Page 34 of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
“What? Oh my God. Really?” I vault out of my chair and hug her so fast she startles with a laugh.
I hug her again fiercely before I return to my chair. “So you’re finally moving forward.”
“I am. Even after I found out about the money, I kept shifting the goalposts. Wait until I know whether it’s anything serious with Carlos. Wait until I know how much the treatment would cost. Then wait for the actual money to come in. Yesterday, I realized I don’t want to wait. Carlos is out of the picture and the money is coming, and it’s enough. If I wait, I’ll just keep raising more obstacles when the truth is…” She looks at me, her eyes glistening. “The truth is that I’m just scared. I want a baby so much, and I’m afraid the IVF won’t work. Afraid I’m doing the wrong thing for a child, raising one alone.”
“But you aren’t alone. You have a niece, who will be the best nanny and big cousin ever.”
She reaches out and when I extend my hand, she squeezes it. “I know that, Sam, but I also don’t want to give you one more responsibility. One more reason to not go to med school. One more reason to stay in Syracuse.”
I meet her gaze. “I am not going anywhere for the next couple of years. That gets you through the pregnancy and babyhood. Then, yes, I might go off to school, but I’ll come back, and by then, it’d be because I want to, not because you need help.”
“I want you to have your own life, Sam. The way it should be at your age. Out dating. Out with friends. Not working eighty-hour weeks and still barely scraping by.”
“By the end of the summer, that will be in the past.”
When she nods, I eye her. “That wasn’t another thing you were waiting for, was it? To be sure I’d get the money and wouldn’t need any of your inheritance?”
“No, no, of course not.”
She’s lying. I can see that. But I only wag my finger. “Good. And if you were, then I hope making that appointment means you realized I can do this. I can and will stay here until I earn this place.”
She reaches to squeeze my hand again. “I know.”
I’m adjusting in my lawn chair when something catches my eye. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
I rise, squinting at the dark lake. “A light. On the water.”
“That’d be Canada.”
“Ha ha.” Yes, Canada is across the lake, but across from us is cottage country, like here, and it’s nearly fifty miles away. We aren’t seeing lights from that.
I rise and start toward the beach.
“Sam?”
“I saw lights out there last night, and I could swear I just saw another one.” I continue walking, crossing the hundred feet toward shore. “There! Did you see that?”
Gail rises from her chair. “A light, you said?”
“Right.”
“Like a boat?”
I slow as I near the water. I can call this a beach, but it’s hardly the kind of sandy shore where you pop up an umbrella. It’s rough, sand interspersed with driftwood and grasses.
I stand on the edge and peer out. The lake is empty. While the occasional vessel goes by, we’re too far from a marina to see many pleasure boaters. Fishing boats are farther out, and not out at all by this hour. Lake Ontario is calm, water gently lapping at the shore, and I see nothing except ink-black water.
“I saw two lights under it,” I say. Then I peer up at the sky. “Could it be stars reflecting down? Bright ones?”
“Maybe?” Gail moves along the shore, craning to see what I do.
“I don’t see them now.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “Pretty view, though, isn’t it? We should get out for a swim tomorrow.” I glance over at her. “Hey, the canoe is still in the shed.”
Her gaze drops to my ankle.
“Right,” I say. “I can’t leave the property.”
