. .’ Bill said in a warning voice, squeezing his grandson’s shoulder.
‘Let him talk,’ Melissa commanded.
‘This is ridiculous, Melissa,’ Rosemary said. ‘Patrick has just received some wonderful news after all the tragedy of the past two weeks and—’
‘Shut up, Rosemary!’ Melissa said, her gaze not leaving Lewis’s. ‘Lilly left a suicide note, Lewis. She admitted to me it was her who stabbed Dad.’
Rosemary gasped, but Bill remained strangely quiet. Patrick just blinked, his face going pale.
‘It’s time to tell me, darling,’ Melissa said. ‘No more silence. It’s time to tell the truth.’
Lewis’s face crumpled. ‘It was Lilly who did it.’
‘He’s lying,’ Patrick said. ‘Why are you lying, Lewis?’
‘No,’ Melissa said, walking over to her husband. ‘You are lying. You’re always fucking lying.’
‘Melissa!’ Rosemary exclaimed.
‘Don’t deny it,’ Melissa said to Patrick. ‘You lied about Grace, you lied about all the women you slept with.’ She got Lilly’s letter out, waving it about. ‘Why did Lilly feel the need to protect Grace from you? Tell me that, Patrick?’
Patrick swallowed as Bill stared at the letter in Melissa’s hand. Rosemary looked confused.
‘It was because of Joel,’ a voice said from behind them all.
They all turned to see Lilly in the doorway. She looked fragile, pale, but she was standing, her hand on the door frame.
Melissa went to her, pulling her into her arms. ‘Oh, darling.’ She explored her face. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I wanted to find Lewis so I slipped out when a nurse wasn’t looking.’ She turned to her father, her eyes darkening.
‘Tell me what happened,’ Melissa said.
‘Don’t, Lilly,’ Bill warned his granddaughter. ‘Remember what I said? This won’t be good for your mum.’
‘You’re wrong, Grandad,’ Lilly said. ‘Mum can deal with the truth, can’t you, Mum?’
Melissa nodded. ‘I can.’ And as she said that, she realised she could handle anything . . . even the truth. The final, horrible truth.
‘Okay, then here’s the truth,’ Lilly said in a trembling voice. ‘The truth about how Joel died.’
Melissa’s breath became laboured. She held on to her daughter for support.
Patrick struggled to get up. ‘Lilly, no!’
Lilly turned to him, eyes sparking with anger. ‘Shut up, Dad.’ He sank against his pillow and Lilly took a deep, calming breath before turning back to her mother. ‘We went for a walk that morning, the day Joel died. I remember Dad said it might snow so I was proper excited.’
‘For God’s sake, you were only three at the time, how could you remember?’ Bill said.
Melissa gave him a sharp look. ‘You’d be surprised how much kids remember, Bill. And it was certainly a day that would stick in the mind, wasn’t it?’ she said, her voice catching.
Bill didn’t reply.
‘I remember, when we got there, Joel freaked out about something,’ Lilly continued.
Lewis nodded, rising from his chair and going to his mother and sister. ‘Yeah, Joel would do that sometimes. I think he just got so frustrated with being in that chair all day, especially when he saw me and Lils running around having fun.’ He smiled sadly at Melissa. ‘You always knew how to handle it, though, Mum, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah, you’d just hold him tight,’ Lilly said as she squeezed Melissa’s hand, ‘telling Joel you loved him. He’d soon calm down.’ Her face clouded over. ‘But Dad, he couldn’t handle it. He’d get all flustered, sometimes even tell Joel to “shut up, you’re embarrassing me!” Remember that, Dad?’
Patrick put his head in his hands as Bill slumped on to a nearby chair, Rosemary beginning to sob quietly.
‘Dad really couldn’t handle it that day,’ Lewis said, fists clenching and unclenching. ‘I don’t remember as much as Lils, but what I do remember is him shouting at Joel. It just made Joel worse, so Dad must’ve had enough. He left Joel there.’
Melissa glared at Patrick, her whole body trembling with rage. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’
Lilly sighed. ‘Dad told us Joel was going to be a big boy and stay out on his own, just like Grandma Quail did. I heard Joel crying out Dad’s name,’ she continued. ‘He couldn’t follow us, you see. He could try, but his poor legs . . .’ She put her hand to her face as she started sobbing.
‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking right,’ Patrick whispered.
‘Wasn’t thinking right? Wasn’t thinking right?’ She ran up to him, but Bill held her back, wrapping his large arms around her chest. ‘How could you?’ she screamed at him, tears running down her face. ‘He was our boy, our Joel. How could you?’
‘I didn’t