Going for Kona by Pamela Fagan Hutchins Read Free Book Online

by a hit-and-run-driver on Endicott, by Meyerland Plaza.”
    “That’s no major thoroughfare.”
    “Correct.”
    “So, I don’t mean to Monday-morning quarterback, but shouldn’t we be talking about a broken bone or some road burn? What am I missing?”
    Detective Young glanced at me as if deciding whether to answer in my presence. I guess he thought I could handle it. “We’ll have to wait for the autopsy and accident report to be sure, but it seems the vehicle was speeding, and that Mr. Hanson hit his head on the curb after impact. He didn’t have on a helmet.”
    That got my attention. “He wasn’t wearing a helmet?”
    Detective Young shook his head. “No.”
    Oh, Adrian
.
It made sense. Adrian often rode his bicycle to run errands, and he tended to skip his helmet on those casual rides, which made me crazy. We had argued about it. I told him his skull wasn’t any harder just because he was in sandals, but he wouldn’t budge. It didn’t make it hurt any less to know I was right.
    The men continued to discuss it, but my brain shut down. I needed something, someone, but I couldn’t pin it down. Well, Adrian for one, but I needed someone else. Who was it?
    “Michele?” Brian prompted me.
    I looked at him. When had the detective left? Panic shuddered through me when I realized I’d lost God knows how much time. I stared at Brian, unable to form words.
    Brian reached for my hand and gripped it tightly. “I’m going to drive you to do the ID, then home. We’ll take your car and Evelyn will come get me. Before we do that, we need to make a few phone calls, don’t we?”
    “Who do we need to call?” my voice croaked out.
    “I was hoping you would tell me.”
    I looked at him helplessly.
    “A friend?”
    I shook my head. I’ve never been the kind of woman who surrounds herself with girlfriends, and I didn’t have anyone besides Adrian I could go to with my soul ripped wide open and my heart bleeding out on the floor.
    “How about family? Your parents, or Adrian’s parents?”
    Mom
.
Yes. Mom would come.Mom would come and figure out what to do. She could help me with the kids and with the call to Adrian’s parents. And Papa, because he always made things better. “Yes, my parents.”
    “You want me to talk to them?”
    I nodded again.
    “We’ll call on the way, then. Let’s get the ID over with.”
     
    ***
     
    An hour and a half later, Brian and I walked in the front door of my house, our house, Adrian’s and mine. Brian, who was Jewish, reached over his head and touched the mezuzah left by the previous owners, then kissed his fingertips. I’d seen him do it before, and he’d explained that he touched the mezuzah—which held the Shema “One God” prayer on a parchment scroll—to ask God to watch over him in his travels. Adrian and I loved the mezuzahs and had left them over our doorways, but we didn’t touch them. Maybe we should have
,
I thought. Maybe then I wouldn’t have the horrific memory of my husband’s pale face and closed eyes against a stainless steel table to carry with me for the rest of my life.
    Sam sat at the kitchen table with his laptop, and Annabelle stood beside his chair, one hand gripping the back. They looked at me, Sam scowling and Annabelle wide-eyed. I shot a glance at the clock. It was nearly eight. How had so much time passed?
    Annabelle spoke first, her voice sharp but thin, brittle. “Where’s Dad?’
    Before I could answer, Brian answered her. “Hi, I’m Brian, I work with your mom. We’ve met a couple of times.”
    “We know you,” Sam cut in, his lips curled in a sneer. Annabelle’s nose and brow creased.
    I didn’t think I could hurt any worse, but then I saw Sam blinking back tears, his mouth set in a grim line.
    Brian put his hand on my shoulder. “Your mom got some bad news at work today, and we’ve all been pitching in to help her.” He stopped talking.
    Time to be a big girl. I looked back and forth at the two of them, my Sam and