Summer Shadows (34 page)

Julia nodded, listening intently.

“And Ron
smiles
now. He laughs here. He has friends here, and he didn’t at home. I want to stay here. Our home is here, not at Mom’s house. That was our home when Mom and Dad were alive and with us, but it’s not anymore. Please, please,
please
, Aunt Julia, please say we can stay. We can’t go back. We don’t belong there anymore. We belong here.”

She stopped and took a deep breath, her cheeks a bright pink. She looked up at Julia, her eyes wide with anxiety and hope.

Julia sat next to her, not knowing what to say, and they were silent for a minute.

Dana put a hand on her arm. “Don’t you think we belong here too, Aunt Julia?” she whispered.

Julia looked up towards the lake. The others were coming in now, enticed by the scent of the hotdogs.

Jack was riding on Robert’s shoulder, squealing as Robert pretended to trip. Amelia romped around him with Tigger chasing her, while Ron dunked an unsuspecting Dylan, laughing when his friend popped back out and charged at him. His laughter echoed around the lake.

“Yes, Dana,” she said, softly. “Yes, I do.”

EPILOGUE

Julia sat alone in the dining room. It was December 23
rd
, close to midnight, and she was still wrapping presents. Soft, instrumental Christmas music filled the room as she worked, humming along.

Around her, garlands of green decorated the edges of the room and a tiny Christmas tree stood on the side-board that they’d brought up from Springfield. It was draped in a Christmas cloth and already set with Amanda’s holiday china for Christmas morning brunch.

They’d invited Robert and Amelia, of course. Later on Christmas afternoon, J. C. and his friends, the Ojacors, Mrs. Jurta, the O’Reillys, and a lot of people from the neighborhood would be coming for a Christmas party.

The party was Ron’s idea, and when Julia expressed concern that they wouldn’t be able to fit everyone, he’d assured her that they could. They were going to have a very full house, because her parents were coming up to stay Christmas Eve night. Miriam and Walter Budd, still disgusted with Julia, had elected to go to Europe for the holidays, but promised to see them after the New Year. Neither Julia nor the children were very upset about that.

As she prepared the gifts, Julia felt a serenity that she’d never known. The dining room table heaped with wrapping paper, tape, boxes, and instruction manuals. Thanks to her new administrative assistant job at the school and a generous Christmas bonus, she was well able to fill the space under the tree this year.

In the open doorway, the living room was awash in the gentle glow of colored lights, dancing among the tinsel that Jack had covered the tree with. Ron had picked the tree and cut it down at the local farm himself, and they’d made a party to decorate it with Robert and Amelia. They spent nearly two hours on it. New, shiny ornaments hung alongside of old family favorites. A garish and sparkly tree skirt covered the tree stand, and a perky angel winked from her perch at the top of the tree. Jack had placed it up there, held up by Robert, and he never failed to mention this whenever visitors came by to look at the tree.

The rest of the house was decorated, too. Garland hung around every doorway, because Amelia and Dana insisted that it made the whole house look like a fairy’s Christmas castle.

Amelia was even more excited about this Christmas than she usually was, according to Robert.

“Her mother’s on a cruise this year,” he’d told Julia the night of the tree decorating. “I was worried how Amelia would take it, but she was so excited about spending Christmas here that she didn’t mind a bit.”

Later, Amelia confided to Julia that her mother was on a trip with her new boyfriend, but that Amelia didn’t mind because she hadn’t wanted to miss her first Christmas with her new family.

“I know that you and Dad aren’t married or anything,” she said as Julia blushed. “But it’s okay, because they’re already my brothers and sister, in
spirit,
you know. And that can be even more powerful than being a real family.” She sighed happily and twirled about the room. “I am sooo glad that you guys didn’t move! So glad I almost don’t need presents this year. Almost.”

She didn’t know it yet, but Robert and Julia’s big present to Amelia and Dana were matching tutus to go with dance lessons that would start in January. Julia herself was not a huge fan of dance, but that was all the pair of them had asked for this year - and since Dana had been so good about the sale of the house in Springfield, she thought it was the least she could do. Besides, the girls needed their girl time.

