Chapter 22

By the end of August, Julie was ready to go back to New York, look for a job, and start her life over again. And she was anxious to file for divorce. Peter still texted her occasionally, but the steam had gone out of his threats. He understood that he had lost. She looked relaxed and healthy, and other than an occasional nightmare when she woke up in the night and thought she was back in L.A., she was beginning to recover from the trauma she had lived through. She couldn’t even imagine dating again, and didn’t want to. But she was whole and sane and he hadn’t killed her. She didn’t want or need more than that, other than a divorce and a job. The rest no longer mattered to her. Peter had emailed her that he had destroyed all her clothes, and he wasn’t going to return her furniture, and she didn’t care about that either. She was going to start fresh, and she had accepted Izzie’s invitation to stay with her for a while, until she got her life organized. Both women were looking forward to it.

Willie had come to spend a weekend with them, and Julie had been happy to see him. He suddenly seemed calmer and more mature. She told him what had happened with Peter, and he was glad that she was all right and moving back to New York.

And by the last week of August, Shirley could hardly walk. She was eight months pregnant, and had had a few contractions, but nothing to worry about. As her doctor put it, her body was getting ready for the launch. And it was going to be quite a launch. Both babies looked huge and they were talking about a Caesarian section, but no decision had been made yet. They were going to wait and see how much bigger the babies got in her final weeks, and how Shirley was doing. So far, she was fine.

Kate had offered to help Justin financially if he needed it. It was a relief to know he had that safety net under him, but he wanted to try and manage on his own. He was working on his book, and looking for an agent for it.

Justin had had dinner with Richard a couple of times. They had talked about a lot of their issues, and Richard had had time to think about it. They had been separated for five months. He had been shocked when Justin finally told him about the twins. But Justin made it clear to him that he didn’t expect him to participate. Richard had a role in Milagra’s life, if he wanted it, but Justin was willing to take full responsibility for the twins, and expected to. And with Julie there for the whole summer, she had babysat for him, and Justin had almost finished his book. He was trying to get it done before the twins came, because he knew his life would be crazy for a long time after that. He had hired a very nice girl who was going to help him every afternoon. She was eighteen years old, came from a family of ten kids, and had twin brothers too. She wasn’t daunted by three little kids.

After the Labor Day weekend, Justin drove Julie to New York. He had just finished his book and had an appointment with an agent to give it to him to read. He was only planning to stay in New York for one night, because he didn’t want to stay away from Shirley for long. He wanted to be with her when she delivered, and she could go at any minute. The twins weren’t due for another three weeks, but with twins they couldn’t be sure, and they were likely to come early.

Richard called him on his cellphone as they drove into the city, and Justin said he’d call him back. He dropped Julie off at Izzie’s with the baby, and then he went to his appointment with the agent after lunch. They were meeting their mother afterward. And Izzie had given Julie the name of a divorce lawyer. She wanted to make an appointment with her as soon as possible.

Julie got to the store to meet her mother that afternoon, before Justin arrived. Her mother had done some remodeling over the summer, and the store looked terrific. They sat down in her office for a few minutes, and Kate looked at her with a smile. She was proud of Julie for coming through a terrible experience as well as she had.

“I have a proposition for you,” she said. She had given it a great deal of thought. “How would you feel about running my online business? I don’t have the time to do that and everything else, and Jessica is better with the store. I need someone to update content, keep it fresh, and pick the items they think will sell best. It’s a different customer than in the store.” Julie looked pensive as she listened to her mother’s offer. She was a designer and had never run a business. Her mother was better at that. But in spite of her dyslexia, Julie was good with computers, and had programs that read aloud to her, which she could use when she was tired. Peter had undermined her confidence, but Julie was extremely competent, and Kate genuinely needed help.

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course. I need to hire someone. It’s outgrown me. And I’d rather hire you than someone else.” She mentioned a salary and Julie looked impressed. It was more than she’d been making in her old job. Kate could afford to pay that kind of salary now. And her next plan was to buy her investor out. Bernard was a shrewd businessman, and he had helped her immeasurably, but it was uncomfortable for her to work with him. And he had indicated to her that he might be willing to sell his interest in the business at the right price. Their dealings with each other had been awkward ever since the end of their affair. He no longer sent her texts telling her he loved her, since they didn’t get him anywhere. He had just returned from his vacation in Sardinia, and was planning to travel to New York, but his focus was on Asia now. He had a huge deal currently in his sights in Beijing, and another one in Korea.

Justin showed up half an hour late and was pleased with the meeting with the agent. He had liked him a lot and left the manuscript with him. They went out for coffee and something to eat, while Jessica babysat Milagra at the store. She was playing with her when they left, and Milagra was having a ball. She had turned a year old two weeks before. Richard had come over on her birthday, and he and Justin had talked late into the night. Julie retired to her niece’s room so they could be alone. Justin didn’t say much about it the next morning, and Julie didn’t press him about it.

