“Andy,” Gabriel called to him from the back door, and he heard the floor squeak. He didn’t miss the fear in Gabriel’s voice.
“Stay there, Gabriel.” Andy couldn’t do anything for Aida, and he couldn’t let Gabriel see her, not like this. He yanked out his cell phone as he strode with a heavy heart to the back door, where Gabriel was trying to peek around the corner. He placed his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Outside, Gabriel. Come with me.”
He stood outside with Gabriel on the grass, and the little boy wouldn’t leave his side as he dialed emergency, giving Aida’s address. He was careful to keep his back to Gabriel, to not look at him. When he hung up, he pressed the phone to his forehead, and the boy he thought of as his son was so quiet. Of course, he knew something was wrong, and when he glanced down, there were tears in his innocent blue eyes. All Andy did was lean down and take him in his arms, saying, “I’m so sorry.” And he let him cry.
He didn’t know how long they’d been there, but he figured it was about an hour as they stood outside. He spoke with a new deputy, a stocky blond guy. The coroner was just wrapping up, and they’d taken Aida out the front door. Apparently, Aida had been dead for two days. Heart attack was what the coroner said she suspected. Andy had wanted to call Jed, but he stopped before he finished dialing. He couldn’t do that to Jed. He had Diana to look after, and she was due any day. He’d seen how tired she was. The two of them had been there for Andy and Laura for days, helping to clean up and make sense of the mess his mother had created.
“Andy Friessen?” the deputy called to him from the back door. Andy knew Gabriel was terrified, and he needed to get home, to get him away from this horrid scene that was difficult for most adults to process.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Found something with your name on it.” The deputy gestured for him to come in.
One look at Gabriel’s lost expression had Andy lifting him in his arms. “We’re going home after this, okay? Everything’s fine.”
Gabriel said nothing but rested his head on Andy’s shoulder as he walked into the house behind the deputy. He noticed the rotted piece of meat was now gone.
“We found this on table with your name on it.” The deputy held out a brown envelope, the kind that had bubble wrap inside.
Andy hesitated a second before taking the envelope. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what Aida would have left for him. “I’m taking my kid home now. I gave you my number, so if you need anything, you can call me.”
The deputy flushed with an expression that appeared so much like sympathy as he gazed at Gabriel. “We’re just about done here. I’ll call you after I hear from the coroner, but it looks like she went peacefully.”
Andy could only nod as his throat thickened with emotion. He left, carrying Gabriel out the back door, the envelope in his hand.
Chapter 29
Laura had been awake when he got home. She was in their cozy living room, nursing the babies. Dinner was ready, but he’d long since lost his appetite.
Jenny was in the kitchen, lifting a steaming casserole out of the oven. “My mom sent this over,” she said.
“Thanks, Jenny. That’ll be all for tonight. Why don’t you head on home before it gets dark?”
Gabriel was still in his arms as he held open the door for the young lady as she pulled on her coat.
“What time would you like me to come in the morning?”
“How about ten?”
She nodded and hopped down the steps and toward the path that led to her parents’ neighboring property.
Gabriel’s head was still pressed against Andy’s shoulder and into his neck, and Laura was frowning from where she rocked one of the babies. The other was now nestled in a bassinet beside the rocker.
“What’s going on, Andy? Is something wrong?”
She was so perceptive, and his jaw was clamped together so hard it had begun to ache. He rubbed Gabriel’s back and then set him down.
“Hey, listen, I want to talk to your mom a minute. Can you run upstairs to the bathroom and wash your hands for dinner?” Andy went down on one knee in front of him. Gabriel said nothing, but the sadness in his eyes tore at Andy’s heart. He wanted to make it better, to take away that hurt and put back the joy that had flickered from his eyes and just this morning had lit up his entire face. But he couldn’t. “You’re my big boy. Come on, get going.”
