26

Beth ran to her mother’s house and shoved the door open “Mom, come quick. Kelli just passed out.” Even as she yelled these words, she already had out her cell phone and was dialing 9-1-1.

“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”

“My friend just fainted. She’s lying in my mother’s front yard.” Beth ran back toward Kelli and saw that she was awake and trying to sit up.

“All right, I’ll dispatch an ambulance. What is your mother’s address?”

“875 North Fairfield.” Beth hurried back to Kelli’s side as she was beginning to move around. “Stay down. Help is on the way.”

Kelli’s eyes popped wide open. “No, I’m fine. Please tell them I’m fine.” She sat up then, but her skin was pale. “Really, there is no need for an ambulance.”

“Kelli, you passed out. Something is wrong.”

“No, really, it’s just my blood sugar. It happens sometimes. Listen, I truly can’t afford the insurance co-pay of an ambulance ride, and I promise that I am okay.”

Beth did call off the ambulance, but she didn’t want to. Something was wrong, she was sure of it. Her mother stood on one side and Beth on the other, and together they helped Kelli walk inside. Mom had her lie down on the sofa, then brought a cold rag to put on her head. Beth sat on the edge of the couch beside Kelli, concern obvious in her eyes. “Do you need some orange juice? Or maybe a piece of hard candy?”

“No, I’m fine. Really, I don’t need anything.”

Beth didn’t know much about medical things, but she’d had a friend in high school who was diabetic, and she knew that blood sugar didn’t come back up on its own. When Mindy started getting loopy and dizzy, they had to get her some juice or hard candy fast. “But how are we going to get your blood sugar up? We’ve got to do something so you don’t pass out again.”

“Oh . . . right. Yes, maybe some orange juice.”

“I’ll get it.” Beth walked into the kitchen to get the juice, but really she volunteered because she needed a moment to think. She poured a glassful, knowing that something was wrong with this picture. Kelli’s story did not add up.

It wasn’t until later that night that she finally realized what was bothering her. They had just come from having lunch. How was it possible for Kelli’s blood sugar to be low at that point? Beth was more than sure that blood sugar was not the problem.

She wouldn’t say anything to her mother, not yet, but she determined to figure out what was going on with Kelli. That girl was definitely trying to cover something up. But what?

Kelli was sitting in the middle of her mother’s living room. Her real mother! The one she had spent the past twenty-four years believing to be dead. The one who had apparently loved her and grieved for her all these years. She looked around the room, wanting to memorize everything about this place. To know what kind of decorations would have filled the house where she grew up if things had happened like they should have.

Truth was, Alison had a knack for decorating. The tops of cabinets were covered with seashells, brightly colored glass, and boats, and all things summer. Everything in this small room felt homey and comfortable and as if it were placed there with a great amount of love. Kelli was more than a little certain that if she came back in the fall, she would find pinecones, pumpkins, and everything good about the season. Above the mantel, there was a framed cross-stitch with the words Home Sweet Home in blue and red.

Home Sweet Home. It really was. The house smelled of freshly baked muffins and stale coffee. The walls were full of framed photographs of the family, several including the baby version of Kelli, some teenage versions of Beth and her brother, wedding pictures, vacations at the coast. It was the kind of home most kids dreamed about, warm and welcoming and cluttered with memories of love and happiness. But, in the wall of pictures, there was a photo of Daddy, smiling at the camera, holding up a fish he had caught. The very sight of it sucked all that was good from the room, leaving behind only a cold emptiness inside Kelli. A void that could not be filled with any amount of warmth. He should have to pay for what he’d done.

“You need to set some boundaries and hold firm to them.” Denice’s words floated through her mind, but the urge to tell everything was raging a strong war against them.

Beth walked over to the wall, obviously having noticed where Kelli was looking. She smiled at one picture after another, then turned her attention toward some black-and-white photos at the far end. She looked toward her mother. “You know what? Kelli reminds me of Great Aunt Mary when she was young.”

“Really?” Alison moved closer to the photograph in question. “Wow, in this picture from before the wreck, there is quite a resemblance, isn’t there?” She looked toward Kelli. “My husband’s aunt Mary was in a terrible car wreck in her early twenties. Plastic surgery wasn’t nearly as advanced back then, so I never knew her when she looked this way.” She smiled. “Quite amazing.” She sat down beside Kelli and checked the cold rag on her forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine now, just embarrassed. I think I should probably go home and rest a bit.”

“Mom, don’t you think we should call Kenmore and tell him—”

“No!” Kelli leapt to her feet. “No, you can’t tell him about this. He needs me at work on Monday, and I am fine. Like I said, I need to get home and rest a little.” Kelli started for the door, hoping Beth would get the hint and let it all go.

“You’ve got to promise me you’ll call me if anything happens. If you feel sick. Anything.”

Kelli air-gestured an X symbol. “Cross my heart.” She turned to Alison then. “Thank you so much for the orange juice and the hospitality. Sorry to have been such a bother.”

“You weren’t a bother at all. I’m glad the two of you dropped by. Hey, while you’re here, I did manage to track down an old drum set from one of my students. I spoke with his mother, and she said she could drop them off at the duplex for you.”

Kelli shook her head. “Really, that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to disturb Miss Birdyshaw.”

“She told me she’d love to hear it.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not thinking about my kind of drumming.” Kelli took another step toward the door. “Beth, I really do need to be going.”

“All right, but if you’re not going to do drums this summer, we absolutely must settle on a music lesson right now. Sometime in late June?”

Alison shook her head, leaned toward Kelli, and whispered plenty loud for Beth to hear, too. “Why don’t you come over for tea again sometime? We’ll kick Beth out of the place, and if you don’t want to sing, then we’ll just chat, how about that?”

This was an offer Kelli could not refuse. It was guaranteed time alone with her mother. “Sounds like a deal.”

“Great. You’re gonna love it, just you wait and see.” Beth cranked the door handle. “See you later, Mama.”

“Good-bye, you two. Feel better, Kelli.”

But Kelli didn’t feel better. She wasn’t sure she’d ever feel good again.