Safe Within by Jean Reynolds Page

Author:Jean Reynolds Page
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Mick pulled into the driveway at the lake, grateful to arrive without a DUI. The boat wasn’t in the lift, so his mom hadn’t gotten home yet.

As he walked into the tree house, Linnie made a face. “Good God, Mick. It’s four in the afternoon. What have you been drinking?” She sat at the table, stitching a border onto a toddler-sized dance costume.

“Mr. Jack Daniel’s would be the culprit there. The rest of the story involved two girls in bikinis, a rainstorm, and the Pascals’ dad’s stash of Maker’s Mark in the boathouse,” he said.

“Ah, the Pascal place. I dipped into that hooch myself back in the day,” she said. “I don’t know. Wild bunch back when I knew them.”

“The tradition continues,” he said.

“Damn!” She nicked her finger with the needle and jerked her hand back in pain. “I’ll miss the kids, but I won’t miss these damn recital costumes. I don’t know how I get stuck doing half this stuff. These children all have parents, for God’s sake.”

“Mom come back?” he asked, sitting in a chair beside her.

“Not yet.” She tied off a thread and bit it. “I tried to call her, but she’s not picking up.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “Have you listened to the machine?”

“Nope,” she said. “I hate those things. I liked it when people couldn’t find you every waking second.”

“There are messages, I’m sure. A deputy was looking for her and found me instead with Mom’s license plate number,” he said.

“You’re lucky he didn’t make you walk a straight line,” she said. “What did they want with Elaine?”

“Something’s happened out at Greta’s. To Mattie, I think. I don’t know much more than that.”

Linnie put down her sewing. “Oh God, I hope she’s okay. She seems like an awfully good soul.”

Mick liked Mattie, too, but he knew there was another reason to be concerned. Greta relied on Mattie. Without her, Mick’s grandmother had only Mattie’s progeny and the remains of her own fractured family.

“Greta could manage, right?” He didn’t even like the woman, but the thought of her in some retirement community felt wrong—like caging a bird of prey.

“I don’t know,” she said. “If she lived in town, maybe, but out there in the country . . .” Linnie’s face registered significant doubt.

Technically, he was Greta’s only blood relative—regardless of what she believed.

“Do you know the whole story about my mom and Greta?” he asked.

“I thought your mom explained that to you.”

“Not really,” he said. “There has to be more to it.”

“This is not my conversation to have with you, hon,” she said. Linnie wasn’t going to cough up more than he knew already. “But I will say this. Your folks had an amazing marriage.”

“I know,” he said. “I had a front-row seat.”

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