Chapter 24 - Back to the Crest
They returned on a clear October afternoon.
Exactly one year and three weeks after the push.
Ridge House was empty.
The new owners would close the following morning.
Daniel parked near the terrace.
In the back of his vehicle was a wheelchair.
Margaret looked at it.
“No.”
“It’s a long walk.”
“I have a cane.”
“The crest is uneven.”
“I said no.”
Daniel smiled.
“Still stubborn.”
“You say that as if it developed recently.”
They walked slowly.
When they reached the top, Margaret stopped.
The road looked different.
Guardrails lined the dangerous section.
Reflective markers had been installed.
The runoff shoulder had been widened.
But the mountain was still the mountain.
Long.
Steep.
Unforgiving.
Margaret’s breathing changed.
Daniel noticed.
“We can leave.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m not.”
She stepped closer to the guardrail.
For a moment she was back in the wheelchair.
Lauren’s hands behind her.
Daniel’s back turned.
The violent first movement.
The terrible realization that no one could catch her.
Her fingers trembled.
Daniel reached out.
Margaret said, “Don’t.”
He stopped.
“I need to stand here by myself.”
Daniel lowered his hand.
Margaret looked down the road.
“I hated you for about three seconds.”
Daniel stared.
“When?”
“While I was rolling.”
His face changed.
“Why?”
“Because you weren’t looking.”
Daniel swallowed.
Margaret continued.
“It was irrational. But I remember thinking, Turn around. Turn around. Please turn around.”
“I did.”
“After I screamed.”
“Yes.”
“You ran.”
“I wasn’t fast enough.”
Margaret turned toward him.
“That bothered you more than anything.”
Daniel looked away.
“I was right there.”
“You were facing the other direction.”
“I should have seen something.”
“You were talking to Thomas.”
“I should have—”
“No.”
Her voice stopped him.
“This family has spent enough years pretending we can control outcomes by assigning ourselves impossible responsibility.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You came after me.”
His eyes filled.
“I couldn’t catch you.”
“No.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“But you came.”
Daniel hugged her.
Not carefully.
Not politely.
The way a frightened son hugs his mother after waiting a year to admit he had been frightened.
Margaret held him.
When they separated, she wiped his cheek.
“Your father cried less elegantly.”
Daniel laughed.
“Everything Dad did was less elegantly.”
“That is absolutely false, but I’ll allow it.”
They sat on the low stone wall near the crest.
The sun dropped toward the mountains.
Daniel asked, “Do you regret meeting Lauren?”
Margaret considered.
“I regret what happened.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“She nearly killed you.”
“Yes.”
“She destroyed our family.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“She—”
“Our family was already carrying damage. Lauren exposed it violently.”
“That’s generous.”
“It isn’t generosity.”
“What is it?”
“Accuracy.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“She taught you that.”
“No. Surviving her did.”
They sat in silence.
Then Daniel said, “I’m dating someone.”
Margaret turned slowly.
“What?”
He laughed.
“I knew that would get you.”
“Who?”
“Her name is Anna.”
“How long?”
“Two months.”
“And you are telling me now?”
“Yes.”
“Occupation?”
“Architect.”
“Divorced?”
“No.”
“Children?”
“No.”
“Criminal record?”
Daniel laughed loudly.
“Mom.”
“I have revised my screening criteria.”
He shook his head.
“She knows everything.”
Margaret’s expression softened.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
“And she stayed?”
“So far.”
“Then perhaps you learned.”
Daniel nodded.
“No more hidden rooms.”
“No more hidden rooms,” Margaret agreed.
They stood as the light faded.
Before leaving, Margaret looked once more down the hill.
Then she turned her back on it.
Deliberately.
Daniel noticed.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
This time she walked uphill under her own power.
May you like
And the road behind her remained exactly where it belonged.
In the past.
