Locust Lane(96)

Epilogue





DANIELLE


They finally gave her back her daughter. Once the judge accepted the confession, they no longer needed Eden. Her body held no more mysteries. As far as the Commonwealth was concerned, her story had been told.

Dermot Costello took it from there, assisted by his son. As Danielle had guessed, he was also named Dermot. He was a carbon copy of his father, cautious and melancholy, with the same barely detectable tic that made him seem like he was always about to wink at you. Despite their comical appearance, the Costellos were competent and caring. There was a sort of grace to their movements and their hushed voices. It made it all a little less unbearable.

More people came to the funeral than she’d expected. There were the usual suspects: her mother and sister, Steve and his daughters. But there were more of Eden’s friends than she’d counted on, more friends of her own, more neighbors and acquaintances. And then there were the strangers. A couple dozen of them, even though she hadn’t made any kind of announcement. Mostly young women, although there were a few slim boys with long forelocks and tight black jeans. Kids who’d allowed their fantasies to become entangled with Eden’s reality. They steered clear of Danielle, sensing that she wouldn’t be sympathetic to their dark dreams.

The Bondurants were there, and not only because they were paying the bills. They truly had grown to love Eden. Betsy was especially afflicted. She’d already gone through this once with her Rick. Danielle wondered if she’d risk it again; draw someone else into her life, a new person to worry about. She doubted it.

Gates was there, as well. Danielle was surprised by that—she thought they’d already said their goodbyes after Christopher Mahoun’s guilty plea. What a grim affair that had been. The boy as frail as a twig; the father not looking any better. Someone had asked if she thought the sentence was too light. She’d merely shaken her head. She’d taken no joy in seeing him sent away. It was too easy, too fast, too absolute. That bad feeling she’d had in her guts from the first was still there, and she was beginning to doubt it would ever go away.

And then there was the mystery woman. She’d come alone. Medium height, auburn hair, dressed beautifully in black. Green eyes that were revealed only after she removed her big sunglasses. She was Danielle’s age, more or less. Well, less. Danielle didn’t recognize her, and yet she didn’t seem to be a total stranger, either. She’d seen her somewhere, if only in passing. She arrived late and sat at the back of the chapel and was the first to approach Danielle after the ceremony, an envelope in her hand.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” she said. “I just wanted to tell you how terribly sorry I am about your daughter.”

“You knew her?”

“She used to walk her dog by my house. She always had the most beautiful smile.”

“That she did.”

The woman handed her the envelope. It felt like there was more than just a card inside.

“There’s something in there you’re going to want to read.”

“Okay.”

“My number’s there, too, if you want to talk. Which you will, I think.”

She held Danielle’s eye for a moment, then turned and hurried to a sporty Rover. Danielle looked at the envelope. “For Eden’s Mother.” She put it in the pocket of her jacket and turned to deal with the other mourners.

She’d gone back to work the day after the hearing. Everybody made a big deal about it but then they registered her attitude toward being fussed over and got back to the business of selling diamond chips to young people rolling the dice on the future. It was good to be working. It kept her from thinking too much about Patrick, at least during the day. Night was another matter. There was no stopping the thoughts at night.

It had been dark when his message arrived. I’m taking care of this now. She hesitated before calling the police. She’d already betrayed him once that morning, by leaving. But her resolve to stay out of this lasted only a few minutes. Gates wasn’t available, so she wound up being put through to Procopio. He hadn’t said much of anything, although there was an urgency to his silence that frightened her.

Suspecting she’d made a mistake, she drove to Emerson. Her fears were confirmed when she pulled onto Fox Chase Lane. There were three police vehicles parked out front, two cruisers and a sedan. There were people on the lawn, Jack Parrish and a blond woman she presumed to be his mother. She kept driving and parked behind Patrick’s car. She looked at the scene in her rearview mirror, not knowing what to do next. But then more lights appeared, a fire truck and a state police cruiser and an ambulance.

She got out of the car and headed toward the Parrish property, where she followed a fence to the backyard. Out back, she walked across tightly cut grass until she was just beyond a roped-off patio. From here, she could see inside the kitchen, crowded with police and EMTs; Procopio and a man she immediately knew to be Jack Parrish’s father. Someone lay on the floor, almost entirely hidden by the kitchen island. The only thing she could see clearly was his loafers, and that was all she needed to see. She stood in the darkness for a while and then left without alerting anyone to her presence.

Over the next few days, she knew she should feel grief and guilt, but what she mostly felt was nothing at all. The part of her that housed those feelings was already full. Instead, she remembered their weekend together. Not the drunkenness or the fevered speculation or the sex. But the moments of tenderness as they lay quietly in his big bed, drowsy but still a million miles from sleep. At some point he said that it had been almost two years since anyone had touched him. He just seemed so grateful to have her hand on his chest, her warm breath against his cheek. She remembered his voice. She wished they’d had more time together, that he could have met Eden. She imagined him listening patiently to her, trying to understand what was going on inside her head. Who knows, maybe he could have figured her out.