“And I hope you were glad to know I’m not a loser.”
Something about that statement makes the two dogs stand up and wag their tails.
Sophia giggles. “Dan narrates audiobooks—and he’s written two novels under a pen name. They’re best-sellers!”
“Moderate sellers.” Dan blushes. “I write as Lana Del Ray. They’re romances.”
“Isn’t that awesome?” Sophia demands a response from me.
I smile. “It certainly is. Your dad’s a novelist, and that’s what you want to be.”
Dan’s expression turns serious. “I told her that’s a hard path. She needs a Plan B.”
He’s only known his daughter a few weeks, and he’s already dispensing fatherly wisdom. Maybe it’s instinctive.
“You’re successful,” Sophia reminds him.
“I’m successful, but not famous. That’s fine with me.”
Sophia approaches Dan and puts her head on his shoulder. “I’m so lucky. This year was the best Thanksgiving ever.”
“We’re all lucky,” Corey says.
The rest of the evening passes with friendly conversation. Dan asks me about my work until a nice lasagna and salad dinner whipped up by Corey and Sophia appears on the table. “I’m a lousy cook,” Dan confides, “but a good housekeeper.”
“By the way, Sophia, the house looks great,” I say.
“Dan helped me hire a professional cleaning company to get it back to normal condition. But I’ve been doing the upkeep myself. Paco and I don’t make much dirt. I start college at Bowdoin in August. Paco’s going to live with Dan and Corey in the city, and we can all use this house as a vacation home.” Sophia rattles on, excited by her plans.
Maybe over-excited, like a kid wound up on birthday cake and presents. I know beneath this façade of happiness there has to be some grief for her mother. Sophia is a sensitive kid; the pain is there.
But seeing Sophia so happy has certainly lifted a weight of guilt from my shoulders. Still, I wonder why she invited me here. As congenial as our dinner has been, I feel like there’s something unsaid hanging in the air between us.
I decline dessert, help clear the table, and announce my intention to get on the road.
Dan and Corey offer farewell hugs, but Sophia follows me to the front door.
We linger in the foyer. I can see Sophia is struggling with something, but I don’t attempt to pry it out of her.
I wait.
Finally, she stops studying the floor and lifts her eyes to meet mine. “I know,” she whispers. “I know that the information you told the cops is what led to my mother’s interrogation.”
I nod. I won’t deny it. Nor will I apologize.
“But something I told Detective Croft also made a difference. After the funeral, I told him that on the night he died, Trevor had been with a bunch of kids from BSS at Brielle’s house.”
“You heard them? You knew they were all siblings?”
Sophia shakes her head. “Heard voices, not what they were saying. I recognized Trevor’s. My feelings were hurt that he was right next door hanging with them and wouldn’t include me. I went up to my room, so I wouldn’t have to listen to them all night.”
“But your mother went outside so she could hear more. And she didn’t like what she heard.”
Sophia takes a long, shaky breath and speaks more confidently. “I’m glad the truth came out. Nothing can bring Trev back, but his family deserves to know how and why he died.” Her hand grips the doorknob until her knuckles turn white. “I’ll never be able to forgive my mother for what she did. I would’ve met Dan when I was twenty-one anyway. But she didn’t know that. She wanted to keep me all to herself. Even though half the time, it seemed like I was just a bother to her.”
She kicks at the fringe of the foyer rug. “The terrible thing is, when the police told me what she’d done, I wasn’t even surprised. When my mom ran into a problem, she tackled it full speed.”
Like her lawsuit against her employer. Like her deal to get Sophia out of trouble at BSS.
Sophia’s eyes are glassy with tears, but she doesn’t allow them to flow. “My mother was messed up. Trevor was messed up. I’m not going to be like them. I won’t be like them.”
Sophia’s voice drops to a whisper. “But I loved them. I loved them both.”
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED Treasure Built of Sand. Please post a review on Amazon or Goodreads to help other readers find this book. I appreciate your support! If you’d like to receive periodic updates on my new releases, sales, and special events, please join my mailing list: http://swhubbard.net/contact.
Read all the Palmyrton Estate Sale Mysteries, available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook:
Another Man’s Treasure
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Treasure of Darkness
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This Bitter Treasure
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Treasure Borrowed and Blue
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Treasure in Exile
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Treasure Built of Sand
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If you’ve read all the Palmyrton Estate Sale mysteries, it’s time to try the Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain mystery series:
The Lure
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Blood Knot
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Dead Drift
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False Cast
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Tailspinner
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Frank Bennett Boxed Set (Books 1-3)
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About the Author
S.W. Hubbard writes the kinds of mysteries she loves to read: twisty, believable, full of complex characters, and highlighted with sly humor. She is the author of the Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery Series and the Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain Mystery Series. Her short stories have also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and the anthologies Crimes by Moonlight, Adirondack Mysteries, and The Mystery Box. She lives in Morristown, NJ, where she teaches creative writing to enthusiastic teens and adults, and expository writing to reluctant college freshmen. Visit her at http://www.swhubbard.net.
Treasure Built of Sand (Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery Series Book 6) Page 23