unable to say what needs finishing, or why she feels I’m in need of her vigilant eye. She only knows that she has to see Jake.
I’ll try my best to find him. Maybe he can answer our questions, I say.
Her excitement soars through me like a shooting star, and I’m suddenly afraid of getting her hopes up. Iris hasn’t remembered Jake’s last name. I have no clue how to begin looking for him.
I step from the shower and wrap up in a towel. Downstairs, Cookie barks once, as if calling out a greeting, and I hear a car engine outside. Doubting Mom will answer the door, I dress quickly. But the doorbell never rings.
I’m heading for the stairs when Iris whispers, The window.
The urgency in her tone sends me hurrying to the window at the far side of my bed. I peer out at the meadow across the road where Mom and Ty stand facing each other in the pale spring grass. Mom leans on her cane, her posture rigid. She jabs a hand toward Ty and says something. He jams the hammer he’s holding into his tool belt and says something back.
Mom lifts her cane, takes a step toward Ty, and says something else that sends him walking past her, headed for the cabin. Mom stays in the meadow, watching him.
I exhale the breath I’ve been holding. Iris, what’s happening?
I don’t know.
Dad’s toolbox sits on the ground beneath my window. Ty reaches it, puts the tool belt inside, closes the box, and picks it up. Taking long strides, he starts around to the front of the house.
I run downstairs and throw open the door as he’s rounding the corner. “What’s going on?”
He glances down at the toolbox and mumbles, “I need to put this away.”
I wait in the yard, but when he returns from the storage shed, Ty passes by, heading for his car without uttering a word or even casting a look my way.
Starting after him, I say, “Why were you and Mom arguing? Where are you going?”
He opens the car door and moves to climb behind the wheel, then pauses. “Your mom asked me to leave.”
“She—why?” Anger flares in me. “Did you threaten her, too?”
He looks so sad that I almost regret my harsh question. “I shouldn’t have come back. I don’t want to upset you anymore,” Ty says.
I’m torn between wanting to hurt him, and wanting to throw my arms around him and tell him I’m sorry. “What’s going on, Ty?” I ask, unable to disguise my frustration. “I didn’t let you explain before. Now’s your chance.”
“I’d only make things worse between you and your mom,” he says, sounding miserable. “I hate to leave town like this, but maybe it’s best.”
“Leave Silver Lake? Right now?” He nods, and something hot and sharp explodes in my chest. “I won’t see you again?” I’m surprised that possibility upsets me so much after what he did.
“I should be with my family,” Ty says quietly. “I’m heading back tomorrow.”
“But you can’t! I mean, we haven’t—” My voice breaks. “I don’t even know why you came here.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“You were right about the clothes in the chest,” I say quickly. “It turns out I had a sister who died before I was born. The violin was hers. Tell me the truth. Did you know about her?”
The sound of gravel crunching on the road draws our attention, and we both shift to see Mom making her way toward us. “Come inside, Lily,” she says.
I return my focus to Ty, lowering my voice so Mom won’t hear. “At least tell me if you got what you came for—whatever it was you wanted from us.”
He shakes his head. “No, but I found something else important. Something I’d never put at risk.” Getting into the car, Ty starts the engine, then lowers the window. In a thick voice he says, “’Bye, Lily.”
I watch his car disappear down the road, trying not to cry and wondering what he meant. Was he talking about me? How could his being here put me at risk? I turn to my mother, and my tears slip free. “What were you two fighting about?”
“Forget him, Lily. It’s for the best.”
“For you, maybe, but not me! Dad knew Ty, didn’t he? Did the two of you live in Massachusetts before I was born? Did you come to Silver Lake after Iris died?”
“Lily . . . stop.” Her face crumbles. “I’m not going to discuss this. You’re upsetting me.”