I'd barely put the phone down before it rang again. It was Howie. He was in tears and could barely speak.
"Calm down, Howie. What's the matter?" I looked around for Betsy. She was far better than I at handling this type of emotion but just then, Molly skipped in the door.
"I killed my sister!" he managed to blurt out.
"What are you talking about, Howie?"
"My aunt; my great aunt Doris; she told me! She didn't know I can't remember. She said I shouldn't blame myself and my mother was wrong for hating me over what I did. I begged her to tell me, but she just bawled and said it was good that I became a priest so I could ask for forgiveness. I kept after her to tell me and that pissed off Ronnie to all hell and he demanded Julie and me to get out. The way he said it made Julie cry and me want to kill the bastard. God, what did I do to Annie?"
"Calm down, Howie. Where are the others?"
"I'm all alone." I could hear a sob and he blew his nose.
"Quinn and Martha aren't there?"
"No. Julie is in our room all upset. I haven't seen Quinn all day. I guess he drove to the airport to pick up Martha and Claire but
"I guess they didn't come in when they were supposed to. I had to make my speech at the funeral not knowing anyone but Julie and that bastard Ronnie who hates my guts."
"Why didn't Quinn come back when he saw Martha missed her connection? She's probably still in Los Angeles."
"I don't know. I heard Quinn say yesterday that flight to Santa Barbara was full so maybe he drove all the way into Los Angeles to pick them up."
"No one called?"
"No, and neither Quinn nor Martha are picking up their phones."
"She and Claire are probably still in the air somewhere or Quinn hasn't hooked up with them yet. Just hang in there. Don't be concerned about Ronnie; he's history in your life now. That's all in the past."
"Do you know what I did to Annie, Ben?
"I didn't even know you existed back then. Ask Martha when she lands. I'm sure she can set you straight. Obviously, she doesn't think ill of you so don't pay attention to what Ronnie said. He sounded like a first class jerk from the beginning." I changed the subject. "I guess the speech went pretty well."
"I don't know. I was too scared to look out at the people. Then Ronnie got up and said how he and mom loved each other and how she still loved her daughter Annie and it sounded like my sister was her only child."