what he said he wanted when
he was in the hospital. I didn’t know he had family then.”
“He belongs here. On this property. There’s a cemetery where
all the Monroes are buried. He needs to come home.” Her voice
was now urgent.
I didn’t want to make any commitments. Nick had specifical y
told me to bury him in Maine. It was one of his last requests of me.
“I’ll give it some thought. I wil .”
“Strongly consider it. It upsets me, the thought of my son up
north, alone.”
I wanted to ask her who James was, but instinct told me he was
connected to whatever horrible event had taken place here. Too
much, too soon would make this woman shut down.
Her eyes were focused on something over my right shoulder.
I looked at every detail of her lined face, at the makeup stuck in some of the creases, the folds of skin over her eyes, the harsh set of her jaw. I tried to pretend for a moment that this woman was a patient at my clinic. It calmed my nerves and made me feel like I was in control.
54
ELLEN J. GREEN
“I would like to ask only one thing of you. Just this one thing,”
she said when she spoke again. “Would you consider staying here
with me for a little while? It would give me the chance to get to know my son again.” She stopped and looked down. “I knew him
for the first sixteen years of his life. You knew him for the last five.
Between the two of us, maybe I can get more of a complete picture.
He’s gone now, and all I have left is you. You could tell me so much about what kind of a man he’d become.” She looked so sad at that
moment that I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if she’d burst
into tears.
Her face became suddenly animated, and her arms flew out
from her sides in a wide gesture. “How about for a week? Look
at all this space. It wouldn’t be an imposition at al . In fact, there is a small guest quarters in the back of the house that has its own entrance. You could come and go as you please. What do you
think?”
I was conflicted. I felt that I still needed to try and untangle
the web Nick wove for me during his last moments of conscious-
ness. And I wasn’t overly eager to move into this mausoleum. But
my finances were teetering toward zero. I hadn’t gotten any money from Nick’s will yet, so it seemed my choices were limited if I was going to stay in the city. I felt my head nodding before I’d completely convinced myself it was the right decision.
I got into the car afterward and just sat there. Stunned. I put
the key into the ignition and glanced at the house again. The curtain in the upstairs corner window moved. Cora had been watch-
ing me. Those tiny green eyes had done nothing but watch me
since I’d gotten out of my car.
“Damn you to hell for this, Nick,” I whispered.
CHAPTER 12
CORA
From the second-floor sitting-room window, she watched her son’s
bride leave the property. Darkness was creeping into the edges of her mind; she tried to fight it. Wash the cups, that’s what she’d do.
That would make things right. She descended the narrow steps to
the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove to boil.
The sanctuary of her home had been violated by a visitor,
and although it was necessary, it was unsettling. She’d never liked strangers around her and avoided them at all costs.
This stranger was different. This one held keys to the past and
the future.
Nick had spent all those early years of his life learning not to
let people get too close. He’d learned that lesson harder when his father died. Then this woman shows up, with horrible hair and a
cheap dress. For the first time Cora feared that the lesson Nick had real y learned was to wait for the perfect opportunity to pay her back for sins long forgotten.
She studied the steam beginning to pour from the spout.
Water. Steam. Hot. Wet. The words raced through her mind, one
56
ELLEN J. GREEN
after the other, creating images in her mind. The words were associated with
he was in the hospital. I didn’t know he had family then.”
“He belongs here. On this property. There’s a cemetery where
all the Monroes are buried. He needs to come home.” Her voice
was now urgent.
I didn’t want to make any commitments. Nick had specifical y
told me to bury him in Maine. It was one of his last requests of me.
“I’ll give it some thought. I wil .”
“Strongly consider it. It upsets me, the thought of my son up
north, alone.”
I wanted to ask her who James was, but instinct told me he was
connected to whatever horrible event had taken place here. Too
much, too soon would make this woman shut down.
Her eyes were focused on something over my right shoulder.
I looked at every detail of her lined face, at the makeup stuck in some of the creases, the folds of skin over her eyes, the harsh set of her jaw. I tried to pretend for a moment that this woman was a patient at my clinic. It calmed my nerves and made me feel like I was in control.
54
ELLEN J. GREEN
“I would like to ask only one thing of you. Just this one thing,”
she said when she spoke again. “Would you consider staying here
with me for a little while? It would give me the chance to get to know my son again.” She stopped and looked down. “I knew him
for the first sixteen years of his life. You knew him for the last five.
Between the two of us, maybe I can get more of a complete picture.
He’s gone now, and all I have left is you. You could tell me so much about what kind of a man he’d become.” She looked so sad at that
moment that I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if she’d burst
into tears.
Her face became suddenly animated, and her arms flew out
from her sides in a wide gesture. “How about for a week? Look
at all this space. It wouldn’t be an imposition at al . In fact, there is a small guest quarters in the back of the house that has its own entrance. You could come and go as you please. What do you
think?”
I was conflicted. I felt that I still needed to try and untangle
the web Nick wove for me during his last moments of conscious-
ness. And I wasn’t overly eager to move into this mausoleum. But
my finances were teetering toward zero. I hadn’t gotten any money from Nick’s will yet, so it seemed my choices were limited if I was going to stay in the city. I felt my head nodding before I’d completely convinced myself it was the right decision.
I got into the car afterward and just sat there. Stunned. I put
the key into the ignition and glanced at the house again. The curtain in the upstairs corner window moved. Cora had been watch-
ing me. Those tiny green eyes had done nothing but watch me
since I’d gotten out of my car.
“Damn you to hell for this, Nick,” I whispered.
CHAPTER 12
CORA
From the second-floor sitting-room window, she watched her son’s
bride leave the property. Darkness was creeping into the edges of her mind; she tried to fight it. Wash the cups, that’s what she’d do.
That would make things right. She descended the narrow steps to
the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove to boil.
The sanctuary of her home had been violated by a visitor,
and although it was necessary, it was unsettling. She’d never liked strangers around her and avoided them at all costs.
This stranger was different. This one held keys to the past and
the future.
Nick had spent all those early years of his life learning not to
let people get too close. He’d learned that lesson harder when his father died. Then this woman shows up, with horrible hair and a
cheap dress. For the first time Cora feared that the lesson Nick had real y learned was to wait for the perfect opportunity to pay her back for sins long forgotten.
She studied the steam beginning to pour from the spout.
Water. Steam. Hot. Wet. The words raced through her mind, one
56
ELLEN J. GREEN
after the other, creating images in her mind. The words were associated with
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