by Hillary Avis
Allison laughed and raised her hands. “OK, OK. I’m crying uncle.” She embraced the dog, ruffling the thick fur around her neck. “You can stay.”
“Now we just need to pick a name for her,” Rachael said, a smug expression on her face. “Harman said he just called her Dog, but that won’t do. She deserves something prettier. Snowflake? Angel?”
Allison ran her hands down the dog’s back, clumps of fur coming off and sticking to her fingers. It reminded her of the plants along the creek this time of year—the fluff inside cat tails, or the soft fur of willow buds. And she’d been chained to a weeping willow tree her whole life thus far. “Let’s call her Willow. What do you think, girl? Do you like it?” The dog’s ears pricked forward, and she turned her head as though Allison had said something interesting.
“I’m thinking she likes it. Look at those ears.” Rachael patted the hood of her truck. “I’m off! Email me Pogo’s paperwork when you have a chance. Bye, Willow!”
The dog’s tail thumped on the sidewalk as Allison waved to Rachael, and together they watched as the truck made a U-turn and headed back down Rosemary Street. When it turned onto the highway and disappeared from view, the dog whined, and Allison looked down at her.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “We are going to find the perfect family for you. We just have to be patient.”
Chapter 34
Saturday (One Week Later)
Paul was glowing. There was no other word for it. He rose with the rest of the crowd to applaud the graduating class, his lower lip caught in his teeth. He only had eyes for Emily’s tiny figure on stage, one of a hundred, but Allison couldn’t help dividing her attention between the graduates and Paul, soaking up every ounce of his pride and happiness as she clapped alongside him.
This could work. They could make something out of their shared love for Emily.
As the applause drew down and the crowd around them began the search for their belongings around their seats, Paul turned to her and put his hand on her arm. She stilled and held her breath. She couldn’t assume what his touch meant, but he must feel something toward her.
“Thank you for driving me here,” he said earnestly, his bright blue eyes searching hers. “For taking the time. I’m sure you had better things to do on a Saturday.”
Allison let out an involuntary chuckle. She could think of literally nothing better than sitting next to him, except maybe celebrating with Emily, too. “We’d better get to the reception before all the champagne is gone,” she said brightly, plucking his suit jacket from the back of his chair and handing it to him. The party was a few buildings away in the dining hall, just across the campus quad; Emily would meet them there, along with Zack and his mom, for the cocktail party thrown by the alumni association. Her nerves buzzed slightly at the thought of navigating that introduction.
Yes, I’m her mother, but don’t tell her father...
Paul slid on his jacket and tucked the graduation program in his breast pocket, patting it fondly. “One for the memory books,” he said.
She ducked her head to hide her smile as they made their way out of the auditorium. He had no idea how right he was. This memory—this new memory—would stay in the books. It couldn’t be stolen from him now that she was the guardian.
Emily was waiting for them in the foyer of the cafeteria, clinging to Zack’s elbow with a glass of champagne in her other hand, the rim already marked with her nude lipstick. “Daddy!” she squealed when she saw them. She handed her glass to Zack and ran to fling her arms around Paul’s neck as he beamed down at her.
“Tell me about this young man of yours.”
Emily launched into an enthusiastic monologue, her back to Allison so she couldn’t catch all the words. It seemed like she’d forgotten that anyone but Paul was in the room. Well, it was good to see Emily so happy, even if it stung a bit.
Zack shot Allison a sympathetic look, his forehead creasing above his expressive brown eyes. “How’d it go?”
“Oh, fine,” she assured him, patting him on the shoulder of his navy wool suit since his hands were full of champagne. “The drive was awkward, but he’s in high spirits. Just don’t mention...”
“I know. And I told my mom the situation, so she’s up to speed.”
“Good.”
Paul and Emily broke apart, and Paul shook Zack’s hand vigorously, clapping him on the back like they were old football buddies, while Zack grinned and tried to keep the drinks from spilling. “Congratulations! Emily’s told me all about you, and I can’t wait to call you ‘son.’”
Son? Allison’s eyes widened and Emily grabbed her arm. “Look, Mom!” she said quietly, holding out her left hand, where a large, square-cut diamond sparkled on her ring finger. “He popped the question last night.”
“Oh! I’m so happy for you.” Allison’s eyes welled with happy tears as she gave Emily a brief hug, ducking to avoid her velvet graduation cap. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“And I can’t wait for you to meet Zack’s mom—she’s amazing! I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her. And you, too, of course,” Emily added. “Elaine’s just been a big support to me this year since she lives closer. This year is going to be really crazy with my internship so I’m counting on you both to make this wedding happen.”
