Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [96]
Roger glanced over at Malene, who quickly turned away. “Well, look who suddenly feels strong enough not just to get out of bed but also to start meddling,” he said.
“Here,” Malene said, putting a glass of juice in front of her grandson. “Why don’t you drink something and quit talking? You’re going to need your strength to tell everybody else what to do.”
“Right,” Alex responded with a big grin.
“We’ll be right back,” Malene said after buttering the toast and putting it on a plate on the table next to the juice.
“And then we can go?” the boy asked.
“And then we can go,” Roger answered.
“Hey,” Alex said, and his grandparents turned back to listen. “I love you. It’s hard, I know. Everything, it’s hard, and well, anyway, I love you.”
“We love you too,” they said in unison.
Roger and Malene walked out together and stood in her bedroom.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Malene whispered, looking in the closet, trying to find something to wear. “Suppose everyone’s mad and besides, what’s he going to say that will change anything?”
Roger shook his head. He went into the guest room across the hall to put on his uniform before going back to talk to Malene.
“We’ll just let him say what he wants to say and then we’ll leave,” Roger promised. “Besides, it seems like he feels a little stronger. He does look better, and maybe this will help.”
“Help who?” she asked.
“Him, the town, I don’t know, everybody. Seems like everything is falling apart. Maybe he has the answers we don’t.”
Malene stepped out of her gown and robe and began putting on a pair of pants and a top. “I don’t know, Roger. I think he’s asking too much of himself, expecting too much of this town. You said it yourself: we don’t have a good record of hospitality, of doing the right thing when it comes to new folks.” She suddenly noticed that her ex-husband was watching. “What?” she asked, buttoning her blouse.
“He’s right, you know, you really do look good,” he replied. “I forgot how much I love to see you get dressed.”
“Or undressed,” she said with a smirk. “Okay, focus,” she said to herself as well as to Roger. “We’ll just drive him over, help him out of the car, put him in his chair, and let him make his plea. And then we’re coming home. It’s chilly out there, and I don’t want him catching a cold.”
“I’ll get his coat and a blanket,” Roger said as he turned to walk away.
Malene stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself smiling, thinking about Roger, his comment, Alex’s observation. She thought about her ex-husband, how nice it felt to have him there, how right it seemed for the two of them to be together. She thought about her grandson and the meeting and wondered what Alex could possibly say to bring the community together.
She thought about how upset he was going to be when he found out that a new priest had already been assigned, that Father George had been given another placement, and worst of all, that Trina was gone. She worried about what might happen when he found out his new friend had been run out of town and when the people at the meeting didn’t respond the way he wanted.
Still, Roger was right and she knew it. Alex was stronger, acting more like himself. And if anybody could say anything to make people listen, it was Alex. She just didn’t know what the boy had planned to say and what would be the reaction. She worried that any negative reaction would cause another setback.
“It will only be a few minutes,” Malene said to herself. She reached for a hairbrush on the dresser and started to brush her hair. The curtain over the window fluttered, and just as she glanced behind her, noticed the movement, and felt the slightest breeze drift across her, she suddenly thought of her mother, sensed her presence in the room as if she was passing through, and then heard the crash.
Chapter Thirty-six
Even though Trina had heard Katie’s confession and knew that the girl was planning to tell the rest of the town that she had started the fire, her