“It entails a lot. Up to this point, I’m done with my part. More to come.” He paused. “I’ve also been busy on personal stuff.”
“Oh?”
“I’m looking for a new place to live. Something like this,” he said, giving her street a quick survey. “Not a lot of upkeep, but with a patch of yard in back. Andrew’s got a hankering for a dog.” He could tell that sparked her curiosity, so he hurried to continue. “I went to see Mary and Hank last week.”
“Is he recovering well?”
“Says he feels like a teenager.”
“That’s good.”
“Um-huh. Anyway, I was supposed to be returning Andrew to them, but the three of us sat down for a heart-to-heart, and I told them I’m moving Andrew here permanently.”
She inhaled deeply but didn’t say anything.
“My son belongs to me and with me,” he said, repeating what he’d told his in-laws. “I’ve enrolled him in a preschool that provides extracurricular activities in the afternoons. After naptime. He’s already picked out his sleep mat and lunch box. I’m also looking for a reliable nanny type to stay with him when work demands.”
She smiled. Either it was his hopeful imagination or it was a little tremulous. “You have been busy, Mitch.”
“I never touched Angela’s life insurance. It’s earned some decent interest, so I can use it to afford this. It’ll be an adjustment, and I know going in that it won’t always be easy. I’ll take it one day at a time and do my best.”
“I’m sure Andrew’s excited.”
“He can’t wait. I’m gonna teach him to fish.”
She smiled. “Where is he now?”
“Molly came down from New York to meet her baby brother. She invited him to stay over with her tonight. He still thinks she hung the moon.”
“His first crush.”
“I guess.” During the following lull, he shifted his stance. “By the way, you look great.”
“Thank you.”
“And, Dylan, John and I put on that dog and pony show to catch the bad guys. It worked. We got them. You played a minor role in the grand scheme.”
“Minor role?” She looked down at the ground for a time before looking back up at him. “It wasn’t minor to me, Mitch. I heard every word you two said in that self-congratulatory conversation. You came to me only to manipulate and use me.”
“At first, yes. I’ve admitted it. But you can’t think that what happened between us was part of the act.”
“Did Beth know?”
“About the hoax? No. John wouldn’t tell even her. In order for it to be convincing, nobody could know except him and me.”
She appeared somewhat mollified to learn that even Beth had been unaware.
He said, “You know that over the course of that week, things changed.Ichanged. When I met you, I’d been sober for six months, but I was still obsessed with getting revenge. You made me see how dominating and destructive that obsession was.”
She was about to speak, but he held up a hand. “Let me finish, please. The other night at John’s house, I hated that you left, but you were right to. I did need that time to reflect, and what I eventually arrived at is this: I’ll never let go of the memories of Angela, but I have let go of blaming myself for what happened to her.
“I came to the realization that nobody faulted me, except me. She wouldn’t want me to be bound by that guilt. It would break her heart. So, I came here to say thank you for helping me to see that. My resolve now is to put all that behind me, not drag it into the future. Andrew’s and mine. And I guess our dog’s.”
To keep from smiling, she rolled her lips inward and held them that way for a moment. “I’m very glad you got closure on that. I appreciate your telling me.” She hesitated, then said, “I’ve been doing some self-analysis.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. A bell jar is see-through. But most people didn’t. See through it, that is. But you did, and you made me realize how confining it had become.”
