“That’s good to know.” She dabbed her eyes with the tissue and then slipped it back into her bag. “Is it supposed to keep snowing? I’m afraid I don’t know how to drive on snow.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ty replied. “We’re expecting it to snow all weekend. Are you supposed to fly back home soon?”
“Not until Monday, but I was going to drive back to Colorado Springs tonight. I guess I won’t be doing that.” She went silent as he made the first of the twisting turns that would take them to the valley.
“I’m sorry about your sister. I was there the night she died. You should know the doc and I both tried to save her.” He felt compelled to let her know he’d been there.
“You were the EMT? I’m not sure why the doctor would have tried to help her. She’d tried to kill him.”
“Because that’s who Caleb Burke is.” Ty didn’t like to think about that night, but when he did Caleb was always there. Always working to save anyone he could. “It’s who I want to be. We took an oath, and we do our jobs no matter who is in need. I just wanted you to know I’m sorry for your loss.”
She pulled out another tissue. “Thank you.” She sniffled again and stared straight ahead as snow hit the windshield. “Not many people have been sympathetic. That’s been one of the hardest parts. They all act like she meant nothing because of what she did, but she was still my sister.”
“You’ll still feel her loss every day of your life.” He needed to become the go between in this situation. Michael couldn’t do it. He wasn’t ready, but he might be one day, and if Ty could keep open the possibility of a decent relationship, he would. “And I think Mike does, too.”
She stiffened, her shoulders straightening. “It’s obvious he doesn’t.”
“No, it’s obvious that he hasn’t moved on from being angry with her. He’s spent quite a bit of time in that stage. So much time that I’m hoping he moves through the rest of the grieving process quicker.” Watching how Michael dealt with Trina had let him know he definitely was in a bad place when it came to Jessie. The question was could he move on with Ty and Lucy? Or was he only passing time with them?
A few days ago that would have been Ty’s dream scenario—that Michael would get tired of the whole threesome thing and move back to Florida to restart his life. Now he couldn’t stand the thought of it. Sometime in the last couple of days, Michael had become necessary. Which was probably why he’d jumped at the chance to help someone who knew him before he came to Bliss.
He didn’t want to intrude, but he was curious about who Michael had been before he’d holed himself up on a mountain.
“My dad said the same thing,” she said quietly. “He thinks what Michael’s doing is a kind of mourning. Not only of his relationship to my sister, but to the man he was before that night. My dad’s got a degree in psychology, so he understands guilt. He feels it every day because he didn’t see how far she could go. My mom’s just sad. She loved Mike like a son. She’s the only one who doesn’t care why Jessie did what she did. She lets herself mourn.”
“I thought Jessie needed money.” It was the motive he’d heard, but then he probably shouldn’t listen to gossip. He’d never read the police reports or asked Nate what he’d learned.
“She did. She’d gotten in some trouble. Jessie liked to gamble. She hid it from Michael, but even I knew she’d gotten in over her head a couple of times. Look, I loved my sister, but she had some entitlement problems. She thought she was underpaid and she deserved more. So when she was offered a bunch of cash by one of her bookie’s contacts, she took it. It solved both of her problems. He forgave the debt and she got seventy thousand dollars, and according to the emails I found all she was supposed to do was tip off the guy as to where Markov was.”
“That was still murder.”
“I know, but I somehow try to tell myself it’s not the same.” She leaned her head against the window. “At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what she did. I still miss her. Her crimes don’t invalidate my sorrow.”
“No, they don’t. I don’t know if Michael has figured that out yet.” He made it to the end of the mountain road, the lights of Hell on Wheels marking the place where he would turn to head back into town. “Why did you really come to see him?”
She breathed an obvious sigh of relief as they made it to the highway. “For the reason I said. I need him to agree to sell the house. My dad has cancer, and even with insurance we can’t afford the payments for his treatment. Jessie paid half the down payment. She would want our dad to have the money.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to him about it.” He would tell Lucy and they would figure out how to best broach the subject.
“I don’t know that it will help. He’s not the same man. Michael…even I was half in love with him. My dad was thrilled when Jess brought him home. He was like Superman and Captain America all rolled into one. He thought Michael would be an excellent influence on her, and it seemed like he was,” she said, a wistfulness about her. “He fit in with our family. While he and Jessie were together, he was one of us. It’s funny because when I think about it, it wasn’t such a long time. They kept their relationship on the downlow because they worked together. According to all the records, Jess still lived at home with us. That was the biggest fight they had. Well, up until she tried to murder a guy she was supposed to protect.”
“I don’t think there was much of an argument. She totally drugged him so he couldn’t argue with her.” He frowned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t joke.”
But Trina was chuckling. “I don’t know about that. Sometimes it seems so absurd I have to laugh. Like what was she thinking? My parents and I, we find it easier to laugh now, to remember the good times. It’s probably why I hoped I would come out here and Michael would see me and he would remember that he was part of those good times.” She sniffled again. “We miss him. It’s like he died, too, because I don’t recognize the man I saw today.”
“He’s better than he was when he first moved up here. He didn’t talk much during the first year, just came down for supplies.” He didn’t want Trina to think Michael hadn’t been affected by Jessie’s death. “It was at least a year before I heard him talk.”
It had been then that he realized how Michael’s eyes had watched Lucy’s every move. He’d been jealous then.
“Why won’t he come home?” The question seemed like a plea from her.
“I don’t think Florida is home for him anymore.” Ty couldn’t help but remember that the option was still on the table. His old job was still open, and Michael could return. He could still walk away from both of them.
“Well, I would appreciate you talking to him for me. My presence seemed to bring out the worst in him.”
“Probably because he hasn’t faced what he needs to.” It was the only reason he could think of because Michael, for all his gruffness, had never seemed cruel before. “I think you reminded him he still has work to do.”