Chapter 15
Rain poured down in buckets in the late afternoon. Dark clouds smothered the sky. Dax held open the door to the library and waited for Vanessa to step inside before following her into the quiet space.
Vanessa ran a hand through her long locks. “Man, I think this whole town’s about to float away if it doesn’t let up soon.”
“Tell me about it,” Dax grumbled. “The roads are a mess. The sheriff’s department will have to close some soon. We should hurry so we can make it back to your place.”
“You really think it could cause issues with the roads?”
“More likely it will affect the hillsides and mountain highways. We don’t want to be driving if a landslide crashes down.”
Vanessa shuddered. “That’s something I never had to worry about in Chicago.”
Dax couldn’t help but chuckle at her wide-eyed bewilderment. “You’ve run into a lot of things you’ve never had to worry about before.”
“True,” she said, scrunching her nose. “But I’ve found some good surprises, too.”
Before he kissed her in the entryway of the town library, he swiped his cowboy hat off his head then nodded in the direction of the circulation desk. “Let’s ask for help. Can’t say I’ve spent much time in here before. Not quite sure where to go.”
Vanessa stared around her as she fell into step beside him. “I love this place. The library in Chicago is beautiful, but it’s so grand and cold. This is warm and cozy, like being in a grandmother’s living room.”
“Seeing how this was a house decades ago, I understand how you could think that.” He stopped in front of the desk and a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a nice smile greeted them. “Do you have old newspaper articles here?”
“We sure do,” she said. “Are you looking for a certain date? Year?”
“What do you think?” he asked Vanessa. “Do you want to go way back to when your grandparents were young, or something more recent?”
Vanessa bit her thumbnail. “Um, probably around the time when my mom was in high school. Before she left.”
She rattled off a range of dates.
“That won’t be a problem,” the woman said. “Follow me.”
Dax waited for Vanessa to pass him before taking up the rear. They walked by shelves of books and a line of computers with a few teenagers hunched over the screens until they reached the back corner.
“You two can take this computer. It’s a little more private, and it has more sophisticated software. I’ll pull up what you need and show you how to use the filters.” The woman’s fingers flew across the keyboard then she stepped aside, gesturing with her arm for one of them to take a seat.
He pressed a hand to the small of Vanessa’s back to encourage her to sit.
“You click on these two lines here to refine your search.” The woman pointed to the side of the screen and waited for Vanessa to navigate to the spot she’d indicated before continuing.
“I recommend sticking with one year, but you can refine the results further if needed. The articles will appear one page at a time, just scroll down, and once one edition is finished, another will pop right up. Let me know if you have any questions.”
Dax waited until the librarian walked away then dragged over another chair. He settled in beside Vanessa. “Well, seems easy enough. What’s the plan?”
Vanessa blew out a long breath. “I think we should pull up the year before my mom left town. I can’t help this feeling that something besides getting pregnant made her run away. Beyond prying that information out of my uncle, I don’t know where else to look.”
“Then let’s get started.”
He let her take the lead and put in the year, then watched as the screen filled with the front page of the Cloud Valley Gazette. They sat in silence and scanned page after page. He chuckled at stories with names he recognized, reliving town festivals and sharing local victories.
“I’ve seen some of these photos,” Vanessa said, stopping to read about the high school’s win at the state championship.
A picture of the team surrounded by cheerleaders showed a celebration for the ages.
“It’s so strange to think about my uncle as a football star and my mom a cheerleader.
I’m glad she experienced this. Looks like fun. ”
The comment made him wonder what she’d been like in high school. “Were you in sports when you were in school?”
“I danced, but not for my school,” she said. “That’s what got me into yoga. I was never the most flexible kid and had to really work hard to get better. Yoga helped with that and uncovered a passion. What about you? Were you a big handsome athlete?” she asked, bumping his shoulder with hers.
He snorted out a laugh. “Not at all. I didn’t have the time. I tried to get out of school as much as I could, something that was easy enough with just my dad to outsmart. I’ve always wanted to be outside. Felt like there was more to learn about life in the mountains than in a classroom.”
She smiled at him. “I’m starting to see that.”
“Keep scrolling,” he said, nodding toward the screen. “Maybe we’ll find out some more about your mom.”
