“When was that, ma’am?”

When? When? “I think…maybe…last…last night….” Her voice drifted. Daddy had been checking up on his eldest, his numero uno child, joking with her about an apple a day. Staying healthy. A convenient excuse to call. To keep in touch with the one who’d left home. She’d understood his M.O. a month after arriving at school. Sweet, loving man. A man with a phone.

“Wh-what…?” Her throat closed.

The cops seemed to understand her intent. “The official investigation is ongoing, but according to preliminary reports, the other driver lost control of his vehicle and did a one-eighty.”

“Drunk? But…but it’s the middle of the week.” As if that fact could change things.

“The driver’s blood alcohol was normal.”

“Then what…? The road…?”

“Icy conditions contributed. The temperature drops at night, and your folks were approaching at just the wrong moment. There were no survivors. I’m very sorry.”

She nodded. No survivors? Mom and Dad? She wanted to cover her ears.

The other officer looked at his notes and said, “The Woodhaven police are with your brothers and sisters.”

Oh, God, the kids… She had to get back to Woodhaven!

Standing quickly, she was hit by a wave of nausea and fell back into her chair.

She doubled over, hand on her stomach. The phone rang, startling her further.

She stared at the instrument, half-buried by textbooks, reached forward, and slowly lifted the receiver. “Hello?” she whispered.

“Lisa! Lisa! The police are here. Mom and Dad were in an accident. You have to come home! Now! I’m scared.”

Jennifer. Her social butterfly teenage sister whose life revolved around boyfriends, best friends, and having fun. Except, not tonight. In the background,

she heard the cacophony of younger voices crying and talking at the same time.

She heard little Emily’s high-pitched wail. “When is Lisa coming?”

“Hang on, Jen.” She took a breath and looked at the officers. “There are four of them. Emily’s only seven. My twin brothers are nine. Jen’s sixteen. I’ve got to get there—a hundred miles—and I don’t own a car.” She couldn’t afford one and didn’t need one in a city with mass transit.

The troopers nodded, and she spoke into the phone again.

“I’ll be there soon, Jen. As soon as I can. Maybe William and Irene can stay with you meanwhile.” Her fiancé’s parents lived across the street.

“They’re not home. They went to Miami to see Mike play. Didn’t you watch the game yesterday?”

“Of course I watched, but I didn’t know his folks flew down.” Mike had subbed for the starting quarterback and played an entire quarter. It was only his first year, but now the Riders were in the play-offs.

“So, Jen, you need to be in charge now until I get there. You and the kids sit tight and wait for me.” She glanced toward the window, where falling snow was reflected by the light of the streetlamps.

“It might take a little while,” she added. “It’s a big trip, and the roads are bad…”

What was she saying? Her parents had just been killed on those roads. “Jen, honey, let me talk to one of the officers there.”

Her hand shook as she gave the receiver to the state cop. “Ask if they told the kids the truth.”

In seconds, he shook his head. “Not yet. They’re getting a social worker in on it.”

She raised her eyes to his. “Please tell them not to do or say anything until I get there. Okay?”

Perspiration trickled from every pore. She shivered and sweated until finally her stomach lurched. Running into the bathroom, she vomited until nothing remained. Then she brushed her teeth, packed her suitcase to the brim, and

snapped it shut. The sound focused her, and she inhaled a deep breath. Be strong, be strong…

One of the troopers held the door open. Her gaze skimmed the small apartment.

She’d been happy there and ecstatic at being accepted into the program. She glanced at her textbooks before locking on to her college graduation photo. Her parents stood on either side of her, their smiles wide.

“Oh-h… One second.” Her own future was now uncertain. Dropping her suitcase, she darted to the wall, took down the picture, and tucked it under her arm. Their dreams and her dreams might have to wait awhile.

#

Michael Brennan needed three days to get home to Woodhaven and to Lisa. It seemed like three years.

He tossed his luggage in his parents’ front hall, turned around, and headed directly across the street. The Delaneys lived in a two-story wood-framed house with a front porch similar to his and to all the other homes on Hawthorne Street.

He’d grown up there, but Lisa and her family had moved in over four years ago in June, right after her high school graduation. He’d graduated from a neighboring high school that same year. Their paths hadn’t crossed until the evening his mother baked a cake and insisted their family welcome the new neighbors. Moaning and groaning, he’d given in, and the Brennans had gone to visit the Delaneys.

When Lisa opened the door and walked outside, he’d almost tripped up the front steps. One glance and he couldn’t speak. His brain froze, too, as if a lightning bolt had slammed him head to toe. Big violet eyes, long, dark wavy hair, and a killer smile. A friendly smile. Who wouldn’t have fallen in love with her? But he’d been the lucky one, the lucky guy who’d relished every single day since Lisa Delaney had first appeared at that front door.

Now her sidewalk needed shoveling. The streets had been plowed since the storm a few days ago, the walkways, too, but snow had fallen again yesterday, and surfaces had turned icy. He flexed his shoulders and entered the house. He’d take care of the snow after he wrapped his arms around her…if he could find her.

The Delaney house was packed. He recognized Lisa’s aunts and uncles from out

of -town, and all the neighbors, of course. Lisa’s closest friends, Sandy and Gail, were there, too. Either they’d stayed all day or had just come from work. He waved and searched for his mom.

“Where’s Lisa?”

“I’m glad you’re here, Michael,” she said, giving him a quick kiss, “but don’t expect too much from Lisa. She’s overwhelmed as…as we all are.” Irene Brennan gazed up at the ceiling, indicating the second floor. “She’s got the kids with her. The funeral’s tomorrow, and she wants time alone with them.”

“Alone doesn’t include me.”

He took the stairs two at a time, sensing the glances, the sympathy of the visitors as he made his way up. He appreciated their support, but they didn’t have to worry. Surely, he could handle whatever he found. Surely, he and Lisa could handle it together.

He paused in the hallway at the top of the stairs. Each of the four bedroom doors stood ajar, but he could hear nothing. He started to push the first door open when, from the end of the corridor, he heard Lisa singing quietly, “Too-ra Loo-ra Loo-ra, Too-ra loo-ra lie…”

Was she trying to put the kids to sleep at five o’clock in the afternoon? He slowed his pace and walked the last few steps before knocking softly and entering the master bedroom. Lisa sat on her parents’ bed, leaning against the headboard, the twins dozing on either side of her, little Emily sleeping on her lap. Jennifer lay across the foot of the bed, also sound asleep. He took it all in and understood that day and night had no meaning to them.

“Lisa...” A whispered prayer.

Her red-rimmed eyes brightened, her arms opened, and he was there. Kissing her and gently shifting one little brother lower on the mattress. She began to cry, her tears mingling with his as he rained kisses, and his tension melted simply by holding her in his arms. Tears flowed as he continued to embrace her and grieve while remembering Grace and Robert Delaney.