by Amie Nichols
As my eyes move over the names, I notice how young she was when she died. The next crypt has tall grass covering the name. I swipe the grass away with my hands and what I see makes me feel faint. I drop to the ground with my mouth wide open in shock. Luke rushes over to me and all I can do is point to the crypt.
Emma pushes the grass over putting one foot on the grass to keep it down. She gasps at what she sees also.
Samantha K. James, Born July 7th 1965 -- Died May 5th 1990. Loving Daughter and Loving Mother.
She was born on the day her mother died.
All of us just stare in silence at the crypts engravings. I look up at Luke who is staring at me with concern.
“This doesn’t mean anything, does it?” I steady myself on my feet. “I mean, it’s not like Samantha is not a common name,” I exclaim trying to make sense of this. “It doesn’t mean anything that she died four days after my birthdate.” I stop for a second searching their faces for answers. “Oh not to mention that my father bought this place and boarded it up never mentioning it to anyone,” I start ranting some more, “and that some crazy woman called me Samantha. It’s all a coincidence right?” I search their faces some more. “Will someone please say something,” I plead.
“Look, Lil,” Emma finally speaks and grabs my shoulders. “Calm down, we are just starting to piece this together okay? None of this changes anything,” Emma reiterates. “We are all here for you and you are loved very much. We will figure it out! No matter what we find out we will always be here, your family,” she says as she nods at me. I take a deep breath and tears start flowing. I don’t even know why I’m crying. Everything Emma said made me feel better. Was the woman they found in the woods burned my mother, and what did Ted have to do with it?
“Is this my mother?” I say as I gasp for air sobbing and pointing at the stone. Luke grabs my waist and holds on tight as I become unsteady on my feet again.
“Is this her? Is this why I’ve spent my whole life with a horrible woman because my mother is dead?” I say as tears are rolling down my cheeks.
“It’s just some more pieces of the puzzle,” Emma soothes. “We don’t know anything for sure and we will get answers I promise.” She grabs me and hugs me tight.
I stand there staring at the crypt thinking how sad it is that Samantha’s mother died in childbirth and that she never knew her mother. I feel that I can relate to her. Everyone is close to me, but not talking. They let me process the new information.
“It’s getting late, we better be heading back,” Jacob says now standing by my side. He puts his arm around my shoulders kissing the top of my head.
“Let’s go, okay,” Emma says now in front of me blocking my view of the mausoleum, since I can’t seem to take my eyes off of it. She wipes the tears from my cheeks and gives me another hug. “We’ll get this place cleaned up and then we’ll come back and find out some answers.” I nod to her and Luke grabs my waist again. We make our way back to the truck.
Chapter 27
The truck is silent as we make our way home, everyone in deep thought from the day. Thinking about Simon again, to get my mind off of all the information now swimming in my head, I break the silence, “So, when are you going to fire him?”
“It’s already done,” he admits not looking at me. “Dad did it this morning,” he says rubbing his hand on his forehead. He still won’t look at me.
“Didn’t waste any time on that one, did you?” I’m upset again, and it seems like it was going to be done with or without my permission anyway.
“It seems like he was going to be fired even if I hadn’t agreed.” I look at Luke and then back to Emma and Jacob who won’t make eye contact with me either.
“It’s done so we can just drop it now,” Luke says still not taking his eyes off the road.
“No, I want to know what’s going on. Did the background check come back?” I turn to face Jacob who seems nervous and looks away from me. I can tell he is making eye contact with Luke in the rearview mirror.
“Let’s just say he has a past, and our feelings about him were right,” Jacob says as if that is the end of it.
“NO!” I shout, “How about you let me in on the big secret?!” I’m furious at this continuous charade of lets protect Lilly because she is so fragile.
“Look, Lilly, everything’s fine and it’s nothing you need to worry about,” Emma pipes up and this makes me even more mad because she’s in on it also.
