“Sissy!” Tessa bounded out of the house, her pregnant belly swaying as she angled herself down the front stairs. “What took you so long? I’m starving!”
Sara was barely out of the car when her sister threw her arms around her. The hug turned from a greeting into something deeper, and Sara felt the darkness coming back. She was no longer certain that she could do this for four minutes, let alone four days.
Tessa mumbled, “Oh, Sissy, everything’s changed.”
Sara blinked back tears. “I know.”
Tessa pulled away. “They got a pool.”
Sara laughed in surprise. “A what?”
“Mama and Daddy put in a pool. With a hot tub.”
Sara wiped her eyes, still laughing, loving her sister more than words could ever convey. “You’re kidding me?” Sara and Tessa had spent most of their childhood begging their parents to put in a pool.
“And Mama took the plastic off the couch.”
Sara gave her sister a stern look, as if to ask when the punch line was coming.
“They redecorated the den, changed all the light fixtures, redid the kitchen, painted over the pencil marks Daddy made on the door… It’s like we never even lived there.”
Sara couldn’t say she mourned the loss of the pencil marks, which had recorded their height until the eighth grade, when she had officially become the tallest person in her family. She grabbed the dog leashes from the passenger seat. “What about the den?”
“All the paneling’s down. They even put up crown molding.” Tessa tucked her hands into her expansive hips. “They got new lawn furniture. The nice wicker-not the kind that pinches your ass every time you sit down.” Thunder made a distant clapping sound. Tessa waited for it to pass. “It looks like something out of Southern Living.”
Sara blocked the back door of the SUV as she wrangled with her two greyhounds, trying to snap on their leashes before they bolted off into the street. “Did you ask Mama what made her change everything?”
Tessa clicked her tongue as she took the leashes from Sara. Billy and Bob jumped down, heeling beside her. “She said that she could finally have nice things now that we were gone.”
Sara pursed her lips. “I’m not going to pretend that doesn’t sting.” She walked around the car and opened the trunk. “When’s Lemuel coming?”
“He’s trying to get a flight out, but those bush pilots won’t take off unless every chicken and goat in the village buys a ticket.” Tessa had come home a few weeks ago to have the baby in the States. Her last pregnancy had ended badly, the child lost. Understandably, Lemuel didn’t want Tessa to take any chances, but Sara found it odd that he hadn’t yet joined his wife. Her due date was less than a month away.
Sara said, “I hope I get to see him before I leave.”
“Oh, Sissy, that’s so sweet. Thank you for lying.”
Sara was about to respond with what she hoped was a more artful lie when she noticed a patrol car driving down the street at a slow crawl. The man behind the wheel tipped his hat at Sara. Their eyes met, and she felt herself tearing up again.
Tessa stroked the dogs. “They’ve been driving by like that all morning.”
“How did they know I was coming?”
“I might’ve let it slip at the Shop ’n Save the other day.”
“Tess,” Sara groaned. “You know Jill June got on the phone as soon as you left. I wanted to keep this quiet. Now everybody and their dog’ll be dropping by.”
Tessa kissed Bob with a loud smack. “Then you’ll get to see your friends, too, won’t you, boy?” She gave Bill a kiss to even things out. “You’ve gotten two calls already.”
Sara pulled out her suitcase and closed the lift gate. “Let me guess. Marla at the station and Myrna from down the street, both trying to milk every ounce of gossip.”
“No, actually.” Tessa walked alongside Sara back to the house. “A girl named Julie something. She sounded young.”
Sara’s patients had often called her at home, but she didn’t remember anyone named Julie. “Did she leave a number?”
“Mama took it down.”
Sara lugged her suitcase up the porch stairs, wondering where her father was. Probably rolling around on the plastic-free couch. “Who else called?”
“It was the same girl both times. She said she needed your help.”
“Julie,” Sara repeated, the name still not ringing any bells.
Tessa stopped her on the porch. “I need to tell you something.”
Sara felt a creeping dread, instinctively knowing bad news was coming. Tessa was about to speak when the front door opened.
“You’re nothing but skin and bones,” Cathy chided. “I knew you weren’t eating enough up there.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Mother.” Sara kissed her cheek. Eddie came up behind her, and she kissed his cheek, too. Her parents petted the dogs, cooing at them, and Sara tried not to notice that the greyhounds were getting a warmer welcome.
Eddie grabbed Sara’s suitcase. “I got this.” Before she could say anything else, he headed up the stairs.
Sara took off her sneakers as she watched her father leave. “Is something-”
Cathy shook her head in lieu of an explanation.
Tessa kicked off her sandals. The freshly painted wall was scuffed where she had obviously done this many times before. She said, “Mama, you need to tell her.”
Cathy exchanged a look with Tessa that raised the hair on the back of Sara’s neck.
“Tell me what?”
Her mother started off with an assurance. “Everybody’s fine.”
“Except?”
“Brad Stephens got hurt this morning.”
Brad had been one of her patients, then one of Jeffrey’s cops. “What happened?”
“He got stabbed trying to arrest somebody. He’s at Macon General.”
Sara leaned against the wall. “Stabbed where? Is he all right?”
“I don’t know the details. His mama’s at the hospital with him now. I guess we’ll get a phone call one way or another tonight.” She rubbed Sara’s arm. “Now, let’s not worry until it’s time to worry. It’s in the Lord’s hands now.”
Sara felt blindsided. “Why would anyone hurt Brad?”
Tessa supplied, “They think it had something to do with the girl they pulled out of the lake this morning.”
“What girl?”
Cathy cut off any further conversation on the matter. “They don’t know anything, and we are not going to add to these rampant rumors.”
Sara pressed, “Mama-”
“No more.” Cathy squeezed her arm before letting go. “Let’s remember the things we have to be thankful for, like both of my girls being home at the same time.”
Cathy and Tessa walked down the hall toward the kitchen, the dogs following them. Sara stayed in the foyer. The news about Brad had been brushed over so quickly that she hadn’t had time to process it. Brad Stephens had been one of Sara’s first patients at the children’s clinic. She had watched him grow from a gawky teenager into a clean-cut young man. Jeffrey had kept him on a tight leash. He was more like a puppy than a cop-a sort of mascot at the station. Of course, Sara knew better than anyone else that being a cop, even in a small town, was a dangerous job.
She fought the urge to call the hospital in Macon and find out about Brad. An injured cop always brought a crowd. Blood was donated. Vigils were started. At least two fellow police officers stayed with the family at all times.
But Sara wasn’t part of that community anymore. She wasn’t the police chief’s wife. She had resigned as the town’s medical examiner four years ago. Brad’s condition was none of her business. Besides, she was supposed to be on vacation right now. She had worked back-to-back shifts in order to get the time off, trading weekends and full moons in exchange for the Thanksgiving holiday. This week was going to be hard enough without Sara sticking her nose into other people’s problems. She had enough problems of her own.