Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

department store or making sure your mother is all right?”
    “Of course, looking after Mother.”
    “Exactly.” She returned to the cupcake batter. “I understand how you feel, how hard this is on all of us, and, like you, I wish Mother had been stronger, but she’s not, so we have to contend with it.
    “Other families would crumble,” she continued, “but not the Heavenstones. We rise to every occasion. People look up to us. We inspire them; we always have. Mother doesn’t have the Heavenstone blood in her, so she’s not as strong as we are.” She paused to spoon out some of the batter. “Daddy’s going to love these cupcakes,” she said. “They’re marble inside. He loves that.”
    I stared at her until she turned back to me.
    “What? Why aren’t you having your brunch?”
    “Mother is as strong as any Heavenstone,” I insisted.
    She shook her head. “Yes, Semantha, and there is really a Santa Claus, too.”
    She returned to her cupcakes.
    I knew how Cassie was about our heritage and importance, all that. I had heard it and believed some of it myself, but something was different.
    It was as if …
    As if I, too, heard a baby’s cry.

Silence
    I HAD NEVER been so happy to hear Uncle Perry’s voice as I was this particular afternoon. Cassie went to the door before I could. I was still in the kitchen. She had insisted we take everything out of every cabinet and wipe each cabinet clean before putting it all back. We would do the same with the pantry and the silverware drawers. The moment I heard him, I stopped what I was doing and hurried out to greet him.
    “Your father’s right behind me,” he said. “He was just finishing up a few things. How’s your mother?” he asked Cassie as I approached.
    “She’s about the same. You know she’s on some antidepressants, right?”
    “Yes, your father told me. Hi, Sam. How are you doing?” he asked as soon as he saw me.
    “Sam,” Cassie said, turning to look at me before I could respond, “was very lucky last night. She was in a bad car accident.”
    “What? Teddy didn’t say anything about any car accident.”
    “As you can see, Semantha is all right, and myfather has his mind on many important things today, Uncle Perry,” Cassie said.
    Uncle Perry turned to me. “Are you all right?” he asked, clearly implying that he didn’t trust Cassie.
    “Yes, Uncle Perry. Cassie’s right. I was lucky. One of the boys, however, hit his head on the dashboard and has a concussion. He should be all right, though.”
    “Wow. So, what happened?”
    “Yes, why don’t you amuse Uncle Perry with that story while I look in on Mother?” Cassie said. “I’ll see how she is and let you know if you can visit when I come down,” she told Uncle Perry.
    “Why couldn’t I visit her?” he asked or, rather, demanded. I saw he was losing patience with Cassie. “I didn’t drive out here just to chat with you two. I promised your father I’d visit your mother.”
    “I didn’t say you couldn’t visit, Uncle Perry. Chill out. All I meant was I’d see if she was awake. She drifts in and out with this medicine Dr. Moffet has prescribed. You don’t want to stand there looking at a woman asleep, do you?”
    “I’ll wait until she wakes up, even if it takes the rest of the day,” he replied firmly.
    Cassie smiled and nodded. “We appreciate that, Uncle Perry. Honestly, we do,” she said, and walked off to the stairway.
    He looked at me, the anger in his face receding. “What happened to you, then, Sam? What’s this about a car accident?”
    I walked him into the living room. He sat on the sofa, and I described the accident. With him, I told the truth.

    “There’s probably no doubt your friend Eddie could have prevented the accident if he had been paying attention. All of us, but teenagers especially, should be trained in defensive driving. I don’t know all that much about insurance companies, but I can’t see how the elderly man won’t be held accountable anyway, Sam. If he couldn’t back out and drive off without any car hitting him, he should have waited. He was probably not looking enough. But from the way you describe your friend who drove, I don’t think this is the end of his getting into trouble.”
    “I feel so terrible with all that’s happening to my mother and Daddy right in the middle of so much.”
    “It will be all right. Don’t worry,” he said, and stood up to give me a hug just as Cassie entered.
    “How loving,”