THE SANCTUARY (5 page)

“I’ve never seen her like this. How long do you think it will last?” Sonya asked.

“It depends on how bad she’s hurting. When we were kids, she didn’t speak to Marcia Best for almost a month when she wasn’t invited to her slumber party. I’m not sure she ever spoke to her again after she stole her high school boyfriend. When her father and mother both died within a few months of each other, she didn’t talk to anyone for nearly a year. Remember? She was polite if you ran into her at the store or on the street, but that was the extent of it. David once confessed to me that she didn’t even speak to him. She just shut down. But I have a feeling that it’s more than grieving over David’s death. It seems like she’s angry, like something else is going on,” Julia said.

“Well, we have to try to help her. Now’s not the time to push it, but later on, we have to try again,” Sonya said.

And they did. Sonya called, but Lydia wouldn’t answer the phone. They went over to her house, but she wouldn’t answer the door. They wrote a note begging her to talk to them, explaining that they wanted to help. They left it taped to the front door. When they returned later, hoping she might be ready to talk, they found the note gone, but Lydia still wouldn’t answer the door.

Julia and Sonya sat on Lydia’s front porch for nearly two hours, hoping that she would come outside if they refused to leave. They were fairly sure she was home since her car was in the driveway, but there was no other sign that anyone was home. Aunt Francis had obviously been sent home.

“What would you do if Mike died?” Jules asked.

“I don’t have a clue. I would probably throw myself into work so that I didn’t think about it. That’s what I did when my marriages fell apart. I know divorce is not the same as death, but it still takes quite a toll. I couldn’t have survived without work. Poor Lydia has no distractions. Why didn’t Lydia ever have kids?”

“I don’t know. She never brought up the subject, and I didn’t dare ask. She’s a natural-born caregiver so she would have made a great mother. I’ve always thought that maybe she couldn’t have any. I know that she enjoyed working but stopped because of David. As a sales rep, he traveled a lot for work, so he wanted his wife at home when he was home. She was at rehearsals during the day and then in shows at night. The theater group did two shows on Saturdays and Sundays. So she quit when he complained. Do you mind if I ask why you never had kids?”

“I always meant to have children, but my marriages always fell apart before we got that far. Now my eggs are probably all dried up,” Sonya said. “Hard to believe that Liz never married but has a daughter, and I’ve been married four times and remain childless.”

“Liz! Oh gosh, I forgot about her. Since she didn’t make it to the funeral, and we haven’t heard from her, a reconciliation seems rather hopeless. I doubt Liddie’s ever going to forgive her now,” Julia moaned.

“Maybe not, but maybe losing David will make her realize that life’s short and long grudges are stupid. Let’s not give up on those two—or the CGFs,” Sonya said. “Grief is a funny thing that can drive us to extraordinary behavior.”

“I can only imagine how awful this must be for her, but Lydia’s really starting to upset me by shutting us out like this.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on inside her head, but I wish she’d let us help. We just need to figure out how to get her to let us help,” Sonya said.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen tonight. I’m beat, and you must be too. Let’s go home and get some sleep,” Julia said, getting to her feet.

“We love you, Liddie!” Julia called out as they departed.

Julia couldn’t sleep because she couldn’t get Lydia out of her mind or get used to the empty space beside her. She had told Sonya that John was gone on a business trip. She didn’t like lying to her friend, but she just wasn’t ready to tell anyone yet. What if he came back? Surely he would. And in that case, she didn’t want everyone knowing that he had left her.

Despite how tired she was, Julia could not fall asleep. Maybe that was best. A sleepless night was better than having the nightmare, which she almost assuredly would have, given that it had been on her mind since John had thrown it out there before leaving. She wondered if Sonya might also be having trouble getting to sleep. Julia slipped out of bed and had just started down the hall towards the guest room when she saw someone standing on the landing of the stairs.

“Sonya? Is that you? Do you need something? I was just coming to check on you.” But the shadowy figure did not answer.

