glaze was steely.“I don’t know why but I want it to stop.”
She looked around the farm as if seeing itfor the first time, then turned back to Lucas.“Maybe it’ll takemoney.If so, we can negotiate.I’m thinking a lump sum now andmonthly payments for as long as I feel it’s necessary.Until Markcomes back to his senses and I’m confident that he won’t fall preyto you again.I’m prepared to be quite generous.Should we saytwenty thousand dollars for the lump sum, with five thousanddollars a month following that?”
Lucas stared at her.Working a minimum wagejob, twenty thousand dollars was about all he was going to make ina year.She was offering him that much in a single month?With moremoney to follow?The numbers were mind blowing but he didn’t feelthe slightest temptation.“No,” he said simply.“I don’t want yourmoney.”
Her eyes narrowed.“Forty thousand lump sum,still with the five thousand dollar monthly payments.”
Jesus, how much money did this woman have?But the answer was still easy.“No.”
“Name your price, then.I’ll see what I cando.”
Lucas let himself play with the idea, justfor a moment.“Offer me a million dollars,” he said quietly.
“I don’t have that kind of money,” shescoffed.
“Then stop offering me less.I still wouldhave turned you down at a million, so you’re wasting yourtime.”
But she didn’t seem discouraged.“How aboutyour freedom, then?Are you interested in bargaining with that?Because you’ve got a parole violation hearing coming up the dayafter tomorrow.”She looked like she thought he’d be surprised thatshe knew about that and he didn’t bother correcting her.He justlistened as she said, “I can go there and testify about how you’vebeen nothing but trouble since you’ve been released.I can tell thejudge about the continuation of your vendetta against my family,the way you’ve pursued and seduced my only remaining son, the wayyou’ve vindictively ruined his career and capitalized on hisvulnerability.The judge scheduled to hear your case?He’s myhusband’s ex-partner.Did you know that?Do you really think he’llturn a blind eye to all this, less than a week after crying on myshoulder at my husband’s memorial service?”
Lucas forced himself to swallow so his voicewould be controlled when he spoke.“I guess you’ll do what you haveto do.And if they send me back to jail, I’ll deal with it.”Hesquinted at her as a thought occurred to him.“But you don’t thinkthey will.’Cause if they do, that’ll solve all your problems,right?Mark’s not going to wait around for another three years.”Lucas couldn’t fool himself about that.“So if I go back to jail,Mark and I will be over anyway.If you thought I was going, youwouldn’t have offered me all that money.”
She frowned at him for a while beforeadmitting, “It’s Plan B.”
“I hope Plan C is you backing off and gettingused to it, because A and B are getting you nowhere.”He wanted tobe respectful of Jimmy Webber’s mother, and it wasn’t like hewanted to piss offMarkWebber’s mother either.But shewasn’t leaving him many options.
And she wasn’t leaving him alone, either.Shepeered curiously at his face before slowly saying, “No.PlanC…there’s a reason it’s the last one on my list.It’s the plan thatdepends on you having some level of human decency, some tiny speckof compassion or affection for my son.You can understand why Ididn’t think it would be successful.But at least it’ll clear theair.When I tell you about Plan C and you dismiss it as casually asyou’ve rejected the others, then at least there’ll be anunderstanding between you and me.We’ll both know that you don’tgive a damn about my son or his wellbeing, and we can carry on fromthere.”
Lucas was pretty sure he didn’t want to hearPlan C, but he was also pretty sure that there was nothing short ofviolence that would keep this woman from presenting it to him.Sohe waited.
“My lawyer has been speaking to the diocese.He’s done business with the church for years.That’s why I chosehim.He has connections, and they tell him that Mark isn’t going tobe removed from his position.Not yet.But he’s going to be on avery, very short leash.You understand what it’s like to be onprobation.Of course in your case it’s because you did something todeserve it.Mark has done nothing wrong, but he’s going to betreated like a criminal anyway.And the church will make it clearthat he needs to keep a low profile and keep all members of hiscongregation happy.”Her glare stabbed through him.“Do you thinkhis congregation is going to be happy when they hear he’s beeninvolved in this obscene affair with the man who murdered his ownbrother?Do you think that’s going to let them trust him with theirspiritual care?”
