The Fountain of Infinite Wishes (Dare River Book 5)

by Ava Miles

  The woman’s eyes were darting around now, like a rabbit ready to run. Was it because she’d just learned her boyfriend had lied to her from the start? Vander couldn’t blame her there. Trust between two people was hard enough. Add in the tough life Pauline looked to have led, and trust was likely as difficult for her as climbing Kilimanjaro.

  “Wallie’s…ah…” She fidgeted with the collar of her waitress outfit, stained yellow from overuse and numerous washings. “He’s been helping Old Red Waback on his farm. I…he’s not coming into town today.”

  “Oh, shoot,” Vander made himself say as he slapped his hat against his legs. “Could you give me his address then? I could leave him a message or something. I’ll do whatever it takes to make my Shelby happy.”

  May put her arm around Pauline. “Why don’t you call Wallie and tell him to come on in here for lunch? We both know Old Red would love a romantic story like this and wouldn’t mind him leaving the farm for a chat. Heck, this is the best thing that’s happened in town since Mayor Harris proposed to Widow Keller in front of the library by reading that Shakespeare sonnet she loves so much.”

  Vander gave May a winning smile, but poor Pauline looked green now. “I’ll—”

  “Pauline! Where in tarnation are you, girl? I’ve got orders up, and they’re growing cold.” A burly bearded man in a black apron stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “Stop yapping yer gums and get back to work.”

  “Oh, shut your trap, Cletis,” May shot back. “Pauline’s helping this nice man here. I’ll get your orders up if you tell me who has what. Land sakes, you grow more ornery every year.”

  May paddled over to the kitchen, and soon she was laying four plates of food in front of gawking patrons.

  Vander leaned in to Pauline and lowered his voice, saying, “I don’t want you to get yelled at any more, ma’am. If you’d like, I can call Wallie and explain about my Shelby. Might be better coming from me. Whatever you think is best. I don’t want to impose.”

  She dug out her phone and brought up her call list. “Here’s his number.”

  Vander memorized the number and dug out his phone, an older model he used on assignments in poorer areas. It wasn’t a wise move to flash the latest technology. Folks got suspicious.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he said, digging out a photo of him and Shelby and handing it out to her. “That’s my girl.”

  He ignored her gasp, sensing Pauline had noticed how much Shelby favored her father.

  “Isn’t she beautiful? I’m the luckiest man in the world. Never imagined she’d marry me, but I plan on making her the happiest woman out there. Not like my mama. She had a tough life. Worked three jobs to put food on the table after my dad left, but she never complained.” He was laying it on a little thick, but he sensed it would strengthen his connection with Pauline.

  The woman finally took the picture of him and Shelby. “You look good together.”

  Keeping faithful to his cover was critical to getting hard-to-come-by information. He wouldn’t have dared to show anyone one of the digital photos they’d taken yesterday on his phone because someone might have noticed how new they were. Vander liked to cover all his bases.

  “Yeah, we do,” he said, studying the picture of them. Of all of the ones he’d taken, this was his favorite. They were in his kitchen, and she’d turned her face to say something to him. If he hadn’t seen her interest in him before, there would have been no mistaking it in this photo. He’d blurred out the rest of the surroundings so anyone looking at the photo wouldn’t focus on his apartment or even the clothes they were wearing. He’d worked on the photos after he’d driven Shelby back to her car and then printed them out on his special printer.

  “Do you…” Pauline fiddled with her collar again. “Do you really not know why Wallie is using a different name?”

  Vander shook his head. “No, ma’am, and neither did his mama. She said he’s always been a good man. Just made a mistake with his family when he was mostly a kid himself. You know.”

  Pauline lowered her head. “My husband ran off on me and my two girls. It was…hard. Thank God, Cletis gave me this job. I’ve been working here ever since.”

  He’d had a hunch that her story would go something like that. Again, it was one of those instincts he had about people—part of what made him a great detective. “Did he ever come back?”

  “No,” she said, looking out the front windows of the diner. “My baby girls cried when they had to ask their uncle to walk them down the aisle even though their daddy didn’t deserve to share their joy after what he’d done.”

