His face clouded over. “What has Mum told you?”
She blanched. “Oh, nothing. I heard you arguing a couple of times.”
He paused, lengthening the silence between them until she thought perhaps she should leave. Then he spoke again. “I guess you heard me calling her a liar, then?”
She nodded slowly. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to listen in. I was at work, that’s all.”
“It’s fine,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You should know who you’re working for, I guess.”
She sighed. “The thing is, Betsy has always been so good to me.”
He laughed hollowly. “She’s great to everyone else. Just not to me.”
“Really?”
He ran a hand over his face. He suddenly looked much older. “I’m joking. She’s a good mother. But it seems like every time I have a relationship with someone, she runs them off. She has so many secrets, half the time I’m not sure I can trust her at all. The other half of the time, I feel guilty for being mean to her. She acts like she’s the perfect mother and grandmother, but she never changes. She says sorry, but then she does it all over again.”
Charmaine nudged the sand with her toe. She still didn’t know what Frank was talking about, but she supposed she could understand him being upset with Betsy if she was responsible for his wife leaving him. Although, she found that difficult to believe — how could Betsy push Frank’s wife away? How could she cause a woman to leave her family behind the way Sam’s mother had?
“Do you blame her for your wife leaving?”
He glared at Chaz.
“Sorry, that’s probably too personal. You don’t have to answer,” she stammered.
“It’s fine—I don’t mind. I’ve yelled about it loud enough for the entire neighbourhood to hear, so I guess I can explain. When I married my wife, Mum said she wasn’t good enough for me and that she’d leave. She explained that my wife didn’t understand what it means to be family, how much of a sacrifice it takes to have someone in your life who always has your back, just as you have theirs.”
“Did she know her well?” Charmaine asked.
He shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t think she knew her at all. But then, five years later, my wife left me. She left Sam, too—that’s the worst part. My mother was right, but now I can’t figure out if my wife left because Mum knew her so well, or if she left because my mother ran her out of town.”
“What did Betsy do?”
“Nothing concrete—not that I could see, anyway. But Rose—that was my wife’s name—she told me over and over that she was afraid of Mum, that Mum was mean to her, that she threatened her. I didn’t believe her at the time. I mean, you’ve met Mum — she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. But then she left, and Mum acted as though nothing was wrong. She just went on with her life as usual. Meanwhile, Sam and I were devastated. Our whole lives went up in flames while Mum played pretend. I don’t know if what Rose said was true, but I’ve blamed Mum anyway.”
Frank looked so forlorn that Charmaine felt bad for him. He was a large, hulking man, his face covered with greying stubble he never seemed to shave, wearing clothes that were always stained with dirt and grease. He badly needed a haircut, and there were dark smudges beneath his bloodshot eyes.
“I’m sorry, that sounds awful. It’s a lot for you to deal with, especially raising…” She glanced at Sam, who was still busy building her sandcastle.
He nodded. “Thanks.”
“I know Betsy has been pretty anxious about her brother getting arrested and going to jail.”
Frank grunted and crossed his arms.
Charmaine continued. “She’s adamant that he’s innocent.”
Another grunt.
“Do you think he did it?”
Frank’s cheeks grew red. “Time to go home, Sam.”
“Betsy visited that cave where Bea found the evidence against Buck. Do you know why she went there?”
Frank glared at her. “Cave? My mother? Now you’re being ridiculous. She’s eighty years old. Come on, Sam. You’ll be starving before we make it home if we stay any longer. What do you want for dinner?”
“Spaghetti!” Sam shouted, jumping to her feet. She waved goodbye to Charmaine and dashed off in the direction of the parking lot, her little legs pumping hard.
