Chapter 6

Dinner was nice. Fran got busy in the kitchen and did the vegetables and mashed potatoes as Lynn tended to the turkey and put dinner rolls in a shallow pan to bake. There was no brandy for the eggnog, but they enjoyed a glass sprinkled with a dash of nutmeg nevertheless.

Aaron, as the unofficial head of the family was given the honor of carving the turkey. He hadn’t a clue how it was supposed to be done, so he made a complete hash of it, meaning everyone got chunks of turkey rather than slices. But everything was done to perfection, so no one had any complaints.

After dinner, Fran asked if she could use their phone to check on something because her cell phone got no signal in the hollow. Aaron handed her the cordless phone and she stepped into his bedroom and closed the door to make her call.

A few minutes later, she came into the kitchen and said, “Maybe this is a good omen, kids. I just spoke to Sheriff Wilson. He told me they had a call Friday morning about a car that had gone off the road up this hollow. When they got down to it, they found Jay Neely cold, unconscious and nearly dead. But not quite. He had so much alcohol and dope in him that they didn’t think he’d make it, but this morning he woke up. A deputy went over to the hospital to question him about his accident, but he has absolutely no recollection of what happened. The whole day’s a complete blank. Looks to me like you’re off the hook on this one.”

Lynn and Adam looked relieved, but the boy had to ask, “Um, you suppose he might remember later on? Like in a few days maybe?”

“That’s unlikely, considering how much crap he had floating around in his blood. Besides, even if he remembers, he’d be incredibly stupid to raise a stink since he’d be facing charges of unlawful entry, assault and attempted rape. In the very thin possibility that he does remember, well, we’ll deal with that then. As far as I’m concerned, the only issued we have to deal with now is the cremation of your mom’s body, and I really don’t think that’s going to be much of an issue.

“So in light of all this, I’m rethinking our plans. Since we’re not going to have to deal with Neely’s death, I think we should sit tight and wait it out. When Aaron’s birthday comes around, he and I will go to the bank with a copy of your grandfather’s death certificate and will and get everything signed over officially. That done, we can go to family court and petition to have him named as guardian.”

She turned to Aaron. “In the meantime, I have a certified check in my purse for two thousand dollars. It’s from an anonymous donor, so don’t ask. And it’s not even a loan; it’s a gift, and it should take care of your needs for the next few weeks until your birthday. It’s still up to you to decide whether or not you want to graduate early, but that’s what I’d recommend. It would look good for you to be a high school graduate and gainfully employed when we ask for guardianship.”

Aaron, unable to control the broad grin splitting his face, grabbed Fran in a big hug and gushed, “I’ll do whatever you say! Jesus! I never thought I be happy to hear Jay fuckin’ Neely was alive!”

He let go of Fran and hugged his sister and brother who looked as relieved as he felt.

A couple of hours later, after pie and coffee, Fran took her leave. As far as the Hatters were concerned, she was now one of them, and they all gave her big hugs accordingly.

As Aaron helped her on with her coat, she insisted, “Walk me to my car.”

Outside, she took his arm and said, “I’m not blind, you know.”

“Huh? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Aaron, sweetheart, I’ve been watching you and Lynn all day, and there’s no mistaking the signs. I’m no moralist, but I am a realist, so I have to say this: For god’s sake, be careful! If you don’t have any condoms, say so and I’ll go down to the Quik Mart and buy you some! If it isn’t too late, that is.”

He stopped and looked at her, a bit stunned. “You could tell?”

She laughed, “Of course I could tell! My god, she adores you beyond words, and you can’t keep your eyes off of her. Discretion is the word, Aaron. Discretion! You must take precautions! I know she’s your half-sister, but the law makes no distinction there.”

He looked down at his shoes and grinned. “I can’t believe we were that obvious. I mean, we only did it once. Do you think Adam knows?”

Fran laughed, “Kids Adam’s age are pretty self-absorbed, so probably not unless he saw or heard you doing it. But that’s only a matter of time, isn’t it? You’d better have your story ready if and when he finds out.”

She pulled his face down and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a fine young man, Aaron, and Lynn is a sweet girl. I wish you both the best. Just be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, I will ... we will. Thanks for all you’ve done for us, Fran.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart, but we’re not done yet. And now’s not the time to cloud the issues with behavior that’s sure to call the possibility of guardianship into question. You understand what I’m saying?”

“I understand.” He grabbed her and pulled her into a snug hug.

Later in the evening when they were having another piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, Adam voiced an opinion shared by all of them. “Boy, that Ms. McMillan sure is a nice lady, isn’t she? I hope she keeps comin’ to see us after you get done with all that legal stuff.”

“Me too,” Lynn agreed. “How were you lucky enough to get her as a lawyer, Aaron?”

Sipping from his glass of eggnog, he shrugged and said, “I guess it’s just what you said - lucky. She was the only one in the office when I stopped by to ask about the will. She’s so smart, she figured out there was a lot more goin’ on and just kinda dragged it all out of me. Wouldn’t it have been cool to have her as our mom?”

Lynn looked pensive for a few moments, then said, “Yeah, I guess, but you know what? Even though Mom was never a mom, somehow we did okay didn’t we? I think you did a damn good job of raising us, Aaron, and I don’t know that anybody else could have done better.” She stood to take her dishes to the sink, stopping by his chair to lean down and kiss him on the cheek. “I can’t complain about your mom skills.”

Aaron blushed a little at the compliment as he got up to rinse out his glass. “Thanks, but right now we still need Fran as our lawyer, not our mom. Even if Jay fuckin’ Neely never remembers what happened, we still have a few hurdles to get over if we’re gonna stay together as a family. I’m not gonna lecture ‘cause you guys already know what has to be done, but as for me, I’ve already decided to take that early graduation and go lookin’ for a job as soon as I can. Even if we get all of Grandad’s money, we can’t afford to just lay back and live off of it. We need to keep that in reserve and make our way with a regular income. There won’t be any more welfare checks, and this two thousand bucks somebody gave us will just barely get us to my birthday.”