An hour later, two dozen children sat enthralled by the movie on the screen, including little Audrey, her sunny shadow stretched out beside her.
Her face lit by the glow of the mummy lantern she claimed on her way in.
My eyebrows scrunched low.
It wasn’t like her mom to leave Audrey unattended.
I scanned the adults, skipping over Max briefly before snapping back.
He sat on a chair with his long legs outstretched and crossed at the ankles.Beside him, perched warily on the edge of her seat, sat Audrey’s mother.
We’d gone to school together, though she was a few years ahead of me.
I remembered when she went away to university, and the uproar when she came back a couple of years later, pregnant, and alone.
I tilted my head to the side.
She must have been one year behind Max and Hawkley in school.
She didn’t have the best support system.Her parents never quite forgave her for getting pregnant when she did.
I searched my memory.
She hadn’t had an easy time of it.I would have only been about eighteen or nineteen when she came back from university.We were all shocked when her parents kicked her out.Mom and Dad gave her the use of one of the cabins temporarily along with a job.She ended up having a baby boy who must be around eighteen now.
A bit of a wild child.
I smiled.Not entirely unlike Hunter.
Once he was born, and her parents fell in love with him, they brought her back into the family fold.A few years later she settled down, got married, and had Audrey.
But her husband couldn’t cope with Audrey’s diagnosis and took off when she was about four.
Max smiled at something she said.
I wonder if she would be good for Max?God knew he had the experience and compassion to care for a child like Audrey.
I looked around at what I’d pulled together.
It was all good.
I smiled to myself.Hunter would have been proud.
I huffed out a small laugh.He also probably would have leapt out from behind the screen covered in fake blood and scared the bejeezus out of everybody.
His namesake chose that moment to make his presence known.Mom scurried over and herded us out to the hallway.She took a picture of us in our costumes, just as she had for so many Halloweens, this time with tears in her eyes.
When she disappeared down the hall to the offices, my dad on her tail, I understood.
Seeing us all like this, as close to who we used to be as we’d been since our world fell apart, was a bittersweet agony.
Because while our hearts were coming back to life, one would forever be missing.
33
The Warning Stands
Ipeekedatthemonitoron my way to sit down.Baby Hunter slept peacefully with his little arms thrown up beside his head.I loved Hunter’s namesake with every fiber of my being.I touched the screen, murmuring, “Hi baby.”
