Odd, but this must be where he could find Ginger.
Max’s palms were slick with perspiration. The last time he saw Ginger, she’d been clinging to Rose’s shoulders, sobbing. It was when they cuffed him after the judge read the verdict.
It would do him no good to stand in the hallway, however. Best to get this over with. Drying his hands on his jeans, he then knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Her voice sounded rich and warm, just as Max remembered. The inviting contrast that had been so opposite of his own mother’s. He’d loved spending time at Rose’s house. True, he wanted to be with Rose, but he also liked being with a family who treated him well and acted as though they wanted him around—for more than just the work he could do, which was what his mom always seemed to care about.
He slowly opened the door and stepped inside. “Mrs. Spelling?”
Ginger sat on a small bed, a bundled blanket cradled in her arms. “Yes?” she asked. “Is it time for the music recital?”
Her hair was snarled and tangled, worn much longer than she used to keep it. Max had never seen her less than perfectly made up, makeup done and clothes pressed. Though her voice might be the same, the disheveled woman before him looked nothing like the Ginger he remembered.
When Rose came to visit her mother every week, it must rip her heart out each time. How could she completely forgive Max until he proved without a doubt that he didn’t do it? Whoever killed Sage reduced Ginger to this.
Choking down emotions, he shook his head. “I’m not sure about a music recital, ma’am. I came to visit you.”
Ginger cocked her head to the side, the first sign of shrewdness crossing her watery gaze. “Do I know you?”
Max froze. This was a bad idea. Anything he said would only upset her. “I—I used to know you...” He shook his head and his stomach twisted with nausea. “I dated Rosemary in high school.”
“Rosemary?” Ginger laughed. “She’s only a little girl. You couldn’t have dated her.” Ginger looked around the room, confusion furrowing her brow. “I don’t know where that girl’s gotten off to. She’s never where she’s supposed to be.”
Rose had warned him that her mother now lived in a fantasy world. He’d have to be more direct.
“It’s me, Max Kensington. I know no one probably told you, but they released me from prison. They found proof I wasn’t the person who killed Sage.”
Tears welled in Ginger’s eyes, but she shook her head. “No. You’ve mistaken my family for someone else. Sage is safe and sound here in my arms.” She drew back the blanket, uncovering the face of a doll and showing it to him. “She’s just fine. She’s...” Ginger gulped audibly. Without warning, she threw the doll across the room. “No! No, no, no, no, no!”
Her screams broke his heart. Max rushed to her side. “I’m sorry, Ginger. I’m so sorry about Sage.” He wrapped his arms around her and she clung to him for a moment before shoving him away.
“You did this.” Her face had turned red and tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “How could you? We all loved you! You were going to be our son!” Her fists pounded against his arms and chest, wherever she could reach.
Max tried to fend her off without grabbing her. “It wasn’t me, I didn’t hurt Sage. I love you, your whole family. I’d never do that. I’m innocent.”
Ginger quit pounding on him, but buried her face in her hands. “Get out of here,” came her muffled voice.
“I wanted you to know that the cops are looking for the real killer,” he persisted. Now that he’d upset her, he might as well say what he came to say. “I’m still in love with Rose, and once the real killer is brought to justice, I want to marry her.”
Ginger dropped her hands. When she looked at him, her eyes were no longer confused. Sorrow etched itself into every stressed wrinkle on her face, and her slumped shoulders and the scowl on her lips spoke volumes about how much pain she felt. “You can’t undo the past as if it didn’t happen, Max Kensington. Sage is dead!”
“I know, and I’m sorry about that. I wish I had stayed with her that night, but she hit me when I said I didn’t love her, and then I left to find Rose.” He stared at Ginger, praying she’d sense the truth in his words, even though he’d said them to her before over eight years earlier. “I would have never hurt Sage. I loved her like a little sister. Julie Barns finally told the truth about what happened that night. Sage left with her, going to her house for a sleepover. When Julie woke up, Sage was gone and she didn’t know where she went or what happened.”
