Read Online Her Mother's Shadow by Diane Chamberlain - Free Book Online Page B

eyes wide and filled with pain. “Jessica and Mackenzie were in a car wreck,” she said.
    â€œOh, my God.” Lacey’s hand flew to her mouth. She lowered herself to her haunches in front of the woman, her long skirt billowing around her on the floor, and rested one of her hands on Nola’s. “How bad?”
    â€œMackenzie’s fine, or at least that’s what they’re telling me. But Jessica has broken ribs and a collapsed lung and a broken pelvis—” the woman ticked the injuries off on her fingers “—and who knows what else.”
    â€œOh, Nola, how awful.” Lacey looked over at Rick. “Jessica—Nola’s daughter—is an old friend of mine,” she explained. “How did it happen?”
    â€œA drunk driver,” Nola said. “That’s all I know. I’m going out there to take care of Mackenzie while Jessica is in the hospital. Right now, she’s with a neighbor.”
    â€œYou’ll feel better once you see Jess and know she’s in good hands,” Lacey said, and Rick could see tears forming in her eyes as well. He felt intrusive.
    Nola nodded, but she looked unconvinced. “My poor little girl.”
    Lacey stood up and leaned over to hug her. The womanwas unresponsive, stiff as a stick. He wondered how old she was. There was not a wrinkle on her tanned face, and it was obvious she’d visited a plastic surgeon more than once.
    â€œShe’s tried so hard to make it, Lacey,” Nola said, a mix of anger and sorrow in her voice. “You know that. Raising Mackenzie by herself, holding down a stressful job, going to school at night.”
    â€œI know,” Lacey agreed. “Maybe I should go with you.”
    â€œNo, no.” Nola opened her large brown leather purse and pulled a tissue from inside it. She stood up, dabbing at her eyes. “I’ll call you when I see how she is.”
    â€œPlease do,” Lacey said, embracing the woman once again. “Please call me right away.”
    With a nod, Nola turned and walked out the door, the sun-catchers clanking against the glass once again.
    Lacey sank into her chair behind the worktable. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “Poor Jessica.”
    â€œYou’re very close to her?” he asked.
    â€œWe grew up together.” She was staring at the door, but he could tell she was not really seeing it. “She was my best friend from the time we were in kindergarten through junior high. She got pregnant when she was fifteen, though, and Nola shipped her off to Arizona to live with her cousins and she ended up staying out there. We’ve lost touch a bit since then, but we still have these long, wonderful phone conversations a few times a year. I haven’t seen Mackenzie—her daughter—since the last time they visited the Outer Banks, which must have been three years ago.” She stood up abruptly. “I’ve got to go home,” she said. “I want to call her. I need to hear for myself how she is.”
    â€œOf course,” he said, standing up.
    Lacey looked at her watch. “I’ll call Tom to come back to the studio to keep it open, but would you mind stayinguntil he gets here? In case that couple comes back? Or I could just lock up and put a sign on the—”
    â€œI’ll stay,” he said. “It’ll make me feel like I’m helping somehow.”
    She smiled at him, a quick, distracted sort of smile. “Thanks,” she said, gathering up her purse and day planner. “I’ll talk to you later.”
    He watched her leave. She was gentle with the door; the sun-catchers barely clinked against the glass. Looking over at her worktable, he noticed she had left behind the book on forgiveness. He wanted to run after her, press it into her hands, but he didn’t dare. She already thought him strange in that regard, a religious zealot, perhaps. And the last thing he