Morgan scoffed. “Brandon told me everything!”
“Brandon?” Margie shook her head slowly. “No. Of course. He overheard me on the phone – I was telling my sister after I realized that Jeff was your father. I called her because I didn’t know what to do, and Brandon was sleeping in the other room, but I didn’t know it –”
“Yeah, and he heard your whole plan.”
“What plan? My plan was to talk to Jeff and see – well no, to tell him about you. Because I was convinced that he must not have known. But Morgan, I promise you, no one else knew. Jade didn’t know, Tiffany didn’t, Connor definitely didn’t know – I was trying to figure out what to do. I wanted to have a family meeting to welcome you. I thought that Saltwater Cove could be a second home to you, too.”
“You’re lying,” replied Morgan. “Brandon said –”
“Brandon is a spiteful idiot,” said Margie.
Morgan’s eyes widened. “Wow. I’ve never heard you say anything like that before.”
“Well it’s true,” Margie said with a huff. “He’s an angry, bitter little man, just like Jeff. I don’t know what he told you, but I can promise you that he was doing it for his own gain.”
Morgan bit her lip. “He told me that…well, he told me that you didn’t want me to ruin the image of your perfect family, and you planned to run me off. And everyone was in on it.”
Margie’s jaw dropped. “He did not! Morgan, you have to believe me, that was completely untrue.”
Ronnie chimed in. “You know honey, that doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Why would she welcome you into her home, let you live there rent free all summer, cook for you, and generally be very welcoming?”
“I don’t know,” Morgan replied.
“I’m so, so sorry.” Margie took a deep breath. “But I promise you, I didn’t want to run you out of the family. I wanted to welcome you into it.”
Morgan looked between her dad and Margie before bursting into tears. They both got up to hug her.
“I’m so sorry that I ruined the party,” said Morgan. “Brandon got me all worked up, and like an idiot I took the bait and just –”
“It’s okay, it’s really okay,” said Margie, patting her on the back. “The only thing that was ruined was Jeff’s night. And he more than deserved it.”
Ronnie pulled away. “What exactly did you do, Morgan?”
“Uh – it all happened so fast, I got ahold of the microphone and…”
Margie laughed. “It was quite a speech.”
“I’m really sorry about those dishes,” Morgan said.
“Morgan! I let you leave the house for half an hour!” exclaimed Ronnie. “I know you’re a hot head, but this is too much!”
Margie waved a hand. “It’s completely fine. A few dishes lost and a night to remember.”
“Yeah, definitely one for the books.”
Ronnie took a deep breath, but clearly decided he wasn’t going to press for more information.
“Oh goodness!” Margie said when she saw the clock. “Look at the time. I need to get back to the barn and see what’s going on. And I want you to pick a time to sit down with your new siblings. So we can clear everything up.”
Morgan rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t know that I can face Jade ever again.”
“Let me worry about that. I’m going to run now, but I will talk to you soon, okay?”
Morgan reached out and hugged her one more time. “Okay. And I’m really sorry, again.”
“I’m sorry, too. About everything. But don’t worry,” Margie said, patting her on the back. “Families always have their little fights. I will see you soon.”
Chapter 23
It was a busy and taxing day. Hank felt exhausted; when he picked Morgan up that morning, she was not in the best of moods. She was unusually quiet, which meant Hank had to talk more than he wanted to, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything that he said.
They were between calls at one point when she finally spoke. “I’m going to tell you something and you’re going to get mad at me.”
“Oh, I don’t like the sound of that. What is it?”
“I went to a bunch of homes and businesses near the site of my mom’s accident. And a lot of people had cameras that they said might have footage from the night my mom was hit.”
“Okay…and did you find anything?”
Morgan sighed. “No, because no one got back to me with anything. But I was thinking that maybe you could help with that.”
Hank laughed. “I can certainly ask nicely. If they have anything, I can take it into evidence.”
“Good.” Morgan crossed her arms. “I like the sound of that.”
They spent about two hours in between calls checking in on those homes and businesses. Hank knew a lot of the people and was able to keep it friendly; he asked Morgan to stay in the car so that her grumpy face wouldn’t scare people.
Hank felt bad – terrible, really – that they hadn’t made much progress on the case, so he wasn’t angry at her for trying to find things out on her own. But he was glad that she told him so that he could step in and actually handle the evidence. If they did find something, Morgan couldn’t follow-up on it by herself. She would just end up in trouble again like she did with Brock.
By the end of their ride along, Morgan was a bit less icy to him, but not by much. He promised to follow up with her whether he heard anything or not. She thanked him and he dropped her off at the ferry terminal to wait for her dad.
It wasn’t until 9 o’clock that Hank was finally able to take a seat on the couch and settle in front of the TV. He was ten minutes into an episode of Parks and Recreation when his phone rang.
It was Margie!
“Hello?”
“Is this Chief Hank?”
That definitely wasn’t Margie. “Yes, who is this?”
“Hi Chief, it’s Jade. Sorry to call you so late, but I was wondering if you knew where my mom was?”
