Definitely his mother, then. She’d always had a rasp in her voice, it just got worse when she was upset or ill.
Erin reached out to touch him where his arms were crossed over his chest. “Hey, you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to. No matter why she called, she doesn’t have any right to know any details about your life.”
Mark nodded, surprised to find himself feeling a bit choked up. “I know. It’s just… it’s not Wednesday.”
Erin looked confused for two seconds, then understood. “You’re thinking it’s something else, more urgent?”
“Yes. I mean, it’s not long since I told them off, but anything could’ve happened.”
“That’s true,” she agreed. “But there’s also the fact that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Even if something happened, they are not your responsibility. They are horrible people, and I don’t—”
The door to the sheriff’s office opened and Sheriff Newman peeked out. “Forrest.” He jerked his head back to gesture he wanted Mark to come in and vanished back into his room.
Mark went, because he could read his boss’s body language well enough to know that he’d meantnowand not “when you have a moment.”
“Sir?” Mark asked, and closed the door.
“Sit, please.”
Mark sat and tried to get a read on Sheriff Newman.
“Your mother just called me.”
Maybe Mark should’ve seen this coming but he hadn’t, and he felt a moment of panic grip his lungs before slowly releasing again.
“I’m sorry, what?” he gasped out the words.
“Erin didn’t give her the information she wanted, so she found my personal number online and called my cell phone,” Newman explained. “She was trying to get hold of you, but….”
“Did she tell you why?” Mark asked. He realized he’d put his hand on the spot on his thigh where Francis’s bruise had been that day and fought the urge to press down, only because there wouldn’t be any pain now.
“Yes. I’m afraid so.” And there it was, the expression everyone who would ever see it would recognize immediately.
“My dad died,” Mark stated.
“Not quite yet, but he had a stroke yesterday and it doesn’t look good.” Sheriff Newman was serious, sympathetic, and Mark realized he was waiting for a cue to know how to act when it came to this issue. He knew Mark’s parents were abusive and that he’d cut ties. Sheriff Newman was here for him, but not in a way he’d be for most of the people he had to deliver the same kind of notice to.
“What did she say? What did she want from me?” Mark steeled his spine as he let a decision form in his mind.
“She wants you to go over to see him. Whether or not he passes away. For the funeral if he does. She said she wanted your family to bury the hatchet—” He stopped speaking for a moment, then continued, his face getting darker in anger. “And I did my best to be polite, but….”
“It’s all right, sir. She knows what she’s done. Whathehas done.” Mark got to his feet. “If she calls again, please tell her I’m not interested.” This, too, felt freeing on some level he wasn’t familiar with. He stepped to the door and then turned back to his boss who seemed relieved. “Frankly, sir, you’ve been a better father figure to me than my biological one ever was. So, thank you.”
He quickly slipped out of the office before Sheriff Newman could respond to his silly admission.
* * * *
He’d forgotten about the Grahams until he was grabbing a bite to eat at the diner and saw an ambulance drive through town.
“Grahams?” Leah asked, frowning.
“Probably, Charles isn’t doing so well.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. They’re wonderful people.” She looked around to see if anyone needed her and then sat down with a sigh. “Moira went to school with me, for the little time she was at school here anyway. She was incredibly gifted and her IQ is sky-high. This wasn’t where she belonged.”
Mark nodded. “So I’ve heard.”
“I think she has a nice life in Ann Arbor. From what I know, she’s dating someone new, and she has a very good job at some financial something or another.” Leah glanced around again before continuing. “She won’t come here. She never felt like this was her town. So whether Charles makes it to her or not, I hope Henrietta moves to her, because Moira loves her parents, whether they see it or not.”
