Singer Wellington or her fancy jewelry. I wished I’d never met Leo Walker. He’d disrupted my life and reminded me of all that it was missing, and he’d stolen my courage to trust someone. He was a far worse thief than Dmitri had ever been.
Chapter 31
New Year’s Eve on Wenniway Island was typically celebrated inside at various locations, but this year things were a little different. Gigi had some dead husbands to launch into the sky, and so some of the festivities were being held outside. Bonfires crackled along the beach, the smoke thick and white against the dark sky. Lawn chairs had been hauled out from various sheds, and people wrapped in wool and fleece blankets waited while sipping peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate. On the lake, not far from the shore, sat a boat with an assortment of fireworks. The first to go up would be my grandfather, John Callaghan.
I huddled up next to Chloe with Emily and Ryan on the other side of her. Lilly hadn’t made it back to Trillium Bay for Christmas, and missing her was a sharp pain inside me. I welcomed it, though, because missing her was a nice distraction from missing Leo. She’d sent me a text last week saying she wasn’t ready to give up on Tag yet. Love doesn’t always make sense, her note had said. Maybe it never makes sense, but when it’s good, it’s soooo good. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that because I had nothing to compare it to. Love hadn’t been good to me. Not ever, but if it was good to her, then I was glad.
Everyone was talking and laughing as snow came down in big, fat clumps. My dad arrived to stand next to me. Gigi was in front of us wrapped in a big, downy blanket, a paper New Year’s Eve hat perched on top of her knit winter cap. Gus was standing off to the side, respectfully giving her a chance to say goodbye while surrounded by her family.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Mom?” my dad asked. “It’s not too late to put these guys in the cemetery where they belong. Or we could just, you know, dump them all back into their jars.” I could tell he was teasing. He still didn’t love this idea, but he’d come around to it.
“I’m certain. Your father is going to love this, Harlan. Stop being a party pooper.”
“Ooookay,” he said, and took a hearty swig from a flask in his hand. Moments later the sound of bagpipes floated over the crowd, and up went my grandfather, followed by Bert and Conroy. The swishes and the pops were nearly instantaneous as the pyrotechnics exploded up above. And damn if my grandmother wasn’t right. This was a beautiful shimmering display filling the night sky. I tried not to think about all those ashes floating overhead as everyone oohed and aahed. A bunch of other fireworks went up next, just to make a real show of it. There was applause muffled by mittens and more conversation and laughter. The sky shimmered gold and pink and green. Maybe being sent up into the sky wasn’t such a bad way to go. It really did look pretty.
“I’m thinking about hiring a new assistant deputy,” my dad said as the last firework faded from view and people started making their way to the pubs to welcome the new year in warmth. We were headed to the Palomino. “I have one candidate in mind,” my dad continued. “Seems like a pretty good guy. Maybe you’ll like him.”
I shook my head vehemently at my father’s attempt at matchmaking.
“No, thanks. I won’t like him. Not if he’s Captain America, Tony Stark, and Thor all rolled into one.” Maybe someday I’d give that whole dating thing another try, but certainly not now. Not yet. And anyway, I was busy being mayor.
“Okay,” he said, and let it drop.
We stepped inside the pub, and Gloria hugged me, her belly starting to plump with that Kloosterman baby. There were the Drunk Puzzle Night girls and Emily’s construction crew. Gertie and the O’Douls. Lots of friendly, happy faces. Seemed that everyone wanted to say hello to me tonight, and they wanted to congratulate me, too, because word of the donation had spread, no doubt embellished by Dmitri, and suddenly everyone had a hazy memory of maybe having met Mrs. Wellington here during that nonexistent visit she’d never taken to Trillium Bay. Funny how