Second Time's the Charm

“I won’t be able to live with myself if my son marches back into your life and somehow convinces you to give him another shot.” Papa’s eyes glistened.

“No worries there,” Lillie assured him.

“A woman’s heart is a funny thing.” Gayle spoke softly, too, but no less emphatically. “And I agree with Jerry in that Kirk is very convincing. Especially where you’re concerned.” With a compassionate tilt of her head she added, “You’re right, Kirk seems to have changed some, seems to be more aware...”

“...and truly contrite,” Lillie added, more to see if they agreed with her assessment, or if Kirk had managed to pull the wool over her eyes already.

“He’s sorry,” Jerry said. “I know that for a fact. But sorry doesn’t make up for what he did. Nor does it mean he wouldn’t break yo

ur heart again in the future.”

“There is no future between us.”

“He told us he’s going to do whatever it takes to win you back,” Gayle said.

And Lillie finally understood why they were having this conversation.

“If Kirk was truly sorry, if he really wanted to make his life right, the first place he’d start would be with Ely,” Jerry said. “That young boy loves his daddy. He’s hurt every single time Kirk misses an event.”

Papa and Gayle had made their bimonthly visits with their grandson no secret. But they didn’t usually talk about him, either.

“Papa?” She took his hand, held on. “There’s no way Kirk is going to hurt me. He’s never going to get that close to my heart again. I promise.”

He studied her and she let him, meeting his gaze head-on for as long as it took for him to believe her.

“But I need something from you,” she added after he finally nodded.

“Anything. You know all you ever have to do is ask.”

“I need you to forgive him, Papa. I have.”

“I?”

“He’s your son. You love him. He loves you. And he needs you.”

Glancing at Gayle, she saw the other woman nodding. “I’ve been trying to tell him the same thing.”

“Kirk looks up to you.” Lillie couldn’t believe she was pleading her ex-husband’s cause. Never thought the day would come that she could. “He listens to you,” she said, and added, “Most of the time.”

Lord knew that Kirk hadn’t listened—at all—when it came to Lillie and his marriage.

“Talk to him about Ely. Help him.”

“And if I do this, you’ll stay away from him?”

“I’ll make certain that he doesn’t get close enough to touch my heart.”

“You want me to have a heart-to-heart with my son?” Jerry shook his head. “I may need a stiff drink first.”

With a chuckle bearing little humor, Gayle cut into her quiche. Took a bite, chewing slowly.

Lillie tried again. “He needs your influence, Papa. And you need your son back.”

Papa had aged twenty years in a five-year span.

“I’m not suggesting you condone what he did, only that you move past it. I have.”

It was the healthy thing to do. And exactly what she’d tell the family of a child as they helped the child get past a trauma.