“Like...why?” Tears began falling from Sandy's eyes.
“Haley, the woman we ran into at the grocery store, is Brad's sister. She ordered him to investigate you,” Candy answered. “Haley threatened to call the FBI if Brad didn't do as she asked. Now, before you paint Brad in a bad light, let me say that he ended up telling Haley to leave us all alone and even threatened her with arrest. Once Brad found out certain truths about you, honey...well, you better believe that man will now do everything within his power to protect you.”
Sandy stared at Candy with eyes that were filled with torment. “So you know...like...all of my secrets?”
“I know that your parents abused you, yes, and that you tried to—”
“Drown myself when I was fourteen...like, yeah...” Sandy allowed her tears to fall. “Candy, like, all of that is behind me. Dr. Goldstein thought I blocked it all out because I refused to talk about it. I, like, let him think that. He was a nice guy who really, like...you know...cared and all. He had a daughter my age, and he was a nice guy.”
“I'm sure he was, honey.”
Sandy looked down at the white coffee cup she was holding. “I do think about my past, but, like, I don't let my past hurt me anymore. I know what my parents did to me, but like, I forgave them and still do. I, like, love my enemies and pray for those who hurt me.”
“That tells me you are a very amazing young woman.” Candy's voice broke some. The pain she was seeing in Sandy's eyes was ripping her heart out.
“I, like, even forgive Ralphie when he saysayoa million times a day,” Sandy continued without wiping her tears away. “Ralphie doesn't mean any harm. He's just, like, as broken asme. Totally. But that's okay because, like, life is a process. Like, a person can start out on a bumpy road and end up on, like, a smooth path.”
“Yes, you can.”
Sandy nodded. “So, like, why complain about my past? Like, in my mind, there's just no sense in complaining. What's done is done.”
“Honey, why did you try to drown yourself?”
Sandy put the donut she was holding down onto her lap. She wiped away one single tear. “I wasn't trying to drown myself. That's what people, like, think. So lame. I was trying to swim to Hawaii. I, like, didn't get far. I, like, was taking a lot of sleeping pills to help me sleep, and I went to the ocean when I was still sleepy. Like, maybe I was out of my mind? All I knew was that I wanted to swim to Hawaii and, like, really believed I could. Hawaii didn't seem very far away. A lifeguard saved me, and I guess God was watching over me.”
Relief touched Candy's heart. Sandy had not tried to end her own life. The authorities had assumed the worst without digging for the truth. Whew. “Honey, I need to ask you about Nathan Branch.”
Sandy sat straight up like a stiff board. “I...like...listen—”
“Calm down,” Candy pleaded. “Honey, there's no need to get upset. No one is ever going to hurt you. You know as well as I do that Peppermint, Chris, Marty...and even Ralphie...would die to protect you.”
“I...like,” Sandy struggled to take a deep breath. “Like, Nathan was going to hurt me on the day I called you. I swear it, Candy. I kind of made a call behind your back. I called my old boss where I used to work. He, like, told me everything that went down.”
“Who is Nathan Branch?”
“Like, a lame snake,” Sandy blurted out. “I, like, kind of fell for his good looks and fake charm, but after I, like, realized who he was, I tried to get away. The guy went totally fatal attraction on me. He threatened to hurt me if I ever left. I called the cops. The cops made him leave me alone, but I knew he would be back sooner or later.”
“How soon after that incident did you call me?” Candy asked.
“Like, a few days later...three at the most,” Sandy answered. “My parents were getting ready to throw me out, and Nathan was going to come after me, and I had to, like, split the scene.” Sandy's voice turned panicky. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you, like, the whole truth. I just wanted some handsome guy to like me, and Nathan seemed to like me, like, for more than my looks. That's the honest truth.”
“It's okay, honey.”
“Is it?” Sandy cried. “I knew that awful woman in town, like, would cause trouble. I just knew it. Now Nathan will know where I am, and like, come for me.”
“No, honey, he won't,” Candy promised. She stood up and ran to Sandy.
Sandy felt Candy touch her arm. She dared to look up into her loving eyes. “I'm so scared, Candy. I've never stopped being scared.”
“I know, honey, I know.” Candy dropped down onto her knees and hugged Sandy. She put her coffee cup down on a side table and then threw her arms around Candy. She was terrified. “No one is ever going to hurt you, Sandy. You're my heart now, and I'm going to protect you. I promise.”
“Not only you, but me.”
Sandy looked up. Chris was standing in the library doorway. She had not even heard the door to the library open. “And me,” Peppermint stepped past Chris. To Sandy's shock the man had tears in his eyes.
“And me,” Betty pushed her way forward.
“Ayo, and me!” Ralphie squeezed through.
