But how could anyone predict things would take such a tragic turn? Ruby would never forget the day a customer came in the diner to give her the awful news about “the Abernathy boy”. “Suicide” was the word some arbitrarily used, yet Ruby was not so sure. She had seen more of his group on a regular basis than anyone and knew them as well as she knew her own kids. Ethan, although quiet and introspective, was well adjusted, and without a doubt, had a regard for life. Had he not saved lives here and there at the city pool, while he had worked as the lifeguard? In her mind, nothing about it made sense, yet she knew Ethan didn’t accidentally drown either.
As the clock on the wall ticked on toward the beginning of business hours, Ruby placed her thoughts on hold while she pulled the last of the pies from the ovens. By six o'clock, she had finished her prep work, and the waitress and dishwasher had arrived. She made a quick run through the dining room, dusting a buck’s head on the wall and filling in the jars of may-haw jelly and honey before turning on her “Open” sign.
There, at the front door,in the half light of dawn, was a grim looking Lucas. He shifted from one foot to the other, as if he was on edge and needed to talk. Ruby unlocked the door for him, and he gave her a perfunctory kiss on the cheek.
“Can't you do better than that?” she asked.
“Sorry. Got some heavy stuff on my mind, Ruby. Coffee ready yet?”
“Sit down at the counter, and I’ll pour you a cup. Then you can tell me what's eating at you. I have about fifteen minutes, before the breakfast bunch piles in.”
She poured the fresh brew and leaned forward with hands folded on the counter and eyes direct and unblinking. “What’s on your mind, Lucas?”
“This is going to seem like an odd question, but how many girls have you known by the name of Amy...other than Amy Walker?”
“Oh, let’s see...maybe there were two others in her class at school, though they weren’t in that same group. Why? What’s this about?”
“This is just between us. Emma doesn’t know.”
“By now, you should know I can keep secrets.”
Lucas pulled the broken chain and pendant from his jacket.” Did you ever see this before? It’s an unusual piece...a half of a broken heart with the name “Amy.”
Ruby turned the necklace in her hand. “Someone used some tremendous force on the chain. It broke off at the clasp, and some of the links are missing. It’s not delicate and dainty like some of the girls used to wear, but the silver makes it less strong. The chain is definitely masculine. Looks like it would belong to a set. There might be a matching half somewhere that fits with it. It would have the boyfriend’s name on it. Used to be the thing in the eighties and nineties with teenage couples. But, Lucas...a girl wouldn’t have worn this one. Her boyfriend would have. You see what I mean? It's like he would have her name next to his heart.”
Lucas appeared to be mulling her comment around in his mind, and his eyes lit up with the spark of discovery.” Oh, I do see.”
“Where did you find this any way?”
“Emma’s dog dug it up out of the bank at the beginning of the pier. He went right to it and dug like he knew what he was doing. Doggonest thing I ever saw...just as if the animal was psychic...or possessed! I mean you couldn’t see it from the boat. Too much time had passed...too much mud and silt pushed to the banks by the wakes of boats over the years... people stepping on it without seeing it and pressing it farther down. It was tangled into undergrowth beneath the clay. “
“Where exactly was it located?”
Lucas’ eyes seemed far away, and his words were close to a whisper; “Around the same spot that Ethan drowned.”
“My Lord, Lucas. That might have nothing to do with anything.”
“I would have thought not...except for one minor detail. It’s obvious the chain had been grabbed and twisted off someone’s neck. There could have been a struggle on a boat before it launched. I believe that maybe someone had crept up on from behind and grabbed this hypothetical “victim”. The aggressor would be heavier, stronger. The only thing the victim could do was reach up behind and grab the chain in an attempt to choke the aggressor into letting go. The chain gave way, and the victim was pushed out of the boat, face down into the water and held down. The necklace fell into the water, and the person ran without retrieving it. But the question is where are the links that broke away?”
“Isn’t that a stretch? You can’t read that much into it. I believe someone could have been responsible, but still...”
“Think about it, Ruby. Really just think about it.”
“You’re talking about what may have happened to Ethan now, aren't you?”
“I can’t say...not yet...but I intend to find out who was wearing this. I have nothing else I want to say right now.”
“Come on now, Lucas. I ‘m not nearly as dumb as I look. I know who you're thinking about. If I were you, I wouldn’t share this with Emma until you have the full truth. Does she remember anything more after all that therapy?”
“In some ways yes...but she still has some things she tries to recall...all the way up to when she woke up after the trauma. She’s come a long way, but when she dreams, there’s something or someone she can almost see leaving the scene there at Moon Lake.”
“I never realized Emma had gone through that much. Too bad she can’t seem to go on with her life after all this time. Do you think she’ll be planning a wedding soon?”
“Maybe. I’d like to see her marry...but Benjamin Winfield? I hope not, but you never know what a woman might do or why she will do it.”
“What is it about Winfield that you don't like?”
“Can't quite put my finger on it. Ben just doesn't have normal reactions and feelings. It’s like he’s…”
“...a well programmed robot?
