Mattie's Call by Stacy Campbell

Author:Stacy Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strebor Books

 24

Your Eyes And Ears

Dear Mrs. Benson:

The plan has jumped off the track a little. Things didn’t go very well when your children met with Attorney Durk. Gabrielle stormed out of Roastfish & Cornbread, leaving Joshua and Alice in a tizzy. Oh, Gabrielle wasn’t too pleased with you giving Karen jewelry and money, either. They didn’t like the conditions of the will, but it appeared they were willing to move forward with the plans. Appeared is the operative word here. Joshua hasn’t made much progress with meeting Langston, Gabrielle is still job hunting, and sadly, Alice has returned to her husband. There is still time for you to come back home. We can work our way around the whole Mattie’s Call thing. These children need you. When something changes, I’ll update you.

Your Eyes and Ears

Mattie slapped her thigh in disgust. This isn’t how she planned things. Sure, she wanted her children to realize how hard she and Daniel had worked to give them a solid foundation. Isn’t that every parent’s goal? She figured she’d go away for a weekend, have them go crazy with worry, then show up again since Gabrielle harped on her occasional forgetfulness. Then the Mattie’s Call happened, and she didn’t know how to stop the scam. Things happened so quickly she didn’t have time to retract things. “Oh well, they’ll have to depend on each other until I figure this out.”

She rocked in the chair Daniel had made for her and reminisced on the times they had shared in this house. He believed children shouldn’t know everything about their parents. The Helen, Georgia, property was the biggest secret they’d kept from them and was now her refuge and hiding place. She gathered uneaten apple slices and a jar of peanut butter and headed toward the kitchen.

Daniel promised they’d have a place of their own to keep their romance alive. They’d both been eye-and-ear witnesses to unloving marriages, and they didn’t want the same for themselves. He listened to his father’s tales about the wealthy family for whom he chauffeured and decided if he ever got married, he’d build a place for Mattie so she could take a break from the real world every now and then.

A knock at the door halted her steps. Many of the people they’d befriended over the years had sold their properties, rented them out, or died. They were cordial to the other residents, but never too chummy and only addressed people on a first-name basis. No histories or trench stories were ever shared. She’d avoided her new neighbor for the past few months she’d been at the house. She was a persistent presence and Mattie decided to face her like a woman and send her on her way.

“Just a minute,” she said.

Mattie tied a paisley silk scarf around her hair and put on a pair of sunglasses. Whenever she ventured into town or watered her plants, she took care to be incognito. Even though she was in the middle of nowhere, anyone could spot her.

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