Kate put her hand on Sam’s arm. She knew how weird it must seem to a kid—just as it had to her and Beth. Facing death young took hold and made you into someone else. “It’s okay, Sam. Your mom and I talked a long time ago—we both said we wanted to be cremated.”
“Whether that’s true or not, Kate—it’s up tometo say,” Pete said sharply.
“Of course,” Kate said, kindly for Sam’s sake, breathing deeply to keep her heart rate down and to keep from saying what she really felt: that he didn’t deserve the right to make any decisions about Beth.
“As it happens, Kate is correct,” Pete said. “Beth will be cremated, per her wishes, her ashes interred with her mother’s and Mathilda’s. Eddie, I want to purchase the best urn you have.”
“Okay, Pete. Count on it,” Eddie said. His eyes were red. He shifted in his seat, making an obvious effort to control his emotions.
“Fine,” Pete said. He checked his watch. Kate’s pulse started racing again. If he had killed Beth, it was obscene that he would be here, picking out a container to hold what was left of her. She watched his eyes flick at the time, knowing he had somewhere else to be, and she turned away so Sam wouldn’t see how furious she felt.
“Thank you, Eddie,” Kate said. “Excuse me, will you?” She left the office, Pete and Eddie murmuring behind her, and walked out of the building.
A slight breeze ruffled the tall green marsh grass. Two egrets stalked along the opposite bank, gleaming white, their long yellow bills pointing downward, ready to spear silver fish. She breathed the fresh air and tried to feel less furious, for Sam’s sake.
She started the car to get the AC running and checked her phone for a message from Lulu—nothing. But there was a text from Scotty—no words, just four red hearts. She watched Sam and Pete emerge from the funeral home. They stood close to each other, obviously arguing. She had opened the car door and started over when they came toward her.
“Kate,” Pete said. “I think it will be very traumatic for Sam to return to the house where the tragedy happened.”
“Where Mom was murdered,” Sam said. “Just say it.”
“The point is,” he said, “I don’t think you should be staying there right now.”
“It’s home,” Sam said. “It’s where I live.”
Kate almost smiled. Contrary Sam: just last night she hadn’t even wanted to talk to her father.
“Of course,” he said. “But for the time being. Just for a while. Don’t you agree, Kate? That it would be better for Sam to stay with you for now?”
Kate remembered the smell of the house. How even before she had approached Beth on the bed, some ancient part of her brain had registered her sister’s death. Even now, a day later, she tasted decay in the back of her throat. She wondered how long that smell would stick to the house. She didn’t want Sam to know it. And she didn’t want Sam staying with him. Because, if she hadn’t wanted to believe it before, seeing Pete cry his crocodile tears was convincing her that he really had killed Beth.
“Sam, please come back with me. I’d love it if you did,” Kate said.
“Do I even have a choice?” Sam asked.
“For now, no,” Pete said. “Let the adults make the decisions. You’re in good hands with your aunt.”
“Okay, fine,” Sam said, sounding annoyed to comply, just like she had at ten, when Beth would make her eat broccoli or tell her she had to stop reading under the covers and get to sleep.
“I’m really glad,” Kate said.
“I want to go to Isabel’s for the afternoon, though. We’re just going to hang out,” Sam said.
“That’s a good idea,” Pete said. “I’ll drop you off.”
“No,” Sam said while texting. “Rebecca’s meeting me at the soccer field. She’ll drive me over.”
“Stay close to your friends during this time. Kate, can you pick her up when she calls later? I have some things I have to take care of.”
“Yes,” Kate said. Pete’s words, “during this time,” rang in her ears. During this time when your mother is dead for the rest of your life, during this time when you realize nothing will ever be the same.
“I’m going now,” Sam said, her voice catching as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I hate this place. I want to get out of here.”
“Just text when you’re ready to come home,” Kate said.
Sam gave her a sharp glance. “It’s not really home,” she said. “Where I live, lived, with Mom. That’s home.”
“I know,” Kate said.
