The Best Friend (14 page)

Looking back at Olivia, he laughed. Olivia was barely able to hold the mess of laces in her small hands. “Just use your other hand.”

“No. I want to do it like you.”

“Well, maybe I can help you sometime, but not in a car.”

He felt Gretchen’s gaze on him and glanced up. She nodded towards his feet. “To be honest, I wondered how you did that. I mean, neither Leila nor Lewis were home when I showed up. I didn’t know if you could tie it.”

The fleeting glance at his shoes when she picked him up, which he thought came from disdain, might have only been curiosity about how he managed to do it. “You can always ask me, you know.”

She twisted her mouth in a grimace. “No. See, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know you would welcome questions. You come off the complete opposite.”

Oh. Well, hell, yeah, he did. That was true. Except to Olivia. “Well, you can ask. Quit chiding Olivia for trying to figure out the arm thing. It’s confusing for any kid. They are always curious. She’s just trying to process it. Let her.”

She whipped her head toward him. “I know that! I’m a trained child psychologist. It’s you I didn’t think would be sensitive enough to tolerate it. I’m… well, really pleasantly surprised you do. So, okay, I’ll quit chiding her.”

They were at his house. He started to hop out when Olivia called out, “Bye, Tony. Will I see you next Thursday? I’ll be at Gretchen’s, so are you comin’ again, too?”

“Yeah, Tony, are you coming again?” Gretchen asked softly, the challenge clear in her tone.

“You’re good. I’ll give you that. Like I could refuse with the little ears listening.”

She smiled sweetly. “See you next week, Tony.”

Chapter Nine

“So I hear you have an angry, one-armed soldier who has been in love with you for twenty years. How come I’ve never heard about him?”

Gretchen bit her lip and smiled into the phone at Lindsey’s greeting. “Hello to you too, Lindsey. You spoke to Jessie, I see.”

“Oh my, did I. She had a lot to say about Will’s friend, Tony Lindstrom. Tell me how come you haven’t?”

“I didn’t know I should.”

“You should. Is he as Jessie described?”

“Depends. How did she describe him?”

“She said he was all scruffy, grungy, with kind of a bad-ass attitude, but hot. She seemed to think he was pretty hot. What do you think? Is she right?”

“Yeah. I guess if you could get past his snarling, glaring, awful attitude.”

“So, he has a crush on you, huh? Has for like, twenty years Will said?”

Gretchen sat up straighter in her office chair. “Will said that?”

“Will said that. He said he told Tony to go for it, and finally ask you out.”

Gretchen’s heart froze. Her palms were instantly sticky. She took in a sharp breath. Did she want that? Was her reaction stemming from fear that he would? Or hope?

“And… what did he say?”

“He apparently snapped out something about not wanting you. He apparently doesn’t like being told what to do, or so I’m gathering.”

Her heart released. “No, he doesn’t like being told what to do.”

“Especially by Will Hendricks. Did he really quit speaking to Will because Will quit the Army for Jessie and not for you?”

“I—maybe. I mean, he said something like that the other night at dinner. But I can’t believe he’d be that offended in my honor. I mean, by then, we weren’t in contact, except randomly, and sometimes going months at a time without any correspondence.”

“Well, Gretchen, I think you’d better face the facts: the guy’s been after you for two decades.”

“I can’t believe that’s the case.”

“Sounds to me like that’s the source of half his anger; you never saw him like that. You only saw Will, even after Will more or less neglected your needs. Wow. It’s kind of flattering.”

“There is nothing in him now that remotely flatters anybody or anything.”

“He can’t be all bad. Jessie said he was nice to Christina while no one was looking. Come on; a real asshole wouldn’t be.”

“He’s just so angry. At a level I can’t imagine taking on.”

“Except he’s a friend? I mean, you don’t think of him in any other way, right?”

Did she? At first, she only bothered to greet him because of their history. The longer she was around him
now,
however,
the less she remembered her friend-of-old Tony, or Will’s friend Tony. Then suddenly, he
was
the new Tony. Why? Why was he so abrasive? And so hard to tolerate? Was it because there was actually something between them she never noticed before? Suddenly, Will had nothing to do with Tony and her. And neither did their adolescence.

