Read Online The Body in the Birches by Katherine Hall Page - Free Book Online

Pines, so the surprise was not that he had it, but that he was on the phone at all. Tom’s mother, Marian, did the calling. Dick’s aversion to Mr. Bell’s instrument was well known; Faith had seen him sit and let it ring until someone else in the house answered. Before retirement he’d been a Realtor, and she guessed he’d had enough of phone calls.
    Her heart sank. Whatever the news, it was bad.
    â€œTom is out sailing; he should be back soon.”
    â€œHow soon? Marian’s had a heart attack. I’m at the hospital with her. The EMTs brought her in thirty minutes ago. She is stable now, but in the ICU.” The anguish in his words was palpable.
    â€œA heart attack! But she’s never had any heart problems! We’ll be there as quickly as we can. We can get a plane from Bar Harbor to Boston. What are the doctors saying? Is she conscious?”
    Faith knew she needed to sound calmer. She took a deep breath. “I can see the dock from where I am and will know the minute Tom’s here. Tell me what happened.”
    â€œIt’s been so darn hot. I thought that was it. We thought that was it.” Faith heard the catch in Dick’s voice. “She’s been short of breath this last week, maybe longer. She didn’t tell me about it until yesterday when she thought she might have eaten something that disagreed with her. She had chest pains. Chest pains! How could I not have known?”
    Very easily, Faith thought to herself. Her mother-in-law would have made the Spartan boy look like a whiner.
    â€œYou couldn’t have known,” she said. “I’m sure she didn’t think anything was wrong either.” Marian most likely did but wouldn’t have wanted to make a fuss.
    â€œThis morning the pain was worse,” Dick continued. “She wouldn’t let me take her to the hospital or even call the doctor. Then it got really bad and, well, I had to get an ambulance.”
    â€œI’m going to call the airport and find out when the next plane leaves. It will take about an hour to get there and about an hour in the air, but it will be quicker than driving. We can pick up the car we left in Aleford.”
    â€œI haven’t phoned anyone else. Craig is up in Vermont and the rest of the gang is over in Europe.”
    Craig was the baby of the family, behaving like one for too long; but he had finally settled down. He co-owned a ski resort in Vermont, active as a vacation spot in the summer as well.
    Betsey, divorced with two college-age boys, was the oldest Fairchild sibling and like her dad had gone into real estate. Marian recently told Faith that empty nester Bets was seeing someone seriously, a fellow Realtor. The two were currently in Provence, maybe checking out the market—what a four bedroom, three and a half bath, kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, etc., went for there.
    Tom was the next Fairchild to arrive and then Robert, two years younger. He was also abroad, in Spain, on vacation with his partner, Michael. They were sporting goods sales reps, and this was a less busy time of year for them.
    Dick had paused before finishing the sentence. “Besides it’s Tom she’ll want in any . . .” He seemed to run out of steam again.
    But Dick didn’t have to finish the thought. Of course Marian would want Tom by her side. Anybody would. In addition to his many pastoral calls to those in times of illness, Tom was one of the chaplains at the local VA hospital. It was what he did, and he was very good at it.
    â€œI don’t like the idea of your being at the hospital without anyone until we get there. Why don’t you call one of your brothers?”
    â€œMaybe in a while. It’s early days yet.”
    Faith understood: calling them, even calling her, was making everything too real. She could picture the hospital waiting room. The hand sanitizer dispensers every few feet, the out-of-date