yourself a favor. Get over him and get on with it. Try to forget what you saw in there. I know that’s not the Brad he wants us to remember.”
My lips drew down in a pained gash and I fought back more tears. Dignity. Pride. Did I really care about any of that stuff anymore? How about if I was just a humble nobody who fixed up old houses and visited her boyfriend at River’s Edge? That kind of life seemed like it should count as a decent one in God’s eyes. Why should I care what anyone else thought? Why should Brad?
The officer pulled the door open for me and I slid behind the wheel.
“Probably better if you left town,” he said. “They thought they had a conviction, but Majestic was acquitted. There’s a price on your head. Not to mention I’d have to arrest you, seeing as you’re no longer deceased. Don’t worry. I won’t file a report. Besides, I’m not sure killing that lowlife Drake Belmont counts as a crime, even though taking off that day in Brad’s SUV made you seem like the prime suspect.” His momentary smile gave way to a look of regret. “Take care of yourself.” He slammed the door closed.
Everything about me was numb as I put the vehicle in gear and drove from the lot. From the road, I looked back. Officer Segerstrom gave a salute. My throat tightened and I stared ahead, concentrating on the curves along the river. Was I really driving away from Brad again? Was I really allowing him to send me away for a second time? Some wild impulse made me want to turn back, but the urge passed and despair settled into my bones. How did you make someone love you? You could only be yourself… and they either loved you or they didn’t. Brad couldn’t love… not me, not himself, not God. Forcing him to love again would be like Sisyphus pushing a rock uphill only to have it roll back down moments before reaching the pinnacle-and then repeating the futile task over and over for eternity. Could I withstand a curse of those proportions? I couldn’t even handle peeling wallpaper for more than two days in a row.
I drove without even realizing where I was until I saw the sign for the lodge. I slowed, angling the truck down the driveway. Samantha could help. She’d understand. Maybe I hadn’t done things her way so far, but she must have some idea how we could get Brad turned around.
29
I hiccupped on the way inside. I’d left my wig and sunglasses in Brad’s closet. Without my disguise to hide behind, paranoia crept over me. My face was plastered all over the Yooper Mafia’s Most Wanted list-what if somebody recognized me? Standing in the kitchen watching Sam ladle soup into bowls, I figured it was too late to turn back anyhow.
“Just one this evening?” The hostess, a different one for the supper hour, smiled as she greeted me.
“No. Thank you.” I pointed in Sam’s direction. “I’m just here to speak with Samantha a minute.”
“I’ll tell her you’re waiting, but I’m not sure how long it will be before she can break away.”
“No problem.”
“Okay.” She shrugged. “I’ll seat you in the dining area until she can get to you.”
She put me at a spot next to the window. The sun was just beginning to set over the lake, like a juicy grapefruit sinking into a red Jello parfait. My stomach growled. I wished I had placed an order. It had been a long time since coffee with Puppa this morning. And thanks to Austin, I never got one taste of Coney Deluxe at lunch. The last bite of the golden fruit was consumed by the horizon when Sam finally appeared at my table.
“Now’s a bad time, Tish. Why not come back around eight. I’ll have things cleaned up and we can talk.”
I planted my elbow on the table and leaned on my wrist. “No rush. I’m just making myself at home.” Perhaps the words came out with a bite of sarcasm. But that was no excuse for her to get that snarl on her face.
She looked down on me from her almost six-foot height. “You’ve been making yourself at home in places you don’t belong. Austin called and told me about your latest exploit. I asked you to stay away from Brad.” She ground a fingertip on the tabletop. “Don’t make me take out a restraining order.”
I stood, looking eye to eye with her. “Considering you’re standing in my great room, in my house, maybe I’m the one who should take out a restraining order.”
“Let’s not reduce this to a catfight. Joel and I got this place fair and square. You were dead, remember?”
“Pardon me for coming back to life and disturbing your thriving little enterprise and your cozy little family, while my fiance lies dying in hospice care.” I poked a finger toward her chest. “Yeah, you’re going to have to get a restraining order to keep me away from Brad, because I’m not going to give up on him as easily as you did.”
Her eyes were fierce. “Give the man the dignity of his own choices. You have no idea what he’s been through. And thank God you’re not his fiancee. Where were you when he needed you? Hiding out in some commune?” She shook her head, voice filled with disgust. “Deal with this: you walked out on us-all of us-when we could have used a little help around here. You couldn’t handle things then. What makes you think it’s any different now?”
I shook my head vehemently. “I didn’t walk out. I did what Brad wanted me to do. He’s the one who sent me to Del Gloria. He’s the reason I’m still alive.”
Sam looked around the room as if realizing for the first time that neither of us had lowered our voices. A blush crept over her cheeks as she met the glances of several diners.
Her voice was a livid whisper. “You have to leave. I’m working.” She twirled and dodged tables on her way back to the kitchen.
I followed. “I need you to back me up, Sam. Please let me try to help Brad. If it’s all my fault, at least give me a chance to fix it.”
“The same way you fixed your grandmother’s situation? Hmmm. Maybe you should get involved. You’d probably put Brad out of his misery in no time.”
A quick inhale. How low could Sam get? “You’re just waiting for him to be out of his misery? What is wrong with you?”
“Don’t lecture me. I’ve been watching him go downhill the last six months, like a cancer patient who refuses chemo. It’s just a matter of time. And you can only hope it ends quickly. Painlessly.”
“What happened, Sam? You used to be the one painting the sky blue.”
“That was before… all this. Now I’m about to be a mother. That’s a pretty serious responsibility. I can’t afford to be hanging out over the rainbow with you.” She gave a wobble of her head. “Nice choice of clocks, by the way. Austin said Brad wanted it hung near the bed where he can hear it. Probably feels one hour closer to heaven every time it chimes.” A wry voice. “Gotta hand it to you. You can sure pick ’em.”
I crossed my arms. “You are not without blame, here, Samantha. If I recall, it was your idea to let Melissa Belmont and her kids hide out at the lodge. And between your ex-husband and her father, we’re lucky we’re still around to fight over the chimes on Brad’s clock.”
It had turned out that Melissa Belmont’s father was Frank Majestic. I hadn’t seen that slap in the face coming until the man’s ugly mug was staring me in the eyes, demanding that I tell him where to find my AWOL father. Apparently, Dear Old Dad had turned in Majestic once before, a sin that fell in the “unforgivable” category. Samantha had been there with me on the couch that day. She’d made the leap that saved my life, tackling Majestic’s crony to the ground before he could shoot me in a spot more serious than the arm.
I frowned at the breakthrough in my memory and shrank against the counter. “Sam. Let’s not fight. We’re on the same team. We want the same things.”
“What is wrong with you? Everywhere you go, there’s a dead body. And you want me to let you hang out with Brad? You know, it’s just a matter of time before someone tracks you down and tries to kill you again. If not to get back at you for that whole drug thing, then to get back at your dad for whatever it was he did. It’s like a plague.”
“Well, doesn’t that fit right in to your ‘fast and painless’ plans for Brad?”
“You know what? Why don’t you take care of your family, and I’ll take care of mine. I think Brad made it plain today that you two no longer have a relationship. I’m going to honor his decision. And if you have a compassionate bone in your body, you’ll honor it too. Go find your father. But leave Brad alone.”
Joel entered the room. “Everything okay in here, Hon?”
Samantha looked at me. “Well?”
I glared back and forth between the two of them with their haughty attitudes.
