“Not once in all my years growing up did they ever make me feel as though I didn’t belong to them,” Jenny said.
And that’s when Sue realized. “You heard Uncle Sam, too.”
“It’s not like he’s ever tried to hide how he feels,” Jenny said. “I love my brother, Sue. I see the insecurity behind all of his blustering. I just wish he’d see that I’m not and never have been a threat.”
“I can’t stand to be in the same room with him,” Sue said. “He’s just plain cruel….”
“Everything he says is true.”
“That everything here belongs to him?”
“That he’s the only true Carson child.”
“Mom! I can’t believe you’re saying that! We belong here as much as he does.”
“And what we care about, the things that were dear to Grandma and Grandpa, the pictures, the things that hold memories, Sam won’t want, anyway. It’s going to be fine, honey. I can’t let him upset me like this.”
“Who’s upsetting you, Jen?” Luke came into the room and Sue stood, giving her father a hug. Her parents had flown in from their home in Florida two days before. They’d been in town over Christmas, but she’d missed them more than usual this time around.
“Sam,” Jenny answered.
“Well, then that makes three of us he’s getting to, huh?” Luke pulled his wife to her feet, an arm around her and one still around Sue. “How about the Bookmans go face the dragon together?”
HEART POUNDING Monday morning, Rick lis
tened to the phone ring. Once. Twice.
Come on, he willed Ms. Sue Bookman—the faceless woman who, at the moment, meant more to him than anyone else in the world.
A third ring. And a fourth.
Answer your phone.
He didn’t know her age, her race or her marital status. He just knew she held his future in her hands.
And that she lived just outside the Bay Area.
The Internet phone listing matched the address he’d been given at the cemetery.
“Hi, it’s me. I’m probably changing diapers. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”
She was changing diapers.
“Sue, my name is Rick Kraynick. I’m assistant superintendent of Livingston schools….” He wanted her to know he was a good guy. Trusted around children. “I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. Please call me as soon as possible. Thank you.”
There. That should do it.
Sitting back at the huge, glass-topped desk in his corner office on the fourth floor of the district building, Rick almost smiled. He’d made the call. Nothing was going to stop him.
CHAPTER THREE
GRANDMA’S ASHES WEREN’T even in the vault before Sue’s uncle arranged the meeting for the reading of the will. He’d said his urgency was out of respect for Jenny and Luke, who had a home in Florida to return to, but Sue didn’t buy that for a second.
Sam Carson, in an impressive gray suit, paced the foyer of the high-rise building that housed the lawyer’s office more like an expectant father than a grieving son.
“Mom said he’s been chomping at the bit all weekend,” Belle whispered to Sue as the two stood together on Tuesday morning across from the reception counter, much more casually dressed, in good pants and blouses, in a quiet corner of the high-rise entryway. They were sharing a cup of bad coffee neither of them wanted while they waited to be called to the first-floor office. Sue held the cup while Belle gently bounced Camden up and down, soothing the little guy back to sleep.
Baby Carrie was good for another hour, snoozing in the pack on Sue’s back.