“Huh?”
“What were you doing in church that day? With the rocks, I mean?”
He squinted, as if there was a glare on the TV. Then he said, “I put them out in front of the Blessed Virgin. It’s just a thing I do.”
“What’s it mean?”
He paused. “Did Aiden tell you about his mother?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “It’s for her. Mostly. She liked them. Rocks and things. Whenever I see one, I pick it up. Usually, I make things out of them. It keeps me busy, now that I’m retired. But sometimes when I feel the need, I go into the church and sit down and try to listen for her.”
“For your wife?” I asked softly.
He shook his head. “For the Blessed Virgin.” He turned his head finally, and looked at me. “Don’t worry, I’m not some crazy old guy who hears voices.” I smiled. “But sometimes, when I wait, she comes. She does. I can feel her. And when that happens, I know Theresa is close by too. And that’s when I leave the stones.” He shrugged. “They’re sort of a thank you, I guess. And a hello too.”
I wasn’t sure if I understood.
But I knew that it was true.
I knew that it was good.
I slipped my hand inside his big rough one, and left it there.
chapter
52
Sophie’s injuries included a fractured femur, a shattered ankle, and extreme hypothermia. When a nurse finally came to retrieve us hours later, Sophie had already been moved to a room upstairs. Her leg, which had been set and cast, was propped up in a sling, and two IVs were dripping warm liquid into her arms. Someone thankfully had cleaned the mud out of her hair and wiped her face so she looked almost normal, even healthy, when we finally got a chance to see her.
I went over to her bed. Jimmy and Aiden hung back by the doorway.
“Sophie,” I whispered, hugging her tightly. She smelled like antiseptic. Her fingernails still had mud under them, and there was a tiny cut above her left eye. I straightened back up and turned around, beckoning the two men in, but Jimmy shook his head.
“Just wanted to lay eyes on you,” he said to Sophie, touching the brim of his cap. “You two take some time alone. We’ll be back in a while.”
Sophie gave him a grateful look and then blew him a kiss.
Aiden gave me a little nod and then disappeared down the hall.
I started to take a step back, when Sophie reached out suddenly with two fingers and pulled on the belt loop of my jeans. “Wait,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I want to tell you.” She closed her eyes. “About Maggie.”
I swallowed with enormous difficulty. “You don’t have to. It’s okay, Sophie. You don’t have to anymore.”
She shook her head, lolling it heavily from side to side. “Just listen, okay?”
I stared at her, remembering Lloyd’s words: “You don’t go easy on someone when they’re just startin’ out. You go easy on someone when they’ve got blisters on top of blisters and they’re about ready to throw a hammer at someone.”
Sophie looked back at me. “If I don’t tell you now, I’ll never do it. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“It was a Saturday,” Sophie began. “Mom was away for the weekend. I don’t remember where she was. Maybe at Gram’s. Anyway, she left us both with Dad.” She draped the crook of her arm over her eyes. Beneath it, her mouth spread into a smile. “We had such a great day, the three of us. It was really warm out. Dad took us to the park and then to Hillside Farms for ice cream. Then later, after Maggie’s nap, we went miniature golfing. On the way home, he stopped at the supermarket because he wanted to get stuff to grill hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. Maggie loved hot dogs. He told us to wait in the car while he ran in. We were both practically jumping out of our skins from all the excitement and fun we’d had—with even more to come.”
Sophie removed her arm from her eyes. “Except that as Dad came back out of the store, I saw the blue cans sticking out of the top of the bag. And suddenly, you know, it was like all the air went out of a balloon or something. I knew what was coming.”
She was staring straight above her now, past my face, looking back.
“Dad went upstairs and started a bath for us. He put in some strawberry-scented bubbles that Maggie loved and helped us undress and put us both in. Maggie was splashing around and laughing, but I remember just staring at the blue tiles on the wall.”
Sophie began shaking then. At first I thought she was having a seizure, until I realized it was just from the memory. She struggled to restrain herself.