Page 68 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

Damn him if he wasn’t right.

Jake had forgone the trip to Earl’s to visit with his mom, but he was planning on picking her up afterwards.

She wanted to ask Earl about her mom so badly, she had the hardest time making small talk.

“Y’all didn’t have to come over here today. You’re newlyweds. You should have stayed home and relaxed.”

“I come over every Sunday; it’s our tradition. Besides, Jake’s mom has started giving me these real funny looks and I don’t know what to make of her.”

“She just sees that her son is married to a good woman and wants it to stay that way, is all. A woman that will care for you when you’re sick is a rare find.” Earl said with a small smile.

“Did you ever find a girl like that?” Rand asked quickly, before she changed her mind.

Earl’s eyes had a solemn look to them as he said, “Had a sweetheart once. I was home on leave and got a nasty case of strep. She came over every day and nursed me. Best care I ever had.”

The way he said it, with a twinge of regret, Rand took the opening and asked, “Was that my mother?”

Earl jerked his attention to her, his eyes wide with surprise. “Why’d you ask me that?”

She stared back at him. “I found your letters in her hope chest.”

“So you know.” He sat heavily into a chair and let out a whooshing breath. “You’re her spit exactly. I hadn’t seen you in years when I caught you in the field, but the minute you looked at me, I knew you were hers.”

She shook her head and sat down. “She was much prettier than me.”

He looked up with a faraway smile and argued, “Nope. Same dark brown eyes and hair, same nose and sprinkle of freckles.” He ran a hand through his graying hair and said, “My Brown Eyed Girl was our song.”

She didn’t know how she felt about him letting her come around when all he must have seen was her mother. “Is that why you let me hang around? Because I looked like her?”

He shook his head. “At first I was so surprised when I looked at you, it was like looking at her again. Then you opened that ornery little trap of yours and I knew, you might look like her, but you were your granddaddy in spirit.”

“You worked for Granddaddy for how long?” She was fascinated by this new part of Earl and a piece of her mother. She was so young when she lost her; she only remembered bits of a smiling woman who gave a lot of hugs and kisses. Then her last memory, when her mother was too sick to speak and she’d crawled into bed with her, laying her head against her frail shoulder and whispering, “It’s okay mommy.”

She fought the tears as Earl said, “I was sixteen when I first went to work for R.E. during the summer and I remember your mother following me around, asking me questions and always offering me lemon drops. They were your mother’s favorite candy. I enlisted when I was eighteen and my old man and I didn’t exactly get along, so I hardly came back on leave. Until he died and I came back for his funeral.”

“And that’s when you saw my mother again?” The transformation on the craggy face was unbelievably. The happy memories smoothed out the lines and made him look younger.

“She was filled with this sweetness, it was infectious. She smiled and laughed freely, and when I saw her across the room, I was a goner.”

Rand gave a wet laugh, tears already spilling over onto her cheeks. “You? Love at first sight?”

“Hell yeah. I walked over to introduce myself and the first thing she says is, “Earl Humphries, don’t you recognize me?” I didn’t and I almost walked away at that point, but she reached into her pocket and held a bag of lemon drops out to me. She said, “Want a lemon drop?” And I knew. I knew I was too old for her, too damaged but I loved her anyway.”

Rand swiped at her cheeks and cried, “Then why did you let her go? She would have been happy with you anywhere she was.”

His own eyes were wet as he responded, “R.E. asked me to.”

Rand couldn’t believe it. “Why? Why would granddaddy do that?”

Earl reached across and took her hand. “Don’t go blaming your granddaddy, he did the right thing. Your mama wanted a family more than anything else in the world, even me, and your granddaddy knew that the Marines were my career. She was his only child and he didn’t want me dragging her all over the world. He asked me to let her find someone who could give her what I couldn’t. Stability and a home.”

Rand’s hands fisted in his and she snapped, “My father was a gambling, abusive bastard. He made her miserable.”

He looked green as he agreed, “He was that. I didn’t find out she’d married until you were about two and I ran into her at the market. I saw the black eye, even under all the make-up because I’d seen my mother do the same thing. You were just a little sprout, cute as could be and I wanted to kill him.”

She sniffled. “You should have.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I paid him a visit, believe me. If a couple of guys hadn’t pulled me off him, I probably would have, but I managed to break his arm. I told him if he ever touched your mama or you, I’d be back to finish him.”

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