Page 39 of The Fadeaway

Zoey looks at her with tired eyes. "We do. We both have children and jobs and spouses. It's just so much sometimes. But they're our parents, you know?"

"You're doing your best, and I'm sure they both know that." There is a long pause as the nurse who called a Code Six walks by them with her eyes cast towards the floor grimly. "Listen, Zoey, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Not at all."

"I guess what I really wanted to know was the nature of our parents' friendship, and I was hoping to hear it from your dad, though I knew that was a long shot coming into it."

Zoey's eyes fill with tears. "Yeah, he was probably never going to be able to give you that much information--even on a good day." She tugs at her lower lip with her thumb and forefinger. "But as far as their friendship...I kind of wondered myself, to be honest. I asked my mom about it when I found out that Patty was paying for part of his care, but she seemed really hesitant to discuss it. In fact, my first thought--and I'm sorry to say it like this--was that my dad and your mom were possibly lovers?" It comes out sounding like a hesitant question.

“I thought that too,” Ruby admits. “It’s the obvious conclusion. And yet…”

“Right?” Zoey says, flinging a hand in the air like she’s questioning the universe. “It just seems somehow unlikely.”

They both take tentative steps into Lyle’s room and find that he’s opened his eyes. He looks at the two of them, his gaze bouncing back and forth between them searchingly as if he’s trying to remember which woman might be his daughter.

“Hey, Dad?” Zoey says softly as she steps her way across the room. “Did you catch a nap there?”

Lyle’s eyes land on her gratefully and he holds out his hand to take Zoey’s. She laces her fingers through his and looks at him with obvious love and affection.

“Before you fell asleep I introduced you to Ruby Hudson, Patty Dallarosa’s daughter. Do you remember that?”

Lyle shifts his gaze to Ruby. He stares at her long and hard like he’s trying his best to place her. Giving up, he looks back at his daughter.

“Patty worked at the law firm with you.” Zoey shakes her dad’s hand lightly as if to jog his memory. “You two were close friends, and Ruby wants to know more about that friendship. Is there anything you can tell us?”

Lyle looks at the photo that Ruby gave him before he fell asleep; it’s landed on top of the blanket that covers him, and he lifts it with the hand that’s not holding Zoey’s. He inspects the photo closely, and as he does, Ruby can see a wash of different emotions cross his face. For a second, she thinks he might say something about her mom, and she holds her breath, hoping that he might tell them about his relationship with Patty—whatever it may have been. At this point, it doesn’t even matter to Ruby what went on between her mother and Lyle Westover, she just wants to know for her own sake and so that she can understand her mother’s life better.

But whatever connection Patty had shared with Lyle is gone. It died with Patty and is buried somewhere in Lyle’s inaccessible memories. He lets the photo fall to his chest again as tears fill his eyes.

“It’s okay, Mr. Westover,” Ruby says, stepping closer and touching him lightly on one shoulder as he looks out the window again. Her eyes meet Zoey’s and they share a meaningful exchange. “I don’t want to make you sad or upset, I was justhoping to find out more about my mom. She’s recently passed, and I miss her terribly.”

At this, Lyle gives a small, choked sob.

Ruby and Zoey stand there with him as the sun bathes the green grass outside with warmth. Once Lyle closes his eyes again and is breathing smoothly, Zoey slips her hand from his and leads Ruby back out of the room.

“Well,” Zoey says, pausing right outside of her father’s room and giving Ruby an apologetic look. “Maybe it was none of our business anyway.”

“Maybe it wasn’t,” Ruby agrees. She’s disappointed not to have gotten the chance to hear stories about her mother in the courtroom, at least, but she doesn’t in any way want to upset Zoey Westover, who has been overly kind and solicitous to her. “And you know what?” Ruby waits as a nurse in crepe soled shoes that squeak on the tile pushes a grayed, hunched woman in a wheelchair down the hall. “I think it’s actually okay if we never know.”

Ruby

Shipwreck Key has gotten dressed up for the holiday season in Ruby’s absence. The first thing she notices when her boat pulls up to the dock is that Seadog Lane is draped in lights.

“Welcome back, Mrs. Hudson!” Bev Byer shouts in her direction as she walks up from the dock with Banks behind her, carrying both of their suitcases.

Ruby shields her eyes with one hand. “It’s not even Thanksgiving!” she calls back. “Have we transformed into Christmas Key?”

“Oh, I wish!” Bev says. “Love the charm of that place. But I suppose we’ve got our own measure of enchantment here. Pour you a drink?”

Ruby glances at her watch. “It’s only eleven in the morning, Bev.”

“A pirate rinses the night from his mouth with a swig of rum,” he says with a faux growl.

“Well, in that case, I suppose I could sip a mimosa here while Banks grabs the golf cart.”

“I’ve been given my orders,” Banks says. He sets the suitcases at the front door of The Frog’s Grog, gives Ruby a small salute, and starts walking towards her house to pick up the golf cart. It’snot too far, and he’s been cooped up on the plane and the boat, so Ruby lets him go as she follows Bev into the dark, cool bar.

“So, what have I missed while I was gone?” Ruby sits at the bar; she’s the only patron in the joint that morning.

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