The Bracelet (2 page)

Crestfallen, the old man looked down at the velvet box.

“Mom, can't you see how much he wants you to have it? You're hurting his feelings,” insisted Zara. Color had flooded her cheeks. “You should accept his gift.”

Piper couldn't remember ever seeing Zara more animated. She sensed the wheels turning in her sister-in-law's head. If “Mom” had the bracelet, Zara would be able to angle for it later for herself. Piper wasn't proud of herself for thinking that way about her brother's wife but she had witnessed too many examples of her sister-in-law's acquisitiveness. From the moment she'd overheard Zara make apologies for the size of the diamond in her engagement ring to someone who had asked to see it, Piper knew her brother was in for a rough ride. She had gently pointed out to her brother some examples of Zara's materialistic bent, but he didn't want to hear it. For reasons Piper couldn't understand, Robert just lit up when Zara entered a room and he beamed whenever he talked about her.

Zara was here to stay. And if she wanted to have a relationship with her brother, Piper had to deal with it. Kind of like a headache.

Piper felt satisfaction as her mother settled things by reaching over and taking hold of the man's arm. “The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt your feelings, Poppy,” said Terri. “But please understand. I just cannot accept this gift. It's way too much.”

The bakery was closed on Monday. On Tuesday, business was still slow.

“Your friend hasn't come in today,” Piper observed as she helped her mother polish the glass display cases.

“I noticed that,” said Terri. “I hope Poppy isn't offended because I didn't accept the bracelet.”

“I don't think he was offended,” said Piper. “Maybe a little disappointed.”

“Even worse,” said Terri. “He's such a nice man. He never says a bad word about anyone, even though I could ring his son and daughter-in-law's necks for being so callous in the way they treat him. Poppy never complains but it must hurt him so much. He's a very proud man and he doesn't want people feeling sorry for him. He's having treatments for prostate cancer and that's no fun. I also know he made some bad investments and lost most of his savings. He lives on a very limited fixed income and that can be challenging.”

“Does his son know about all of this?” Piper asked as she ripped more paper towels from the roll.

Terri shook her head in disgust. “Well, if he doesn't know, he should. He should be paying attention to his father's situation. But, really, I think Poppy's health and money worries are less detrimental than the lack of emotional attention he gets.”

At the end of the day, Terri boxed up some oatmeal and raisin cookies.

“Will you bring these up to Poppy?” she asked, handing the packages to Piper. “I'll finish closing down here.”

To get to the entrance to the apartment, Piper had to exit the bakery. The sidewalk was covered with a thin film of snow and more was floating down. Looking up the street, Piper thought she saw her sister-in-law's car parked in front of the drugstore.

She pulled open the heavy glass door and stepped into the small vestibule. Two metal mailboxes hung on the wall. Enright was listed as apartment 2B.

As Piper climbed the stairs, she almost collided with another person on the way down. Piper leaned against the wall to let the slim figure pass. Dressed in sweatpants and a purple ski jacket with the fur-lined hood pulled up, the other individual turned away from Piper. She didn't see the face, but the jacket certainly looked familiar.

“Excuse me,” Piper said automatically. “Wait, Zara?” But the person didn't stop, continuing quickly down the steps and out to the street.

On the landing, Piper found apartment 2B. When she knocked on the door, it opened a crack.

“Mr. Enright?” she called.

No answer.

“Mr. Enright?” she called again. “It's Piper Donovan. Terri's daughter.”

Getting no response, Piper gently pushed the door open further and poked her head into the apartment.

“Poppy? Are you there?”

Maybe he went out for a few minutes and forgot to lock up.
Piper leaned over to leave the baked goods on the small table next to the door. As she straightened up, she caught sight of the man lying on the floor.

Piper knelt next to the motionless body.

“Wake up, Mr. Enright!” she cried. “Wake up!”

