Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Everyone in town has said that at one time or another.”
“Fair enough, but I don’t think anyone really believed it. Do you?”
Dad sighs. “I don’t know, son. The older I get, the less sure I am about any fucking thing.”
I simply nod. What else is there to say?
“Tell you what, Brendan,” he says. “I agree with you. We’ll go to the lab Jack suggested, and then we’ll go to Ruby’s lab. We’ll make sure these blood results are correct.”
“Sounds good. What time are we meeting Jack tomorrow?”
“Ten. At the lab he chose.”
“Good enough. Then we’ll head over to Ruby’s lab.” I nod. “Pour me a shot of Peach Street.”
“You got it, son.” Dad prepares my drink and slides it toward me on a bar napkin.
“I had two of these with dinner tonight. Ava and I went to Fortnight. Dinner was delicious, but then we stopped by her house.”
“Yeah, why was that?”
“It was Ava’s idea. She said her mother sounded strange on the phone, so we went.”
“And…”
“And…Ava chose to stay there tonight. That’s about all I can say at this point, Dad. But I can tell you this.” I lower my voice. “Things are developing. I just hope it’s not all bad.”
Chapter Ten
Ava
Wendy’s eyes aren’t open, only fluttering.
“Wendy?” Dad says.
She doesn’t respond.
“Was that…her?” I ask.
“Yes. I recognize her voice. It’s a little different from what I remember, since she’s older now. But that was her.”
“So she’s awake.”
Dad’s lips tremble slightly. “So it would seem. Wendy?”
Again, no response.
“Are you sure she’s awake?”
“I’m sure, Ava. She responded to me. She knows we’re talking about her. She just made a threat against your mother because she knew it would get my attention.” Dad nudges her. “Wendy, open your eyes. Speak to me.”
And again no response.
“Let me try,” I say.
“She doesn’t know you, Ava.”
“She does. She’s been reaching out to me.” I touch her shoulder. “Wendy?”
And again…no response.
I know she’s in there. My father’s right. She made a threat against my mother, and I’m not at all happy about that.
“Wendy…” This time I nudge her shoulder. “Wendy, talk to us.”
Then the lightning bolt…
The same one that destroyed the tower on my card. It appears in my mind, and I know what I have to do.
I nudge her again. “Grandmother?”
Her eyes flutter.
That’s it. Dad called her Wendy. I called her Wendy.
She doesn’t think of herself as Wendy to us.
“Grandma, do you hear me?”
“Yes, child,” she ekes out.
“You reached out to me,” I say. “Why?”
No response.
“Grandma?”
Again, the eye flutter.
“Dad, you should try. You need to call her Mom. Mother. Something like that.”
Dad’s jaw clenches. “I will not. She thinks she can threaten my wife and then have me call her Mother? She can fucking think again.”
I sigh.
I understand. He has all this history with her. But I don’t. I know the stories, but I didn’t live them. So it’s up to me.
“Grandma, please don’t hurt my mother.”
Her eyes flutter again, but she doesn’t speak.
“I know you would never harm Dad or me or Gina. But my mother means everything to me, everything to Dad. Please tell me she’s safe.”
“I never said she wasn’t.”
“But you did, Grandma. When Dad said he didn’t think Mom was in danger, you said, ‘Are you sure about that, Ryan?’”
More eye flutters. Can’t she just open her damned eyes?
“Please, Grandma. Please spare us all.”
“Do you think I’m some kind of monster, Ava?”
Her voice is stronger now, and when her eyes flutter, this time they open.
The fierceness of their blue color overwhelms me. The whites of her eyes are bloodshot, but the piercing blue of her irises…
Unreal, almost. Yet somewhat familiar…
She doesn’t turn her head, doesn’t turn to look at me or at Dad, but her eyes are open now.
“Grandma, why did you reach out to me? What do you want?”
“What I’ve always wanted,” she says, her voice soft with a touch of gravel. “To be a family. With my children. My grandchildren.”
Dad stiffens.
I nod to him, gesturing.
He doesn’t move.
“Tell me what you need, Grandma.”
“I just told you.”
Her eyes close, and she says no more, even after I try speaking to her again.
“She’s asleep,” Dad finally says.
“Are you sure? She appeared to be asleep before.”
“No, I’m not sure.” He shakes his head slowly. “I’m not sure of anything where she’s concerned.”
I rise from my chair, grab Dad’s arm, pull him into a stand, and lead him out of the bedroom, closing the door. “You need to talk to her,” I whisper. “Call her Mom. It’s what she wants. I think you’re the only one who can get through to her.”
“She has another child,” Dad says.
“I know. But you’re Brad’s child.”
He doesn’t respond for a moment, but then he finally nods.
He gets it. But—
“I can’t. I hate her.”
“I know that, Dad. In my way I hate her too. But you’re the only one who’s going to be able to get any information out of her.”