And Gabriel did. He climbed up the stairs, and Andy waited until he was in the bathroom before sitting on the stool in front of Laura. He peeked at his son, who was in her arms and now sound asleep. When he looked up at her, she was watching him with fear and uncertainty.
“Something happened when I went to Aida’s.” He cleared his throat and glanced away to pull himself together.
“Andy, you’re scaring me.” Her voice trembled.
Andy reached over and scooped the baby from her arms, setting him in the bassinet beside his sister. Then he took both Laura’s hands in his. “Laura, Aida had a heart attack and died. I found her in her rocker.”
Laura was crying, and Andy pulled her onto his lap. She must have known she was scaring Gabriel, as she tucked her face into his chest to muffle her sobs. Andy spotted Gabriel hovering on the steps. “Come on down, bud. Your mom’s a little sad. I had to tell her about Aida.” Andy reached out his hand to Gabriel, and the little boy hurried down the stairs and into Andy’s other arm. Laura reached out and touched her little boy’s shoulder, then looked up at Andy with red, swollen eyes.
“Andy, she was all I had for family. She was like a mother to me.”
“I know. But you’re wrong. I’m your family. We’re a family, you and me, Gabriel and Chelsea and Jeremy. All of us, Laura. Aida—I’m so sorry, honey.”
“What’s going to happen to her? Where is she?”
“She’s at the morgue, and I never asked her if she had family.” Andy held Laura and Gabriel and could have kicked himself as he realized he never wanted to get too personal with the staff.
“I don’t know what happened to them, Andy, but I know she told me she lost her family years ago. She wouldn’t talk about it, just said it is what it is. You know Aida; if she didn’t want to talk, she didn’t.”
Andy laughed softly under his breath, but it was far from joyful. There was something about Aida where she could have made him do anything and feel guilty for all of his shortcomings at the same time. She had been the only person he needed to respect him. For the life of him, he didn’t know why it had mattered so much.
“Andy, we can’t leave her there if she has no family who is going to look after a funeral, getting her clothes, burying her, saying goodbye.”
“I’ll handle it. I’ll take care of all the arrangements. I don’t want you to worry about it.” Andy kissed Laura on the top of her head. “Come on, let’s go have dinner.”
Laura slid off his knee, and Andy supported her arm while she stood up. “I’m not hungry, Andy. I don’t think I can eat.”
Andy lifted Gabriel in his arms and stood up. “You have to, Laura; you’re nursing. Come on. I bet you’re hungry, too, Gabriel?”
But he just shook his head. Andy ushered Laura into the kitchen and sat Gabriel in one of the chairs. “Come on, let’s see what’s for dinner. I’m sure once we taste it, we’ll all realize how hungry we are.” Andy lifted the tin foil from the casserole dish that was sitting on a hot mitt beside the stove. “Mmm, shepherd’s pie smells good.”
Laura was looking lost, and her eyes were red rimmed as she stared at Andy.
“Laura, get some plates.” He gestured with his head to Gabriel. It took Laura a second, but then she understood what he was saying, and she nodded and forced a pathetic smile to her lips, grabbing three plates from the cupboard. The three of them picked at their first dinner, which should have been filled with joy, celebration, and excitement but instead was shadowed and filled with the emptiness of the passing of someone they all loved and who had been so much a part of Andy and Laura
.
***
Laura felt an unbearable sense of loss. All the excitement and love she felt for Andy, for their new life, and today—well, her heart felt as if it had been shattered.
She’d bathed the babies side by side with Andy, and she’d nursed them again, and now they were asleep in the bedroom beside theirs. The monitor was hooked up and sat in its holder beside the bed. She was nestled on her side, her hand resting under the pillow, and she listened to the background noises as Andy settled Gabriel and got him ready for bed.
She still couldn’t believe what Andy had done, separating them from his family, starting a new life with just them. It was a dream, but her dream had also included a spot for Aida. She’d assumed the old woman would always be a part of their life.
