Free Suddenly One Summer by Barbara Freethy Page A

make it in time. I was planning to move down the following weekend, and he took a turn for the worse. He passed on before I got here.” She gazed out the window. “We never had that last conversation, never said good-bye, but maybe it was better that way. Some things are better left unsaid.”
    He was curious about what those things were, but decided not to ask. “I’m sure your mother must appreciate having you around.”
    His words brought a rueful smile to her lips. “I wouldn’t say that. I’m her least favorite child, but unfortunately for her, I’m the only one available. My older sister, Doreen, and her husband just moved to San Francisco, and my younger brother, Jamie,is in the army in the Middle East, so there’s no one around but me.”
    “I can’t imagine you being anyone’s least favorite.”
    Her smile broadened. “That’s nice of you to say, but you don’t know me very well.”
    “I know you’re a good doctor, and a very caring, involved one. I’m sure your mother must be proud.”
    “You’d think, but we have a complicated relationship.” Charlotte paused for a moment. “My family always had high expectations. My father was the spiritual guide for many people. My mother was his more-than-able partner, who supported him and the congregation in every possible way. I was the preacher’s kid, and I was supposed to follow along, be above reproach, but I did some things I shouldn’t have when I was a teenager. I let my mother down. I don’t think she’s ever forgiven me.”
    “Isn’t forgiveness what your father preached?”
    “My father, yes. My mother, not so much.” Charlotte picked at a piece of lint on her skirt. “I wasn’t close to my father. My mother always stood between us. She wasn’t the kind of parent who said, ‘Wait until your father gets home.’ She was his protector. She kept all the problems away from him. She wanted him to be focused on her and the church—in that order, I think, although she pretended otherwise. She loved him fiercely, but that fierceness made her do some things that were…”
    “Unforgivable?” Joe queried.
    She gave him a quick look. “What have you heard?”
    “What do you mean?” he returned.
    She stared at him for a long moment. “Nothing. Anyway, it’s all in the past. I’m here now, although I’m not sure how long I’ll stay. Some days, I think my mother would be happier to see me go. Then I talk to my sister, who convinces me that my mother needs someone here, that she’s not as strong as she pretends to be, because she not only lost my dad, but her beloved son is in a war zone. I guess that someone has to be me.”
    It bothered Joe to think that Charlotte might move. He liked seeing her about town, eating waffles at the counter of Dina’s Café, picking up a newspaper at the newsstand, running along the waterfront in the early evening just before sunset. He suddenly realized just how often he looked for her when he was out. That had to stop.
    “So you’re not thinking of staying here forever,” he said briskly. “That’s too bad. The town needs good doctors like you.”
    “Well, we’ll see. Right now I’m just dealing with what is, not what might be down the road. And speaking of roads…” She grabbed on to the armrest as the car hit a big bump. “Are we still on one?”
    “You wouldn’t know it, but yes.” He slowed the car down as they hit another pothole. They’d left the paved county road a mile back. He suspected they were getting close to the Dupont property because of the number of warning signs posted along the way that included No Trespassing, Pass at Your Own Risk, and Dog on Property . His instincts told him that CarlDupont would not greet them with open arms and a pitcher of lemonade. “I shouldn’t have brought you here,” he muttered.
    “I’m sure it will be fine. You’re the chief. What’s he going to do?”
    He could have told her numerous stories about people who were too strung out,