Page 88 of The Night the Lights Went Out
“Were you?” he asked, his eyes boring into hers. But all she could see was her mother’s face, telling a television news reporter how ashamed she was, because she’d raised her daughter better.
She broke away, then ran down the steps to her car, starting it and driving away without looking back, her hand already reaching for her phone and hitting one of the numbers she kept on her favorites list but rarely used. There’d been a time, after her grandfather had died, when her father had tried his best to be the kind of parent she needed. The kind she could turn to in trouble. That had ended with John’s death, when all faith in her had vanished.
Her mother answered on the sixth ring. Merilee almost hung up or asked for her father. But she clung to the memory of how much they’d once loved her. And how much she’d once loved them.
“Mama? I’m in trouble again. Somebody died, and I was there, and the police are asking questions.” She was crying now, tears of fear and desperation, carrying with them the last shred of hope that her parents would realize after all this time that she was still their daughter.
“No, Merilee. Not again. I will not have you do this to me again. We had to move to another town last time because of you. I will not have you shame us again. Please don’t call back until you’ve sorted all this out on your own. We cannot help you.”
The phone clicked and there was nothing to listen to but air. Merilee dropped the phone to clutch the steering wheel, trying to stop her hands from shaking. She suddenly thought of her grandfather and of the maps they’d begun collecting together as proof that everything you loved changed no matter how much you wanted it to stay the same. She thought of Sugar, too, holding on to her woods as if she could keep her past intact, oblivious to the world spinning inexorably and utterly out of control.
Were you?It wasn’t until she was parking her car in front of the police station that she remembered Wade’s question as they’d stood on the porch, and how she’d left him without an answer.
Thirty
SUGAR
Sugar carefully applied her lipstick before picking up the silver tray full of chocolate chip cookies. They were Colin and Lily’s favorite and she was glad she’d had a fresh batch right out of the oven when Wade called to tell her about Merilee being asked to go down to the police station. Nothing like a healthy dose of something sweet to soften the blow of your mother being questioned by the police. Or the death of a friend who had died way too young.
Sugar made her way slowly to the cottage, where Colin sat on the porch steps, watching her approach with his binoculars facing the wrong way. “Hello, Miss Sugar,” he called out as she stopped directly in front of him. “Have you ever noticed how tiny everything is when you look through the other side?”
“No, I don’t believe I have. Although my brother Jimmy used to ask me the same thing. Now, if you don’t want me to spill these cookies all over the porch, may I suggest you take the tray and offer me your elbow?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he stood and took the tray, then helped her up the steps.
Wade looked surprised to see her when she entered the kitchen, where he sat at the table with Lily, her schoolbooks and papers stacked in neat piles around her. “Did you sprint? I just hung up the phone with you a couple of minutes ago.”
“More like lumbered quickly, like a turtle with its shell on fire, I expect, but I wanted to get here as fast as I could. We’ve got work to do.”
He raised his eyebrows as she set about putting several cookies on individual plates and pouring two glasses of milk. “Why don’t you children go take your snack into the living room and watch a video?”
“What’s a video?” Colin asked.
They all turned to Wade. “She means a DVD. I’m sure you’ve got something to watch. Sugar and I need to talk.”
“I’ll pick the movie!” Colin called out, sprint-walking toward the living room while balancing his milk and cookies.
Lily stayed behind, a deep furrow between her brows. “It’s about my mom, isn’t it? Is she going to jail?”
“Of course not,” Sugar said. “The police just needed to ask her some more questions. Sadly, she was there when Dr. Blackford died, so they have lots of questions.” She met Wade’s gaze for a moment. “You can ask your mother more when she gets back. But for now, go take a break. And if you need anything, just let us know. Unless it has something to do with how to watch your movie; then just ask Mr. Kimball because I have no earthly idea how those things work.”
Lily’s lips lifted in a little half smile as she picked up her own plate and glass and followed her brother into the other room.
“I’m worried,” Wade said as she joined him at the table. “I asked Merilee about the rumors. She was married before Michael. Her husband drowned on their honeymoon, which is probably what has fueled the gossip train here in Sweet Apple. Two men drowning while Merilee was present is almost too much of a coincidence to be believed.”
Sugar stayed silent, knowing there was more and that he was debating whether to tell her. “And?”
“And Merilee told me that when her first husband died, a lot of people thought she was responsible.”
“Oh. My.” She’d known there was something. Had known it since back when she’d first met Merilee. But she’d had no idea it was something as big as this. “Did you ask her if she had anything to do with it?”
Their eyes met. “She didn’t answer.”
Sugar stayed silent. She wouldn’t judge, or jump to conclusions, even after all the facts were placed in front of her. Because she knew they rarely told the whole story. “What do you think?” she asked instead.
“I have no idea what to think. The Merilee I know couldn’t possibly be responsible for someone’s death. But I’m not a good judge of character, am I? I once thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Heather.”
Sugar leaned forward. “Does Merilee have any idea who started the rumors? It had to be someone she told.”
