“From work?”
“What? Oh, yes, he came home around three, I think. I was working, but I stopped when I could to see why he’d come home early. He was in his office, and I could see right away he wasn’t feeling his best. He said he was feeling a little off, that’s all, so he’d work from home, take it easy.
“I thought it might be the start of that cold he tends to get this time of year. I mentioned it to Divine, and she made chicken soup. When I finished work—a little after five, I think—he was wheezy, and he said his throat was sore. I said I could call the doctor, or we could just run to the neighborhood clinic, but he didn’t want to.”
Crossing her arms, she squeezed her daughters’ hands. “You know how Dad is about doctors.”
“A big baby,” Anya said, struggling to smile as tears rolled.
“A great big baby. I took his temperature, and he was running a little hot. I said he should go up, lie down. I’d bring him the soup and some tea in bed, but he told me not to fuss. Just one of his stupid colds. He’d sleep in the guest room.”
Eve saw Uma come in, walk over to stand by Tyler and Divine.
“I put my foot down on that. He sleeps better in his own bed, so I’d take the guest room, and if he wasn’t better in the morning, I was calling the doctor and staying home. He agreed to the doctor but insisted I go onmy weekend trip. I decided to wait until morning, see how he was, then cancel if that was best.”
She shifted to look back at Divine. “He ate well. I felt better about that. He ate a full bowl, and said your soup was a miracle. A tasty miracle.”
“He did. Then you talked about your girls, if you don’t mind me saying, and that you wondered how they were settling in back at college. And if Chloe was serious about the boy she’s been seeing. Mister worried a little she was, but you said she wasn’t, not very much as yet.”
“That’s right.” She sighed, opened her other arm so Chloe moved into it. “And I reminded him we’d met in college, and that worked out just fine. He seemed a little bit better, but so tired. And the cough hurt his throat. I could see it. He went up, and I took him the tea you’d made to help him sleep. Oh, I forgot, Joy came home.”
“About six,” Joy agreed. “I got in on the soup, and it was wonderful. I’d gone by after work to check on the progress at my condo. Nate looked lousy, a little worse than when I saw him right before he left the office. He always seemed to get that same respiratory deal this time of year. And resisted the doctor, as Aileen said. I went up not long after both of you did.”
“Yes, that’s right. I spoke to you after I tucked him in—gave him cold meds, the tea. You said you’d help me in the morning, pushing him to the doctor, if I needed it.”
Aileen smiled a little. “You told me to take my getaway, you’d be here to look after your baby brother. We laughed a little, said good night. I read for a while, watched a show I’d wanted to see, read a little more. I checked on him intermittently, and he seemed to be sleeping well. Then I realized I was falling asleep over my book. I think I had dozed off for a while. I went to check on him one last time, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t there.”
“Do you remember the time?”
“Not exactly. I know after midnight. I did glance at the time, a few minutes after midnight, and thought I could sleep in a little, so one more chapter. That’s when I think I dozed off for a bit. I know I felt a little groggy when I got up, the way you do when you’ve dozed off. But he wasn’t there.”
“You went downstairs.”
“Yes. I looked for him first. He wasn’t in the bathroom, or in the little den upstairs where he liked to sit sometimes. I thought he might have gone down to the kitchen, for more tea, or more soup.”
“Were the lights on downstairs?”
“No, not in the foyer. We keep a light on there if someone’s coming home late, but everyone was home. I called—not loud—the way you do when everyone’s sleeping. And I walked back to the kitchen.”
“Which way? You have central stairs. Did you go right or left?”
“Oh, I must’ve gone left. That’s habit. My office is on the left. He wasn’t in the kitchen. We keep a low light on in there at night, but he wasn’t in there. I heard something. Like something fell. A kind of thud? Then another thud.”
“Two thuds?”
“Yes. Ah, yes.” She closed her eyes. “One, then the other, and I thought Nate had knocked something over, or tripped in the dark. So I called out again, louder, I think, and walked down to his office.”
“Was the light on?”
She shook her head. “No, no. Moonlight. I saw him in the moonlight, and the security lights. I saw him on the floor. Nate. I didn’t think. I thought he fell, and I ran to him, and dropped down.”
“Ms. Carville, can you tell me: Was he on his back?”
“On his back? No. No. I… I turned him over, and the blood. All over my hands. His blood. I started screaming, and couldn’t stop.”
“Isn’t that enough?” Chloe murmured when Aileen began to tremble. “Isn’t it? Drink some of this, Mom. Drink it for me. Please.”
Eve shifted to Joy.