  He put his hand on her shoulder. “That’s why I’m hoping my Shelby and her daddy can reconcile. Life is too short.”

  “Preacher says that every week,” Pauline said, sniffing. “I’m sorry. All of this…it’s a shock.”

  “Of course it is, and I’m sorry for it.” He was, but it wouldn’t sway him from his goal of finding Preston. Even so, he was aware he’d changed Preston’s relationship with this woman and the whole town. In his business, he couldn’t always keep those kinds of consequences from occurring, especially if people didn’t give him any other choice. Besides, the lies Preston had told would be his undoing.

  Vander gave May a smile as she rejoined them. “I should give ah…Wallie a call. Ask him to meet me here for lunch. How late are y’all open?”

  “We usually close at two,” Pauline said, “but I can ask Cletis to keep the diner open longer if you’d like. Wallie’s place…he’s renting a small room above Myrtle Glories’ garage. It’s…not for entertaining.”

  Vander nodded. Now he knew where the man lived. If this phone call went south, he could swing by Wallie’s place, maybe give Myrtle his speech if need be.

  “Go ahead and give Wallie or whatever his name is a call, Toby,” May said, nodding briskly. “I love it when miracles happen, and reuniting your Shelby with her daddy is certainly up that alley if I ever heard one. Even though it brings to mind all sorts of questions. Goodness, Pauline, you never seem to settle on a man without some troubled past.”

  The woman hung her head, and May put an arm around her.

  Thinking through the best approach, Vander pulled out his phone and dialed the number Pauline had given him. “I’ll just step out for a moment. Don’t want to disturb everyone eating.”

  No one was eating anymore, but that didn’t matter. The chime on the door rang as he let himself out onto the sidewalk.

  “Hello,” a rough voice answered after a few rings.

  “Hello,” Vander said, pouring more Southern charm into his voice. “My name is Toby, and Pauline gave me your number. She said you weren’t coming into the diner for lunch today, but I was hoping I might meet you, sir.”

  “What about?” the man asked hesitantly. “You need someone to work for you?”

  Ah…Vander had wondered if the man would answer an unknown number—the phone was calibrated so all the calls it made would show up as Anonymous. If he hadn’t picked up, Vander would have talked Pauline into using hers.

  Now for the tricky part. “No, sir, I’m not. I…well…there’s no easy way to say this, but my girl—heck, the woman who agreed to marry me—wants to see you. I was hoping to…arrange that.” He made sure not to use Shelby’s name yet, wanting to weave more of a story.

  “Your girl? I don’t recall knowing you or your girl. Are you a friend of Pauline’s?”

  “No sir, but I’m a friend of your mama. Lenore. She said to give you her best. She told me you were living in Haines based on the Christmas card you sent her this year.”

  “You know my mama?” the man asked, his voice ripe with suspicion. “Is anything the matter?”

  Other than Lenore living in abject poverty and ill health? “She was feeling a little poorly when we visited, but there was nothing gravely wrong.”

  “I’m sorry, but who are you again?”

  “I’m Shelby’s fiancé,” he said in as even a tone as he could muster.

 
; “Shelby!” The man sounded like he’d run into a wall while walking.

  “Yes, your Shelby,” Vander continued. “We’re getting married, you see, and she…ah heck, sir…she’s wanted to meet you all her life, and with the wedding coming up, that feeling’s only gotten stronger. You know, walking down the aisle stuff. I was hoping to reunite the two of you. I don’t know your reasons for leaving, sir, but your daughter wants to meet you. She has the biggest heart. So do the rest of her siblings.”

  The silence on the line went on for so long Vander had to strain to hear the man’s breathing over the air conditioner humming in the diner’s window. “You still there, sir?”

  “Yes,” he said roughly. “Does Louisa know about this, boy?”

  Vander could hear the man’s voice quaver when he said his ex-wife’s name. “No, sir, and the kids aren’t planning on saying nothing.” He wasn’t sure if that was true, but for the moment, he was going to say whatever it took to get this man to meet with him.

