Page 96 of Her Pretty Words
He holds up a hand, the hard lines in his face setting with disgust. “Comfort the widow. There’s not much else I can do here.” He gets in his cruiser and speeds off.Fucking asshole.
Mrs. Brookes watches me. Her face is absent of despair, and I know it’s only because she’s in shock. Denial tends to come before the more gruesome emotions. It’s the calm before an Earth-shattering storm.
“Do you want to come inside?” she asks from several feet away.
I nod and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I follow her as she slowly walks to her house. I don’t miss the way her hands shake as she opens the door.
The familiar scent of flowery perfume makes it feel as though I’ve stumbled into a memory. The home hasn’t changed a bit since the last time I saw it. It’s hot despite the windows being open. The Brookes clearly still don’t believe in air conditioning.
“Coffee?” she asks in a daze.
“Uh, No thank you.” I stand in the doorway, unable to will myself to go further inside the house that embodies the happiness I experienced before my life changed. It feels like I’m taking a ginormous leap into the past. Macy’s grandma floats around the kitchen, making a pot of coffee. “Mrs. Brookes,” I say.
“Yes, dear?”
“Do you know who I am?”
She stills with her back toward me, a mug in her hand. She slowly turns around with the warmest smile spread across herface. “Of course,” she says. “You’re my new neighbor. We never got the chance to formally meet.” She squints, her eyes moving over my face. “You look familiar.”
“I’m Daniel,” I admit, forgoing the new identity I’ve given myself. “Daniel Wright.”
She smiles warmly. “No kidding! Wow, you look just like your father.” Looking off into the distance with joy, she asks, “How have you been, hon? How is your family?”
I look down, squeezing my fists together.After all these years, I still can’t say it.But the look on my face must reflect everything that was on hers before denial swept it all away, because her fingertips fly up to cover her mouth.
“They’re…gone,” I whisper brokenly. I look up only to see tears filling her eyes.
“No…” she says, shaking her head.
I nod.
“How?”
I clench my jaw. “They were in a car accident.”Same as her husband.
She shakes her head. “When?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
Her frail hand presses against her stomach. “Daniel…”
“It was a long time ago.”
“What about Delilah?”
It feels as though I’ve been gutted at the reminder. “She’s gone too.”
She reaches for the kitchen counter, as though she can’t hold herself up. I quickly move to her and grab her arm, leading her to the couch. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Macy told me you guys moved away,” she says painfully.
“There was a cop car in my driveway the night it happened. The lights lit up my walls…didn’t you guys see it?” I’ve always wondered.
Her misty eyes squint off into the distance and she shakes her head. “I don’t remember seeing a police car, dear.” She sighs. “My husband and I were always sleeping in bed by seven, sometimes seven thirty if we wanted to stay up a little later.”
“Oh,” I say. “And I did move. To Fort Meyers with my uncle. He took custody of me, but my house was in his name, so he’d bring me back here for a week or two in the summers. It was my uncle who told Macy my family moved away. I don’t know why he did, maybe he didn’t have it in himself to tell her the truth.”
“Dear God…” she says dreadfully. “Why didn’t you stop by when you were in town? Macy would’ve loved to see you. Oh, she’s going to be so heartbroken.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what happened… Don’t tell her,” I plead.