As she hugged Detective Matthews, or Rick as he preferred her to call him, he told her it had been a pleasure to work with her and that she had the perfect nose to be a great detective—“the kind to get into just the right amount of trouble.” He encouraged her to pursue that career, and if she ever decided to try policing in a more urban setting, he’d give her his best recommendation and try to persuade his chief to take her on. “There are never enough good detectives around,” he said with a grin.
He didn’t know it, but that offer was exactly the flint and tinder she had needed to make up her mind about the future—to decide what to do next and whether it was time to put her khaki sheriff’s pants on the shelf and move to the big city. She had always liked Crowswood, but DC was bigger, full of opportunities. Maybe it was even a place where dreams come true, dreams of a big belly and little feet running across the floor to greet their daddy when he came home.
1
Dear diary,
Daddy says this is the proper way to start an entry, so I’ve decided to always do that from now on. He bought me a pink book with unicorns on it to write in and a pen to go with it. I like it, even if I might be a little bit too big for it. I don’t think smiling over some colorful creatures is a bad thing, though, and besides, I’ve got to make up for all the years I didn’t get to watch and laugh at silly unicorn cartoons.
My little brother Bill has become so big. He’s almost fifteen. When I disappeared, he was only eight years old, just a baby. Now he’s a teenager and loves to object to everything Mom says, though he still seems to listen to Dad. I wonder if it’s a guy thing, that the men stick together against the women. I look forward to finding out more as I get to know them better and learn how to be part of a family again.
While we were driving back from Alabama, Dad explained about what had happened since I left. He told me that Grandma Lily had passed away, which made me sad. I’ve missed her quite a lot, but he said she had been sick and was in a better place now. I’d like to think that she was watching over me and that she’s the reason Sheriff Yolanda found me. I’m sure Grandma guided her to me.
I will forever be grateful to the sheriff for helping me and for being smart about how to get me away from Mister Whiskers. Yolanda told me his real name is Donald Townsend, but to me he’ll always be Mister Whiskers. The cat is still here, but to my surprise, he’s not mean anymore. He still has the spot, though, so I guess my theories about the spot were wrong. Bill says he became nice after we got our other cat, the one called Mister Paws. I guess the cat was just lonely, and that’s what made him angry. Sadly, some company didn’t make my Mister Whiskers any less mean.
The lady psychiatrist in Alabama told me I would need help getting back on my feet, and she discussed that with my dad. They’ve found me a very nice woman back here who’s going to help me with understanding what happened to me and how to work through it. I like her very much. Her name is Eliza, just like the princess from Frozen. Frozen is one of the first movies we watched when I came back, since I wanted to catch up on all the Disney films I didn’t see while I was gone. I think it’s an okay movie, but I suspect I would have enjoyed it more a few years ago. Next weekend we’re going to watch all the Ring movies in a row. It’s going to take us the whole day, and I think it’s going to be great. I’ve already read the book Yolanda gave me and I loved it. I even think it’s my favorite one of the three.
I’ve told Daddy that I’d like to go back to school, but he says it’ll have to wait a little bit. He says he’ll do everything he can to help me with that and that we’re going to start on Monday, going over what I’ve missed. Since he works for himself, he can use part of his day to teach me, and I think that’s going to be perfect. Just my dad and me studying together. I hope we spend most of our time doing math.
Mom was very happy to see me too. She said she had missed me terribly. She’s still a big boss, but now she works for an even bigger company than before. I’ve decided that I’m not going to pursue magic like I wanted to when I was young but will become like her. My mom has not only power but also grace, and she always knows what she’s doing. Dad says I’m beginning to look like her, but I don’t see it. I just see a little girl who desperately wants to get back on track with her life.
My friends are very different from how they were when I disappeared. They’re all so big now, and some even have cars and drive everywhere. I’ve already met up with Susan, and she still lives three houses down from me. It was sort of weird, and we didn’t really know what to say in the beginning, but then we just started exchanging stories, and it was great. She told me about school, what had happened since I left, and I told her about what had happened to me. Susan became very upset when I explained my life with Mister Whiskers, and said that ever since I disappeared, she had felt guilty for being sick that day. She apparently got sick from kissing a boy, and if she hadn’t done that, she thought none of this would ever have happened.
I told her I never blamed her. I blamed only myself for not listening to my parents. I knew I shouldn’t have talked to the man. I knew I shouldn’t have climbed up into his truck. I should have believed what they told me about bad men with nice faces and puppies. I just hadn’t. I was only a child, and this should never have happened to me. But it did, and now it was over. I lost almost eight years of my life, and I am going to make damn sure I get them back by doing everything I want from now on, starting with going back to school and becoming someone great. This will be the life I make for myself, the life I should have had. The one I deserved.
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His Sweet Page 12