Page 122 of Middle of the Night

Ethan and Russ are no longer friends. Nor are they enemies. They exist in that strange space where too much has been done and said to each other for the rift to ever truly heal. Still, Ethan wishes him well, and hopes Russ does the same for him.

As for Andy Barringer, Ethan has seen him exactly twice since that night at the falls. Once when Billy was at long last buried next to his father, and six months later when Mary Ellen Barringer joined them. Having narrowly escaped a kidnapping charge, thanks to somepleading from Ashley, and Detective Palmer for once looking the other way, Andy is again off the grid.

But his old house finally sold, making it the fourth home on Hemlock Circle to have changed hands. Soon it will be five, because at dinner earlier, Ragesh told Ethan that his parents would be listing theirs in the spring. When that happens, Ethan Marsh will become the last original resident of Hemlock Circle—a development he never, ever expected.

But it’s been nice seeing new families move in and breathe life into the place. All of them have children, ranging in age from six to sixteen. There’s even a boy next door who’s Henry’s age and, wonder of wonders, just as intellectually curious. They spent most of the summer together collecting insects, identifying plants, and plowing through a mind-boggling number of Goosebumps books.

To Ethan, seeing Henry blossom is the best change of all. He attends the same private school where Ethan teaches. He has friends there, too, plus the adoration of the school librarian, Miss Quinn, who might also have a little bit of a crush on Ethan. Before the holiday break, she asked if he wanted to go out for coffee sometime. Ethan said yes, even after Henry informed him that “going out for coffee” is secret code for a date. Ethan’s not sure where Henry heard this, just as he’s not sure he wants to know.

“How is he?” Ashley asks every time she phones Ethan like clockwork each Thursday evening. A collect call from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women.

“He’s doing great,” Ethan always tells her, and he always means it.

It took Ethan awhile to come to terms with what Ashley did. Some days, he still grapples with it, and a flare of anger will hit him so hard it takes his breath away. He found it surprisingly easy to forgive her for killing Billy. It was an accident, Ashley didn’t intend to hurt him, and she’s made her remorse clear ever since. It’s the cover-up that Ethanstill can’t quite move past. It would have spared everyone so much pain if Ashley had simply confessed then, instead of waiting thirty years.

Then again, if she had, there would be no Henry. And Ethan can’t imagine his life without the boy.

On the couch, watching the hour tick ever closer to midnight, Ethan thinks about that night at the falls. He often does. How he and Henry remained slumped by the water as cops and rescue workers stormed the area, Detective Cassandra Palmer and Ragesh Patel among them.

Ashley was still there, too, already in police custody, although Ragesh had delayed putting her in handcuffs until she got a chance to wrap her arms around Henry. He returned the hug hesitantly, as if unsure she was still his mother and not a stranger.

“I’m going away for a little bit,” she told him. “I just need you to know that I love you more than anything in this world.”

Then Ashley grabbed Ethan, pulling him into a desperate, clutching embrace so she could whisper in his ear.

“I want you to take care of Henry,” she said. “I know I’m asking so much of you. But my dad can’t do it on his own. Henry needs you.Ineed you. Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”

Ethan did.

And he has.

And he wants to continue to do so for as long as possible.

After pleading guilty, Ashley was sentenced twice, ten years for the vehicular manslaughter of Billy Barringer and ten years for disposing of his body. Because she was a minor at the time and showed remorse, the judge is allowing her to serve them concurrently, with a chance for parole after eight years.

“Henry will be at least eighteen when I get out,” Ashley told Ethan a few months into her sentence. “He deserves to have a family until then.”

“You’re his family,” Ethan said.

“A legal family. Arealfamily. Right now, all he has is a convicted killer for a mother, and that’s going to hang over him for the rest of his life.” Ashley paused then, and even in her silence Ethan could tell she was crying. “That’s why I think you should adopt him.”

Ethan didn’t resist, and with Ashley’s official consent, he legally became Henry’s father. A decision Ethan knows was the right one when, at midnight, he goes upstairs to what was once his childhood bedroom. It’s Henry’s now, reflecting the boy’s interests and tastes. Animals and planets and dinosaurs. Peering inside, Ethan can barely remember what it looked like when it was his.

Henry’s in bed, reading in the soft glow cast by his bedside lamp. Not a surprise. He often stays up past his bedtime to read.

For a time, Ethan had worried that the events at the falls would dim Henry’s special light. That he would harden his heart so it would never be wounded again. So far, that hasn’t happened. Ethan’s trying his best to make it stay that way.

After watching Henry unnoticed a moment, he says, “Happy New Year, sport.”

Ethan stopped calling him Mr. Wallace long ago, just as Henry stopped addressing him as Mr. Marsh two nights after his mother was arrested. He’s called him Ethan ever since. But on this night, Henry looks up from his book and says, “Happy New Year, Dad.”

It takes Ethan a minute to collect himself after that. He never expected to be called that word. He never wanted it, either. But now that it’s been spoken, he never wants to hear Henry refer to him as anything else.

“What are you reading?” he says, trying to keep his emotions in check.

Henry pushes his glasses higher onto his nose. “An old book. I found it on the top shelf.”

He lifts the book to reveal a familiar title:The Giant Book of Ghosts, Spirits, and Other Spooks.

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