Hank sat up. “I don’t, is everything okay?”
“Oh – okay. Yeah, nothing is – well, I don’t know. I don’t think she’s hurt or anything. I just thought she might be with you. She left her phone here, and Tiffany and Connor and I are leaving. I just wanted to let her know.”
“Leaving where? What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story but…I have to go. Thanks Chief.”
The line went dead. What on earth was going on? Where could Margie have gone that no one knew where she was? Shouldn’t she be at the party?
Oh boy. Hank got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe he didn’t do a good enough job with keeping Morgan away from the party. He dropped her off at the ferry terminal just like he was supposed to, and the plan was that she was going to stay with her dad in that rental on Spring Street.
Hank jumped up and grabbed his car keys – he needed to find Margie in case something was wrong. He decided to head to Morgan’s rental and see if she knew anything.
It was an agonizing fifteen minute drive to Friday Harbor. There wasn’t much traffic on the road, but it felt like it was taking forever. He finally got to the house and knocked on the front door. It opened right away.
“Oh, hi Chief. You’re not here to arrest me again, are you?” asked Morgan.
“That depends, what did you do this time?”
A smile brightened her face. “Nothing! What’s up? Do you want to come in?”
“I was just looking for Margie actually, I didn’t know if you knew where she was. Jade called me looking for her.”
“Oh yeah. She was just here, but she left not too long ago. She was going back home – well, and to see what was going on at the barn.”
“Did something happen? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, you could say something happened…” said Morgan. “But I’ll let Margie tell you about it. No one is hurt or anything.”
“Oh. Okay. I guess I’ll stop by her place.”
“Okay, have a good night!”
/>
Well – at least she was back to her sunny self.
He needed to talk to Margie; he wanted to know what was going on, and he had to tell her how he felt. He couldn’t take it any more.
Was it possible that he passed her on the drive over and didn’t even notice? Hank got into his car and started the ride back to the other side of the island. He felt like he was chasing his tail, but now that he couldn’t find Margie easily, it only motivated him more.
He got to Margie’s place quickly. He checked the barn at first – there were a few people in there chatting, but no music or anything. Odd. Margie was nowhere to be seen, so he headed over to the house and knocked on the door.
After a moment, Margie answered. “Hank! What’s going on, is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, I want to make sure that everything was okay with you. I got a call from your cell phone – but it was Jade.”
Margie sighed. “Oh.”
“She didn’t know where you were, and she said that they were all leaving? What’s going on?”
“You’d better come inside.”
He followed her in and saw that she was holding a piece of paper in her hands.
“What’s that?”
She handed it to him. “It’s a note from Jade. The kids were supposed to stay for the rest of the week. They were supposed to enjoy the house and the island and have some family time together but…”
“But what? What happened?”
“They’re all leaving.” Margie’s voice broke. “They’re catching the last ferry of the night and they’re leaving. And it’s all my fault.”
“What? What could you have possibly done?”
Margie sighed. “It’s a long story. And…I don’t know if you’ll ever want to look at me again after you hear the whole thing.”
Hank looked at his watch – it was 9:40. The last ferry left Friday Harbor at 10 o’clock.
“How about you give me the one line version and we go from there?”
“One line version. Okay.” She bit her lip. “Well – about a week ago, I found out that Morgan is my ex-husband’s daughter. From an affair. From over twenty years ago, with Kelly Allen. And I didn’t tell anyone because I was trying to…well, figure it out, and tell everyone in the right way, and I ruined everything.”
Hank felt his jaw drop. “Wait, what?”
Margie covered her eyes with her hand. “I know…I didn’t exactly know for sure, but I did suspect that it might be the case, but I didn’t have proof, and –”
“It’s okay,” said Hank. “I believe you. I don’t believe that you have a malicious bone in your body.”
Margie laughed. “You’re very sweet. But I lied to them – all of them. Morgan, Jade, Tiffany, Connor. I wanted a place that we could all be a family again – and instead, I pushed everyone away.”
Hank felt his chest tighten. He knew exactly how she felt, because he too felt like his family fell apart after his wife passed away. He felt like he was struggling with everything in life, actually.
At least Margie was trying. And this business with Morgan…well, she could tell him the full story later. He believed down to his bones that Margie would never have hurt Morgan, or anyone for that matter, on purpose.
“Hey – listen. You’ve done something amazing here. You made Mike’s rundown property something beautiful. This is going to be home for all of you, I know it. But we’re running out of time here – the ferry will leave soon. Let me help.”
“I don’t know what can even be done. I’ve broken everyone’s trust, I’ve hidden things, I’ve…”
Hank shook his head. “No, don’t go down that path. Listen – do you have a picture of the kids?”
“Yes. I have one of the three of them from the party actually.”
Margie opened up the gallery on her phone and scrolled through dozens of pictures of her children. Hank suppressed a smile – how could anyone accuse her of not being a dedicated mother?
“What do you need a picture for?”
