White Lies Ch. 02

Walker saw her blush and look down shyly.

"The guy had a pistol in his pocket, plus he used a billy club. The DA wants to hit him with Assault one, use of a deadly weapon. Might make intent to kill stick, probably not though. The guy has money, he will get some damn defense attorney and they will try to twist things all around. The guy might have some trouble explaining all the photos we found in his car. Looks like he has been stalking you and your family for a long time."

"Stalking..me? A Pistol? I didn't know that."

"Yep, it makes a person think about what could have happened." He looked at Walker pointedly.

"Plus there is a history of assault, and we have one unsolved murder a few years back that this guy is suddenly a party of interest in at the college he went to."

Walker thought about that for a moment.

"You know that threatening to commit a felony is against the law, though." He said.

"I guess I am in trouble too, then?"

"Naw. We have enough to deal with when people actually do something. Stun gun, huh?" He was still looking at Sara. Then he grinned again.

"So anyway, I just need your comments for my report." He said, turning back to Walker.

"All I know is that something hit me from behind." Walker said.

"I see. Perhaps then, I should ask the lady? You saw everything, right? Sara, isn't it?"

"Yes." Sara answered coyly. Walker saw her hand come up and brush at her hair. He had seen things like that before.

"We should go down to the cafe where it is nice and quiet while I question you, let your Dad here get some rest? Maybe get some Coffee?" He asked.

"OK." Sara looked to be pleased at that. Walker winked at her as they left, she blushed again.

+++

About an hour later Carla walked in. She sat down and looked at him, not saying anything.

"What do you want, Carla?"

"I just want to say I am sorry. I didn't know that Jonathan would do anything like that."

Walker noticed that his name was now "Jonathan", not "Johnny".

"Well. I did tell him I was going to kill him. I guess that made him mad."

"I know. But you wouldn't have, would you?" She asked.

"Probably not. I was going to, at least I thought so. Things got pretty mixed up there. For some time I had a lot of anger, but after talking to Helen? She made me see what mattered."

"God. I have made such a mess of things, haven't I?" Carla's eyes became damp.

"Yep, I would say so."

They just looked at each other for a long time.

"You know, Carla? If you had just told me that you were pregnant with his baby right off the bat, it would have made no difference to me at all. I loved you and that is all that mattered then." Walker told her.

"Honey, I wasn't even sure whose she was, and I was afraid to tell you. I was hoping it..she..was yours. I thought you wouldn't want me us if you knew. Then when Sara was born, I knew and I was sure you would know, but you seemed so happy about her, so proud. I just couldn't tell you."

"So why the birth control pills, I thought we were trying?" Walker asked.

Carla flushed.

"I was afraid, any of ours would look so different from Sara. You would know, so I just couldn't. I'm so sorry." She looked down, a sad expression on her face.

"We were living a 20 year long lie, weren't we?" He asked her.

"Walker, we were happy, weren't we? That's all that matters. I really do love you, honey. I will never do anything like that again."

"You will be honest with me from now on then?" He asked.

"Yes! Anything."

"So tell me. How long did that affair with Jonathan go on?" Walker asked.

Carla hesitated, then she flushed. Walker knew right then, there was no longer any doubt.

"That was a mistake. I don't even know why? Maybe because he was the first man I ever...? It was just the...one time..after Johnny..Jonathan came back to town." She said finally. Then she looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

Walker just stared at her. He was thinking that he had no idea who this woman even was. She suddenly seemed weak, fearful to him.

+++

Mistakes, weakness of the flesh, everyone has that in them.

He knew that deep down inside, he had the very same flaws. He could perhaps be unfaithful, and he knew he could also lie, given the right circumstance. He had done that to his own daughter, to try and save her from pain.

He had learned that from those long afternoon and evening sessions with Helen. That was one very wise old woman. Somehow she had started his own healing process.

With honesty and trust, a person can begin again. Without that, there is no hope. The pregnancy, the lies, even the affair? There was no doubt at all in his mind that he still loved Carla, even after all of that.

Walker knew that all of that, he could eventually forgive.

"I meant before. All of those trips out of town."

"Oh, God, Walker. You know?" She placed her head in her hands.

"Honey, I am so sorry." She said, finally.

"You need to tell me, I can't deal with any more secrets, not any more."

"All right. We met at that convention, it was a surprise the first time. Then we ended up in his room. I don't know why, maybe it was just because since we already had, before I met you? I felt really bad about it, I wanted to tell you but I was afraid."

"But you kept on?"

"Yes. Just at the conventions, not all of them. Then he got married and I thought it was all over but they broke up."

"Then when he moved here?"

