“What I mean is that having someone unaffiliated with the ... commune, as you called it ... witness this event is pretty important for our investigation.”
Gwen has told her what she saw, as best she can remember it. She doesn’t think the shooting was intentional. It was like the gun went off as Aurora was turning around. A horrific accident.
“I hope I’ve been helpful,” Gwen says.
“You have been.”
Detective Steele goes to open the door to their little interrogation room, but Gwen remains seated with June. She is not ready to go yet. She has a question she needs answered.
“Is she okay?”
Detective Steele turns around, her hand lingering on the doorknob as she does.
“Excuse me?”
“Angeni Luna. Is she okay?”
Detective Steele sighs. “I’m really not at liberty to share specifics, but she is alive.”
Gwen doesn’t realize she’s been holding her breath until she exhales.
“That’s good,” she says, surprised at how relieved she is. She doesn’t know Angeni Luna, not personally. But she can’t imagine that baby girl, Freya, going through life without her mother. Her eyes start to well up as she looks at June.
“I think your husband is in the waiting room,” Detective Steele says, opening the door, giving Gwen another cue to leave.
Gwen stands and goes through the various maneuvers necessary to get June back in her baby wrap while Detective Steele looks on, bewildered at this strange sequence of movements.
At the scene of the shooting, the police and ambulances arrived within minutes, before Gwen and Jeff had a chance to talk. He must have followed her from home to day care drop-off. He was worried about her, and she loved him for that. She can’t imagine what he was thinking when she left the day care center with June, went to the ferry terminal, and then drove to Angeni Luna’s property. He doesn’t even know about Angeni Luna. There is so much she hasn’t told him about her inner world. That has been her crucial mistake, hasn’t it? She’s absorbed the message that mothers are supposed to have it all figured out, and she’s been too afraid to admit to him that she doesn’t. What she knows now is that no mother has it all figured out, not even Angeni Luna. Gwen has no idea if it’s true that Angeni Luna didn’t really have a home birth, but she knows from practically memorizing the Instagram video that the actual delivery in the tub was never shown. What else about Angeni Luna isn’t real? She can’t say she’s angry at the woman. If anything, she feels compassion, solidarity. How many newmothers are keeping their shameful secrets, terrified of being anything less than perfect?
Jeff is sitting in the waiting room as she approaches. His legs are apart, an elbow resting on each thigh, his head in his hands. It’s possible he’ll never look at her the same way again. From this point forward, he will see her as someone capable of losing it.
“Hey,” she says once she’s a few feet away from him.
He lifts his head. The expression on his face is grave, but once he sees her and June, he smiles.
Gwen’s eyes, already welled up, spill over with tears at the sight of this smile. His smile says everything she needs to know—he still loves her, he forgives her.
He stands, wraps his arms around Gwen, pulls her and June into his body.
“Babe,” he says into her hair, his voice muffled. “I’m so sorry.”
“You’resorry?”
He leans back so that he can look at her, their faces a few inches apart.
“I didn’t know how bad things were,” he says. “I just didn’t know.”
“I didn’t want you to know.”
“We’re going to figure it out, okay? I’m just glad you’re both okay.”
He kisses Gwen on the cheek, then kisses the top of June’s head. Gwen is glad they’re okay too.
Gwen’s phone buzzes in her pocket. She remembers that she needs to call the day care center and the law firm.
The text is not from either of them, though. It’s from Leigh.
Omg. Have you heard about the shooting? My god. Did you really go to Bainbridge Island? I miss you. I’m sorry abouteverything. I’m a real CUNT. Nathan has finally calmed the fuck down so we need to catch up.