Vanessa kept the articles moving, commenting on a photo of his dad and mentions of Tilly’s weekly line dancing. “Does Eve still do that?”
“She sure does.”
“Will you take me?”
He grinned. “You know how to line dance?”
Her growing smile matched his. “Not even a little bit.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll teach ya. Sounds like a much better date than the first.”
“I don’t know, I thought the first one was pretty darn great.” She winked then returned her focus to the task at hand.
The sound of a clock ticking in the background competed with the raindrops hitting the roof. The words on the screen started to blur together and Dax blinked to keep his focus. A headline flashed that caught his attention and he straightened in his seat. “Stop.”
Vanessa’s hand stilled. “Holy crap. That boy died in the river behind my house.”
Dax read the article, his lips moving along with each word. “Wow. Only eighteen years old. Looks like he fell, hit his head and drowned. Is there another page?”
She pressed the down arrow until the second page appeared. Another picture of the boy who’d died—Garrison Steele—accompanied the article; he was flanked by a girl and a second boy.
“Oh my God,” Vanessa said on a gasp. “That’s the same picture I found in my mom’s room. The only difference is someone scratched the boy’s eyes out in my mom’s photo. This doesn’t make any sense.”
He studied the picture, anxiousness crawling over his skin like an army of red ants. “Look at how your mom’s looking at him.”
“I noticed that, too,” Vanessa said. “She’s staring up at him like he hung the freaking moon.”
“If the newspaper used this photo, your uncle and mom must have been pretty close with Garrison,” Dax said. “Makes me wonder how close to his death this was taken.”
“Can’t be too soon before. My cousin said the shirt my uncle’s wearing is from a senior trip.
If I can look in the yearbook for when that was, it can create more of a timeline.
Something had to have happened between then and when this kid died in March for my mom to change her opinion of him. The question is, does it matter?”
Dax shrugged, wishing he had more answers. “We won’t know until we get to the bottom of things, I’m just not sure how to do that.”
* * *
Vanessa ducked her head to escape the rain and ran past Dax into the café. The scent of strong coffee assaulted her senses and made her mouth water.
“Do you want anything to eat?” Dax asked as he led her to the back of the line. “Cloud 9 Café has the best pastries in town, just so you know.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I love a good pastry, but I’ll stick to herbal tea. I don’t think my stomach can handle anything much stronger.”
“How about I get a couple to take back to the house?”
She nodded, appreciating his thoughtfulness.
While they waited, she glanced around the quaint café. Dark blues blended with metallic accents, creating an industrial vibe. Dark wood tables sat in the middle of the room and golden letters scrawled across the front window boasted the clever name.
During her perusal of the scarred wooden floors and framed artwork, she spotted Diane sitting alone at a table with an oversized mug and a book. She poked Dax with her elbow. “My aunt’s sitting over there. Should I go say hello?”
He shrugged. “Why not? Looks like she’s alone. Could be a good time to ask her some questions. She might be the only one who can give you answers, and we both know she’ll have tighter lips with Chip around.”
Vanessa’s stomach fluttered but she agreed. Noticing Diane by herself as soon she’d uncovered the disturbing article seemed to be some cosmic doing. She couldn’t let this moment pass without at least trying to talk to her aunt.
She blew out a long breath. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” he said. “If I order before you’re done, I’ll just bring your tea to you then keep myself busy until you’re finished.”
“Thanks.” She flashed him a tight smile then weaved through the tables until she stood in front of Diane. “Hi,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt.
Diane glanced up from her book. Recognition dawned and she jumped to her feet. “Well, hello there! How are you? I’m so happy to run into you. Come, sit, sit.”
Her aunt’s enthusiasm melted away her nerves, and she settled in the seat across from her at the round table.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can grab you something really quick,” Diane said.
Vanessa flicked her wrist toward where Dax stood, now in the middle of the line. “Dax is getting me some tea, but thanks.”
“I’m glad you’re making friends. Autumn was thrilled you invited her over earlier. Did you two have a nice visit?”
“We did. She’s very sweet. I hope to get to know her better, and you as well.”
Diane patted her hand. “I’d like that, too.”
