Chapter 28

Talia

In the days after our trip to the emergency room, Lily-Rose and I fell into a beautiful rhythm. Two days in a row, she had awakened me with a bowl of cereal and a small flower she’d picked from the yard, reminding me that soon she’d be returning to school. “We have to make the most of the summer, Aunt Talia,” she told me. “Otherwise, we’ll regret it.”

I knew she was right. I called in to my various volunteer opportunities once or twice that week, choosing instead to dive into the nearby woods with Lily-Rose. We hiked, biked, and swam in the lake, holding hands and either speaking or not—it didn’t matter. Once, Lily-Rose recounted a funny story about her mother; it was one I hadn’t heard before. “She was trying to date the gym teacher at my school,” Lily-Rose snickered. “And she didn’t think I knew. But I caught her kissing him outside! It was disgusting!”

I hadn’t known this part of my sister’s life. When Billie had moved to the nearby town, she and I hadn’t spoken often. I’d become more and more immersed into my life in Bilkington—the volunteering and my job at the pharmacy. And when we had spoken, it had been about Lily-Rose, and about the fact that Billie felt sure she’d never find love. “Chris was such a scumbag,” she’d told me. “But look at this beautiful gift he gave me, Lily-Rose. She is all that I need.”

That Saturday, there was a knock on the door. Lily-Rose sat at the kitchen table, licking at a popsicle, while I answered it. The image on the other side made my stomach clench. It was Jessica.

What had he told her? My heart began to patter wildly. Putting one hand to my cheek, I blinked at her, feeling my eyes fill with tears. I wanted to tell her that he’d kissed me first. That I didn’t want a single thing to do with Andrew. But before I could speak, she lifted her wrist into the air. It was bruised, slightly twisted. She wore a cast.

“What happened to you?” I asked, aghast.

Jessica gave me a pitiful, crooked smile. “It was him. It was Andrew,” she sighed.

“What?” I asked. But even as I spoke, I remembered the way his eyes had glinted with anger when I’d tried to resist him. “What happened?”

“Well, Monica came by,” Jessica said. She leaned against the doorway, her face dripping with sweat. “My friend who, I believe, came here to inspect your relationship with Lily-Rose? On account of Evelyn, Chris’ mother?”

“Right,” I said. “Shit… Evelyn… She’s been calling me. Trying to come by. But I’ve hardly let her alone with Lily-Rose. I know, I mean, I know Monica is going to try to take her away from me, because of Fox.”

“No. No,” Jessica said, her voice meek. “Monica came to talk to Andrew and me about your relationship with Fox, and whether or not we really believed he would affect Lily-Rose. And to tell you the truth? I saw Fox with Lily-Rose. I know what good fathering looks like, and that’s it, Talia. I told Monica what I knew. And after she left, well—” Jessica lifted her wrist, showing me once more. “He went absolutely crazy. Told me I’d never be good enough for him. That he never wanted this baby with me. That I was obviously crazy.”

“Jesus,” I whispered. “That’s—”

“I know he always had a thing for you,” Jessica said, interrupting me. “Trust me. It took me a while to get over it. And when I finally did, I realized that he’s a sociopath. He just wants whatever his brother has, as if it’s some kind of contest. It’s disgusting. And I can’t believe I ever thought having this baby would… would fix it.”

Jessica fell into a fit of tears, drawing her head forward. She emitted a long sob which throttled through her body. I reached for her, wrapping my arms around her. She quaked against me, reminding me of the way I’d shaken just after what Andrew had done to me.

I knew it didn’t make sense to tell her what Andrew had done, that it would just complicate things and make her feel even worse. “We have to take care of one another, Jessica. Maybe… maybe this is for the best. So I could have a true friend – a perfect friend – in you. I can’t believe you stood up for Lily-Rose and Fox and me in front of Monica,” I said.

“Are you kidding me?” Jessica jerked her head back. “I would never want to hurt a child, and especially not Lily-Rose. And I know Fox is good for her. At his core, I think he was always good. It just took him a little while to get used to the idea, maybe,” Jessica said, shrugging. “But I know that his relationship with Andrew and his father was always very complicated. Of course he wanted to get out of town, all those years ago. But now, he’s back. He’s going to help you raise Lily-Rose. He’s going to be the man you always wanted him to be.”

I felt the tears begin to run down my cheeks. “Oh, Jessica. If only that were true.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s long gone,” I told her. “Far, far away. I called him. He went back to Los Angeles without even saying goodbye.”

