"She's someplace safe and sound, someplace normal, someplace where she can sit and think. All you have to remember is Fanny loves you. When she does come back, remember the bathroom and keep quiet"
"Okay. Jerry."
Fanny Thornton removed the key from the ignition. She sat for a long moment staring at the cottage nestled in the cottonwoods. The Devin and Sallie house of happiness. Sallie and Devin's retreat from the world—given to Fanny just weeks before her mother-in-law passed on. What was it Sallie had said? "Everyone needs a sanctuary at some time in their life. This will be yours. No one but Billie Coleman and Bess are to know you have this little house. Promise me, Fanny." And she had promised.
Many times over the past years she had come to this tranquil spot on the Arizona border to lick her wounds.
Fanny climbed from the car and knew instantly that Chue or one of his sons had been here recently to prune back the shrubbery and to mow the lawn. She found herself staring intently at the diamond-shaped windows. For one wild, crazy moment she thought she saw Sallie Thornton reflected in the shiny glass panes. A headache started to pound at the base of her skull as she pulled her overnight case and bag of groceries from the trunk of the car. All she wanted was to have a cup of coffee and sit on one of the wicker chairs on the small front porch.
The cottage was immaculate, as though someone had just recently cleaned it. One of Chue's sons had probably done the outside work while a daughter had cleaned inside. Fanny ran the tap water for a few minutes until the residue was gone and the water ran clean and pure.
While the coffee perked, Fanny carried her bag to the bedroom on the second floor that ran the entire length of the house. She sniffed, recognizing the faint scent of sagebrush. She lifted the heirloom spread to see crisply ironed sheets. One of Chue's daughters had definitely been here. Early on, Sallie had expressed a liking for ironed sheets, and Chue's family had obliged.
The small blue-and-white-tiled bathroom sparkled. Fanny
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washed her face and hands, irritated that she dropped water on the vanity, angry that she was using the pretty cornflower-colored towels. Right now she was angry with the world, with herself. The question was, what was she going to do about it? ''I'm going to drink my damn coffee and sit on my front porch. After I do that I'm going to bed and sleep for twenty-four straight hours, at which point I will wake, make more coffee, and sit on the porch again." She burst into tears as she walked down the stairs. As she poured her coffee, she wondered where Simon was and what he was doing. They'd only been apart a few hours, and already she missed him. How lost and lonely he'd looked when she drove away. She knew in her gut it was a pretend lost-and-lonely look. She knew her husband too well these days. Was it a mistake to come here to a place with no telephone, television, or radio?
The headache continued to pound inside her head as she made her way to the front porch, kicking off her shoes as she went.
Her feet propped up on the banister, Fanny leaned back into the padded cushions. Now she could think about her family and Simon. And Ash.
"Please, God, in this tranquil setting, help me figure out where I went wrong." A moment later, the intense hammering inside her skull lessened and then was gone. Fanny heaved a sigh of relief as she sipped at the scalding hot coffee. Her thoughts traveled back in time as she gave in to the serenity that was all about her.
Surely in a week's time she would find the answers she was searching for.
"Iris, go back up the hill and call for an ambulance. Hurry! I'm going down the cliff."
Iris needed no second urging. She floored the gas pedal and roared up the steep grade.
Sage yanked at his jacket, tossing it on the ground as he
prepared to make his descent down the steep mountainside to where his brother's car smoldered.
Chue's excited Chinese jabbering turned to English when he arrived on the scene. "I brought a rope as soon as I saw what happened. Is it Birch?"
"Yeah, it's Birch. He cut around me and took off. Tie the end of the rope to the tree. I can't see a thing."
"My wife called for an ambulance. It will take some time for it to get here. Go, go, you do not have much time. I will follow you as soon as I secure the rope," Chue said.
Sage was already halfway down the rope, barely feeling the rope burns to his hands. He prayed and he cursed. When his feet hit the ground, he ran to the car and managed to drag Birch away from the smoldering vehicle. There was no sign of Lily. The absence of glass in the windshield told him all he needed to know. How soon would the car explode? He had no idea. In the movies it always took a few minutes.
