The Christmas Clock and A Song For My Mother - Kat Martin Page 0,34

just like a full-grown man. I need you to be a man now, Teddy.”

Teddy wiped the tears from his cheeks. His eyes looked deep and intense as he looked into Joe's face. “It's hard, Joe.”

“I know, son. It's hard for me, too.” He set the boy away from him, determined not to let the child see how upset he really was. He came to his feet and took hold of Teddy's hand. “I took your grandma's clock over to Mrs. Culver's. You can pick it up there when you go over to visit your grandma on Christmas Day.”

Teddy just nodded. He had worked so hard for the money to buy the clock. He should have been proud and pleased. Instead, he no longer seemed to care.

Joe took a shaky breath. “Mrs. Mack probably has dinner almost ready. You better go in and wash your hands.”

He glanced at the door as he said it, saw the robust woman standing in the open doorway, watching them with a look he couldn't read.

“You finished?” she asked.

Joe just nodded. Teddy reached out and caught his hand, gave it a last soft squeeze, and Joe's throat tightened until he couldn't speak.

“Bye, Joe.”

He swallowed. “Bye, son.”

“I love you, Joe.”

He blinked against the burn of tears. “I love you, too, Teddy.” Then he turned and strode down the front porch steps. As he climbed into his car and started the engine, Joe cast a last glance at the house. Teddy stood at the window, watching as he drove away.

Joe stopped by Syl's apartment that night but she could tell he didn't want to stay.

“I just... I'm not in a very good mood, baby. I'd be rotten company.”

She didn't press him. She could see he was hurting. “Maybe you should talk to that attorney again. Maybe there's something else you can do.”

“The attorney says I'd just be throwing good money after bad.” He laughed darkly. “Imagine that… a lawyer who's not trying to get in your pocket.”

“Still, you might be able to…”

“I have to let Teddy go, Syl. I don't want to give him any more false hope. He has to adjust and the longer I stay in the picture the harder it’s going to be for him to make a new life for himself.”

Syl walked over and slid her arms around his neck. “Oh, Joe...”

He tightened his hold around her. “I feel so sorry for him, Syl. Teddy’s never really had a family. Now ... who knows where he’ll end up.”

Syl said nothing, just held on to him until he let her go.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Syl watched him walk out the door, his body betraying his fatigue. It wasn’t fair, she thought.

Not to Joe.

And especially not to Teddy.

11

Two days passed, restless days for Syl. Work filled much of the time but her mind remained on Joe. She was standing in the kitchen when Mary called. When she picked up the phone, it all came tumbling out.

“Oh, Mary, I feel so sorry for him. This whole thing with Teddy ... it's killing him.” Joe hadn't stayed with Syl since the night he had said good-bye to Teddy. He was too upset, too depressed.

Joe's heart was broken. Again.

This time, Syl wasn't going to let it happen. “There has to be something we can do.”

“You're right,” Mary said. “We can't just quit. Teddy needs Joe and Joe needs Teddy. I'll talk to Denny. His dad's some fancy lawyer in Wicker County. Maybe he can figure out something.”

“That'd be great, Mary. Call me back, will you?”

“You got it, honey.”

Syl hung up, and within the hour, Mary phoned her back.

“Simon called—that's Denny's dad. He says we can ask for an appeal and request a hearing. If we can find the right people to testify in Joe's behalf and get a judge who's sympathetic, he might have a chance.”

“Will you help me?”

“Don't be silly, of course I'll help. I've already got things rolling. Simon knows Joe. He's got an old Cadillac convertible he's in love with, a cherried-out nineteen fifty-nine—you know, the one with the big chrome fins? Apparently, Joe's the only guy he'll trust to work on it. Anyway, he said he'd file the paperwork for us—gratis. How's that for help?”

“Mary, you are the dearest friend a girl could ever have. Now all we have to do is find the right people to testify. We have to convince the judge that Joe Dixon is the only person suitable to become Teddy's dad.”

The hearing was held three days before Christmas, in a small