Allison swallowed. It was normal to have feelings about sharing your daughter with another family when she got married. Emily would have two moms, and that was fine. Allison just felt a little more tender than average since she had to pretend she wasn’t Emily’s mother, at least for the time being.
Emily glanced around the foyer, standing on tiptoe to see over the crowd. “She’s around here somewhere. She went to get drinks and never came—oh!” Her face brightened as she caught sight of someone behind Allison and waved.
Paul broke away from his conversation with Zack to raise his arm, too. “You must be the mother of the groom!” He flashed his bright smile and Allison felt the little snake of jealousy wrapped around her heart tighten.
Well, at least Zack’s mom knew what was going on, so she’d understand why Allison wasn’t jumping for joy that she had to pretend to be a family friend rather than mother of the bride. Maybe by the time the wedding rolled around, the puzzle pieces of Paul’s memory would have reassembled enough that the family photo session wouldn’t be as awkward as this graduation reception.
Allison put on a polite smile and turned around for introductions, almost crashing into a stylish woman who clutched three champagne glasses precariously between her hands. She extended one to Allison.
“It’s so good to meet you. I’m Elaine! Emily’s told me so much about you!”
Allison took the glass automatically. She could hear each leaden beat of her heart as time slowed to a crawl. The silence between heartbeats was so long as she stared at the woman in front of her.
Elaine.
She finally had a name for the face. Not the face of a stranger, but a face she recognized, a face burned into her memory even though she’d literally burned the memory in the living room fireplace. It was the woman with salt-and-pepper hair, the guardian before Myra. The page thief.
Zack’s mom.
The roar of the room burst into Allison’s ears as time jumped forward. Elaine had already moved on to greet Paul, and Emily was staring at her with a concerned look.
“What’s wrong?” she mouthed.
Allison just shook her head mutely. How could she explain something that even she didn’t understand? Could it be a coincidence that Emily was engaged to the son of the woman who’d ruined their lives? Was it all a big cosmic joke being played by the universe? Or was it part of some ruthless, inscrutable plan?
Elaine raised her glass. “To one big happy family!”
“Cheers!” Paul agreed, clinking his glass against everyone’s in turn.
Allison dutifully toasted Emily and Zack along with them, her mind whirring as she studied Elaine’s face, cheerful and calm above her
smart cocktail dress, and tried to work out the timeline. Paul lost his memory two years ago, when Elaine ripped out his pages and turned her guardianship over to Myra. Emily, a freshman at medical school then, wasn’t dating Zack—not yet. She didn’t start seeing him until later. Allison was sure of it, because Zack had never met Paul before today. Emily didn’t think it was worth introducing them, since Paul couldn’t remember anything, anyway.
“Zack doesn’t have a dad, either, so he understands,” she’d said. Zack’s father had died when he was very young, only a baby.
So Zack and Emily had been dating a little over a year. Could it be that their relationship was pure chance? Or had Elaine somehow brought them together...or worse, forced Zack to woo Emily?
Allison sipped her champagne and watched him slide his arm around Emily’s back as she proudly flashed her ring again.
“It was my mom’s, inherited from my dad’s family—I had it reset in rose gold,” he explained. He sure seemed in love with her.
“Something old, something new,” Elaine added, tilting her head adoringly at the happy couple. She turned her attention to Allison. “That reminds me—I can help you move the boxes over to Zack’s car.”
Allison blinked. How did Elaine know about the two cardboard moving boxes in the back of her rental Civic? She’d only remembered them at the last minute, after she closed the front gate, and had to run back into the house to grab them, tossing them into the trunk before she sped off to Golden Gardens to pick up Paul.
“Emily said you were bringing her some things? Some old family things?” Elaine pressed. Allison’s distrust rose along with Elaine’s thin eyebrows. Was Elaine just being helpful or did she have some other interest in what was in those boxes? Allison’s cheeks burned as she struggled to come up with a response that didn’t sound paranoid.
“Some kitchen stuff, right?” Emily asked, filling in the awkward silence. “And some tchotchkes?”
“Oh, yeah.” Allison shook her head and did her best to appear calm even though her whole body was tense and coursing with adrenaline. She cleared her throat and tittered nervously. “Sorry. I was so excited about the graduation that I totally spaced out your boxes.”
Paul gave her a disapproving frown. Of course, he thought she was just a family friend, maybe a slightly irresponsible family friend, but Allison still felt a flood of shame at his disappointment.
