The Mill River Redemption (34 page)

“Hon, are the burgers about done?” Jean called to her husband.

Claudia didn’t hear Ron’s reply. She was still thinking about the men’s conversation and trying not to let Kyle’s visit to the DiSanti sisters bother her. Of course, he’d just been doing his job. And, on the plus side, while Fitz had commented favorably on Emily’s appearance, Kyle hadn’t said a word about it. That made her
very
happy.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Claudia helped herself to a slice of Ruth’s pie—a
small
slice—but the to-die-for blueberry filling and flaky crust were worth the splurge. The only problem was that the dessert was far richer than anything she was used to eating, and her stomach had begun to feel a little queasy.

“Are you all right?” Kyle finally leaned over and whispered to her. “You’re quiet.”

“I’m just not feeling great all of a sudden,” she said. “Upset stomach.”

“Do you want to get going? I’ve got the early shift tomorrow again, so I wouldn’t mind leaving now.” She nodded gratefully.

After they said their goodbyes to the Wykowskis and the other guests, Kyle dropped her off at home, kissing her tenderly in the foyer while Rowen waited in the pickup. “Have a good night,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow to see how you’re feeling.”

When he was gone, she paced around her house. She had no desire to exercise or watch TV or read, and she wasn’t sleepy yet.
Finally, she headed into the bathroom. It had been a long time since she’d treated herself to a long, hot bath, and she decided that a good soak was exactly what she needed.

Claudia turned on the faucet. Her favorite pink bath gel sat on the side of the tub, and she added a good squirt to the water before she undressed and lowered herself into the rising bubbles. As her anxiety drained out of her body, she picked up the bottle of bath gel again and reread the “love sweet love” description printed on the label. She had to smile at how those words rang true. Every one of her days with Kyle, every memory she made with him, was sweeter and more precious than the one before. And, if the past few months were any indication of what was to come, she certainly had wonderful things to look forward to.

I
T WAS NEARLY NINE O
’
CLOCK WHEN
I
VY WAS FINALLY DONE
straightening up The Bookstop for Monday’s opening. As usual when she worked late, she used the time to think. She wondered whether Father O’Brien had had a chance to speak with the girls, and how they might have reacted. Soon, it would be August, and Rose and Emily seemed no closer to finding Josie’s key than they had been on their first day back in Mill River. The fact that they had recently come to blows was especially worrisome.

A soft knock at her locked front door startled her. When she turned on the porch light and looked out, she saw Alex standing there with a pile of books balanced carefully in his arms.

“Well, here’s a surprise,” she said as she let him in. “I was almost ready to turn off the lights.”

“Hi, Aunt Ivy,” he told her as he handed her the stack. “Mom said I could bring these to you if I didn’t stay too long.”

“You know you’re always welcome to stay as long as you like,” Ivy said. “Where’d you get these? They look pretty old.”

“There are some boxes in our house with your name on them. They’re all full of old books. Mom says they’re your rejects. I’ve been going through them anyway, and these are the ones I’m finished with. I didn’t know whether you wanted them back.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Ivy said. “I don’t even remember when I packed up those boxes. It must’ve been years ago. I used to give your grandma worn-out copies to read to your mom and your aunt. Maybe I’ll see if I can donate these somewhere. You say you read these already?”

“Yep. I read pretty fast.” Alex was looking at the packed shelves in the Kids’ Corner. “You sure have a lot of books for kids.”

“Always have,” she said. “Reading’s so important, especially for young kids, and I’ve always thought that the younger you learn, the better. I love seeing ’em light up when they come in here and pull a new book off the shelf.”

“Why didn’t you ever get married and have any kids of your own?”

“Oh.” Alex’s question caught her off guard. “Well, I guess … the truth is, I almost got married. I had a fiancé once. His name was Tom. He was the one who came here with me, to Mill River, and helped me open this place. We were going to settle down and start a family, live happily ever after, you know? But at some point, I realized I didn’t love him. I’d fallen in love with someone else … someone who loved me in return but wasn’t in a position to marry me.”

“Who were you in love with?”

