The Vines by Shelley Nolden (ebook and pdf reader .TXT) 📕

“And Cora,” she said, attempting to shift forward in her seat, “is the cause of your rift with Kristian. I was surprised you came today.”

“I’m here for you, Mom. Not him.”

She nodded almost imperceptibly. “You’ve learned about their real research, and you don’t like it.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“I failed,” Sylvia said, her thin voice cracking.

Finn put his hand on her shoulder, padded by a bouclé suit jacket that hid her frailness, and crouched beside her. “You’ve never failed at anything.”

“All my life, I stood up for others. I was so,” she said, lingering on the word, “strong. At least I thought I was. But the most important battle: I didn’t have courage to fight.”

“That’s not true; you did everything you could.”

Sylvia shook her head. “I should have made Rollie. Give up. I was afraid. If I made him pick. Between studying her and being with us, he would choose her. And I should have insisted he keep Kristian out. Kristian doesn’t have. Right mind-set. But I told myself he’d be the one to cure her. So smart. Creative.”

Finn leaned in. “Do you really think he can solve her?” “Yes, I do. They’ve continued. Behind my back.” She clutched his hand, still on her shoulder, and he could feel its tremors. “I know it’s for me. It must end. Cost too high.” Visibly exhausted from the effort, she lowered her arm. “Before . . . this . . .” She tapped the wheelchair. “I sometimes went. With them. I’ve seen the way Kristian treats—”

“It’s like he’s forgotten she’s a human being, not some lab animal.”

“Ulrich’s influence.” Her right hand tried to close into a fist. “They spent so much time together. I tried to teach Kristian to view her differently. Another failure.”

Stepping behind her, Finn massaged her shoulders. “You didn’t fail. It wasn’t your job.”

“It was my job to raise Kristian right, but I . . .” Her voice broke, and she began to whimper.

He knew she was trying not to cry. The clerks and other customers had retreated to the far side of the store.

“You did your best,” he said, continuing to rub her shoulders.

If his mom believed Kristian could succeed, then maybe he could. But Finn knew that Sylvia would never willingly travel to North Brother Island to receive the experimental treatment if it had been developed at Cora’s expense. “You can still put your foot down,” he said firmly. “Tell Dad to stop for good. That you’re on to him.”

She grunted. “What happens when I die? You think Kristian will stay away then?”

“So, stay alive.”

His mom clasped his hand. “You need to resolve. Because you will be the one still around.”

Finn choked back a sob. He hated when his mother alluded to her own passing. “Lily thinks the best way to help Cora is for Kristian to find her antidote.”

“That may be.” Sylvia loosely gripped her armrests, as if preparing to stand. “Cora wants love, and family, more than anything. She deserves it.”

“Lily thinks she should go back.” Finn hooked his arms under his mother’s and helped her up, positioning himself to catch her if she fell.

Leaning against the glass counter, Sylvia nodded. “Cora trusted me. Lily has a role to play, but this burden. Doesn’t belong on her shoulders.” Disjointedly, she turned to look at him.

Gently, Finn put his arm around her. “It’s too dangerous for her anyway.”

Over his mother’s head, he surveyed the showroom. Everything looked new, polished, civilized. So different from Cora’s world. “I found a note in Dad’s journal from 2001. You said she suffered. What did you mean by that?”

“Rollie was kind to her. Cora assured me. But she has the right to say ‘no more.’ Her body belongs to her. You make sure that happens. That’s why I left you that note.”

“What?” Finn asked, arching his back. “Last June, I watched you come out of shed. I could tell you’d found his expedition logs. You looked so determined. Just like him. I knew you’d decided to go. And that afterward, you’d return for a second look. So, I opened the shoebox, filled with all the ultimatums I’d written Rollie. But wasn’t confident enough to give him. And took one out, knowing you would be strong for me.”

Still doubting that she’d ever lacked the courage to put her foot down with Rollie, Finn studied her anew. He tried to picture her crossing the two-acre lawn in her wheelchair. “Did Mimi help?” “It took us a long time!”

If she’d planted the message . . . “This’ll sound weird, but do you know anything about a crate of horseshoe bats?”

Sylvia jerked her hand toward her chest. “That was us, too.”

Staring at his mom, he saw past her feeble stature and recognized the fiery, capable woman he’d always admired. “How’d you pull that off?”

“Borrowed from zoo. Big donation.”

Finn stared at his mother in wonder, though not in disbelief. She’d always gone beyond the seemingly impossible when something important to her was at stake. And she certainly had a talent for maximizing emotional impact.

“Why bats? And why the big setup instead of just pulling me aside?”

“Milo,” she said, her arms settling onto the armrests. “When he was over, studying. I noticed drawings in the margins of his school notebook. He has talent for it, like you.”

An unsettling feeling congealed in Finn’s stomach. “What did he draw?”

Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Coronavirus particles.”

His eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“I asked him. He said they were aliens. But I know microbes. Been in this family a long time.”

“Kristian’s bringing him into the fold,” Finn reasoned out loud. “The fact that Milo’s familiar with the SARS virus could simply mean they’ve discussed that pandemic. Or that Kristian does have live specimens in his lab.”

Sylvia nodded. “I wanted you to see what’s at stake. Not just hear it from your mom. With Milo involved . . .” Her words became indistinguishable.

He bent down to hear her better.

“It’s time,” she muttered as if