Voyage of the Defiance

Chapter 3-2

Sitting on the bench beside his granddaughter, Henry Summerlin absently rubbed his knuckles as he stared at a white pickup driving by. To say he had been shocked at his daughter, Teresa’s, appearance would have been an understatement. Regret and a deep sense of loss had pulled at him when he first saw her.

He had been expecting the visit from the sheriff’s office a long time ago. In truth, he was shocked that it had taken so long to happen. Teresa had always been hard-headed and rebellious, especially during her teenage years. She’d always had a weakness for the easy way out. Now, he wondered if his own stubbornness might not have contributed to her downfall.

His eyes flickered to where Makayla sat at the end of the bench. She looked so much like her mother, that for just a moment, he had been stunned. The fierce light in her eyes brought back memories that he wished he could change.

He had arrived at the hospital an hour earlier after driving almost three hours across the state. He didn’t know what he expected. The deputy that had knocked on his door was a friend of his and lived just a couple of houses down from him.

A sigh escaped him as he thought about that early morning knock. Jasper knew that he was an early riser and had come down before he headed in for his shift.

It was strange how a day could appear normal and suddenly turn into a nightmare. He had risen at five and was in the middle of preparing his usual breakfast of cereal and coffee when the knock on the front door came. The moment he opened it, he had known it was about Teresa. He had silently stared at Jasper, waiting for the inevitable news.

“Morning, Henry,” Jasper had said in a gruff voice, moving from one foot to the other as he glanced over Henry’s shoulder when Breaker, the old American Akita, trotted up to stand behind Henry. “You got a minute?”

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Of course, what’d you think I’d have at this time of morning?” he remembered retorting before he stepped back and nodded his head. “You want some coffee?”

Jasper had shaken his head even as he reached down to rub Breaker’s head. The Akita wagged his tail before turning to follow Henry back into the kitchen. Jasper had followed him to the back of the old, cracker style house. Henry remembered the sound of Jasper’s soft shoes squeaking against the polished wood floors.

Neither man spoke while Henry poured himself a cup of coffee. It wasn’t until Henry turned back around and leaned against the counter that Jasper cleared his throat and began to speak.

“You have a daughter named Teresa, don’t you?” Jasper asked as he stood in the entrance between the kitchen and the living room.

“Is she dead?” Henry asked bluntly, not mincing his words. No sense dancing around the facts of life. “What about Makayla? Teresa has a daughter named Makayla.”

Jasper released a breath before his lips twisted in wry amusement. Henry knew he had a reputation of speaking his mind. He never did have the patience to play games. If someone had something on their mind, they needed to just spit it out. Dancing around the truth never did anything but prolong the misery.

“No, she isn’t dead, but she is in the hospital,” Jasper replied. “I don’t know much, just that they were looking for her next of kin. I don’t know anything about her daughter. The call just came in that they were looking for a Henry Summerlin from Fort Pierce. Since you’re the only one I know, I figured it must be you.”

“It’s me,” Henry said, staring down into his coffee cup with a frown before he looked back up at Jasper. “Where is she?” he asked, ignoring the questioning look in Jasper’s eyes.

“Tampa,” Jasper replied. “She was admitted to Tampa General yesterday afternoon.”

Henry and Jasper talked for a little longer before Jasper told Henry if he needed anything to let him know. Henry just nodded. He wasn’t the type to ask others for help.

Five minutes later, he had grabbed his old hat off the peg by the front door, patted Breaker on the head, and stepped out of the house that he had called home for the past sixty-two years. Sliding into the old, blue Ford F150 pickup, he started the engine and stared out at the river. For the first time in years, he released his tight hold on the memories of his daughter.

He and Mary Rose had two children, a boy, Jason, and Teresa. Jason lived in the Village and worked at the local boatyard. The oldest by sixteen months, he had been a breeze to raise compared to Teresa. Shifting the truck into reverse, he slowly backed out of the narrow spot and turned. He vaguely wondered if Teresa had discovered that life outside the small town she had left wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

* * * *

Henry jerked back to the present when he heard Makayla’s suspicious retort. For a second, she reminded him of Breaker when the American Akita had been a pup and wasn’t sure if he wanted to trust Henry. It had taken a while for the malnourished stray to accept that Henry wasn’t going to hurt him.

“What’s it to you?” Makayla demanded.

Henry’s lips twitched at the fierce tone. Yep, he thought, just like Breaker.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked instead.

Makayla’s eyes narrowed as she searched his face. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and turned her head away so that he couldn’t see her eyes. What she didn’t know was that the defiant stiffness in her body and the thrust of her jaw showed that she didn’t want to admit that she did.

“We don’t need you,” she whispered in a barely audible voice.

“You don’t have much choice,” Henry replied with a grimace as the first sprinkles of rain began to fall. “Your mom needs help.”

Makayla rose up off the bench and turned to glare at him. He could see the trembling in her hands before she clutched her fingers into two tight fists. A muttered curse escaped her before she turned and grabbed her backpack.

Henry rose up off the bench when she started to turn away. He understood her anger, but it didn’t change the fact that he was the only family she had at the moment. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to have to work things out.

“Makayla, you’ve got a choice, girl,” Henry said, watching as she stopped with her back to him. “You said you didn’t want to live like this anymore, prove it.”

He watched as her head bowed at a slight angle before she walked away from him. He stood there, gazing after her retreating figure as the sky opened up. Adjusting his hat, he turned back to the entrance of the hospital. There were things that needed to be taken care of. First, he would deal with Teresa, and then he would deal with his granddaughter.