The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,64
she asked. There was an edge to her voice Caroline heard her use only around people she didn’t care for.
He removed his hat and turned it around in his hands as he spoke. “There’s been some trouble down at the lake, and I was hoping you could tell me what you know about it.”
Caroline stood still.
“Did you find that little girl, yet?” Gram asked.
“No, I’m afraid we haven’t. Not yet,” he said. “But that’s sort of why I’m here. I got a complaint from some of the fishermen that a couple of kids messed with their traps.”
Before Gram could answer, Caroline’s mother walked into the kitchen. Her face drained of color, and the hollows in her cheeks looked deeper and darker than usual. If Caroline didn’t know any better, she would think her mother was the guilty one.
I did it, Caroline thought. Not you. She didn’t want to get into trouble, but why was everything always about her mother?
Her mother opened her mouth to say something to the sheriff at the same time Gram clutched her chest and leaned against the sink.
“Gram.” Caroline reached for her.
Her mother rushed to Gram’s side. “What is it?” she asked. “Your heart? Is it your heart?”
Gram kept her hand on her chest and slumped to the floor. Caroline’s mother sunk to the floor with her. “Just hold on,” her mother said, and looked at the sheriff. “Call an ambulance.”
The sheriff shot out the door to radio it in.
Caroline knelt on the floor at Gram’s side. “Gram, are you okay? Talk to me.” She touched her shoulder. “Please, tell me you’re okay.”
Gram didn’t speak. She pinched her eyes closed and kept her hand splayed over her heart.
“Don’t crowd her,” her mother said. “Give her air.”
Caroline did as she was told and sat back on her heels, thinking she did this to Gram. She gave her a heart attack. “Please be okay,” she begged.
Gram opened her mouth, trying to talk.
“Shhh,” her mother said. “It’s going to be okay.”
The sheriff returned and announced the ambulance was on its way.
“You did this,” her mother said to him, and glanced at Caroline as though she read her mind, letting her know she wasn’t to blame.
The sheriff stood perfectly still, his face void of emotion. And Caroline hated him for not showing his concern for Gram, the one person Caroline loved more than anyone.
“Why can’t you leave us alone?” her mother asked him, and turned back to Gram. “Hang on,” she said. “Help is on the way. Hang on.” Her eyes were teary.
Caroline’s own tears dripped from her chin. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her mother cry, and the sight of her tears and Gram on the kitchen floor terrified her.
* * *
Caroline heard the sirens long before the ambulance arrived. The sheriff had gone outside to greet them. Two men in uniforms entered the kitchen with a stretcher. The EMT examined Gram, listened to her heart, took her pulse, and asked her basic questions: her name, age, where she was born. He strapped a breathing device around her mouth and nose. “Oxygen,” he said.
Caroline had been standing to the side, watching, shaking, wiping her eyes. The two men put Gram on the stretcher and lifted her.
“I’ll be right back.” Her mother rushed to Gram’s bedroom to grab her purse and insurance card. While her mother was out of the room, Gram reached for Caroline’s hand.
Caroline leaned in close and kissed Gram’s cheek, her skin was thin and dry. “I love you,” she whispered. “Please don’t die.”
“Stand back,” one of the men instructed.
As she stepped away to let them carry Gram out, she saw a familiar twinkle in Gram’s eye. The next thing she knew, Gram winked at her. Caroline looked around to see if anyone had seen what she had seen, if anyone had been paying attention. But the sheriff had left to get the door, and the two men carrying the stretcher were busy watching where they were walking.
Her mother rushed back into the kitchen with Gram’s information.
“I’m ready. Let’s go,” her mother said.
As the shock wore off, Caroline realized Gram was faking it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
For the first time in Patricia’s life, she lied.
She had told Jo and anyone who asked about her husband, Kyle, that he was a workaholic, that it was the reason he had left her alone at the lake even though Sara hadn’t been found. It sounded cruel and it was, but the real reason wasn’t anywhere close to being kind. For Patricia the real