chapter TWENTY-FOUR
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1968
My heart is broken once again, and this time I’m not sure it will ever mend completely. Mitch stopped by the house today to relay the devastating news that last night, Kathy and Celeste were in a car accident. A bad one.
Kathy was drinking and driving (stupid, stupid, stupid), and apparently she’d gone to a party. Mitch said that Celeste called Kathy before the party and asked if she could pick her up from a friend’s house. I don’t know why Celeste didn’t call us or even Mitch or Janice. Oh, my God. If she had called one of us, this wouldn’t have happened.
Mitch said that Kathy picked Celeste up, and just a few blocks from Momma’s house, Kathy crashed the car into a tree. (The pain in my chest is unbearable as I think about it.) They say Kathy died on impact, probably never felt any pain. For the record, that doesn’t make it any better, any easier to process. Celeste is in the hospital, and they don’t think she’s going to make it. Kathy is only nineteen—was. Oh, God. How could this happen to her? How could God take her so soon?
Please God, please let Celeste wake up. I don’t think this family will survive it if she dies, too.
“Curtis!”
A loud knock on the front door followed the bellowing of his name. Pushing up from his spot on the couch, Curtis went to the door to find Lorrie’s brother Mitch standing on the porch, his hat in his hand, his face drawn up.
He looked like hell. As though he hadn’t slept in a month.
“What’s the matter?” Curtis asked, stepping out and pulling the door closed behind him. Something told him this wasn’t good, and he didn’t want Lorrie hearing only part of whatever Mitch was about to say.
“Is Lorrie here?” Mitch looked past him as though he could see through the front door and into the house.
Curtis grabbed his smokes from his pocket and lit one up while he stood there, offering one to Mitch, who shook his head. “She is. Do you want me to get her?”
“Not yet.” Mitch was gripping his hat so tightly Curtis knew something was horribly wrong. “I wanna tell you first.”
Good idea. Based on the pain etched around the man’s eyes and mouth, whatever Mitch was going to say wouldn’t be good.
“Tell me what?”
Mitch met Curtis’s gaze, and it was then that he could tell his brother-in-law had been crying. His eyes were bloodshot, his cheeks puffy.
Definitely not good.
“Kathy and Celeste…” Mitch took a deep breath. “They were in a car accident last night.”
“Shit. They okay?”
Mitch’s face fell, and that answered Curtis’s question before his brother-in-law explained.
“Kathy was at the wheel. She’d been drinking, at least according to what the doctors said. She picked Celeste up from a friend’s house. They didn’t make it home. She crashed the car into a tree, not far from Momma’s house.” Mitch pointed, as though that would help Curtis understand where he was referring to. “Kathy died on impact. Celeste is in the hospital. They don’t think she’s gonna make it.”
“You’ve gotta tell Lorrie,” Curtis told him while already trying to figure out a way to shield Lorrie from the pain.
Her sister was dead.
Shit.
“I know,” Mitch said, his voice rough. “I don’t know how to tell her. It’s gonna kill her.”
Lorrie was a strong woman, but Curtis couldn’t imagine how he’d handle finding out one of his brothers or sisters had died. He’d nearly lost his shit when they’d gotten word that Gerald had been shot, and that hadn’t been life threatening. This… Damn. This had been fatal.
Regardless, they had to tell her, and he had to take her to the hospital so she could be with Celeste.
Curtis took a couple of drags on his cigarette, then tossed it out into the dirt. Before he turned to step inside, the door opened, and Lorrie stuck her head out, grinning. “Hey, Mitch. What are—” She didn’t finish her sentence, and Curtis suspected that was because she saw the pain imprinted boldly on her brother’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Let’s go inside,” Curtis told her, not waiting for Mitch to respond. He wanted Lorrie sitting down for this news. “Mitch’ll tell you. But we need to sit down.”
Once inside, Curtis guided Lorrie to the couch. He could tell she wanted to fight him, that she didn’t want to sit down or wait for someone to explain things to her, but he managed to coerce her with a gentle arm around her shoulder.
“It’s Kathy,” Mitch said once Lorrie was off her feet, tears filling his eyes as he spoke. He didn’t take a seat, simply stood a few feet away, wringing his hat in his hands. “She died last night, Lorrie.”
