Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 16 (20 page)

It was Chad
’
s truck.
He was home.
Everything would be back to normal now.
Willow smiled as she skipped down the steps to greet him as he shut the truck door behind him.

As Chad climbed carefully and slowly from his truck, Willow skipped down the steps, forgetful of the camisole and shorts that
,
while cool and comfortable, covered little.
He watched her hurry toward him and laughed as she raced to hug him.
When she realized how little she wore, she
’
d be mortified.

Unexpectedly, she flung herself into his arms kissing his cheek.
“
I missed you!
I can
’
t believe how much I missed you.
I mope
—”
His sharp intake of breath and the way he clung to her stopped her mid-
sentence
.
“
What
’s
wrong
?
”

“
Just help me inside
,
lass.
I
’
ve got quite a story to tell you
,
but I need some water and my head
feels
fuzzy
.”

“
Chad!
You
’
re really
—”
His wince as she wrapped her arm around his back stopped her.
“
Is there anywhere I
can
touch you?
”
The moon moved from behind a cloud
,
lighting Chad
’
s face.
“
What happened to you
?
Your mother just said that you
’
d been detained
.”

“
That
’
s all I let her say.
Get me inside and ignore my pain will
ya
.”

Willow brought him pillows, a glass of water, and remembering how much he liked Sprite when he was sick, she hurried out to the summer kitchen where she
’
d stashed a few cans the last time she
’
d been at the store.
He laughed
as she
brought him a glass of icy cold Sprite
, groaning at the pain that laughter caused
.

“
I knew I
’
d be better off at home.
In the truck, there
’
s a plastic bag on the floorboard.
I need the bottle in it please
.”
In
Willow
’
s eyes, he looked horrible as he clenched his hand tightly around the end of a
pillow as though holding on with everything he had
.

Willow found the bag and a stack of discharge papers that looked similar to the ones she
’
d brought home from the hospital the previous summer.
With both in hand, she hurried in
side opening the bottle of pain
killers as she did.
She read the instructions carefully and then handed him one tablet.
“
It says take with water
.”

He swallowed his pill and dutifully drank the water she shoved at him before sinking b
ack into the pillows
,
exhausted.
“
I really didn
’
t think it
’
d be that hard to drive home.
The traffic wasn
’
t anything to speak of
;
the highway was reasonably empty
.
I don
’
t know why I
’
m so beat
.”

Willow bit her lip.
She wanted to demand that he tell her what happened and why his face held several stitches, one close to the corner of his eye.
However, the memory of his wince as she
’
d hugged him, the pain etched in his face, and the bandaged hand
tinged
with
fresh blood near the thumb stopped her.
She
’
d have to learn a little patience.

“
Where are the questions, lass?
I
’
ve been waiting for you to pounce
.”

“
I thought you might like to rest.
You
’
ll tell me when you
’
re ready.
I don
’
t want to be a pest or worse, that dripping wife of Proverbs
.”

He found her hand with his good one, squeezing it gently and then reaching carefully to pull her closer to him.
“
Aw,
Willow, but that
’
s what I love about you.
Yes, you drive me crazy sometimes
,
but I love that you
’
re just you.
What you see is what you get.
There
’
s no guessing if you
’
re seething inside or miserable, because you let it all out
,
and I like that
.”

“
Even when I get stubborn and refuse to do things everyone else
’
s way just because it
’
s everyone else
’
s way?
I seem to remember school being an issue, wedding choices being problems, and
—”

“
Even then.
It
’
s what makes you, you.
You could be less obstinate about things perhaps, I won
’
t complain about that, but I
’
d miss your input if you quit giving it
—
or demanding it
.”
He winked at her over the top of her head.

“
So,
”
Willow began now unable to contain her curiosity any longer.
“
Just what happened?
”

“
Well, first of all, I know who told that reporter about Steve Solari
.”

“
Robert Beiler?
Who?
”

Chad nodded
,
toying with Willow
’
s braid as he talked and
moaning
that
he wished
the horrible throbbing in his hand would go away.
“
Lynne Solari herself.
Robert mentioned something about an ME with the cor
o
ner
’
s office who kept an eye out for certain names
,
and your mom
’
s was one.
So, they did some digging, found th
at
ME
,
and from what we can put together, Lynne knew about the rape before Steve.
She either didn
’
t tell Steve Jr. what she knew
,
or they made the plan together for him to go to his father and
‘
hide
’
it from Lynne
.”
He hesitated, searching her eyes for something before he added,
“
There is an evidence trail that
inches
in the direction of Lynne being the one to order the hit on Steve Jr
.”

“
She killed her own son?
”

“
Not right away of course, but when he just got worse and worse, it is interesting that he dies in a knife fight when Steve Jr. had never owned any kind of weapon.
He liked his fists
.”

Willow swallowed hard, pain filling her until she pursed her lips, trying not to let them tremble.
“He certainly used them on Mother.”

“
I thought I read about bruising so I assumed…
”

“
I saw the pictures she took of herself.
They
’
re horrible
.”

Chad stared at her, shock masking the pain that had covered his face
.
“
I didn
’
t know about the pictures
.”

“
I saw them once as a child.
They
’
re in the attic in a box of papers in a sealed envelope.
I was looking for some kind of picture of grandparents or aunts and uncles
—
I wanted to know more
,
and Mother had no more to share
,
so I spent an afternoon when she was in town going through all of the boxes I could find
.”

“
What did you find?
”