“Oh, it was so long ago, it doesn’t matter anymore. I never stopped wanting kids, though. It just wasn’t meant to work out for me.”

“I think you would’ve been a great mom.”

“You know, in a way, I feel like I had a second chance at it when your grandma came here with your mom and aunt Emily. I
think … thought … of your grandma as my own daughter. I loved her like that, and your mom and your aunt Emily have always been like my own grandchildren. And you—you’re like a great-grandson to me, even though you’re technically my great-great-nephew.”

She could see Alex was pleased with her reply, as a blush spread across his pale cheeks and he smiled down at his shoes. “Thanks,” he said. He turned toward the door but then hesitated. “Aunt Ivy?”

“Hmm?”

“If I ask you something else, would you promise to answer it without telling me that it’s something I shouldn’t hear until I’m older?”

Ivy looked into Alex’s huge blue eyes and wondered what question he would possibly want to ask now. “Well, I can’t say for sure unless I knew what the question was. You don’t mean to ask … um, well, I mean, you already know how babies are made, don’t you?

Alex giggled. “Yes, I already know that. Mom told me about that a loooong time ago.”

Ivy relaxed and laughed with him. “Well, that’s really the only question I was worried about. So, shoot.”

“Okay. Why do Mom and Aunt Emily hate each other?”

Ivy felt the smile disappear from her face as she realized that what Alex had just asked would be far more difficult to handle than even the birds and the bees.

“Something happened a long time ago, but neither one of them will tell me what,” Alex added in a soft voice. “I’m not a baby, Aunt Ivy. I’m old enough to know.”

She sat down on one of the larger beanbags, struggling with what and how much she should say. She remembered the advice she’d given Josie years before when her niece had been trying to
help Rose and Emily understand their father’s death. “Tell ’em the truth in terms that they can understand,” she’d said to Josie. Now, as she looked down at the precious little boy before her, she realized that the advice was still sound. “Oh, honey,” she said to him, “it was just the most heartbreaking thing.”

2001

I
N THE FRONT SEAT OF HER MOTHER
’
S CAR
, R
OSE CAME TO
. Her head was throbbing, and she could feel cold air meeting wetness along the side of her face. The only sources of light were the headlights shining into a thicket of trees and the dim glowing of a few of the gauges in the dashboard. Most of the windshield was gone, as was the window on her side, except for a few pieces of glass that clung haphazardly to the frame.

Rose realized that her body was positioned at a strange angle, almost sideways, actually, and that the passenger’s side of the car was slightly lower than the driver’s side. The ceiling was lower, too—she could feel the hair atop her head brushing against it as she moved. She tried to reach up and touch her face, but the pain that shot through her left arm when she moved was excruciating.

It was all coming back now—Andy’s surprise visit to Mill River, picking him up outside the train station, stopping for roses before they left Rutland. Rose turned her head toward the passenger’s seat.

“Andy?” She squinted, but she could only make out the silhouette of the back of Andy’s head resting against the passenger’s side door. His face was obscured by the large bouquet of flowers he’d been holding.

“Andy?” Rose asked again. She turned slightly in her seat,
which brought a new stab of pain in her midsection. Carefully, she stretched out her right hand to touch Andy’s arm. Using what little strength she had, she grabbed his shoulder and tried to rouse him, but he didn’t respond.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Rose fought against a rising panic. Flashes of memory began to invade her mind—the fleeting image of a deer jumping out in front of the car, a desperate jerk of the steering wheel, the sensation of being airborne, of crashing and rolling down, down, and then nothing. She leaned her shoulder against her door and reached her right arm across her body to pull on the handle as best she could, but it wouldn’t open.

“Help,” she whispered as tears slid down her face. Her voice was raspy and barely audible. “Help me, help us, please,” she managed to say a little louder. She could hear the occasional car drive past on the highway, but the drone of the engine always faded away as quickly as it approached.

Andy was still and silent beside her.

“Andy!” Rose said. Ignoring the pain, she reached out again. “Andy, can you hear me? Please wake up.” Her fingers found Andy’s forearm, then his wrist. There was no pulse, only quiet, unmoving warmth.