"Lily must have gone through the windshield on impact. She's not in the car!" he shouted to Chue. "Birch always wore his seat belt. I unbuckled him. Stay clear, it's going to blow."
When the explosion occurred, Sage covered his brother's body with his own. "If you aren't dead, Birch, I swear to God I'll kill you myself for pulling a stunt like that," he sobbed. He looked upward to see his family outlined in the eerie orange light at the top of the road. He could hear their excited voices but couldn't make out their words.
"I can't find a pulse, Chue. You try. I'm too ... I'm too . . . find his pulse, Chue. Did you find Lily?"
"She's dead, Sage. I do not know this for a fact, but I think she died on impact. I pulled her as far away as I could. He's alive, but barely. His pulse is very weak."
"Tyler!" Sage roared, his voice carrying up the mountain.
"I'm here, Sage. I had to go to my car to get my medical bag. Please, stand back and let me do what I have to do."
"Lily's dead," Sage said.
"Then there's nothing we can do for her. Your brother is my concern right now. Don't go to pieces on me. Your family
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needs you up there," Tyler said, jerking his head upward.' 'You need to think about calling your mother and Simon."
"Yeah, yeah. Is he going to live, Tyler? That's all I want to know. Well, is he?"
'T don't know at this time. Let me do what I'm trained to do." A moment later he looked up and said, "I gave you a goddamn order. Obey it! Your family needs you. I'll stay with Birch until the ambulance gets here."
Sage did his best to scramble up the mountain, his leather-soled shoes slipping and sliding as he grappled with the rope for leverage, Chue behind him. The eerie sound of the far-off ambulance rang in his ears as it carried over the mountain.
They were all talking at once, their voices shrill with fear. Sage wanted to cry at the stricken look on his father's face. 'T don't know anything. Birch is alive, but he's unconscious. Lily Bell is dead."
"I called the hospital the moment I heard the crash. John will have every specialist in town waiting. They're all standing by. It's going to be all right, Sage," Bess said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. In a whispered voice she said, "Your father needs you right now."
' 'He knows this mountain. I thought he respected it like the rest of us do. How could he have misjudged it?'' Ash asked brokenly. "Will he make it, Sage?"
"Dad, I don't know. Tyler is not a man of many words. We need to be grateful a doctor is on the scene."
"Someone has to call Fanny. They should be back at the ranch by now."
"I tried. One of the workers picked up the phone in the kennel and said your mother and Simon aren't there and has no idea when to expect them. I tried calling Billie Coleman, but there was no answer in Washington or at the farmhouse in Vermont. I'll keep trying," Bess said
Sage nodded, his eyes on his two sisters. This wasn't real. He always did dream in color, horrible dreams that woke him up in the middle of the night. During childhood his mother had always comforted him and sat by his bed until he fell asleep.
Now, Iris did the same thing. She had the same comforting touch, the same warm smile and gentle eyes as his mother. He wondered if he'd fallen in love with her because she reminded him so much of his mother. This isn *t real. This is just a bad dream a
nd I'm going to wake up and Birch is going to say, ' 'Ha, I fooled you, didn 't I?''
"You aren't dreaming, Sage. This is as real as it gets," Iris said as she reached for his hand. "Thank God Tyler was here."
"Lily's dead. They were going to get married. How's Birch supposed to handle that?"
"One day at a time. Here comes the ambulance. Honey, wheel your father away from the edge. Talk to him. He needs you right now."
Sage didn't know what frightened him more, the white-clad figures carrying their medical equipment or the flashing lights.
"Come on, Dad, we have to get out of the way. Birch is in good hands. All we can do now is pray. Do you know how to do that, Dad?"
The sadness in his father's voice drove shivers of fear up Sage's spine. "I don't know if God will listen to someone like me. He listens to people like your mother. Did anyone reach her?"
"Not yet, Dad. Mom always said God listens to all his children. I think the trick is not to ask for something for yourself. Always pray for others. You can't say things like, if You do this for me, I'll do that for You. I never thought about it too much, but I bet that's why Mom is who she is. She never asks for herself. She always puts other people first. That has to mean something."