“You,” Ginger snapped. “You’re what happened. Get out of here. Leave me alone.”
“It wasn’t me,” he persisted. “I wish you could believe that. You know me, Mrs. Spelling. I didn’t do this.”
Ginger turned her head toward the wall. “Get out.” Her voice was rough and low, and she began sobbing once again.
He stood and headed for the door. “I’ll find out who really killed Sage and bring them to justice. I promise.”
Without waiting for a response, he left the room and headed to his car. Maybe he’d done more harm than good, but Ginger at least knew who he was and heard what he wanted her to know. Rose said she wasn’t always able to help her mom find reality. Unfortunately, Max had rammed it down her throat.
Maybe that meant there was a chance for her to come back, though. He just had to find the key to make her want to return to reality full time.
Finding Sage’s killer seemed like the answer. He had to do it. For Rose and for Ginger.
***
Rose dumped Gizmo off her lap and ran for the phone. It was Brentwood’s ringtone. Something must be wrong with her mother. “Hello?” she answered breathlessly.
“Is this Rosemary Spelling?” a clipped female voice asked.
“Yes. Is my mother okay?”
“Physically,” the voice assured her. “However, she’s having a rough night and keeps asking for you. Another nurse said you’d probably visit tomorrow morning, but I was hoping you could come out now. We can’t calm her down. All she wants is you.”
Her mother never wanted her. During the rare times she wasn’t hallucinating the doll as her baby, she always wanted Sage. “I’ll be right there.”
Rose slipped on shoes and raced out the door. She floored the truck’s pedal all the way on the curvy road around the lake, making it to Brentwood in record time. Racing up the front walkway, she barged into the hall and headed directly for her mother’s room.
For the first time ever, a nurse was inside tending her mother. Ginger was pacing the room, pushing the nurse away any time she went near. “Get me my daughter. I want Rosemary.”
“Mom?” Rose stepped inside and crossed to her. “Mom, I’m here. What happened?”
“Rose?” Ginger turned around. Her face crumbled when their eyes met and she started weeping. “I saw Max.”
What? This didn’t make any sense. For the first time in a long time, her mother was completely lucid it seemed, but where would she have seen Max?
“I meant to tell you he was released, Mom, but it’s so hard sometimes to talk with you about that stuff.”
“It’s true, then? He’s free?” Ginger sank onto her bed, covering her eyes with one hand as though she had a headache. “Why? Why would they let him out?”
Rose perched on the edge of the bed, taking Ginger’s free hand. “Because he didn’t do it. They had the wrong man.”
Ginger snatched her hand back. “No they didn’t. Don’t go near that boy, Rosemary. He’s dangerous.”
Damn it. Ginger being lucid obviously didn’t mean she’d be ready to forgive Max, no matter how sure Rose herself was of his innocence. Not that it might matter in the long run what Ginger thought about it. It was hard to know how long mental clarity on her mother’s part would last. She could forget by tomorrow seeing Max with the way things had been for her the past five years.
Suddenly, Ginger reached out, grabbing Rose’s hand in a tight, nearly painful grip. “Promise me,” sh
e said, a note of warning in her voice that Rose remembered from childhood. “Promise me you’ll stay away from that boy.”
Rose knew she should just promise and give her mom reassurance, but she didn’t want to lie. “I still love him, Mom. He’s obsessed with finding the real killer so we can be together, but all I want is to be with him, even if the killer is never found.”
Ginger’s lips pressed together tightly and she sniffed loudly. “You’d let him ruin your life yet again? Fine.” She leaned away from Rose and picked up the doll sitting on the floor by her feet. Ginger carefully swaddled it and pressed the bundle to her chest. She turned to the nurse, not looking at Rose again. “Sage and I are tired. I don’t want any more visitors today.”
“Damn it, Mom!” Rose yelled, the frustration she’d been holding in breaking loose. “Stop retreating into your make-believe world. Talk to me about this. I need you to understand my decisions. Max is a good person.”
