had taken the day off to help Melissa with the funeral arrangements for Drake, even intervening when some of Drake’s caustic family members argued on the phone about Melissa’s right to handle the ceremony. Joel and Gerard both volunteered for kid duty, a job that apparently required winding the two Belmont children into a Tasmanian frenzy and then expecting them to lie down for morning naps.
By eleven o’clock, it was a no-brainer. I went to Candice’s.
She seemed surprised to see me when I showed up on her doorstep.
“I thought you’d be tied up at home,” she said. “Come on.” Her slender figure moved to let me in.
Her makeup seemed heavier today. But as we entered the parlor, the bags beneath her eyes could not be hidden.
“How’ve you been this week?” I asked. “You seem a little tired.”
She sighed. “A lot’s happened this week. And now to top it all off with this Drake business . . . Suffice to say things are a bit stressful.”
“I empathize, believe me. I can’t stand the thought that I might end up back in jail for murder.”
“Nonsense,” Candice said with a wave of her hand. “They couldn’t possibly find any proof in that respect. More likely it was something to do with drugs.”
“That’s what Brad said.”
“Brad, huh? Did you two finally get together?”
I contemplated my relationship with the off-duty police officer before answering. “Brad’s up for a visit. Which really hasn’t helped matters any. He isn’t sure he can believe that I didn’t kill Drake.”
She exhaled with indignation. “That settles it, then. He doesn’t deserve you. Find someone who believes in you.”
I wished it were that easy. But my record with men was a solid 0 for 2, not surprising, considering the dead bodies and unanswered questions that trailed me wherever I went.
“Thanks for the advice,” I said, “but I think I’ll give the guy thing a break for now. My life’s a mess as it is.”
Candice gestured toward a cushy chair. “Have a seat. I’ll go put on the tea.”
“Let me help. You’re always serving me.” I moved to follow her.
She hesitated, then walked to the kitchen with me close on her heels. Gray light filtered through the window over the sink, discoloring the white walls.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know you these past months, Tish. I want you to know I’ve treasured our time together.” Candice turned a dial on the stove and set the teapot on to boil.
I leaned back on the edge of the counter. “I feel the same about you. I love hearing about my mom and the great times we all had together back in the old days.”
She cracked a smile. “It does seem like it all happened so long ago.”
I felt the bittersweet in her voice. “Things are different now, but the two of us are still together,” I said, hoping to put a pleasant twist on a depressing topic.
She looked at me with a mournful grin. “My biggest regret is that Eva and Art swept you away. I’d planned on being with you. You’d have been like the grandchild I never had.”
I reached out and touched her hand. “I’m all yours now.”
“But the lost years . . . Who could have known what Eva would do when your mother died? It’s not so bad here, is it, Tish? We’re not all evil, right?”
My grandma Amble’s words floated on my memory. “There’re bad people here, Tish. Lots and lots of bad people.”
I shook my head and looked up at Candice. “No. This place is full of good people. And you’re one of them.”
She nodded. “Thank you.” She wiped at her eyes. “I’m just feeling a little misty today. I’m glad to know you care for me. Because I love you so very much.”
On impulse, I reached out and hugged her. Just then the teapot whistled. I jumped back, heart pounding. “That scared me!”
We both laughed, the black mood broken.
She put the tea supplies on the tray. “Let’s sit in the parlor. I can’t stand all this gray.”
She lit candles along the mantel, helping to dispel the gloom. I poured the tea, grateful to be with Candice instead of surrounded by chaos back home.
“So how is Melissa doing?” She leaned back in her chair.
I slumped against my seat. “Good. Maybe a little too good. She seems happy Drake’s dead.”
“Does that surprise you after what she claims to have endured?”
I stared at the swirls in the Oriental rug. “It just seems like she should be more upset. I’m worried about her.”
Candice looked at me in silence. Then she spoke softly. “Do you worry that she killed Drake?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I guess I do. She was supposedly out for a walk when it happened. She could have been the one to do it.”
“How would you feel if it turned out she killed him?”
I swallowed hard. “Wow. What a shock. I know she’d be justified. But murder’s wrong no matter how you slice it.”
Candice didn’t respond.
I rushed to fill the dead air. “I mean, I thought I was doing Grandma Amble a favor when I fed her those pills. But really I was hurting myself. And just think what will happen to Missy if she’s convicted of murder. She’ll lose her kids, her freedom, her future. It’s just not worth it.”
“What if it had been different, Tish? What if Drake had murdered Melissa? Then how would you feel?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Angry. That would be so unfair. I would want Drake to be locked up for good. I’d hope those kids never had to be around him. I’d hope he was miserable for the rest of his life.”
“And yet, Melissa would be dead. Nothing would change that.”
“True.”
“So doesn’t Melissa have a right to be alive? Even if it meant Drake had to die?”
I gave a vigorous shake of my head. “It didn’t have to be one or the other. They could both be alive today. Melissa should have filed for divorce like she said she was going to do. It should never have gotten to the point where murder was the only way to freedom.”
“There comes a point of no return.”
“I disagree. The momentum should be stopped before things ever reach that point.”
“And if they are not stopped?”
“Well, then terrible things can happen.”
“Like murder? Or suicide?”
Her words cut through me, opening lacerations across my heart.
“You should know better than to judge, Tish.”
I knew she spoke the truth. I couldn’t condemn Melissa for killing Drake. I’d also committed murder. God had forgiven me long before I’d forgiven myself. Still, I knew Melissa would have to pay for her crime as I had. I prayed the judge would be as lenient with her as mine had been with me.
“Before you think anything bad about Melissa, I want to tell you a story, Tish. A story with a very sad ending. A story of ruined lives and crushed dreams.”
A yellow caution light blinked furiously in my mind. Emotional overload seemed only moments away. I stood. “I don’t want to hear it, Candice. I’m sorry. I have to leave.”
She reached out and grabbed my hands in a steel grip. “Sit and listen. There isn’t much time.”
I shrank down into the chair, submitting to the urgency in her voice.
“I was raised down the peninsula, five or so miles south of Port Silvan,” Candice began. “Our house was small. Five of us in two bedrooms. Often, my brothers or my father would find their way into my bunk. But that was not to be discussed. That was not to be acknowledged. I never spoke of it after Mother explained that men were just that way and I should give it no mind.”
I shuddered as she drew me into her picture.
“Indoor plumbing was a luxury my parents couldn’t afford. But that was no surprise. My father was the town