“Damn it guys, tell me right now or I’m going to hire him back!” I shout at the window not wanting to look at any of them right now.
“Over my dead body,” Luke barks and it startles me. There’s something in his voice that scares me.
“Then tell me,” I say much softer now looking at the side of his face. I can see his jaw is tense.
“Lilly, why can’t you just leave it alone,” Jacob scowls from the back seat now leaning forward so his arms are resting on his knees.
“Because I can’t, and I’m not going to leave it alone. So someone, for the love of God, please tell me what’s going on,” I plead with the occupants of the truck.
“Just tell her,” Emma scoffs behind me.
“He just got out of jail six months ago for sexually assaulting a girl, all right. You happy now,” Luke spits out the sentence extremely fast and it takes a minute for it to sink in.
“When did you find this out?” I ask still not quite getting the seriousness of the situation.
“After last night, Jacob went down to the sheriff’s office and found it out. He saw the picture of the girl and what he did to her. We still don’t have the full background check back yet, but his buddy down there filled him in on what he could,” Luke grates.
“So why the song and dance of getting me to want to fire him if you knew all this” I’m confused as to why they didn’t just tell me and then I wouldn’t have fought them on it.
“I guess we thought that if you agreed then you wouldn’t have to know about the girl,” Jacob says annoyed, “but you can’t just let things lie, so now you know.”
“What did he do to the girl?” I push.
“That’s enough! You know what you need to so drop it!” Luke snaps at me, which makes me want to know even more.
“I can handle it. I’m not as fragile as you all think! Give me some credit already!” I snap back, “Dammit!”
“He stalked her for months, and beat her….” Jacob starts to tell me.
“Jacob, please!” Luke interrupts him angrily.
“She wants to know, she’s going to know. After all, she can handle anything,” Jacob says condescendingly.
“He beat her to a pulp, and when he was done doing that, he violently raped her. She barely survived,” Jacob finishes the description. It sends chills through my spine that the man who did that has been in my house. They were right and I didn’t want to know.
I notice Luke turning his head to me then back to the road over and over. He is waiting for some reaction.
“How long was he in prison?” I say trying to keep my voice calm, when I remember the man outside my window last night and wonder if it was Simon.
“Five years, he got out early for good behavior,” Jacob scoffs at the ridiculously short amount of time he spent in prison for his crime.
“So he’s gone then, did your dad have any problems?” I ask still focusing on trying to keep my voice calm.
“No, he went quietly. Jacob’s friend from the Sheriff’s office was there when he did it just to make sure,” Luke tells me still looking my way every chance he can to make sure I’m okay.
Chapter 28
We ride the rest of the way home in silence, which is fine with me. There’s so much in my head, which is making me feel overwhelmed, and I don’t want to start crying again.
It’s dusk as we pull in the driveway, and I can see Jeffrey’s truck is still here. Luke pulls the truck in the garage and we all walk inside. Jeffrey is sitting at the kitchen island talking to Miss Fi
nnegan.
“How’d it go?” He asks seeing the exhaustion on our faces as we sit on the stools.
“Are you hungry dears?” Miss Finnegan asks and doesn’t even wait for our answer before she starts pulling food out of the fridge.
“Starving,” Jacob and Luke say in unison.
“I need a beer, anyone else?” I exclaim. Jeffrey goes around to the fridge and grabs one for everyone. I start to drink half of it in one swallow. “So have either of you heard the name Samantha James before?” I ask looking from Jeffrey to Miss. Finnegan.
“No dear, why do you ask?” Miss Finnegan says not looking at me, and I can tell she is not telling me the truth.
“Because she might be my birth mother and she is dead,” I blurt out finishing the beer and heading for the fridge for another. Everyone is still staring at me as I open another beer and take another long swig. Luke fills Jeffrey and Miss Finnegan in on what we found today.
“I just thought since you guys have been working here since before I came along that maybe you might have heard the name before,” I say accusingly, taking another long gulp of the beer.
