by Tara Randel
The pace was slow, the town folk friendly. Cars moved down the street in a leisurely fashion, unlike the massive traffic tangles he dealt with daily in Atlanta. He didn’t miss the job, the place or the memories one little bit, but he couldn’t stay away forever. At some point he’d have to return to the job. He’d need to give his superiors an answer on whether he wanted to continue working for the bureau or not, and as of right now, he couldn’t truthfully say.
He wasn’t posturing when he told Miss Harper working outdoors would be a good fit for him. He needed space from the events that had caused him to question not only his line of work, but life in general. Thinking about the tragedy left him with lots of questions and zero answers. Being outside in the fresh air and sunshine might help him discover what step to take next. If not...well, he’d deal with that later.
Miss Harper moved before the window again, this time stopping to gaze outside. He couldn’t see her well from here, but he’d cataloged her details right after meeting her. Sparkling green eyes. Milky complexion. Probably only five and a half feet to his nearly six. Spunk, and plenty of it.
An attorney. What were the odds?
He’d freely admit he was biased when it came to his current personal struggle. She might be a criminal attorney, but that didn’t mean she found ways to let killers go free. He knew he needed to work on the anger and yes, deep down, the guilt.
His new boss must have noticed him. She waved, then disappeared.
Yes, he’d make himself work with Miss Harper because this entire mission was about getting the truth for his mother. There was no way he’d let a criminal, if James Tate was indeed one, destroy another person he loved.
CHAPTER TWO
“MAMA, HOW MANY times do I have to tell you to stay put? Bagsy will be fine.”
“Not if I don’t feed him,” her mother argued, hobbling with her wrapped ankle and cane across the scuffed linoleum flooring to the pantry. There was no stopping the woman when she worried about her fluffy, white feline companion. “He’s all I’ve got.”
How many times had Grace heard this refrain? She really thought she’d gotten past Mama’s guilt trip, but apparently not. Her heart squeezed at the sight of the woman, face drawn and skin sallow, looking smaller than the last time Grace had seen her, if that was possible. Her mother was on the petite side, but in the last week she’d lost weight, concerning Grace even more.
“Mama, have you been eating?” she asked as she marched to the refrigerator and opened the door. Sure enough, the perishables Grace had brought over yesterday sat on the shelves, untouched.
Her mother waved her hand at Grace. “Don’t worry over me.”
“Right, like the way you don’t fuss over Bagsy?”
“That’s different. If I don’t feed him, who will?”
“None of us will let him starve.”
“If any of my children were around,” she muttered under her breath.
“Really? Am I just a figment of your imagination?” Grace blew out a sigh. Call it oldest-child syndrome or the fact that Grace had managed her mother’s life since their father had...left, it was the same song and dance.
The cat came running when her mother poured the dry food in a bowl, a grimace lining her face. After a quick pet on Bagsy’s head, she sank down into a chair at the kitchen table and lifted her bruised and swollen foot to rest on another. “Sorry, Gracie. I know you came when I called. And Faith did stop by with a few prepared meals. I’ve been eating those.”
“Glad to hear.”
“Your sister has a lot going on, what with the babies being sick and Lyle out of a job again. I can’t bother her.”
No, but you can impose on my life.
Which wasn’t a fair thought. Mama had been on her own for a few years now and had actually been doing well. She’d been running the company and taking care of her finances and seemed to be at peace with the past. Until Grace moved to Atlanta for good, Faith had to focus on her family and Nathan was...well, no one knew what Nathan was up to so that wasn’t a good sign. Grace envisioned a visit from the police in the near future and held back a frown.
“So Faith has family issues. What about Nathan? Have you heard from him?”
“About a week before my fall. He called and said he’d be back for the first tour, but now I’m not so sure.”
Grace pulled out a chair, slid it beside her mother’s and sat. “Mama, I know you don’t enjoy this conversation, but I’m going to ask you again. Why don’t you consider selling the company?”
Her mother pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes.
“This has been an ongoing discussion for some time. You can’t avoid the truth forever.”
“And what would that truth be, Gracie? That this family can’t stick together long enough to make this business work? When your daddy gets back—”
“He’s not coming back.” He was never going to set foot in Golden again and it was Grace’s fault.
“—things will be different.” Tears clouded her mother’s pretty green eyes. “Don’t go sayin’ things like that. He promised he’d come back to us.”
Yeah, well, he’d lied.
He’d never even made the trip to Golden to say goodbye once his prison sentence was up two years ago, leaving her mother in limbo. They weren’t divorced, and no matter how many times Grace assured her mother she could take care of the matter, her mother refused to file. Earl Harper had outright abandoned his wife. The coward walked away after his release from jail and never looked back. Grace was still picking up the pieces.
Knowing she would get nowhere with this tactic, she tried another. “Mama, Faith is always looking for some extra cash. Let her work a few hours a day at the office. She can bring the kids with her, just like you did when we were little.”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t want to fight with Lyle about it.”