“Yeah...programmed to do deals, including marriage to the “perfect woman”. I could be wrong, but he seems just a tad too smooth and organized.” Then Lucas grinned broadly. “Never trust a man who is overly organized.”
“Seems to me Emma doesn't trust any man but you. She doesn't even seem to be in love with Benjamin?”
“If she is, she doesn’t show it. I think she respects him professionally and can relate on that basis. Beyond that, it beats me exactly what she sees in him.”
“As a woman who loses at love, I can see it. The attraction there is that Benjamin Winfield is safe...because he doesn't stir up feelings. He doesn’t burden her with passion. Your daughter buried that emotion long ago. I don't know that Emma would ever choose a man she had really strong feeling for. Maybe she feels being in love brings pain and loss.”
“You're referring to us now...or to Emma?”
Ruby arched one eyebrow. “ Now, Lucas, you know very well the subject of you and me is taboo, as far as you’re concerned. You and I are just killing time...and we've killed lots of it. But...then again...you’ll be selling your house any day now, and maybe you might want to consider moving in with me...help me keep things up. Lots easier than buying yourself another big ol’ place to take care of inside and out...by yourself. Of course, tongues would wag if we lived together, seeing as how you’re not officially divorced.”
Lucas frowned at himself in the mirror behind the counter. “Ruby, I don’t know what to say…”
“Don’t say anything right now. Just take care of your daughter. Did you ever think that with all her attempts for total recall, she might be stepping on some toes? She might have someone running scared, and they might not be so friendly toward her.”
“I’m thinking of that this very minute. That's why it's important to find the truth so we can handle it. In the meantime, I may send her back to Boston, but she’s got a mind of her own. Wish me luck. By the way, I’m obliged to you for your help.”
“That's nice for you to say. I know you're sincere, but you don’t owe me anything. Remember that. Now...how do you want me to fix your eggs? Over easy?”
14: Revelation
Emma
knew Lucas was keeping secrets, and she knew why. He was trying to protect her, as if what he had found would be something she would be unable to deal with. She could understand, in a way, because she had emotionally checked out the day her world came to an end.
But many years had passed, and she was no longer a seventeen year old girl. Even though Ethan's hold on her was present, it was waning. It was as if Ethan had tried to come back to her in some way, because there were things left unsaid and unsettled between them. His spirit could not rest. She knew it in her heart. She knew he had entered her dreams, whether through her own will or that of his spirit; though she dared not believe it possible, he even reached out to her with their favorite songs on the radio.
Come daylight, the thought was ridiculous, especially now that she felt his presence less and less. Yet, in the still of the night, when her subconscious crept past the dark curtain of sleep, she had come to believe in the supernatural world. She couldn’t blame her father for shielding her from the real world, for she had lived outside of it for so long. Yet had it not been he who had told her to face the truth and live in reality? It made no sense, until Emma realized one thing: her father would keep the truth from her if knowing it would place her in danger.
The dreams were gone at last, and she didn't know whether to be glad or sad about it. She wondered if they had stopped because the truth was ready to surface, through her father’s attempts at discovery. She gladly turned it over to his hands, as she had grown weary of agonizing over that one last detail of that day in September, 1996. She had replayed that one little snippet toward the end of the scene the one that would not come into focus It was much like an old silent film that flickered, blurred and died before the ending. There was still that out of focus face of the person who turned and ran through the pines. She could rewind that scene a thousand times, and she still would not know who had been there.
On that Tuesday, after the horrific weekend in which she had almost lost her life in the lake, she eased her mind by falling back on her art. She went out to paint by the lake, and spent hours lost in creation. When her hand had lost its agility, she packed up her paints and brushes. She took her time going into the house, as Lucas had seemed especially quiet and contemplative lately. She had become attuned to the moods and nuances of their relationship, as had he. They both understood the boundaries of their separate worlds and where each touched and then separated. If Lucas had suspected something, he wasn’t going to share it until he was certain of it.
As she approached the drive, she saw Lucas’ pick up , and beside it was the SUV with the familiar sign on the door: “Walker Real Estate.”
Emma felt a sudden pang of regret in the pit of her stomach. She knew the time had come to sell the house She was certain that, after the squabble at the diner, the only reason Tommy Walker would set foot back in the St. Claire house was to close the sale. She saw the gray stone Georgian structure and surrounding property in a different light lately: she saw home, but soon to be home no longer. Now that it would belong to someone else, she realized that it had always been important to her. What irony. She had run from it years ago and had stayed away for a long time. Now she knew it was not only rock and mortar and glass; it was the safe haven that she had at last come to—one that evoked the pleasant memories of childhood.
She saw herself as a little girl with her stuffed teddy bear and her dolls, in the little log playhouse in the back yard. It still stood. Remembering, she walked to the back and ducked into her childhood hideout. There was her chalkboard still hanging, and her books stacked in a neat pile. Cobwebs hung from every corner, the dirt floor was piled with leaves and debris, but her toys still sat neatly on wooden shelves, illuminated by the glow of an autumn sun slanting through the dusty little window.
Circling back to the front porch, she thought of the cool Spring mornings when Grandma St. Claire had read books to her and pointed out the different species of birds there on the swing.