“Baby, go easy on that,” Luke says as I finish my second beer and a little burp escapes me. I giggle and grab another beer.
“No dear, I have never heard of her,” Miss Finnegan says a little more defensive this time. “I do not know who your birth mother is,” she says firmly this time looking me in the eyes, but I still feel she is lying to me.
“And you?” I direct my question toward Jeffrey. “What do you have to say?” I open my third beer and start to gulp it down too. I stumble a little as I rest my elbows on the counter staring at Jeffrey. It’s time for some answers.
“Alright, I think you’ve had enough for now,” Luke says as he comes and stands beside me. He tries to take the beer bottle out of my hand. I am not even of legal age to drink, but I’m in my own house and it’s in my fridge so I will do what I want.
“My beer,” I say grabbing it back from him and I take another gulp. Luke wraps his hands around my waist and leads me around the island to a stool.
“Let’s get some food in you baby,” he says motioning to Miss Finnegan, and she puts a sandwich in front of me. She goes back to making the rest of them some food.
I push the plate toward Jacob with disgust. “I’m not hungry, just thirsty,” I say and take another drink clumsily. I’m mad at them for not telling me about Simon. I’m also mad at Miss Finnegan because I know she’s lying to me. I’m mad at my dad for keeping secrets. I’m mad at Jane for hating me. It all rushes through me as the alcohol makes it all make sense.
“Jesus, Lil, you are such a light weight. You are drunk already,” Emma scoffs at me. She also tries to take the bottle out of my hand. Luke steadies me on the stool as I almost fall off. I am avoiding Emma’s grab for my beer.
“Just slow down, Lil, I’m not asking you to stop,” Emma says rolling her eyes, and I finish the third bottle. I stick my tongue out at her after I do. She sticks her tongue out at me, too, and says, “Grow up.” I make like I am going to get up to get another one and Luke holds me on the stool and looks down at me.
“This is my house and I want another one,” I demand staring at him.
“I will get you another one, but you have to sip it, okay?” He says slowly to me, and I nod in agreement.
“So Feffrey, do you or don’t you know what I am talking about?” I slur my words and my head is feeling a little fuzzy.
Emma giggles to herself, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen her drunk,” she says to Luke who also is laughing at me.
Luke returns setting a bottle of beer down and a glass of water in front of me. He also grabbed a bag of pretzels from the cupboard and placed them in front of me as well. “Drink some water, too, please,” he says as I take a small sip of the beer. He sits sideways on the stool facing me and he places his hand on the back of my stool watching me.
“Thanks baby,” I smile at him. “You are so damn good looking. I could eat you with a spoon,” I slur and leaning over to him so I can give him a sloppy wet kiss.
He wipes my slobber off his mouth with the back of his hand, “Right back at you babe,” he says laughing at me.
“So, Fuffrey, I’m waiting,” I say taking another sip of my beer, and Luke pushes the pretzels closer to me. I’m staring at Jeffrey waiting for an answer. He looks nervously at Miss Finnegan, who I can tell she does not want him to answer.
“Before you came to live here, there was a lot of stuff going on. Ted and Jane changed tremendously. She became bitter and angry and he was distant,” Jeffrey tells me hesitantly. “I didn’t know what was going on, but there was a lot of secrecy, people coming and going at all times of the day.” He continues his recollection of the past.
“And then, you were here,” Jeffrey says. “We were never told anything, I swear.”
“But I do remember Jane saying the name Samantha in a loud argument they were having,” Jeffrey admits.
“What else did you hear?” Emma quizzes him astonished at the admission.
“Yeah, Dad, please enlighten us,” Luke says as he helps me sit straight in the chair. Why is it so damn hard to sit straight, I think to myself. It takes all my might to do so.
“Yeah, enlighten you, Fuffrey,” I slur, man his name is hard to say, and I realize that I can’t feel my cheeks. They are completely numb. I shrug and take a long swig off the bottle.
