Beach House Reunion (Beach House #5)(88)

“Cara, wait.”

Cara stopped and turned toward her, underwear in hand. Her face was puzzled.

“It could be hours before they’ll even let us see Cooper. You can’t wait in the hospital with Hope that long.” Cara opened her mouth to argue, but Linnea pushed on. “Second, the storm is coming. You need to get out.”

“There’s time.”

“Cara, don’t wait. Go back to sleep and leave in the morning with David, as planned.”

“I can’t just leave y’all for North Carolina. You’re my family.”

“Hope is your family. Your child.”

Cara took a step closer to Linnea and put her hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. “Linnea, you and Cooper have been my children all your lives. A natural mother couldn’t love you more. I’m going.”

Linnea stepped into Cara’s arms. “A daughter couldn’t love her mother more.”



THE NIGHT WAS as dark as pitch and so humid Linnea could hardly catch her breath. Not the moon, not a beam of light from the stars, could penetrate the heavy cloud cover over the lowcountry. The house next door was dark. John and his mother had left for Columbia with Flo. She suddenly missed John and wished he were with her now. She felt terribly alone in her little car.

Linnea followed the tiny red brake lights of Cara’s car as she drove over the murky blackness of the Connector. It was eerie, like driving into nothingness. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, and she counted the minutes.

The traffic was light at this hour and they made it to the hospital in good time. Though the parking lot was packed, many of the cars belonged to locals seeking high ground in case of flooding. Linnea circled the lot in search of a space, cursing. At last she found a spot that was debatably illegal, but she could just squeeze her Mini Cooper in.

She met Cara and Hope at the entrance. They raced through the halls to the emergency-room waiting area. The few people sitting in the chairs either looked sick or seemed to be waiting for news about someone who was sick. They sat with vacant stares or their heads resting in their palms.

Cara and Linnea went directly to the nurse sitting behind the wide, polished entrance desk, a heavyset woman with a cup of coffee by her side. When she glanced up, her cold eyes revealed that she had seen it all. She promptly directed them to a different waiting room. A security guard opened the door into a wide and long cream-colored hall branching off into a maze of other corridors. They walked in silence, their heels clicking on the polished floors. Linnea’s heart was pounding and she felt each step like she’d run a mile. At last they pushed through a set of heavy doors into a second waiting room. Linnea immediately spotted her mother and father sitting in chairs some distance from each other, neither one speaking, staring into space.

“Mama!” Linnea began running.

“Linnea!”

Linnea felt her mother’s arms around her and held her tight. “Mama,” she cried again. At last she could let the tears flow. “I’ve been so worried.” She took a step back and wiped her eyes. “How’s Cooper?”

“No further word. We’re just waiting.”

Across the room, Cara was talking to Palmer in hushed tones. When their eyes met, he held out his arms. Linnea ran into them. These were the arms she was accustomed to, warm and strong.

“Oh, Daddy,” she cried.

Palmer released her and put his hands on his hips. His face was flushed, his eyes glazed with disbelief, like a man in shock. “This is so terrible. A drug overdose! My son . . .”

“How did he get to the hospital?” Cara asked. “Was he home?”

“No,” Julia spoke up. “His friends brought him in.”

Palmer screwed up his face and looked at Linnea. “Did you know he was using drugs?”

Linnea shifted her gaze to her mother. Julia stared back at her with a sunken, haunted expression. Linnea was filled with a sudden fury. She wanted to scream at her, I told you to watch him! But how could she blame her mother? What had she herself done to intervene?

Cara stepped in. “We all wondered if he was using drugs. I told you we were worried last time I saw you. And you brushed me off. Told me to go home.”

He stared back at her blankly, then his shoulders slumped and he put his hand to his forehead. “I didn’t believe you. Damnation. How could this happen to a family like ours?” he asked, anger seeping into his words. “How could Cooper do this to us?” Palmer paced the room, restless. He stopped before Linnea. “I can’t imagine you doing something like this. You’ve always been a good girl. A real comfort to us.”

“He didn’t do it to hurt the family,” Linnea cried. “He did it because he was hurting. He tried to tell you, Daddy. And you too, Mama.” She burst into tears. “But you didn’t listen.”

Palmer swung his head to pin Julia with his stare. “You knew about this?”

Julia, pale and drawn, had no will to fight. She just turned her back on him.

“Palmer, this isn’t the time for blame,” said Cara. “I’d say this was the time for prayer. Let’s all sit down and silently say our own prayers for Cooper.”

Palmer’s face sagged as if the wind had blown out of him. He nodded in agreement and walked with the stooped pace of an old man to an empty chair.