strawberries and whipped cream. “So you’re allowing him to risk his real life to save his love life?”
“One has to have priorities.”
That her mother had decided to join in on the joke made Autumn chuckle. “He’s a strong swimmer, Mom. He’ll be okay.” And even if there was trouble, she doubted her mother would be capable of pulling such a large boy—the size of a man, really—out of the crashing waves. “This looks delicious. I bet the kids were excited.”
“Fortunately, I had a feeling they’d request my waffles, so I was prepared.” She sat on the edge of the bed while Autumn ate.
“I found an article last night on what happened to Quinn,” Autumn told her after she’d swallowed a few bites.
“You searched for more information?”
She took a sip of tea and felt a sense of satisfaction as the warm brew hit her stomach. “I did. It kept my mind busy so that I couldn’t focus on other things.”
“Then I’m glad I told you about it. What’d you learn? Did I leave out anything important?”
She was teasing with that last question, but Autumn didn’t react to it. “You didn’t mention that Sarah went to prison for ten years.”
“I knew they convicted her, but I don’t remember hearing the length of her sentence.” She crossed her legs. “That seems excessive, doesn’t it?”
“According to what I saw on the internet, it could’ve been twenty to life. That’s the sentence for attempted murder in New York State. The only reason it was shorter was that it seemed to be a spontaneous act—and even Quinn pleaded for leniency.”
Mary smoothed the coverlet. “I feel so bad for her parents.”
“Do they still live here in Sable Beach?” Autumn used her fork to slide the mint leaves her mother had added for garnish off to one side.
“They do. Her mother’s a big reader, comes into the bookstore quite often.”
“Has she ever mentioned her daughter?”
“Not since the stabbing. But I’m guessing Sarah isn’t an easy subject.”
“And you prefer to mind your own business.”
“I wouldn’t want to make her feel worse. I imagine things are bad enough. It can’t be comfortable having Quinn back in town.”
“Do they blame him for what happened?”
“Who can say? Maybe. It’s hard for a mother to see any fault in her own child.”
“It’s always easier to make a villain out of the in-law. I got a taste of that with Nick’s mom. She was so afraid of losing the number one spot in her son’s heart that she did whatever she could to drive a wedge between us—complained about me constantly.”
“That could’ve been a big problem had she lived much longer than she did.”
“It was hard enough putting up with it for the first five years of our marriage. She almost managed to break us up. It drove me crazy how Nick allowed her to manipulate him.”
“He was just trying to be a good son,” her mother said mildly.
“It was more than that. He defended her against me because he couldn’t see how intentional it all was.” She shoved another bite into her mouth. “So some people are blind when it comes to their mothers, too.”
“Not necessarily,” her mother said.
Autumn was surprised that Mary had disagreed with her. “You and Laurie have always gotten along well with Nana, haven’t you? You’ve never said a bad word about her and love having her and Poppy come all the way from Montana to visit every Thanksgiving.”
Mary stood and crossed back over to the window.
“Mom?” Autumn lowered her fork. “Has something happened between you and Nana?”
When Mary turned, she looked tired and drawn despite her beauty. “No, of course not.”
“So what’s wrong?”
She lifted a hand to her head. “I didn’t sleep well last night—because of the storm—and woke up with a headache. That’s all.”
“Then you should be the one in bed, and I should be bringing you breakfast.”
“Oh, stop. It doesn’t hurt that bad. But I’d better take a painkiller before it gets any worse.”
“Okay. I’ll bring the tray over when I’m done.”
“That’d be great.”
She started down the stairs, but Autumn called after her. “If something was wrong, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
Her mother’s footfalls came to a stop and Autumn imagined her turning to yell back up the stairs. “Of course I would. Don’t worry, honey. Everything’s fine.”
4
Mary took a second to compose herself before opening her own back door. That had been her chance. She could’ve explained what her mother was really like, why Mary had no contact with her, how Laurie, Laurie’s son Jacob,