A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) - Jamie McGuire Page 0,77
and then walked down the hall and out the back door. Jim had decided to wait until everyone left before spreading Thomas’s ashes and warned he would likely wait until just before the boys left. He was in no hurry to do something so final and needed a few days to breathe after the funeral.
“What is it?” Trenton asked.
I didn’t stop until we were under the shade tree in the farthest corner of the backyard, near the fence. The boys had carved their initials into the bark; the only difference was the middle letter. The grass was bare in some places, already dehydrated from the Illinois heat. The temperatures were hovering in the mid to high nineties, and the buzzing of the cicadas took the place of the birds. It was too hot to sing, too hot to move. The only breeze felt more like a heater blowing on us than a reprieve. But there we were, outside in a black dress and suit. Beads of sweat had already formed along Trenton’s hairline.
“Something’s not right,” I said.
“I know.”
“You know?”
Trenton loosened his tie. “Something’s off. Travis is acting weird. Abby and Dad are acting weird.”
“Do you think he knows?” I asked.
“Knows what?”
“The reason why Travis is acting so weird. He knew the twins were hotshots. He knew about Travis and Thomas. Maybe he senses something is off, too.”
Trenton shook his head. “I dunno. Maybe.”
“They wouldn’t …” I hesitated. “You don’t think they would …”
“Lie again?” Trenton muttered. “Yeah, I do.”
I tucked my chin and wrinkled my nose, feeling silly for even saying it aloud. “But not about … I mean, you don’t think Thomas is alive somewhere, getting updates about his grieving family.”
“No,” Trenton said. “They wouldn’t do that to Dad. I know you want him to be alive. I do, too. They’ve lied, but they wouldn’t do that.”
“You heard them at the hospital. Liis isn’t going to testify. Mick is missing, so he’s unable to testify. The Carlisis were seen leaving town. Maybe this was all to keep anyone else from getting killed.”
I could see in Trenton’s eyes that he wanted to believe my theory, but even after revealing the truth about Thomas and Travis, to think they were capable of causing our family so much agony was farfetched at best.
“Dad isn’t in great health. Travis wouldn’t risk it.”
“Would Dad want him to?” I asked.
Trenton mulled it over. “Yeah. He probably would.”
“Would Thomas and Travis know that?”
Trenton’s eyes bounced from one point on the ground to another. “Yeah, but …” He sighed, at his limit. “I can’t hope for that, Cami, c’mon! If it’s not true and Tommy is gone, I’ll lose him all over again.”
“Keep your voice down,” I said, reaching for him.
“Why?”
“Because if it’s true, this is all to show the Carlisis that they don’t have to threaten our family anymore. If it’s true, then someone is still watching.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ABBY
I READJUSTED AGAINST THE HARD WOOD of the NICU nursery rocking chair, thanking the nurse when she brought a folded blanket to cushion me. Carter had a few neighbors, meaning we’d made friends with two sets of new parents. Scott and Jennifer’s daughter Harper Ann was born five days ago, and she was experiencing a setback. She’d been struggling hour to hour for the last twelve hours. Jason and Amanda’s son Jake had been born two days after Carter. We were afraid he wasn’t going to make it, but he’d recovered and was nearly as big as our son was. Carter was nursing consistently and gaining weight, so he’d be able to move to the step-down unit soon, and then we’d be able to take him home.
“Morning,” Scott said, passing me to greet Harper Ann. Even though the couples had children in the NICU, Travis had insisted on a full background check. Scott was a former Marine; a half-inch thick, long, curved scar left a crevice just above his ear toward the back of his head, disrupting his silver hair, a scar from a head wound he’d survived in Afghanistan. Travis felt better leaving us alone when Scott was there, and lately, that was a lot.
I nodded to him, patting Carter’s back. Carter let out a strong burp, and Scott and I chuckled.
Scott scrubbed his hands in the sink and then leaned over Harper Ann’s bed. “Hi, baby.” She stirred, and a wide grin spread across Scott’s face. “Mommy’s on her way up. Yes, she is. She’s talking to Gramma and the doctor. She can’t wait to see you.