1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [85]
“Why did you ask me to come here?”
“Actually, I have several reasons.”
Jolene looked conspicuously at her watch. “How long is this supposed to take?”
“Not long,” Rachel promised. So far, the meeting was going exactly as she’d feared. The girl’s hostility was un-disguised. The battle lines were drawn and swords ready. Except that Rachel was about to hand over her weapon. She was finished.
Inhaling deeply, she came directly to the point. “Mainly, I wanted to tell you I’ve decided to leave the area.”
Jolene’s eyes flew to hers. “Does my dad know?”
“Not yet.” She would tell Bruce later.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Well,” Rachel said, “I thought you’d want to celebrate. You’ve beaten me, Jolene. You win. You can have your father all to yourself. I won’t be in touch.”
“What about the baby?” she demanded. “You can’t do that to my brother or sister.”
Rachel shook her head. “I grew up without a family. My aunt tried but she didn’t have a warm bone in her body. She was raised in an era when children didn’t speak unless spoken to. Her mantra was that cleanliness was next to godliness, so what she held most important was a spotless house. There was very little fun in my life and—”
“You told me all this before,” Jolene said, defiantly crossing her arms.
“You’re right. Sorry, no need to repeat myself, is there? All I meant was that my aunt taught me what not to do, what not to be.”
“What’ll happen with the baby?” Jolene sounded like an attorney representing her father’s interests.
“Happen?” Rachel shrugged. “Well, I’ll raise this child and love him or her to the very best of my ability.”
“What about my dad?”
“What about him?”
Jolene glared at her. “He has a right to the baby, too.”
“I’m not preventing your father from having contact with the child, Jolene, I’m protecting him or her.”
“Protecting him or her from what?”
Rachel hardly felt a reply was necessary. The answer should be obvious, even to Jolene. If Jolene hated Rachel this much, then she couldn’t trust her to feel any differently toward her child.
When Rachel didn’t immediately reply Jolene’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. “I would never hurt a baby,” she insisted as though highly insulted.
“Perhaps not physically,” Rachel agreed, “but there are other ways of inflicting damage. I can’t risk that.”
Jolene’s gaze moved past her and she swallowed visibly. “Where will you go?”
She hadn’t decided. “I’m thinking of Portland.”
“Oregon?”
Rachel nodded.
“Why there?”
“It’s close but not too close, and far enough away that your father won’t be tempted to…” She let the rest fade.
“Dad’s been seeing a counselor.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I went, too.”
“So I heard.”
Jolene looked away, apparently embarrassed by her behavior at the counseling session.
Rachel hadn’t expected changes overnight, but there had to be some effort and Jolene seemed unwilling to bend at all.
“You need to talk to Dad.”
“I will.” Rachel hadn’t spoken to Bruce during the past three weeks. They’d exchanged a few emails, in which they’d kept each other up to date. After Jolene’s stunt—making herself ill—and then the wasted counseling session, Rachel felt convinced the situation was hopeless. If Jolene would rather throw up than let her father see his wife—well, what more was there to say?
“The counselor has Dad setting boundaries with me.” She said the words sarcastically. “It’s stupid.”
“Uh-huh.”
Jolene looked down at her feet. “You gave Dad back the money, too, didn’t you?”
Rachel was surprised the girl knew anything about that. “Your father told you?”
“No, Teri Polgar did. She came to the house and made a big stink about it.”
Rachel could well imagine that scene. Teri wasn’t one to hold back her opinions. No doubt she’d told both Bruce and Jolene what she thought of them, whether they wanted to hear it or not.
“Dad was pretty upset about it. You not taking the money, I mean.”
“Tell him—that is, if you want to say anything about our meeting—tell him the baby and I are doing well. I don’t need money. I can care for the baby on my own.” She didn