In the Event of Death by Kimberly Young

Author:Kimberly Young [Young, Kimberly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781637586679
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2022-12-07T14:31:01+00:00

Chapter 19

L iz was aggressively ignoring the to-do list for Haley Chan’s memorial that lay on her desk. Yesterday, she and Gabbi met to discuss the timeline for speakers and performances, music playlists, and party rentals for the reception. The event was squarely in Touchstone’s wheelhouse, and for her partner it seemed to have become just another job. How she envied Gabbi’s ability to compartmentalize things. In stark contrast, Haley’s death resuscitated painful memories for Liz. And once she started rolling down a dark path, Liz could spiral after simply watching the morning news.

Earlier, at breakfast, she’d seen a segment about a British journalist who’d been killed—beheaded—by a terrorist in the Middle East. The image of the disheveled, doomed war correspondent kneeling in the desert while a masked figure prepared to saw his neck with a knife had made her head swim. Hours later, she couldn’t stop summoning the horror of that murder.

Liz understood that most people could watch that segment on NBC and enjoy a poached egg on buttered toast a moment later. Not her. Morbid thoughts had stalked her since she learned that firemen had lifted Maggie’s small, lifeless body from a closet where she’d hidden from the flames. That day, while her mother lay sedated in a local hospital, her father had assured her and Ned in a voice hoarse with grief that “the fire never touched your sister. She put her blankie over her head and drifted off to sleep.” It had been comforting to know that Maggie hadn’t been burned in any way. But then Liz began to fret that her six-year-old sister had been all alone in that closet, terrified and gasping for air. Did she cry for their mother? For her? These were questions that still slithered their way back to her.

Determined to chart a new course for her thoughts, Liz got up to refresh her coffee and reviewed a preliminary budget for the memorial with Gabbi. The ping of an arriving email drew her attention back to her computer screen. Members of her high school class were planning a belated twenty-fifth reunion at the end of the year. She scanned the names on the planning committee and noted that Peter Levine, her old beau, was among them. To spark interest and attendance, the committee had started a Facebook page where alumni could share photos, RSVP to events, and track down long-lost classmates. There was a push for everyone to join Facebook, but Liz was reluctant to initiate an account. Wasn’t that online social stuff meant for the kids? More to the point, there was something creepy about creating a profile that revealed aspects of your family and work that virtually anyone could see.

“Just do it,” Gabbi said, peering over her shoulder. “You can include a description about Touchstone Events. It’s essentially free advertising. I did it ages ago.”

Liz wondered what in her life would be worth viewing. As far as a description of their business was concerned, she was inclined to leave out the death-related events.

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