As soon as she got into the house, she called Ashton’s cell phone. When he didn’t answer, she left a message. “I really want to talk to you. I can tell that something is bothering you, and I’d like to hear what’s going on. I’m sorry I was busy when you called. I’m not busy now.” She looked at the calendar on her refrigerator. “By the way, it’s Thanksgiving next week. Maybe you and Leo would like to come over and spend it with me at the beach.” She could think of nothing more to say. “Please call me, Ashton. I love you. Bye.”
She hung up the phone and began to pace around her small bungalow. Instead of obsessing and worrying like she used to do, however, Marley simply prayed. She begged God to watch over her son, to protect him from whatever was troubling him, to bring him peace, to have him call her, to bless him in his business, and to bless his partner Leo. “And teach Ashton to call out to you, God,” Marley said finally. “Show him that you are real and that you love him and that you have all the answers he’s looking for. Amen.”
Chapter 18
CAROLINE
“Good news,” Janie announced on Thursday afternoon.
“What’s that?” Caroline had just returned from her mom’s house, where she’d spent a couple hours cleaning things up. It wasn’t easy being over there, but Janie had told her that insurance companies appreciated it when homeowners took this kind of initiative.
“Joan Wilson is back in town.”
“Seriously?” Caroline took Chuck through the kitchen, letting him go out into the backyard.
“She had the audacity to show up at the nursing care agency and ask for her paycheck.”
“You’re kidding.” Caroline went over to the sink to wash.
“Apparently Joan assumed everything would’ve blown over by now.”
“How did you hear about this?” Caroline dried her hands.
“Detective Alberts called. Fortunately someone at the agency had the good sense to call the police. So Joan Wilson was picked up and taken in for questioning.”
“And?”
“She confessed that she was a smoker and that those were her cigarettes.”
“I knew it!”
“But she said that the cigarettes had been securely zipped in a pocket of her purse, and that she forgot they were there. She thinks your mom must’ve gotten into her purse and sneaked them out and then taken them to her room.”
“I guess that’s believable. But it seems that Joan should’ve been paying better attention to her patient.”
“Exactly. The agency claims that their caregivers know they are not to have certain things in their possession while caring for patients. The list includes obvious items like firearms, knives, and pharmaceuticals, but it also includes cigarette lighters and matches.”
“So can I assume there are will be some consequences for Joan?”
“To begin with, Joan was fired from the agency.” Janie’s brow creased. “But it’s possible the DA will pursue this further. You could push for her to be charged for wrongful death or—”
“I don’t want to do that!” Caroline cringed at the thought of being pulled back into this mess, being expected to make more statements to the police, or even going to court. “I just want this to be all over with, Janie. I want to get on with my life. Is that wrong?”
“No, I can understand why you’d want to do that.”
“It’s not like it would help my mom to drag this out. Of course, I’m angry that Joan brought something dangerous into my mom’s house, but I don’t think she intended to hurt my mom.”
“No. But she was negligent.”
“And she’ll have to carry that with her forever—knowing that her negligence killed my mom. She’s lost her job, and I suspect she won’t be hired as a health-care provider again.” Caroline sighed. “It’s not that I want to seem like a coward, but I just don’t see how any good would come of me going after Joan now. Most of all I just want to move on. Is that selfish?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Oh, Janie, I’m so relieved this part of the nightmare is over.”
“And now you are free and clear,” Janie said happily.
“Thank you!” Caroline hugged her. “And now you’ll be free of me and Chuck.”
“Why?” Janie looked surprised.
“I’m moving into the B and B tonight.”
It didn’t take long to pack up her few belongings. By that evening, Caroline and Chuck were somewhat settled into the inn. Although the sunny yellow room was thoughtfully decorated, and despite being cleared with the police, Caroline still felt out of place and out of sorts. Almost like a refugee or displaced person. So much of her life felt unsettled and unresolved. It wasn’t that she was eager to have her mother buried and gone, but due to two other deaths in town, her mother’s funeral was delayed until next Monday, just a few days before Thanksgiving. Thinking of the upcoming holiday reminded her that perhaps she should simply be thankful that her name had been cleared and she had some downtime now.
By Friday, Caroline was finally feeling more together. She’d had a chance to finalize most of the funeral arrangements, tend to her mother’s business, and basically catch her breath. She had only one more unpleasant chore to attend to, and she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. It was high time to call her brother and inform him about their mother’s funeral details.
“I’m already on my way up there,” he said after she’d relayed the information.
“Really?” Caroline hypnotically watched her lunch, a bowl of soup, rotating around and around in the microwave in the inn’s big kitchen. “Uh … so where are you coming from anyway?”
“I’ve been living in Phoenix the past couple years.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. Are you flying into—”
“I’m driving.”
Caroline felt relieved. Driving here from Phoenix should take a couple of days. “When do you expect to arrive?”
“Well, I’m just outside of Weed now.”
“Oh?” Caroline looked at the clock on the microwave. “Weed, California?”