  “You tell my girl I’m sorry, but I can’t meet with her. Or any of them. Don’t contact me again.”

  The line went dead.

  Vander fought a curse. That man was going to run. He knew it to the core. He had to find out where Myrtle lived stat.

  He went inside to say goodbye to Pauline and May and report that Wallie hadn’t been very encouraging on the phone. Sure as shooting, May gave him Myrtle’s address, which was only three blocks from the diner.

  “I’ll stop back in on my way out of town, Pauline,” he told her, knowing she was the strongest link to Preston. She was shaking when he put his hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for your help.”

  “If it’s after two, I’ll be at the beauty parlor,” she told him.

  He kissed May on the cheek for good measure. “You’ve been a peach. Would you mind calling Myrtle and telling her I’ll be dropping by her garage? I’d hate to scare her or get shot at if she’s opposed to trespassers.”

  She laughed. “Myrtle couldn’t hit the side of a barn. Don’t worry. Happy to call her, Toby. You pop on by the station before you leave to give me a proper goodbye.”

  “You bet, ma’am,” he said, fighting his impatience to jog to Myrtle’s.

  He decided not to drive there. He didn’t want Preston to see an unfamiliar truck and run off. The gravel road to the woman’s house was hot and dusty, and Vander wished he had a bottle of water with him to swallow the grime coating his throat. When he arrived, he surveyed the woman’s home. The white paint was peeling, and the roof line was sagging although she had pretty rose bushes in her front lawn.

  When he opened her rickety gate, an older woman appeared on the porch in a purple muumuu with flowers on it. “You that boy May said would be coming by to see Wallie?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, tipping his finger to his hat as a greeting. “Had May call so as to not alarm you.”

  “That was a good idea, boy,” she said with narrowed eyes. “I still have my husband’s Colt, God rest his soul.”

  Given the old woman’s frail body, a weapon like that would knock her flat on her back. “I’ll just be waiting in his room then. Out of this infernal heat. If that’s all right with you, ma’am.”

  She nodded. “You’ll need the key. Come on up here, boy. I’ll get it for you.”

  He waited a few steps off the porch and smiled when she returned. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Wallie doesn’t have a pot to piss in, but I’m still telling you not to steal nothing—even if May thinks you’re an angel of a man sent from on high. That woman is a moron about men, if you ask me.”

  “I appreciate May’s confidence in my character. You have nothing to worry about, ma’am.”

  She huffed. “Seems I might if Wallie isn’t using his real name. I plan to have words with him after you leave. And bring my key back, mind you. Best get back inside. It’s hot as Hades out here.”

  He tipped his hat again as she opened the front door. Once she had disappeared inside, he headed around to the garage and unlocked the side entrance. He climbed the uncarpeted wood stairs. The apartment was a clean and bare bones studio.

  The rafters were painted white like the four walls. There was a hot plate on the counter by the kitchen sink. A pullout couch served as the bed. There wasn’t much of anything in the room save worn furniture. There wasn’t even a TV. Vander spotted a black suitcase in the corner by the couch and carefully lifted the lid. Clothes were stacked inside all orderly like: jeans, work shirts, underwear, socks. Nothing fancy, not even a Sunday suit. He didn’t see any other shoes, so he had to wonder if the man only owned one pair.

  He stood by the window discreetly, watching the front. He supposed Preston could come around the back. If he’d had backup, he would have sent Charlie out to Old Red’s place. Fifteen minutes passed. Then thirty. Vander’s gut started to burn.

  When Pauline opened up Myrtle’s white gate an hour after he’d arrived and walked toward the garage, Vander decided to go down and meet her. People didn’t trust skulking characters, and his cover had gotten him plenty of useful information so far.

  He opened the door to the apartment before she could knock. “Hello, Pauline. Myrtle let me wait inside since it’s so hot out. I was waiting for Preston—or Wallie—to come back.”

  Tears popped into Pauline’s eyes, and she dug into her tan purse for a tissue. “I thought I’d come by and tell you in person since I knew you were here.”