“Why don’t we come pick them up next weekend?” Elaine suggested, glancing at Zack, who nodded in agreement. “We can all drive down to Remembrance and have a nice visit.”
“I have a couple weeks off before my internship,” Emily added, her words slurring slightly now that she’d finished a second glass of champagne. “For once I have time to visit.”
Paul lit up at the prospect, and he beamed adoringly at Emily. Allison’s heart surged with love for them both. But she just couldn’t risk it. As much as she wanted to make them happy, she had to puncture their burgeoning joy, at least until she had time to go through the boxes and figure what—if anything—interested Elaine so much. She waved a dismissive hand. “No need to trouble yourselves. I can bring them up next time I come up to Portland.”
Elaine arched a skeptical eyebrow. “Judging by the last year, you aren’t able to visit very often. You don’t expect Emily to wait months for her own family heirlooms, do you?”
Allison swallowed hard, and a small smile of triumph glimmered on Elaine’s face. Elaine knew what she was doing. She knew Allison couldn’t protest that she was Emily’s mother and had every right to keep those “family heirlooms” to herself. Not in front of Paul, anyway—not yet. Not until he was ready to hear the truth.
Allison shook her head, rage building inside her. “Of course not. Pick them up any time,” she said quietly to Emily, avoiding eye contact with Elaine so she wouldn’t punch her in the smug mug.
“Next weekend, then!” Elaine clicked her nails against her champagne glass and grinned widely around the circle. She thought she’d won—that was clear. But what she didn’t know was that she’d also revealed her hand. It was obvious she was desperate for something that was in those boxes, which only made Allison more determined to prevent her from acquiring it.
Emily seemed to sense something was wrong. “We can get started on the wedding plans,” she said, nudging Allison gently. “Won’t that be fun?”
Allison gave Emily a quick one-armed squeeze around the shoulders. “It will. I’m looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I need to get going, but I’ll see you all soon. I’m so proud of you, Em. Congratulations again on your engagement,” she added, barely able to squeeze out the words.
Emily nodded and looked to Paul. “I guess that means you’re off, too.”
“I guess so,” he said grudgingly, and gave Emily a regretful hug before shaking hands with Zack and Elaine.
Elaine used the handshake to laughingly pull him into an embrace. “We’re family now, remember?” she trilled against his shoulder as she patted his back.
Contentment spread across Paul’s face as he absorbed her words. “Family,” he agreed. It was everything Allison wanted for him. Connection, belonging. Building new memories that were joined by a thread to the scrap of the old ones left behind. But instead of bringing him closer to Allison, it brought him closer to Elaine and the ugliness she had set in motion.
If Allison had to watch one more minute of this evil charade, she was going to scream. She grabbed Paul’s elbow. “Let’s go.”
He said his reluctant goodbyes and followed her back across the quad to the parking area in stony silence, even when she asked lightly, “Wasn’t that nice?”
He was probably stewing in resentment toward her, the interloper in the family celebration, the one who cut his visit short. But she didn’t care—he could hate her. She’d endured his disinterest for two years, and that was much worse than hatred. She only had to bear this for a week, until Elaine, Zack, and Emily came to Remembrance to collect those boxes. Then she could expose Elaine for who she was—and what she’d done.
To be continued... in Pages & Pyrenees, Book Two in the Magic Library Series, coming Summer 2020!
Other Series by
Hillary Avis
Check out hillaryavis.com for a complete list of books by the author.
The Clucks & Clues Cozy Mysteries
FUNNY CHICKEN FARMING foibles in rural Oregon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0844X3ZYZ
A Cop and a Coop (Book One)
A Flock and a Fluke (Book Two)
A Roost and Arrest (Book Three)
The Death Du Jour Mysteries
CULINARY CAPERS IN coastal Connecticut
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MB9GNDB
Crime Chowder (Book One)
Risky Bisqueness (Short novella between Books One and Two)
Rest In Split Peas (Book Two)
Chili Con Carnage (Book Three)
Lentil Death Do Us Part (Book Four)
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About the Author
Hillary Avis lurks and works in beautiful Eugene, Oregon, with her very patient husband and a menagerie of kids, cats, dogs, and chickens. When she’s not thinking up amusing ways to murder people, she makes pottery, drinks coffee, and streams The Great British Bake-Off, but not all at the same time.
Hillary is the author of cozy mysteries about smart women who uncover truths about themselves, their communities, and of course any unsolved crimes they happen to stumble across. You can read more about her and her work (and get free books!) at hillaryavis.com.