“I don’t know. First, he’d have to learn how to speak to me with a civil tongue.”

Lindsey audibly sighed over the line.  “Just make sure he gets that anger under control.”

Gretchen smiled and stared out her office windows. Lindsey survived five years at the hands of her first husband’s control and abuse. His unbridled rage resulted in him beating her up with sinister regularity.

“I promise you, no one will hurt me. Will would still be the first person I called. You can imagine in that case, there would be no sign of whoever hurt me. Ex or not. Will’s still good for a few things.”

“And Noah. Noah would do that for you too. He’s just not as adept at it.”

She laughed. “And Noah too.”

Noah Clark was now Lindsey’s boyfriend. He and Gretchen offered Lindsey sanctuary when she ran away from her sadistic and very dangerous ex.

“So what’s new with you two? Are you finally going to put the poor guy out of his misery and marry him?”

Lindsey made a strangled sound. “I wish. I just… I can’t convince myself to do it. When I think of marriage, all of these horrifying, awful images cloud my brain. When I think of Noah, on the other hand, I think of everything that’s good in my life. Why would I want to merge the two? I don’t think I could ever do it. He says he understands, and he’s just fine with it. Do you think he’s just saying that?”

“No. There’s no one as committed as Noah Clark. Just make sure your decisions aren’t determined by Elliot’s ghost, but by your own desires. Don’t be scared to get married because of what he did.”

“I know. I know. I just don’t want to yet.”

“I think then, you shouldn’t worry about it. Noah isn’t going anywhere.”

She let out a breath. “Thank you. Speaking of Elliot, that’s why I called.”

“Elliot? Why would you even mention that name?”

“Everything got cleared up in his will. Since I was still legally his wife, I inherited his company, his fortune, the house, and all his investments. His family waived any claims to his estate. They’re not contesting it; although I thought for sure they would… Now, they seem to think I earned it. I don’t know, payment for all the misery I endured, I guess. His parents even sent me an apology. They swore they never knew what Elliot did to me.”

Gretchen laughed out loud and jerked forward in her chair. “Holy cow! Are you kidding me? You’re rich now because of him?”

“I am. It’s a lot of money, Gretchen. We’re talking like, thirty million dollars.”

“Wow. That’s a big number to imagine.”

“I know what you’re going to say. I shouldn’t take it. I shouldn’t want it. I should donate it or something. It’s blood money. It’s contaminated. The thing is… I do want it. I didn’t think I would until I just heard that I got it. He fucked me over repeatedly throughout life, and finally in death, I can get something from him that he wanted most. I know it’s a terrible way to think. I can’t help it. I’m glad. I’m so glad he’s dead. I’m so glad I got his money. I’m so glad I can smear his name and reputation for the rest of my life.”

Gretchen leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh. “No. Just the opposite. I think anger is a good thing. I think you finally stopped letting him rule your life or emotions anymore. And you should do whatever
you
want with that money.”

“He used it to cover up his abuse to me. Like when he wanted to get elected governor, even though he did not have one decent asset to promote him. He used the money just as clearly as he used me.”

“Look at it this way: now, you can use it to do whatever you want. If you want to run for governor, you can. You can do anything you want to now.”

She scoffed. “As if I could run for governor. I was just being dramatic. Except, nothing would make him turn over in his grave faster than if I actually had some power. Or some importance. If I managed to accomplish what he couldn’t.”

Gretchen considered her statement for a moment, then told her softly, “You forget who you are sometimes. You have quite a platform, simply because of who you are. From Will and Jessie, to everything you endured with Elliot. You are quite known now and respected. And you are also a former soldier, Lindsey. As a veteran, you have your own accomplishments to define you. And now, you’re rich. So, whatever you want to do, believe me, you
can
do it. No matter how many times Elliot might’ve told you that you can’t.”

She inhaled a breath sharply. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“What? I think, the longer I reflect on it, the more I believe you should really consider it. Your success would be the ultimate revenge. And you deserve that, Lindsey. More than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I know. But I don’t think it’s so funny. I think it’s truly possible.”

She was quite over the line. Maybe someday, Lindsey would find exactly what she wanted to do. Gretchen changed the subject, “So, any news from the investigators who shot Elliot and Cal?”

