Chapter Thirty-Seven
Valerie
I had watched the scene unfold before me and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. I certainly didn’t want to say anything, because I knew that it wasn’t my place.
In all of the time that I had known Shawn’s family, I had never seen his mother act like this. While I couldn’t say it was a welcomed change, since it muddled everything up and brought more questions out of the situation than answers, it was something that I just couldn’t shake. There seemed to be something going on that was too strange to comprehend.
Much like I am sure Shawn was feeling, I had the sense that my entire world was being turned upside down and I wasn’t sure who I could or even really wanted to trust.
As Shawn’s mother walked into her room, Shawn stared after her with an odd expression. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what was supposed to come to pass.
If what Shawn’s mother was saying was true, then my mother needed to get as far away from Shawn’s father as possible. Instead of taking care of her, he was tricking and manipulating her; to what end, I had no idea, but I knew that it couldn’t be good.
After all, if the hurt I saw in Shawn’s mother’s eyes was genuine, then his father had taken everything from her, every single time she had ever tried to retrieve it; and now, it seemed like he was trying to do the same to my mom.
Therefore, when Shawn decided to leave the room without another word, after his mother did the same, I figured that I should call my mother and see how quickly she could get over here.
I waited a few minutes until I was alone and pulled out my cellphone. I called my mother to tell her to be right over and she said that she would have no problem with that.
The few minutes it took for her to make it to Shawn’s mother’s house was agonizing. With the new, increasingly plausible idea that Paul was behind everything bad that was going on inside the family, I could not help but think that there was something very strange going on. With that thought came a whole slew of possibilities circulating around inside my head that made me fearful about what exactly was taking my mother so long.
But I didn’t want to seem paranoid, so I refrained from calling her phone.
However, finally, I heard a knock on the door and I ran to answer it. My mother seemed slightly nervous and asked if I was all right.
I hugged her and told her I was, but that we really needed to talk.
Once we were settled in the living room, I told her everything that I knew about Paul and what Shawn’s mom had told us. Overhearing us, Shawn also came out of wherever he was and seconded my fears. “I think that it was Paul who messed with your phone and wrote the note to Valerie.”
My mother stared at him for a long moment before she shook her head. “I don’t think so…Not Paul.” She breathed in deeply and let a ragged breath loose before she added, “I just can’t imagine…I know you’re angry with him, but I just can’t see why he would do that to me…and to you both.”
I shrugged, trying to be diplomatic in the idea that both of them were having a discussion that I still had not taken a side of. True, the more I thought about it and the more that I thought about the way that Shawn’s mother had acted, the more it seemed as though there could be a sneaky side to Paul that none of us could have predicted. But then again, that sounded so absurd.
Paul was such a nice, mild-mannered man, except when it came to his son and the few times that his ex-wife was mentioned.
That was when I had seen a whole new side to him. I had always thought that he was just frustrated with Shawn and angry with his ex-wife, but right now, I was contemplating the idea that there was far more to my stepfather than ever met my eye.
My mother still looked skeptical, but in the silence that ensued between the three of us, she seemed less sure of her original conviction.
“Well, he was the only one who had access to my phone…and none of the other contacts were tampered with…” She shrugged. “I called a few of them, just to make sure and everyone answered.” After a few more moments of quiet thought, she looked between Shawn. “But why would he do that? What purpose would it hold?”
Shawn offered a consoling shrug. “If it’s anything like the reason my mother gave, it’s so that he could take total control. I don’t know what his end game is, but if any of this is true, and it is looking like it is, then it can’t be good for any of us.”
My mother sighed and shook her head. “I just don’t understand. Everything was going so well. We were finally a family after all these years…why would he take it from me?” She passed her eyes between Shawn and I before she amended, “From us?”
I didn’t want to believe it either and so, I carefully placed my hand on my mother’s shoulder, unable to imagine what she was going through. “Well, do you think that anyone else could have done it?”
At first, she shrugged before she answered carefully, “I don’t know, but I do think that our next stop should be to ask Paul a few questions.”
After a few seconds of thought, I nodded. “I think that is a very good idea.”