"If you call the Highway Patrol and explain the circumstances, they should be able to get Simon's license plate number and put it out on the air. It's possible they stopped along the way. Your mother likes to take scenic routes when she's traveling. Do that, Sage. Fanny will be devastated when she finds out."
"Okay, Dad, I'll get on it as soon as they bring Birch up. I want ... need to be here for my brother. Are you okay?"
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"Christ no. How's Sunny holding up?"
"Billie's with her. Sunny's tough."
"It's all going wrong, Sage."
"You're reacting to the moment, Dad. This family is always embroiled in one crisis or another. Birch is as tough as Sunny. He's going to be okay. Hey, I'm his twin. I'd feel something if ... you know."
"That's about the biggest bunch of bullshit I ever heard. This is me you're talking to, Sage."
"Do you want me to say I'm piss-assed scared? Okay, I am. That doesn't mean things won't be okay. All I keep thinking about is how Birch and I drifted apart these past years. We used to be joined at the hip. I guess life does that to you."
"Cut the crap, Sage. I'm the reason, and we both know it."
"Why are we having this conversation, Dad?"
"Because you're blaming yourself. I will not tolerate that, son. Birch isn't a kid. When you go out on the road or up in the air you take responsibility for yourself and those around you. If you learned that lesson, why didn't Birch? He liked to hotdog the roads, and now Lily is dead and he's ..."
The lump Sage felt growing in his throat seemed to be getting bigger by the moment. He nodded, his eyes miserable.
' 'They're bringing him up! They're bringing him up!" Sunny screamed, her arms flapping every which way. She ran, her knees knocking together, to where her husband was standing. "How is he, Tyler? Is he okay? He isn't going to die, is he, Tyler? I hugged him, but I didn't kiss him good-bye. Say something, Tyler."
"Take your family back to the house, Sunny. It isn't good, okay. Don't upset your father. I'm going with the ambulance."
"We're all going. We'll follow you."
"I want you to stay here, Sunny."
''Do you really think I'm going to do that? That's my brother on the stretcher. We all have a right to know what's wrong. We want to be there, to be close. We can't find Mom, Tyler. What exactly does not good mean?"
"Internal injuries. He took a hell of a blow to the head. He's
in shock, and he's unconscious. We'll do the best we can. Trauma units are standing by. I'll see you at the hospital."
They gathered close in a circle as Sunny relayed Tyler's words. "I'll go with Dad. Sage, take Bess and Billie with you and Iris. They're in no shape to drive."
"And you think Dad is? Let's all go in the van, and I'll drive."
"That's good. I'll tell Dad. He has a built-in phone so we can keep trying to call Mom while we go down the mountain."
"I'll go back to the house. Everyone tell me what you need, so we can leave right away. Purses, sweaters, anything else? I'll wake your housekeeper, Sunny, and tell her to sleep in the kids' rooms," Billie said.
"Hurry, Billie."
"Five minutes, Sunny. Get Dad in the van, and I'll be back by the time everyone is settled. Try Mom and Aunt Billie again."
Ten minutes later, Sage started up the van.
Sunny groped for her father's hand. Ash squeezed it reassuringly. "He's going to be okay, isn't he, Dad?"
"Of course he is. Birch is a Thornton. We're hardy stock. He's going to get the best care in the world. Whatever he needs we'll provide. We all need to think positively. We're together, and we're going to stay that way. I don't want to hear a negative word from anyone. Is that understood?"
"That's something Mom would say," Billie said, inching closer to her father. Ash's fingers closed around Billie's. A tear splashed on his hand. He wasn't sure if it was from Billie or himself.
"Your mother still isn't home. I've alerted the Highway Patrol and the local police. They'll alert every police department within a two-hundred-mile radius. We'll find her," Bess said. Under her breath she muttered, "When, I don't know."
"I don't understand Mom anymore. In the old days she never went anywhere without leaving a note or calling someone to say where she'd be in case of an emergency. They should have
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been home two hours ago. This new life of hers ... I hate it. I just hate it."