Lindsey’s chuckle was strange. She was always cagey about that subject. Her ex-husband, then the acting Governor of Virginia, and his chief of staff, were both shot down by a sniper, while they were dodging public scrutiny after Lindsey made a very public accusation to Elliot. The rare sharpshooter attack that killed each man with one bullet right through the forehead, dead center, was freakishly comparable to a military sniper hit. No clues were ever found that could tie it to any suspect, however.

“I don’t care who did it. I’m just glad it’s done, and no one I love can ever go to jail for it, because they didn’t do it. Will didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. Noah didn’t do it. Whoever did me that favor, well, I’ll be forever grateful to him or her or them, but the blood’s on their hands, and not on ours. So I don’t care.”

“You know what? I think that’s a really healthy attitude.”

“Ah, the doctor approves then?”

Gretchen rolled her eyes. “I can’t even try to be your doctor. You don’t listen to me anyway.”

“Hmm, you’re right. But tell me, do you play doctor with our one-armed soldier?” Lindsey laughed at her own joke.

“Quit calling him the one-armed soldier. It’s mean. And you sound just like Olivia. She was calling him that too.”

“Ah, so our little Liv has met him already, huh? And how is he with her?”

“Kind of like Christina. He’s nice to her. Patient. Tolerant. Although he’s not like that with anyone else, not ever. So it was shocking.”

“Well, that just means there’s something decent left in him still. You just need to find it and nurture it. Like coaxing a young fledgling from his nest.”

Gretchen bit her lip at Lindsey’s analogy. Yeah, like Tony would ever be considered so fragile he would need any coaxing. “I’m not trying to nurture anything.”

Lindsey laughed. “Oh, somehow, I think you are. You can’t help it. Me. Jessie. Olivia. Now one-armed, Tony. You’re good at it, Gretchen. I’m not insulting you. I’m serious. If anyone can help him, as Jessie says he needs it, then it’s you. I admire that about you. My sister and I can almost, just barely help ourselves and our significant others, while you can help almost anyone you meet who needs it. It’s a gift, Gretchen.  And a rare and beautiful thing. Just don’t let him take advantage of that, okay?”

“No danger of that; I’m barely helping him with anything.”

“You will though. Somehow, you always do. So, how is Olivia? And how’s Helen doing?”

Gretchen immediately sobered up. “Helen’s coping. But it’s not good. She’s in a lot of pain. Everything is getting much harder for her. I don’t know how much longer…”

“And you’re ready for that?” Lindsey asked quietly.

Gretchen closed her eyes for a moment as her heart rate increased. Was she ready to become a mother to a little girl who was soon to be grief-stricken? A child who really never had a mother to start with? No. Yes. She didn’t know. The reality just was.

There was no extra money in Helen’s funds, and she lived on practically nothing. She raised Olivia alone and received no help. Olivia’s father died in a construction accident and her mother was never even in the picture.

It wasn’t long before Gretchen and Helen became friends outside of therapy. Soon, she transferred Olivia to Janis Hensley, a doctor in her practice, and dedicated the time that she spent with her more as a big sister and a mentor, than as a therapist. Gretchen was there when Helen was first told about her advanced stage terminal cancer. She tried to be there as much as she could for them since that time.

It was hard for Gretchen to imagine and impossible for her to be prepared for; but also the most important, scary, tragic thing she’d ever contemplated. Olivia knew her grandmother was dying; and she knew she was going to live with Gretchen someday. But Olivia didn’t know the devastating grief that would soon be hers. It churned Gretchen’s stomach to think how she’d deal with it, let alone, Olivia’s grief.

But Gretchen wanted to do it. She loved Olivia. And there was little doubt in Gretchen’s mind that Olivia could become her daughter, which the state would soon legally order.

She mentioned her plans to Lindsey almost immediately. “I’m ready in that I want to just get on with it. But then again, I don’t mean it like that, because that would mean that Helen was dead. Of course, I don’t want her to die, or for Olivia to have to deal with that when it happens.”

“She chose well in selecting you to mother her daughter.”

“Granddaughter.”

“Daughter. Just as she’ll be your daughter.”

The ping of longing and love in her heart felt so strong, it seemed harsh.