Grace had a few choice words for Lyle, but voicing them was useless. The family business was less family and mostly Grace, no matter that she’d put steps in place before she left town to make running the company easier for all involved.
“Then let me talk to Nathan when he gets back. Impress upon him once again his importance in the business.”
“You know your brother. He’s a free spirit.”
An excuse for getting into hot water if ever there was one.
Her mother reached over and took Grace’s hand. “You’re the glue that holds this family together, Gracie. We can’t do it without you.”
Grace swallowed a groan. Fought back the frustrated tears stinging her eyes.
“I can’t, Mama.”
Sadness crossed her mother’s face and she deflated right in front of Grace.
“But I promised I would stay until you’re feeling better, and I will.”
Her mother nodded and rose, shuffling into the living room.
Muttering the words she’d reserved for Lyle under her breath, Grace stood and walked to the kitchen window. The trees had finally sprouted tender green leaves. The mulberry bush on the side of the yard showed signs of bright purple berries, while orange butterfly weed and wild blue indigo bloomed haphazardly in the scraggly backyard. The small three-bedroom house sat on the top of a hill, the backyard sloping down to a creek that ran through the property.
When Grace had pulled up earlier, she’d sat in her sedan, blinking away moisture as she viewed her childhood home. It appeared as run-down as the Put Your Feet Up office. The house needed a fresh coat of paint and the concrete steps—which had crumbled, causing her mother’s tumble and injury—needed replacing. After graduating law school, Grace had offered to have her mother move to Atlanta and live with her, especially when she landed a good-paying job. Her mother had balked, waiting for Daddy and all, so Grace moved out of the house and started a new life. Or at least she’d hoped to start a new life. Sometimes her family
didn’t make it easy.
The phone rang and Grace heard her mother say, “Faith, how are the babies?”
While her mother chatted, Grace strolled down the hallway to the bedrooms. Poking her head into her mother’s room, she realized it hadn’t changed in nearly thirty years. Same furnishings, although the quilt on the bed was different. The same comforting scent of Shalimar lingered in the room. Daddy had given a bottle to Mama one year for Christmas and she’d worn only that perfume ever since. Just one more indication of her mother’s refusal to face the truth.
Backing out, she crossed the hall to her bedroom. Twin beds she and her sister had shared were now filled with Faith’s children’s toys. Grace stepped through the doorway, nearly tripping over a wooden block. With a smile, she bent to retrieve it, then tossed it in the toy chest that had been hers when they were all growing up. The waxy scent of crayons, reminding her how much she had enjoyed drawing, greeted her like an old friend. Not much had changed here either, except that the Harper children were grown adults with lives of their own.
Her mother’s soothing voice carried down the hallway. Grace lowered herself to her twin bed, running her fingers over the worn coverlet designed with large pink-and-purple geometric shapes over a white background. A bittersweet sigh escaped her. She’d thought it was so cool when she’d picked it out at fifteen, shortly before Daddy left. It had been a big deal, the first grown-up decision she’d ever made. Little did she know it wouldn’t be the last.
Spying a framed photo on the dresser, Grace rose and walked over to pick it up. The three of them, mugging for the camera. Grace with a tight smile, Faith all glammed up and Nathan grinning, an upper tooth missing.
“What happened to us?” she whispered.
They’d gotten along until the years after their father was incarcerated. Everyone blamed Grace but didn’t balk when she’d taken over as the adult of the family. Faith had acted out and Nathan, well, it took time, but he finally decided to follow in their father’s footsteps by engaging in questionable endeavors—not exactly illegal but definitely straddling the fence—hoping for a payout that never materialized. Lately, she dreaded coming home, always anxious about how her siblings would greet her. With a pang, Grace realized this was probably why Faith stayed away when Grace was in town.
“Gracie, come on in here,” her mother called.
Replacing the picture, Grace squared her shoulders. Her heels echoed on the wood floor as she joined her mother.
“Faith said hello,” her mother informed her as soon as she entered the room.
“I hope I get to see her while I’m here,” Grace said, truly meaning it. The sisterly bond had been strong until they were in their teens. Faith, willful even then, accused Grace of trying to mother her. Grace had heard “You’re not the boss of me” too many times to count.
It all came to a head one night when the girls were in high school. Grace had warned Faith about a party her sister wanted to attend. It was all over school that there would be alcohol. Their mother, in bed with the covers over her head, didn’t have any opinion one way or the other if Faith went, so Grace stepped in, and, after an argument, forbade Faith from leaving the house. Which went over like a lead balloon. They yelled at each other, Faith calling Grace bossy and uptight, saying that no one wanted to be her friend. Grace tried to explain she didn’t want Faith to get hurt. She recognized that the kids Faith had been hanging out with were nothing but trouble, but she couldn’t convince Faith.
Faith sneaked out anyway and proceeded to get drunk. The cops busted the party and hauled the kids to the police department, mostly to scare them straight. Grace came to get her sister, thankful no charges were filed, and even though she never said I told you so, things were never the same between them. The sad truth was, Grace wanted to be Faith’s sister, not her handler, but it hadn’t worked out that way.