As Julia’s eyes adjusted to the low light, she moved towards the figure. She appeared to be a petite woman in a long, white nightgown or dress. Her arm was outstretched as if trying to signal or communicate with Julia. By the time Julia reached the top step and was about to turn on the lights over the staircase, the figure vanished into thin air.

She rushed downstairs, hurrying from room to room but found no one. When Julia returned upstairs, she found her houseguest and all her children accounted for. Her heart was racing as she stood pondering what she had seen. She may have a long list of phobias, but she was not crazy or delusional. She had seen someone—or something—on those stairs. And it was not the first time.

The first time had been about six weeks ago. The sighting had happened after she had a fight with John. One of their many lately. He hadn’t come to bed, so she had gone downstairs to check on him. As she reached the bottom step, she saw a silhouette near the wing-back chair by the fireplace. Assuming it was her husband, she called out softly as she entered the living room.

“John, honey, what are you doing sitting alone in the dark?”

She reached down to click on the table lamp, and when she glanced back up, whatever she had seen was gone. Having grown up in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Julia believed in ghosts but had never had any kind of encounter.

Until now.

Five

DRASTIC MEASURES

“W
hat are we going to do?” Julia asked, close to tears. “We’ve got to do something.”

“This is ridiculous,” Sonya said. “She has no right to treat us like this. We’re just trying to help.”

“But she is angry, and she won’t talk to us. I’ve eaten almost an entire bag of chocolate chip cookies in less than an hour from the stress,” Julia admitted. “Maybe she does have a right to be angry. Remember our pact? We promised to be Carolina Girls
Forever
—to always be there for one another. Maybe we should have worked harder to reunite Lydia and Liz. You don’t just throw away a friendship like what we had. We should all be ashamed of ourselves for just giving up,” Julia moaned.

“We need to fix this,” Sonya agreed.

“How are we going to manage that?”

“I have an idea, but you probably won’t like it,” Sonya said.

Three hours later, they were parked outside Lydia’s house.

“I’m not sure about this plan,” Julia said as she studied the dark house.

“Man up! We talked about this. Drastic times call for drastic measures,” Sonya quipped. “Got the stuff?”

“Right here,” Julia said, patting the bag in her lap. “What did you call what we’re doing?”

“An intervention. It’s when everything else fails, but you have to keep trying because that person needs your help—whether he or she realizes it or not.”

“And these things usually work, right?” Julia asked.

“That’s what they say. I’ve never actually participated in one, but I have seen them on
Real Housewives
and
Days of Our Lives
,” Sonya said.

“Great. I feel better knowing we’re taking our cues from reality television and soap operas,” Julia said.

“Oh, stop acting like we have a choice. She’s already not talking to us, so what’s the worst thing that can happen here?” Sonya asked.

“She could call the police, accidentally shoot us, attack us with a kitchen chair or baseball bat…” Julia reasoned.

“So we’re agreed this is a good plan,” Sonya said smiling.

“As good as it gets,” Julia agreed.

They crept up quietly to the back door. Julia reached in the mouth of the garden frog and extracted a door key. Sonya peeked in the window before taking the key from Julia. She made hand signals, but Julia had no idea what they meant. She shook her head from side to side to show that she didn’t have a clue, but Sonya just kept pointing and waving.

“I’m
not
a Navy SEAL. I’ve had no special ops training, so I have no idea what you’re trying to say,” Julia hissed, waving her hands wildly to mimic what Sonya had been doing.

“Ssshhh. I was using nonverbal communication to tell you to check the other window before we proceed.”

“Oh. Okay,” Julia said as she tiptoed over to the window and peered inside. She didn’t see anything, so she silently communicated that by pointing to her eyes and then shaking her head no to show that she saw no one. Sonya just rolled her eyes and then jerked her head towards the door. Assuming this meant it was all clear and they could proceed, Julia followed Sonya towards the back door.

She bumped into Sonya and nearly knocked her off the step when Sonya abruptly stopped.

“You’re really good at this covert stuff, aren’t you?” Sonya whispered.