“I heard Jane yelling about her to Ted once. Calling her a dirty whore and that he was going to pay for what he did,” he confesses. “That’s the only time I ever heard that name,” he says looking at all our stunned faces. “I swear!”
“I knew it!” I shout, and everyone turns toward me waiting for me to finish. I’ve already forgotten what I was going to say, so I take another drink. “What?” I look at everyone confused to why they are staring at me.
“So I wonder if Ted and Samantha were having an affair,” Emma starts to speculate at what it could mean.
“You’re so pretty,” I say to Emma petting her hair lovingly.
“Thanks sweetie and you’re smashed,” Emma says smiling at me and rolling her eyes.
“Drink some water baby,” Luke pushes the glass in front of me and takes my empty beer bottle.
“I’ve always thought that Jane must have known Lilly’s mother, she would always reference her when she was yelling at Lilly,” Miss Finnegan finally interjects her feelings.
“I need some air.” I lean on Luke and my stomach is starting to get queasy.
Luke helps me up and we walk to the French doors. He opens them wide and helps me out onto the patio to lie down on one of the chaise lounges.
“It’s the little duffer,” I exclaim and point up at the sky.
“I think it’s the little dipper, baby,” he chuckles at me. “You just relax, I am going inside to talk with Emma and Jacob. The door’s open and I will be just inside.”
“Okay, you sexy man candy,” I move my head so I can see him and he leans down, kisses my forehead, and walks back inside. I can still hear them talking as I lay staring up at all the bright lights.
The lounge feels like it’s spinning, I start to concentrate to make it stop and it does. I’m such a genius as I think to myself.
Their voices start to drown out and they sound like a low hum instead of words. The queasiness subsides and I sit up in the chair when I hear some rustling in the trees.
I try to focus my eyes in the darkness to see what is making the noise. With the moonlight, I’m able to see the bushes that line the side of the property moving. Whatever it is seems large, and I remember the mountain lion Jacob said that is in the area. I’ve never seen one in person.
I roll off the lounge and try to steady myself on my feet. The ground feels like it’s moving. I walk to the very edge of the patio and strain my eyes trying to make out a shape. I’m too far away. Turning toward the house, I see Luke is leaning in the doorway with his back to me still in deep conversa
tion with the others.
Just a little closer I think, and walk toward the rustling sound. It sees me and takes off into the tree line. I am still not able to make out what it is so I walk a little further. I can’t hear it any more so I stop. Then I hear rustling again except it is much farther away. I make my way through the trees going the way of the sound. The moon is bright enough but with all the leaves it’s really hard to see.
I stop again to see if I can hear it and it is silent. There is not even chirping crickets or a croak of a frog, just dead silence. I turn back toward the house and recognize that I went a lot farther than I intended. I am not able to see the house now through the trees and the darkness so I try to get my bearings not even sure where I am. I start to walk back in the direction that I think the house is, but in the dark nothing seems familiar right now. What an idiot! I think to myself, I’m lost in my own backyard.
I hear the rustling again off to the right of me but this time it sounds much closer. I feel my heart beating through my chest as I start to panic; I have no idea what a mountain lion would do to me. I start walking faster the opposite direction of the noise. I still hear it and it sounds like it’s following me. I take off in a slow jog but my breathing is heavy and my mind is suddenly clearer, fear taking over me as I feel sweat starting to roll down my face.
I reach a clearing and recognize that I’m at Georgia’s stone. Instant relief floods through me now knowing where I am, when a shiver runs down my spine. I feel as though I’m not alone. I turn around back toward the timber.
The same dark shape that I saw last night is standing just yards away from me and all I hear is his breathing. He doesn’t move but stands completely still and I am too frightened to turn my back on it.
“Lilly,” I hear panicked shouts coming from the house. I turn my head toward the voices then back again to the dark shape, just in time to see it disappear into the timber.
“Lilly, please answer me,” I hear Luke’s cries as he is obviously running around the yard looking for me.