“Can you text me one with all of them in it? I’m going to help you put your family back together.”
She looked at him with surprise, but did what he asked. The picture popped up on his phone.
“You can tell me the rest of the story later. But please, don’t feel so bad – I think you’re doing great.”
Margie’s eyes brimmed with tears. “It doesn’t feel that way.”
“Hang tight, okay?”
She nodded. She looked so sad standing there that he couldn’t help himself – he leaned forward and hugged her tightly before turning to walk out the door.
“You look beautiful by the way! I’ll call you in a bit.”
A smile dashed across her face for just a moment. “Okay!”
Hank rushed out to his car and made a phone call to the Sheriff’s office. Luckily a buddy of his picked up – Deputy Howard.
“Hey – I got a favor to ask. This one is going to be off the books. I’m sending you a picture and I need you to apprehend these three before they board the ferry.”
“Alright boss, I got you. I’m guessing you don’t have an arrest warrant?”
Hank started the car. “Not exactly, but you can’t let them leave the island.”
“Alright. Are they dangerous?”
Hank laughed. “No. Not at all. Just some kids causing trouble.”
“Is that what I tell them?”
“No.” Hank paused. “Tell them they’re in trouble for disturbing the peace. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Chapter 24
“You can have a seat right in here.”
Tiffany crossed her arms. “I’m calling my lawyer.”
The deputy shrugged. “Okay. Might take him a while to get to the island.” He shut the door behind him.
“I can’t believe this. Who does he think he is?” Tiffany said.
“Do you really have a lawyer?” asked Connor.
She sighed. “Not exactly – but I have a friend who’s a lawyer.”
Jade stifled a giggle.
“Jade,” Tiffany groaned, “how can you think this is funny?”
“I don’t think it’s funny, I’m just exhausted,” Jade said, putting her hands up. “And I’m not the one who stumbled on the ferry and looked intoxicated in public.”
“I’m not intoxicated!” replied Tiffany. “My shoes are really uncomfortable and my feet are killing me. I didn’t expect that I would have to stand on that stupid trolley the whole way back.”
“It doesn’t make sense that he arrested all of us for your public intoxication offense,” said Connor with a smile.
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “How can we be under arrest? Aren’t they supposed to say the thing? You know – you have the right to remain silent, anything you say blah blah blah.”
Connor turned to her. “Are you sure that you’re not an attorney?”
Tiffany glared at him but said nothing. Jade sank into her seat. She didn’t know what was going on, but she hated the thought of being in trouble with the law. She hated everything that happened that night, and she felt a bit delirious from it all.
Right after Morgan left, Brandon started a fight with her. He was offended by what Morgan said about him, and told Jade that if that’s what her family thought of him, then he was never going to do another DJ event for them again.
Jade didn’t know how to respond – no matter how many times she told him that Morgan was not speaking for her entire family, he just got angrier. He packed up all of his DJ equipment, got in the car, and left.
Meanwhile, their dad tried to smooth things over with his guests and told them that it was all a big misunderstanding; he said it stemmed from a girl who was grieving the death of her mother. He asked Jade to call the trolleys to take everyone back to town.
Jade did as she was told, but she felt like she was in a daze. She couldn’t decide if she should go after Brandon and risk being the subject of his explosive anger, or go looking for he
r mom, or stay behind and try to keep everything together.
So instead of making a decision, Jade just stood in the barn. The guests cleared out, except for a few family members, and their dad pulled the three of them aside.
“If any of you say anything about this girl – this crazy girl – I am writing you out of my will. Do you understand?”
“Get over yourself Dad,” Tiffany said. “Do you really think you can still control us with your money?”
Jade couldn’t believe what she was hearing – surely there was a misunderstanding. “It’s not true, is it Dad?”
“Of course not,” he said instantly. “Clearly this con artist tricked her way into your mom’s house.”
“Whoa, really?” said Connor.
“Ha, yeah right.” Tiffany scoffed. “I don’t believe that for a second, and neither does anyone else.”
“Tiffany,” he replied in a low voice, “your ungratefulness has reached new heights today. Have some respect for your father.”
She stared at him coolly for a moment before walking away. He immediately went after her, though Jade couldn’t make out what he was saying, she could hear the anger in his voice.
A few of the guests didn’t care much about the excitement and were still enjoying themselves – chatting, picking at dessert, admiring the barn. Jade looked for her mom, but couldn’t find a sign of her anywhere. Her car was gone – but her purse was still in the house.
After not too long, the last trolley came to pick up the remaining guests. Almost everyone was gone, and Tiffany insisted that they get on the trolley.
“But shouldn’t we wait for Mom?” asked Jade.
Tiffany shrugged. “I don’t know Jade. I’m not waiting here. I’m not surprised that Dad acted like a scumbag, but if what that girl said was true – it seemed like Mom was in on it, too. I can’t deal with this, I’m going home.”
“I’m sure there must’ve been some misunderstanding,” said Jade.
“Well, I’m not sticking around to find out,” said Tiffany as she boarded the trolley.
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