Chapter 31 The Core Three
The Core Three
Late December
Before they head for Bitter Creek Farm, they meet at Lola’s.
Jasmine and Beck have just arrived, and Micah puts out freshly baked goodies—flaky chocolate croissants, coconut macaroons, cheese Danish, vanilla cupcakes with almond buttercream frosting.
Her favorite, Jasmine’s favorite, Beck’s favorite .
. . and Stephen’s favorite. She flips the Open sign to Closed.
The time has come. Audrey told Stephen to call them, and so he did. Sorrow wraps around them like rusted iron chains as they sit at a table, not eating the pastries, not saying anything just yet.
Things have changed for all of them since the reunion.
Micah and Logan have talked for hours about her teenage years, Mr. Bates, her history with James .
. . essentially all the reasons for the bad choices she made.
How she’s been atoning for both the car accident and for cheating on James for a quarter of a century.
She’s told him about her determination to raise a better person than she herself had been.
Micah isn’t saying yes to everything anymore.
Lola’s is now closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
She’s given both her mother and herself a raise.
She’s learning that she deserves happiness as much as anyone, deserves the unflagging love of her husband, and that mistakes in the past, no matter their consequences, don’t have to mean a lifetime of penance.
Jasmine is now living in New Haven, Connecticut, where she bought a house in a pretty neighborhood.
The younger girls are happy with the move—Lucy is making friends at the performing arts magnet school she’s attending, and Lyra loves what she calls their “fairy house,” which is a fraction of the size of their Greenwich home.
There are other kids on their block, families at all stages of life.
Lydia . . . well, Lydia is staying with Oscar and Alyssa for now, which makes Jasmine’s heart ache.
Still, her oldest is a bit more pleasant when she comes to visit and does more with her sisters than she ever did in Greenwich.
Jasmine has also started her own company—Flex Kids Transportation, a service that takes children to and from school and extracurriculars, freeing up parents who work or don’t want their kids on the school bus. So far, she has four vans and nine drivers, and she hopes to expand soon.
Beck texted Audrey, Jasmine and Micah a picture of her and Stephen at dinner the day she won her trial and, shortly after that, a photo of her hand adorned with a wicked pretty vintage engagement ring. Stephen will start interviewing for anesthesiologist jobs in New York once Audrey . . .
Once Audrey is gone. This is the reason they’re here. After her last really bad spell, she told Stephen to call the Core Four.
“She might not know who you are,” Stephen finally says now, breaking the silence. Grief makes him look older. “I just want to warn you. She’s in and out. She wants us all there. No one else. Just you three and me.”
Beck takes his hand and squeezes it, tears already overflowing.
“Is she sure about Clay and your dad?” Micah asks.
“She’s sure. She didn’t think they could handle it. Didn’t want them to have to try.”
“What if she forgets?” Jasmine asks. “What if she’s in a fog and can’t remember her plan?”
Stephen heaves an awful sigh. “If she forgets, I’m supposed to read her the letter she wrote to herself,” he says.
“If the message takes, it takes. If not, well, we can’t do it for her.
That would be murder. So if she forgets, she just .
. . dwindles away, and I’ll . . . take care of her.
” He covers his face with both hands, and Beck leans against him.
“I hope she can do it,” Stephen whispers.
“And I hope not, too. There’s no good ending here. ”
Micah reaches out for Jasmine’s hand, and they exchange a miserable look. Stephen is right. No matter what, Audrey will not live much longer.
“I guess we find out tomorrow,” Beck says, straightening up, her voice soft. “No matter what, we’ve got her. Right?”
“Right,” Jasmine says.
“And we’ve got you, too, Stephen,” Micah says. “You won’t be going through this alone. We’re your sisters now. Well, not Beck, of course. That would be gross.”
He almost laughs despite the endless tears sliding down his face. “The Core Three,” he says. “It sounds so sad.”
“No,” says Jasmine. “The Core Four. The new Core Four. You’re one of us now, Stephen.”
And with those words, the weight of Audrey’s death goes from unbearable to just awful. They’ll get through this tragedy together. Twenty-five years ago, they splintered, and every one of them suffered.
It won’t happen again.