And there in the front yard was the scene of many Easter egg hunts that Grace had organized for the kids who would someday belong to that tight knit circle that now had been broken by tragedy and distrust. And there were the steps where she had sat with Brad when they were six years old. It was only she, in her ruffled dress and patent leather shoes, to keep him company after he was punished for some minor infraction. She had sat silently with him as they watched the other children fill their baskets with colored eggs. She could remember wanting to join in the hunt yet not wanting her best friend to be left alone.
So it had been, at the tender age of six, she had made an unconscious decision to stick by Brad no matter what the sacrifice, for no reason she understood at the time. There was an unspoken bond. They had understood each other without words of explanation. She missed that .
Tears filled Emma’s eyes, and she wiped them against her sleeve, as she entered the front door. She looked about the front room for what might be the last time.
Lucas and Tommy and Amy were sitting at the dining room table going over what appeared to be formal bid on the house. Tommy acknowledged Emma’s presence with a brief nod and then looked away. Amy did not bother to speak. Lucas looked up and smiled warmly.
“Come join us, Emma. Tommy here brought us a bid on of the house." Something was off with his tone, and when his eyes locked into hers, Emma could see a fire smoldering and ready to spark.
“First of all, Lucas,” said Tommy. “I regret what I said to all of you outside of Ruby’s Diner.”
“I figure you were most likely frustrated and on edge. I mean...nobody likes to get a butt whooping in front of half the town. It's mighty embarrassing I bet.”
Emma sat down beside her father and looked at him quizzically, trying to understand what he was up to. What was up with that conciliatory tone attached to a stinger?
“I’m glad both of you are here,” Lucas said to the Walkers. “There’s something I want to ask you about.” Lucas opened the drawer in the buffet and showed them the broken necklace.
“What is that, Dad?”
“I was trying to spare you this, Emma but looks like I wont be able to.” Then he turned to Tommy. “Do you recognize this?”
Tommy turned bloodless. “No...no.. I’ve never seen it before in my life.”
“I remember that you wore it in high school, Tommy,” said Emma.
“No Emma, you must be mistaken,” said Tommy. “You aren’t thinking straight. You've been under mental stress. Everybody knows.”
Amy gave her husband a cautionary glance: “Tommy, how could you forget. It’s the other part of our old sweetheart set. It’s yours...the one with my name on it. Might as well admit to it.”
Amy fumbled in her purse and brought out her keys on which dangled the matching silver half heart engraved with the name “Tommy”.
“May I see that for a moment?” Lucas asked.
Taking both half hearts together in his hands, Lucas fit the curved edges into each other, perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
“Tommy, that is yours...the one you wore throughout high school,” Amy repeated through clenched teeth.
Tommy jumped to his feet. “Shut up, Amy. Let’s go. This is much ado about nothing.”
“I thought you came to discuss an offer on the house, Tommy,” said Lucas. “Sit down...both of you. We’ll settle our business right now. It won’t take but a second.”
Tommy sat back down and handed Lucas the paperwork .Without reading one word, Lucas tore it into pieces. “Now we’ve settled it.”
Both Walkers looked shell shocked. “But you didn’t look at it,” screeched Amy. “What did you do that for?”
“I don’t need to see the offer to know it’s not enough,” Lucas replied.
Emma reached over and placed her hand on her father’s shoulder. “I’m glad you did that, Dad. This is home. No matter how far I go, its good to know the house will be here for us when we need it, even if for awhile longer.”
Tommy’s face was bri
ght red and his eyes bulged. “You’ve just wasted our time and that of the buyer…and lost out on a huge profit.”
“And you just missed out on an overly inflated commission,” said Lucas. “ This time, it is you and I in the same boat...and I’m not an unsuspecting, naive teenage boy like Ethan was. I’m not some unfortunate woman...like my own daughter...half drowned and deliberately left in cold open water by a so called friend who sailed away...after leaving her to fend for herself. Give me answers on that one will you? Now why did you lie to me about a small thing like a broken necklace, if you didn't know how it got broken and where you were at the time?”
Tommy ran his fingers through his hair and a ring of sweat popped out on his forehead. “I...well...I just forgot after all these years...that’s all. What’s the big deal anyway? What’s your point?”
An angry Amy stared at her husband in wide-eyed disbelief. “You flat out lied, you idiot! You always were dumb. Sometimes you can't get away with a lie.”
“Lucas, how in the world did you come to find it?” Tommy asked.
“Especially since you couldn’t find it? I’ll bet you moved heaven and earth trying! I didn't find it. This dog here did.” Junior had padded into the room and sat looking from one human to another. “This shaggy ol' stray dog dug it up, and how and why he knew to dig only the Lord knows. If I were a superstitious man, I could speculate about it, but I’m a practical man who ignores everything but reason. Right now, Sheriff Clayton's department is thinking of taking another look at what happened that day in ‘96, and they may bring Brad in for questioning...because of your public insinuations. You may want to show up and help them understand that Brad had nothing to do with Ethan’s death... and that the rumors circulating around town came from you...in a moment of reckless talk at Ruby’s Diner.”
September Song Page 10
