Lucy would have loved to hear what her companions thought of Eudora and company, but anything they might have said was drowned out by the organ music, which began with a thunderous chord that practically blew the crowd of media representatives right off the balcony. The pipes of the church’s organ were located behind the choir loft, giving the media the full benefit of that magnificent instrument’s awesome power.
The service was long. Many famous people eulogized Ed Franklin. A famous opera singer sang his favorite song (“I Did It My Way”), and the congregation stumbled through a number of unfamiliar hymns, which didn’t matter because the organ drowned everyone out. Lucy was feeling quite dizzy and nauseous when the casket containing Ed Franklin’s remains was finally lifted off its support and carried down the aisle on the shoulders of six strong men. There was an anxious moment when Eudora and Mireille faced off on opposite sides of the aisle, but Mireille graciously yielded to Eudora, who was determined to be seen as the principal mourner.
“First wives go first,” said Monique with a smirk.
* * *
Lucy regretted taking that prime spot in the front row of the choir loft as it meant she was one of the last to leave. She seemed to be having some sort of low blood sugar problem. Or maybe it was the noise of the organ or the heat in the church, or the fact she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. She was feeling quite unsteady when she finally reached the stairs and began descending. She held on to the railing for dear life and concentrated on getting through the crowd to the door, hoping that all she needed was some fresh air. At the bottom of the staircase she encountered Eudora’s assistants, who were distributing packets of press releases. She grabbed the thick folder and slipped through the crowd to the porch, where she grabbed a handy pillar for support and breathed deep breaths.
She spotted a CVS store across the square and made a somewhat unsteady beeline to its candy counter, where she bought herself a lifesaving Snickers bar and a bag of peanut M&Ms. She ate them all while standing outside the store, watching the great and good—the celebrities and the politicians—stream from the church and make their way to the Copley Plaza. All except for Mireille and her mother, who Lucy saw leaving by a side door and getting into a waiting black town car unnoticed by the chattering crowd.
She felt much better after her chocolate and sugar binge and was sorely tempted to cruise down Boylston and back up Newbury for a bit of window-shopping . . . or maybe even some actual shopping if she found something irresistible that wasn’t too expensive. Then she remembered the price of the parking garage where the meter was running and decided she’d better head back to Tinker’s Cove. She had a long drive ahead of her, after all, and a long list of weekend chores that weren’t going to do themselves. There were no little fairies (or even family members) who shopped for groceries like she did, taking advantage of coupons and sales, nor any who remembered to pick up the dry cleaning or knew which brand of dog food to buy.
She was somewhat nervous about the traffic in Boston, which was known for its notoriously bad drivers, but she made it to the expressway in one piece, and then joined the bumper-to-bumper traffic crawling through the Big Dig tunnels to the dramatic Zakim Bridge. Things gradually improved as she headed north and traffic steadily thinned out. She was approaching the Hampton tolls, where her EZPass allowed her to fly through the formerly clogged toll booths, when her cell phone rang.
She picked it up, she saw Zoe’s picture, and quickly answered. “What’s up?”
“It’s Dad, Mom. He’s in the hospital.”
Lucy felt as though she’d been hit with a sledge hammer. What could it be? A heart attack? An accident? “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. I’m on my way there now. Barney called. He said the restaurant was firebombed.”
Lucy had lots of questions, but the only thing that mattered was getting back to Tinker’s Cove and Bill as fast as possible. That was all she thought about as she pushed her car beyond the speed limit, rushing to her husband’s side.
CHAPTER 16
The drive from New Hampshire had never seemed so long to Lucy, even though she was risking getting a speeding ticket. She kept trying to call Zoe or Bill or even the Tinker’s Cove police department on her cell phone, desperate to learn what had happened and, more important, Bill’s condition. She struggled to divide her attention between the phone and the road, unwilling to lose time by pulling over into a rest area. Her fingers kept fumbling and she couldn’t get a signal and when she nearly ran off the road, she gave up.
She ran out of freeway in Brunswick when she had to exit onto Route 1 and that was when the state trooper appeared in her rearview mirror, blue lights flashing, and she had to pull over.
“I know I was going too fast,” she told the trooper, “but my husband’s been injured. It was an explosion, and I’m desperate to get to the hospital in Tinker’s Cove.”
“License and registration,” said the trooper, unmoved by her plea. “Turn off your engine.”
She obeyed, turning the ignition key and producing the documents, and watched in her side mirror as he took them back to his cruiser, where she knew he’d run them on his computer. Minutes ticked by slowly and it seemed like hours before he returned and handed them back to her.
“It seems you’re known to the department,” he said, still expressionless. “I’m supposed to escort you to the hospital. Follow me.”
“Great,” said Lucy, amazed at this
