"Surprise, I'm home!" Ellen called out from the doorway, slipping out of her coat. The living room was bright and peaceful, with a winter sun streaming through the windows, and the sight brought her back to reality, after having fainted in Marcelo's office. She'd blamed it on her mystery illness when she regained consciousness in his arms, their faces close enough to kiss. Or maybe she had imagined that part.
"Mommy!" Will zoomed from the dining room, his rubbery sneakers thundering on the soft pine floors.
"Honey!" Ellen let her coat fall to scoop him up and give him a big hug, and Connie came out of the kitchen, looking pleased. She was dressed to go to Happy Valley for the weekend in her Penn State wear, gray stretch slacks and a blue Nittany Lions sweatshirt.
"Hi, El. Is there much ice on the road?"
"No, and thanks for shoveling the walk."
"That's all right. Will helped."
"Good for you, sweetie." Ellen set Will down, and he hit the ground moving. She had called Connie on the way home, telling her she was taking the day off, though she'd edited out the fainting. "No school today, huh?"
"No, Mommy. We read four books!" Will held up four fingers, and Ellen grinned.
"Good for you!"
Connie said, "I don't know why they closed. It's a gyp, for what you pay."
"It's all right." Ellen smiled at Will, cupping his warm head. "I wanna have some fun, don't you, honey?"
"Fun!" Will started jumping up and down, and Ellen laughed.
"How about sledding? Is that fun?"
"YES!" Will shouted, jumping like crazy.
"Good idea." Connie reached for her coat, purse, and tote. "TGIF, hey?"
"Exactly." Ellen smiled, glad to give her the time off after she'd been working so hard. "Who are we playing this weekend?"
"Nobody as good as we are."
"So we're winning?"
"Of course. Mark might even start." Connie grinned.
"Go Lions!" Ellen raised a fist, and Will did, too, still jumping. She stroked his silky hair, beginning to feel better. "Will, say good-bye and thank you to Connie."
"Good-bye, Mommy!" Will shouted, throwing his arms around Connie's legs, and Ellen cringed.
"See ya later," Connie said, bending over and hugging Will back.
"Alligator," he replied, his face buried in her coat, and Ellen opened the door while Connie left, waving happily.
Ellen closed the door behind her with a grin for W. "Hey, pal, did you eat lunch yet?"
"No."
"Me neither. How about we eat and then go sledding?"
"Sledding!"
"Not yet." Ellen glanced at the dining-room table, covered with crayons and coloring books. "Go pick up those crayons, please, and I'll get lunch ready. Okay, buddy?"
"Okay, Mommy!" Will ran into the dining room and thundered into the kitchen, where she could hear the scrape of the footstool as he pulled it up to the counter. Oreo Figaro jumped down from the couch with his characteristic chirp, and she bent over to pet him hello, then felt her BlackBerry vibrating on her waistband. She took the Black-Berry from its holster, and the screen showed a red asterisk next to the email.
She hit the button. The email was from twinzmom373, Cheryl Martin. Ellen felt her chest tighten. She opened the email and read:
Ellen,
I sent Amy an email about you and told her your email address. I'll let you know if I hear from her, but don't hold your breath. Hope your son gets better. Sorry I couldn't help more.
Best,
Cheryl
Ellen bit her lip, her gaze lingering on the tiny screen. At least Cheryl had gotten through to Amy. If the email hadn't bounced back, it was still a good email address. She'd have to hope for the best, but in the meantime, she was back to Before and After. Either the car-jacker was Beach Man or he wasn't. Two choices. Do or die.
"Mommy, I'm done!" Will called from the dining room. He was kneeling on a chair, trying to hold a logjam of crayons. They were dropping everywhere, and Oreo Figaro was chewing Burnt Sienna.
"Let me help, honey." Ellen got up, putting the BlackBerry away.
During lunch, she tried to tuck her anxiety away in the back of her brain, but it kept coming to the fore, even as she got Will dressed in his snowsuit and retrieved the orange plastic saucer from the basement. She slid into her coat and took him in one hand and the saucer in the other, then went outside in the cold sun, inhaling a deep lungful of fresh air.