Rose struggled to keep her eyes open. She didn’t know what time it was or how long she had been in the car, but the pain in her abdomen was worsening, and it hurt to breathe. At some point, she opened her eyes and stared at the trees through the broken windshield. They had begun to give off alternating bursts of red and blue light.
How strange
, she thought before her eyes closed again.

E
MILY SAT AT HER MOTHER
’
S DINING ROOM TABLE
. H
ER AUNT
I
VY
sat beside her, while her mother paced nervously in the kitchen.
The lasagna for their dinner remained on the stovetop, cooled and uneaten. It was after nine o’clock, and Rose still hadn’t returned with Andy.

“Something’s wrong. They must’ve had car trouble, a flat tire or something,” Josie said as she swept back into the dining room. “Ivy, do you think we should go for a drive to see if we—”

She was interrupted by the doorbell.

“Oh, finally!” Josie said, and Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She turned toward the door as her mother rushed to open it, but she was surprised to see Ruth Fitzgerald step into the foyer, followed by her husband, who was wearing his police uniform.

“What is it? What happened?” Josie asked immediately, and Emily and Ivy both came to stand with her.

“Jo, there’s been an accident,” Ruth said. “Fitz was out on patrol and found your car down an embankment off Route 103.”

“Rose—” her mother said, but Ruth immediately grabbed her hands and interrupted her.

“Now, you listen. Rose has been hurt, but she’s alive and already on her way to the emergency room. We came to drive you to the hospital. Get your coat.”

“What about Andy?” Emily asked. “Rose went to pick him up. Was there someone in the car with her?” She looked back and forth between Ruth and Fitz’s faces as she started to tremble. “Was there?”

Emily shuddered as Ruth’s face crumpled and Fitz cleared his throat. “He was there, Emily,” Fitz said in a quiet, gruff voice. “I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but he didn’t make it. The paramedics tried to revive him at the scene, but he was already gone by the time we found the car.”

Emily felt her legs give way as hands reached out to steady her.

The rest of the night became a surreal jumble of tears and hugs and hushed conversations. They gathered in the hospital waiting
room, praying and hoping that Rose would pull through. A surgeon finally appeared to give them an update shortly after two in the morning.

“Your daughter is out of surgery,” he said as he looked her mother in the eye. “She had a ruptured spleen, which caused quite a bit of internal bleeding, but we were able to get it under control. She also has a concussion, a broken arm, and three broken ribs, as well as some superficial cuts and bruises. It’ll take her a while to heal, but we think she’ll pull through. She was very lucky the police found her when they did.”

“Oh, thank God, and thank you, Doctor,” Josie said. “When can we see her?”

“She’s in the recovery room now, and she’ll be moved to the ICU as soon as she’s fully awake from the anesthesia, probably within an hour or two. You’ll be able to visit her there, but only for a few minutes at a time. I’ll have a nurse alert you as soon as she’s been moved.”

Exhausted, Emily sank into a chair. The relief she felt at hearing Rose would survive was overpowered by the raw grief of knowing that Andy was gone. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t imagine her life without him.

“Emily?” A familiar voice startled her, and she looked up to see that an older couple with tear-streaked faces had entered the waiting room. Her brain slowly processed their identities. They were Mike and Melissa Coulter—Andy’s father and mother. She’d met them before, over the New Year’s holiday right after Andy had come to Mill River to meet her own family. Emily stood up and fell into a joint embrace with both of them.

“We’ve just come from the morgue,” Mike whispered. “We got in the car and drove up here as soon as we got a call about the accident, but he … we had to identify him for the authorities.”

“They told us about your sister, that she was here,” Melissa said, “and we wanted to come see if she was all right.”

“She’s had surgery,” Emily managed to say, “but the doctor thinks she’ll be okay.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Melissa said. “That’s wonderful news, a real blessing,” and Andy’s father nodded in agreement.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this happened,” Emily said. “I didn’t even know Andy was coming up here to see me.”

Melissa looked up at her husband as tears fell freely from her eyes. Mike nodded again and lifted a small paper bag. With an unsteady hand, Andy’s mother reached into the bag and removed a small, velvet box.