“Is everything okay here?” Harriet asked as she came down the last few steps.
“It’s fine,” Joyce said. “I was just trying to coax Brandy into coming upstairs to have some water.”
“I don’t want to go upstairs,” Brandy complained. “Just leave me alone.”
“Could you please bring some water bottles down here?”
Harriet went up and got two bottles of water, wrapped a half-dozen cookies in a napkin and brought it all downstairs. Neither Joyce nor Brandy was speaking, and neither thanked her when she delivered the snack.
“That was weird,” she said when she was at the classroom table again.
“What?” Tom asked.
“When I was going down the stairs, I heard Brandy and Joyce arguing about Duane’s money.”
“Duane didn’t have any money,” Ronald said. “Why on earth would he be sleeping in the forest during a storm if he had the resources to be somewhere safer?”
“I don’t know,” Harriet said. “But that’s what they were arguing about.”
“Come on,” Tom said. “Let’s get this finished.”
“Would you like us to take you anywhere else while we’re in town?” Harriet asked Joyce as everyone helped load the tools back into Carla’s vehicle.
The group had removed the mud from the basement and washed the floor and walls with bleach. They decided to wait for Marjory’s input before bringing the inventory down from the attic.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could we stop by the post office?” Joyce asked.
“Sure,” Harriet said. “Anyone else?”
“The liquor store?” Brandy said, slurring the S on store.
“Got any money?” Ronald asked her.
She didn’t respond.
“Just the post office, then,” Ronald said. “I’ll go to the church shelter to get my things, but then I’ll be moving back to the park. If the power comes on, they’ll be closing the shelter in any case.”
“When the power comes back on, I’d like to have you all over for dinner at my house to thank you for all the work you’ve done,” Harriet said.
“That would be real nice,” Joyce said.
“I’m never one to turn down a meal,” Ronald agreed. “I’m sure Brandy would be happy to come, too.”
“I’ll come back for you in…let’s say…two hours after the power comes back on.”
“Our schedules are pretty flexible,” Joyce joked as Tom pulled away from the curb.
Chapter 23
“You want to go back by Jorge’s on the way home?” Tom asked when they had dropped their passengers at the church and the homeless camp.
“No, let’s let them have their space. What I’d really like to do is go see Scooter.”
Tom was silent for a few minutes.
“I take it Aiden will be there, too,” he said.
“It’s his place of work,” Harriet said. “But that’s not why I’m going there.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself? And be honest.”
“My relationship with Aiden is not at a good place,” Harriet began. “And it has nothing to do with my relationship with you. His sister is trying to con him out of his money.”
“And it’s up to you to solve that problem?” Tom asked.
“I’m his friend.”
“I suspect he and his sister have been dancing to this particular tune for a lot longer than the less than a year that you’ve known him.”
“But he’s more vulnerable since his mother died. His sister is playing on his grief.”
“So you’re going to take his mother’s place?” Tom asked.
“We’re through talking about my relationship with Aiden,” Harriet said, her face turning red with anger.
They made the rest of the drive back to Harriet’s in silence.
He parked in her driveway next to his car.
“I guess I’ll see you around, then,” he said and started to get out.
“Wait, Please.”
He sat back.
“I know I’m not explaining this right, but Aiden is in trouble. He’s angry with me, and I’m not the kind of person who can walk away mad. I need to have some sort of resolution. You knew I was in a relationship with him when you came back to town. I never kept that a secret.”
She started to go on, but he put a finger to her lips.
“You’re right, I’m pushing you, and I said I wouldn’t do that. I just hate to see you so torn up over Aiden-again. Can’t you see? Love doesn’t have to be hard. And I’m not trying to scare you with the L-word, and I’m not saying we’re there now or ever will be, but I like you and I think you like me, and I’d like to see where things might go. No stress, no drama.” When he finished talking, he moved his finger from her lips and kissed her gently.
“Go see your dog and his doctor. Resolve what you need to, and if the offer is still open, I’ll come back here for dinner when the power comes back on.”
With that, he got out of her car and into his own.
Harriet pounded her fist on the dashboard once he was out of sight.
“I do not need this,” she said to no one.
Unwilling to face Lauren, who had stayed home to keep an eye on things, much less Pat and Lisa, she got into the driver’s seat and headed down the driveway and on to the veterinary clinic. The hum of the generator greeted her as she got out.
No one was in evidence in either the waiting room or the adjoining office area.
“Anyone here?” she called. She let herself into the interior hallway and headed toward the socialization room. “Aiden?” she called out again, this time louder.
“Be there in a minute,” he called back.
Harriet went in and turned the heater on. True to his word, Aiden appeared with Scooter and his furry pad a few minutes later.
Aiden looked tired.
He sat down across the small room from her and held his hands out, warming them at the heater.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked when she could no longer stand the strained silence. “I want to talk without you saying anything until I’m finished. If you don’t like what I’m saying, when I’m done, you can get up and leave.”
He held his head in his hands then raked his fingers through his silky black hair.
“Go ahead,” he said finally.
“I know I shouldn’t be sticking my nose in your business, and I’m sorry for that. I just want to say that before I begin. I asked my aunt and Mavis about your mother and her past.”
Aiden stood up, and she could see he was about to argue. She held her hand up to silence him.
“Let me finish before you react,” she repeated quietly. “I asked my aunt and Mavis what had happened in your mother’s past that your sister could be using to try to manipulate you. They told me that she had killed a girl in France.”
Aiden’s face reddened, but he kept quiet.
“She killed a girl in an accident-a tragic, unavoidable accident. The young woman was trying to escape an abusive boyfriend and ran into the street in front of her. There was nothing she could have done. The visibility was poor, and the girl darted out.
“There were witnesses who supported your mother’s innocence, but that didn’t stop the family from dragging your mom through the French equivalent of a civil trial. It was officially declared a terrible, tragic accident.
“Your mother was devastated. Your parents decided to move to America to start over. They had you, and life went on. Your mom never forgot what had happened. That’s why she spent so much money and effort working with women’s charities.”
Harriet paused for a moment to let him absorb what she’d said.
“Carla told me your sister was working on some sort of cut-and-paste craft project in the nursery a few days ago. I’m wondering if she faked some kind of proof to convince you your mother was a murderer-but she wasn’t. Your uncle Bertie is a murderer-there’s no denying that fact-but your mother was not a killer. She was the victim of a tragic accident, just as surely as the girl who died was.”