“If I didn’t want to answer any of your questions I wouldn’t have brought you here today,” Rose snapped. “I know you’ve been asking around town trying to learn more about Charlie and his family, about the history of the house. I can help you with some of that if you’re still interested. But then I need you to listen to me about something else.”
Unsure and somewhat hesitant, Susan nonetheless nodded her agreement.
“I have a few pictures.” She opened the box and tenderly removed a small stack of faded black and white photos. Susan leaned forward in her chair to get a better look as Rose spread them out on the table.
“A couple of these were taken at his house…your house. Charlie had purchased a camera and loved to play around with it. Here’s one he took of me on the front porch.” Rose smiled nostalgically at the picture. “I remember this dress. It was light pink with a dainty white pattern around the skirt,” she explained as she ran her finger carefully along the hem. “Shoulder pads were popular and, of course, a lady had to wear a belt. Charlie loved me in that dress.”
Susan studied the younger version of Rose, smiling brightly and waving at the camera. She appeared happy and carefree. The porch and front door of the house were visible in the shot. The door was the same but there was an ornate lever and a fancy doorknocker, neither of which were still there. A few wicker chairs sat on the porch along with baskets of flowers. Susan moved her gaze back to the image of Rose.
“You look lovely, and so happy. May I ask what happened?”
“Charlie and I were so much in love and so happy together. He was a year ahead of me in school so after he graduated, he went to work and told me he was going to save up enough money to marry me. We spent as much time together as we could, but I had school and he was working, sometimes out of town.” Rose picked up another picture and stared at it, lost in her thoughts.
“One day, shortly before I was set to graduate, he came to my house unexpectedly. He said we needed to talk. I knew right away something was wrong. We walked and he told me how he had met a girl one night when he had been away working. He apologized, telling me he had made a horrible mistake, but the girl was pregnant. He had only seen her a few times and had forgotten about her, but once she was no longer able to hide the pregnancy from her parents, her father dragged the truth out of her then dragged her to Misty Lake and to the Walkers’ home. He demanded Charlie take responsibility for his actions.”
Susan heard the pain in Rose’s words, pain that seemed to have barely faded in spite of the years that had passed. She knew her words wouldn’t provide any real comfort, but had to try.
“I’m sorry, Rose. That must have been incredibly difficult.”
“You have to understand that it was a much different time. Women didn’t have as many choices, they weren’t raising children by themselves. Charlie told me he was going to marry her. He cried. I cried even more. I watched him walk away from me that day and I never saw him again.”
“He moved to California right away?”
“Yes. There was that stigma regarding pregnancy out of wedlock. I think he just wanted to try to make a fresh start.”
“I did a little research after I found the journal,” Susan admitted. “I never found any record of a child.”
Rose looked away, but not before Susan spotted the tears in her eyes. “A few months after they left I heard that she miscarried. It must have been fairly late in the pregnancy. Perhaps today something could have been done, but back then…” She just shrugged and shook her head. “Divorce wasn’t as commonplace as it is today, either.”
The ramifications hit Susan. Charlie had given up the love of his life to marry the woman who was going to have his child. When there was no longer a child to consider, he had stayed with a woman he probably didn’t love. A sense of duty and of responsibility kept Charlie and Rose apart. It was heartbreaking.
“I didn’t share all this with you to get your sympathy.” Rose seemed to strengthen and her eyes focused intently on Susan. “I need you to listen to me. I let the man I loved walk out of my life and I have regretted it ever since. There may not have been anything I could have done to change his mind, but ever since, I’ve had to live with myself knowing I didn’t try. I didn’t fight for him. I cried, yes, but I didn’t fight. You have a choice and I expect you to make the right one. You fight for Riley. Don’t let him walk away from you the way I let my Charlie walk away from me. Don’t make the same mistake I made.”
By the time she finished, her voice was powerful and she looked almost fierce. Susan shrunk before her. “I don’t know what I can do. Riley has to make up his own mind.”
“True, but you make sure he knows your feelings before he does so. He needs to hear from you exactly how you feel about him. Things are so different today. There are ways to make it work for everyone involved. That little boy is precious. Don’t misunderstand me, I want the best for him. But, in this case, the best isn’t necessarily a mother and a father who are together. If you feel about Riley the way I felt about Charlie, and I’m fairly certain you do, then you fight for him. Promise me, you’ll fight for him. Don’t let history repeat itself.”
Susan listened but found it difficult to maintain eye contact as the intensity in Rose’s eyes seemed to bore right into her. It was all Susan could do not to crumble.
“I love him but I don’t want him with me if he’s always going to think he made a mistake. That, I think, would be worse than losing him.”
“It’s never a mistake when two people love one another. Really, it’s quite simple. We were put on this earth to love. Don’t you forget that.”
Susan left with a stack of photos after giving Rose her word she would talk with Riley and let him know her feelings. More than that, she promised she’d fight. She only hoped she could follow through on her promises.
31
A few days later, Susan opened her laptop. Jake had returned it shortly after she had gotten back from Chicago, but she hadn’t been motivated to do much work. As it was, she hadn’t checked the inn’s email or done any work on the website for almost two weeks. Jake’s tech expert had determined the two most recent emails had originated from a library in Omaha. After some digging, he had also retrieved the first email and found it had been sent from Denver. Since Susan didn’t know anyone in either city, she hadn’t been too interested in pursuing the issue, and as far as she knew, Jake had let it drop, as well.
