Read Online Set the Night on Fire by Libby Fischer Hellmann - Free Book Online Page A

born. But he started out at Michigan.”
    “The University of Michigan?” Lila straightened up. “In Ann Arbor? Are you kidding?” When Val nodded, she said, “Why didn’t he tell us?”
    “Probably because he dropped out after his freshman year, and he didn’t want you or Danny to follow in his footsteps.”
    “Why did he drop out?”
    Val didn’t answer for a minute. “I really don’t know, darling. All I know is that he . . . well . . . he did other things.”
    “What things? Where?”
    Val motioned to the waiter for another glass of wine. “Actually, he was living here in Chicago.”
    “Chicago?” Lila was stunned.
    “That’s right.”
    “Did he drop out of school because he met my mother?”
    Val shook her head. “He met her here.”
    “In Chicago? Are you sure?”
    “I was about to marry Harvey—that was hubby number one—but . . .  your father would call every once in a while, and we’d talk.”
    “About what?”
    A vague look came across her aunt’s face. “Oh, you know. This and that.”
    A wave of suspicion rolled over Lila. “What was he doing in Chicago? Does that mean my mother was here, too? I thought she was from Indiana.”
    “I guess she was, but . . . as I said, they met here. I’m sorry, doll face. I just don’t know any more.”
    The waiter brought Val another glass of wine and asked Lila if she wanted more iced tea. She waved him off. “When exactly were they here?”
    Val’s eyes got distant as she tried to work it out. “Let’s see. I married Harvey in ’69, and that was right in the middle of it. It must have been the summer of ’68 through about ’70.”
    “We were born in May, 1970.”
    “I know.”
    “There has to be someone who knows about my mother and father and what they were doing here. Two people don’t exist in a vacuum.”
    “I know you want answers, sweet pea. But I don’t have any. And I don’t know who would.”
    “What is it about our family?” Lila fumed. “Why are there all these secrets? No one ever talks . . . talked to anyone. ” Her voice rose, “When I have a family, I’m going to . . .” She cut herself off. She didn’t have her own family. And her prospects of having one were dim.
    Val’s expression said her aunt knew exactly what Lila was thinking, and that she empathized with her. The hot achy feeling in Lila’s throat came back.
    “Lila,” her aunt said. “All I know is that your mother died giving birth to you and Danny. A few weeks later your Daddy showed up at Gramum’s in a cab with the two of you in his arms.” She drained the last of her wine. “Hey! Did I tell you about my itinerary after BA?”
     
    * *
     
    Lila walked home, sifting a multitude of thoughts. Was she prepared to take on a search for her mother’s family? What if she discovered her mother was a heroin addict? Or a thief? Or a prostitute who’d stopped taking her birth control pills? Maybe her mother’s parents were so dysfunctional that she’d been forced to escape their clutches before she, too, was destroyed. No. Better not to go there.
    She headed south to Church Street. Half way down the next block, she stopped at a bookstore featuring a display of Frank Rich’s new book in the window. Rich wrote for the New York Times . Lila thought he could be pompous, but his heart was in the right place. She was debating whether to go in to buy it when she was distracted by a reflection in the window. It was subtle, more an impression than an image. Behind her, almost out of her field of vision, something—or someone—moved. A presence had been there, now it wasn’t.
    An icicle of fear slid up her spine. The day was still overcast; the reflection might be warped. She pulled up the collar of her jacket and focused on the glass. She saw the outline of buildings across the street, a few cars passing. She heard the whine of a motorcycle revving its engine.
    She flicked her eyes back to the display. Frank Rich grinned at her from