“You know about another Weed?” He chuckled like this was funny.
“No, but that’s only about four or five hours away, right?”
“Sounds about right. I should make it to Clifden early this evening.”
“Okay. Then drive safely, Michael.”
“Are you staying at Mom’s house?”
Suddenly Caroline wasn’t sure if she’d given Michael all the details. Hadn’t she mentioned the fire? Or maybe she’d said that while the connection was breaking up. “Hey, are you driving while talking on the phone?” she asked.
“Yeah. But it’s okay. I’m on the freeway.”
“No, it’s not okay. It’s against the law and it’s dangerous. I refuse to talk to you unless you pull over.”
Michael let loose with a couple of expletives, which transported Caroline straight back to her childhood. Then he hung up. She pocketed her phone and removed her bowl of soup from the microwave.
“Mmm, that smells good.” Donna sniffed the air as she came into the kitchen.
“It’s just minestrone.” Caroline held up the empty can of soup to show her the label before she tossed it into the trash compactor. “Sorry, I don’t have any more to offer. But I’ve got some black bean if you’re interested.”
“No, thanks, I just had lunch in town.” Donna followed Caroline to the dining room, pulling out a chair on the other side of the table as Caroline sat down. “So are you all settled in?”
Caroline nodded as she took a bite of the hot soup. She had met Donna briefly this morning while hauling an armful of clothes up the stairs. Although Donna was attractive and cheerful and chatty, Caroline had taken an instant dislike to the woman. To be fair, she’d taken a dislike to her right afte
r Janie had told her about what Donna had said about waiting for Victor to have a change of heart.
“How long do you think you’ll be staying here?” Donna asked.
“I’m not sure.” Caroline stirred her soup to cool it down a bit.
“Did I hear your mom’s house burnt down and that she died?” Donna made a sad face. “I’m sorry for your loss, Caroline. That must be terrible.”
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks. But I’m starting to feel a little better.” She was—until she’d learned that her nasty brother would be here in a few hours. Not that she intended to tell Donna about any of that.
“So did Victor tell me that you grew up in Clifden too?”
“I did. Abby, Janie, Marley, and me—we all grew up here.”
“Yes.” Donna nodded. “I haven’t met Marley yet. But I believe Victor mentioned her name. You’re all in some kind of club?”
“Well, it’s not exactly a club.” She blew on a spoonful of steaming soup. “I mean, we started it as a club when we were girls.” She paused for a cautious bite. “But we got back together last summer.” Caroline quickly explained the concept of the Four Lindas.
“How interesting. Four girls named Linda in the same classroom. How very unusual.”
“Well, Linda was a pretty common name for girls back in the fifties. Anyway, we all started using our middle names after that, and thus began the Four Lindas club.”
Donna made a disappointed face. “I suppose that I won’t be invited to join the club, then.”
Caroline made a half smile, then took another bite of soup.
“So you’re really good friends with Janie, right?”
Something about the tone of Donna’s voice put Caroline on her guard. “Sure. Janie and I are friends.”
“I understand that Janie and Victor used to date a bit, right?”
Caroline wished her soup would cool faster. She didn’t like the sound of where this could be going.
“But it sounds like Janie has a new man in her life.” Donna seemed to be watching Caroline closely.
Caroline tried to hide her surprise at this announcement. Since when was Janie seeing someone else? Was this some kind of a setup to extract information from Caroline? “Seeing someone else?” Caroline shrugged. “What makes you think that?”
Donna’s eyes lit up. “My son told me he saw Caroline with another man last week, and that it looked like a date.”
Caroline frowned but didn’t respond. To her relief her phone rang again. Thankful for good timing, she reached for it, but upon seeing it was Michael, she had to disguise her disappointment. “Please excuse me, I need to take this,” she said in a forced cheery tone. “It’s my brother.” Then with her soup in one hand and phone in the other, she answered the phone and hurried upstairs to her room, quickly closing the door.
“Okay, Caroline. I’m not driving now. I can talk.”
“Good. You wouldn’t want to get a ticket or get in a wreck.”
“Thanks for your concern.” His voice had an edge to it. “Now back to my question, baby sister. Are you staying at Mom’s house or not?”
“No, I’m staying with a friend.” Now that wasn’t exactly a lie. This house did belong to her friend Abby.
“So I can stay at Mom’s then?”
“Well, I suppose you could, if you really wanted to.” She quickly filled him in on the fire.
“What?” This news was followed by more expletives. “So you’re telling me that our family home has burned to the ground?”
“No, it’s not that bad. But Mom’s bedroom is pretty much totaled. The smoke damage is extensive and—”
“How did the fire get started anyway? Wasn’t someone there taking care of mom? Where were you anyway?”
Caroline attempted to explain this but was cut off again.
“So let’s cut to the chase. If you’re saying the biggest problem is the smoke damage, why haven’t you had someone in there to clean it up yet?”
“The insurance adjuster is coming by this afternoon. After that I’ll see about getting someone in to clean it, or whatever.”
