Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Jumped Out of the Way
Margaret did not tell him.
Someone else did.
Her name was Rosa Delgado.
She had managed housekeeping at Hawthorne Ridge for twelve years before retiring the previous winter.
Ryan remembered seeing her at the hospital after Noah’s birth.
She had brought Margaret a bag.
At least, that was what Ryan had assumed.
When Ryan called, Rosa became quiet at the mention of the service gate.
“I wondered if this would come back someday.”
Ryan felt his chest tighten.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Rosa would not discuss details over the phone.
They met the next afternoon at a diner in Franklin.
Rosa ordered coffee she barely touched.
“That night, your mother called everyone from the hospital because Noah had arrived.”
Ryan remembered.
There had been a small family gathering at the estate earlier that evening while they waited for news.
Victor had been there.
Derek too.
“So Victor crashed into the gate?”
Rosa looked at Ryan.
“No.”
One word.
Ryan leaned forward.
“Then who did?”
“I never saw the driver.”
That sounded evasive.
Rosa explained that she had been walking toward her car when headlights came rapidly around the service bend.
She stepped aside.
The vehicle struck the stone gate.
She fell while trying to get out of the way and injured her wrist.
Not badly enough for surgery.
Badly enough for an emergency-room visit.
“Was Victor in the vehicle?”
“When I looked up, Victor and Derek were there.”
“Driving?”
“I couldn’t see.”
“What happened after?”
Margaret arrived from the main house minutes later.
She was furious.
Then frightened.
Victor kept saying:
“Ryan can never know about this.”
That sentence stayed with Rosa.
“Why?”
“I thought because you would throw him off the property.”
Ryan would have.
Victor had already had two alcohol-related incidents.
Neither involved serious injury.
Ryan had warned Margaret that the next one meant Victor was done at Hawthorne Ridge.
“What did Mom do?”
“She paid my medical bill.”
That was not suspicious by itself.
“She asked me not to talk about the accident while your wife was recovering.”
“Did she ask you to lie?”
Rosa hesitated.
“She asked me to let the insurance people believe I wasn’t involved.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Why would my mother care whether you were involved?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa finally looked directly at him.
“But Victor came to my house three days later.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted to know exactly what I had seen.”
“And?”
“I told him the truth.”
Ryan waited.
Rosa lowered her voice.
“I told him I saw someone get out of the driver’s side before he reached me.”
Ryan’s skin went cold.
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see the face.”
“Man or woman?”
May you like
Rosa looked down at her coffee.
“A woman.”
