Page 35 of Ashes of Us
Danica let out a soft huff, annoyed that he hadn't tried to get in touch with her about that. “Well, were you gonna pay the hospital bill?”
“I was going to offer to help.” He admitted after a minute, looking away from her. “Even if I emptied our retirement savings, I wouldn't be able to do more than that.” He played with the food on his plate for a moment, refusing to look at her. “And I've been mad about how you handled things with the money you got from your inheritance, because if you hadn't gotten it and put it in a trust, none of this would have happened, which is stupid and irrational, I know, but I needed something to focus my anger on, so I guess I saw it as fitting that you would end up using it all on Jasper's hospital bills and funeral.”
Danica took a deep breath, counting to ten so she didn't lose her temper at him. “Maybe your anger should have been directed at the way your son handled things, not at what I did.” She told him coldly, making him flinch. “I put that money in a trust so we would be able to retire early and live comfortably. Your son made plans to redo your garage and renovate your house to make it ours.”
“You're right.” He nodded and hesitantly reached for her hand. “Jasper came around to things after you handed him his ass about his spending habits and he started taking the financial classes. He even brought me to a couple of sessions that helped me with my financial issues. But I've just been so angry at this whole situation, and I needed to direct that somewhere. I was always taught not to speak ill of the dead, so I felt like I couldn't blame Jasper, Amy was a grieving mother, you were the grieving widow and well, I only found out about Lucy and that whole mess the day before we went to court, so I didn't know she was an option.”
Danica blinked in surprise. “Amy never said anything? She just unilaterally decided to do this?”
“Yep.” He nodded slowly, looking devastated and angry with the whole situation. “She knew I would disagree, knew I would put a stop to things, so she stayed quiet and kept me busy at home, digging out all Jasper's childhood stuff out of the basement and attic to 'help her heal' while she handled things with you.”
“Well, that explains why no one was answering my texts and phone calls,” Danica murmured, shocked by how sneaky Amy was.
“Yeah,” Cecil nodded. “She was controlling the narrative and pulling strings together faster than I would have thought possible. Anyway, when I got home last night, Lucy was stillthere. After Ken told us they managed to find a viable sperm, Amy and Lucy got started on phase two of their plan. They informed me that Lucy was moving in, and then they proudly showed me what they had been working on when I was out of the house. They'd turned the spare room into a nursery using all of Jasper's old baby things. It was too much, and I lost my temper. I'm not proud of the things I screamed at Lucy and Amy as I packed my bag, but I said what I thought they needed to hear. The look on Amy's face when I said I was leaving almost destroyed me. She didn't care. She just shrugged and told me to expect divorce papers.”
Danica felt her heart break for him as he ducked his head, and a tear dripped down his chin and landed on his shirt. “Cecil. I'm so sorry.” She squeezed his hand, all her frustration and annoyance melting away at his obvious despondency.
“Thirty-seven years of marriage, gone. Even if she comes around and begs for forgiveness, I don't think I can overlook her actions and take her back,” he whispered sadly. “I think she needs help, I think this Lucy girl has completely manipulated her into believing her lies and delusions, but I need to put myself first now.”
Danica's ears perked up. She didn't want to ask right now, but she made a mental note to ask him more about Lucy's lies and delusions. “Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to.” She smiled reassuringly at him, let his hand go and started eating again, feeling lighter than she had in over a week. “Emilia will be here soon. Do you want to come to the funeral home with us to get things going for Jasper's funeral?”
Cecil nodded, wiping his eyes and giving her a small, grateful smile. “Yes, I would really like that.”
They quickly finished their breakfast and got ready. Emilia didn't look surprised to see Cecil when she got there, soDanica figured news had already gotten out to the rest of the family about Cecil and Amy. She gave him a long, tight hug and told him how sorry she was, without being specific, which Danica could tell Cecil appreciated as they walked to Emilia's Buick Enclave. Danica climbed into the backseat and moved to the middle so she could lean forward between the seats and talk to them, looking around in surprise as they backed out of the driveway. Cecil's Pontiac GTO was nowhere in sight. “Where's your car?”
“I had to leave it behind.” He muttered. “Everything is in Amy's name, and she threatened to report it stolen if I took it.”
“Oh.” Danica and Emilia shared a look in the rearview mirror, silently agreeing that Amy had clearly lost her mind. “Well, Jasper finished the Charger if you want it.” Danica had been trying to figure out what to do with that car since she found it. She didn't want it; it wasn't one of the cars she had on her dream list, but because Jasper had finished rebuilding it by himself, she couldn't bring herself to sell it either, and she knew in her heart he would approve of her giving it to his dad. “Jasper would want you to have it.”
That was it. Cecil completely broke down in the passenger seat, nodding but unable to speak. Danica squeezed his shoulder soothingly, and Emilia opened the center console, pulling out a handful of napkins for him to wipe his face with. They shared another look in the rearview mirror, but didn't say anything, just let him cry it out.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Backlash
Because Danica had already held a celebration of life for Jasper, which most of the family attended, and because they wouldn't be able to have an open casket due to the damage on his face, she decided, with Cecil's blessing, to forgo a wake and do a graveside funeral. Neither she, Jasper, nor his family belonged to a specific church, opting instead to let everyone choose the best way to observe their individual beliefs. Jasper believed in God but wasn't drawn to any of the larger religious institutions, so she knew he wouldn't want a church service or anything like that. Cecil agreed with her on everything she thought Jasper would want, including doing an eco-friendly funeral, which involved minimally invasive burial options, no embalming and a biodegradable casket.
