Carolina Moon

“Assaulted?”
    “Your mother said it was all a mistake, and I had to pry what I got out of her with both hands. What she told me is some woman claimed your father, ah, roughed her up. Tried to, ah … molest her.”
    “He tried to rape a woman?”
    Miserable, J.R. shifted in his chair again. “Well, Sari, she wasn’t real clear on the details. But whatever happened, it got Han arrested. He’s been drinking again. Sarabeth didn’t want to tell me that part, but I pushed it out of her. He got probation, contingent on his going to alcohol rehab and such. I don’t figure he took it well, but he didn’t have much choice.”
    He picked up the tea to wet his dry throat. “Then a couple weeks ago, he lit out.”
    “Lit out?”
    “Hasn’t been home. Sarabeth said she hadn’t seen him in more’n two weeks now, and he’s violated his probation. When they pick him up, he’ll … they’ll put him in jail.”
    “Yes, I suppose.” She’d always been surprised, in a mild, distant way, that he’d never found himself on the wrong side of iron bars before.
    God provided, she thought.
    “Sarabeth, she’s frantic.” Without thinking, J.R. dunked his cookie in his tea, a habit his wife despaired over. “She’s running low on money and she’s worrying herself sick. I’m going to drive up and see her tomorrow, see if I can get a clearer picture of things.”
    “You think I should come with you.”
    “Now, honey, that’s up to you. No reason I can’t handle this on my own.”
    “And no reason you should. I’ll go with you.”
    “If that’s what you want, I’d be pleased to have the company. I thought to leave bright and early. You be ready ‘round seven?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Good. That’s good. Fine.” Awkward now, he got to his feet. “We’ll get this all straightened out, you’ll see. I’ll come ‘round and get you in the morning. No, you just sit still and drink your tea.” He patted her head before she could rise. “I’ll let myself out.”
    “He’s embarrassed,” Tory murmured, as she heard the front door open. “For himself, for me, for my mother. He told me while you were here because he’d have heard the gossip Lissy Frazier’s passing around and thought I’d be better with you than alone.”
    Cade kept his eyes on her face. She hadn’t shown any reaction. He marveled at her control even while it frustrated him. “Is he right?”
    “I don’t know. I’m more used to being alone. Are you wondering why I’m not particularly concerned about my father, or my mother?”
    “No. I’m wondering what happened between you so that you’re not particularly concerned. Or why you’re determined not to be or show that you’re upset by what J.R. just told you.”
    “What’s the point in being upset? What’s done’s already been done. My mother chooses to believe my father didn’t do what he was arrested for doing. But of course he did. If he’d been drinking he wouldn’t have been as careful to keep the violence inside his own doors.”
    “Did he abuse your mother?”
    A corner of Tory’s mouth twitched into a parody of a smile. “Not while I was around. He didn’t need to.”
    Cade nodded. He’d known. A part of him had known since the morning she’d come to his door to tell them all about Hope. “Because you were the easier target.”
    “He hasn’t been able to aim at me for quite some time. I’ve made sure of that.”
    “Why are you blaming yourself?”
    “I’m not.” Because his eyes were steady, she closed hers. “Habit. I know he used her for his punching bag after I was gone. I never tried to do anything to change that. Not that either of them would have let me, but I never tried. I’ve only seen him twice since I was eighteen. Once, when I was living in New York, when I was happy, I had this notion that we could mend the things that were broken, or at least some of them. They were living in a trailer then, near the Georgia border. They moved around a lot after we left Progress.”
    She sat like that, with her eyes closed, in the quiet, while the rain pattered on the roof. “Daddy couldn’t keep a job for long. Someone was always in for him, so he said. Or there was a better job another place. I lost track of how many other places there were—different schools, different rooms, different faces. I never made any real friends, so it didn’t matter so much. I was just biding time until I could get away. Save up money on the sly and wait until