Willow Point

busy for some other reason. Was she keeping herself together by focusing on holiday stuff? It seemed so, and it seemed Ami’s ramblings had me questioning everything. Helena, Adam…
Ami had said to tell Adam nothing, and thus far I’d complied. But I was seriously reconsidering. We were in a relationship now, and we’d promised to be honest with one another. But had Adam told the truth? It bothered me to no end to think he hadn’t. But what if his future really was in some kind of jeopardy? Maybe he couldn’t tell the truth. Something was making me refrain from asking him though, something more than Ami demanding I do so. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I had to start somewhere though, look into possibilities. And if Helena was involved, I had to try one more time to get her to open up, even if it upset her. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then asked, “Is there something going on, Helena? Something you want to talk about?”
She tapped a nail on the side of her porcelain cup and took another sip of her drink. A minute went by. “What do you mean, Maddy?” she asked.
“Um, I just…” I was searching for the right words. “I mean…all this decorating. It looks great; don’t get me wrong. But if there’s something more going on, something you might want to tell me.” I shrugged, trying to make her feel comfortable. “You know you can talk to me, right?”
I placed my hand on Helena’s, and she tensed for a beat, only for a few barely noticeable seconds, and then she was back to all smiles. “No, no, there’s nothing to tell. I just love the holidays. Always have.” Helena slid her hand out from under mine. “It’s sweet of you to ask though.”
Her actions, her words, she wasn’t divulging a thing, that much was clear. Whatever was bothering Helena—and something definitely was, despite her denials—I’d hit a wall.
“So, Maddy,” Helena began, smoothly changing the subject, “any special plans for you and Adam this weekend?”
Christmas was only a little over a week away, and Adam and I actually did have something fun planned for the weekend. I was tired of trying to get Helena to fess up, so I welcomed the change. “We do have some plans,” I began. “We’re going to cut down a tree here on the island and take it back to Adam’s to decorate.”
I’d already decorated a small artificial tree back at the cottage, but when I’d offered to do the same for him, Adam suggested we chop down one of the many, many pines that covered the island and decorate it together. “It’ll be fun,” he had said. “A real tree will be much better than an artificial. What do you think?”
Of course, I agreed. I had never gone out into the forest to find a tree for Christmas, and I was definitely looking forward to it.
“Well, you certainly won’t have to go far,” Helena said. “I swear I think there are more pine trees around Adam’s house than anywhere on the island.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “But we’re not looking there. We’re going over to the east side of the island.”
The east side of the island, barely touched by civilization, where I’d witnessed J.T. O’Brien burying something back in October. Poor J.T. I’d once considered him one of my best friends, but now he was someone I barely recognized, a shadow of his former self.
And it drove me crazy to not know what he’d been burying that day on the island. Adam, Max, and I had tried to locate the area where J.T. had been mysteriously digging, but we’d had no luck. The forest was just too dense over on the desolate east side, and everything looked the same. It certainly wasn’t like I could ask J.T what he’d been up to. He was currently in a drug and alcohol rehab facility over in Bangor and wasn’t due out until January.
I’d once believed J.T.’s actions had had something to do with Chelsea Hannigan’s disappearance. But that belief turned out to be wrong. For as volatile and violent as J.T. had been, he’d played no role in Chelsea’s disappearance…or her murder.
But what was J.T. burying that October day? I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I hated unfinished business, and this felt unfinished. Adam wanted me to forget about the whole thing. He said it wasn’t important anymore. But the question still lingered, and I planned to someday find out exactly what was buried over there.
Helena was talking away, and I’d missed most of what she was saying, but I did catch something about a party. “Huh?” I asked.
“Well, are you and Adam going or not?” This was not her first query, based on her exasperated expression.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Going where?”
“Maddy…” Helena rolled her eyes. “Are you going to Trina and Walker’s New Year’s Eve bash down in Boston? What else would I be talking about? They have one every year, didn’t Adam tell you? They rent out a big event facility on the Charles River. It’s such a blast. You have to go. Nate and I will be bored without you.”
Oh, we were going. And I told Helena as much. It wasn’t like we could skip it. Trina was Adam’s sister, and Walker would soon be Adam’s brother-in-law. Besides, the New Year’s party was going to be amazing, that’s what Adam insisted. And, apparently, Helena agreed. All I knew was it was a black-tie event, there’d be tuxes and evening gowns, balloon drops at midnight, flowing champagne. But, while I expected the party to be fun, there was a bigger reason as to why I couldn’t wait to get to Boston.
The News Record of Cambridge—the tiny publication that had published the article outlining Adam’s stock trade and the resulting SEC investigation—had an office located in Cambridge, right across the river. The night I’d read Ami’s letter and had been curious to see which