Page 79 of Whatever Will Be

“No.”

Whitney ’s face cracks into desperation. “Please. It would just be for a minute.”

“NO!”

I turn and walk rapidly down the corridor but I don’t get far before Whitney catches up to me and grabs my arm.

“He’s going to die. He’s no threat to you or to them.”

I don’t shake her off because I do feel some sympathy for her. The news that her husband secretly fathered two little girls came as a complete shock. Plus, she’s hours away from becoming a widow.

I look past her to Danny and Trent. Neither one of them have moved as they watch the scene play out between me and Liam Cassini’s wife.

Whitney takes her hand from my arm and waits in a haze of misery as she hopes I’ll grant her husband’s dying request.

“The girls are four years old,” I explain in a calm tone that I hope is sympathetic because none of this Whitney’s fault. “I have to think of them first and what it would do to them, especially so soon after losing their mother.”

She nods. She’s not completely unreasonable. But her voice breaks when she points out, “This will be the only chance any of them get, Gretchen.”

Again, I look for Trent. His face is grim but he offers me no hint what he thinks of his brother’s request. Clearly he believes the decision is not his to make.

I shift my gaze to my brother. “What should we do, Danny?”

My brother is at a loss. “You know the twins better than anyone else. This is your call, Gretch.”

“Jules gave you equal say when it comes to the girls. That means it’s our call, Daniel. Help me make it.”

He rubs a hand over his face. He thinks in silence for a moment and then nods before meeting my eye once more. “Whatever else Liam Cassini is, he is their father. And it’s true that they won’t get another chance to see him. If we keep them away now then someday we’ll have to explain why we didn’t allow them to have this opportunity.”

Danny’s words have the wise ring of truth. As much as I hate the thought of exposing Mara and Caitlin to the trauma of seeing Liam Cassini, especially in this condition, time is running out.

There won’t be another chance.

Liam’s wife has begun to cry again, deep wracking sobs that shake her shoulders. She flinches when I touch her arm but calms down as she waits for my verdict.

“I’ll go get them,” I tell her. “Tell Liam his daughters are on their way.”

Trent steps forward. “I’ll drive.” He glances back at Danny. “You coming?”

Danny nods. Trent slides an arm around my waist and I lean tiredly into his strength as we exit the hospital.

Dawn is still hours away and the night sky is peaceful as Trent steers toward Lake Stuart. There is no longer an orange glow where the brewery used to be so the main fire must have been extinguished.

I swivel my upper body so I can see around the front seat and look at my brother in the back. He gives me a smile of reassurance that takes me back to another time, a different day.

On that day Danny had just watched his best friend being taken away in handcuffs, his father was in prison and he was on a mission to bring his little sister to a mental health facility. Two months later, I would return to find that our mother had moved out, Trent Cassini had been sent away to reform school and Jules had given up her college dreams to watch over us. But that day, with Jules behind the wheel, Danny in the backseat and Abigail Fisher’s voice filling my ears, my brother gave me the same crooked grin of encouragement.

“I love you, Dan-O,” I say to him because I do and because I worry that I didn’t say it often enough to Jules.

“Love you too, Gretch,” he answers.

Trent takes my hand while keeping the other on the steering wheel. He has yet to comment on our decision even though he must have some thoughts. After all it was Liam, motivated purely by cruelty, who deprived Trent of the chance to say goodbye to his father. I wouldn’t blame him for disapproving of the fact that I’m honoring his brother’s last wish. I hope he understands no one is doing this for Liam.

Trent notices that I’m staring at him and lifts my hand to his lips. “Just because Liam did the wrong thing doesn’t mean everyone should,” he says, putting to rest my worries.

“I love you, Trent.”

He smiles and brakes for a stoplight. “I love you too, Gretchen Aaronson.”

---