Laura swiped at the tear that slid down the side of her nose. She felt such a closeness to Andy and was surprised at how he’d become her everything. He was the father Gabriel deserved to have.
“We have to be real quiet. See your brother and sister sleeping? Well, you’re their big brother, and you get to help me look after them and your mom, too.”
“Where’s Aida?”
Laura watched the monitor and held her breath, waiting for Andy to respond. She’d been so wrapped up in her own grief, tired and still recovering from the babies and surgery, that she’d left all this to Andy, but he was making it so easy for her, and she loved him for that, especially for his broad shoulders, which held her and her son up and sheltered them from everything bad.
“Aida is now with angels. She finished what she had to do here. Do you know what happens when you get old and die?” Andy asked her son, and she found herself listening and believing that he knew everything and exactly where Aida was now.
“No.”
Laura jammed her fist into her mouth. Of course her little boy didn’t know what death was. Thank God he’d never experienced it before.
“Well, we all come here, and we all have a purpose, something we need to do. When we’re done, that’s when we leave and go home. It’s a wonderful place, surrounded by angels. And that’s where Aida is. I like to think that she’s watching over us now, happy and smiling because she just wanted our family, you and me, your mom, Chelsea and Jeremy, together and happy. She’s always going to be with you. You have to close your eyes and think of a fun time with her, and she’ll be right there.”
“Can she see us now? Can she come back and visit?”
“No, she can’t come back, but you can see her anytime you want just by closing your eyes and remembering her face, remembering a happy time and how much she loved you.”
Andy must have left the babies’ room, as she couldn’t hear him anymore. She stared at the monitor, her heart full of what he’d said. Laura had never had much faith and had certainly never spoken with Gabriel about angels, except Andy had made her heart lighter by what he’d just said about Aida.
“Hey, what are still doing awake?” Andy strode into their bedroom in sock feet, his blue jeans hugging his hips, his silver belt buckle featured an engraved eagle. He sat beside her on the bed and swept his fingers through her hair.
Laura reached up and linked her fingers with his. “I heard what you said to Gabriel. I never would have come up with that. Do you really believe Aida is watching over us?”
He glanced away and squinted as if trying to think of something to say. “I do, Laura. Aida was a tough old bird, and she put up with absolutely no crap of mine and called me out any chance she got.” Andy pulled his hand away. “Just believe it, Laura. I believe that she’s happy for us and where we are now.”
Laura watched something in Andy she hadn’t seen before. It was love for her, and she truly believed he spoke from the heart by what he said.
He bent down and kissed her. “Go to sleep.”
“Are you coming to bed?” she asked, rising up on her elbows when he started out of the room.
“Not quite yet. I have a few things to take care of.”
“Are you okay, Andy?” He was carrying everything on his shoulders, but there was a shadow in his expression of something heavy, and she could only think it was because of Aida. “I mean, you’re handling all of this, and I want to help, Andy. I’m not being fair to you, letting you handle all of this.”
“You listen to me: I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m looking after you and Gabriel. You go to sleep, because we could be up a few times tonight, and I can only help with part of it.” Andy watched her for a minute before pulling the door partially closed and striding away, and she listened to the squeak of the stairs as he climbed down.
“Thank you, Andy,” she whispered. “I love you so much.” She shut her eyes, feeling the weight of what she’d carried before lift away.
Chapter 30
Andy held the sealed brown envelope in his hand. There wasn’t anything stronger in the house to drink than lemonade, and right now he’d have killed for a shot of whiskey. Maybe tomorrow he’d rectify that, but tonight, as he sat in the kitchen, he slit open the envelope and pulled out a small recorder wrapped with a single sheet of paper.
He unfolded the stiff white paper and recognized Caroline’s logo on the bottom of the page. But it wasn’t his mother’s writing. The clean, neat script was all Aida.
