He shrugged. “At first I thought they needed to direct their anger at someone. I was the most likely target, though God knows why. We didn’t have enough life insurance on either one of us for that to be a motive. Every dime we made either went back into the business or into investment property. That’s how we bought the condos I still own.”

Not to mention the one or two he’d either sold or borrowed against to pool with Earl’s retirement money in order to buy the property for the Inn, Annie thought, but didn’t say.

“If her parents knew there was no life insurance, why did they think you would have done that?”

“It was simple. Workers’ comp took care of Meghan’s medical bills. But because I’d made sure she was in a pricey, private facility, her parents were afraid they’d somehow get stuck paying for Meghan’s long-term care.”

Closing her eyes, Annie could almost feel his pain. “Wow. Had they always been so . . . cold?”

“Not her dad. Her stepmother was behind it. Meghan’s mom died when she was a teenager, and her dad remarried fast. From day one, the stepmother let it be known that his daughter wouldn’t interfere with their way of life.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. When they came to the hospital the night of the accident, all she said to me was, ‘This is your fault, Kevin.’ The police didn’t agree; after all was said and done, they couldn’t find a reason to arrest me. The civil suit came later.”

“How did Gina enter the picture?”

“She testified for the defense; she described the condition I was in when I arrived in the ambulance with Meghan. Which backed up the testimony of the officers who were first on the scene.” Kevin’s voice cracked on those last words. He turned back to his work. “It’s hard to talk about.”

Weighing her words carefully, Annie said, “But it sounds like Gina was on your side, so couldn’t she be an ally now?” Her words hung like fog on a dank, misty morning. Moshup’s blanket, as Winnie had said, trying to bring comfort to his people.

“The day Meghan was hurt was the worst day of my life, Annie. The day I had to go to court like I was a fucking criminal was the second worst. So no, I don’t want to reconnect with Dr. Fiorina. Bad memories, you know?” He hammered another floorboard.

Annie certainly knew about bad memories. “I’m sorry, Kevin.”

“No problem. You didn’t know.”

“Does Mom know the details?”

He nodded again. “She was there. In court. She wanted me to ask Gina out for a drink. Or dinner. Or probably to marry me.”

Annie stifled a laugh. “Are you kidding?”

“Nope. Mom doesn’t want me to be alone. You’re lucky you have John or she’d be trying to hook you up with someone, too. So I’m sorry, but I can’t be your hummingbird. My little drop of whatever won’t be coming to Chappy.”