Free Darkness Exposed by Terri Reid Page B

time, she allowed herself to weep for her loss.
    She slowly glided out of the sewing room and down the dark hallway. She moved towards the master bedroom, but could hear Mary’s voice, so she continued on. The nursery was at the end of the hall. Could she bear to enter it and see the cans of paint sitting unused, the crib still boxed and leaning against the wall, the boxes of baby paraphernalia she had already purchased once they knew they were having a girl?
    Yes! She had to see it. She had to look it over and make herself remember what happened. She had to know.
    She slipped into the room, looked around and burst into tears.
    Mary laid her laptop on the nightstand next to the bed and snuggled into the pillows. “I love you Bradley Alden,” she said and sighed with contentment.
    Then she heard it. She sat up in the bed and listened for a moment, to be sure it just wasn’t the sound of the wind against the house. No, it was definitely the sound of someone crying.
    She slipped from the bed and hurried out of the room. The hallway was dark, but there was enough light to find her way. The noise was coming from the room at the end of the hall. She hadn’t been in that room yet. Ian had placed the camera in that one, while she took the sewing room.
    She placed her hand on the knob and slowly opened the door. Light from the lampposts softly illuminated the room. Mary turned and saw Jeannine seated on a rocking chair in the corner of the room. She had her head bowed into her hands and her cries were heartbreaking.
    “Jeannine, what’s wrong?” Mary asked, moving forward and kneeling next to the chair.
    Jeannine looked up and for a moment didn’t speak. Her translucent face was covered in tears; her body was shaking with emotion. Finally she took a deep shuddering breath. “The room is pink,” she whispered. “He still painted it pink.”
    Mary looked around the room; it was painted a soft pink with white trim. A crib was set up in the corner of the room with a pink baby mobile hanging above it. A matching changing table was against another wall, a stuffed lamb propped in the corner. Shelves filled with other stuffed animals were attached to the wall across from the crib.
    “Bradley did this?” Mary asked, her voice filled with emotion.
    “The room was a mess,” Jeannine said. “Nothing was put together. Nothing was arranged. Why did he do this?”
    “So it would be ready when you and the baby came home,” Mary replied, her eyes filling with tears. “He loved you so much.”
    Jeannine nodded and met Mary’s eyes. “He’s a good man,” she said. “He might occasionally do something stupid, but he’s a good man.”
    Mary smiled and shook her head in agreement. “Yes, he is.”
    “I like you, Mary,” she continued. “I think you and I would have been friends if we met before I died.”
    “I’d like to think we are friends anyway,” Mary said.
    Jeannine smiled now. “Yes. Yes, we are,” she agreed. “So, friend, I want you to promise me two things. I want you to love him with all your heart.”
    Mary nodded her head in agreement. “I can do that.”
    “And I want you to take that baby quilt in the sewing room and finish it for me,” she said. “I don’t know why, but it’s important to me.”
    “I promise,” Mary agreed. “I’ll even have my mom help me.”
    Jeannine angled her head in confusion.
    “Well, if I do it by myself, I have no idea what it will look like when it’s done,” she said with a smile. “I usually injure myself when I’m anywhere near a thread and needle. It’s even more dangerous than police work”
    Jeannine laughed. “Bradley’s a lucky man to have found such a wonderful woman to love.”
    “Bradley is exceptionally lucky, because he found two wonderful women to love him,” Mary added.
    Jeannine smiled. “Thank you, Mary,” she whispered and then she faded away.

Chapter Thirteen

    The next day dawned bright and sunny. Mary was downstairs in the kitchen