Ash's voice was weary when he replied. "Everyone deserves a life, Sunny. You kids had your mother at your side all your life. Cut her some slack, for heaven's sake."
"That sounds very weird coming out of your mouth, Dad," Sunny said. "She doesn't have time for us anymore. That's what bothers me."
"You aren't children anymore. You're young adults and young adults are supposed to have their own lives and make their own decisions. I don't want to hear any negative talk when it comes to your mother. Wherever she is or whatever she's doing, I'm sure there's a reason for it. Your mother never does anything without a reason."
Sunny's voice turned stubborn and obstinate. "She should be here. If her plans changed, how much time would it have taken to inform someone? She doesn't want to be bothered with us anymore."
"That's not fair, Sunny, and you know it," Bess said. "I think I'll carry that one step farther and ask you why, when your mother and my husband asked you what was wrong with your health, you denied having any problems and told everyone to mind their own business. When a person hears that often enough they back off and don't keep asking. You were the one who didn't want to be bothered. You told your mother more than once that she was stepping over the line where your life was concerned. She did what you wanted, and you still aren't happy."
"It's not the same thing. This is Birch we're talking about."
"If your mother knew about your brother's accident, she would move heaven and earth to get here," Bess snapped.
"Bess is right, Sunny," Ash said. "Your mother is going to be found, and she'll come here as soon as she can."
"What if..."
"There are no what ifs. It will be just the way I said it will
be. The only thing I cannot give you is the time and the place when it will happen."
"What if something happens to Birch?"
"Shut up, Sunny," Sage yelled from the driver's seat of the van.
"Don't tell me to shut up. Can't you see? It's all falling apart? First it was me. Now it's Birch and . . . Mom. Who's next? What's next, is more like it?"
"Enough!" Sage roared. "One more word, and I'm pulling this van to the side of the road. The next thing I'll do is muzzle you or dump you out. I mean it, Sunny, one more word and that's it." Sunny clamped her lips shut as her nails dug into her father's hand.
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
Sage drove the van to the front entrance of the Thornton Medical Center. He engaged the lift that would lower his father's wheelchair to the ground before the others exited.''The rest of you go in. Iris and I will park the van. We'll meet you inside."
"Smart-ass bastard," Sunny muttered.
"Dumb-ass bitch," Sage muttered in return. He held out his arms and Sunny stepped into them.
"I'm sorry. I'm worried sick. You know me and my mouth. What do you feel, Sage?"
"I don't feel anything. That's because Birch is in a place I can't reach. You gave us too much credit when we were kids. We weren't that tuned to one another. We just said we were to get on your nerves, and you bought into it."
"You're telling me this now!"
"Timing is everything," Sage said as he drove off.
Sunny straightened her shoulders before she took her position behind her father's chair. "Okay, everyone, it's going to be a long night. I suggest we get some coffee and settle in. First though, I'd like us all to go to the chapel for a few minutes. We need to ... to make arrangements for . . . Lily. The police
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are notifying her half brother and sister. Is everyone okay with this?" The others nodded.
Hour after weary hour passed with only one update two hours after Birch was admitted. John Noble offered it on the run: Birch was critical and everything humanly possible was being done to save his life.
Sage paced. Ash dozed, either from weariness or the handful of pills he swallowed. Sunny, Billie, and Bess huddled on a blue-striped sofa that smelled of lemons and mothballs. From time to time Bess used the pay phone in the lobby to try and reach Fanny, with no success.
Time crawled by. Eventually the first violet shadows of dawn could be seen through the windows. "Why is it that terrible things always seem to happen at night when it's pitch-black outside?" Billie whispered. She continued to whisper. "When the sun is out and it's a bright day I feel like I can handle anything. It's been so long. Someone should have come out by now to tell us Birch's condition. God, I wish Mom was here. Lily had no family except her half sister and brother. They were such cold, unfeeling people. Don't pay attention to me, I'm just talking to hear my own voice because I'm so scared."
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