Unless she could think of a way to get out of it. A way that wouldn’t make Douglas more suspicious than he already was.
Or, maybe she didn’t have to think of a way. Maybe, she just needed to make a way. Pack a bag for herself and Tyler, take the bus south or west or even north, ride until she reached a place where she and Ty could easily get lost in the teeming mill of humanity. She’d done it before, been successful before. She could do it again. Only, she had a feeling that Douglas would track her down. He might be charming and easy to look at, but he wouldn’t be easy to cross.
The phone rang, and she answered quickly, eager for a distraction. “Hello?”
“Merry? It’s Fiona.” Her boss Fiona Fitzgerald’s voice poured across the line, and Merry blinked back the tears she’d been fighting all afternoon. Melting into a blubbering puddle of sorrow and fear wouldn’t do her any good, and it would only scare Tyler.
“I guess you’ve heard the news, Fiona.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone in town who hasn’t. How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? I’m shaken, and I wasn’t the one who found Olivia.”
“I’m sure.” An image of the body lying below the cliff, arms and legs splayed, blond hair dark from salty spray flashed through her mind, and she shoved it away. She wanted to remember Olivia vibrantly alive. Not broken and still.
“Douglas said he’s going to stop by your place tomorrow. Would you like me to come by, too? I can bring Sean. He and Tyler can play together.”
“I can’t ask you to do that, Fiona.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” A widow with a six-year-old son, Fiona had proven to be an understanding employer. She allowed Merry time off when she needed it, understood the demands of single motherhood.
“And I appreciate it, but I don’t want you and Sean to give up your afternoon for us. Why don’t you bring him over when the Reading Nook closes next week? We can have dinner together.” If Merry was still around, and the way that things were looking, she wasn’t sure she would be.
But she didn’t want to leave.
She liked Fitzgerald Bay. She liked the people she’d met there. She liked her little house and her landlady. But more than all of that, she liked the home she was making for Tyler. A place to settle, that’s what she’d seen when she’d driven into the little fishing town. She didn’t want to have to run from it.
“Are you sure, Merry? My brother is charming, but he can be pushy. I don’t mind being a buffer.”
“Am I going to need a buffer?”
“That depends on how much Douglas thinks you know.”
“I’ve already told him what I know, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She hoped, because from the sound of things, Douglas might have mentioned his suspicions to Fiona. Or, at least, asked enough questions about Merry that Fiona sensed his suspicions. Either way, things weren’t looking good.
Get out of town, Merry.
Go. Before he finds you.
Promise me.
The words whispered out of the past, the desperation in them reaching across four years, filling Merry with the same fear she’d felt the day Nicole had said them.
“If you change your mind, let me know. And if you need some time off work—” Fiona broke into her thoughts, and Merry forced herself to focus on the conversation.
“I won’t.” Sitting around the house, reliving the moment that she’d looked down and seen Olivia’s body was the last thing she wanted to do.
“I’ll see you at church tomorrow.”
“See you then.” If she didn’t pack everything and leave town.
She hung up and walked into the living room, looked out onto the quiet street. Darkness swept in from the east, casting shadowy dusk across the yard. Flakes of snow fell, swirling onto golden grass and black pavement. A beautiful evening, and Olivia wasn’t around to enjoy it.
Merry wiped away hot tears.
“Are you sad, Mommy?” Tyler tugged her hand, and she looked down into his face.
“I’m hungry. Want to help me make the fish?” She sidestepped his question, pulling him toward the refrigerator.
She’d think about Olivia after Tyler went to bed.
She’d think about the promise she’d made to her.
Think about the secret she’d hidden beneath the floorboard in her closet.
Think about truth and lies and the fine line between protecting someone and obstructing justice.
Think.
Pray.
Hope that God would help her figure out what to do, because she didn’t know, couldn’t decide.
Right path.
Wrong path.
She’d stopped knowing which one she was on years ago.
Now she all wanted was to keep Tyler safe.
Please, God, help me keep him safe.
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