Read Online The Long Way Home by Karen McQuestion - Free Book Online Page B

since Melinda died. Time and again she’d tried to get back to being the person she was before the murder, but even her best moments were a charade. Like she was going through the expected motions of life. With each passing month she thought it would get easier, but that didn’t happen. Every day was one more day without Melinda.
    She once heard a radio show psychologist say that death was painful, not because people couldn’t see their loved ones anymore, but because they couldn’t communicate with them anymore. That made perfect sense to her. Rita could stand not seeing Melinda and not having her as part of her everyday life, if only she could have some contact, some assurance that things were the way they should be and that her daughter was fine. The violence that had taken her life marred the memories of her vibrant self.
    This trip was the first time she’d felt even a smidgen of joy. She wanted to help Marnie reconnect with her stepson. Someone should be able to hug her child even if she couldn’t. When it was time to go, Glenn had helped her carry her things out to the car, and asked if she had her phone and enough money. “Make sure you call me,” he said. As if she wouldn’t.
    “I’ll be back in a week or so,” she said, giving him a kiss. “And I’ll call you every night.” Wait until she told him they’d picked up a fourth passenger at the last minute. She still couldn’t believe she’d allowed Laverne to go with them. The old lady just looked so overjoyed to be going that Rita didn’t want to be the one to cast a storm cloud over things.
    “Everyone comfortable?” Rita asked. Jazzy nodded vigorously and a double chorus of “Yes!” came from Laverne and Marnie in the backseat.
    “I’m so glad we don’t have to go through Chicago,” Jazzy said. “With the construction this time of year it’s a nightmare. I hate those orange cones.”
    “Worse are the concrete barricades,” Marnie said. “I’m always worried the car will scrape against them.”
    “It’s probably a good thing neither of you are driving,” Rita said. She prided herself on her good driving record. She’d never had an accident, never even had a speeding ticket for that matter. Nerves of steel behind the wheel, that was Rita.
    When Rita’s daughter, Melinda, turned sixteen and got her learner’s permit, Glenn took her out driving once and it had been a horrible experience for both of them. They came into the house afterward with Melinda crying. “Daddy yelled at me,” she sobbed.
    Rita gave Glenn an accusing look. He threw up his arms and said, “See if you can do it any better.” From then on, she was the one who took Mel driving and that was fine. Every summer after that, mother and daughter went on a road trip and shared the driving. Glenn opted to stay home the first year and after that he wasn’t invited. There was something sacred about traveling together, just the two of them. They talked and laughed and talked some more, stopping when they had to and taking detours when something interested them. Rita realized with a pang that she missed Melinda not just as a daughter, but as a friend too. And she also missed future Melinda, the daughter who someday would have been a mother, making her a grandmother. Melinda would have been a good mom.
    Laverne opened the window a bit and tentatively stuck out a hand. “Ahh,” she said, closing her eyes. She looked euphoric.
    Rita glanced at the rearview mirror and smiled. “If you want the air on, just let me know.”
    Laverne, eyes still closed, said, “For now, this is perfect. Just give a holler when we hit the state line. I’ve never been out of Wisconsin. I want the full experience.”
    “You’ve never been out of Wisconsin? You’re kidding!” Jazzy’s eyes widened. She turned around. “Why not?”
    “We never had the cash to be gallivanting around. I had a bunch of kids and they needed shoes and food and whatnot. And then when they grew up, we were