Chapter 34 - Dean
Dean
“Mrs. Willoughby,” Lily announced, closing the door behind her.
I’d have guessed Ryan, accompanied by Satan himself, both in matching clown costumes, to appear before Mrs. Willoughby.
The woman pursed her lips at my undressed state. “Am I interrupting?”
I threw on my shirt and smoothed my messy, overgrown hair.
“Oh, not at all,” Lily said in a rush. “Dean and I skipped dinner tonight. Both of us were so busy today we needed a break.”
I raised both hands from behind Mrs. Willoughby, signaling my confusion and earning a puzzled shrug from Lily. After her rescue and odd dismissal, I didn’t expect a knock on our door a short time later.
She offered our only chair, and Mrs. Willoughby accepted, settling in with her purse planted in her lap, turning her into a snobby queen presiding over her subjects. “I’m here to thank you, Dean,” she said, answering one question and creating several more.
Mrs. Willoughby remembered her manners now? I never expected that. I also never expected the soft tone she spoke with, at least not directed towards me.
Lily tapped my arm.
“One of the sheriff’s new men bothered her earlier today. I intervened.” I had avoided telling Lily about it because of Mrs. Willoughby’s reaction afterward. She cared for the woman, and an honest retelling painted her in a poor light.
“That was kind of you,” Lily said.
“It was nothing,” I said.
“There’s more. I’ve held this in my heart since that comet went and destroyed everything, and it’s time to get it out.
You two. Sit.” Mrs. Willoughby pointed at the carpeted floor, and for some reason, we did as told.
“Where to begin? I was married before either of you was born, and that poor excuse went and died on me. A dumb accident, the kind young men everywhere find themselves in. I never remarried after that. What for?”
Lily frowned at her unromantic story, delivered in an equally unromantic tone.
I winced. It sounded like a cautionary tale against all men, and especially me.
Mrs. Willoughby went on. “That’s right. No point to it.
I’d raise a man’s children, cook for him, and clean after him.
If I’d do all that, I might as well get paid.
I watched you two grow up.” She made the sign of the cross and kissed the tips of her fingers.
“I didn’t think much of you, Dean Montgomery.
I saw how you looked at my girl here. You made eyes when she didn’t notice, and she did the same right back.
Leaving for the Coast Guard was the first wise decision you made. Or was it the Marines?”
“Army Rangers,” I said, gritting my teeth to stop the rest. A hand drew into a fist, though it had no target.
Mrs. Willoughby didn’t know that enlisting was a decision forced on me rather than one made of my free will. Now, years later, her unhelpful comments about a long-ago past stirred emotions I’d struggled to suppress since we came back.
Lily slumped down beside me as she stared at the floor.
“Yes, that. Well, you put distance between you and my girl here. I never thanked you for that either, so here it is now.”
Lily paled. “Mrs. Willoughby, I-”
“I’m not done.” She raised a hand, cutting Lily off. Her voice sharpened. “There’s still anger in you, Dean. I think it might come out again.”
I raised my fist, and Lily wrapped it in her palm.
After saving her, she believed I’d harm the only person I’d die for? “If you’re asking me to leave Lily, I won’t. Not for you. She’s the one person I won’t hurt, either.”
“We should all hope not,” Mrs. Willoughby said. “Let me continue. The thing is, people look at me, and they see an old woman. They see my thin hair and wrinkles. I’m invisible. People forget I still hear.” She tapped an ear. “They speak because they don’t see me.”
“The sheriff?” I guessed.
I smiled with sick joy as the same dawning comprehension appeared on Lily’s face.
“Bill called me as a courtesy and suggested I come to your house, so I did. He invited the sheriff next, and they spoke. I made them coffee and stayed out of their way. It wasn’t my problem to solve, and I figured they’d get by without my input.
” She picked up her purse and dropped it.
“Your father left to make a phone call, and the sheriff did the same. I don’t know who he called, but I know what he said.
He ordered whoever it was to round up the weapons and to put the fear of God into whoever didn’t listen.
Those were his words. He told them to be ready.
I don’t know what that meant, but I think about it every day. ”
“Why didn’t you tell my father?” Lily asked.
“I tried once.” Mrs. Willoughby shook her head. “The sheriff got to him first.”
“I spoke to him today before he left. He’d listen this time, I think,” Lily said, though her weak tone didn’t convince me.
“Maybe he will,” Mrs. Willoughby said. She didn’t sound like she believed it either. “He’s not here, and you are. I’m sorry, Dean. You’ve led a hard life. Maybe it’d be different if more people saw that earlier, including me.”
I banged my ear to fix an imaginary hearing problem and stuttered, “Please don’t apologize.”
“I’ll say what I say.” She harrumphed and continued, “Here’s the next part. Dean, I appreciate what you did for me today. It was only a piece of candy, but we don’t have much, and it was mine.”
Her words slapped me before bouncing off the shield I’d created for myself. I understood the general message of thanks, while the rest made no sense. In her way, she apologized for past behavior. For treating me as she did, or maybe grown-up me heard what he longed to hear.
She hesitated, a noticeable act considering her frank manner of speaking. “I have personal news to share. I expect it to stay in this room.”
Her somber tone told me enough. “You’re dying?” I squeezed Lily’s hand to offer comfort.
Her brief frown confirmed it. “I received the news the day before that awful comet. With all that’s happened, there’s no saving me. I won’t survive the winter. I’m telling you this now so you don’t feel guilty. And Dean?”
“What is it?”
“When I return the favor, you’d best let me. You have other problems to solve, including taking care of my girl here. Not an old, dying woman. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Well, that’s what I came to say.” Mrs. Willoughby stood, clutching her purse against her. “Enjoy your evening,” she said and left.
“Wow, that was a lot,” Lily said once we were alone. “What should we do about it?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Mrs. Willoughby raised me. She’s sick, Dean.”
I patted her hand and frowned at the insufficient gesture. “She’s not dead yet.” Lily sucked in a breath, and I tried again. “We’ll be there for her.”
She blinked back unshed tears. “And the rest?”
“Let me think.” Weston and Harry, with Mrs. Willoughby’s attack and visit so soon after. It was so much to process, and though Lily had my trust, opening up to such a degree was more than I was used to. I didn’t have Lily’s secure childhood to anchor me. “She apologized to me.”
“Of course she did. You deserved one.”
“No, you don’t understand. People don’t do that. No one is ever sorry.” Lily’s plea after the comet made sense. Leave me be.
“I do.”
“You aren’t no one. We need information,” I said, because anything more was too much.
“Information about what? We know there’s a meeting tomorrow, and my father is out of town.”
“That’s not random.” I pressed a finger to my temple.
Focusing on immediate concerns comforted me more than reliving childhood trauma.
“Tell me everything you’ve seen inside the grocery store.
Is Rose still there? I want to know her room’s location and whatever else you remember. It’s time for me to pay a visit.”
Lily pressed her lips together so tight I worried I’d need a hammer claw to pry them open. Her stubborn jaw twitched.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Tonight? Are you sure that’s wise? Shouldn’t we talk about what just happened?”
“Later. I should have done this my first day.” I dug a pen and paper out of the desk. “Draw what you can remember. Like you once advised me.”