“How is your mom?” Ellis asked.
His mother had been depressed since Keith’s father died a little over a year ago.
“She’s better,” he said. “She joined a senior club and made some new friends. I went up to see her last week.”
“You went to Pennsylvania? Did you see your sister and the kids?”
“Of course.”
“Did you talk about what happened with us?”
He nodded.
She’d known he would. Keith was close with his sister and mother, as he’d been with his father. And his sister’s husband was like a true brother. Ellis had never seen such a harmonious family. She hadn’t even believed such a thing existed.
“Do the kids know?” she asked.
“I think the abduction story might have been a bit much for them.”
“What did the rest of the family think about it?”
“They remembered Senator Bauhammer. They were as shocked as I was to find out you were in that family.”
“I guess they all hate me now?”
“How could you say that?”
“I lied to you all those years. Of course they hate me.”
“Ellis, my sister started crying when she heard what you’ve been through.”
Ellis could picture her doing that. She was the kind of compassionate, genuine person Ellis had always wanted to be. And she was a strong but tender mother, the parent Ellis had dreamed of when she was little.
“She told me I shouldn’t have walked out on you,” he said. “She said I couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a child and I should give you another chance.”
Ellis blinked at the wetness in her eyes.
“And you know what my mom said?”
“What?”
“She said I was a fool to walk away from love.” Now he fought tears. “My family said everything I needed to hear. Everything I wanted to hear. So here I am.”
Was he saying he’d come back for good? She was too afraid to ask.
They walked hand in hand to the rocking chairs. She sat in hers, he in his. Quercus lay across Keith’s feet to make sure he didn’t go anywhere.
They watched the sky color behind the moss-tressed oaks, and she told him about her sons showing up unexpectedly, the fighting among the children, and River lying to Zane. She told him what Zane had said. The story about how her father had died. Why her mother had hated her.
“You really believe she hated you?” he asked.
“Well, she couldn’t love me. Zane pretty much verified that.”
He drew her out of her chair, tucked her against his chest. “And yet you have this great capacity to love. It’s a testament to your strength, Ellis.”
She drew back and looked in his eyes. “Why do you say I have a great capacity to love when I obviously fail at it?”
He smiled. “You love deeply, Ellis. It’s trusting love that you fail at.”
“Can I trust this? Will you stay?”
“I will. I’ve felt crazy missing you.”
“Me too. Crazier than usual.”
They kissed into the fall of darkness. Normally, they would have gone inside and made love, but everything felt new, and kissing better fit the mood of a fresh beginning. This time she wasn’t a witch luring him into her dark wood. He knew everything, yet he said he would stay. She didn’t need a spell anymore.
A flashlight beam shined on them. They broke apart and watched Jasper jog toward them from the barn house. “Mom!” he called. He stopped and took in Keith’s presence for a second but didn’t wait to be introduced. “River . . . River and Raven have been in a car accident. We have to go to the hospital!”
“Who told you this?”
“Dad called me. He said Raven told the hospital to call him.”
“Is River okay?”
“I think it’s bad. He’s in the emergency room.”
Keith insisted on driving. When they arrived at the stretch of Route 441 that crossed the prairie, they saw flashing lights on the other side of the road. Squad cars and a tow truck, police directing people around the scene of an accident.
“Is that where they crashed?” Ellis asked.
“I don’t know,” Jasper said. “I don’t see our car over there.”
Keith dropped them off at the emergency room entrance and went to park the car.
A doctor met Ellis and Jasper at the emergency room desk. “You’re the mother of River Bauhammer and Raven Lind?” she asked.
“Yes. And this is their brother, Jasper. Did they both survive the accident?”
“So far, yes. River’s situation is critical, but he’s stabilized.”
“I want to see him!” Jasper said.
“I know. But we’re working on him.”
“Doing what?” Ellis asked.
“The collision caused the car to roll over. It landed in water deep enough to submerge it.”
Paynes Prairie. The accident they’d passed. Since the last big hurricane came inland, the water in the prairie had been deep.
“Your daughter probably saved River’s life. He was unconscious, and she pulled him out of the car as it sank. But he wasn’t breathing. He was under for at least a minute, and he has a head injury.”
“Oh my god,” Jasper said. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Two bystanders were able to resuscitate him at the scene,” the doctor said. “That’s good. We don’t think he was without oxygen for more than a few minutes.”
“Is he awake?” Ellis asked.
“He’s in a coma. We’re trying to determine the extent of the brain injury.”
“He’s breathing on his own?”
“He is. Does he have substance abuse problems that you know of?”
Ellis suspected he did, and Jasper confirmed.
“His blood has a high percentage of alcohol. Also narcotics. Raven verified he’d drunk whiskey and used cocaine before the accident.”
“Where is she?” Ellis asked. “Is she okay?”
“I can’t say for sure. She’s a bit banged up, but she refuses to let us touch her. Literally. She says we’re going to put drugs in her and hook her up to machines that will kill her. Were you aware that she has this phobia?”
“No, but I know where it came from,” Ellis said.
“Some of that can come from
