Hang Tough(23)
“They send each other jokes via e-mail because they have similar tastes in humor?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“Tryin’ to get a handle on the Evans family dynamic. Does Miz G tell him about all the things she does with the Mud Lilies? Does he brag to her about the cases he wins?”
Jade suspected she wouldn’t like whatever he was building up to. “Why are you grilling me on this out of the blue?”
He snorted. “It’s not out of the blue. We’ve been goin’ round and round with this since the second you stepped out of your car.”
“I didn’t bring it up tonight; you did. But since you’re in a lousy mood—by your own admission—by all means, please take it out on me and let’s just keep arguing the same points over and over.”
Evidently Tobin missed the sarcasm because he lit into her anyway. “You’re here, acting on your dad’s behalf because he thinks he knows what’s best for his mother. And I’d argue the point that he doesn’t know her at all.”
“But you do?” she retorted.
“I’ve got a helluva lot better perspective on Garnet than her own son does—I guarantee that.”
“This superior perspective happened before you moved in with her? Or after?” He’d pushed her; now she’d push back. “Tell me, Tobin. Will you continue this fantastically close friendship with her after you bail out of Muddy Gap?”
His look of surprise indicated he hadn’t known that she knew about his future plans.
“Will you talk to her on the phone every day? Will you be her e-mail buddy? Or once you’ve gotten whatever it is you want from her, then it’s buh-bye? Out of sight, out of mind?”
“You’re still assuming I want something from her. That I’m a taker and that’s all I care about—making sure Miz G can do something for me. Not everyone is like that.” He shook his head. “Christ. Why am I even bothering tryin’ to reason with you?”
“You started this, so don’t act like I’m being unreasonable by asking you the same questions that you’re demanding answers for from me.”
Tobin considered her. Then he pushed to his feet.
She expected him to storm off.
Instead, he moved to lean against the porch pillar opposite her. “I’m sorry. I’m bein’ a dick.”
“Yeah, maybe you are a little bit.”
He brooded at the darkness.
She let him. But she kept sneaking looks at him.
Finally, he said, “You’ve asked me why I’m here. I’m tired of the bullshit between us, Jade, so I’ll level with you.”
Her stomach knotted but she forced herself to take the four steps separating them so she could look into his eyes.
“But I don’t expect you to believe me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It’ll sound staged. A little too coincidental.”
“Try me.”
Eventually Tobin gathered his thoughts enough to speak. “My grandma Hale lived close by when I was growing up. My brothers never gave her much thought—behavior they learned from our dad. Bein’ a ranch kid meant after-school chores. Since my brothers had it under control at our place, I went to Grandma’s twice a week to help her out.”
“How old were you?”
“Eight? Ten maybe? Somewhere in that age range. I split logs and filled her wood boxes. Shoveled snow. Dragged in any supplies she needed.” He smiled. “She always fed me. Man, that woman could cook. Course, I never let my brothers know.”
She laughed softly. “Didn’t want to share?”
“Nope. She taught me how to play cribbage. She let me poke around in my granddad’s tackle boxes. She told me stories of her growing-up years as a kid and then as a newlywed. She gave me advice on everything from buying the right fishing bait to showing me how to sew on a button.”
A funny tickle started in Jade’s belly. “I take it this story doesn’t have a happy ending?”
Tobin blinked and shook himself out of the memory. “No. When I was thirteen, Dad decided she couldn’t take care of herself anymore and sent her to an old-folks’ home.”
That tickle in her belly twisted into a knot.
“When I found out, I asked my dad how he thought he knew so much about Grandma’s ability to live on her own when he never spent any time around her.”
Now it made sense why Tobin had asked her about GG’s relationship with her son.
“Dad said he didn’t answer to a snot-nosed kid who could be bribed to look past the truth with a couple dozen cookies.” Tobin scratched his cheek with the beer bottle. “Maybe he had a point. But when I asked why Grandma didn’t just live with us, Dad said he wouldn’t put that burden on Mom.”