The Mill River Redemption Read Free

peas in a pod, I tell you. Ruthie was almost as close to Josie as she was to her own sister.” Fitz shook his head sadly and turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll go spend a few minutes with her before I head back to the station.”
    A constant stream of visitors came through the front door. They made their way around the living room, signing the guest book, pausing to gaze at the urn and the pictures of Josie, stoppingto shake hands and speak with Josie’s daughters and Ivy. Kyle Hansen arrived with his daughter, Rowen, and Claudia Simon, an elementary-school teacher in Mill River whom he’d been dating for several months. Father O’Brien watched as Kyle and Claudia spoke with Emily, then Rose and her husband, and as Claudia knelt to speak to Alex.
    The front door opened again, and another group of people filed into the house. He nodded to the Wykowski, Pearson, Burnham, and Lowell families as they passed him, but there were several people he didn’t recognize. He was caught up in conversation when he felt a friendly tug on his elbow. He excused himself and looked down to see Daisy Delaine smiling up at him.
    “Father, oh, am I ever glad you’re here,” she said in her familiar singsong voice. The little woman tossed her gray curls away from her face, revealing a large, port-wine birthmark that curled up onto her cheek. “You know, Josie was one of my best customers, and I feel so sad for her daughters. I made up a batch of my special grief potion for them. It’s the same kind I made after Mrs. McAllister died. Do you remember?”
    Daisy’s words awoke a great sadness in his heart as he remembered the recent loss of his closest friend, but he did his best to smile and focus on the present situation. “Ah, yes, Daisy, that was quite a potent brew.”
    Daisy looked delighted. “Wasn’t it, though? It helped me feel better, so I was thinking I’d give them each a big jar of it.” She leaned closer to him and opened the top of her purse wide enough to reveal two large Mason jars full of a greenish liquid. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m a little worried. I haven’t seen either of them in a long time, you know. They might not remember me.”
    Father O’Brien smiled and patted Daisy’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll remember you,” he said. “But, it’s tough at a time like this, when Josie’s daughters are sad and having to be good hostesses forall these people. Maybe you should wait to give them the potion until almost everyone else has gone home. That way, you’d have their full attention.”
    “That’s a good idea, Father,” Daisy said. “Thanks! I guess I’ll go see what’s in the kitchen while I wait. I heard Ruth brought some pies for refreshments.”
    He thought of Ruth Fitzgerald’s fabulous tart cherry pie … and how he hadn’t had any recently, since the bakery-café had been undergoing renovation. He turned to follow Daisy to the kitchen, but he found himself face-to-face with Ivy. She pulled him by the arm into the corner of the room, away from the clusters of mourners.
    “Father, I didn’t want to say anything earlier, in front of the girls,” Ivy said in a low voice, “but I need to meet with them privately before this is over, and I was hoping you might sit in when I do. It’s something their mother arranged, and it isn’t gonna be pretty.”
    Sure enough
, he thought, he’d been right about Ivy. “I’m happy to help however I can,” he said. “If it’s a personal family matter, though, shouldn’t it just be between you and the girls? I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
    “Well, you know how they are, Father. And what I’ve got to tell ’em, well, I know it’ll go over like a frog in a punch bowl. Having you there will help them keep control of themselves and maybe even stay civil toward each other, because they’re still as far apart as the sun and the moon.”
    “I gathered as much when I first came in,” he said. “When and where will you have this