When Night Falls Read Online Free Page B

the kitchen. Here—”
    Mitchell stood by her as she opened it; he hesitated and moved into the kitchen. On the note, Billy’s small, immature handwriting scrawled over a stain.
    I’m getting out of this town and never coming back. I know you can understand that. They ran you out one time and that’s what they’re doing to me. Didn’t have time to clean up. Sorry. Uma wants Lauren’s things, all that junk in the back bedroom .
    She crushed the note in her hand. Lauren .
    The blood was still on her hands, the terrifying memory of that night. Uma moved through the house that Billy had stripped, trying not to remember how happy Lauren had been when they’d first bought it, how hard she’d worked, stripping cabinets, painting…
    The master bedroom was large and freshly cleaned. A king-size bed, the only piece of furniture in the room, stood unmade. The scent of lemon cleaner came from the bathroom as she passed.
    The second bedroom had a broken window, plastic stapled over the glass. It was dirty and empty, but the third bedroom, the tiniest room where Lauren had ached to place her baby’s crib…
    Billy said we should wait for children until we can better afford them…
    When Uma saw the clutter carelessly stacked at one end of the room, she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. This was all that was left of Lauren—a haphazard dumping of the lovely person she had been. Unable to move, Uma felt her throat tighten and her eyes burn with tears; she leaned against the wall, her arms around herself. She squeezed her lids closed to seal away that terrible night, and yet it came back—shattering her once more. She couldn’t open her eyes when she sensed Mitchell had come to stand beside her.
    “I know how much she meant to you,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry about your baby and about Lauren.”
    “They never found out who shot Lauren.” She swallowed roughly, tears too close to breaking free. Automatically, she reached for Lauren’s rumpled, discarded clothing and began folding, placing the neat stack on an old chair. A moment ago they were all girls, planning marriages and babies, and now—“Would you mind if I didn’t collect all this now? I will, but not just yet. I can’t bear—”
    “It’s fine where it is. I’ll clean the room and straighten things a bit. Here’s a key—you can come when you want.” He took a key from his pocket.
    She clasped the key in her fist and knew that he understood she would need time and strength to deal with all that remained of Lauren. “Thank you.”
    “Uma?”
    She tried to shake herself free of the tears. “Yes?”
    “I’m sorry about that—what happened that day in the hospital room. I’m sorry I grabbed you. I’ve always regretted that.”
    She shook her head, looking up at him. “I know. I know how difficult it was for you back then. You were just a boy, and in so much pain. You’d just lost your father and your home.”
    Mitchell moved away from her, his jaw hard and uncompromising. “I shouldn’t have—”
    “It’s in the past, Mitchell. Please don’t think about it…but if I had Billy Howard in my sights now, I’d never forget how he just tossed Lauren’s life into one unloved pile. I’m so angry now. I’d better go. But first, let me help you make your bed. Two people can do the work quicker and you look so tired. Your wife will be, too. When is she coming?”
    “I’m not married. I was. It didn’t work out.” Mitchell’s light brown eyes were shadowed and steady upon her. “Billy told me about you and Everett.”
    “Yes. We’re still friends. We had a child together. That doesn’t go away.” Uma smiled briefly; Everett had had other ideas, and she’d tried at first. It wasn’t a matter of forgiveness for his affair after their baby had died and she sank into depression; it was that they just didn’t fit anymore. And she felt as if something inside her had died with her baby. She didn’t feel like a woman any longer; she felt