Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(7)

Jake stopped reading. Eva and T. J. gone? His big sister, gone just like that? How could he not have known the instant she left this world? How did it happen? Why? His eyes burned, and he rubbed them hard.

The kids.

He opened Noelle’s next e-mail.

The funeral was this morning. It doesn’t seem real that Mom and Dad aren’t coming back. I keep waiting for Dad to come home from work then I realize he’s not going to. Mom’s friend Mrs. Hubbard is staying with us. Where are you, Uncle J?

A heavy weight sat hard on his chest. I’m right here! he wanted to shout through the computer. But he hadn’t been there when they needed him. The weight nearly suffocated him.

Eva. He pictured her swingy blonde hair caught up in a messy ponytail, her small oval face, her sparkling green eyes so full of life.

Only they weren’t full of life now. They were still and cold. Lifeless. He couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her again. Of not getting to say good-bye. He pounded the desk with his fist. Why had he left? If only he’d stayed home this winter. If only he’d called sooner.

The kids. He had to think about the kids. Who was taking care of them? He opened Noelle’s next message.

I can’t believe it!!! Dad’s attorney said that his other daughter is supposed to be our guardian!!! We don’t even know her!!

The next e-mail from Noelle was dated almost a week later.

Dad’s other daughter came today. I so hoped she wouldn’t come but now she’s here and obviously planning to stay. She doesn’t even care about us!!

The last one was sent just the day before.

Meridith is crazy!! You wouldn’t believe what she’s doing! She’s changing everything and is so strict I want to scream10 I don’t care if she is my sister, I hate her11 She isn’t fit to take care of us!! Come home, Uncle J! I know they’ll change their minds when they see how much we love you!!

Jake stood abruptly, and the office chair rolled away at the force. He paced the room with long, quick strides. He had to talk to Noelle, make sure they were okay. He stopped at the desk and picked up the phone, then slammed it back down. What good would it do to wake her?

He had to get back to the island. What the heck was this Meridith woman doing? And why had Eva and T. J. left the kids to her?

Well, who were they going to leave them to? You? He wasn’t the most settled man alive, and sure, maybe he had a wild streak or two . . . but he loved the munchkins.

Noelle’s anguish had come through loud and clear. He pictured Benny’s little face, so like Eva’s, and Max’s sad brown eyes. They must be lost without their parents. He knew what that was like. Knew what it was like to be unwanted, to feel like you didn’t belong anywhere.

Something in Noelle’s e-mail jarred his memory. He went back to the computer and opened the last e-mail. Meridith is crazy!! You wouldn’t believe what she’s doing!

He remembered something Eva had told him back when she and T. J. first married. T. J.’s ex-wife had bipolar disorder, a mental illness. Was it hereditary? What if Meridith had it too? What if the kids were in the hands of a mentally ill woman?

He put his hands over the keyboard and pecked his way to a search engine to look up the disorder. It took an eternity for the list to appear.

When it did, he clicked on a link and skimmed the information. Psychiatric disorder . . . mania . . . hallucinations . . . depression . . . and then the nugget of information he’d feared.

“Genetics are a substantial contributing factor to the likelihood of developing bipolar disorder. Symptoms often appear in late adolescence or young adulthood.”

Jake clicked back to Noelle’s e-mails and reread them, his breath catching again at the news of his sister’s death. Why Eva, God? He was going to miss her so much.

But he had to focus on the kids now. There would be time for grieving later.

His niece definitely thought there was something wrong with Meridith, had even called her crazy. If this woman had inherited her mother’s disorder, there was no way she was fit to care for his niece and nephews. No way Eva would’ve wanted her to.

He had to get back there. Now.

He returned to his room and stuffed the few items he’d unpacked into his bag. It would take too long to drive back. He’d take the first flight he could and send for his cycle later. He’d already missed the funeral, missed being there for the kids. He kicked his duffel bag across the wood floor, and it thunked against the closed door.

He felt like punching someone. Himself. For not being there when they needed him. For not even knowing his sister was dead and cold in the grave.

A knock sounded on the door. “Jake, everything okay?”

Jake slowed his breathing before he opened the door.

Levi stood on the threshold, his gray brows drawn together.

“There’s been an emergency back home. I need to go.” He explained what happened.

Mary had appeared at Levi’s side. “What can we do?”

Jake ran his hand through his damp hair. “I need to get a flight. What city is closest? Atlanta? Birmingham?”

“I’ll handle the arrangements,” Mary said. “You go to the campsite and pack up your gear. When you get back I’ll have your reservations set.”

“And I’ll drive you to the airport,” Levi added. “We can ship your cycle to you.”