Chapter Seventeen Black River Falls, Wisconsin Present Day #3
“We can’t stay long,” she said as she poked a tentative finger at one of the cats, a calico with half an ear bitten off. “We only came to drop River off before we continue on our way. We, uh, can leave her here with you, right? She said you invited her, but—”
“But I’m a cranky old recluse who looks like she cooks children in her oven and eats them for dinner?
” Great-Aunt Rose suggested. Since she did, in fact, look exactly like this, with a paint-covered smock and her long, steely gray hair held up with a spatula shoved through it like a spear, Chrissie kept her mouth shut.
“Don’t worry. River doesn’t have nearly enough meat on her bones to make a decent meal.
It’ll take me at least a year to fatten her up properly. ”
At this, River promptly burst into tears.
Chrissie’s heart lurched at the sight of the heavy mascara starting to run down River’s cheeks, but Great-Aunt Rose was already on top of things. With a short but maternal cluck, she handed the teenager a napkin.
“No need for waterworks, girl,” she said. “I won’t eat you unless things get really desperate. Why don’t you get the table cleaned up while I finish this tea?”
Chrissie was forced to acknowledge the effectiveness of this approach in place of the comforting embrace and gentle nothings she’d have offered in this situation. River straightened and dabbed her eyes. “Thanks,” she said, a little shy. “I’m not usually like this. It’s been a rough few months.”
“Of course it has,” Great-Aunt Rose said as she turned back to her task.
This was also the right thing to do. Faced with nothing but this stringent, no-nonsense support, River drew a deep breath and immediately set to work.
She gently lifted the cats from the table, cleared off the stacks of newspapers and other debris, and even managed to wipe a dish towel over the surface before the four of them sat down to enjoy their stale tea.
Chrissie was too busy marveling at the success of both Scarlett and River’s aunt in handling the girl to pay much attention to River’s competence, but Scarlett’s soft chuckle soon pulled her back.
“I’d offer to help, but you seem to have a handle on things,” Scarlett said as she lifted the cat that had resettled onto her seat. “How’d you get to be such a good little housewife?”
“Stepsisters, remember?” River said. “Before I left, I was on nanny duty every day after school. Most weekends, too. My stepmom said I had to do my part.”
Great-Aunt Rose fell to her own seat with the full force of her weight, which was on the generous side. Unlike her great-niece, she’d have made a delicious meal for any witch craving fresh meat.
“That woman,” she spat—as in, literally spat—before making the motion of a cross over her chest. “I told your father she only wanted to get married for the free labor, but he never listens to me—not even when he was a kid and I had some actual sway over him. I’d have given anything to see their faces the morning after you left, with no breakfast on the table and that pack of brats howling to be fed.
A more selfish, self-involved, self-serving pair of—”
“It’s okay.” River reached across the table and touched her great-aunt’s arm. “I’m with you now. I mean…I am with you, right? I know you always said I was welcome to visit, and that you’d come get me if it was at all possible, but—”
“But nothing.” The older woman pushed out her jaw in a way that reminded Chrissie forcibly of Scarlett at her most determined.
“You’ll stay with me for as long as you need.
I’m only sorry I couldn’t do more to get you here.
I’m sorry for a lot of things I can’t change, but I was never one to cry over spilled milk. That’s what the cats are for.”
Scarlett had yet to sip her tea, but she sat blowing on it as though the movement of the steam across her lips was enough. “Amen to that,” she murmured.
Great-Aunt Rose and Scarlett shared a knowing look. “You too, honey?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
A pause settled over the table, but it didn’t last long.
Scarlett flashed a tight smile and pushed back from the table, her tea still largely untouched.
“If everything is good here, should we hit the road, Chrissie? We’re ahead of schedule to reach Vermont, but there’s still that other thing we need to take care of… ”
There was no need to say more. That other thing could easily be code for Scarlett wanting to make a polite escape, but it could also mean any of the rest: the breast cancer, the mastectomy, the fight with Kat, the fact that Scarlett was seeing Mitchell again.
There was enough fodder there for three cross-country road trips.
But “It’s up to River” was what Chrissie said. She turned toward the girl with a determined smile. “If you’d like us to stick around, we’re happy to park in Chicago for as long as you might need us. We won’t leave until you’re ready.”
River leaped to her feet and threw her arms around Chrissie’s neck. It was the fierce, ferocious kind of hug that could only happen after a long and complicated relationship—or after a young woman found a helping hand when she needed it most.
“Thanks for bringing me here. And for doing it without question. There aren’t many people in the world who would do the same.”
“That’s not true.” Chrissie hugged the girl back just as fiercely. “Most of us don’t get the chance, that’s all.”
She had no idea how long they stood in the middle of that kitchen, hugging and delaying their goodbyes, but when they pulled apart again, it was to find that Great-Aunt Rose and Scarlett had discreetly left them to their privacy.
Only the cats remained, two of which had returned to the table and were sniffing at the discarded cups of tea.
“Actually, there is one thing you can do for me before you leave.” River gestured toward Chrissie’s purse, which hung from the back of one of the chairs. “Is your list still in there?”
Chrissie blinked. She’d been so sure she was about to be asked for a small loan that it took her a moment to register the remark.
“The one Scarlett’s making me keep? Of course.” She fished out the crisscrossed slip of paper and handed it to the girl. “Did you want to keep it?”
“No. I want to add to it.” River scrawled a brief sentence before handing the paper back. There, underneath the last item—I don’t have to explain myself to ANYONE—she had added another line:
Your daughter is lucky to have you.
Chrissie felt the tears welling up in her eyes. “Thank you for saying that, but—”
“But nothing. It’s the truth. She might not realize it right now, but she will someday, and she’ll come to you with her heart wide open. I promise you that.”
Chrissie nodded, wishing more than believing this to be true.
While she hesitated, River took her lower lip between her teeth and started chewing on one of her piercings.
“Can I say one more thing before you go?” she asked and then rushed on without waiting for an answer.
“It’s about those pills I saw in Scarlett’s bag the other night. ”
Chrissie didn’t realize how hard she’d gripped the back of the chair until she felt her fingernails starting to push back from their beds. “The pills?”
“I’m not a doctor, obviously, and I have no idea what her situation is, but I remember my mom taking a lot of different medications for a lot of different reasons.
And those meds…well. Let’s just say they weren’t the ones she was taking when she was trying to get well again.
” She paused, and the whole world seemed to pause with her. “I’m so sorry, Chrissie.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I think you should talk to Scarlett,” was all River would say. Considering the way she choked off at the end, it was more than enough. “And the sooner, the better.”