The kids had handled the transition better than anyone had expected. After the hard work of closing the house and moving began, Julia landed her new job - and between her new work schedule and the children starting school in Franklin in September, they had to rush.

Robert helped them out whenever he could, even taking a few days off to help with the lugging and loading. Sherri, ecstatic to have a real sale and a good profit for once, loaned them her strapping nephew and the use of her moving van. They cleared the house in record time, but the basement and the office of the Franklin were still filled with unopened boxes. Julia thought she could go through everything over the Christmas holiday. That was looking less and less likely as time went on.

The sale of the house went through without a hitch, and the bank account filled up. There were some healthy tears, but having to adapt to a new school and a new schedule helped everyone move toward closure faster than they might have otherwise.

Thanks to Ron’s private school, he had advanced a grade and was now in class with Dylan and his friends who, due to Ron’s good influence, were no longer the troublemakers they had been. Dylan, in fact, was researching and writing a book about his experiences in the Lang house while Ron was seriously pursuing his studies, and finding out that he was actually a pretty good athlete and scientist.

Dana and Amelia were in the same class. Dana was emotionally stable now, and her friendships were much better. Both she and Amelia had a group of girls that they liked to hang out with, and they had them over for movie nights on occasion.

Jack was thriving. He liked his school, even though he was initially intimidated by his teacher and new schoolmates. For a while, Julia worried about him, but then he met Judah. Judah was a little boy who was absolutely terrified of dogs.

“He’s just like me, only scareder,” Jack had explained to Julia.

Jack introduced Judah to Horatio, and by the time he’d cured him of his phobia, Jack had made a fast friend.

As for Julia, the new job was a challenge, but in a good way - and she was considering taking an online degree course to further her job prospects.

Brad Lang’s attorneys had demanded that the state reopen the case, and it looked as though he would be cleared. As yet, no one knew what he was going to do with the house. It was well known, however, that A. Glenn Bernard had been hired to write a history of the case from Brad’s point of view. What Stephanie’s family thought about it could only be imagined.

Both Michael and John Irwin were arraigned and awaiting trial. J. C.’s family had a lawyer who felt very sure that they’d be able to reduce John’s charges, thanks to his emotional state at the time and his impeccable reputation in town.

The last gift was assembled and wrapped. Julia stood up, stretched, and checked her watch. It was 12:30 and she was exhausted. She stowed the wrapped boxes in bigger, cardboard ones, then carried them into her room, which the kids had been strictly forbidden from entering. She was just about to go around shutting off Christmas lights when she heard a soft rapping from the kitchen door.

She went over to the kitchen door and peered through the window. Out of the shadows, a hand held up a bottle of sparkling grape juice.

Laughing, Julia pulled the door open and let Robert in. He was wearing his heavy weather coat over his jeans and sweater, and a swirl of chilly wind followed him into the house. Julia shut the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered, following him into the kitchen. “It’s after midnight!”

“I came to celebrate,” he said. He put down a plate of cheese and crackers on the kitchen table. “Break open the wine glasses, Jules, we are living large.”

“With sparkling grapes, no less! And what,” she asked, as she got out the glasses, “are we celebrating?”

“Santa Claus! He just finished all his wrapping tonight.”

“By a strange coincidence,” she handed him a glass, “so did Mrs. Claus.”

“I knew that,” he said, twisting open the bottle. “How’s Amelia?”

“She and Dana fell asleep an hour ago. I didn’t think they’d ever get tired.”

“So we have the place to ourselves for a little while.” He swept his arm toward the living room. “Shall we drink by candlelight? Methinks I hear good old Nat King Cole playing.”

“Good ears.”

“Well, I’m not as old as I look.”

“Neither am I.”

“Oh, geez, then, is this legal?”

“You tell me. You’re the cop.”

“In that case, it’s legal. Here, you take the glasses and settle down on the floor right there.”

She sat where he gestured and he settled next to her. He filled their glasses as she took the plastic wrap off of the plate. They reclined against the couch, toasted each other and sipped the fruity drink.

“Umm…” she said. “Nice vintage.”

“Only the best for you, Julia.”

“Mmmm…”

They sat in easy silence for a while, listening to Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra serenade them.

