30. Jess
Jess moved to the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her, forcing herself not to panic at the fear in her daughter’s voice.
“Mom, Mom,” Anthem screamed, her footsteps thundering down the steps. “It’s Dad.”
Jess’s heart began to thunder. Silas had gotten in touch with Anthem? That was surprising, to be sure, but why was she this upset?
“I just got a call from a hospital,” Anthem wailed as she reached the landing, phone in hand. “They said he’s dying.”
Jess froze.
Her thoughts spun as she tried to process the words, but she just couldn’t make sense of them.
Silas was dying?
It couldn’t be true. Her mind wouldn’t accept it.
The other girls were piling down the stairs now, obviously having heard Anthem’s screams.
Their father is dying…
Suddenly she was a child again, remembering the day she had learned the treatments weren’t working and her mom was going to die. Her despair had been as deep and fathomless as the ocean she could see out the back window.
She’d had the chance to appreciate every moment she had left with Mom.
But her girls were here, and they didn’t even know where their father was. If he really was dying, there would be no chance to create last memories or cherish the end of their time together.
Jess felt her heart breaking all over again.
“What are you talking about?” Liberty was asking a weeping Anthem.
“I should have known something was wrong,” Anthem sobbed. “He’s b-been so w-weird the last couple times I t-talked to him.”
“You’ve been talking to him?” Glory demanded furiously.
Anthem melted into fresh tears.
Suddenly, it hit Jess that Anthem had been trying to get her alone to talk. It had happened that first day on the beach when she got home and they were interrupted by Liberty’s phone call, and once or twice afterward.
She had even tried again last night, right after they discovered Justine was here.
The timing had been terrible every single time. And when things calmed down, Anthem never seemed to remember she wanted to talk.
I should have remembered and asked her.
If I had, would we have known in time?
Jess’s eyes helplessly scanned the room, as if the answers might be hanging from the walls. Her eyes landed on Justine, still standing on the stairs, gazing down at her father with a look of worry.
Automatically, Jess glanced over to Everett.
He hadn’t even noticed his daughter standing on the staircase. He was frantically rifling through his leather satchel. His expression was sad and determined, but not surprised.
Did heknow about this?
His words from earlier suddenly took on new meaning.
I think you need to get used to the idea of moving on…
While Jess watched, Everett pulled a sealed envelope from his bag and held it up. For a moment, he hesitated, as if he were fighting a battle with himself. But his compassion must have won out, because he held the envelope out to Jess.
“You should read this letter now,” he told her.
“What letter?” Jess asked.
But Everett was already moving toward her, pressing the envelope into her hands.
“I wasn’t supposed to give this to you yet, but…” he trailed off, clearing his throat.
Jess looked down and had just enough time to recognize her own name, written in Silas’s familiar handwriting, before her eyes went blurry with tears.