Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #4)(53)

Hailey shook her head.

I put on water to make tea. Tea always seemed to calm me and I hoped it would help my niece, too.

“Mom tried to talk to Julia. She said the man’s going to be caught and the police are making an arrest soon.”

That was the same news Margaret had given me. “Did that make any difference?” I asked.

“No.” Hailey stared up at me with tearful eyes. “Julia just kept crying. She tried to stop. I could tell she wanted to, but she couldn’t do it. It’s like…like she’s kept everything inside and then it all just broke loose.” She bit her lip and looked as if she might start weeping again herself.

The tea kettle whistled and I immediately tended to it. I poured the boiling water into a ceramic pot that had once belonged to our mother and added plenty of sugar to our cups, thinking the events of the afternoon warranted it.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” I said, carrying our tea to the table and sitting down next to Hailey.

My niece frowned, as though trying to remember the details. “Julia was home before me and I could see she’d been crying.” She gestured at the tissues scattered about the kitchen. “I asked her if everything was okay, and she said…she said she wanted to die.”

I couldn’t help it; I swallowed a gasp just hearing those words again.

“Julia said…she said everyone looks at her. That’s not true, Aunt Lydia! No one looks at her any different than they did before—she just thinks they do.”

“I know.” I wondered if there’d been any other signs of trouble since the carjacking.

“When Mom got here, Julia started talking about dying again and Mom phoned Dad. When he got here, he said we had to get Julia to a hospital.” She sipped her tea and sucked in a wobbly breath as she made a determined effort to hold in her emotions. “Julia scared me.”

“How?” I asked.

“I think she might’ve done it…She might’ve actually killed herself. She looked so desperate and I think…I think she really meant it. That’s why I called the shop. I was so glad when you answered. I…I—” She shook her head, unable to go on.

“You did the right thing,” I said, trying to comfort her.

“I know.” She held the mug with both hands. “It isn’t right that a strange man could hurt Julia like this.”

“No, it isn’t,” I agreed.

“He broke her arm, but he did more than that. He broke her spirit, too—that’s what my dad says,” she told me in a solemn voice. “Julia isn’t the same person she used to be. I hardly know her anymore.”

I’d seen a change in Julia, too, and I was with her a whole lot less than her family. When it happened, the attack had seemed terrible enough. But I’d had no idea how far-reaching the impact on my niece and my sister would be.

Another two hours passed before the phone rang. Hailey nearly threw herself against the wall in her eagerness to answer it. As soon as she did, her gaze flew to me.

“Aunt Lydia’s here with me,” she said into the receiver. Following that, she nodded a couple of times. A minute later, she said, “Okay,” and hung up. Then she burst into tears. “The hospital’s going to keep Julia overnight—they have her on suicide watch.”

CHAPTER 19

Alix Townsend

“I want to bake my own wedding cake,” Alix said. She looked at her future mother-in-law and Jacqueline, who both sat across the table from her. They were in Jacqueline’s home, and this meeting was one Alix had delayed as long as she dared. The last time she’d been involved in a wedding discussion had been the Saturday she’d gone to the gym with Colette. Susan had already determined the entire menu for the rehearsal dinner. Why, Alix wondered, had Susan even gone through the facade of soliciting her opinion?

Instinctively she knew these two women she loved would try to thwart her on the issue of the cake. Alix had done her best to be amenable, biting her tongue, sweeping aside her natural inclinations. The wedding cake, however, was a different matter. Her professional pride was on the line.

“Alix,” Jacqueline said, sounding sympathetic and conciliatory. “It’s perfectly understandable that you’d want to make your own wedding cake. You’re a baker—it’s what you do.” She gestured vaguely. “But, darling, you’ve got so many other things to worry about.”

“Actually, I’m looking forward to it,” Alix insisted. She practically needed diplomatic training to prepare for this wedding. With tolerance and patience (Jordan’s words, not hers), hoping to inspire unity (again from Jordan), Alix had all but given Jacqueline and Susan Turner free rein. However, with the wedding cake, she was determined to get her own way. She had a very distinct idea of what she wanted.

“You’re going to be far too busy to spend time on the cake,” Susan chimed in, agreeing with Jacqueline.

The two older women had become friends during all of this. Alix was pleased for them both—and alarmed that neither seemed to realize how much they’d alienated her in the process. They had a vision of what they wanted this wedding to be and as far as Alix could figure, she and Jordan were just props. Alix tried to remember that they loved her and were doing this for her and for Jordan.

“Actually, I’d like something to take my mind off things,” Alix said. Every time she had to deal with another aspect of this stupid wedding, her skin started to itch.