When she returned home, Sean was out in the yard raking leaves. “You can imagine how he felt when Ami got out of the car and Sean saw she was ‘pregnant.’” Adam slouched in the leather seat and leaned his head back on the headrest.
“That’s terrible,” I lamented.
Adam shook his head in what I guessed was dismay. “She confessed everything to Sean that night and even asked him to take her back to the hospital. He called me to let me know why Ami was going to be missing more work. That’s how I found out what had happened.” Adam paused. “He was so upset he even told me that Ami had admitted to sneaking into the high school and stealing one of those prosthetic pregnancy suits that had been used in a school play.”
“Oh, Adam.” Tears welled up in my eyes as my heart went out to this broken woman who, as a girl, had once shared so much with me. “She didn’t end up at Willow Point, did she?” I asked, shuddering.
Willow Point was a mental health facility that housed patients deemed to be a danger to themselves and/or others. It was located over in Bangor, perched high atop a hill overlooking the small downtown area. Even without the knowledge that it housed the insane, the old gothic structure itself was just plain creepy. In fact, Willow Point had inspired many a lurid tale. Almost everyone who’d grown up within a hundred-mile radius of the place had heard the terrifying stories of what went on at Willow Point. Many of the stories were true. Back in the sixties and seventies the place had been so overcrowded that beds were placed in the hallways. The atrocities that had occurred with patients essentially running amok were truly hair-raising. Reforms were passed, though, and conditions improved. But it still was a place that inspired terror.
“Maddy,” Adam said, throwing me an exasperated look. “Willow Point is for the criminally insane. Ami didn’t commit a felony; she just needed more help.”
According to Adam, despite more treatment Ami still periodically regressed back to these false pregnancies. Over time, though, the episodes appeared to occur with less and less frequency. So the doctors felt it’d be best to just allow things to play out. Especially since her farce never lasted for more than a day or two. Consequently, people who knew better just played along, and people who didn’t know—like me—remained none the wiser.
“Should we call someone?” I asked. “Let them know she’s at it again?”
Adam shook his head. “No. I’m sure Sean knows anyway. That’s probably why he took her out of town. To get away for a few days.”
So he did know they were gone. “Do you know where they went?” I tried to keep my voice even.
“No idea,” he replied. “She just asked for a few days off.” I bit down on my lip and stared out the passenger-side window. Noticing, Adam added, “Maddy, if you’re that curious, I can find out where they are.”
There really was no reason, so I shook my head. “This is just a lot to take in,” I murmured, leaning my head against the cool glass of the passenger window.
I kept thinking of the time I’d recently spent with Ami. She’d seemed so excited about the nonexistent baby. The whole thing was just heartbreakingly sad. So much had changed since I’d left Harbour Falls. Everyone was so different, their lives so full of complications. Me, I just wanted to go inside and forget this whole day.
Adam put a comforting hand on my knee. “It is a lot to digest,” he agreed. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t think it’d be an issue.”
“It doesn’t matter. I know now, that’s what counts.” I put my hand over his. “We can talk more about everything tomorrow.”
“Uh, actually we can’t,” Adam said. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”
I resisted the urge to groan. I was beginning to hate all these business trips of his. But after suppressing my irritation, I asked, “Where are you going? Boston?”
“No, I have some more business down in DC.”
“When will you be back?”
Adam hesitated. “Not until Thursday evening.”
“Oh,” I sighed.
Four long days with no Adam. And then I caught myself. I was definitely starting to rely on Adam’s presence far too much. But when Adam reached over and pulled me to him, I didn’t resist. A few heated kisses later, we reluctantly pulled apart and said our farewells until Thursday.
Later that night I woke up, and when I couldn’t get back to sleep, I padded down to the living room. After lifting the loose floorboard, I pulled out the case files and paged furiously through the reams of material with renewed interest. The past twenty-four hours had been eye-opening, and surely that was contributing to my current case of insomnia.
There had been Helena’s tale of why Trina hated Chelsea; J.T.’s attack that had, if nothing else, highlighted his substance abuse problems and anger issues; Adam’s confession that Chelsea had indeed been blackmailing him; and then my dad’s theory that Chelsea may have been hiding her calls from Adam. On top of all that, now I had to come to grips with the fact that my former best friend was a mental mess. Little wonder my mind was in overdrive.
I sat down, right there on the hardwood floor, and began to reread the files. When I reached the particulars of Chelsea’s last visit to Billy’s, I was reminded that I’d not heard anything from Jimmy. Obviously a return visit to Billy’s was in order. Maybe Jimmy had misplaced my cell number, or maybe he’d forgotten all about the alleged photo of Chelsea kissing some blonde girl. In any case a little reminder—and possibly another cash infusion—might be enough
