Chapter 18 #2
‘Oh. Believe me. When I was in high school, no way was I hanging around Serenity. Soon as I got my driver’s licence, I was outta here. Sixteen years of Serenity Falls was sixteen years too many in my book.’
‘So, what happened?’
She smiles a little wistfully. ‘Too much beer, too hot a guy and a positive test too late.’
I don’t have to ask too late for what.
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I probably would have kept the baby anyway. His dad wanted me to get rid. Said it didn’t matter that I was over the limit here. He could take me some place else. They’d sort it.’
‘The romance.’
‘Yeah. You know, I think the fact he was so desperate for me to get rid of the baby made me want to keep it more. Which isn’t a great reason for bringing a new person into the world, I know, but—’ She shrugs.
‘At least you thought about it. Seems a lot of people don’t think about the consequences of having children.’
‘Yeah. Well, nine months later and the consequence was that I was a single mom at seventeen. Not exactly great grades, no job, no prospects and this tiny little human depending on me.’
‘Being a single parent is tough.’
‘And I wouldn’t change it,’ she says quickly. ‘I love my little boy.’
The but hovers in the air, unspoken but there just the same. But for a different life. One unlived. We all have that ‘but’. The sliding doors. The cross in the road. The path not taken.
Hailey takes a sip of lemonade. ‘What happened to Sadie’s mom?’
‘She left.’ I clear my throat. ‘When Sadie was very young.’
‘Why?’
The million-dollar question. Why?
‘She had mental health problems. It all got too much.’ I reach for a cookie, looking to change the conversation. ‘What about Brandon’s father?’
‘Oh, he doesn’t want to know. Got a nice job, respectable fiancée. Getting married soon. He sure as hell doesn’t want to be reminded of his past indiscretions. Claims Brandon isn’t his. Told everyone I was sleeping around.’
‘What an arsehole.’
‘Yep.’
‘But—’
She holds up a hand. ‘I know what you’re going to say. Not all men are like that. The right man is out there. Plenty more fish in the sea, etc.’
‘No, actually. Most men are idiots. Stay well away. Urgh.’ I put on an exaggerated shudder.
Hailey laughs. It’s nice. Her tone is generally on the cynical side, exaggerated by the lazy Floridian drawl. But the laughter is light and innocent.
I’m about to ask her something about herself when she says: ‘I’m just gonna check on Brandon.’
I nod. ‘Okay.’
She slips from her seat and pads inside. I remain sitting, enjoying the shade, the ice-cold lemonade. Weirdly, or perhaps not, I feel more at home here than in our own palatial residence.
My eyes wander to the empty pool again. Maybe they couldn’t afford the upkeep. Hailey said that they didn’t run the aircon, and although this is still a far nicer house than most people could dream of affording in the UK, everything about it screams ‘struggling’.
I stand, still clutching my lemonade, and walk a little closer.
The wire mesh has been nailed down into the concrete around the pool.
Obviously, to stop Brandon falling in. The pool isn’t deep, but it’s certainly deep enough for a child to hurt themselves.
The sides are black and green with mould, the bottom a mulch of dead leaves.
It looks like it’s been empty for a long time.
I wonder why they don’t just have it filled, but I guess that would be expensive.
‘Hey. What the hell are you doing?’
The voice makes me jump. I spin around. A woman stands on the grass. Late sixties or seventies. Her hair is long and blonde, hanging in tangled knots over her shoulders. She’s dressed in a vest and leggings, worn house shoes on her feet.
‘You stay away. You hear me. You stay away.’
I hold my hands up. ‘I’m sorry. I was just looking.’
She draws closer. Her face is tanned and heavily lined.
Thick black kohl is smudged around her eyes.
Lipstick has melted into the creases around her mouth.
She squints at me suspiciously. ‘What are you doing here? You keep your hands off him. He’s just a little …
’ And then she falters. Her eyes cloud. ‘You’re not him, are you? ’
I’m not sure who him is, but I’m pretty sure I’m not.
‘I’m Dan.’ I try to smile reassuringly. ‘I was just talking to your daughter.’
Her eyes widen. ‘My daughter. You’ve seen her?’
‘Well, yes. She invited me in for some lemonade.’
She smiles, revealing startlingly white teeth in the crinkled face. ‘She’s back. I always knew she’d come back. Did she find him? Did she find Davey?’
I stare at her in confusion. Davey? And then I spy Hailey walking out, her son clasped in her arms.
When she sees us, her lips thin. She adjusts Brandon on her hip and hurries over.
‘Aunt May. What are you doing out here? I thought you were watching TV.’
The older woman turns. ‘You’re back. Oh, I always knew you’d come back.’ She clasps Hailey’s face. Then her eyes fall on the boy. ‘And you found him. You found Davey.’
Hailey grimaces. ‘No, Aunt May. It’s me, Hailey. Remember?’
The smile falters. ‘Hailey?’
‘Your niece. And this is Brandon. Remember him?’
She shakes her head. ‘No. This is Davey. Little Davey Junior.’
The little boy looks up at Hailey. ‘Mommy, Aunt May has forgotten my name again.’
‘It’s okay, hun. She just gets a little confused sometimes.’
Hailey looks back at the older woman. ‘Why don’t you take Bra— Davey to get an ice pop out of the freezer?’
‘Oh yes. Shall we do that, Davey?’ May holds out her hand to the little boy. He glances at Hailey. She gives a small nod. ‘Go on. It’s fine.’
The pair walk back across the yard and disappear inside.
Hailey folds her arms and looks at me. ‘My aunt May. We live here with her. She helps with Brandon, or, at least, she used to. Now I’m not sure who is looking after who.’
‘I’m sorry. I thought she was your mother.’
‘No. May is my mom’s older sister. Mom and Dad, and my brother, Pete, died in a car accident when I was small.’ She swallows. ‘They were driving to Winsom Wonderland. I was ill with chicken pox so my aunt and uncle were looking after me at home.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I say.
She nods. ‘After the accident, Aunt May and Uncle Dave took me in. Dave died a few years before Brandon was born. Now it’s just me and May.’
I look towards the house. ‘Dementia?’
‘Yeah. She mixes people up. Dates, years. Sometimes you can tell her. Others it’s easier to just go along.’
‘Sometimes it’s kinder.’
‘I often wonder if it’s a good idea staying here with Brandon. We remind her too much of Serena and Davey Junior. But … neither of us has got anyone else.’
I frown, something stirring in my memory. ‘Serena and Davey Junior?’
Hailey smiles thinly. ‘Didn’t Lockhart tell you about my family?’
It suddenly clicks. ‘Davey Junior … he was the little boy who drowned?’
Hailey nods towards the empty pool. ‘That’s where it happened.
Serena was at work. Aunt May was supposed to be watching Davey.
But she was distracted—’ Hailey pauses, eyes darkening.
‘Or if you want to listen to the town gossips, she was drunk.’ She glances back at the house.
‘Either way, she blames herself. I sometimes think the guilt, losing her grandson and her daughter, it drove her crazy.’
‘Well, dementia isn’t craziness. It’s just—’
‘I know what dementia is, Mr Barker,’ she snaps. ‘I’ve had to learn up on it real quick. But Aunt May was having delusions long before the diagnosis.’
‘What sort of delusions?’
Hailey sighs. ‘She thinks Davey Junior is still alive.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah. She’s convinced herself that he didn’t drown that day. She believes that someone took him.’