“What do you mean whatever?”
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe it would be best to tear it down.”
“Tear the whole house down?” Michael spewed more off-color language. “You said Mom’s room was the only part that burned, Caroline. And now you’re talking about bulldozing the place?”
“There might be electrical problems or structural damage. It’s not like the house was in good shape before the fire. And now it’s—”
“Well, don’t think you can tear down Mom and Dad’s house, Caroline. For your information I’m part of the McCann family too. I have some say in what happens to that house, and everything else for that matter. I’m warning you, baby sister, don’t get any crazy ideas that you’re going to make off with anything before I even get there.”
Like a freight train barreling down the tracks straight at her, the truth that Michael was going to make everything difficult became clear to Caroline. “Don’t worry,” she assured him in a calm voice. “There’s nothing of any real value in the house anyway.”
Even as she said this, she wondered. What if there were things that she didn’t know about? Perhaps some mementos from her grandparents. What about her grandfather’s old stamp and coin collection that she used to help him organize? She recalled some of the old boxes she’d shifted to clear a path through the garage. They were so heavy she assumed they contained old newspapers, but what if they held rare books or even old magazines that were collectible? Did she really want Michael to waltz in there and just take everything? If he did, he would only take what he could sell.
“So if there’s nothing of any value”—his voice took on that old slippery quality—”then why not let me sort it all out for you?”
“You’d want to sort through all the garbage and take it all to the dump?” she questioned. “You know how Mom never threw anything away. The house is really a mess.”
“I’ve got a pickup. I can take care of what needs to be thrown out.” Suddenly it seemed he was trying to sound like a responsible human being, and this worried her. “I can handle the business end of things too, Caroline. I’m sure you don’t want to bother your pretty little head with all legal stuff that anyway.”
That just made her mad. “Actually I have an attorney helping me to sort through—”
“What’re you doing wasting Mom’s money on a lawyer for?” he growled.
“I’m not wasting any—”
He cut her off by hanging up again. Caroline closed her phone and picked up her soup, which was now lukewarm. She considered going back down to renuke it in the microwave, but she didn’t want to risk another conversation with that nosy Donna. As she finished her tepid soup, Caroline revamped her afternoon plan. She would go directly back to her mom’s house, where she’d left Chuck, and she’d start sorting through things while she waiting for the insurance man to show up.
As she drove, Caroline estimated that Michael would arrive in Clifden around six or seven that night. By that time she hoped to have removed anything and everything that she did not want her selfish brother to take or perhaps destroy. She remembered how destructive he could be when he’d been drinking. No doubt he’d go straight for things like the old sterling silverware that her mom never used because she preferred the convenience of stainless. The silver might not be worth much, but it was one of their few family heirlooms, a fact that would be completely lost on Michael. More than likely he’d pawn it even before he left town.
Perhaps he’d want her mom’s old china teacup collection, too. Caroline had loved this set. As a child she’d enjoyed tea parties with Grandma Moore. Worried they’d get broken by her absentminded mother, Caroline had safely stowed the fragile cups and saucers on a
high kitchen shelf. What if her six-foot-two brother spotted them there and began chucking them into the fireplace just for the heck of it? She wouldn’t put it past him.
Caroline stopped by the grocery store to scrounge up a bunch of cardboard produce boxes. By two o’clock, looking like an outlaw with her bandana scarf tied over her mouth and nose, she was carefully packing up anything of her mom’s that she felt should belong to her. According to Janie, who had gone over the will and other legal documents, it all belonged to Caroline anyway. Convincing her brother of this would be a major challenge, and with a few days until the funeral, there was no telling what Michael might do to rock Caroline’s boat.
At three o’clock, just as she was loading her third box into the back of her car, the insurance adjuster showed up. She walked him through the house, answered some more questions, and he promised to get back to her early the following week.
“Is it okay if I get someone in here to start cleaning things up and to deal with the smoke damage?” she asked as she walked him outside.
“Of course. Just save your receipts. Same thing for any repair work. You’ll probably want to get estimates from several contractors.” He handed her an insurance booklet. “This has some good suggestions and guidelines.” They talked a bit longer, and then he left and she returned to work. She wanted to be well out of the house before five thirty, just in case Michael was closer than she’d estimated. When she finished, she would lock the place up as usual. She had no doubts that Michael would find his own way inside.
Unfortunately it was nearly five forty-five by the time Caroline was putting her last load, along with Chuck, into the back of the SUV. She’d had no idea there would be so much to salvage from the heaps of trash in the garage and elsewhere. But the more she looked, the more she found. After getting Abby’s permission to temporarily stow her finds in the garage of the bed-and-breakfast, she’d worked as hard and fast as she could, taking trip after trip. Now, worried that she might actually get caught red-handed by her hot-headed brother, her heart pounded wildly as she watched for strange vehicles coming down the street. “We gotta get outta here, boy,” she said to Chuck as she started her engine and practically peeled out of the driveway.
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