From the Heart

elbows, pulling her hands from her eyes. “What are you saying?”
    Kasey didn’t answer. She was breathing quickly. She didn’t know what she had said.
    Jordan’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Did my mother have anything to do with your leaving?” Kasey started to shake her head, but his look stopped her. “You don’t lie worth a damn, so don’t try it. What did she say to you? What did she do?” When she didn’t answer, he forced his voice into calmness. There was fear in her eyes again, but this time he knew it wasn’t he who had put it there. “You’re going to tell me exactly what went on between you.”
    “A very good idea.” Dr. Brennan spoke as he came in the front door. Jordan glanced over but didn’t release Kasey’s arm. No one was going to stop him from learning the truth now. “No need to pick up the club, son,” he told Jordan, amused. “I told her that’s what she should do when she came home months ago.”
    “Pop, don’t interfere.”
    “Don’t interfere.” He raised his brows at his granddaughter. “You always were snippy.”
    “Pop, please.” Kasey pulled her arms away from Jordan. “You’ve got to stay out of this.”
    “The devil I do!” he boomed out at her. “This man has a right to know what went on behind his back. You just stopped playing solitaire, Kasey. I’ve dealt him in.”
    She shook her head, going to him. “Alison.”
    “He’ll take care of Alison, Kasey. Any fool could see that. Are you going to tell him, or am I?”
    “You tell me,” Jordan addressed Dr. Brennan directly. “I want it straight.”
    “Sensible. Sit down and shut up, Kasey,” her grandfather ordered.
    “No, I won’t—”
    “Kathleen, sit!”
    Her chin came up at the tone, but the training of a lifetime had her obeying.
    “All right, Jordan,” the doctor began. “This might not be easy to hear. Would you like to sit down?”
    “No.” Jordan bit off the word, then caught himself. “No, thank you.”
    “I will, I’m getting old.” Dr. Brennan settled himself. “Your mother put Kasey in a position of choosing,” he began. “I would conclude that she’s an excellent judge of character, as she must have known what Kasey’s choice would be. Her own happiness, or yours and Alison’s.”
    “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
    “The best way is straight up, then. Your mother threatened to sue for custody of Alison unless Kasey took her bags and left on the spot.”
    “Sue for . . .” Jordan pulled his hand through his hair again. “That’s crazy. She doesn’t want Alison, and in any case, there wouldn’t be grounds for a suit.”
    “I said she was a good judge of character.” Dr. Brennan glanced at his granddaughter. Frowning, Jordan followed his eyes. He felt the strength drain out of him.
    “Oh, God.” He rubbed his hands over his face in a gesture of fatigue. “I suppose she found out about Kasey’s background. She should have come to me.” He spoke quietly to the doctor again. “I would never have let my mother get away with a threat like that. She should have come to me.”
    “Yes.” Dr. Brennan nodded in agreement. “But she wouldn’t take the risk with two people she loved. Your mother threatened to sue on grounds of immoral conduct.”
    “Pop.” The word was only a tired whisper.
    “All of it, Kasey, all at once. And,” he turned back to Jordan, “she offered to pay her. That was her only miscalculation.”
    There was a window above the kitchen sink which looked out over the mountains. Jordan walked to it and stared out. “I’m having a difficult time handling this.” His voice was strained and raw. “I knew she was capable of a lot of things, but I wouldn’t have believed this of her. I appreciate your telling me.” Jordan thought he had felt all the rage he couldfeel, all the pain he could stand. But he’d been wrong. Now he wasn’t sure which was uppermost. “I’ll deal with my mother, Dr. Brennan, you can be sure of it.”
    “I am sure of it.” After casting a last look at Kasey, her grandfather rose. “I have a garden to water.” He left them, and the room dropped into silence.
    Kasey took a deep breath. It was out now, all of it. There would be little more to say. “I’m going to fix some tea.” Rising, she walked over to set a kettle on to boil.
    “Kasey, there’s nothing I can say or do that will ever make up for this.”
    “It wasn’t your doing, Jordan, and it’s not your place to make up for