The Winter People(87)
Katherine turned the ring on her finger, the one she wore above her gold wedding band. Auntie’s ring.
Ruthie’s mother rubbed her eyes. “I followed him out of town that afternoon. I didn’t know what else to do. I thought maybe I could get him to pull over, that I’d find some way to get him to change his mind. I couldn’t let him go back to Boston with those photographs. If he told anyone, if word got out …”
Mom hung her head, her whole body slumping forward, broken. Fawn looked from her mother to Ruthie, then over to Katherine, perplexed.
“He was driving so fast. Maybe if I hadn’t been following so close …”
“You … you saw him crash?” Katherine said, swaying a little in her chair as the weight of the words hit her. She put a hand on the table to steady herself.
Ruthie’s mother nodded and looked down at her hands, lying flat on the table. “He was just ahead of me, going around a bend. He took the corner too fast and just lost control. It all happened so quickly; there was no stopping it.
“I pulled over and ran to his car, but as soon as I got there, I knew there was nothing I could do. He was gone.”
Katherine made a quiet sobbing sound and put her face in her hands.
“His backpack was there, on the passenger seat, beside him. Before I could think about it too much, I reached in and took it.”
Her mother lifted her head, looked right at Ruthie. Her blue eyes were full of tears, but behind them was a look of resolute determination. “I just couldn’t let anyone find the papers he had with him or see the pictures on his camera. I knew I had to hide the papers with the other things up in the cave, where no one would ever find them. You don’t understand what a sleeper is capable of. If word got out, if more were made …” Her mother shook her head. “Can you imagine what would happen?”
Everyone turned and looked to Katherine, waiting. She sat stone-faced, staring straight ahead, into nothing, with dark, hollow eyes.
“I guess,” Katherine said then, standing up, swaying a little, still terribly pale, “we all do what we think is best. Sometimes we make terrible mistakes, sometimes we do the right thing. Sometimes we never know. We just have to hope.” With this, she turned to leave the kitchen, but stopped instantly. “Can you tell me one more thing?” she asked.
“Anything,” Ruthie’s mom said.
“What did he order?”
“I’m sorry?”
“At Lou Lou’s, when you had lunch. What did Gary have?”
Ruthie’s mother looked puzzled, then answered. “A turkey club sandwich and a cup of coffee.”
Katherine smiled. “Good,” she said. “That was always his favorite.”
Ruthie
Ruthie woke up to the familiar and comforting sounds of her mother making breakfast downstairs. There was the smell of coffee, bacon, and cinnamon rolls. She dragged herself out of bed and went down to the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Mom said, voice chipper. Ruthie looked at her mother and around at the kitchen, and just then, for that one moment, she let herself imagine that everything that had happened these last few days had been a bad dream.
Then her mother broke the spell.
“Ruthie,” she said, “I know you’ve had a lot to take in, and I just want you to know that if you have any questions, if there’s anything you’d like me to explain further, I’m here.”
“Thanks,” Ruthie said, helping herself to coffee.
“You know, your father and I saw you as our greatest gift. We couldn’t have loved you more, and it never mattered that you weren’t our biological child.”
Ruthie nodded, felt her face grow pink.
“I’m sorry for keeping the truth from you. And even sorrier that you had to find out everything the way you did.”
Ruthie wasn’t sure what to say.
“And now that you know the whole story, there’s something I need you to think about. I know how much going away to college means to you, and if your mind is set, we’ll find a way to make it happen. But I’m not getting any younger. And someone needs to look after Gertie when I’m not able to anymore. Honestly, I could even use some help with it now—it’s a big responsibility for just one person, and with your father gone, I’m afraid I haven’t been able to give her the attention she needs. She really likes to have someone with her. She gets … lonely.”
Her mother turned back to the stove, flipped the bacon, opened the oven door to check the cinnamon rolls, then wiped her hands on her apron and went on.
“Gertie has always had some kind of … affinity for that closet in my bedroom. When I didn’t come to the cave often enough for her liking, I would find her in the closet. I was so afraid that one of these days she was bound to encounter one of you girls. I finally sealed it shut. Just to discourage her. But that only made her angry.
“When she came for me the other night, there was a rage, a desperation in her eyes that I had not seen before; she thought I had turned my back on her. I had to go with her—I had no choice. I was afraid of what she might do if I refused, afraid she might hurt you or your sister.”
Alice took the coffeepot and moved to top up Ruthie’s coffee, but Ruthie hadn’t yet taken a sip. She refilled her own mug instead, stirred in plenty of milk and sugar.