"Freezing, Mommy!" Will said, his breath making tiny puffs in the frigid air.
"Look, your breath looks like a little train. You're Thomas the Tank Engine."
Will giggled. "Choo-choo!"
"Here we go!" Ellen scanned the street, which was covered with a soft snow that blanketed the rooftops, filled the rain gutters, and lined the porch steps. The houses, mostly stone or clapboard, sat close together, and many of them shared driveways, like freshly shoveled Ys. Narberth was a stop-time neighborhood, where everybody looked out for each other.
They were making their way down the porch steps when Ellen realized something. Her neighbors must have gotten the white card in the mail, showing the photo of Timothy Braverman. They could have noticed how much he looked like Will, and everyone on the street knew that Will was adopted. They had all read her series, and she had even thrown a welcoming party for him when he was well enough. She used to be glad that Narberth was so chummy, but that was Before. After, it terrified her. She squeezed Will's hand.
"Ow, too tight, Mommy." He looked up in surprise, stiff in his puffy blue coat and snow pants, his arms sticking out like a gingerbread man.
"Sorry." Ellen eased her grip, shaken. She looked up and down her block, worried about running into her neighbors.
Two doors away, Mrs. Knox, an older woman, was brushing snow from her sidewalk, and on the far side of the street, stay-at-home moms Elena Goldblum and Barbara Capozzi were talking while their kids played in the snow. All of them could have seen the white card, especially the moms. Ellen stood frozen on the sidewalk.
"Mommy?" Will asked. "Are we going?"
"I'm just looking at the street. It's so pretty with the snow, isn't it?"
"Go!" Will tugged her hand, but Ellen's thoughts raced ahead. They always went sledding a few blocks away at Shortridge Park, and the place would be packed with Will's friends, their mothers, and the occasional stay-at-home dad, probably Domenico Vargas, who usually brought an old-fashioned plaid thermos of Ecuadorian coffee. All of them would have gotten the white card.
"Will, guess what?" Ellen knelt to see him at eye level and held him by the shoulder. His face was a circle of adorable features, those blue eyes under a pale fringe of feathery bangs, upturned nose, broad smile, framed by the drawstring of his hood. "Today, how about we go to a new place to sled?"
"Where?" Will frowned.
"Valley Forge. I used to sled there when I was growing up. Did I ever tell you about that? I loved it there."
"What about Brett?" Will's lower lip puckered. "Is he there?"
"No, but we can tell him how great it is. It's good for a change. Why don't we give it a try?"
"I don't want to."
"Let's try it. We'll have fun." Ellen straightened up, took him by the hand, and walked him over to the car before he could object.
She got her keys from her pocket, chirped the back door unlocked, hoisted him into his car seat, and locked him in, kissing his cold nose. "This will be an adventure."
Will nodded, uncertain. "We didn't say good-bye to Oreo Figaro."
"He'll forgive us." Ellen closed the car door, stuck the saucer in the trunk, and was going to the driver's side when Mrs. Knox appeared from nowhere in her black down coat, cackling.
"I know what you're up to!" she said, pointing with a red leather glove. "You're playin' hooky!"
"You got that right." Ellen opened the car door and got in. "It's a snow day for grown-ups, too. Gotta go!"
"Why're you drivin' to Shortridge? It's only around the corner."
"See you!" Ellen shut the door, started the engine, and backed out of the driveway, giving a disappointed Mrs. Knox a last wave.
"Mommy?" Will said from the backseat.
"What?"
"Connie doesn't like Mrs. Knox."
"Really?" Ellen backed out of the driveway and adjusted the rearview mirror to see him. He looked stuffed into the car seat, immobilized. "Why not?"
"Connie says Mrs. Knox is a busy-busy."
"A what?" Ellen steered the car down the street. "You mean a busybody?"
"Yes! "Will giggled.
Ellen hit the gas, hard.