Chapter 5
FIVE
Ferd yanked open the heavy wood door to the only and best coffee shop in town, Sacred Grounds, and spied Anna in the corner.
Anna bounced to her feet and hugged her immediately.
Her soft, dark hair brushed against Ferd’s cheek as she squeezed Ferd close.
Connor had never hugged her like that. Likely, he’d only ever hugged Lacy with that much emotion.
“It’s so good to see you! It’s been, what, almost three years?” Anna slowly sat back down and moved her steaming mug out of the way. She waved to Clem at the counter.
Ferd sat down and glanced at the other people in the comfortable wooden booths and padded chairs in small bunches around the seating area. No one looked immediately recognizable. She’d get some time to finally catch up with Anna.
“I’ve been home for three weeks. Where have you been?”
“Lo, Miss Delferdia,” Clem laid a small square drink napkin down on the table. “Your usual latte?” He said her name in a sing-song way, almost making it palatable.
“Clem, it’s good to see you. Sorry I haven’t stopped in sooner.”
He grinned. “Didn’t think you’d remember me.”
“Of course I do. I’d love a latte, thank you.”
Anna heaved a contented sigh. “Wouldn’t be the same around here without him.” She traced the handle of her mug with her finger.
Ferd gave a nod. “I can’t even imagine it.”
Anna drummed the table with her fingers. “When I returned to Wayside this morning, Nadine caught me in the hall. She said there was a murder nearby and we’re all on higher security. Is it that way at The Haven, too? Sometimes I wished I lived over there.” Anna lifted her mug and took a sip.
“Not to my knowledge . . .” Connor had made one place secure and not the other?
“But they are at capacity with guests at Wayside right now so they’re more sensitive than we are.
Maybe Connor assumed we could handle whatever came, but they needed more protection?
” At least, that’s what she assumed. Nadine couldn’t stand small talk, so warning Anna about the murder wasn’t gossip.
“I don't know. I was just wondering if you'd heard. No one here is talking about it. Like, I got here twenty minutes early and no one said a word. Murder would be a big deal, right? It's weird that no one is saying anything, right?”
Especially in Piper’s Ridge, where the biggest news was a new type of sweet corn. “You’d think so. It did happen. I saw it.”
“You saw the murder?” Her voice accelerated in volume and speed.
People glanced over at their table, brows dipped. Ferd glared back at them. “Not the murder. . . The,” she paused, catching her breath. Why was saying the word so hard? “Body.”
Anna’s eyes went wide along with her mouth. She recovered quickly. “Oh no! How did you get roped into that?” Anna leaned forward, gripping her mug in both hands.
Had she? It hadn’t felt that way. “I have the training and I was available. The force here is small.”
Anna pursed her lips. “I suggested you work for them, but no . . . they were ‘too close to home’. Anyway, go on.” She air quoted.
Ferd winced. “I don’t want to stay here forever. I love Wayside and Connor and Dad, but this is their dream. Not mine. I thought I wanted this too. I just don’t fit here. Anywhere.”
Anna frowned, her small, rounded face arched with pity.
“I miss you while you’re gone. There’s no one to talk to anymore.
Even Nadine has changed.” Anna raised a shoulder and let it fall.
“To answer your question from before, about where I’ve been, Nadine thought she'd found another lead on my parents. It turned into another dead end." Anna traced the rim of her mug. "Eight years later, I'm starting to wonder how many more dead ends there are.” Anna took another deep breath. “I shouldn’t get my hopes up. It’s been years. If they wanted to find me, I’m searchable. Nadine even set me up with a website . . .” Her voice cracked and she covered her lips with her fingertips.
Ferd reached over and gripped Anna’s hand.
“I get it. I get the need for family and connection.” Which is why you should give your brother some grace.
He cares about you, and his job is stressful.
Maybe that was why Connor's rules bothered her so much.
She'd finally found family, and somehow still didn't feel like she belonged.
“I know you do.” She pulled her hand away and sat up straighter. “I just don’t know what to do next.”
“It’s not the same, but you know my mom would adopt you in a heartbeat. She almost likes you more than me.” Ferd joked, hoping to give a little happiness.
They both burst out lauging and stopped as Clem returned with Ferd’s drink.
She looked up at him so he would know they were not laughing at him. He got too much of that from others. “Thank you. Are you keeping busy?”
He glanced at the counter before answering. “Pretty good, I’d say. Might ask the preacher about doing some work at the church, besides greeting, of course.” He grinned.
The man couldn’t find a bad mood with a flashlight. “That’s great. I’m sure he’d be happy to have you. Every time I see you, you’re working hard.”
He smiled once again. “Thank you, kindly. You enjoy that now. Let me know if you need anything else.” He waved and headed back for the counter.
Ferd hid her smile behind her mug before taking a sip.
The flavor spread over her tongue and warmed her chilled body.
“This is good with all that rain. You know, Nadine hasn’t really changed.
She’s just married and has other priorities now.
It seems like she’s still trying though, if she took you aside and warned you about a killer on the loose. ”
Anna looked away and pursed her lips. “I suppose you’re right, though it seems like she gives more attention to her cat than she gives to me.
Part of me wants to pack up and go live with you though.
I’ve been cleaning cabins now for five years.
It’s not a bad job, and I only have to do it when people graduate out of the program or for those who can’t clean on their own, but it’s not where I expected to be in my life. I expected so much more.”
Girl, same.
“Maybe it’s part of living through your twenties? Maybe we’re all meant to question every decision we’ve ever made until we marry and settle down?” Ferd stared down at her mug because she didn’t want to know if Anna agreed with her. Most of her hoped Anna didn’t.
“I’m not marrying until I find my family or know what happened to them. Or until a guy sweeps me off my feet so hard that I suffer amnesia.” She laughed, though it had no joy.
“So I’m not the only one opposed to getting married. Good.”
“Never said that.” Anna’s eyes brightened. “I said I wasn’t going to until I find my family. Then I need to find a guy, a good one.”
And there was the whole problem in a nutshell. She was surrounded by good guys. All of them married. All of them providing a blueprint that literally no one could live up to.