They set a date and time with the funeral home and cemetery. The funeral director went over what they would handle on her behalf, including filing the death certificate with the city and making arrangements with the cemetery, and provided her with a checklist of tasks she needed to complete. They sat together and wrote the obituary, with Danica sending the director her favourite picture of Jasper for it. Then the funeral director let Cecil spend some time with Jasper's bodywhile Danica and Emilia went back to her house to get the clothes Jasper would be buried in.
Danica filled Emilia in on her and Cecil's conversation that morning, and Emilia explained that it was Jasper's Aunt Geri who had posted in the group chat that Amy kicked Cecil out. Geri might have been Cecil's younger sister, but she was Amy's best friend and was firmly in her corner. When almost everyone came back saying Cecil was in the right, she had removed herself and blocked everyone.
“Well, Geri always was batshit crazy,” Danica murmured. She had never gotten along with the woman, who was permanently stuck in the 1950s and believed that men were supposed to work and provide for their families while women stayed home to raise the children and manage the household. She had been appalled that Danica not only had a career that she refused to leave instead of staying barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, but that she worked on cars in her spare time, calling her hobby undignified and unladylike. Amy wasn't quite as bad as that, going back to school when Jasper went to high school and getting her accountants certification, working part-time as a tax advisor and handling the books in her husband's garage, but she had expected Danica to quit her job and look after the children when they had them.
“Yeah, no one was really sorry to see her go,” Emilia admitted. “I did find out through the grapevine that they haven't hired a private investigator, but they plan to subpoena Jasper's therapist and your marriage counsellor to take the stand.”
“That's gonna backfire spectacularly.” Danica grinned as she put down the window and tilted her head toward it, enjoying the feel of the warm summer air on her face. “Well, the couple's therapist will for sure, I have no idea what he was telling his therapist.” Her smile faded for a moment, but she remindedherself that Jasper had been dedicated to repairing the marriage and had assured her countless times he wanted them to get back to normal.
“He was using therapy as a way to improve himself for you, Danica,” Emilia said, frowning as she put up Danica's window from her side. “I know you're not used to having air conditioning, but it doesn't work if you put the windows down.”
Danica rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. AC was an expensive option when her cars were first made, and out of the three of them, only the Firebird, the car she drove the least, had it installed. It wasn't a big deal to her; she preferred not having it because she found it dried out and irritated her skin. However, Emilia ran hot and loved her AC; her car even had cooling options in the seats, something Danica thought was ridiculous until she sat on Emilia's leather seats on a hot summer day in a tank top. “Alright, sorry.”
“Anyway, I agree, subpoenaing your therapists will backfire, but they don't have a lot of choice in the matter. They're clinging to any hope they can find about proving Jasper wanted to keep the baby.” Emilia reached out and turned the AC up a little, and Danica immediately reached out and turned it all the way down on her side. There were some features on modern cars that she would make an exception to her rule about keeping to manufacturers' specs in classic vehicles, and dual climate control was one of them, along with a heated steering wheel and heated seats.
“It doesn't make sense.” Danica shifted so she was facing Emilia, letting her confusion show. “Cecil said Lucy had Amy believing her lies and delusions. Why does she think Jasper would want to keep the baby? Does she really think Jasper was going to leave me and be with her?”
“I think she did and does believe that.” Emilia nodded as she pulled into Danica's driveway. “I think you need to tell Maverick to do some digging into Lucy, specifically into what her relationship with Jasper was like when they dated and what her ex-husband has to say about things.”
“From what I've seen of Maverick, I'm sure he's already looking into that.” Danica rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “But I'll make the suggestion.” They got out of the car, and while Danica dug through the clothes she had left that belonged to Jasper, choosing his favourite jeans and the Boston Celtics jersey signed by the 2008 championship team to bury him in. It was his prized possession, and she knew it was worth a lot of money, but she didn't think he would forgive her if she sold it. It was one of about a dozen items she had put aside, unable to give away because they were so important to him, while Emilia made enough coffee for three thermoses. They dropped off the clothes and picked up Cecil to visit the cemetery, where they viewed the available plots and chose one near a small pond, believing it was where he would want to be.
Cecil received a text from Amy as they were leaving, which was a single picture of his belongings on the front lawn and no other explanation. Panicking because he could see the box that he kept his parents' wedding rings and heirloom pocket watch in on top of the pile, they left the cemetery immediately and made the drive to Dedham as quickly as Emilia felt comfortable going. Luckily, the area Cecil and Amy lived in wasn't on a main street, so everything was still there when they arrived. Amy's car was gone, and no one answered the door when Cecil banged on it, so they didn't have to deal with her or Lucy. He had made a few phone calls on the drive over, and soon everyone in the family with a truck or trailer had arrived and begun loading up with everything from the garage and the lawn.