Piper felt for a pulse and was relieved when she detected a faint but rhythmic beat. She pulled out her phone and called 911. After requesting an ambulance, she looked around for something to prop Poppy's feet and legs up higher than his heart. She dragged over the ottoman that sat in front of the faded armchair facing the television set. She pulled an afghan from the back of the chair and covered the old man.

As she continued to talk to Poppy, Piper reached out and gently turned his head from side to side, trying to rouse him. When she took her hand away, she saw it was covered with warm, sticky blood.

“He has a head wound,” Piper shouted when the EMTs arrived. She backed away from Poppy and stood at the side of the room while emergency personnel checked his breathing and examined him. She watched as one tech carefully removed the wad of paper towels she had pressed behind the old man's head.

“That's quite a gash he's got there,” said the EMT. He turned to Piper. “What happened?”

“I came in and found him this way,” she answered. “But I noticed some blood on the corner of the desk. Maybe he fell against it.”

The EMT bent over the still body. “Mr. Enright. Mr. Enright. Wake up, sir.”

Poppy didn't respond.

After securing an oxygen mask over the old man's face, the EMTs transferred him to a stretcher. As they wheeled Poppy out of the apartment, Piper caught sight of a familiar red-velvet box sitting on the end table. The box was open but there was nothing in it.

Piper's face grew hot.

What had happened to the bracelet? Had somebody stolen it? Had Poppy been a victim of a home invasion? Had she actually bumped into the thief?

The memory of the person rushing down the stairs as she was coming up flashed through Piper's mind. That ski jacket looked a lot like the one her parents had given Zara for Christmas. Piper had been there when her sister-in-law opened the present and had seen her wearing the jacket in the bakery Sunday morning. But the thought was preposterous. Wasn't it?

“Piper? Piper? Are you all right?”

Piper heard the footsteps on the stairs and her mother calling her name. She went out onto the landing. “I'm fine, Mom,” she said, looking down. “But Poppy—” Her mother didn't let Piper finish the sentence.

“I know,” Terri said breathlessly as she reached her daughter and hugged her. “I saw him as they put him in the back of the ambulance. What happened?”

“I'm not sure,” said Piper. “He was lying on the floor with his head bleeding when I got up here.”

“We have to get in touch with Poppy's son,” Terri said as they went into the apartment. “Let's look around and see if we can find his contact information. It must be here somewhere.”

Picking up the bloodstained paper towels from the floor, Piper walked to the kitchen. A single dinner plate and glass were in the dish rack on the counter. There were a few pictures and a couple of coupons attached to the refrigerator with magnets. A calendar for the approaching year was already hanging. Piper hoped Poppy was going to be able to use it.

A stainless steel trash canister was in the corner. Piper pressed down on the pedal to open it. As she was about to deposit the soiled paper towels, Piper noticed the familiar pink gum wrapper lying on top of the trash.

Teaberry. Zara's favorite.

“I found it,” Terri called from the living room. “It's here in his address book. Philip Enright in Upper Saddle River.”

“Yeah but, Mom, I just remembered something,” said Piper.

“What?”

“Poppy said his son and his family went to Florida for the week.”

Terri squinted down at the address book again. “Here,” she said, shaking her head and handing it to Piper. “I can't see it well enough but I think there are two numbers there. Maybe one is the son's cell phone.”

Philip Enright was appreciative of Terri's call. He assured her that he would contact the emergency room and check on the situation. He gave no indication that he would cut his family trip short and come home to be with his father.

“Let's go over to the hospital,” said Terri when she finished the call. “Poppy should have somebody there for him. He shouldn't be all alone.”

The whole time they were in the apartment together, Piper had waited for her mother to see the empty jewelry box. But Terri never noticed it. Piper didn't point it out either.

Piper wasn't sure what to do. If she told her parents about her suspicions that the bracelet had been stolen, they would insist that she tell the police. Once the police were involved there would be an investigation. What if that investigation led to Zara?