The Other Side - J. D. Robb [167]
“Truly?”
They grinned at one another and nodded.
“My name?”
“Of course.”
“Odelia then. Not Heddy.”
She heard running footsteps in the hall and turned to see Ryan, alone, coming after her. “I’m almost done. Go back. Please. Jimmy needs you.”
“He’s fine; he’s with a neighbor. And I need you. The southeast corner is crumbling. I want you out now.” He grabbed her hand and started to pull.
“Call it Delicious Delights by Odelia Hedbo.”
“The simple, fun one or the serious one?” M.J. grabbed the doorjamb and held tight.
“Both? Oh my. Then call the fun one Dandy Delights, dear girl.”
Suddenly, Imogene looked up, shook her head, and smiled—like she had the first day M.J. met her, so beautiful and serene. Throwing off the afghan, she got to her feet and wrapped her arms around Odelia. The sisters hugged and whispered to each other as Adeline stepped away from them and toward her daughter.
“Ryan’s right, darling, you should leave now.”
“Wait. Wait!” She used her eyes to plead with him. “She’s my mother.”
“Oh my,” Adeline sighed. “I am that, and it’s lovely to hear you say so with no remorse in your voice, but you’ve accomplished all we asked for and more. I believe you and I both know what I lost in this house—”
“What we lost in this house, Mother . . . we lost . . . our ability to love. We cut ourselves off from each other and from everyone else around us. You isolated yourself with your beauty just like I isolated myself with my brains—and we both missed out on so much of the joy and happiness we could have shared together. We blew it.”
Adeline pressed her lips tight and bobbed her head in an iffy fashion. “Maybe not . . . not completely anyway. What’s that old saying about a mistake not being a mistake if a lesson is learned. Have you learned any lessons here, Maribelle Joy?”
Man, she still hated that think-this-through tone of voice. . . .
“I thought we were working on your lessons, Mother.”
Adeline’s smile was amused and heartfelt. “We don’t have time for a good argument, darling.” She held her arms out to the sides, and M.J. noticed that both she and her sisters were becoming . . . thinner, starting to fade. “If you’ve learned anything from me, I’d like to hear it. Please.”
She took a step forward, she was losing her mother—again. She wanted to fling her arms around her and hold on as she never had before but . . . instead she held a fist over her breaking heart and began to speak.
“I was born of a love so pure and strong it couldn’t be replaced or forgotten or destroyed. I am lovable . . . just like you named me. And I know I can love because . . . well, because you’ve known all along what you lost in this house, but you hung around waiting for me, so we could have this time together and admit to what we were too stubborn to say when we had the chance—that we love one another. You did that for me. And that’s what love is . . . caring and doing for others.”
She felt Ryan’s hand slip around hers, not urgently pulling her away, simply there—caring.
Her mother’s smiling expression glowed as it had in every picture she’d seen of her with her father—happy and content. Imogene and Odelia joined her, their features satisfied and carefree. All three were barely visible now.
“Take good care of my daughter, young man.”
“Mother!”
The aunts laughed.
“Yes, ma’am, I plan to. I will.”
All three ghosts disappeared.
“That’s a little creepy.” Ryan stepped in front of her and took her other hand. “Are you all right?”
She was about to nod but screamed instead and hurled herself against him when the house shuddered, groaned, and settled into sudden silence. They held each other, heads down, hearts hammering, frozen in fear . . . then gradually started to thaw.
“I . . . I think that’s it. The windows, the foundation under the southeast corner, everything she had supported until