“Since you’re the special ops expert, perhaps you should have given me some basic training before we started this mission,” Julia said.

“Ssshhh.”

Cautiously, the duo entered the kitchen and looked around. There was no sign of Lydia.
“Let’s set the stuff up here on the kitchen table and then go get her,” Sonya said.

When they had finished with their project, they cautiously made their way upstairs. But when they entered the master bedroom, the king-sized bed was empty. Puzzled, they listened for signs of life and searched until they found their friend asleep in a twin bed in the spare bedroom.

Reaching for the overhead light, Sonya called out, “Lydia, don’t be afraid. It’s just Sonya and Julia.”

She sat up and stared at them in disbelief. “What the hell are you two doing here? How did you get into my house?”

“Please don’t be mad, Liddie,” Jules begged. “You wouldn’t talk to us, and we didn’t know what else to do. We’re so worried about you. I’ve been so upset that I’ve eaten every cookie in my house. I knew where you kept your spare key, and this seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh please, don’t be mad! I know you’re mad because I’ve been a lousy friend lately. But I love you, and I swear to you that I will be a better friend from now,” Julia said, starting to cry.

Sonya jumped in. “We’re both sorry. Please, let us make it right. Remember our pact. We promised to always be here for one another and we’re here to help you, so you need to get out of that bed and come downstairs. We’ve brought a Carolina Kit,” Sonya explained.

Julia and Sonya stood anxiously waiting to see what she would say or do. Finally, Lydia threw off the covers, tugged on her robe, and said, “I never have been able to resist a Carolina Kit.”

Ten minutes later, they were seated at her kitchen table. Spread out on the wood surface was the quintessential Carolina Kit. The tradition had started back in college. Over the years, Carolina Kits had been used on countless occasions for consolation or to celebrate a special event. The kits had evolved into a more sophisticated collection of goodies as they matured. It looked like Julia and Sonya had surpassed all previous efforts with tonight’s surreptitious undertaking. There was fresh local jumbo shrimp with a spicy horseradish-based cocktail sauce bought at Huck’s General Store, McClellanville crab cakes and crab dip with fresh vegetables from Wadmalaw Island, Daufuskie Island sweet potato pone, Charleston benne wafers and hushpuppies, hummingbird cake, and Coca-Cola cake.

Earlier that evening, Julia had made the hummingbird cake while Sonya tackled the Coca-Cola cake. Over the years, they had all learned how to make the cakes, but agreed that no one made them better than the Goldberg’s cook. They had brought all their favorite foods, plus a bottle of Riesling from Daufuskie Island Winery, a batch of Lowcountry rum tea, and all the ingredients for Woo Woos. Julia had even gone by Sweetie’s Sweet Treats on Front Street to pick up a box of chocolate-covered praline squares because she knew they were Lydia’s favorite.

“Here’s to Liz, wherever you are. Thanks for introducing us to Carolina Kits and Woo Woos,” Jules said as she raised her shot glass.

“To Liz and to Carolina Kits,” Sonya echoed.

Lydia said nothing, and they noticed that she didn’t toast Liz.

Sonya belched after downing her shot. “I haven’t had one of these in years. I remember them going down smoother,” she said, belching and rubbing her belly.

“They’ve always tasted like this to me,” Julia said. “But we were younger and hardier.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Sonya said.

After Lydia poured herself a glass of Lowcountry rum tea, she took a long sip before popping a hushpuppy into her mouth. Julia went right for the pralines, savoring the sweet treat. Sonya spooned a generous amount of crab dip onto a tomato wedge. The women continued eating in silence for a few minutes.

“Thanks y’all. I mean it. This is just what I needed,” Lydia said softly.

“Do you want to talk about it or just sit here and eat?” Julia asked.

“For now, I want to just eat and listen to what y’all have been up to,” she answered.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Sonya and Julia talked about what was going on in their lives, their favorite television shows, an article about herbal supplements Julia had recently read, and other insignificant topics.

