CHAPTER ELEVEN
Auggie
I’d never seen the entire interior of Worth’s family home. I would see it now, and it would become my refuge. But first, there was the matter of Mother.
She sat in a wingback chair at the far side of the living room. The light was behind her and her outline resembled that of a witch. Even Ford started to cry, although he knew nothing of witches. Unless you counted his grandmother.
“Mother,” I acknowledged her.
“Auggie,” she returned.
We were like two sumo wrestlers, circling one another to see who would make the first lunge to take the other down and who would anticipate and sidestep.
“I see you’ve brought the baby.” She made the first attempt.
“His name is Ford, if you remember. He’s named for our family.” I sidestepped.
“Was my name, once upon a time,” she tried again.
“Mother, pity won’t work. You earned your banishment.”
“So, why are you here?” She was focused and suspicious. I couldn’t blame her. I would be too.
“At Linc’s invitation. So, how does it feel to finally sit in the throne you coveted for so long?” I went for her knees.
She didn’t reply. I had her on her back.
“What do you want from me?” she asked angrily.
“Actually, I’ve come to give you something,” I told her and I sensed her distrust.
“I have everything I could want, now.” She let the statement lie there and sink in. Once again, a jab at the fact that she didn’t consider me to be worthy of her motherhood.
“You must be very proud of Linc, despite the fact that another woman raised him.” I went for her throat.
“What have you come to give me?” she asked, sidestepping.
“A chance to earn back your position in the community. I can make you acceptable in the right circles. You can resume your place.”
She laughed. It was a ragged sound, and I noticed an echo of Linc’s own sarcasm in her voice.
The room felt warm and it wasn’t the sunshine streaming through the windows. It was the heat of debate and I fought to keep my cool.
Mother was dressed in a tangerine cotton dress, sleeveless and slim-fitting. She wore a string of beads about her neck; a pseudo crown for the one that wasn’t available for her head.
I sat down, Ford on my lap. I didn’t put him down on the floor. I needed him in my arms in case a hasty retreat was called for.
“Why would you help me, of all people? You said I was the one who held you back all these years,” she speculated with derision.
“It’s not out of love, I can assure you that.” I took the honest path. “It just happens that helping you aligns with something I want more.”
“And that is?” she queried me, watching my face for a telling look.
“That is my business,” I responded, keeping the tone of my voice mysterious.
This made her smile. “Little Auggie, finally learning to keep her mouth shut and her eyes open. I wondered how long it would take,” she speculated, her sadistic comment hitting its mark.
“I had an excellent teacher,” I parried and realized we would have to stop this fencing if we were to accomplish what I’d come for.
She recognized the same thing and finally asked, “What do you want from me?”
“In all truth, I want two things. I want you to treat me like an adult and respect what I’m doing, and secondly, I want you to get to know your grandson. I will be around here a great deal and it would be appreciated if you’d help to look after him.”
“The baby?”
“Well, of course, the baby.”
“Don’t you have a nurse?”
“Mother, this is a part of a bigger plan. I’m going to have my work cut out for me to get you back into society with even a shred of respect. It would help tremendously if you showed some sort of maternal feelings toward your only grandson. After all, you have a history of abandonment.”
She said nothing, but her lips were drawn in a hard line. I knew she was fighting her natural instinct to say something dismissive and make a dramatic exit. That might have worked when Dad was around, but here she had no audience. She finally nodded and held out her arms. “Bring him here,” she ordered me.
Overlooking her tone, I carried him to her and was amazed to see she didn’t even know how to hold him. I realized in that instant that I’d given her even more credit than she deserved. She had given up Linc because she wasn’t able to love anyone but herself. The only reason I escaped the hatchet was my dad. I was sure of it.
I had sudden reservations about allowing her to influence Ford. Indeed, he began to cry. “Take it away, take it away,” she ordered and handed him back to me as if he was a bag of feed. There have been few times in my life that I’d ever met anyone who was totally unredeemable, but she was one. Sadly, I turned and left her audience, intent upon the other aspects of my plan. I would find a nanny to look after Ford.