birth had brought Ben back into the picture for good.
"The day of the accident," she began, her voice quavering. 'Where was she going?"
Ben looked at her curiously. "You had an appointment with the pediatrician. One of those six-month checkups. The doctor said he had never seen your mother look happier or more beautiful."
"You're sure we were on our way home?" she persisted. "You're positive?" Simon had said that she was on her way to be with him, that the three of them were going to run away together and leave Idle Point and everyone in it far behind.
"Yes," he said. "She stopped at the convenience store for a quart of milk and the chocolate donuts I like. Eb found them in the back seat."
Gracie's knees gave way and she grabbed for a kitchen chair. Truth mixed with lies. Lies mixed with truth. She saw clearly now how much Simon must have hated her. Her birth had put an end to his dreams of a future with Mona. Whatever else her mother had done wrong in her life, in the end she had chosen to stay with the man who had loved her unconditionally right from the start.
Ben helped steady her. "I shouldn't have told you all of this," he said, looking so much older and sadder than he had a few minutes ago. "We weren't saints, your mother and I, not by a long shot, but in the end we found our way back to happiness because of you. You were the one who turned us into a family."
He placed his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and placed her hand on top of his.
"I love you, Graciela," he said, his voice breaking on her name.
"I know," she said, leaning her head against his arm and closing her eyes. "I know you do." She tried to tell him how she felt but the words weren't there. Not yet. But for the first time in her life, she knew it was only a matter of time.
Chapter Fourteen
Ben had headed out around two o'clock to a bachelor party given by his A.A. friends from Bangor. He asked her to tell Laquita that he would pick up the wedding favors from the printer while he was there. Gracie finished the pies around four-thirty. There was something comforting about rolling dough and arranging the strips in a latticework pattern the way Gramma Del had taught her to do. It made her feel connected to family and tradition and after so many years away from home that felt good.
She set the pies to cool on the counter then cast a sharp look at Pyewacket. "You wouldn't would you?" she asked the sleeping feline then set up a barrier just to be sure. Laquita had called awhile ago to say she'd swing by around five o'clock to pick up Gracie so they could shop for a wedding outfit for her which meant Gracie had less than thirty minutes to shower and change.
Apparently there was more to being her father's best man than she had realized. There was wardrobe, for one thing. Laquita had suggested that she wear a variation on the bridesmaid dresses and when Gracie asked where she could purchase one on such short notice, Laquita had laughed and said she'd show Gracie after work.
"Very funny," she said when Laquita pulled up in front of the big house on the hill that evening. A wicked wind drove the rain into the windshield at an alarming rate making the brightly-lit house look like a haven. "The Chases are selling bridal wear these days?"
"Not quite," Laquita said, "but you do need a dress and this is the best place to find one."
"I'm not following you. Don't tell me Mrs. Chase is a seamstress."
"Not that I know of," Laquita said as they both exited the car, "but my mother is."
Gracie felt like the slightly slow third-cousin twice-removed. "And your mother is—"
"Living here," Laquita supplied. "Along with my father, three brothers and my baby sister Storm." Plus three cats, two dogs, and a half-dozen parakeets. "I can't believe nobody told you. It was big news around here for quite awhile."
Gracie tried to imagine the stately mansion bursting at the seams with pets and children but that was more than her brain could handle. She wondered what Gramma Del would think of this remarkable turn of events. Somehow it made sense in a strange kind of way. She would never forget the sight of Mrs. Chase laughing at the