“Better yet, we’ll unplug the God—the darned thing.” Sean tugged the phone jack from the wall.
Elsewhere in the house, another extension continued ringing, then stopped as the answering machine picked up. The sound of Crystal’s recorded voice was a soft ghost moving through each of them.
Charlie tilted her head to one side, listening. “Mommy,” she whispered.
In the ensuing silence, Sean suddenly felt every nanosecond of his sleepless night. “Let’s sit back down,” he said.
Charlie slid into his lap again, and he found the warmth and weight of her, the cotton-candy smell of her hair oddly comforting. And instantly, he felt guilty for taking comfort in this terrified, hurting child.
Lily poured Cheerios into a plastic bowl and gave them to Ashley. “’Kyou,” said the baby.
“You’re welcome.”
Cameron was still wary, on edge. He perched on his chair as though poised to flee.
The phone rang again.
“Why are so many people calling?” Charlie wailed.
“I’m afraid a lot of people are going to be calling,” Lily said.
“Because of Dad,” Cameron said. “Because he’s famous.”
“Because both your parents have a lot of people who love them and are concerned about you. We’ll ignore the phone and only talk to people we want to talk to, okay?” Lily said.
“Somebody from the highway department is going to be here any minute,” Sean said.
“Why?” asked Cameron. “Are they giving Dad a ticket?” His anger was firming up like epoxy, growing harder by the minute.
“They’re probably going to be asking some questions. It’s standard.” He didn’t finish the thought. Standard procedure in a fatality accident, they told him at the scene. “And they’re sending a social worker to make sure everyone’s cared for. Anyway,” he continued, “we need to call Jane.”
“She might have heard already,” Lily pointed out.
“We still need to call her. And I’ll call my father in California.” He felt light-headed again. How the hell was that done? How did you pick up the phone and say the words Derek is dead. “What about Crystal’s family?”
“Her father’s gone, mother’s in a nursing home,” Lily said. “She doesn’t have anyone else.”
“Grandma Dot is sick,” Charlie informed him. “She doesn’t know who anybody is.”
“She had a series of strokes, and the last one was severe,” Lily explained.
Sean suspected she didn’t want to go into more detail in front of the children.
Charlie’s weight, slight though it was, started to feel heavy to Sean. Her bony little frame pressed into him.
“You should call Jane, then, I suppose,” said Lily.
Something about the directive irritated him. He glanced at the clock and nodded. The morning news might report the accident. He had a thought of Maura. While driving away from the wreck, he’d called her but got no answer. Sean had left a message: Call me the second you get this. It’s important.
She hadn’t called yet.
Lily looked pale and shaken. He could see a brittleness around her, as thin and fragile as a coating of ice around a twig. It wouldn’t take much for her to break. He suspected the kids alone were the reason she held herself together.
He patted Charlie on the head. “I’d better do that.”
She clambered off his lap and Lily opened her arms. “Climb aboard.”
Solemn-faced, Charlie did so, leaning her cheek against Lily’s chest. The kid was crying, not making a sound. Sean found a box of Kleenex and set it on the table by Charlie.
“Me, too,” said Ashley, opening and closing her hands. Sean looked at Cameron. Derek’s boy was lost somewhere, staring out the window.
“Cameron, keep an eye on Ashley while I make this call,” Sean said.
Cameron nodded and put more juice in the baby’s cup.
Sean picked up a slip of paper with Jane’s number and used his cell phone to make the call. How do I do this? he wondered, noticing the shaking of his hand. He forced himself to hold it steady. While it rang, he wandered out onto the patio. He had no idea what to say to this woman, how to break the news to her. He wanted to do this right but he barely knew his brother’s girlfriend. He’d always thought he and Derek would grow closer now that he was back from overseas. He’d thought they had all the time in the world.
“Jane,” he said when her voice mail picked up. “Call me right away, the second you get this message.” He left his number, then took a deep breath as he walked through the patio gate. The world looked exactly the same,