“Just checking.” She gave Jamie a bright smile.
Cooper walked out the front door as Harley hurried inside. He came up to Jamie’s window. “You look good,” he said, smiling at her.
“So do you. Maybe I’ll come over later . . .”
“Feeling up to it?”
“I think so.”
Teddy had actually taken the worst of Serena’s attack on the both of them. His right hand had required extensive surgery and there was more on the horizon. He’d been told he might never regain full use of his right hand. Luckily, he was left-handed.
Serena completely lost touch with reality after stabbing her brother and was currently checked into a mental facility in Salem, about an hour’s drive down I-5 from River Glen. Teddy had explained that she’d always struggled with personal relationships. The events of the night of Emma’s attack had been forever mixed up in her head and she’d resisted any other narrative than the one she’d made up for herself, especially now, in the throes of a full psychotic break upon seeing what she’d done to Teddy. She was still convinced that Emma had been trying to steal their father away, and her unshakeable belief had morphed into possession and jealousy of Teddy, who she was convinced was being lured by evil, conniving women like Bette Kearns, whom he’d briefly dated, and the babysitter, Marissa, who was a stand-in for Emma. Her sessions with Gwen Winkelman, which no one had known of, not even Teddy, had devolved from Serena knowing there was something wrong with her and seeking clarity, to prolonged rants about those “women” who were out to steal Teddy’s soul. Realizing Gwen was on to her, Serena devised the poisoning with tetrahydrozoline. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Gwen, not like the other women, but she’d had to eliminate her to keep her from revealing Serena’s descent into madness.
Now Jamie said, “Harley’s really got a thing for Greer Douglas.”
“I’m not going to hold pranking Marissa against him,” Cooper said. “But Dug, holding out all these years . . . that’s another story.”
Jamie nodded. She’d met Teri, Greer’s mother, a time or two, but had yet to reconnect with Dug. He was either on the road, checking in on his insurance agencies, or warming a seat at the Waystation.
“Vicky said Race and Deon have finally put their house in her hands. She has a buyer,” Jamie said.
“Good. I’d hate to see it go into foreclosure.”
“She’s being very secretive about the buyer, but I get the feeling it might be someone we know.”
“Huh.” Cooper shook his head. “It’s a big property, but to bring it back is going to be a helluva lot of work. You know who it is?”
“I’ve got a guess,” she said. “Nate Farland. Camryn’s boyfriend. She told me his job was ‘something in tech,’ but apparently, it’s a pretty big something. He’s going to move to River Glen instead of having her come to Seattle.”
“Good,” he said, meaning it.
“One more reason to stay.”
“Just one more?” he asked.
“Give me a kiss and I’ll see you later.” She smiled.
He leaned in and laid a long one on her, then waved his hands in front of his face as if he were going to pass out from the heat of it. Jamie laughed.
She drove home, thinking how good it was they’d come this far. During her recovery, Cooper had been by her side nearly every minute. She’d been released fairly quickly after she was patched up, but Cooper had only recently relaxed his vigil over her.
Now that they knew who was behind the attacks on Marissa and Bette, Cooper had worked on the last pieces of the puzzle concerning Emma’s attack. He’d interviewed more of the staff at Glen Gen who’d worked with Alain Metcalf and had uncovered the fact that Irene Whelan had suspected the doctor’s affair with her daughter. Though there was no proof, it was likely that Irene had confronted Metcalf, which was what made him decide to cool things with Emma, which had led to the fight. Even though Metcalf was known for liking decidedly younger women, he’d begun cozying up to Nadine Ryerson, the trust fund baby. He’d seized the opportunity of the charity event to get closer to her. But then Emma kept calling him from the Ryersons’. Possibly, he’d hoped to keep that relationship going even while he was wooing Nadine away from her husband, but Emma had made that impossible. She really felt they were going to marry. He likely spiked Nadine’s drink then raced over to the Ryersons’ while she was unconscious. Had he intended to attack Emma all along? Was that why he brought the ski mask, or had it just been in his vehicle? Maybe he’d planned to try to reason with Emma, let her down easy, but she hadn’t seen it that way and thereby had sealed her fate. Teenaged Emma had always been in control, and maybe that had frightened Metcalf. In the end, he’d grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her, likely in a fit of rage.
What he probably didn’t know was that Serena had overheard Emma on the phone with him, though she thought it was her father. When the man in a ski mask rushed in and stabbed Emma with the knife, Serena shrank back, tiptoed to her bed, and pretended to be asleep. When she felt she was alone, she went back out and picked up the knife, certain it was her father who’d done the deed. She was almost sorry Emma was still alive. Even though she was only seven, she entertained thoughts of killing her. If Teddy hadn’t come out and taken the knife from her, it was hard to know what she would’ve done.
Back at the house, Jamie hurried up the rear steps. She hesitated at the top and turned back toward the garden and garage. Now was as good a time as any to finally check out Mom’s Outback, maybe take it out for a drive as it had been locked
