*****
Later that night, Gwen found herself alone in the room she had shared with Ginny for years. She was lying in her bed, staring at the empty one across from her, the one that would never be occupied again. Tears stung her eyes like they had for the last few hours, and she was listening to the quiet sounds of her aunt whimpering in their bedroom just down the hall. Sandra had done nothing but weep ever since arriving back at the house, and Gwen figured it was better than screaming incoherently at everyone in sight. At least she had Geoffrey to lean on in a time like this, while her own mother was alone in the guest bedroom, waiting for Grant to return—if he ever did.
Honestly, part of Gwen didn’t want him to come back, and a larger part of her wondered if he even wanted to. She understood that he was devastated—they all were—but his cold, standoffish behavior was the last thing any of them needed at a time like this. He was making it harder for everyone else to begin coping with the shock, and it was obvious he didn’t care. He hadn’t even stopped when Gwen had nearly begged him to earlier. He had to have known that she needed him, and he had ignored her, leaving Gabe to be the man and pick up the pieces.
She rolled over onto her back, fixing her gaze on the ceiling above her instead of the empty bed beside her. How had everything gone so horribly wrong? One moment Ginny was home and their lives were getting back on track, and the next, she’d been gone again, permanently taken from them. And unfortunately, none of it made any sense to her or Gabe, and she knew she would never get any kind of real closure until she knew for certain what had happened to her cousin in her last hours.
Why did Ginny leave? Nobody dragged her from her bed or forced her at gun point. She willingly left and went out into the woods.
Gwen didn’t even want to contemplate why Ginny had felt the need to strip naked during her run, because it would only bring up way more questions. Once again, she wondered if Ginny might have been on drugs, like the police seemed to think. It would explain her mood swings and maybe the stripping. If she were high on something, she could have hurt herself in the woods and washed up on the creek bed. If that was the case, then the whole thing had been an accident, and her aunt and uncle would be left with the knowledge that their daughter had accidentally killed herself through the use of drugs.
How is it even possible for her to have had a drug problem that nobody noticed? I would think somebody in her life would have noticed the changes in her behavior.
What about Tiffany? She and Ginny had been best friends for years. If anyone would have noticed even subtle changes in her behavior, it probably would have been her. Gwen was almost tempted to text her and ask, but a quick glance at the clock told her it was way too late. Tiffany was probably already asleep, blissfully unaware of what awful events had transpired today, and she didn’t deserve to learn about it through a text message.
Would the police tell Tiffany? Or would she hear it through the grapevine as word got around town? Everyone loved to gossip, and the news that Ginevra Grady had been found facedown and naked in a creek near her home was sure to spread like wildfire. I’ll call her in the morning, and if she hasn’t already heard, I’ll make sure I’m the one that tells her. Better me than some nosey neighbor that can’t wait to spread some juicy gossip.
Finally, Gwen drifted off into an uneasy sleep, full of bad dreams.