"Yes, just the one time. He kept asking and I kept saying no, then he threatened to tell you if I didn't, so I did. I thought maybe if I asked you, you would let me and...? Oh, I don't know, it all got so mixed up!"

"I am not coming home, Carla." He told her.

"Oh no, please honey." She whimpered and got up, tears flowing freely now.

"No. We are done, it's over, Carla." Her shoulders slumped at that.

At the door she stopped and looked back.

"Is there any chance, Walker? Any chance at all for us?" She asked.

"No." He said, flatly.

"No way in hell."

+++

A nurse was removing the bandages, preparing to replace them after checking his incisions. Another week, they told him.

Then he could go home to Sara. He had been thinking, he wanted to sit down with Carla, have a long talk. He still had the confusion in his mind, all of the good times over more than 20 long years kept slipping in there.

So much had happened. Two decades of trust, familiarity were gone. Walker wanted desperately to go back, he wanted everything to be just like it was before.

Yet before? That was now shattered. He had told her it was over, but deep down inside he knew he was not being honest.

Carla called daily, wanting to know how he was doing, concerned. That was insanely normal. They spoke about Sara, and their hopes for her.

She told him about finally managing to drive, then she had a flat tire, he talked her through changing it herself although he suspected Sara helped with that. Calmly, they discussed the bills that Carla was handling, a floor drain in the basement that had given them fits off and on for years.

Insanely normal.

Walker knew that Sara had gone out on a date with Officer Herrington, he smiled to himself at that. They made one very good looking couple, who knows where that might end up?

+++

"Ouch!" He said as the nurse tugged loose the last piece of tape.

"Sorry." She said.

"Well, it looks like you are healing up very nicely, lie back and I will have the Doctor come in and double check." She turned towards the door, as Sara suddenly appeared.

One look and he knew.

"Daddy, it's...it's.." She broke down into uncontrollable sobs, grabbed him and hugged him. Walker ignored the stab of pain in his side.

"They let him out on bail, he...Mom is hurt real bad!" She wailed.

"Oh, no!" Walker said.

Once again his world changed.

+++

Walker sat in the chair by Carla's bed, holding her hand gently in his. So much had happened, so much upset in their lives. Yet in the current situation, there was no way he could leave her side.

He knew very well any healing would take much longer than just the healing of flesh.

He had been there every day for a half dozen in a row, speaking gently to her. Nurses came in and checked everything, looking at him with sidelong glances. The end of visiting hours passed each day, no one said anything at all to him about that. He sat there far into the night, speaking to her, waiting.

All he could see of his wife's face were her swollen lips, the bandages obscured the rest. She would have died, there was little doubt of that but a neighbor had spotted the front door standing open and investigated.

Sara was back to taking her classes, having told him firmly that the moment Mom woke up he was to call her. Each evening she came in and sat with him and Carla.

The police had managed to find Jonathan hidden out in a motel room, he had tried to deny everything but Carla had fought back. The evidence was clear, she left teeth marks and there was skin underneath her fingernails. There was also blood evidence, from both of them.

Carla had apparently landed at least one clean blow, and some stitches from his surgery had failed.

Like Mother, like Daughter in some respects.

And this time there would be no bail. It seemed that they came up with a DNA match to the earlier crime, using the blood evidence from this assault to compare to the earlier case. That would have just been a matter of time anyway, but the second assault made it easy.

Officer Herrington had stopped by, they still had only a bit of an idea of what had actually happened, since Jonathan was refusing to talk and Carla was in a coma.

He and Walker had quite a long chat, at one point he mentioned that he really liked Sara and hoped that Walker didn't mind his seeing her.

"As long as you treat her good, and never lie to her, then it's fine with me." Walker told him.

"With that lady, I think I know that. I already have a good idea what she can do if I make her mad." He laughed.

The next day, Carla opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion, then went back to sleep.

"Hi, honey." She said when she woke up the second time.

It was three long weeks before Carla was released. Three long weeks of walks up and down the hallway, Walker by her side, or Sara.

Three long weeks of quiet talks. Finally, Walker felt he understood her. At least as close as he ever would.

Carla would bear the scars, the limp she now had for the rest of her life. The marks on her face were not so bad, the hollow spot that once was her left cheekbone would likely always be there.

He had even mentioned plastic surgery, she just shook her head no. Some personal penance, perhaps?

Only time would answer that.

Walker had gone back to work, life goes on. Sara was back to her classes, they took turns being at the hospital.

Walker helped Carla out of the wheelchair outside the day they sent her home, she took his hand as she struggled to get into the car. Sara sat in the back seat, quietly smiling.

Walker looked back at his daughter, their eyes met. There was no need to speak, they both knew.

No matter what, in the end he loved Carla. In the end, he loved his daughter.

Home.

It was time to go home.