Chapter 43
Rowan’s mom had left twenty minutes ago. One of Luke’s kids had come down with a virus while at school, and the nurse needed a parent or grandparent there within the hour.
She’d hugged Rowan twice before leaving, pressed a kiss to her cheek, and made her promise to eat something before dark. Her mom . . . she was always so concerned with how much her kids were eating. The thought made Rowan smile and shake her head.
Right now, she stood at the kitchen window and watched the driveway. She realized that she’d subconsciously been waiting for Wes to return.
She missed Wes more than she expected to.
That was strange. A week ago, she hadn’t seen Wes Bennett in years.
Now the simple fact he wasn’t here left something quieter than it should have been. She wasn’t sure what to do with that.
She wasn’t sure she had the right to feel it at all—not with everything between them still unresolved, not with her life three thousand miles away in pieces.
And yet . . .
She pushed the thought aside before it could settle any deeper.
Naomi and Caleb had left with Grace for the prison—a visit to Sissy that had been on the calendar for two weeks. Millie was helping one of the women staying here with something. The other women staying at Refuge Cove were settled. Max was outside somewhere near the kennel.
The house was as quiet as it ever got.
Rowan’s phone buzzed on the counter.
She picked it up. A text had come in from an unknown number.
Rowan?
She paused, wondering if she should respond. What if this was a reporter?
Finally, she typed back:
Yes?
The response came immediately.
I’m so glad you got this text. Sorry for the new number. I had to leave my old phone behind.
She frowned, confused by the message.
Who is this?
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Then:
Sorry. I’m all frazzled. This is Lauren Holt. Did you see my email?
Her breath caught. Lauren was texting her?
I did see your email. I tried to call back.
Lauren responded a few seconds later:
I’ve been getting threats. Thayer warned this would happen.
I was too scared to stay in one place, so I ran.
I knew I had to talk to you. The tabloids are saying you’re somewhere in Virginia.
Is that true? I have something Thayer hid.
I need to show someone I can trust. Thayer said I could trust you.
Rowan stared at the screen. This all sounded legitimate. Who else would know this information? No one that she could think of.
Her pulse kicked up as she typed back.
Where are you?
The reply came fast.
I started driving east, hoping you really were in Virginia. Just crossed into Albemarle County. Near Charlottesville. Is there somewhere we can meet? Somewhere safe?
Rowan’s breath caught. She was in Virginia? Perfect.
But where could they meet? Her mind raced.
Until the perfect idea hit.
Well . . . kind of perfect. She’d been told not to go anywhere alone.
But she needed to meet Lauren and find out what kind of information she had. She couldn’t wait for someone to return back here. Besides, it was daylight outside.
She could do this.
Before she could second-guess herself, she typed:
My mom’s house is just outside Charlottesville. She’s not home right now. Can you meet me there?
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Then:
Yes. We really need to talk. Vince . . . he’s evil. And he’ll stop at nothing to bring down anyone who opposes him.
Rowan knew that was true. But she still had some reservations.
How do I know this is really you and not a trap?
She held her breath as she waited for the response. Lauren was typing something.
Finally, her reply appeared.
Thayer told me a story once about how you dropped a mic in the toilet during a rehearsal and swore him to secrecy. You started singing “Ode de Toilet,” and he thought it was hilarious. He told me I was safe to tell because I lived so far away.
That settled it. This was Lauren. That had happened, and Thayer had been the only one she’d told.
Lauren was clearly scared and on the run. But she was legit. And she had information.
Rowan sent her the address to her mom’s place, told Lauren she could be there in an hour, and then she set the phone down.
She had to leave now. What should she tell people? That she was meeting Lauren?
Everyone would try to talk her out of it. But she’d also promised no more secrets.
But Lauren had information that might solve her dilemma. The information might give Rowan her life back. That could put Vince in jail.
She couldn’t miss this opportunity. It was too important.
And if she was careful, she should be able to meet Lauren and get back.
Really, did she have any other choice right now? Her life was on the line right now—and so were the lives of people she cared about.
Still, she had to be smart about this.
She grabbed her purse and started toward the door. As she did, Millie appeared from outside and glanced at her purse. “Going somewhere?”
