Free Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain Page A

had them upset in the first place.” She reached
    into the dirty dishwater and pulled the stopper from the drain.
    “One time, a boy he barely knew got his dog run over by a car.
    I found Jamie crying in bed that night—he couldn’t have been
    more than eight or nine. He told me about it. I said, you didn’t
    even know that dog and you barely know that boy. He just kept
    crying. I thought, oh Lord have mercy on me, please. Here’s my
    brother and Aunt Ginny all over again. It’s a scary thing, raising
    a child like that. Most kids, like Marcus, bless his heart, you have
    to teach them how other children feel and how you need to be
    sensitive to them and all.” She pulled another dish towel from
    a drawer and dried her hands on it. “With Jamie, it was the
    opposite. I had to teach him to take care of himself.”
    I bit my lip as I set the dry pan on the counter. “Are you
    trying to…are you warning me about something?” I asked.
    She looked surprised. “Hmm,” she said. “Maybe I am. He
    likes you. I can tell.You’re a nice girl. Down-to-earth.You got
    a good head on your shoulders. He’s had a few girlfriends who
    took advantage of his kindness. I guess I’m asking you not to
    do that. Not to hurt him.”

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    I shook my head.“Never,” I said, thinking of how good it felt
    to have Jamie’s arms around me. “I couldn’t.”
    I thought I knew myself so well.

Chapter Six
Laurel
    “I GUESS WE’RE SUPPOSED TO SIT UP THERE.” Maggie pointed
    to the front row of seats in the crowded Assembly Building.
    Trish Delphy’s secretary had called us the day before to say the
    mayor wanted us up front at the memorial service. I was sure
    our special status had to do with Andy, who was scratching his
    neck beneath the collar of his blue shirt. I’d had to buy him a
    new suit for the occasion. He so rarely had need of one that
    his old suit no longer fit. I let him pick out his own tie—a loud
    Jerry Garcia with red and blue swirls—but I’d forgotten a shirt
    and the one he was wearing was too small.
    “We’ll follow you, sweetie,” I said to Maggie, and she led
    the way down the narrow center aisle. The air hummed with
    chatter, and the seats were nearly all taken even though there

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    were still fifteen minutes before the start of the service.
    There’d been school buses in the parking lot across the street,
    and I noticed that teenagers occupied many of the seats. The
    lock-in had attracted children from all three towns on the
    island as well as from a few places on the mainland, cutting
    across both geographic and economic boundaries, tying us all
    together. If I’d known how many kids would show up at the
    lock-in, I never would have let Andy go. Then again, if Andy
    hadn’t been there, more would have died. Incredible to
    imagine.
    I sat between my children. Next to us were Joe and Robin
    Carmichael, Emily’s parents, and in front of us was a podium
    flanked by two dozen containers of daffodils. Propped up on
    easels to the left of the podium were three poster-size photographs that I was not ready to look at. To the right of the
    podium were about twenty-five empty chairs set at a ninety-
    degree angle to us. A paper banner taped between the chairs
    read Reserved for Town of Surf City Fire Department.
    Andy was next to Robin, and she embraced him.
    “You beautiful boy,” she said, holding on to him three
    seconds too long for Andy’s comfort level. He squirmed and
    she let go with a laugh, then looked at me. “Good to see you,
    Laurel.” She leaned forward a little to wave to Maggie.
    “How’s Emily doing?” I asked quietly.
    Joe shifted forward in his seat so he could see me. “Not
    great,” he said.
    “She’s gone backward some,” Robin said. “Nightmares.
    Won’t let us touch her. I can hardly get her to let me comb
    her hair. She’s scared to go to school again.”
    “She had her shirt on inside out,” Andy piped in, too