Page 56 of Two Weeks
By then Alma was right behind him. She found her phone on the desk in the adjacent den and called Vienna. After ten seconds, she clicked the screen. “Nothing.” She stared at him. “Do you have Coach Taylor’s number?”
“Maybe.” He was moving faster now, trying to keep up with his racing heart. “Can you call my phone? I can’t find it.”
Alma was pacing, her heels clicking across the kitchen floor. “It’s ringing.”
The sound was coming from their bedroom. Theo ran to get it and then returned to Alma. They faced each other, Alma waiting while Theo searched his contacts. “Here it is. Coach Taylor.”
But before he could tap the man’s name, before the call could go through, there was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Theo set the phone on the counter and exhaled long and loud. “Thank You, God.”
“She should have texted.” Alma’s irritation was masked with relief.
The two of them went to the front door, but when Theo opened it he didn’t see Vienna skipping up the driveway, waving back at her friends.
He saw a police car.
And in that moment his world stopped turning. Two officers got out of the vehicle and started up the sidewalk. Long before they uttered their apology, the words were written on their faces.
“No!” Alma doubled over, dropping to the floor. “Please, God, no!” Her screams shattered the calm of the night. “Not Vienna! Noooo.”
Theo caught her and pulled her into his arms even while she was still shouting.What happened to our baby girl? Why, God? Why our Vienna?Theo felt the ground shift and as the officers reached the door he and Alma both fell to their knees, crying out, clinging to each other, desperate for this all to be a bad dream.
That was it. Theo held his breath. None of this was real. It was all a terrible nightmare. Vienna was fine. She was just here, dancing in the kitchen and laughing about the encore. Hugging them and kissing their cheeks.
Theo squeezed his eyes shut and held on to his wife, held her with every bit of strength he had. As if by doing so they could somehow turn back the clock. He would heed the bad feeling and tell Vienna not tonight. No one needed ice cream tonight.
And a thought occurred to him. If Vienna was gone, if something had happened to her, then Theo’s life was over, too.
No matter how long his traitor heart kept beating.
•••
ELISE COULDN’T STOPshaking as she stepped out of Cole’s car that Monday morning. The news was too tragic to take in. And as she and Cole walked onto campus it was clear something was terribly wrong. Groups of students gathered near lockers and on the stairs. Many of them were crying.
Lately Cole had been picking her up, and this morning on the ride to school he had shared the saddest news with her. Two girls from their school had been killed in a car accident last night. They were on a five-minute drive to get ice cream when a drunk driver crossed all four lanes and hit them head-on.
At seventy-five miles an hour.
Elise and Cole stopped near the science building and three other kids came and stood with them. One boy put his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Last night everyone thought Jessie was killed, too. Your cousin was supposed to be with them.”
Cole nodded. “We all thought that.” His mom had heard from Jessie’s mother, Aunt Kari, last night. “But at the last minute she didn’t go with them. Too much homework.”
The kid shook his head. “Saved her life.”
A heaviness came over Elise. How could this happen? She knew the girls who were killed. Sarah Jane was in her English class and Vienna sat at the table next to Elise’s during lunch. And of course Elise knew Jessie Taylor because of Cole. Apparently on the dance team Jessie was a special friend to Vienna. Like a mentor.
Something caught Elise’s attention and she turned just as Jessie walked up. Her eyes were red and swollen, empty, like she was still in shock. She set her backpack down as Cole came to her. Jessie stepped into his arms and started crying again. “Cole... they’re gone.”
“Aww, Jessie.” He held her for a long time.
There was nothing to say. The group of kids around them grew until fifteen students stood there, silently supporting Jessie Taylor and sharing the pain of what had happened.
Finally Jessie drew back and someone handed her a tissue. She wiped her face and blew her nose, but her tears didn’t stop. She looked at Cole. “I keep thinking about their parents, how awful it must be.”
Elise listened, trying to imagine. She could hear the missing in her own mama’s voice the last time they’d talked. Jessie was right. This would be almost impossible for the girls’ parents.
Like always, Cole was patient. He had no easy response, no promises or explanations. He only kept his hand on Jessie’s shoulder and listened.
This wasn’t the first time Jessie and Cole had suffered a loss like this. Years ago their aunt and uncle and their four girls had been coming to Bloomington for a family reunion when they were hit from behind by a semitruck. The whole family was killed except for Amy, Cole’s cousin. The one who lived with him.
