Page 30 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

“Come on, honey.” Paul pushed his walker toward the door and Judy followed, fussing after him.

Once they were on the patio, Paul took her hand.

Gavin looked away, unable to bear the grief that would spread across the woman’s face yet again.

Judy’s wail carried through the sliding door.

A cold shiver swept over him as he closed his eyes. Poor Judy. Poor Paul.

Laurel turned up the music that had flowed through the room during the reception.

In the living room Emma chased Sunny’s tail, blithely unaware of the trauma happening outside.

Gavin glanced at Laurel, but she was back to work at the island. He turned the water back on and tried to forget what was happening outside, but his heart was still crashing into his ribs. “How awful.”

Laurel shut the freezer door and slumped against the counter. “How many times is he going to have to tell her?”

But Gavin realized the words applied to Emma too. How many times would they have to tell the child before she understood her parents were never coming back?

Instead of having supper, they picked at the leftover perishables. Laurel was now upstairs tucking in Emma, and Judy and Paul had disappeared into the guest bedroom a while ago. Gavin settled on the sofa, the TV on, Sunny curled up at his feet. But he hadn’t heard a word of the local news.

He grabbed his laptop and opened a custom-home bid he’d been working on.

The stairs creaked and Laurel descended, looking tired despite the early evening hour. She didn’t have her suitcase in hand. Did this mean she was staying tonight? Through the weekend?

Sunny got up and followed her to the sofa across the room, and once Laurel settled she scratched the dog behind her ears.

“Emma go down okay?”

“Yeah. She was tired.”

“Did she ask about...?”

“No.”

Laurel wasn’t making eye contact. Hadn’t really looked at him since that moment in the prayer room. That wall was firmly back in place, and it wasn’t coming down again, not for him. Message received.

Paul shuffled into the room and settled at the other end of the sofa. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

“How’s Judy doing?” Gavin asked.

“She’s asleep.” Paul shook his head as silence settled in the room, the newscaster’s quiet voice the only sound.

Sensing Paul had more to say, Gavin shut off the TV and waited.

It didn’t take long. “Listen, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve got to get her back home. She’s not doing well here. Her condition has worsened tenfold, and I don’t know how many more times I can...” His words crumbled as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.

“It’s okay, Paul,” Gavin said. “You’re dealing with a lot.”

Laurel patted his hand. “We understand.”

“I feel terrible for Emma. I should be able to be here for her. Iwantto be here for her. But this is taking a terrible toll on Judy, and I think if she was back in her own surroundings, she wouldn’t constantly be thinking of Mike. It wouldn’t be so confusing for her.”

“Take her home,” Gavin said. “We’ve got this.”

Laurel pulled her sweater together. “He’s right. And I’m sure we’ll be able to reach Patty soon.”

“Maybe when she decides where she wants to raise Emma, we can move there—whether that’s here or Florida. I want to be near Emma.”

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