Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
Nora watched as Zack gathered several pages into a folder.
“For now, you might want to consider homebound instruction while we get a better sense of where Christian is academically. We can reevaluate later, but there’s no reason to rush him into a traditional classroom—if that’s what you choose to do.
If I remember correctly, you girls were homeschooled. Maybe you want to go that route again.”
Her mom set her coffee down with more force than necessary. “That’s what I’m leaning toward. He doesn’t need to walk into a building full of strangers staring at him and asking questions.”
Nora looked at Christian and tried to read his expression. “What do you think?”
Christian’s hand stopped moving against Bo’s fur. He slid one of the worksheets onto the stack without looking at anyone.
Nora saw that he’d scribbled on some of the edges.
She used to like to scribble also.
She’d liked to draw dogs. What had Christian drawn? She wished she could see.
She knew drawing could be powerful. Most of his memories from his time away still hadn’t returned—not on a conscious level, at least.
“Whatever.” Christian finally shrugged.
The familiar answers lined up in Nora’s mind: Whatever. Fine. I don’t know.
Three weeks home, and so much of Christian still remained so closed off.
Zack stood and tucked the folder beneath one arm. “I’ll finish my notes and look over them. We can talk through the options once I’ve made my recommendation.”
Nora thanked him and walked him to the front door. When she returned to the kitchen, Christian was stacking the remaining papers while Austin stood near the entrance, watching quietly.
Christian glanced at Austin. “You’re FBI, right?”
“I am.” Austin’s expression remained neutral, but his attention sharpened.
“Like your dad.” Christian said it as if he were confirming something he already knew.
“That’s right. Like my dad.” Austin’s voice gave away nothing.
“How did you know that?” Nora had introduced Austin by name but hadn’t mentioned his job.
“You told me.” Christian’s gaze held hers for a moment before dropping to the papers.
Nora searched through every conversation they’d had since Austin arrived. She’d told Christian that Austin was Jeff Donnelly’s son, but she had never said he worked for the FBI. She felt certain of it.
So how did he know?
Christian tucked the papers beneath his arm and pushed back from the table. “I’m tired. I’m going upstairs.”
He left before Nora could ask anything else.
She watched him disappear down the hall as Bo scrambled up and trotted after him. The dog stopped at the foot of the stairs, apparently reconsidered the climb, then wandered back into the kitchen.
When Nora turned around, Austin wasn’t watching the staircase. He was watching her.
And the question in his eyes told her he’d caught the same discrepancy.
Austin waited for Christian to finish climbing the stairs, then asked Nora, “Can we talk outside?”
Ruth opened the refrigerator and began taking out ingredients for dinner. “I’ll stay inside in case Christian needs me. I don’t mind.”
“Thank you.” Nora gave her mother a quick hug before following Austin onto the back porch.
The cooling air carried the damp, earthy smell of the woods. Nora pulled the door closed behind them, muffling the sounds of Ruth moving around the kitchen.
Austin leaned one shoulder against the railing. “That assessment bothered you, didn’t it?”
“Not exactly.” Nora looked toward the barn. “I’m glad Christian knows more than we expected. It’s one less thing he has to struggle with.”
“But?”
She gave him a look. “You really like that word.”
“It usually means there’s more.”
She blew out a breath. “There’s always more with Christian.”
“Like what?”
Nora watched the wind stir the trees behind the barn. “He still does strange things at night.”
The statement pulled Austin’s full attention to her. “What kind of things?”
“The first week he was home, Wren found him outside digging near the barn. He wasn’t responding to her. When Mom finally got him to come around, he asked if he’d hurt somebody.”
Austin straightened. “He actually asked her that?”
“Yes.” Nora folded her arms across her chest.
“And since then?”
“It hasn’t been that bad. But I’ve found him awake at two or three in the morning, sitting at the kitchen table with a blank look in his eyes or standing by the back door. Once he was just staring out the window.”
“Does he remember any of it?”
“He says he doesn’t.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I don’t know what I’m convinced of anymore.”
The answer sounded like it had less to do with Christian than with everything Jacob Morgan had taken from her.
“Did my dad know any of this?” Austin asked.
Nora shook her head. “No. He asked to speak with Christian, but I told him to wait. Prine had already interviewed him twice, and every time someone asked about the past, Christian shut down a little more.”
Austin could picture his father’s reaction. “And Dad agreed?”
“Eventually.”
That sounded about right. He would have argued until he exhausted every possible angle, then reluctantly accepted he wasn’t going to get his way.
Nora curled her fingers around the railing. “Now I keep wondering what he wanted to ask.”
“He may not have known anything concrete.”
“But he found something.”
Austin was about to respond when his phone vibrated inside his jacket.
Luke Wilder’s name appeared on the screen.
His gut tightened as he accepted the call. “Donnelly.”
Luke didn’t waste time. “We found Mikey.”