“She said she’s—”
Grace held up a hand. “I know, busy.”
Her mother averted her eyes.
“So if you’re okay, I’m going to take off.” Grace swallowed the thickness in her throat, picking up her purse from the sofa cushion. “I need to stop by the grocery store before heading to the cabin.”
“I don’t know why you won’t stay here,” her mother fussed. “I have a perfectly good spare room.”
That was never going to happen. She’d stayed here last night and once was enough. After she had come in late from a long day of trying to figure out what was going on at Put Your Feet Up, her mother had filled her in on the local gossip before switching topics to cover what Grace could do while she was home. Eventually, she’d fallen asleep on the couch, waking the following morning with a crick in her neck and the guilt from the past weighing her down. If she had to stay in Golden, she needed her space or she’d go crazy, so the family cabin would be her refuge.
“Faith’s kids use the bedroom when they come over. And Nathan will be back, eventually. Besides, I don’t plan on being in town forever. Once you’re feeling better, you can take over at the office.”
“I don’t know. These painkillers make me woozy.”
“You’ll be off them soon enough.”
Her mother picked at a snagged piece of yarn hanging from her sweater sleeve.
Bending over, Grace placed a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here,” came the terse reply.
Grace had just made it to the front door when her mother stopped her. “Wait. I forgot to ask. Did you hire the man who came to the office today?”
Turning, she said, “Yes, despite not running his references first.”
“Myrna down at the coffee shop said he stopped in and is just the most polite young man.”
“You’re going by her word?”
“I’ve known Myrna and Delroy for twenty-five years. They wouldn’t steer me wrong.”
“Maybe not, but I still put in a request to speak to HR at his job.”
“Last job, you mean?”
“No, current. Sort of. He’s on a leave of absence.”
Her mother frowned. “Odd.”
“He works for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”
Wide-eyed, her mother gasped. Yeah, cops weren’t a favorite in this house since Daddy’s arrest. “Tell him never mind.”
“I will do no such thing. I hired him on your say-so. We need help and he looks more than capable for the job.”
Capable was an understatement. More than once this afternoon she’d pictured him, broad shoulders, blue-gray eyes that captivated and drew her in, wondering who he was and what had happened in his life to bring him to her door. Or why her heart sped up when he smiled. Those dimples. Yikes. Then, just as quickly, she chastised herself for thinking about him. She wasn’t in the market for a romance, no matter how handsome he was. Besides, she worked with lots of handsome men, she reasoned, even as an inner voice said, Yeah, but they’ve never affected you this way.
“But Gracie...”
“No buts, Mama. Unless he’s done something heinous, he stays.”
Her mother crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. It was all Grace could do not to laugh. “If you don’t like my decisions you can return to the office and take over.”
Wanda Sue dropped her arms. “Fine. He’ll do.”
“That’s what I thought.” She softened her voice. “Keep your phone nearby, okay? I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, Gracie.”
As she stepped outside, a breeze chilled her skin. She tugged her lightweight jacket closer. The month of May could still be cool in Golden, especially as the late-afternoon sun lowered in the sky, although it was beginning to stay lighter longer in the day now. She glanced at her watch and hustled to her car. She had enough time to hit the store and make it up to the cabin before dusk.
After power walking the smal
l local grocery, she drove the five miles north of town to Golden Cabins. Her uncle Roy still owned and maintained the fifteen structures while the Put Your Feet Up office booked the rentals. This afternoon Grace had reserved the last available unit—the family cabin—just in time. By the end of the upcoming three-day holiday weekend, the vacation season would officially be under way.
She pulled off the main drag to the entrance. A wooden sign with bright gold letters welcomed guests. Gradually, the pavement receded to gravel and dirt. At the fork she turned left, leading her to the two cabins the family owned and used personally. Uncle Roy lived in one, and Grace’s family used the other, renting it when it wasn’t occupied. The rest of the rental units were to the right of the fork, away from the family. Spread out across ten acres, all the cabins had access to Golden Lake, which was within walking distance. Worn paths lined the property from years of tourists meandering through the majestic woods. At the very center of the property, where the river emptied into the lake, nature lovers could find a small waterfall. Even though Grace wasn’t much for the outdoors after an ill-fated camping trip in high school, the falls were her most favorite spot on the entire planet.
With the window down and cool air rustling her hair, the ground crunched under the car tires until she pulled up to the dark cabin and parked. Removing her groceries, she noticed Uncle Roy’s place was dark, too. He’d mentioned something about fishing until the guests arrived, so he still had a few days away.
Juggling her keys and groceries, she moved through the screened porch and unlocked the front door, then swiped the wall until her hand connected with the light switch. A bright overhead fixture illuminated the living room. Kicking the door closed with her foot, Grace carried the bags to the small kitchen and dropped them on the counter, then switched on another light before tossing her purse on the table and putting away the food that needed refrigeration. Once done, she opened the window to usher in the clean air. Her uncle had been gone when she’d called so the cabin hadn’t been aired out. It still retained that closed-up smell.