Lily Dale: Discovering Part 15

"Yeah, for, like, two minutes. Then he asked me what time I thought I'd be done there, because if I was going to sleep at his house, they wouldn't have to get a babysitter after all while they were at open house."

"So . . . did you stay there? And babysit?"

"No. I stayed in the hospital."

Calla swallows a lump in her throat, picturing Willow curled up in a hospital bed in the middle of the night, beside her dying mother.

"How did you get back here?"

"I have my mom's car. I'm going back there after school, too. I'm staying tonight, and every night until . . ."

She can't say it.

"Willow . . ."Calla can't say it, either. "Listen, you can't move into the hospital. That's . . ."

What? Crazy? Unhealthy? Heartbreaking?

"I can't leave her. And I'm not going to stay at my father's,"she adds defiantly, "or . . . home. Alone."

"You can come stay with me and my grandmother."

"Yesterday you said that your dad has to stay next door because you don't have any room."

"I meant for him. You can stay in my room, with me. My grandmother borrowed a cot from Andy when my friend Lisa came to stay, and-"

"That's sweet, Calla."Willow flashes a sad smile. "But I can't leave my mother. I need to be with her."

Her voice breaks, and suddenly, she looks ten years younger. Tears stream down her face again.

"I need my mother. I can't lose her."

Calla has no more words of comfort.

"I know,"is all she can say, over and over. "I know ."

"Hey, what brings you out here?"Jacy makes room for Calla on the moss- covered fallen log.

"You."She sinks down beside him. "I need you and I figured this was where you'd be."

"I need you, too-but I never thought you'd come out here two days in a row. You don't like to break the rules. Skipping lunch. Kissing guys in the woods when you're supposed to be in school. . . ."

"I'm not-"

"Oh, yeah, you are."He pulls her close and his lips meet hers.

It's tempting- so tempting- for Calla to forget all about everything but Jacy, right here, right now. That would be the easiest, and probably the healthiest, thing to do. It's what she would have done a few months ago, when she was just a normal girl surrounded by others who were just like her, kids with intact families and enough money, kids who didn't know things they couldn't, shouldn't possibly know, about the past or the future or other people's lives in this world or the next.

But Calla is no longer that girl, and she needs to talk to Jacy. Now.

She forces herself to break the kiss, to pull back, out of his embrace, to look away, at the trees, at the overcast sky, at the spa.r.s.e hint of sun struggling to break through.

She thinks about her friend Althea, dying in a hospital bed. And Willow, who left the cafeteria with tears in her eyes, saying she wanted to be alone for a while. And that poor little baby, lying stiff in a blanket, weighed down with rocks in a watery grave.

"You found out more about your mother."

Startled, she looks up at Jacy. "How did you know?"

He smiles faintly. "A little bird told me. Like Snow White. What's up?"

She tells him. As she talks, he stops eating.

"That's the worst thing I've ever heard,"he says when she finishes.

"The worst thing?"

"Okay, maybe not. It would have been worse if . . ."

"If what?"she asks when he trails off, narrowing his eyes.

"You know, if . . . the baby hadn't died of natural causes."

Calla's stomach turns over. "But it did. I mean, it died at birth."

"You know that because . . . ?"

"Because that's what she wrote. That's what Darrin told her."

Jacy remains silent.

"You don't think they killed the baby, do you? Because I know my mother-"Even as the words spill from her lips, Calla wonders how true they are.

She doesn't know her mother. Not anymore.

"I don't think she killed the baby,"Jacy says, to her relief.

"You think Darrin did?"

"No. I don't think that, either. I just . . . well, it makes me wonder. We've both seen him, Calla. His spirit. We've both heard him trying to apologize to her. For what?"

"For putting their baby's body in the lake instead of giving it a proper burial."

"Are you sure about that?"

No.

She isn't sure of anything.

"Jacy . . . what if he killed the baby? Do you think that's why he's hanging around? Is he trying to stop me from finding out?"

"I don't know . But you have to be careful. I don't like this."

"I don't, either."

"Maybe you should tell someone."

"Like who?"

"You said your grandmother knows about it, right?"

"She must. But I don't know how much."

"I think you need to talk to her, Calla. And the sooner, the better."

"I know ."

"The other thing is . . . Walt and Peter told me this morning that a couple of detectives were nosing around town yesterday."

"I heard. They talked to Patsy Metcalf, and I'm sure they're looking for Bob."He's the red- bearded student in her Sat.u.r.day morning cla.s.s who had the vision about the purple house in Geneseo.

"They found him, actually. Asked him all kinds of questions. I think it freaked him out a little."

"Maybe I should go talk to him."

"You probably should."

"I don't know where to find him."

"It's not exactly like looking for a needle in a haystack around here. I'm sure you can find him without a whole lot of effort,"Jacy points out. Then he adds, "What about the Yateses?"

"What about them?"

"You haven't told them yet. About Darrin. They're getting ready to leave for Arizona for the winter. Don't you think it's time?"

Calla sighs. "I guess it is."

The grim task can't wait forever. It isn't fair to those poor people, growing old without their son, wondering whatever happened to him.

The news is going to break their hearts.

No, it won't, Calla tells herself. Their hearts are already broken.

"Will you really go with me?"

Jacy nods. "After school?"

"Yes. No, wait, I can't. I'm babysitting at Paula's till five. How about tomorrow?"

"How about after you babysit? I really don't think this should wait."

He's right.

She sighs. "Okay. I'll meet you by the lake when I'm done babysitting."

"Want to stop home first to drop off your backpack or something?"

"No, let's just get it over with. Although- what about Darrin's obituary? Maybe we should find a place to print it out off the Internet, so we can show his parents in case they don't believe us."

"I already did. I'll bring it with me."

"Why do you have it?"

"After what happened this past weekend . . ."Jacy shrugs. "I figured you might need it. As . . ."

"Evidence?"

"Pretty much. And now that those detectives are in town . . . maybe you should tell them about it, if they show up to talk to you again."

"Do you think they will?"

"Don't you?"

"I guess."

This day just keeps on getting better and better.

"Calla, you can't withhold information from the police. You've got to tell them everything you know ."

"But they already have Sharon Logan in custody."

"They need to know she might be responsible for more than one death."

He's right.

She knows he is.

And she can't go on protecting her father forever. Sooner or later, the whole truth is going to come out.

What then?

ELEVEN.