Blackberry Winter

“I just talked to Kent. He told me you took a couple of days off and you were coming to see me today.”

“Well, that didn’t work out,” Loran said pointedly, and her mother laughed.

“Yes. Well. I…need you to do something for me,” Maddie said.

“Who is this?” Loran countered in honor of the many, many times she’d offered her services and been summarily turned down.

“I’m serious,” Maddie said. There was something different in her voice.

“What is it?” Loran asked, worried now. “Are you all right?”

“I’m doing great, considering.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to come here.”

“Where?”

“To North Carolina. To the mountains.”

“When?”

“Right now. If you leave right away, you can be here before dark, if you don’t take time to pack. The place isn’t hard to find. You can buy what you need after—”

“Mother, I don’t understand,” Loran interrupted.

“I know you don’t. I’m not sure I understand myself. I know I’m asking a lot, and it’s short notice. I’ll…explain when you get here. Or I’ll try.”

“Mother, you’re scaring me. Can’t you tell me something, at least?”

“I…not really. I don’t want to go into it on the phone. It’s important, Loran.”

And that was the only thing Loran was reasonably certain about. It was important. Nothing else would explain Maddie’s sudden disappearance or her unlikely request.

It was also inconvenient—for Kent. He had a big business dinner on Friday, one that required Loran’s presence, not for her investment-banking expertise, but because she apparently had an uncanny and probably fortuitous resemblance to the client’s late wife.

“Loran?”

“Tell me how to get there,” she said, making up her mind.

She could hear Maddie give what could only be a sigh of relief.

“Have you got a pen? You drive to Charlottesville, then to Waynesboro—”

“Hold on—okay. Go ahead.”

“Get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway at the first opportunity and head into North Carolina. Stay on it as far as the Highway 16 exit near Glendale Springs. The mountain scenery is going to be spectacular, and there’s a church in Glendale Springs with beautiful frescoes, but don’t stop. Take that exit…”

Loran wrote everything down, even the phone number she already had. “What is Lilac Hill?” she asked.

“It’s a B and B. I’ll get you a room. There’s one called the Rose Room. Very Victorian-girlie. You’ll like it.”

Loran stood looking at what she’d written, still bewildered, still worried.

“Loran?” Maddie said when the silence on Loran’s end lengthened.

“I’m here.”

“Drive carefully, okay?”

“I will,” she said. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Don’t I sound all right?”

“You sound all right. It’s that answering a question with a question thing that’s bothering me. Does your doctor know about this?” It suddenly occurred to her to ask.

Maddie laughed softly. “Actually, it was his idea.”

“He told you to go to the mountains?”

“He told me it was time to make sure the burners were turned off and the iron was unplugged—but this is what he meant. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” Loran said. “Later.”

She hung up the phone, stood for a moment, then dialed Kent’s number.

“Kent,” she said when he finally answered. “I have to— Are you awake?”

He said something unintelligible.

“Kent, listen. I have to go somewhere to meet Maddie.”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

“No, listen. I might not be back in time for the dinner Friday.”

“What? Why?”

“I told you. I have to go meet Maddie. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

“Loran, this dinner is important. The old man specifically asked if you were going to be there.”

“I know, but you can handle it.”

“I’m not the one who reminds him of his first wife.”

“I know. It can’t be helped. I have to see what Maddie wants.”