Marking Time Read Free Page B

“Me, too.” She didn’t like to think about Kate’s impending departure for Nashville. Jack had made that decision before her recovery, and he had convinced Clare to give it a try for a year. He had promised her he would see to all the details, including making sure Kate had a safe place to live. Clare was glad she had a couple of months yet before she had to deal with that.
    “Sorry, Mom, but we’ve got to go,” Kate said with a kiss to her mother’s cheek. “I’m working tomorrow, so I need to hit the sack.” She had been playing the guitar and singing at the Infinity Newport Hotel’s outdoor bars all summer.
    “That’s okay. I’m glad to see you, even just for a minute.”
    “I’ll call you tomorrow,” Maggie promised, kissing her mother good night.
    “I’ll look forward to it.” Clare waved as the door closed behind them. Watching them go, she was hit by a sense of panic, wondering if they felt closer now to their stepmother than they did to her, wondering if she’d ever get back the close bond she’d shared with each of her daughters.
     

C hapter 3

    November 22
    Today is Thanksgiving, and my goal is to help the girls remember all the many blessings of their lives, despite their loss. Mother, Dad, Jamie, and his parents are coming for dinner, and I hope having them here will help Jack. I feel Clare’s absence so acutely today. The holidays were her favorite time of the year, and she always made them special for the rest of us. Just getting out of bed to face this day took effort for me. I can’t imagine how Jack and the girls must feel.
     
    January 1
    I don’t know when I’ve ever been so glad to say good-bye to a year! Jill and Kate were invited to a slumber party for New Year’s Eve, and I encouraged them to go. It’s good for them to spend time with their friends. After Maggie went to bed, Jack and I tied one on and watched the ball drop at Times Square. When I looked over at him at midnight, there were tears running down his face. His pain is so intense. Christmas was a horror show around here. They didn’t want a tree or decorations. I tried to cajole them, but Jack told me to let it go. No one was in the mood.
     
    The phone rang, startling her. Clare set aside the journal and took a deep breath to calm her emotions before she answered.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Clare. It’s Janice Hayes.”
    “Hi, Janice. It’s so nice to hear from you.”
    “How are you?”
    “I’m actually getting ready to go home. One more week.”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful news! Cooper and I have been keeping tabs on you.”
    Cooper Hayes had been Jack’s attorney for years. The four of them had socialized on many occasions, and he’d handled their divorce. It was nice to know she hadn’t been forgotten by her old friend. “Thank you, it’s good to hear your voice.”
    “I’ve wanted to come by to see you, but Jack said you weren’t taking visitors at the hospital.”
    “Yes, well, I kind of wanted to get back to my old self before I greeted the world. Why don’t you come by the house when I get home? I’d love to see you.”
    “I’d like that. Coop told me what happened, that you were—”
    “I was raped, and he threatened to kill one of my kids if I told anyone.” Clare saved her friend from having to say the words. “I didn’t tell anyone, and the stress was horrible.” She paused before she continued, knowing she might as well tell her friend the rest. “That day, in the parking lot, when the car was coming at me… I’m ashamed to say I saw it as a way out. I let that car hit me, Janice.” Clare had only recently been able to speak of it after months of intense therapy. “I did a terrible thing to my girls by letting that happen right in front of them.”
    “I’m so sorry, Clare,” Janice said in a whisper, and Clare could tell she was crying. “The man who hurt you—”
    “He’s doing a life sentence in California. Apparently, he was a career felon.”
    “Thank God they