Carmen had been raised poor by aging and conservative parents who were old time religious. She had been protected from outside influence - partly by having no television and partly by the fact that neither of her parents worked away from the home. Her father farmed 80 acres and her mother worked hard. From what Mums said, she generally did without any of the luxuries that other women took for granted. That might explain why Carmen was content with so little, but some people brought up in those circumstances would be even more determined not to live that way. Carmen was one of the most selfless people he had ever met - probably much like her mother.
Carmen was certain that her parents would have loved him, but he wasn't so sure. More likely they would have thought he was leading their daughter astray. Maybe he was. He had talked her into surrogacy even though she believed it was wrong. Even now he was helping Katie push her out into the wicked world. He had spent years encouraging her to become involved with the rest of the world. Now that she was doing so, she was becoming more independent. That was a good thing - or so he kept telling himself. Unfortunately, the more independent she became, the less she listened to his advice.
Katie insisted that Carmen had been a door mat where he was concerned. To his way of thinking, Carmen drifted his way most of the time because she either agreed or it didn't matter. Katie had reason to know how stubborn and spirited Carmen could be when she did care. Katie was right about one thing, though. Carmen had withdrawn from the world outside their home and he had been enabling her.
It took nearly a half hour to find Jonathan and another fifteen minutes to separate him from two attractive girls. Jonathan was poised to enter his teens in style and a deformed left arm wasn't going to hold him back. No surprise there. It never had. Still, he was a good looking boy - tall for his age and lean. Carmen said he had learned the gift of gab from his Dad, but Jonathan had always been perceptive about people. Maybe he had learned it from his mother, or maybe he had inherited the tendency.
Jonathan was silent so long on the way home that Alex prodded him for a reason.
"Are you tired?" Alex asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
"No ..." Jonathan hesitated.
Alex glanced at him and raised a brow.
Jonathan shrugged. "I'm just thinking."