She shook her head almost sadly.“My husbandand I were never all that religious.We took the boys to church andwe tried to teach them the basics, but Mark…he was beyond us almostimmediately.He loved it.We’d hoped he’d follow his father intolaw, but there was never any doubt for Mark.He’d been called andhe had to obey.He needed to, wanted to.He was single-minded anddetermined and joyful about it.I’ve never met anyone moreconfident in his career path than Mark.”
“I don’t think he’s so confident anymore,”Lucas tried.
“Because ofyou.You’ve got him sotwisted around that he’s abandoning his family, hiscalling…everything he’s cared about and worked for his entire life.And for what?”She smiled sadly at Lucas as if she were on his sideand just forced to tell him some hard truths.“How long do youimagine this nonsense between you and my son can continue?How longbefore he wants someone who can challenge him intellectually andsupport him spiritually and professionally, someone he canintroduce to his family and friends?Can you see yourself doing anyof that for him?Really, can you?”
She apparently saw something she liked inLucas’s expression.“You actually do care about him.That’s…it’s asurprise to me, but I can see that it’s true.So you need to actlike it.You need to grow up and take responsibility for yourselfand the damage you’re doing!Mark is infatuated and inexperiencedwith these things.He’s making bad decisions.He needs the peoplewho care about him to step in and help him.You need to help him,Lucas, not hurt him.”
“I’d never hurt him,” Lucas tried.Too manythoughts were spinning through his head and he needed to fightthrough them to find the most basic truths.
“You’re hurting him right now,” Mrs.Webbersaid sadly.“You’ve been hurting him since this affair began.Nowyou need to stop.I love my son and I will always be there for him.It doesn’t matter to me whether his infatuation ends today,tomorrow, or next month…I’ll be waiting with open arms.But thechurch will not be so forgiving.If this nonsense doesn’t end now,he could lose something he’s loved and been devoted to since he wasjust a teenager.And if that happens, it’ll be because of you.”Shestepped forward and looked up into his face.“How will you feelthen, Lucas?Knowing that you’ve stolen his brotherandhisvocation?You’ll leave him with nothing.And you’ll walk away withnothing yourself.”
Lucas didn’t want to listen to her.Not tothe words she was saying out loud, but also not to the ones thatwere echoing around inside his head.Mark was going to be onprobation.He was unhappy.Lucas was hurting him.Hurting him.
For the first time in a long time, Lucaswanted a drink.No, not just one.He wanted a lot of drinks.Hewanted to get completely shitfaced and then find another drunk whowas just as desperate as he was and he wanted them to beat the crapout of each other until they couldn’t think about anything but thepain they were feeling and causing.He turned away from Mrs.Webberand shut his eyes, trying to block it all out.
“You care about him,” she said softly.“Soyou need to do the right thing.It’s going to hurt you, but it’sthe only way to help him.You need to stay away from my son.Forever.”
Forever.It was another horrible echo inLucas’s mind.Forever.He realized that he’d started to believeMark’s romantic dreams.He’d started to think that maybe the two ofthem could actually last.But Mrs.Webber was right.Mark deservedsomeone who could help him build the life he was meant to have, notsomeone who’d drag him down and hold him back.How long would it bebefore Mark realized he wasn’t satisfied and moved on?And how muchdamage would Lucas have done before that happened?
“I need to think,” he muttered.He waswishing for a time machine again.He could travel back just fiveminutes and when Mrs.Webber started up the driveway he could takeoff, running as fast and as far as he could from her cruel, truewords.He could earn himself just a little more happiness before hehad to return to reality.
But he didn’t have a time machine, and Mrs.Webber was watching him with eyes that seemed to see right throughall his evasions.