Jessica’s face wilted. I led her inside toward the couch. We sat, with Jessica leaning back, her hand on top of her round belly. She glanced toward me, stuttering slightly. “I’m… I’m so terribly sorry if I had anything to do with that. If Andrew chased him out of town—”

“We can’t dwell on it, now,” I sighed. “Maybe this is for the best?” I placed my hand on her hand. “We don’t need them. But we do need one another. You’re welcome to stay here, by the way. As long as you need.”

That night, Monica called me on the telephone. Upstairs, Jessica was settling into the guest bedroom, laying atop the comforter and talking with a captivated Lily-Rose about her plans for the baby. “I haven’t decided what to name him yet. Do you want to help?”

“Monica,” I said, my voice cold. I wasn’t entirely sure where the conversation would go. “It’s good to hear from you. Have you… have you made your assessment of Lily-Rose’s situation?”

“Talia, I have. I had a long chat with Jessica, and read over my notes from our meeting. Prior to Andrew’s arrival, I have to say, Fox and Lily-Rose seemed a match made in paternal heaven. You scored highly on nearly every element of home-building.”

I squeezed the phone tightly against my cheek, closing my eyes. “This is incredible news,” I breathed into the phone, feeling like no words I could form could possibly explain what this meant to me.

“And I wanted to apologize for my initial reaction, when Fox and Andrew were in your house. I shouldn’t have allowed it to affect me in the slightest. Oh, and another thing.”

I paused, waiting. Upstairs, I listened as Lily-Rose’s bright voice sang a song for Jessica’s baby, a lullaby that Billie had sung to Lily-Rose when she’d been a child.

“Evelyn, the paternal grandmother of Lily-Rose, recently made it known she intended to try and file for custody of Lily-Rose. I immediately sent the report to her lawyer, which shows that she would be hard-pressed to find a reason to take Lily-Rose off your hands. It sounds like she had quite a fit over it. But you should be in the clear,” Monica said.

“Oh my god,” I sighed. My knees gave out beneath me and I dropped to the couch. “So she really was going to try?”

“It sounds to me like she’s a terribly lonely woman, wanting to beat you because she’s bored,” Monica said. “I’ve seen it time and time again, in families like these. My advice? Be kind to her, yet clear. You won this battle before it even started. Let her know that she can be a grandmother if she wants to, but on your terms. That is, if you think you can handle having her in your life. But I’ve heard some stories from around town. Some people want her back in Tennessee as fast as possible!”

After a brief chuckle, and a prolonged “thank you,” during which I blabbered far more than I meant to, I hung up the phone, calling up to Jessica and Lily-Rose that I had to take a quick drive. I sped toward the hotel, my foot pressing hard on the gas. Evelyn’s van was parked up front, its door swung wide open. Her bright hair ducked from beneath the hotel overhang as she lugged her suitcase toward the parking lot. Just as I’d expected, she was speeding home as fast as she could, her tail between her legs.

“Evelyn! Evelyn, wait!” I called, stepping from my car. Evelyn spun around, placing her heavily-jeweled hands on either side of her thick waist. Her face twitched. “Oh. And I suppose you’ve come here to gloat, have you?” she asked.

“No! No, Evelyn,” I said, huffing. I caught my breath, feeling my tongue grow dry in my mouth. “Evelyn, please. Listen, I can actually understand you wanting to take Lily-Rose away. I know it came from a good place. I know you truly care about her.”

Evelyn didn’t speak. Above us, clouds had begun to form—mid-August clouds which were thick and black and angry, poised to attack with lightning.

“It’s just, I want you to know that even though I think your son was absolutely horrible to my sister—“

“He didn’t know any better,” Evelyn murmured. “He never knew any better.”

“But that’s the thing. I’m going to need help making sure that Lily-Rose always knows better, Evelyn. And if you can agree to help me with Lily-Rose –not spoiling her; making sure she learns to handle her anger; not working against me, but with me – I want to welcome you back to Bilkington any time. You can even stay with us,” I continued. “Evelyn, you must know that community is number one for me. And if you want to become a part of this community.”

Evelyn’s face fell. Her cheeks sagged forward, and her lips were purple, bouncing, as she sputtered the only words she could. “Okay. Okay. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Feeling strange, alone, I allowed my hands to fall on either side of my waist as she climbed into her van and drove out of the parking lot, south, toward her home. I didn’t move a muscle until she was far out of sight, past the last of the stoplights. With a final sigh, I reminded myself that you couldn’t keep anyone in Bilkington if they didn’t want it for themselves. Fox, Evelyn, even Billie before her death—they felt their lives spinning them in a different direction. And I knew I had to make peace with it.