Page 105 of A Little Luck
My eyes widen. She says it so simply, so matter-of-fact.
“Are you sure?” Mom doesn’t move, and my fingers still clutch her for dear life.
“Yes.” Gwen straightens, waiting for us to emerge from the hole.
Mom crawls forward to the exit, but I hesitate, trying to process all of this, trying to wrap my brain around what just happened.
“Come out, Piper,” Mom orders.
Crawling, I peep my head out and look up at the two of them watching me with impatience. When I’m finally out they return to each other as if I’m not even there.
“How did it happen?” Mom asks.
“Funny story…” Gwen starts for the stairs leading out of this cellar. “Apparently several people were trying to kill him.”
“Several?” My voice rises.
Mom takes a step, but then she pauses and leans against the wall. She puts a hand on her chest, and I hurry to her, worried she’s having a heart attack or something. But she starts to laugh.
Her eyes squeeze shut, and she bends forward, covering her face with both hands. Her shoulders shake, and she simply stays there. Then she cackles. I’m still reeling and not sure what to do, so I stand beside her, rubbing her back and watching her laugh so hard her eyes water. She’s crying with laughter, and I’m a little scared…
It’s like instead of descending into a cellar, I actually fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland and everything is upside down and not what I thought.
At the same time, I get it.
I totally get it.
Gwen waits quietly on the steps, looking down at her feet as my mom lets it all go.
“It’s over…” Mom hiccups, standing and pulling me in for a hug, silent tears sliding down her cheeks. “Oh, thank God.”
“And everyone else who played a role,” Gwen sniffs.
I look up at her. “Who else?”
Gwen’s eyebrows rise, and she looks down at her fingernails. “Well, I personally made a delicious breakfast bread filled with Wolfsbane. That youngest Jones boy set a trap for him that’s normally used to capture hogs. I have no idea what he was planning to do if he caught him.”
“Raif did that?” I whisper.
“He reminds me of a young James Dean.” Mom pushes off the wall, walking with her arm around me to where Gwen is still waiting on the steps.
“Ben simply shot him in the chest,” Gwen finishes, and we both stop. “He got rough with me at the house, and Ben put an end to it. He’s at the courthouse discussing it with Aiden and that detective now. They’re figuring out what to call it… self defense, or whatever.”
Mom’s eyes narrow. “Ben Cartwright spent the night at your house?”
Gwen wraps her sheer silk jacket tighter over her body and continues up the steps. “I’m not discussing it in front of the children.”
“Wait… You’re sleeping with Bender?” I call after her.
“I have to get to the house and dispose of that banana bread before anyone tries it.” She steps into her waiting truck. “I’ll have to bury it.”
Without another word, she heads down the overgrown drive, leaving the two of us to walk to where I left my car.
“It’s good to have friends,” Mom says, watching her go.
We slowly walk down the narrow road, and the truth of everything I just learned hits me so hard. I think about what I wanted people to say when I told them about my situation.
“I’m sorry I never knew.”