“Mom?” Ginger looked at Rose and squinted her eyes. Her head tilted to the side and then she shook it very slowly. “I think you’re confused, miss. My baby and I have been living in this room for a few months now. I don’t know your mom.”
“You are my mom. That’s a doll in your hands, not a baby!” Rose ran a hand through her hair, pulling at the roots. “I’m your daughter, Rosemary.”
The nurse approached the bed, shaking her head and pointing at the door. “It’s time for you to leave.”
“I’m going to sleep now,” Ginger proclaimed. “I hope you find your mom, young lady.”
Rose ground her teeth tightly, but stood. It was useless. She couldn’t tell if Ginger was faking or not, but her mom had decided to slip back into her delusions rather than face the truth. Rose followed the nurse into the hallway and closed the door.
“At least you got her calmed down,” the nurse said. “She’d been in a panic for nearly an hour before I called you.”
“She said she saw Max,” Rose said. “How? Did someone visit her before she got upset?”
The nurse shrugged. “Not that I know of. I put her in her room after dinner and she was fine. About an hour and a half later, she started screaming and throwing things around and calling for you. I don’t know what happened.”
Rose closed her eyes, clinging to patience with every ounce of control she could muster. They didn’t even know if her mother had a visitor? What kind of crap establishment was this? If she had more money, she could send her mom somewhere nice, like Woodbridge Manor in Serenity, but that was far out of her price range. It was certainly time to start researching other facilities, however.
When she felt in control of her temper, she looked back at the nurse. “Don’t hesitate to call me through the night if she needs something. I don’t work again until Monday so I’m available all day tomorrow.”
The nurse smiled, a cheerful, fake expression that Rose wanted to smack off the other woman’s face. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, Miss Spelling. Try not to worry.”
Chapter Thirteen
Max paced the small bedroom inside his mom’s house Sunday morning. He’d been up most of the night, worrying. He wished he’d taken Julie’s original advice and gone to Rose to beg for forgiveness. When Rose saw her mom today, she’d find out he was there last night, and she wouldn’t be happy.
He wished Rose could see why finding the killer was so important to him. In fact, he didn’t understand why it wasn’t important to her. She was the one who received a threat on her doorstep. Even if nothing further came of it, that should make her want the truth more, not less.
A light knock sounded on his door. “Max?” his mother called.
“Yeah?”
The door swung open and Sally walked in. For once, a plume of cigarette smoke didn’t follow her. She crossed the room and sat on the small bed, patting the spot next to her. “Come here, son.”
Max obliged, sitting down, though he couldn’t seem to relax his tense shoulders.
“I heard you in here pacing all night,” Sally said. “What’s wrong? Frank told me things are going great at the garage. People in town are even treating me better than they have in years. So, what reason do you have to be so upset?”
Great. On top of everything else, he’d kept his mom awake with his restlessness. “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I don’t mean to be a bother.”
“It’s no bother.” Sally put her arm over his shoulder, surprising him when she hugged him tight against her side. “I’m your mom. I’m supposed to worry.”
That was funny, in a sad way. Max never remembered her seeming concerned or worried about him. She was always worrying about what people said about her. True, being a single mother hadn’t been easy on her and she did the best she could, but sometimes Max had wished for a different sort of childhood.
“It’s Ginger,” he blurted out. “I went to see her.”
“You what?” The snarly tone Max was used to came back with lightning speed. “Why would you do a bonehead thing like that?”
Max stood back up to resume pacing. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I’m not so sure. She got really upset, knew who I was, and refused to listen to me. I think I’ve ruined things with Rose now. At least, once she finds out about it.”
“You’re still trying to get Rose?” A scowl wrinkled Sally’s face.
“I told you, Mom, I still love her. I want to be with her forever.”
Sally shook her head and crossed her arms. “How in the world did you turn out to be such a romantic? Your dad knocked me up in the backseat of a car and then refused to acknowledge you, and you still think true love exists?”
