Page 76 of The Lost Hours
We both laughed as I helped Helen stand beside me. Helen extended her hand. “Alicia, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. We’ll have to have you and your family to Asphodel soon.”
“Let’s plan on it. And one more thing.” She held on to Helen’s hand a moment longer. “When you open that envelope, I want you to let me know what’s in there. It’s . . . it’s all I have left of my mother, and there’re so many missing parts to her story that I’m a little hungry to learn what I can.”
“I know what you mean, and I certainly will let you know,” Helen said before hugging Alicia good-bye.
We gathered our purses and Helen’s cane, then left among promises to visit again soon. We rode in silence during the short drive to George’s office, where I’d be dropping Helen off, listening only to the whir of the car’s air conditioner. Helen spoke first, her voice thick. “She was married and pregnant, and she’s never mentioned this to anyone before. Dear God.” She shook her head but couldn’t seem to find any more words to convey her surprise and hurt. She turned to face me. “So what do we do now?”
“We go see Lillian and ask her about Freddie. And then we’re going to ask her what happened to their baby.”
Helen nodded, using a knuckle to impatiently wipe under her eyes. She didn’t look at me when she finally spoke. “I think she’s kept quiet all of these years because of me.”
“Because of you?”
“Yes. She and Tucker have always believed that they needed to protect me. Like being blind made me somehow more vulnerable or worthy of sheltering.” She smiled to herself and smoothed her hands over the soft fabric of her dress. “It’s funny really, because I’ve always thought it was the other way around.”
We drove the rest of the way without speaking, our minds focused on the envelope in Helen’s purse, and the untold story of three best friends and the secret two of them had managed to take to their graves.
CHAPTER 22
George dropped Helen off at the tabby house, where he’d spotted Emily pushing the girls in the tire swing Tucker had recently placed in the towering oak tree in the front yard. Helen invited George to stay, but he’d sensed that he’d only delay the confrontation with Lillian and that he might complicate things. He’d kissed her chastely on the cheek when he’d said good-bye, promising to call her later, and she could still feel her skin tingling.
After determining from Emily that everyone else was up at the big house, she took her cane and began tapping her way down the path toward the gravel drive. She heard Tucker and Piper speaking in the front garden near the stone bench where she remembered Malily planting the azaleas. They’d be dormant now, but for Helen they were always in the height of bloom, with showy purple flowers dancing amid the shiny green leaves.
Mardi bounded over to her as she approached and the conversation ended abruptly. Tucker greeted her, then led her to the bench.
“Did you have a nice lunch with George?” Piper asked.
“Yes, thank you. We went to Firefly Café, one of my favorites. And it would have been the perfect date if he hadn’t kept reminding me how bad cigarettes are for my lungs.” She rolled her eyes. “So I told him fine, that maybe I’ll stop. The girls have been wanting me to quit for forever, so maybe it’s time I did.” She kept her hand on Mardi’s head, scratching him behind his ears, and wondering why Tucker and Piper weren’t saying anything. She pictured them gesturing with their hands and eyes and decided to put them out of their misery. “Go ahead and say it. I can handle it.”
“It’s not about George, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Piper.
“I wasn’t thinking anything, actually.” She smiled patiently.
Tucker cleared his throat. “Piper told me about your meeting today with Josie’s daughter. And about the envelope she gave you. Do you still have it?”
“Yes, of course. It’s in my purse. Why?”
Again, Helen pictured the gesturing between Tucker and Piper, amused that they seemed to know each other well enough now to create an unspoken language. It had never been that way with Susan. Susan’s attempts at communication, verbal and otherwise, had never appeared to work. Even with her own children, it was as if she were speaking in a foreign language.
Piper spoke. “Because I’d like to see it first.”
Helen surprised even herself with her quick response. She held up her purse. “Take it, and read it. Malily had first dibs and she declined, remember? Even she wouldn’t argue with that.”
Tucker sounded agitated. “You’re not even going to think about it first?”
“You think that I haven’t been thinking about it all afternoon?” She shook her head. “Haven’t you ever wondered,Tucker, why Malily drinks? Or why the blinds at Asphodel are always closed? Why would Malily, who loves the bright flowers in her garden, choose to live in darkness? She’s punishing herself, whether she realizes it or not. That would be a horrible way for her to die.”
Helen reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his. “And I understand your reluctance, too. Because the closer we get to the answers we’re looking for, the more we’ll understand about Susan.” She leaned against his arm, remembering the brother who’d hung three of her paintings in his office and deserved more in his life than grief and unanswered questions. “Ignoring things never made them go away,Tuck.”
“ ‘Never hesitate when it comes to something you want,’ ” Tucker said slowly. “Malily taught us that, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did.”
Piper took the purse from her and removed the letter. Helen listened as Piper gently ripped the envelope open.
“It’s another news clipping—just like the first.”
There was a brief silence, and then Helen heard Piper sigh.
