The Christmas Clock and A Song For My Mother - Kat Martin Page 0,44

didn’t need anyone but herself.

It was Virgil who had needed Winnie. And because she knew his secrets, she could not leave him.

Marly pulled open the front door just then and walked into the living room carrying two brown paper sacks.

“I went down to King’s Super and bought us some groceries. A few things Katie especially likes. Cheerios and chocolate milk, some Ruffles potato chips. I figured we’d use them up while we were here.”

“I’m making stew for supper,” Winnie said brightly. “It was always one of your favorites. I’m planning on baking biscuits, too.”

Marly paused in the middle of emptying the second bag. She glanced at the stove, noticed the rich aroma of simmering meat and vegetables that permeated the air and managed a smile that looked far from sincere.

“It smells wonderful. I'm sure Katie will love it.”

Winnie frowned. “What about you?”

“I need to spend some time at the library. I’ve got a full-time teaching job that starts in September. Chrysler Elementary is one of the top-rated public schools in the Detroit area. I want to bone up on a couple of subjects I’ll be teaching in the fall.”

“I see.” And unfortunately, Winnie saw perfectly. “What you’re saying is that you’re giving Katie what she wants—a chance to get to know her grandmother. But you don’t want to spend time with me yourself.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s true, though, isn’t it?”

A muscle tightened in Marly’s cheek. “I left twelve years ago, Mother. I never planned to come back. You know the reason I went away. You stayed with a man who beat you rather than divorce him so that we could have some kind of normal life. I was your daughter. Dad ruined my life because you chose his side over mine. It wasn’t right then and just because the years have passed doesn’t make it right now.”

“I tried to explain. You didn’t want to listen to—”

“I know why you stayed. You were in love with him. You let him ruin your life and mine because you couldn’t control your sick feelings for him.”

Winnie swallowed and looked away. Marly was right, at least in part. In the beginning, she had loved Virgil Maddox with every ounce of her soul but there was far more to the story than that. Unfortunately, even after all these years, she didn’t think her daughter was ready to hear it.

“I’ll get something at the drive-through,” Marly said. “Tell Katie not to wait up for me.”

And then she was gone.

Winnie sank back down in her chair, her gaze fixed on the place her daughter had been. Her heart was aching, hurting the way it had during the weeks after Marly had left. The note Winnie had found on the bed hadn’t made it any easier.

I’m gone, Mom. I’m marrying Burly, so you don't have to worry. It was signed simply, Marly.

The ache expanded. Marrying a no-account like Burly Hanson was the last thing she had wanted for her beautiful, intelligent daughter.

Winnie had made a mistake. She should have known something would happen, should have done something before it was too late. But twelve years was a long time and everything was different now. Virgil was dead and Burly was gone and there was little Katie to consider.

Winnie sat there thinking of Katie and how much the little girl already meant to her. She wanted to see her granddaughter again, wanted to spend time with both of her girls. What could she say that could mend the rift between her and Marly? How could she make her daughter understand?

How could she possibly gain Marly’s forgiveness for the things she should have done?

Katie wandered around the backyard of her grandmothers’ old gray house. In Detroit, they lived in a four-unit apartment building. It wasn’t fancy but it was okay. The city was fun in some ways. She could skateboard on the sidewalk and there were ice cream stores and movie theaters right around the block. But car horns blared all the time and people yelled at each other. And they didn’t have a nice big yard like this. Some of her grandma’s spring flowers were already up and blooming. The weather wasn’t as cold as it had been and warm sunshine pushed through the few fluffy clouds in the sky. An old wooden fence surrounded the yard, in the center of which grew a big hickory tree, its branches flaring out over the long, green grass.

Katie walked over and peered between the boards in the fence, into the yard