Moon Dance (28 page)

"I do."

"Oh, good." She seemed relieved, then placed the largest of the rounds on his plate. "I'm not sure that everyone would like this combination."

"What is it?"

"Artichokes and tomatoes and red onions with a little mozzarella cheese on top."

"What's the green and white stuff on the bottom?" He tried not to appear to be inspecting the offering as closely as he felt compelled to do.

"Cream cheese and spinach."

"Oh."

"It tastes better than it sounds," she assured him, "but if you don't like it, I have some to
fu lasagna from last night…
"

"No. No, this is fine. It looks great." Matt smiled and cut his pizza into quarters.

Tofu lasagna?

He'd take his chances with the pizza.

"So. What are you go
ing to plant out back of the barn
?"

"Oh, all kinds of things. Lots of vegetables and herbs. I'm really excited about it. For the past few years, I've been buying organic vegetables from a market in Baltimore. Now I'll be growing my own." She was clearly pleased.

"What did you decide to do for water?" He asked as he took the first brave bite into the artichoke pizza.

"What?" She looked puzzled.

"Water. To water your plants." He took another bite. "You know, this is really good. Very good. Really."

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it." She frowned, then asked. "Isn't there a hose?"

'
"There's a water hookup in the ba
rn
that Aunt Hope used to run the irrigation system from, but I think it might be overkill to set all that up for a small garden area."

"I thought I could just use a hose." Georgia looked a little flustered. Her right index finger began tapping on the table.

"You'll need about a dozen of them to
reach from the inside of the barn
to the place where you're plowing."

"Can I do that? Just get a bunch of hoses and hook them together and water the plants that way?"

"I guess that could work." He nodded. "It might take the water a while to travel all that distance. And it would be very awkward to move all those hoses around."

"As long as it works." She said thoughtfully. "Damn. I didn't think about that—about getting the water out there."

"Well, you know, your garden is actually closer to the old chicken house than it is to the ba
rn
. At one time, there was a separate water line that fed out to that building. If you like, I'll take a look at it and see if it's still hooked up."

"Oh, would you? That would be wonderful." She beamed, and Matt knew right then that she'd have an easy source of water if he had to dig her a well with his bare hands. All she had to do was smile like that,
and he'd dig clear through to China, if that's what it took.

"Would you like some dessert?" Georgia asked when the last of the pizza had been eaten. "I bought some raspberries in Tanner's yesterday. They're perfect. And we're having a special on birthday cake this week. Ally left me with a slab
…
"

He put his fork down quietly. This was his opening.

"Georgia, about Ally's party. I'm sorry I walked out. It was rude of me."

"You know, all week long I was trying to think of what I might have said or done that caused you to leave so suddenly."

"What
you
did…
?"

"You seemed to be having such a good time, seemed to be getting along with everyone. I figured maybe I said or did something that upset you for you to leave without saying good-bye."

He reached across the table and touched the tips of the fingers of her left hand with his own.

"It was nothing that you said or did. It was my reaction to something that I didn't fully understand." Matt watched her fingers spin the spoon around and around, and in that moment wanted nothing as much as he wanted to take that tiny hand in his own. So he did. "You know that my mother is in Riverview
…
"

"Yes, of course. Laura told me. I'm so sorry, Matt. I can't even begin to understand how difficult it must be for you and Laura and Ally. I don't know how I'd cope if my mother was in that situation."

"Lately, it's been more and more difficult, because
her disease is progressing, and we know now that recovery is not an option. We all miss her, we mourn her, almost as if she's already passed away, in a sense. Her body is still there, and for the most part, she still
looks
the same, but there is really so little left of the woman we knew. All the things that made her so unique have been devoured by her disease. We all want things to be the way they used to be, but we can't bring her back. Ally's birthday was a hard time for us. Birthdays have always been very important to my mother."

"I'm sure you missed having her here."

"I did." Her sincerity and concern touched him, making it easier
for him to continue. "Do you re
member when Laura told Ally to give the piece of cake with her name on it to Delia?"

"Not really. I think I might have been in the kitchen trying to sweet talk the old coffee maker into doing its thing."

"Laura handed the plate to Ally and said, 'This goes to Grandma.'
" Matt wondered if the truth made him sound as petty and foolish as he was, at that moment, beginning to feel. Not a good enough reason not to continue, he knew. If he was going to tell her why he had left, it would have to be the truth. "We had always given the 'name' piece of birthday cake to our mother. Laura and I always did it, Ally did it, too. It was just sort of an honor, we thought."

"And you thought that Laura was passing that honor to Delia," Georgia said softly, squeezing his hand lightly to let him know she understood. "Which
of course, has other implications—Delia being Laura's birth mother."

"Let me guess. Psychology major." He said wryly.

"No," she shook her head, "I never went to college. Too busy dancing."

"That's a shame. You'd probably make a great psychologist." His fingers entwined with her smaller, delicate ones.

"Actually, it's on my list."

"Your list?"

"Of things I might want to explore." She tugged on his hand impatiently. "We're getting off the subject. You thought that Laura was giving Delia something that you felt was rightfully Charity's, and you resented it."