My dear Andy,
If you’re reading this, then something has happened to me. It’s cowardly on my part, but I’ve not been well for a while, and my old body has broken down on me. I don’t have the fight I once did. I lost that years ago. Please keep Laura and dear Gabriel safe, and those precious babies.
I’m depending on you. I know you can do this. I was hard on you, but I could see in you a love for your family that I don’t think you realized was there. Just love them, protect them. That’s all they want.
When Laura left you, she cried for you every night. She thought I didn’t know, as she tried to muffle her cries in her pillow. But I knew. Only someone who’s been there and seen that, who has been beaten down, having lost everything because life decided to kick her in the head, could know what she felt. She’s a good girl, and she loves you. Don’t screw it up!!
Andy rubbed his chin and couldn’t help the laugh that only Aida could bring out of him. Even from her grave, she had a way of kicking him in the ass that he appreciated.
You’ll see that I stuck a little recorder in there. Well, what you do with it is your decision. Only you can decide what to do with this. I’m sorry to sound so cryptic, but no one can tell any of us how we hold someone accountable or whether to forgive and walk away.
There are times when right and wrong isn’t so black and white. Going into war and taking a fight on may end up hurting the ones you love and may not be as simple as you think. Take that from an old woman who’s made every mistake and learned and lived with all the regrets and consequences of her actions.
So when you listen to this tape, it’ll be your choice what do with it.
Bless you, Andy Friessen, and remember, whatever you decide, I’ll not judge you. All I ask is that you’ll forgive me.
Aida
Andy held the small recorder and turned it over in his hand, wondering what the hell the woman had on here. But this was Aida; what he’d come to expect from her was nothing short of the unexpected.
He pressed the play button and adjusted the volume. He could hear kitchen clatter and voices he didn’t recognize, then rustling.
“Aida, you’ve been with this household for how many years?”
Andy felt his heart squeeze at the cold voice of his mother.
“Fifteen years,” Aida said.
“Well, I’m trying to find out how loyal you are, Aida.”
“Loyal. I do my job, Missus Friessen. I cook, and I stay out of your business.”
“Ah, yes, you do that, which I much appreciate. There is one thing. Not much goes on that I don’t know of, and that includes the past and present of anyone who works for me. It’s important for me, shall we say, to stay current. Aida, you were the w
hore of rich man. You got pregnant, and when he found out, he promised he’d marry you, do right by you, the foolish boy, but his family found out and took your child. They told him what he was to do, and you were left with nothing. Oh, you tried to see her, were even arrested. The last time, you served, what…?”
There was a clatter and a moment of silence.
“Ten years of hell on some trumped-up charge.”
“Arizona has quite a reputation, doesn’t it, Aida? What was it like, being locked in a cage twenty-three hours a day?”
“You’re a cruel woman, Missus Friessen. What do you want?”
Andy couldn’t believe what he was listening to, and he felt anger and rage burning on Aida’s behalf. What the hell was his mother doing, digging up dirt on Aida? He didn’t know any of this and shut his eyes at the horrible secret she’d carried, at the hell she’d lived through. He felt for a moment as if he was eavesdropping, and then his rage burned at how this could have happened. What had she been doing in jail? It couldn’t be that easy, but he also knew that when people had money and power, they could make anything happen, especially to someone who didn’t matter. For some reason, Aida had left this for him, and she wanted him to hear it. It was her story, but it was also something that could have happened to his wife. He’d never let that happen.
“If you’re telling me you’ve hired someone to dig out all the dirt and skeletons from my closet, and for what purpose but your own kicks, it’s beyond me, Missus Friessen, but if this is your way of getting rid of me, well, I’ll save you the joy of firing me and bid you goodbye, and I quit.”
“Oh, not so fast, Aida. I don’t think it’s in your best interest, since you violated your parole by leaving the state, even though you left the state—how many years ago was it now, Aida? Do you know what they do to parole violators in Arizona, even after all these years? Since it was kidnapping and extortion, they tend to throw away the key.”
Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES) Page 14
