Felix
Having Riley in my home is torture.
After what I discovered and told her yesterday, she’s been quiet. Too quiet.
Compared to before she knew about her past, it’s like living in a tomb.
I can’t blame her for pulling into herself. I laid some big things on her. Basically told her the life she’d lived was a lie. The worst part is the discomfort she lived with could have been avoided. If only Bethany Sanders had been a better woman.
I’m supposed to check in with Uncle Granger soon but after this morning’s call, I’m not sure I want to. One thing about my uncle is he doesn’t wait around. If something needs doing, it gets done, and he took his promise to call some people to find out what he could about Riley seriously.
We know Warren has moved into the house. We know prior to kicking Riley out, he’d been spreading rumors about her. Talking to anyone in Winter Lake who might help him spread the bogus info.
And that info?
That Riley isn’t coping well with the death of her aunt, and he’s worried she might do something to herself. Oh, he’s not talking to anyone who might be able to help her. No. He’s hitting up all the gossips in town.
I have a theory as to why, but I want to let this play out as much as I can because I think he’s also been forging his mother’s signature on bank documents.
And no, I won’t apologize for digging into databases that are not public.
I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Riley gets what is rightfully hers.
She’s in my bedroom. Where she’s been most of the day. She said it was so she could organize her things to be ready to leave, but I’ve watched her. The majority of the time, she’s sat on the bed staring out the window.
The snow stopped sometime last night, and the sky was clear before dawn. Weather up here can be unpredictable and the big storm we all braced for barely left a foot of snow on the ground. And the sun has taken care of a lot of that today.
I haven’t ventured outside to see how much needs to be dug out because I didn’t want to leave Riley alone.
Who am I kidding—it has nothing to do with how she’s feeling and everything to do with how I am.
I’m falling for the woman I thought would be my wife.
I don’t understand it any more than I understand the pull I had toward her when I read her profile on Get Hitched. We’re wrong for each other on so many levels and yet being with her, even now when she’s hiding away in the bedroom, feels so right I don’t know what I’ll do when she leaves.
And she will leave.
She deserves to live her life, explore all her options now she has the ability to do it. I won’t hold her back because I want her to stay. What I want doesn’t matter. Not when it comes to Riley’s happiness.
Over on the counter, my phone vibrates in the charging dock. Glancing at the screen, I see a number I’m not familiar with and debate not answering. But it could be an emergency, something might have happened to Uncle—
Nope. Not thinking about that possibility. I head over to grab my phone before it stops ringing. Swiping across the screen, I bring the device to my ear. “Hello?”
“Felix Wallis?”
“Yes.”
“This is Chief Yunker of the Winter Lake Police Department.”
My gut cramps. “What’s wrong?”
“I spoke to Granger just now. He tells me you have a house guest.”
My eyes dart to the bedroom. “Ah…”
“She’s not in trouble. Neither are you. But I need you to confirm Riley Rose is staying with you and has been for the last few days. Then I’ll need to speak to her. I’m happy for you to put me on speaker, if that helps.”
I don’t know what to think. Why would the chief of police be looking for Riley? And I can’t exactly lie to an officer of the law, can I? “Yes. She’s here.”
“Is she in good health?”
“What does that mean?”
“Is she injured in any way? When she arrived at your cabin, was she hurt?”
This is going in a direction I never would have expected. “No. She was fine. Is fine.”
“Good, good.”
“Can you tell me what this is about?”
“Get Riley and I’ll explain.”
“Okay, give me a second.” Lowering the phone, I press it to my chest and walk to the bedroom where Riley sits staring out the window. “Riley?”
Turning toward me, she smiles, but it’s forced, and there’s a sadness in her expression I hate. “Yes?”
“Chief Yunker from Winter Lake is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.”
“Oh?” Her face scrunches in confusion, but she moves to the edge of the bed and swings her legs over. “Is something wrong?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” I have suspicions, but I’ll wait to hear what the chief has to say first. “I’m going to put him on speaker so we can both hear, okay?”
“Yes, of course.”
Sitting beside her, I pull the phone from my chest and hit the speaker button. “We’re here, Chief.”
“Hello, Riley, how are you?”
“Good.”
“That’s great to hear.” He clears his throat.
“The department received a missing person’s report this morning.
Warren Sanders informed us you haven’t been seen for several days and the last time he spoke to you, he was concerned for your state of mental health.
He was worried you might have done something to hurt yourself. ”
“Why would he do that? He drove me here.”
“He did?” Yunker asks.
“Yes. He tricked both me and Felix. I thought I was coming here for a job, and Felix thought… Well, he was not expecting me. But he let me stay here anyway.”
“Okay, well, as long as you’re safe and well, I’ll contact Warren and let him know you’re safe—”
“No!” I blurt the word out too loud, but it’s important for Riley’s future safety to keep Warren in the dark about what she’s doing. “Sorry, didn’t mean to yell. But I believe Warren is attempting to access Riley’s trust funds and take possession of her house.”
“Oh?”
“She’s been lied to about her parents’ estate her whole life.”
“I didn’t know they’d left me anything,” Riley adds. “I thought everything was my aunt’s.”
“I see. And this missing person’s report would benefit Warren how?”
“I’m not sure.” My mind is spinning with possibilities.
“But with her aunt dead, he’s Riley’s only living relative that we know of, and if there are restrictions on her age or something, she might not be able to control her inheritance yet.
And if she was missing, presumed dead, he’d stand to inherit it, right? ”
“He might, but I’m not a lawyer and I’m unfamiliar with her situation; her parents died before my time in the Winter Lake PD.”
“Okay. Still, I’d prefer not to give Warren any information yet. Uncle Granger is going to take Riley to her parents’ lawyer tomorrow. If the roads up here are clear enough to make the drive to town.”
Yunker chuckles. “They will be clear. He’ll pull the snowplow out and do it himself if he has to.”
I smile in agreement. Uncle Granger will want to get Riley to the lawyer’s office as soon as he can now that Warren has filed a missing person’s report.
“I’ll get him to keep you informed of their movements and after she’s seen the lawyer, she might need to have you present when she returns home.” The word home is bitter on my tongue.
“I’d appreciate being kept in the loop. I find it’s best to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. I’ll make sure to be available.”
“Thank you,” Riley says. Her hand finds mine, squeezes. “Thanks to both of you.”
“I’ll let you both go and make some calls of my own to see what else I can dig up on Mr. Sanders.”
Yunker hangs up before either of us can say goodbye, and Riley’s hand is still over mine. Putting the phone on the bed beside me, I turn toward her.
“You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”
“How? You won’t be with me. And you shouldn’t have to take care of me, Felix. I need to learn to take care of myself.”
What she doesn’t realize is she’s always taken care of herself. She might not know about her heritage or the estate her parents left her but for most of her life, she’s been the one taking care of herself, of her aunt.
And as much as I want her to stay here, as much as I want to take care of her, she’s right, she needs to do this herself.