It wasn’t the first time he’s heard this speech, but for the first time, it had an impact on him. Maybe that was the reason Sally was quicker to show disapproval than love. She had been trying to prepare him for what she saw as the real world. That was such a sad way to live.
He sat back down, grabbing her in a full hug. “I love you, Ma. You know that.”
She kissed his cheek. “Most of the time.”
Not sure whether she was joking or not, Max didn’t respond.
Sighing, she pulled away. “I’m happy you’re so driven to clear your name, but I really think people are starting to forget about it. Everyone seems to be settling down now.”
“Are you telling me to let it go and just start my life with Rose?” He tried to suppress a grin, knowing that would upset her, but wanting her to face the fact that he would be with Rose, eventually.
Sally’s lip curled. “It’s all about that girl, isn’t it? Clearing your name, it isn’t about justice or finding the killer. You just want Rose.”
He didn’t answer. He had probably forced the issue long enough for one day, and didn’t want to completely alienate his mother if he could help it. Sally had made her opinions about Rose clear, and he didn’t need yet another lecture. It looked like their sweet mother-son moment was over.
“Fine, Max. All I can do is offer advice.” Sally stood and headed for the door. “If you decide not to take it, there’s not much I can do.”
***
Rose woke to her phone ringing. She’d slept fitfully, waiting for another call from Brentwood. Glancing at the screen, she saw that it wasn’t the asylum, but Kelsey. “Kel?”
“I need your help,” she said, a touch of desperation in her voice. “Bill’s drunk out of his mind. He opened another bottle of Vodka after I went to bed and drank the whole thing. I don’t want the boys seeing him like this. Can you watch them for a few hours while I get him sobered up?”
Sobered up? That was funny. Rose had only met Bill a few times, but he was always zoned out, barely seeming aware of his surroundings. Rose glanced at the clock, seeing that it was only a little after seven. So much for sleeping in on her day off.
“My mom’s having a hard time this weekend. If Brentwood calls I have to go out there immediately,” she said.
“Please, Rose. I don’t have anyone else. You know that. My mom is at work this
morning, and I can’t let her know how drunk he is anyway. Bill’s in the bathroom throwing up and it smells like a brewery in here. I need help. I’m afraid I might have to drive him up to Madras to get his stomach pumped at the hospital.”
That did sound more serious than normal, and Kelsey was clearly on the edge of panic. “I guess the twins can come out there with me if Brentwood calls.” There was a good chance if her mother did come out of her delusions today, she wouldn’t want to see Rose anyway. “Let me brush my teeth and I’ll be right over.”
“No,” Kelsey said. “I’ll bring the boys to you. I don’t want you seeing Bill like this.”
Rose wrinkled her nose. “If he’s that bad off, you shouldn’t leave him alone.”
“Damn, you’re right. I’ll just send the boys over. They can go that far without me. I owe you one.” Kelsey disconnected the phone before Rose could reply.
Great. Bryant and Tray wouldn’t take long to get to her door. Rose rushed to the bathroom and raced through her morning routine, wishing she didn’t have to skip the shower. The doorbell rang right as she walked out of the bathroom.
Gizmo rubbed against her legs before racing to the kitchen. He was ready for his breakfast.
“Hang on, buddy. I have to let the boys in.”
As though he understood her, Gizmo stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and sat on his haunches.
The bell rang again, and Rose rushed through the living room. She yanked open the door to find the two blond boys standing on the porch. “Hey guys. Early morning, huh?”
Bryant shrugged and opened the screen, walking inside. “We were up watching cartoons when Dad got home.”
Rose narrowed her eyebrows. “Your dad went somewhere?” She’d never heard of that happening before—according to Kelsey, he never left the house. Maybe he was on more than alcohol and found drugs or something, and that’s why he was more messed up than normal.
Bryant shrugged again. “He goes sometimes, but he always comes back in the morning.”
Murderous Lies Page 10