"You would definitely make a great shrink," he repeated. "That's exactly how I felt. I know it sounds petty, but that's exactly how I felt."

"It's not petty. Yours is a difficult position to be in. I don't know that I'd feel any differently. And I admire your loyalty and your devotion to your mom. And besides, you apparently didn't know that my mother was going to stop at Riverview and drop the cake off for your mother."

"Not until I arrived at the home the next morning and saw the cake." He frowned. "But how did you know?"

"Laura had mentioned it earlier in the day, before Ally cut the cake. I'm surprised that you didn't hear her."

"I wonder if that was when I went out to my truck to look for matches for the candles." He tried to
recall, but could not. "Well, for whatever reason, Laura's remark just set me off. I just wanted out, and away from all of you."

Matt knew he had to go on and finish the job. "I felt like you all were Laura's family now, and that her other family—Charity's family—didn't maybe matter so much anymore. I realiz
e that it sounds so stupid…
"

"I don't think it sounds stupid. I think I'd probably have felt the same way."

"Did you know that your mother goes out to Riverview at least once a week—sometimes twice— to read aloud to the residents?"

"Yes."

"You don't find that odd, that someone like your mother would travel all that distance to read to people she doesn't even know?" he couldn't help but ask.

"No, I don't find it odd, knowing my mother," she appeared to bristle slightly. "But I'd sure like to know what you mean by 'someone like my mother.'
"

Matt wasn't oblivious to the rise in her voice and the snap of annoyance that brought those green eyes down a shade or two.

He chose his words carefully.

"I only meant that some
one who has your mother's…
celebrity
might find other ways to spend her time than reading to a group of Alzheimer's patients in a backwoods nursing facility in Maryland once or twice a week."

"My mother has never been concerned with her
celebrity,
and I suspect that she does not consider Charity to be just another Alzheimer's patient."

"That's pretty much what she said."

"You've discussed this with her?"

"Last week. I ran into her at Riverview. She's quite an amazing woman."

"Yes, she is."

"I'm beginning to realize that I have misjudged her. She seems to be sincerely concerned about my mother's health and well-being. She came as quite a surprise to me, I don't mind admitting it."

"Now, how did she manage to win you over in one short afternoon?" Georgia leaned forward, curious.

Matt debated on whether to tell her about the nurse, then decided against it. He and Delia had agreed to keep it between them for the time being.

"I guess I just had to see for myself what she's really like." he said, not bothering to mention that he had promised to do exactly that for the next six months.

"I would venture to guess that you only saw the very tip of the iceberg. My mother is loving and giving and kind and caring and generous to a fault." Georgia grinned and added, "And we all adore her anyway."

"I guess I'm glad for Laura that she found Delia," he spoke the words slowly, the admission was not an easy one. "And I'm glad that Ally will at least have one grandmother as she grows up."

"What happened to her other grandmother?" Georgia gave his hand a last squeeze before releasing her fingers from his so she could begin to stack the dinner dishes.

"What?" The question was unexpected, and Matt wasn't certain he'd heard correctly.

"Ally's father's family
,"
Georgia stood and carried the dishes to the sink to rinse them. "And while we're on the subject, where's Ally's father?"

"Don't you know?" He couldn't believe that she didn't know.

Georgia shook her head. "The few times I asked Laura about her husband, she snapped shut like a clam. She has made it very clear that that is one topic she does not want to discuss."

"And your mother didn't tell you
…
?"

"No. She said that Laura would probably discuss it when she felt she could. Which I thought was an odd choice of words, but my mother didn't seem inclined to elaborate." Georgia waited for Matt to volunteer some information, and when he did
not, she prodded him. "So…
?"

"So…
?"

"So, what happened to Laura's husband? Where is he?"

"He's in a federal prison."

Georgia suspected that the thud she heard was her jaw hitting the kitchen floor.

"Prison?" Georgia sat back down. "What did he do?"

"Stole money from his church." There really was no way to pretty it up.

"He stole
money
from a
church?"

"Not just
any
church.
His
church."

"You mean he was a
minister?"

"Yep. The Very Reverend Gary J. Hannon was pastor and spiritual leader of the New House of God."

"Yow." Georgia's eyes were growing larger. "Wait
a minute. The New House of God
…
why does this sound familiar?"

"You might have seen it on the news when the story broke a few years ago. Gary was a young, handsome, Bible-toting man of the cloth. He had a large ministry that went out over the airwaves every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night. And every Sunday morning and every Wednesday afternoon, he was appealing for contribution
s for the poor in our midst…
'the souls entrusted to our care by none other
than God Almighty Himself…
'
" Matt's voice lowered and took on the tone of a deeply sin
cere and concerned humanitarian…
and on Monday and Thursday mornings he was on the phone to his bookie."

"You mean he gambled with the church's money?"

"Every last red cent, near as we could figure out."

"I can't believe that Laura would fall in love with someone like that."

"You would have had to know Gary, Georgia. Handsome, as I said,
and with the most humble, down-
to-earth, sincere manner you'd ever want to see. He was as charming a man as you'll ever meet."