“Wayne’s?” I repeated.
“’Fraid so, son.”
“He was in the car with her and she was pregnant with his baby. I don’t understand. How is it possible that I’m just hearing about this now?” Firefly was not the sort of town that secrets were actually kept. They were exposed either at the hair salon or even at church as thinly veiled prayer requests. This was exactly the sort of scandal that would have spread like wildfire.
“The first responder on the scene was Wayne’s uncle, you remember Sheriff Lemont?”
When I was growing up there’d been posters of him up everywhere because it always seemed like he was up for reelection, but I didn’t know the man directly.
“The good Sheriff didn’t think the scandal in the family would be good for his political career, so he paid off old Mason, who drove the tow truck and me after I found out that she wasn’t the one driving.”
“She wasn’t driving?”
“No, son. She wasn’t.”
I felt numb, like everything I’d ever known was a lie. “Why do you think she wasn’t the one driving?”
He blew out a breath, leaned back in his seat and hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. “Your mama was five-two on a good day. The seat was back to accommodate someone well over six feet.”
It was so much information that I couldn’t wrap my mind around it but I was trying to understand it. “Maybe the paramedics moved it back.”
Jerry shook his head. “Son, she was thrown clear through the windshield. That was the other reason I knew she wasn’t drivin’. The glass was shattered on the passenger side. I started asking questions and then I got a visit from Lamont. He wrote me a check and I kept my mouth shut. Then, a few months back, there were some people snoopin’ around and I got this letter in the mail.” He handed me an envelope that had coffee stains on it and looked like it had seen better days. “It had your mama’s necklace in it. I was going to send it to you, but you never called me back. So I priority mailed it to Clyde and he set it on your mama’s grave.”
Well, that explained that mystery. It wasn’t a sign. It was Clyde the ringleader of the three “wise men”. I wondered if the other stooges had known about it and why they hadn’t said anything.
I read the letter from Wayne Lamont. It said that he’d kept my mom’s necklace after the crash and he wanted to return it to her family. He apologized to my dad and to us and told us that he was sorry for the pain he’d caused. He said that he’d never forgiven himself and that the accident was his fault.
“I was going to give it back to your daddy but I found out he’d passed. I’m sorry. And then I figured you were who I should speak to. The others were so young and I didn’t know what they remembered about her. I didn’t want to do anything that might make them think ill of her.”
“So it was Wayne’s fault. He was driving when they went off the road. He killed her.” I heard myself saying the words out loud but I didn’t recognize my own voice.
“No, son. It wasn’t like that. Yes, Wayne was behind the wheel, but he was goin’ the speed limit. It was a rainy night and well, the tires were a little bald. Your mama insisted on taking her car, you know she loved that old Mustang.”
Pops had bought her that car after she had Jimmy and she was feeling down. Back then they called it the baby blues, but now people called it postpartum depression. She liked to say that car gave her something back she was scared she’d lost, her freedom. She’d put the top down, turn up the stereo, and just drive for hours. Hours that I’d be lookin’ after my siblings. Or maybe she hadn’t been going on drives at all. Maybe she’d been going to see Wayne Lamont.
“They took the corner and there was nothing Wayne could’ve done. He wasn’t drivin’ recklessly. Your Mama wasn’t wearin’ a seatbelt. That’s why Wayne survived and she didn’t.”
Mama never wore a seatbelt. She said she felt confined in them.
“So it was an accident.”
“Yes, son.” Jerry nodded somberly. “It was an accident.”
I was so overwhelmed with everything I didn’t notice that Skylar and Luna had arrived. They must have come over because I was late to pick them up. I was trying to process that they were there but it was taking a while since all of my brain power was still downloading the news that Jerry had just told me.
“Mr. Hank!” Luna squealed. “Look at my dress!”
I turned my head just in time to see Luna race up the porch step and twirl in a circle. The next few seconds happened in slow motion. She was spinning one moment and the next, she stumbled over her feet and tripped, causing her to tumble down the steps.
I lunged for her but I was too far away to catch her. She ended up at the bottom of the porch with her arm twisted up behind her back.
She screamed and Skylar and I reached her at the same time. I picked her up and her arm flopped down. It was clearly broken.
“Luna! Luna!” Skylar tried to get her daughter’s attention as she cried hysterically. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“We have to go.” I stated calmly but inside I felt anything but calm.
Skylar nodded as tears fell down.
I glanced over at Jerry and saw that he was backing out of my driveway. He’d done what he’d come here to do and now he was out. I respected that.
“Get in.” I instructed her to get in the passenger seat. I gently laid Luna in Skylar’s arms, went around the driver’s side, and drove as fast as I could to get us to downtown safely. I called Firefly Urgent Care to let them know we were on our way.
By the time we pulled up in front of the building, MaryLu was outside with a wheelchair and Luna’s cries had subsided to whimpers.
When MaryLu tried to take Luna out of Skylar’s arms, she cried out, “No, Momma!”
“I’ll carry her,” Skylar insisted as she pulled her baby girl tighter to her.
“She has to ride in this.” MaryLu held the handles of the chair. “It’s policy.”
“Fine.” Skylar sat down with Luna on her lap and MaryLu pushed them both inside. I followed behind and Skylar looked back. “You can go. We’re fine now. Go to the wedding.”
I wasn’t going anywhere.
CHAPTER 47
Skylar
“It’s broken.” Dr. Wilson confirmed as he looked at the X-rays.
I already knew it was but hearing a doctor say that your baby’s arm was broken was still a little unnerving. I was so distracted by my experience that I almost missed the fear in Luna’s eyes.
“Lu Lu, it’s okay—” I began to assure her, but Hank spoke at the same time.
“Dang it! You beat my record,” he said with envy.
The fear that had been in my daughter’s eyes mere seconds before was gone, replaced with something else. A curiosity.
“What record?” she sniffed as her large brown eyes peered up at him.
He sighed and crossed his arms. “I didn’t have my first broken bone until I was eight.”
“I’m only five,” she declared as her eyes widened.