The rest of the week flew by. Jewls was excited to go to dinner, and was glad that Frank's dad had suggested it. She had met him before, and thought he was a sweetheart. She had told me that I'd love him. Jamie came over for dinner on Wednesday, and today I worked on the truck. I hadn't made much headway in the past few months. I just couldn't figure out why the truck wouldn't run. I had tried everything. I threw the towel in the engine and went over to the bench. I had another hour before I would head over to Frank's and drop the cake off that I made. I hopped up on the counter and leaned my head against the wall. What was I missing? I ran over the repairs I had made in my head since it broke down a year ago. I jumped down and looked back into the engine. Maybe I would have to take it all out again and start over. Who knows.
I ran to grab the cake out of the fridge upstairs, and got on my bike. I hadn't rode this since the first snow. Even though I could sometimes ride this during the winter, I typically saved it for summer. Today was an exception though. I needed to go to the cabin for an hour or two, and this would be the fastest way to get there. It was about a three hour drive, and I wouldn't get back until dinner time.
Frank's house wasn't too far out of the way so I decided to stop by early. Frank said if he wasn't home his dad would be. It didn't take me long to get there. I parked my bike, and pulled it up by the garage. I grabbed the cake out of the side leather pocket, and walked up to the front door. I took a deep breath. It was now or never, right? I rang the doorbell.
I heard someone yell, "Door's open!" I walked inside, and looked around. Frank's house was gorgeous. It was just the right size. I could imagine when his kids were little running around here. I walked into the kitchen and could imagine his wife cooking here before she died. When I looked up, I dropped the cake in surprise. The glass pan shattered, and the cake batter splattered all over the floor. I still hadn't moved. "You."
He had turned around to look at this point, "Emily?"
My hands fell to my side, "You! How is this possible?"
"I thought you had disappeared!" What? Was this man delusional?
"You killed my mother!"
"What? Emily sit down."
I heard a door open somewhere in the house. "I won't. You killed my mother. You told her to leave my father, and he killed her for it."
Frank walked into the room, "What about your mother? Pops knew her?"
I put my hand on the kitchen island. This was unbelievable. I was shaking, "Not too long before my mother died, he came to my house and told her to leave. He practically begged her to. She trusted him, and she died because of it. She told me she was leaving, and that she'd come back for us. But my father killed her on her way out of the door. He had come home early from work that day." I tried to ignore the memory that was coming back. I ran my hand through my hair. "I can't deal with this." I started to leave, and Frank grabbed my arm. I flinched, tried not to hit him, and backed away from him. "Frank it's simple. Your father was the cause of my mother's death. Then he had the audacity to come to her funeral and offer his condolences." I scoffed. I turned around and closed my eyes.
"Let me explain." I could hear him moving toward me. I stiffened, and he stopped.
Frank spoke up, "Emily, let's sit down. Tell me what happened. I can help."
I sighed, "I don't really have time Frank, and more importantly, I don't want to hear this man's excuses."
"His name is Henry. You can at least call him by his name."
I sighed, "Fine. Henry, I do not want to hear your excuses. You convinced an immigrant woman to leave her children, and that caused her death. That's enough explanation for me." With that, I turned around and left. I got on my bike, and sped off. I just needed to get away from here. I thought I had come to term's with my mother's death, but this man had brought all of that to the surface again.
I could feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. I wasn't going to answer. I didn't want to pull off of the interstate to answer. I kept going towards my cabin. I knew I'd have to face this before Sunday, but I could at least get a little piece and quiet at the cabin. No one would bother me there.