“It worries me, too,” Rob said. “But she’s tough, Dru, like her mama,” he added.
Dru crossed her ankles. She was barefoot, and her glance was drawn to the sight of her toenails; the Chinese-red polish was chipped and peeling. It reminded her of times she had painted Shea’s nails when her daughter was a little girl. Red, always red, and the polish had always chipped within hours of application. Dru could see that little hand, spread like a starfish, the tiny nails flecked with red. “I don’t think she’ll give up on him. Even if he’s guilty.”
“Don’t take this wrong, I’m not excusing him, okay? I agree with you. I think AJ probably did it; he probably murdered that girl. But I just don’t buy that he’s a cold-blooded killer. He’s not a psycho or a sociopath. He’s got issues, sure, but something’s got to have happened for him to—”
“Are you saying you want him to marry our daughter? I mean, assuming he’s found and gets out of this somehow,” Dru broke in, unable to bear Rob’s attempt at placating her. “You’re happy about it? Because Shea doesn’t seem to think—she was amazed we shared the same negative—”
“Who Shea marries isn’t my call, Dru.”
“You aren’t concerned for her safety, then. Is that right? But why should that surprise me, when you so obviously didn’t care about it when we lived with you.” Dru got up. She was shaking now and tucked her arm around herself.
“Jesus, Dru, I have tried every way I know to make amends for the harm I caused you and Shea.”
“This isn’t a twelve-step issue, Rob. It’s not a question of you having one too many toddies and passing out on the sofa night after night. You would have only hurt yourself, then.”
“I don’t know that I agree. What’s the difference between chronic drinking and chronic fear? Either one can be deadly. The only difference is when someone quits drinking, you can see the evidence. With fear, you’d have to take my word I’m not that scared, paranoid guy anymore. I’ve got ways to handle it now. But you’d have to trust me on that, and I guess that’s never going to happen, is it?”
She didn’t answer, and she hated it—her silence and the way she felt trapped by it.
“You know,” Rob began carefully, “I never figured you for someone who would hold a grudge. And it’s a hell of a thing to me, because I still love you, and I don’t know why.”
“Am I supposed to feel bad for Rob?” Dru asked Amy.
They were in Dru’s driveway, packing the food for the teachers’ luncheon into Amy’s car. Dru had been so grateful when Amy had offered to take over delivery and setup, not only for this meal, but next week’s engagements as well. There was the handful of regular clients for whom she delivered daily meals, plus a dessert selection for a women’s bridge club and a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary dinner for ten. Dru didn’t have the attention span of a gnat at this point, and even if she did, who could predict if she’d have the time to do the preparation, to get the job done right? Catastrophes had a schedule all their own.
“Has he told you before that he loves you? I mean, since you divorced?” Amy asked.
“Not in so many words.” Dru settled a sack packed with linen napkins and flatware behind the passenger seat.
Amy closed the door. She found Dru’s glance. “You know, everything you’ve ever told me about Rob, it seems to me what he wants—all he wants is another chance.”
Dru looked into the street.
“What if he’s truly okay now? I mean, if you could know that, be certain he was stable, back to the guy you married, what would you want? Would you take him back?”
Dru met Amy’s gaze. “If he came with a guarantee, you mean?”
Amy made a face, and Dru laughed.
“We both know when it comes to men, there are no guarantees,” Amy said.
“Honestly?” Dru sobered. “I can’t think about what I want or what Rob needs right now. Shea is in such jeopardy.”
Amy touched her arm. “I’m so sorry this is happening to her, to both of you.”
“I guess you heard Becca was pregnant.”
“I can’t believe it. When Ken told me she’d been stabbed there—in her abdomen—”
Dru gave her head a slight shake. She hadn’t known that.
“It’s true,” Amy said. “Seven times in her stomach and four times in her chest. Ken said a buddy of his on the force in Dallas told him they think she was sexually assaulted, too. Her underpants were down around her ankles, and there was a note on her back that said, ‘Fixed you.’ They think it was written in lip liner.”
“How in God’s name am I going to tell Shea?”
Amy rubbed Dru’s arm.
“Is it weird that I wish she could sleep forever?”
“Or do a Rip van Winkle and wake up in a hundred years. Maybe the world would be less insane then.” Amy went around to the driver’s side of her car and got behind the wheel.
Dru followed her.
“I can come back later if you want, and help with the wedding cancellation.”
“Thanks,” Dru said, “but I think between us, Kate, and the others, we can get it done. Besides, you’re already doing so much. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“You know I don’t come cheap, right?” Amy winked. “Seriously, though, I’m happy to help out. If there’s anything else, I’m here, okay? Just call me.”
Dru looked away. “Don’t be nice to me or I’ll lose it.”
“Oh, honey. Should I stay?”
Dru sniffed, wiped her eyes, got a grip on herself, and said, “No, I’m fine. But you’re a godsend, you know it?”
“Will you call my husband and tell him that?” Amy said, deadpan.
Her joke worked. Dru smiled.
The girls arrived a little later. Dru woke Shea, and she joined them, sitting at the table in the breakfast room. Her eyes were thick-lidded and reddened, not from sleep, or the lack of it, Dru thought, but from crying. Kate, sitting adjacent to Shea, took her hand. Vanessa and Leigh, too, reached out to her. Dru was glad for them, for their support. Shea needed it. Dru brought glasses of ice and a pitcher of tea to the table.
“I know Becca was pregnant,” Shea said. “I just want to get that out right now. I know what everyone thinks, too, that it was AJ’s, but you’re wrong, and you’ll see it when the DNA test comes back.”
Vanessa said, “You heard, didn’t you, where Becca was stabbed?”
Dru set her hand on Shea’s shoulder. “We don’t need to go into detail.”
Shea looked up at Dru. “Did you forget I have a laptop? I can get the news.”
Dru didn’t answer.
“It’s horrible, and I’m sick about it. Just as sick as any of you, but it’s got nothing to do with me or AJ.”
Dru felt a jolt of anguish so strong, she backed away, turned, and went into the kitchen, where she leaned against the countertop.
“So, how do we do this?” Dru heard Shea ask. “How do we cancel my wedding?”
Van was opening her laptop when Dru returned to the breakfast room.
“When in doubt, Google,” she said.
“Really?” Kate asked.
“Yeah. Unlike Siri, Google knows everything. It’s all here. Even how to word the note.”
“You looked already?” Leigh asked.
“It’s best to get it done quick—like ripping off a Band-Aid.”