Page 55 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hit and Run RevealsInner-Working of a Much Bigger Criminal Organization

Reported By: Audrey Sheridan

Last month, the island of Martha’s Vineyard was rocked by a dramatic hit-and-run out on State Road.Given the neighborly instincts of most Vineyard residents, it seemed outside the bounds of reason to imagine that someone— the driver of a maroon Chevy Cavalier— could smash into a vehicle, causing a three-vehicle crash, and then U-Turn into the road from whence he’d come and disappear.

The story grew even more strange afterward when two of the victims of the crash found the “runaway” vehicle along the edge of the water in Chilmark, thus allowing officers to conclude that whoever was guilty in the hit-and-run case wouldn’t be easy to find.

Lola read the article aloud on the back porch of the Sheridan House, with Audrey, Amanda, Max, Christine, and Susan seated around the table alongside her.Two bottles of rosé cooled in ice buckets in the center.Upstairs, Max and Mia took their mid-afternoon naps, graciously allowing the Sheridan women a few hours of gossip time.

And, just in time, the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette had arrived, hot off the presses, with the inclusion of Audrey’s well-researched article.

“Dang, Audrey,” Amanda breathed.“You’re a real writer.”

Audrey laughed.“The article is so long, Mom.You shouldn’t read the whole thing.”

“Come on.It’s brilliant,” Lola boasted proudly.“You tore into this big criminal gang and found out the inner workings of all the cars they were stealing on the east coast.Harry was just a cog in their machine.”

Audrey waved a hand knowingly, her eyes dancing.In truth, Lola had been terrified the past two weeks as Audrey had driven across Boston, interviewing police officers and other gang members who were willing to talk.Essentially, Harry’s scrapyard had revealed a greater illegal community, which was the reason why Harry had fled the scene of the hit-and-run in the first place.It seemed stranger than fiction, but it was real-life.Plain and simple.

“I was glad that Valerie agreed to be interviewed,” Audrey offered, placing a chip on her tongue and chewing slowly.“I know she’s embarrassed that she ever got involved with that guy.But I just told her that Max is my greatest love— and he’s the result of a very stupid affair I had out in Chicago.”

“Are you suggesting that all women have done very stupid things for men?”Christine asked, feigning shock.

“I would never go that far,” Audrey shot back sarcastically.

“What did she say in the article?”Amanda asked.

Lola scanned through to find Valerie’s quotes, which discussed Harry’s “strange habits” and his “even stranger friends.”According to Valerie, Harry frequently left the house around midnight every night and could be heard having phone calls in the garage, during which he frequently yelled about “stuff he could hide” and “stuff he couldn’t manage to hide.”

“It was terrifying,” Valerie told Audrey in the article.“Never knowing exactly what he was up to kept me up at night.I’d told this man I’d loved him— and I wasn’t sure what he would do if I ever left him.He was a master manipulator.Hopefully, I’ve learned my lesson.”

It was now the end of June.Sun-kissed waves crept toward the beach, cresting before they flashed across the sands.After Lola finished reading the last of the article, she led the rest of the Sheridan women to the beach, where they held hands and gazed out across the waters.Her heart swelled with a mix of sorrow and pride and joy.

“I can’t believe you’ll be gone for two weeks,” Audrey breathed beside her, gripping her hand.

“Two weeks is nothing,” Susan tried from the far end of their link.“Try twenty-five years.That’s how long I went, basically, without talking to your mother.I’ll never get those years back.I hate myself for it.”

“We can’t do that,” Lola interjected.“We can’t demonize the past.”

Together, the Sheridan women held the silence, tossing their shoes to the side and dropping their feet into the waves.Lola lifted her chest toward the gorgeous sky, feeling the breeze across her skin.

“Tell me again what your itinerary is,” Susan finally asked, breaking through the silence.

“Gosh, we’re hitting, what, thirteen islands?Fifteen?”Lola began tentatively.“We start on Antigua, which is apparently the largest English-speaking island and offers plenty of historical sites.”

“I never thought of Tommy as a history lover,” Christine chimed in.

“Gosh, it’s ridiculous.He’ll watch a seven-hour history documentary rather than do the dishes,” Lola said with a laugh.

“The other islands!What are they?”Amanda asked.

“Well...”Lola pushed through her raucous mind.“After Antigua, we sail to Nevis, then St.Kitts, then Saba.That’s where we’re going to go scuba diving.”

“Mom!You didn’t tell me you were doing that,” Audrey cried.

“That terrifies me,” Christine said.“Under water?For hours at a time?No thanks.”

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