Chapter 455
Their destination was the garden, Dust Dancing in Light, the sea of flowers Donald had planted for Edith.
He had once torn it all out, but now it was filled with flowers again. Because of the cold weather, several plastic greenhouses had been erected over them.
Restoring it to this state must have taken Donald a great deal of time and effort.
“Even though she’s gone, I believe she can see this from heaven,” Donald said, his eyes filled with a heavy sorrow as he looked at the garden.
“My mother was very happy during the years she was married to my father,” she said after a long silence.
“That’s good to hear.” Donald’s eyes welled up.
“She never once thought about seeing you before she passed away.”
“I know.”
“So you should let her go, too.”
It was her way of offering him counsel. Their time had passed, a permanent,
unbridgeable gap between life and death. Since that was the case, they should both let go. The living didn’t need to torture themselves for the dead.
“Your mother will always hold the most important place in my heart.”
“Why do you insist on doing this to yourself?”
“It’s not something I can control.”
Penelope sighed. She wanted to be clear with Donald. Although they were father and daughter by blood, there was no real bond between them. It would be better for
both of them to step out of each other’s lives and not disturb one another.
But just as she was about to speak, Donald looked at her with a nervous expression. “Penelope, could you… call me Dad just once?”
“I’m sorry, I…”
“It’s alright. There’s no rush. I can wait. I believe that one day, you’ll accept me.” Seeing his cautious, hopeful expression, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
Just then, her phone rang. It was Carson.
She hadn’t been back to the Johnson family home in a long time, nor had she spoken to Carson. How could she not resent him, be angry with him? To pull his family out of their grief, he had orchestrated her marriage to Theodore, forcing them to confront a tangled past after they had already fallen in love.
She was deeply hurt. If it hadn’t been for Carson, she could have avoided all of this.
But… Carson had also given her so much.
“What is it?” she answered, her voice cool.
“Penelope the police from some town called Theodore. They found the bodys of a young man in their river and they suspect… they suspect it might be Norton!”
Penelope’s body went rigid. “Norton?”
“Theodore is already on his way there. I’m worried about him. Can you go with him?”
Without a second thought, Penelope hung up and called Theodore.
“I can go by myself.”
His voice was steady, but Penelope knew he was holding himself together by a thread. If that thread snapped…
“I have to go with you,” she insisted.
Theodore didn’t argue, just told her to drive to the highway entrance and wait for him.
At the rendezvous point, Penelope got into Theodore’s car.
He glanced at her, perhaps afraid of her worrying, and managed a small smile.
“Don’t worry, it’s not him. That kid wouldn’t do something so drastic.”
Penelope nodded. “Of course it’s not him. It can’t be.”
Though they said the words, a heavy mood settled over them both. Soon, the forced
smiles faded, and the conversation died out completely.
After driving for most of the day, they arrived at their destination after dark.
Theodore contacted the local police but was told they would have to wait until the next day to visit the morgue.
That night, they stayed in a local
guesthouse. When Penelope woke in the middle of the night, she found the space beside her empty. She got
up and went outside, where she saw Theodore sitting on the steps,
smoking.
Judging by the number of cigarette butts on the ground, he had been there for a very long time.
Penelope knew she should go and comfort him, but she also thought that maybe he needed to be alone. And even the needed comfort, she wasn’t the one who could give it.