  He already knew what she was going to say.

  “Wallie called and told me y’all had spoken. He said he was leaving town and never coming back. Said he was sorry, but the past can’t be undone. He’s been running from it all his life.”

  Vander leaned against the doorway, fighting the urge to curse. If Preston wanted to run, wouldn’t he have at least come back for his suitcase?

  “That’s terrible,” he said, tugging on his hat. “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I.”

  He could tell she meant it. “I just don’t know what I’ll tell Shelby. I…did he say where he was going, ma’am? I keep thinking if I can talk to him, show him his daughter’s picture, he’d come around, you know?”

  “I know,” she said, mascara streaking her tissue. “I’m disappointed too. We’d been seeing each other since last October when he came to town. I thought we might…”

  She didn’t have to say what she’d thought. “I’m sorry for you too, ma’am. More than I can say. I’m sorry I might have caused this.”

  “Don’t blame yourself none.” She inhaled jaggedly. “Guess it’s best for this to happen now, before I could get in any deeper with him. He said he loved me, that he hadn’t loved anyone for so long. I…believed him.”

  Vander wondered if Preston was the kind of man to say that easily. Some men did. Anger took hold of him. He’d lost the last of his objectivity, it seemed. He often fought with his own judgments on cases like these—the ones that hit so close to home—but the kind of rage he was experiencing made him want to punch the man. Preston McGuiness didn’t deserve Shelby or the rest of her siblings, but that wasn’t his call.

  “Do you know how he was planning to leave town?” Vander asked. “His mama said he didn’t have a car.”

  “He didn’t say,” she said, wiping away more tears. “At first I thought he might have had too many DUIs, but…he just couldn’t afford one.”

  Was the man planning to head out of town on foot? If so, Vander needed to search the area.

  “He hitchhiked a lot,” Pauline said, pressing her tissue to her chest. “I just can’t believe this. I thought I knew him.”

  Vander patted her back, fighting the urge to run to his car and get going.

  Then he realized the full extent of his problem.

  Preston didn’t want to be found, and when someone who’d been hiding for years set their mind to staying hidden, it was near impossible to chase them out.

  Chapter 19

  Shelby didn’t take it as a good sign
when Charlie texted her and Sadie asking if the entire McGuiness clan could meet with her and Vander at five o’clock that day at one of their houses.

  It had been two days since Vander had left for Haines. On day two after no word, she’d broken down and texted him. His response: I’m on it.

  She’d stewed and told everyone there was no word. That had apparently changed. Shelby volunteered Susannah and Jake’s house after conferring with everyone.

  Somehow it made her worry that Vander hadn’t called her personally. Was the news so bad he didn’t want to share it alone with her on the phone? Had he changed his mind about them?

  When she arrived ten minutes before five o’clock, cars lined the driveway. Everyone was eager to hear the news. Susannah answered the door and hugged her.

  “I’m so nervous, I can barely sit down,” she said.

  “I feel the exact same way,” Shelby replied, giving Sadie a smile when her younger sister barged into the entryway.

  “I feel like I’m poised to leap off a cliff,” Sadie said, squeezing both of them tight.

  “Best put on a helmet so you won’t get hurt,” J.P. said in that matter-of-fact way of his, but Shelby couldn’t help but notice that his mouth was tight around the edges.

  She hugged her brother and then Jake. A car door slammed outside.

  “They’re here!” Sadie said, throwing the door open dramatically.

  The whole lot of them clustered around her to watch. Vander and Charlie walked forward, looking like characters from Men in Black. Both had on dark suits with white shirts, although Vander was sporting a red tie. Neither was smiling beneath their reflective shades.

  They had bad news. Shelby knew it. Her stomach gripped, and Sadie squeezed her hand like it was a stress ball.

  “You didn’t find him,” her younger sister said to Vander when he arrived on the threshold.

  He took his sunglasses off and tucked them into his pocket. Charlie did the same.

  “Let me tell you everything from start to finish,” Vander said simply. “It will be easier that way.”