“Linda, this is Joe.”
“Joe!” He heard the excitement and love in her voice and suddenly missed her terribly. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s you. I’ve been missing you so much.”
“I miss you too.”
“Are you coming home?”
“I hope so. Can you go get Dad?”
He heard the receiver clunk as she dropped it to the counter and went to get their father. A minute later, his dad was on the line, and Joe was giving him an update.
The conversation didn’t go the way he’d hoped. It would have helped if Trendale had called his house to lay the groundwork, but that hadn’t happened. “Let me get this straight,” his father said, exasperated. “A woman shows up at Trendale saying she’s your grandmother, and you just walked right out and left with her? Have you lost your mind?”
“So she’s not your mother?” Joe asked. “Because she has paperwork that’s pretty convincing. Birth certificates. And she showed me her driver’s license too.”
“Pearl Arneson is my mother, yes, at least legally, but we haven’t been on speaking terms for a long, long time. And I’m not planning on changing that anytime soon.”
“Why? What happened?”
A heavy sigh. “It’s not important anymore.”
Joe knew that impatient tone. He just didn’t want to talk about it. Sweeping away painful memories was his father’s way of dealing with things. Or in this case, not dealing with them. Joe said, “Do you want to talk to her?”
“No, I don’t want to talk to her.” The impatience notched up to irritation.
Joe knew he better get to the point. “I’m at her house now. On Stone Lake Road? Can you drive up tomorrow and pick me up?” He knew enough not to ask him to come tonight.
There was a noticeable pause, and then his father said, “Just a minute.”
Down the hall, Joe heard Howard saying something to Pearl about having to get back to the home. In his other ear, he heard the muffled sounds of his father explaining things to his mother. His dad must have covered the receiver with the flat of his hand.
After a long pause, he heard the fumble of the receiver and his father’s voice. “What’s the number there, Joe? I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Joe leaned over and read what was printed on the card in the middle of the dial. “Hopkins 4–3695.”
“The same one as always, then.”
“I guess.”
“Tell you what, Joe.” He paused, and Joe imagined the weary look on his face and the way he pinched the bridge of his nose when dealing with something uncomfortable. “I have to think this through. I’ll call you in the morning, and we’ll talk then.”
“Okay.”
Disappointed but not surprised, Joe said goodbye and hung up. Pearl appeared in the doorway a moment later. “So,” she said, “how did that go?”
“As it turns out, I won’t be able to leave until tomorrow.”
“I see.”
“If that’s okay?”
“It’s more than okay. I would love it if you’d stay. As I said, I have a project that I could use some help with. It would take most of the summer, and I have to hire someone. If I’m giving someone large sums of money, I’d just as soon give it to my grandson.”
Grandson. The word came so easily out of her mouth, but it struck him as so odd to hear from a woman he’d just met. She gave him an expectant look. He said, “That’s nice of you to think of me, but I have to get back home. I have things to do.” Truthfully, he didn’t have anything to go back to—no job, no girlfriend—but he wasn’t going to admit that. From her skeptical expression, she knew that already. Maybe she’d pried that information from Linda during their phone conversation. Linda knew not to be rude to an adult, even on the phone. If she was asked a question, she would most likely answer it.
“One night, then,” she said finally. “Lock up after I leave, and make yourself at home. One of the bedrooms upstairs, the second door on the left, was recently cleaned and has fresh bedding. The rest of the place is a bit of a mess, I’m sorry to say, but it beats sleeping outside.”
“Wait. You’re not going to be here?” He should have felt relieved at finding out he wouldn’t have to stay with a stranger, even if they were related, but he wasn’t. This house was enormous and in disrepair. If he were someone who frightened easily, he might think of ghosts. More important, he wanted her to stick around so they could talk about the schism with his father. What would cause a man to break ties with his own mother? He couldn’t even imagine.