Rowan thought up a quick excuse. “I’ve been thinking about something my dad gave me when I was little—a stuffed rabbit I left at my mom’s house. I think I’m going to run there and grab it. I don’t have anything else to do right now, and I’m going stir-crazy.”
Millie smiled. “I understand. I’d go with you, but I promised I’d keep a watch on things here.”
“I should be fine.” Rowan slipped her keys into her pocket. “If anything comes up, I’ll have my phone on.”
Millie paused and frowned. “Are you sure this is safe?”
“I can’t stay locked up forever,” Rowan said. “At the first sign of trouble, I’ll call for help. I promise.”
Millie’s look clearly showed she wasn’t convinced. But she nodded anyway.
Rowan grabbed her jacket from the hook by the door.
Naomi and Caleb wouldn’t be back from the prison for at least two hours. Wes was still in Charlottesville. Her mom was at Luke’s.
She’d be back before anyone even knew she’d gone.
The thought should have been reassuring.
Somehow it wasn’t.
An hour later, Rowan pulled into the gravel driveway and cut the engine.
She sat for a moment with both hands still on the wheel, looking at the house through the windshield.
It was smaller than she remembered.
This house had somehow held six kids, two dogs, and more noise than any structure that size had a right to contain.
It was two stories with mismatched shutters and a covered porch that leaned slightly to the left.
The flowerbeds her mom kept along the front walk were bare this time of year, just dark soil and the stubborn remains of last season’s mulch.
Home had remained the same while everything else changed.
A bittersweet pang sliced through her.
She pushed the thoughts aside and got out.
The house key was hidden under a planter by the door, just like always.
She let herself in and paused.
Her mother’s cardigan hung over the back of the armchair. A cookbook lay open on the kitchen counter to a recipe with a handwritten note in the margin. Family photographs lined the staircase wall, climbing upward in mismatched frames.
The placed even smelled the same—like lemon cleaner and a warm dinner.
Rowan slowed at the base of the stairs and paused near a picture.
Her dad smiled out from the largest frame—somewhere in his early thirties, squinting slightly against summer light, his arm around a younger version of her mom.
Rowan had forgotten that smile. But she shouldn’t have.
She had her father’s smile—and his eyes. Everyone always said so.
She swallowed and kept moving until she reached her old bedroom.
It sat at the end of the hall, largely unchanged. Same quilt. Same slightly uneven curtain rod.
And there on the shelf above the desk, wedged between a stack of old yearbooks and a snow globe from a family trip to Gatlinburg, sat Mister Hop.
The stuffed blue bunny was faded and lopsided. One ear was permanently bent from years of being dragged everywhere.
Her throat tightened. Her dad had given her that rabbit the Christmas she was four years old. She still remembered the wrapping paper—red foil, silver ribbon, her name written in his handwriting on the tag.
She reached up and touched the rabbit’s bent ear before stepping back.
She hadn’t really come here for this.
But she was glad she’d seen it.
Tires on gravel pulled her back to the present.
Was it Lauren? Was she here?
Rowan moved to the bedroom window and looked down.
A small gray sedan had pulled into the driveway. The driver’s door opened slowly, and a young woman stepped out. She was petite, with light-brown hair that fell to her shoulders. She wore an oversized jacket that looked like it belonged to someone else.
The woman scanned the property in every direction before she closed the car door. Even from the second floor Rowan could see the frazzled edges of someone who hadn’t slept properly in days.
She looked like Thayer around the eyes. That fact offered her a moment of reassurance.
Rowan hadn’t been tricked into coming out here. That really was Lauren, and she really did have evidence.
She headed downstairs.
She opened the front door before Lauren reached the porch steps.
Lauren stopped when she saw her and sucked in a breath as if surprised. “Rowan?”
“The one and only.”
“I recognize you. I love your movies.”
“Thanks.” Rowan forced a smile. “Thanks for meeting with me.”
“No, thank you.” Lauren’s gaze swept the yard once more before she crossed the threshold. Her voice dropped as she stepped inside. “I kept thinking someone’s behind me. I’ve felt that way for days. But I didn’t see anyone. I would have noticed, right? Especially on this last portion of the road.”
“I’d think so. It’s pretty secluded out here.” Rowan closed the door.
It was time to get down to business.