His brow furrows. “For what?”
“For…” I remember when Brady showed up in the basement and picked up the gun. I was certain he was going to think I was the murderer. But instead, he pointed the gun at Harper. “For believing me when I told you I didn’t do it.”
He sits down on the edge of my bed. “I spent a lot of time thinking about it the last few days, and Iknowyou. You’re a good person, Nora. I don’t care who your father is. I knew you couldn’t do something like that.”
I reach for his hand. For the last twenty-six years, I’ve been terrified of what people would think if they found out my secret. But he knows and he still respects me. He still likes me. “Thank you.”
“Also...” He squeezes my hand. “Harper had a big knife strapped to her calf. She had it in a sheath, like she was a pirate or a samurai.”
“Oh.” How did I miss that? Well, the basement was dark. “Still. I appreciate it.”
He sits there at the edge of the bed, holding my hand. The first time I ever met Brady when we were in college, I thought he was a nice guy. Someone I could really get to like. But I was scared to get to know him. Scared to have a relationship, because of where I thought it might lead.
Maybe, after twenty-six years, it’s time to stop being scared.
Epilogue
One Year Later
“So this is a farmers’ market,” I say. “Hmm.”
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning in the Bay Area and Brady has dragged me to the local farmers’ market. I’ve never been to a farmers’ market before. As far as I can see, it consists of rows of vendors selling products that are about five times more expensive than what I get at the supermarket.
“This is much better than what is in the supermarket,” he says. “I promise.”
“Hmm,” I say again. “So are these people selling vegetables actuallyfarmersor…?”
Brady pokes me in the arm. “Can’t you just enjoy a little fresh air for a change?”
Brady is so strange. He likes things like fresh air. Especially now that he got another job in Silicon Valley and he’s stuck at a computer all day again. Every weekend, he wants to go out and do things.Outdoors. Much more of this and those vitamin D shots I get are going to be for nothing.
But I had a very specific reason that I wanted to cometo the farmers’ market today. Yesterday I looked at the list of vendors, and one name stuck out as familiar.
“Oh look!” I say. “That woman is selling little hand puppets over there! Ruby would love that.”
“Hmm,” Brady says.
After Brady and I were dating for about three months, he introduced me to his daughter. Who is so cute, you could just about die. Especially since she was missing both her front teeth and whistled every time she talked. (They have since grown in. But she is still pretty cute.)
I even let her name my cat. I was getting sort of tired of just calling her Cat. Especially since she sleeps in my bed every single night, occasionally on my face. Occasionally on Brady’s face. I figure she can do what she wants after she saved my life. But thanks to Ruby, she’s stuck with the name Meowsie. I felt bad for the cat, but I couldn’t say no to Ruby. Anyway, the cat has a pretty good life.
And it turns out I don’t hate kids.
“You need to stop buying so many presents for Ruby,” Brady says. “Seriously. You’re spoiling her.”
“Fine,” I grumble. “Let’s go buy some turnips for lunch or something.”
Brady laces his fingers into mine and squeezes my hand. I give him a squeeze back and grin at him. It’s a beautiful day out. On days like today, I can forget everything that happened a year ago. It feels like it’s all finally behind me.
Harper, much like our father, pled guilty to the murders of those two girls. First-degree murder. She’ll be serving two life sentences in prison, while her boyfriendWilliam “Sonny” Bennett Jr. has recovered from his injuries and is serving twenty years for his part in the crimes. I didn’t go to Harper’s sentencing. And I haven’t answered any of the letters she’s sent me in the last year. I rip them up every week.
It’s sad because I always wanted a sister. I used to fantasize about it when I was a kid. And right after I found out I had one, I lost her. I would have been better off as an only child.
My mother knew what she was doing when she took her life. I don’t blame her for that anymore.
Philip was in bad shape for a while after what happened. The surgeons attempted to reattach his left hand, but it failed. He couldn’t operate anymore and had to retire from surgery. He was miserable for a while, but I tried to be there for him as much as possible. I even went over to his house late one night and dumped a bunch of alcohol out. He’s okay now though. He started teaching at the local medical school—anatomy. It’s not the life he imagined for himself, but he’s happy enough. He even started dating someone recently, and he told me it’s getting serious. Maybe now that he’s been through a life-threatening experience, he’ll be able to settle down for real. Although he told me he still has nightmares.
I still have nightmares too. I wake up during the night screaming, and Brady wraps his arms around me and talks gently to me until I calm down.