Finally, Lydia began her incredible explanation. “I’m sorry about giving you both the cold shoulder. I just couldn’t talk about it. You can’t imagine how awful it was. Do you know that he died on our fourteenth anniversary? We had just had this wonderful evening, and when I awoke I realized he was dead. At first his body was still warm, like he was asleep. I lay there and pretended everything was all right for the longest time. I guess I was in shock. I finally got up and called 911. I wanted to be with him as long as I could, so I got back into bed and lay beside him until the ambulance arrived. That probably sounds creepy to you.”

Julia reached out and squeezed her hand. “No, we understand. I’m so sorry. Was it a heart attack?”

Lydia shook her head no. “The doctor explained that the upper and lower heart chambers have to work together to keep the heart functioning properly. Apparently, only David’s upper chamber was doing its part. They called it heart failure. Something about his electrolytes.”

“But he hadn’t been having any problems, was he?” Sonya asked.

“None. The doctor said that David might have had a few symptoms, like shortness of breath and fatigue, but nothing suspicious enough to concern an otherwise healthy forty-one-year-old man.”

“At least he didn’t suffer,” Sonya said and then wished she hadn’t. The remark sounded stupid. “I mean, it doesn’t sound like he had any pain.”

“No. The doctor said this kind of thing happens fast, so he didn’t suffer. I was exhausted by the time we went to sleep, so I slept like the dead. No pun intended. According to the doctor, there’s nothing that can be done about simple heart failure. No procedure like a bypass or a stint,” Lydia said.

“Whatever happened to those experiments a few years ago using pig hearts to replace human hearts?” Julia asked. “Wasn’t that supposed to be the biggest medical breakthrough of this era?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask anything. Seriously, I could not think. If breathing didn’t come naturally, I’d have been in real trouble. It was all so surreal,” she confided.

“That’s shock, and it’s a good thing. It protects you until you’re ready to handle the next part of the process,” Sonya said.

“I wish I could have stayed in shock forever. It’s a dull, painless feeling. Now I’m a mess. I’m angry. No, make that furious. I’m depressed. I’m miserable. I just feel like I’ll never be happy again,” Lydia said bitterly.

“Of course you will,” Julia said brightly. “It’s going to take some time. Like Sonya said, you just have to go through the grieving process and take it one day at a time. And we’ll help. We’ll be here for you.”

“It’s more than that. I can’t sleep…” she began.

“Perfectly natural and only temporary, I’m sure,” Julia said.

“No, that’s not what I meant. My lawyer dropped a bombshell on me,” Lydia took a deep breath before continuing.

“A couple of months ago, David loaned a substantial amount of money to someone I’ve never heard of. He wired the money to a Wells Fargo in Rapid City, South Dakota. We made queries to everyone and every place we could think of and have gone through all of David’s papers, but couldn’t find one clue as to who Chris Miller is or what David’s motives were. It’s all legal, my attorney assured me, which means that there’s no hope of getting the money back. Also, it seems that we were living beyond our means. David’s earnings have been a lot less the last two or three years because of the bad economy. Most of his salary is based on commissions, so he cashed out his retirement fund and used all our savings to stay afloat. That means I’m broke. Busted. Bankrupt.”

“Why would he give someone a loan when it sounds like you needed one yourselves?” Sonya asked.

“My attorney hinted that David may have been up to something illegal or illicit, and that’s why he never told me. I find that hard to believe, but then again I have to wonder. Obviously, there’s a lot about my husband that I didn’t know, that he didn’t want me to know. The only thing I know for sure is that I intend to find out,” Lydia said.

“What on earth do you suppose David was up to or into that he had to hide from you?” Sonya asked.

“I have no idea. I found credit card receipts for flights to Rapid City that coincide with dates that he told me he was in California and Washington. I pulled out old calendars to confirm the dates and destinations marked. So, I know he lied about where he said he was going. Furthermore, he said they were business trips, but I can’t find any reservations or charges for hotel rooms or rental cars or restaurants for Rapid City or anywhere else during those corresponding dates. So what was he up to?” Lydia cried.