She debated how to continue with the conversation. Just like with her cousin earlier, it didn’t seem right to just blurt out what she really wanted to know. “I’m also enjoying getting to know my mother better.”
A sad smile curved the ends of Diane’s mouth. “Your grandfather never could be talked into doing anything with her room. With Chip’s either, really. But I always felt like Earl was holding on to your mama, hoping she’d come home and life could return to the way it once was.”
The description made Vanessa’s heart heavy. “Grandpa wrote me a lot of letters. He’d ask about my mom but never gave much detail about his feelings. Never talked about the past. Neither did my mom.”
Diane clicked her tongue. “Such a shame. An avoidable tragedy, if you ask me.”
“Speaking of tragedies,” Vanessa said, taking hold of the opportunity to steer the conversation. “I read about a local boy who drowned on the property. His name was Garrison Steele. Did you know him?”
“Oh my.” Diane’s hand fluttered to her heart. “I haven’t heard that name in years. He was good friends with your uncle. He, Chip and Ethan were together all the time. Everyone was devastated when he died. The kind of shock that people don’t really recover from.”
“I bet,” Vanessa said, studying her aunt’s face for any emotions or opinions she wasn’t sharing on the subject. “Loss is never easy, but it had to be especially tough with someone so young. I’m sure the whole town had trouble dealing with it.”
“Absolutely,” Diane said, nodding her head in an exaggerated motion. “His poor parents went through hell. Then his father passed away a few years later, leaving his poor mama all alone.”
“Was my mom friends with him?”
A softness settled over Diane’s features as if she thought back on something from long ago.
“Mindy was always following the trio around. I didn’t blame her, I was, too,” she said with a laugh.
“I had such a crush on your uncle, and your mama had it bad for Garrison. When he died, she was never the same. A light went out in her eyes that I never saw come back. I hope it returned eventually.”
The news struck a chord deep within Vanessa’s soul that she wasn’t sure what to do with. “Did he return her feelings?”
“Not that I know of,” Diane said. “At that time, I wasn’t dating your uncle yet. And I’m ashamed to say I was young and only into what was affecting me and my world. If Garrison liked your mama, I wasn’t aware.”
A stab of disappointment pierced her lungs, but she couldn’t let it show. “Do you remember when my mom left town?”
Clearing her throat, Diane shifted in her seat. “Yes, I do. Another devastating blow to your family.”
She swallowed a retort about how her uncle seemed more upset about not inheriting the family’s property than losing his sister—not getting to know his niece. “How long after Garrison died did she leave?”
Diane picked up her cup and took a sip, her gaze settling everywhere but on Vanessa. “I mean I don’t think I could recall the exact day.”
Vanessa struggled to cover her impatience with a smile. “I’d be surprised if you did. But do you remember what time of year it was?”
Diane finally met her eyes. “It was summer. Chip and I started dating right before he graduated. Your mother left a month or so after he and I got together. It was a tough time. For all of us.”
“It’s hard to imagine Chip struggling with my mom leaving.
There doesn’t seem to be any love lost there.
” She cringed, regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to speak ill of your husband.
His attitude has thrown me. I was excited to meet him, to meet all of you.
The fact he has no desire to know me stings, and it’s hard to imagine him being any nicer to my mom. ”
Diane frowned, sadness hovering over her like the dark clouds outside the window.
“Your mom and Chip were close once. Best friends. His heart was broken when Garrison died, and it completely shattered him when he lost your mom. He changed after she left town. A part of him never recovered. I still see the glimpses of the boy he used to be. He’s a good man, even if he doesn’t always show it. ”
“I’m sure you’re right. Hopefully one day I get to meet that side of him.”
Dax arrived at the table with his hands full. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to bring you the tea you wanted.”
Diane beamed up at him. “No interruptions at all. I’ve got to get going. Honey, it was lovely catching up. Let’s do it again soon. Maybe you, me and Autumn can get together for a girls’ day. Manicures on me.” She gathered her things and hurried out the door.
Vanessa took the warm paper cup and took a sip. She sighed, repositioning all the new pieces she’d just been given as she put together a timeline in her mind. Garrison drowned in March and her mother left town, pregnant, four to five months later.
And she was born in November.