Justin drove back to Vermont the next day, and by then Julie was settling in at Izzie’s, and she played with Tommy and then handed him over to the nanny so they could go out. She was becoming a professional aunt, which was all she ever wanted to be now. Her experience with Peter had convinced her that she didn’t want to get married and have kids of her own. Her siblings’ children were enough for her. Marriage seemed much too high risk, and all she wanted now was to go back to work. She thought about her mother’s offer all that night, and called her in the morning.

“I’ll do it,” she said when her mother answered the phone.

“Do what?” Kate wasn’t sure what she meant.

“I’ll take the job.” She was excited at the prospect and had discussed it with Izzie, who thought it was a great idea too.

“That’s fantastic!” Kate said enthusiastically, and meant it. She desperately needed someone to run that part of the business, and Julie had grown up in the store, and was young enough to understand business on the Net better than she did. She was enormously relieved to hear it, and Julie promised to come in the next day and get started. She was thrilled at the prospect of working again, and she liked the idea of working with her mother. They always got along, and their abilities and talents complemented each other.

“What are we doing for dinner tonight?” Julie asked Izzie when she got home from the office, and was startled by her sister’s response.

“I have a date. Well, not really.” She looked suddenly embarrassed. “He’s just someone I work with, but he invited me to dinner, so I figured what the hell.” Zach had been gone for eight months, and she said she wasn’t dating, but it sounded nice to have dinner with a man for a change. “Kind of like Mom and Liam,” she said benignly.

“Don’t be so sure,” Julie said, laughing at her, pleased that Izzie was willing to go out again, even with a friend. “You’re a lot younger than she is, and they’ve known each other since college. This sounds more like a date.”

“Never mind,” Izzie said, and went to get dressed. It was fun living together, and they were both excited about it. It was almost like being kids again, but not quite. At some point, Julie was going to look for an apartment and have a home of her own again. She was starting with a clean slate.

Izzie left shortly after to meet her friend for dinner. And the next morning, Julie left for work, and her mother was waiting for her. She had cleared an office for her, which was part of the remodel that summer. And she had a mountain of files to give her. She left her alone, as Julie looked around her new office with a grin. The walls were bare, and there was nothing on the desk. It was all brand-new and fresh, just like her life.

Kate had just gotten back to her own office when Liam called. He sounded unusually serious, and Kate started to tell him that Julie had begun her new job that morning, but he interrupted her. Kate realized that his voice was shaking and he sounded like he’d been crying.

“Are you okay?” She had never heard him sound like that before.

“No, I’m not. Maureen and I went out to dinner last night. We were crossing the street on the way back. And she was hit by a drunk driver.” He started to cry then, and Kate felt terrible for him. “Kate, it was awful. I’ve been at the hospital with her all night. She never regained consciousness.” He choked on his words then. “She died an hour ago. I just got home.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I’ll come over right away.”

“No, I have to call the girls, and the funeral parlor to make the arrangements.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said quietly. She had lived through that herself, and he’d been there for her. Going with him was the least she could do for him now.

“I’ll call you back.” He was trying to regain his composure. He had called his daughters from the hospital the night before, and they were going to come home that night whatever happened. When he called Kate an hour later, he sounded drained.

“Do you mind going with me?” he asked her. “I can’t face it alone.”

“I’ll be there in ten or fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you.” He sounded devastated and numb. She called a car service and arranged for a car to pick her up, and then ran into Julie’s new office.

“I’m leaving. Maureen just died, she was hit by a drunk driver last night. I’m going to help Liam make the arrangements.”

“Oh, Mom, how awful.” She was on her feet immediately. “Do you want me to come?”

“No, he’s a mess. I’ll call you. Will you hold the fort till I get back?” She smiled at her then and kissed her quickly. “It’s nice having you here.”

“Thanks, Mom. I like it too.” She gave her mother a quick hug, and Kate flew out the door. The car was already outside, and they went to pick up Liam. He looked shell-shocked when he got into the car and gave the driver the address of the funeral home he had called uptown.

“I used them for my parents,” he explained to Kate. “I didn’t know who else to call.” As he said it, she put her arms around him and hugged him and he clung to her like he was drowning.

“They’re fine. It doesn’t matter. Did you get the girls?” she asked him as he settled back against the seat, looking exhausted. He hadn’t slept all night.

“I think we’re all in shock. Penny will be home late tonight. Elizabeth couldn’t get a flight till tomorrow. I have to figure out when to have the funeral. Her father is going to be devastated.” Maureen’s mother had died recently, and her father was in his nineties and in poor health.