Lorrie flinched as though the words weighed a ton, hitting her directly in the chest. Curtis pulled her to his side as she stared wide-eyed back at her brother. “No. That… No, that can’t be true.”
“She and Celeste were in a car accident. The car hit a tree. Killed Kathy on impact.” Mitch sobbed and Curtis’s heart broke for the man. And for Lorrie.
“No,” Lorrie said, the word so matter-of-fact it was as though she could change the outcome by saying it.
Mitch nodded.
“No,” Lorrie repeated. She was shaking her head in disbelief while tears filled her eyes. “It can’t be true. No.”
Lorrie tried to get up, but Curtis held her, pulling her to him.
“Celeste was with her,” Mitch continued.
Curtis tried to hold on as Lorrie bolted upright, tears now streaming down her face.
Mitch cleared his throat. “She’s in a coma. They don’t think she’s gonna make it.”
“No!” Lorrie was more adamant that time. “That can’t be true! It can’t be true!” She turned to him. “Curtis, tell me he’s lying. Tell me that my sister didn’t die. Please. Please don’t let it be true.”
He could practically feel the fissure that broke through his heart. Seeing the devastation on Lorrie’s face was enough to shatter him. Wrapping his arms around her, Curtis pulled his wife into his chest, cradling her head as she sobbed uncontrollably. He physically felt her pain, wished he could absorb it for her.
While he held her, Curtis looked at Mitch. “I’ll bring her to the hospital.”
Mitch nodded. “I’ve gotta go tell Janice. I came here first.”
Curtis didn’t envy the man. It was hard enough that he’d lost his sister, but to have to relive it over and over again, explaining it to everyone in his family… That had to be hell.
Without a word, Mitch left, silently closing the door behind him.
Lorrie couldn’t wrap her mind around what Mitch had told her. She couldn’t believe that Kathy could possibly be…
No. It couldn’t be true. God wasn’t that cruel.
The words continued to pound inside her head like a hammer. Her entire body was shaking, the emotion so overwhelming she didn’t know how to process it.
Kathy had been her best friend. They’d been so close growing up. It hadn’t always been perfect, but she had been Lorrie’s closest confidante, especially during the years Curtis had been away.
A sob ripped through her, and Curtis’s strong arms tightened around her. She was thankful that he didn’t try to hush her with empty words. Nothing he said could make this easy for her. Her sister had died.
“Let me get my boots on and we’ll go up to the hospital,” Curtis whispered in her ear.
Yes. Hospital. Celeste.
That was exactly where she needed to be.
Nodding against his chest, she tried to pull herself together.
“I need to let Momma know,” Curtis said. “She’s gonna want to be with you.”
Lorrie wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, especially if her mother would be at the hospital, but she knew Curtis was right. Mrs. Walker would want to know. During the time Curtis had been away, Kathy and Celeste had come over a lot, even had dinner with the Walkers from time to time. And since Granite Creek was such a small town, there was no doubt word would get out, if it hadn’t already.
Sitting up, Lorrie brushed her hair out of her face, then went to the bathroom to clean herself up. She stared at her reflection, and that simple action had the tears falling once again. She wanted someone to wake her up from this nightmare. She didn’t want to accept the fact that her sister could possibly be dead.
And what about Celeste? According to Mitch, the doctors didn’t think she was going to make it. How would…? God. She wasn’t sure they’d make it through this. How could you grieve for one of your sisters, much less two, and still be able to function?
She managed to take a deep breath, turned on the faucet, and splashed cool water on her face while her brain tried to process the news. The more water she doused herself in, the harder the tears fell.
“Oh, God, no,” she cried out. Her legs buckled, and she reached for the sink at the same time Curtis’s strong arms grabbed her, lifting her up, then carrying her to the bedroom. He set her on the edge of the mattress, then climbed on the bed behind her, pulling her down with him.
“We need to go to the hospital,” she said hoarsely.
“We will,” he mumbled gently. “In a few minutes. Let me have this, Lorrie. I need to hold you.”
She knew he was doing this for her, only claiming it was for himself. She loved him all the more for it. Giving in, she let the tears fall, her face buried in his chest, her arms wrapped around him, her fingers clutching the back of his shirt as the horrible news took root and her soul shattered.