Don't Believe a Word Read Online Free Page B

the two of them. They can’t make the trip.’
    ‘Oh, I just thought … if they needed a ride …’
    ‘Thanks. It’s just not gonna happen.’ There was a silence. Then Flynn said, ‘Please tell your father, if he wants to come, he can.’
    Eden stiffened. She realized that Flynn was being generous, but still, his suggestion seemed vaguely insulting. ‘I’ll tell him,’ she said.
    ‘Anyone I’ve forgotten?’ he asked.
    If Tara and Hugh had never parted, if the funeral were here, in Robbin’s Ferry, there would be dozens of people. But now … ‘No,’ said Eden. ‘Actually, I’ll let Mom’s friend, Charlene, know.’
    ‘Okay,’ he said abruptly.
    Eden could tell that he was about to end the call. ‘Wait,’ she said. She was silent for a moment.
    Flynn sighed.
    ‘Why did she do it?’ Eden said.
    Flynn was silent for a long moment. Eden thought he might have hung up. ‘I’m sure she had her reasons,’ he said.

THREE
    E den c alled her Aunt Jodie, and they decided to fly out and meet in Cleveland. Jodie, Tara’s younger sister, was a physics professor at Georgia-Tech, and Eden had heard, from those who knew them as children, that Tara was always known as the pretty one, and Jodie as the smart one. Jodie planned to fly from Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta. Eden was leaving from Westchester. The two agreed on a time to rendezvous at Cleveland Airport on the morning of the funeral, and they booked hotel rooms near the airport for that night.
    Eden had not seen her aunt or her uncle in quite a while. Jodie’s husband, Kent, was a journalist, on assignment in the Middle East. Their son, Ben, was in graduate school in California. Eden had fond memories of them at family gatherings when she was a girl, but once Tara married Flynn and gave birth to Jeremy, the family get-togethers stopped happening. Eden was glad to know that Jodie would be with her on this difficult occasion.
    When Friday came, Hugh drove Eden to Westchester Airport. He embraced her at the curb outside the terminal. Eden could feel him trembling, and when he pulled away, she saw tears in his eyes. Hugh wiped them away, embarrassed. ‘I thought about coming with you. I wish I could be there in a way.’
    ‘Flynn said you were welcome to come,’ said Eden. ‘I probably should have mentioned it. But I didn’t think …’
    Hugh shook his head. ‘No. I wouldn’t have come anyway. It’s better if I stay away. They had their own life.’
    Eden’s heart shriveled inside her, thinking about the truth of that statement. Their life with Tara had long been over. ‘I probably shouldn’t go either. It’s not as if they wanted anything to do with me.’
    Hugh gave her a warning look. ‘It’s your mother,’ he said. ‘She loved you.’
    ‘I know, I know,’ she said. ‘I’m going.’ She hugged him again. ‘I better get on that plane.’
    He waved as she entered the terminal, and kept waving till she was out of sight.
    Jodie beamed at Eden when she saw her at the terminal in Cleveland. ‘You look wonderful, Eden,’ Jodie exclaimed, hugging her. Even though she was over forty, Jodie wore her hair as she always had, in bangs and a ponytail. It was true that she was not a beauty like Tara, but she had a certain calm self-assurance which her older sister had never possessed.
    Eden hugged her back. ‘So do you,’ she said sincerely. She was so glad to see Jodie’s familiar face in this place where she felt ill at ease.
    ‘How was your flight?’ Jodie asked.
    ‘Bumpy, but not too long,’ said Eden. ‘Yours?’
    ‘About the same. Oh, it’s good to see you again,’ said Jodie. ‘I just wish this wasn’t the reason …’
    ‘Me too,’ said Eden.
    ‘I’m so sorry about your mother. We didn’t talk that much, but when we did, she always talked about you. She adored you, you know.’
    Eden shrugged. ‘Not enough, I guess,’ she said.
    Jodie frowned. ‘Don’t say that. Whatever made her do this, it wasn’t for a lack of love