mom admits before walking back to pick up her chair. “He and I went to high school together. I told him about the deal I was hoping to close and he mentioned his company was going to bring in new management. He offered me an exclusive contract to represent his new employees when they went to look for a house. With the two accounts, I would be back on top and your dad wouldn’t have to pull so many shifts.”
“Oh,” is all I can think to say. After all these months of thinking the worst of my mother and the wasted time spent with Felicity instead of Madeline and Daniel, the relief is overwhelming. “Then what’s with the family meeting?”
“That was it,” my mom says. “As your father said, we’ve been going to counseling so we can work on rebuilding the trust that was lost. The last step was for me to come clean with you so there weren’t any more secrets between us.”
“Then you’re good?” Both my mom and dad nod. “Well, two good things came out of today.”
“What was the other?” my dad asks, stabbing his fork into a sauce-covered piece of chicken.
While we eat, I tell them about taking the coffee to the hospital with Daniel. I do not, however, tell them about the woman and her son. I probably will—someday—but for now it feels like a story that isn’t mine to tell.
As we’re clearing away the dishes, the doorbell rings. We all look at each other in confusion. “I’ll get it,” I say.
Kicking my purse out of the way, I open the door to see five or six pint-size ghosts and witches and princesses standing in front of me.
“Trick or treat,” they say in unison.
Right. It’s Halloween, and I forgot to turn off the porch light when I came in. “I, uh, don’t know if we have any—”
From behind me, my mother interrupts, her everything-is-fine voice trumpeting, “Of course we have candy, RJ. I stocked up weeks ago.”
And that’s how, on the day we put my best friend in the ground, I spend the evening passing out candy to hundreds of kids. By the time trick-or-treat hours are over, all we have left are a few plain chocolate bars and a ton of Smarties.
“Why do you even bother buying these?” I ask, picking through the candies and unwrapping the chocolate before popping it into my mouth.
“They come in the mix,” my mom says defensively.
I give her a look that implies that’s not a good excuse. “They taste like chalk.”
My dad picks one up and twists it until the tiny disks fall out in his hand. “I like them.”
“Of course you do,” I say with a groan.
I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but tonight’s been fun. It hasn’t been a typical evening, to say the least, but for the first time in I don’t know how long, I’m not rushing out the door to a party or to hang out with friends. Unfortunately, thinking about what I used to do only reminds me of Madeline and the walls start closing in. I need air.
“Do you guys mind if I take a short walk?” I ask, twisting the dolphin ring around my finger.
“Are you okay?” my mom asks. “You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her. “It’s just been a long day. I need to clear my head.”
My dad reaches for the remote and turns on the DVD player. “We’re going to watch that nightmare movie you like so much.”
I grin. “I’ll be back before the previews are over. Promise.”
Mom looks like she wants to tell me no, but she doesn’t. “Make it quick,” she says as I lean down to kiss her on the cheek.
“I will. Don’t start the movie until I get back.”
Chapter 37
Not sure where I’m going, I head toward the park a couple blocks away. There are still a few groups of kids knocking on doors and their excited cries of “Trick or treat” make me smile. Oh, to be a kid again and not to know that bad stuff is going to happen in your life. I miss being naive. Too bad you can’t turn back the hands of time and do it all over again. There’s that stupid humming again. I take a deep breath of the clean night air. Maybe I should have Mom schedule a checkup with my doctor.
Ahead of me, a trio makes their way up the stairs to another house. The youngest, in a costume that is