"Wait for me to call you. I'd like to visit Grandma Belinda, if I could."
"Sure, I'll take you," he said.
"You should be spending all your time with your mother, Cary. She must be so sad. And lonely."
"I can't sit there all day and watch her cry, Melody. It makes me crazy to see how sad she is. The best I can do is work hard and show her that everything will be all right. I'll take care of things."
"I know you will," I said, nodding. "I'll call you tomorrow."
I gave him a quick kiss and hopped out of the truck. He watched me cross in front of it and smiled at me as I walked to the front door. He didn't start the engine until I opened the door to go in. I waved and he started away.
With the sky so overcast and the lights either off or turned low, it was dismal and dark in the house. I felt a chill run through my body and folded my arms across my chest as I hurried up the stairs. When I reached the second floor and turned toward my room, I found Grandma Olivia waiting at my door. Without a greeting, she opened the door for me and stood back.
"Let's talk," she said, grimly.
Keeping my head down and my arms still folded, I walked by her and into the room. She closed the door softly behind her.
"Where were you all day?"
"I went to Aunt Sara's and spent time with her and May, and then Cary took me to see Kenneth," I replied. "It would probably be better if you stopped going out to that beach house so much now," she declared. "
"Why?
"There's enough suspicious gossip going on. It will only add to it."
"I can't hide from every whisper in
Provincetown," I said.
She stiffened.
"You will lead an exemplary life here. No one will have any reason to utter the smallest suspicion or tale of indiscretion," she demanded as if she could order the future at will.
"I'm not going to stop seeing Kenneth. He's my uncle, my real uncle."
"Don't ever say that to anyone, do you understand?" she snapped, moving to stand over me. Her eyes looked more haunted by her own fears than rage at me. Nothing appeared to terrify her more than the community learning Judge Childs was my grandfather and had been her sister's lover.
"I have no intention of rattling any of the skeletons in our family closet, Grandma Olivia. It wouldn't serve any purpose except to hurt people who have already suffered too much because of them."
She smiled, relieved, and nodded.
"That's right. That's good thinking."
"How is my grandmother?" I asked firmly.
"Belinda is . . . Belinda. She was taken off the medication that turned her into a vegetable, if that's what you mean."
"Good. I'm going to see her tomorrow. Don't worry, you won't have to waste any gas. Cary's taking me," I said quickly.
"That's the main reason I wanted to talk to you," she said. "You've grown too close to Cary. I understand why," she continued, crossing to the window. The rain had become harder and the wind was flinging the heavy drops at the house, drumming a wild beat upon the roof. "You were alone; you were in strange surroundings but you had a contemporary to talk to and befriend you. However, now that you are here, you've got to create some distance between the two of you."
"Whatever for?" I asked and she pivoted quickly.
"Cary is a good, responsible young man, but too limited for you now. You can't make the mistakes I made," she warned. "There would be no purpose for taking you in if I didn't teach you that," she added.
"Being with someone you love can never be a mistake," I replied.
She shook her head.