Julia kicked off her shoes and Robert followed suit, slipping his arm around her shoulders as they leaned back against the couch. It was warm and comfortable, and she leaned into his shoulder and relaxed. He pulled her a little closer and brushed the top of her head with his lips.

“Nice,” she murmured. Her eyes were heavy, and she was so relaxed that she nearly dozed off.

“I think so, too,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here, Jules.”

“Me, too. Springfield was never my kind of town.”

“And Franklin?”

She lifted her head and pulled his face down to hers. “Very promising,” she whispered.

Ron woke up at the first rap. He heard Julia opening the door, and then the sound of Robert entering. After a few minutes, they left the kitchen and went into the living room. Intensely curious, he laid in bed straining to listen, yet afraid of what he might hear. He was exhausted anyway, so he decided to go back to sleep.

He was just nodding off again when Dana came to his bedside.

“Aunt Julia let someone in,” she whispered.

“I know,” he said. “It’s Robert.”

She got that curious, excited look on her face that he’d learned to mistrust. “Really? What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know, Dana. Go back to bed.”

“I want to see.”

“Don’t!” he warned, but she ran out of his room and shut the door behind her. He thought about going to get her, but he was still tired, so he laid down again and closed his eyes. It seemed as though he’d just done that when he felt someone pulling on his arm.

Dana was as excited as if Santa Claus had come a day early.

“It
is
Robert!” she whispered, jumping lightly up and down. “And he’s
kissing Aunt Julia
!”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Gross,” he said, but he was secretly pleased.

“Amelia and I are going to be real sisters. See, I told you!”

“You did. Now go back to bed.”

She turned to leave, but a moment later she was back again, shaking his shoulder.

“What
is
it, Dana?”

“Our houses are both too small for all of us,” she said. “We’re going to have to move again.”

“Oh, brother!” He threw himself back down on the pillow. “They aren’t even engaged yet, Dana.”

“But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yes, they are too small. Why?”

“Well, because I was thinking. J. C. says that the Langs are going to sell the haunted house at the end of the street. Wouldn’t it be cool if we bought that one?”

“Creepy, more like.”

“Romantic,” she said dreamily. “That house brought us all together.” She yawned and smiled sleepily. “The stars are out tonight. I’m going to wish on one for the house. I want to live in it and it’ll be fun to work on it like we did this house.”

Ron laughed. “You’re wishing on a star? That’s for babies, Dana.”

She paused at the door and grinned at him. “No it’s not. I wished for a sister and I’ve got Amelia. Amelia wished that we would stay and we did. Both of us wished for Aunt Julia and Robert to get married and now they are…”

“Dana!”

“Well, they’re kissing aren’t they? Anyway, I’m going to wish for the house and I’ll get it. You’ll see. Good night! Love you!”

She slipped out and shut the door behind her.

Ron waited until he was sure that she wasn’t coming back, then he rolled over and looked up through the skylight. Stars glinted above him, too many to count. He picked out a constellation and smiled as he found the North Star. Robert was right. It was easy to find, once you knew how.

He thought about Dana and her wish for the Lang house. How could she want to move in there? Terrible things had happened in that place – loneliness, murder cover-ups, Ron being attacked. But, then, worse things had happened in their own house. Stephanie Lang had been killed, Michael Irwin had broken in, tore up the floorboards, and attacked Aunt Julia, all in the downstairs room. They really ought to hate the house, or at least be nervous around that room.

Only they weren’t.

Aunt Julia and he had removed the bloodstained wallpaper, repaired the wall, and painted it a pretty shade of lilac, which Aunt Julia said was the state flower. Then, despite everyone warning her that she’d have nightmares from the attack, she made it her bedroom.

“I’m not going to let the past dictate the future,” she’d told Ron when he asked her about it. “We’ve cleaned it up and we’re giving it a new history now. That’s all that matters.”

Whether she had nightmares or not, she never said, and it wasn’t long before everyone sort of forgot that these things had happened in her room. It was as though the room had been healed of its tragic history. Like the wall itself, the brokenness had been fixed. From dust, dirt, and death, new life had sprung. A new history was being written in the house.