They went through all the steps to make the necessary choices. Burial or cremation, casket or urn. He said Maureen had said she wanted to be cremated, the only time they’d talked about it. Her family had a plot, so that she was taken care of. He had called the church they attended and was meeting with the priest that afternoon. He had to pick music and the program, and find a photograph of her to put on it. He felt as though the currents were swirling around him, and Kate helped him with all of that, and then they went to the church together. Afterward, they stopped at a coffee shop and she saw to it that he ate. She dropped him off at his father-in-law’s several hours later. They had done everything. She and Maureen had never been close, but she was sorry it had happened, and felt terrible for her daughters, who were so young to lose their mother. And Liam looked devastated. They had been married for twenty-five years. Nearly half their lives.

He had set the date for the funeral for three days later, and was going to write the obituary when he got home from seeing Maureen’s father. Kate ordered a large cross of white roses for the funeral, from all of them, when she got back to her office, and went to see how Julie was doing. She was busy and seemed to be having fun. She looked up when she saw her mother.

“How’s Liam?” she asked seriously.

“He’s in shock. He’s telling Maureen’s father now, and the girls are coming home tonight and tomorrow. Did you tell the others?” Julie said she had, and they were all sad to hear it. They were closer to Liam because he was more outgoing and they saw more of him, but Maureen was a familiar figure in their lives too. Liam had married her around the time Tom had died, so his children were younger than Kate’s, with both girls still in college. She wondered if they would come home from Europe now, and transfer to schools in the States to be near their father. There were going to be so many decisions to make.

Liam called her after he left Maureen’s father, and he was crying. “It was awful. I felt as though I was killing him. He adored her, and he already lost his wife.” Maureen had been their only child. It was one of the few things she and Kate had in common, being only children.

“Why don’t you lie down for a while,” she suggested gently. He had been through so much.

“I should write the obituary,” he said, seeming flustered.

“You can do it later. The deadline is tomorrow morning. And you’re going to need your strength for the girls. Rest a little.”

“Maybe I will,” he said, sounding vague and disoriented, which was so unlike him. Liam was always so strong and steady and sure. He had been Kate’s pillar of strength and wisdom so often in the past twenty-six years since Tom died. Now she was his.

“Do you want me to come by and see you later?” she offered, and he was grateful. She didn’t want to push, nor abandon him either.

She stopped by to see him after work, and helped him with the obituary and then he had to go to the airport to pick up Penny, flying in from Scotland. Kate stayed with him until he left, and then went home. She was exhausted, and her mother called her. Julie had called her too. They talked about it for a while, and Kate decided she was too tired to eat after they hung up. She didn’t want to call Liam in case he was already with Penny by then. But he called her at midnight, after Penny had gone to bed.

“Oh God, Kate. This is a nightmare. Everybody’s crying and I don’t know what to do.” Liam was a strong man, and a capable one, but dealing with other people’s emotions was not his forte, which was why Maureen had suited him so well. She had never been an overtly emotional woman, which was comfortable for him. She was a quiet presence he could count on, and now she was gone.

“I know this is awful. But you’ll be able to deal with this. I promise. You just have to get through the next few days. And then this part will be over,” she said soothingly.

“And then what? I have to manage without her for the rest of my life.” He was crying again and Kate felt desperately sorry for him. He had no idea how he was going to live without Maureen. He felt like the best part of him had died with her, and everything familiar he had relied on was gone, except Kate.

“Did you finish the obituary?” she asked practically.

“I just did. And I have to pick up Elizabeth in the morning. She couldn’t get a direct flight. She had to transfer in Frankfurt.” He sounded worried about it.

“She’ll be fine. And then you’ll all be together.”

“Penny wanted to see her mother, but I couldn’t let her. She was so badly damaged when she was hit.” He started to cry as he said it. It was as though a lifetime of emotions were flowing out of him, and he was drowning in them.

“Don’t think about it now. You have to lie down. Even if you don’t sleep. Just lie down and try to relax.” She was trying to talk him through it as best she could. She had been there herself, with four young children at the time. And Liam had been there for her. She had never forgotten how kind he was to her then, and to her kids. “You can call me in the morning when you wake up, or tonight, if you can’t sleep.”

“Kate, thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you right now. I’m so lost without her.”

“You did it for me a long time ago.” He still remembered how destroyed she had been to lose Tom. But she’d had time to prepare. He had been so sick that it was almost a blessing when he died. This had hit Liam like a building falling on him the night before. “Now go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

She hung up and thought about him, and she was drained herself. She lay down on her bed for a few minutes, still dressed, and the next thing she knew it was morning. And the first thing she remembered as she opened her eyes was that Maureen had died. She still couldn’t believe it. And neither could Liam when he woke up and burst into tears.