Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #4)(97)

Reluctantly, my sister sat down on the oversize chair beside Matt’s recliner. A wicker basket next to the chair was filled with her knitting. I recognized the pattern; it was the prayer shawl the class had knit together. Everyone, even Colette, had finished by now. Everyone except Margaret.

“Lydia told me something this evening that worries her, and it involves you,” Brad said. “I’ll let her explain.”

Both Matt and Margaret turned their attention to me. I looked at Brad, wanting him to do it. But apparently it was up to me. I leaned toward my sister, silently pleading for her forgiveness.

“Alix came to me the other day,” I said after an awkward moment.

As soon as I mentioned Alix’s name, Margaret crossed her arms and averted her eyes.

“You know what she told me, don’t you?” I asked softly.

Matt looked over at his wife, who remained stubbornly silent, her lips pursed, her eyes flashing lightning bolts at me.

This was exactly what I’d feared. “Do you think I care what happens to Danny Chesterfield?” I blurted out, which I’m sure confused my brother-in-law even more.

“What’s that creep got to do with anything?” Matt demanded of his wife.

Margaret ignored him and continued to hold my gaze.

“Don’t you realize you’re putting your entire family at risk?” I cried. “You could end up in prison!”

Matt stormed to his feet. “Would someone tell me what the hell’s going on here?”

Brad stood, too. “Margaret’s trying to hire a hit man to injure Danny Chesterfield.”

The room went completely still as Matt digested those words. Then, as if the weight of this was more than he could carry, he sank into his chair, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Margaret had yet to utter a single word.

Finally, Matt straightened and turned to his wife. “What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice weary and discouraged. There was no anger in his question, only pain and confusion. “Why can’t you let this go?”

For the first time since I’d started speaking, Margaret’s gaze left mine. “I refuse to rest while that man walks around free to hurt someone else’s daughter. Since our justice system has seen fit to release him, I don’t have any choice but to take matters in my own hands.”

“Have you hired someone?” Matt asked, raising his voice, something I was sure he rarely did.

“No.”

“Tell me the truth.”

“I haven’t,” Margaret snapped. “Alix wouldn’t help and I didn’t know anyone else to ask.”

“Did you plan to stop there?” Matt pressed.

Her brief hesitation was followed by a muff led response. It sounded like “no.”

This didn’t surprise me. When Margaret wants something done, she finds a way to make it happen.

Shocking us all, Julia stepped out of the hallway. “Mom! What have you done?”

I’d hardly seen Julia since the attack and noticed the changes in her right away. She’d lost weight and cut her long blond hair. While the physical injuries had healed, I knew she still struggled with the emotional damage.

Margaret responded defensively, a typical reaction when she was caught. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“Yes.” Julia didn’t bother to deny it. “I couldn’t help it. I heard Aunt Lydia and Brad stop by and I was coming to say hello when I heard what you’d done.”

“This doesn’t concern you,” Margaret said resolutely.

Julia almost laughed. “How can you say that? I’m the one who was attacked. I’m the one who was dragged out of that car and thrown down on the road.” She paused to glare at her parents. “I watched cars all around me slam on their brakes. They were trying to avoid running over me. That’s what I dream about, being unable to move, paralyzed with fear on the street. The cars are all racing toward me, and they can’t stop in time.”

“Oh, baby.” Matt stood and put his arms around his daughter.

Julia stifled a sob. “Mom, I can’t deal with your anger anymore,” she cried. “It wasn’t you who went through this. It was me.”

“I can’t stand to see you hurt,” Margaret said, pleading her case. “I hate the man who did this to you.”

“You hate him enough to destroy all our lives?” Julia spun away from her father, hands tightened into fists at her sides. “Your anger isn’t helping me, Mom. Don’t you see that? It’s hurting me. Each and every day I have to deal with my own pain and yours and Dad’s, too. It can’t go on…it can’t.” She covered her face with both hands and broke into heart-wrenching sobs.

Unable to bear seeing my niece weep like that, I joined her parents, putting my arms around the three of them. When we finally broke apart, Julia sat on the ottoman next to her mother. She reached for Margaret’s hand and clasped it in her own.

“It’s time we talked,” Julia said, sounding more adult than any of us.

“I made a mistake,” Margaret admitted in a voice that was barely audible.

“No,” Julia said and shook her head dramatically. “I’m glad you did this, Mom, because it’s brought everything to a head. That’s what had to happen and so far it just hasn’t. Everyone’s so afraid of talking about the…accident and I need that. You and Dad need it, too. We all do,” she said, looking toward the hallway.