To Love and to Perish - By Lisa Bork Page 0,83
heart.
Ray swept me out the door. He whispered in my ear as we crossed the parking lot, “Isabelle knows. The wife always knows.”
On the way home, I analyzed Isabelle’s crazed behavior over the last few weeks and her admitted suspicions regarding Jack’s
behavior. She’d been acting completely out-of-character, emotional, irrational, like she’d lost her identity.
And I realized Ray was right.
_____
I kissed Danny goodnight and went into our bedroom to change while Ray tucked him into bed. After washing off my makeup and brushing my teeth, I climbed into bed, welcoming sleep.
Ray appeared in our bedroom doorway, loosening his tie. “Hey, don’t go to sleep yet. Danny wants you to tuck him in, too.”
I threw back the bedcovers and padded across the cold wood floor in my bare feet. It was nice to be wanted, but sometimes it was okay to be left out, too.
“Good night, Danny.” I brushed the hair from his forehead and kissed him.
He lifted up on his elbows. “Can we talk for a second?”
“Sure.” I sat on the edge of his bed.
“My dad has a black eye.”
“I know. Ray told me.”
“He won’t tell me how he got it. He just said not to worry.”
“But you’re worried.”
Danny swallowed and nodded. A tear ran down his cheek. “You promised to help him. Can you bail him out of jail?”
“I could, Danny. I have the money.” I hesitated, then decided to go with the truth. “I’m afraid he’ll run and take you with him. I couldn’t bear to think of you living out of a car again.”
I expected Danny to protest, to claim this would never happen. He said nothing. Instead, he lay back down on the bed. “I understand.”
His calm acceptance broke my heart. I pulled the covers over his shoulders and kissed him again. “I love you, Danny.”
He turned his head away and the covers muffled his reply. “I love you, too, Jolene.”
I thought he might be crying.
In the living room, I curled up on the couch, pulling an afghan around my shoulders as I hugged Erica’s pillow to my chest. When Danny said he understood, did he mean that he thought his father would run? Did he mean his father would take him away, too? Or did he simply mean that he knew I’d break my promise and never take a chance by paying Mr. Phillips’ bail?
How could a twelve-year-old understand when I didn’t?
I read the words on Erica’s pillow again. “I smile because you’re my sister. I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it.”
Such a stupid gift shop saying. But it made me feel better. As her surrogate mother, I had taken every one of her failures and setbacks to heart, wondering what I could have done or what I should have done. In the end, did she really turn out so bad?
Soft sobs filtered through Danny’s door. Although my heart broke, what more could I say to him? Words, in this case, were worthless.
Danny needed to know he was loved, that he’d come first always. Ray put him second when he did his job and arrested Mr. Phillips. He wasn’t wrong to do his job. He just wasn’t right. Mr. Phillips had done the right thing by changing his plea to guilty and put himself at risk for it. Danny had felt lost after the arrest, pulled between us and his loyalty and love for his father. Now he felt afraid for his father’s safety. It wasn’t right.
Another one of the stupid gift shop sayings popped into my head. While Erica’s chosen saying showed up on pillows and plaques, this one usually appeared on wall hangings with seagulls and beach scenes and read something like, “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it was meant to be.”
Stupid. Yet profound.
All night I tossed and turned in bed, sleepless. Ray threw his arm over me again around three a.m. He muttered, “Don’t worry about Isabelle. Everything will be all right. Go to sleep.”
But I wasn’t worried about Isabelle. I was a little worried about him and me—and whether he’d forgive me. Or if he’d even need to.
———
In the morning, I got in my Lexus and drove to the bank, where I withdrew five thousand dollars. Half an hour later at the county jail, I laid it on the counter to pay Mr. Phillips’ bail.
And I set Danny free.
THE END
BOOK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Jolene and Ray had different approaches to dealing with Danny. Do you agree with one more than the other? What did you think of Jolene’s final decision to bail out Danny’s father? What do you think will happen to Danny and his father?
2. Both Isabelle and Cory investigate their partners. What do you think of snooping and spying on a partner?
3. In the end, Jolene and Ray believe Isabelle knew about her husband’s cheating. What would you do if you were Isabelle? What did you think of her husband throwing a grand anniversary party for her?
4. What did you think of Brennan’s father’s reported behavior?
5. Gossip and innuendo swirled around Brennan Rowe, most of it painting him in a negative, false light. Have you ever experienced or witnessed the same? How should it be handled? Why do people generate gossip and innuendo?
6. What do you think of Jolene’s and Ray’s marriage? Erica’s and Maury’s? How are the two marriages alike and different? What do you think their futures hold?
7. Some murder mystery readers prefer the dead body to appear in the first chapter. Some expect two bodies per story. Some enjoy a mystery that delves into the past and reveals secrets. What elements of a murder mystery appeal to you most?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Bork lives in western New York and loves to spend time in the Finger Lakes region. Married and the mother of two children, she worked in human resources and marketing before becoming a writer. Bork belongs to her neighborhood book club, the Thursday Evening Literary Society. Her debut novel, For Better, For Murder, was a 2009 Agatha Award finalist for Best First Novel. The second book in her Broken Vows mystery series, For Richer, For Danger, was released in September 2010, and the third book, In Sickness and in Death, was released in September 2011. For more information, please visit her website at www.LisaBork.com.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Information
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Book Discussion Questions
About the Author
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Information
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Book Discussion Questions
About the Author
Table of Contents
Title Page Copyright Information
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Book Discussion Questions
About the Author