Now, as she sat and stared at her website, the images blurred in front of her eyes. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything since her conversation with Rose. She’d kept the information to herself, figuring it was up to Rose to share if she chose to do so. She hadn’t talked much with Riley, either. She felt guilty about not keeping her promise to Rose, but she didn’t know how to approach Riley. He was engrossed in his work and in his son. Susan didn’t begrudge him the time he was devoting to Ryan, but she didn’t know how to feel about the fact that he had stopped trying to convince her that nothing was going to change between the two of them. Truth be told, he had stopped putting much effort into trying to do anything that involved her.
Susan tried not to read too much into it…he was busy and had a lot on his mind. She had spoken briefly with Frank who had confirmed her suspicions. Riley was barely eating, barely sleeping, and, in Frank’s opinion, barely holding on. Susan couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to speed up progress on the inn so he’d be free of that obligation should he decide to leave town with Lissa and Ryan.
She ordered herself to stop imagining the worst and to focus on her work. She scanned the website, uploaded a few new pictures, and highlighted Northern Lights now that the bathroom was completed. She hoped that anyone browsing the website would find the shower tile as intriguing as she did.
Clicking over to the email account she was surprised, and pleased, to find eighteen new emails. She worried for a moment that she may have lost potential clients by neglecting the emails for so long, but pushed past the
worry and told herself better late than never.
She sorted through the list and found several reservations. Each one thrilled and delighted. She still found it a little unbelievable that people were booking stays at her bed and breakfast. Again, there were solicitations for business from suppliers of everything from mints to cleaning supplies. It was overwhelming and she promised herself she’d weed through and start making some decisions soon. Then she found herself longing for Cassie’s help. Too bad she was still months away from having her wise friend at her side.
The second to last email on the list stopped her cold. She drew in a sharp breath and even looked over her shoulder, she was so startled. The wording was similar, short and to the point, but this one had a decidedly more threatening feel to it. ‘I warned you. You leave me no choice.’
Her heart racing, she got up to see if Sam was still home. She wanted to show the email to someone and, she admitted, she didn’t want to be alone. But Sam was gone. Susan remembered Sam had told her she was heading to a meeting with a client and would most likely be gone several hours as she had a number of stops to make after the meeting. Susan paced and gave the computer a wide berth, peeking at it and frowning. In spite of her unease, Susan decided she was more annoyed than anything.
“If you don’t like what I’m doing here, have the nerve and the decency to sign your name,” she muttered as she marched back to the computer.
“Hmmm, two days ago.” She continued talking to herself as she looked closer at the email. Sent from yet another Gmail account, this one had arrived in her inbox fairly recently. She picked up her phone to call Jake knowing that if she didn’t, she’d never hear the end of it. But then she set it down again, deciding to just drive into town and talk to him since she had a few errands to take care of anyway.
Lissa stared out the window of Courtney’s apartment and watched the traffic on Main Street. She hated Misty Lake…hated the little shops that lined the street, hated the fake smiles on the people who walked and waved to one another, and hated the ridiculous giant fish statue that greeted everyone who drove into town.
She wanted out and desperately hoped it wouldn’t be too much longer until she got her wish. She knew Riley was crazy about Ryan and that he didn’t want her to take him clear across the country. They still hadn’t reached an agreement, but she felt fairly confident they would soon.
Right now, she needed to make another trip to the run-down cabin on the lake. She pulled the plastic bag from her purse, and even though she knew exactly how many were in there, counted the pills again. Courtney was at work and would be home in a couple of hours, but Lissa didn’t want to wait that long. And she didn’t want to take the boy. He was starting to get familiar with the area and she was afraid he’d tell Riley they’d been at the lake. She couldn’t risk it.
She paced, twisted her hair around her finger, smoked one cigarette after the other, and decided she needed to go.
“Hey, Ryan, I need to go somewhere.”
Ryan looked up from his toys. “Okay.” He got up, grabbed Spider-Man, and went for his shoes.
Lissa’s heart softened a little watching him. He was such a good boy. She knew she’d put him through a lot, but he rarely complained. He tried hard to make her happy, harder than a little boy should have to try. She went to him and snuggled.
“I have to go alone, Ryan. I’ll be back in just a few minutes and Courtney will be home real soon, too.”
“Oh.” He dropped his shoes. She knew he didn’t like to stay alone.
“I promise I’ll be back soon.” She squeezed him once more, but then hurried out the door before he could beg her to stay.
Susan got herself ready, stashed the laptop in her bag, and, at the last minute, decided to take Gusto with her. When Rigi danced in front of her as she held Gusto’s leash, she relented and loaded both dogs in the car after scribbling a quick note to Sam.
On the drive, she tried to come up with a reason someone could be so angry with what she was doing in Misty Lake and with the inn that they would send threatening emails. It didn’t make sense to her. There weren’t any other bed and breakfasts in town so she couldn’t imagine another B&B owner was put out enough to threaten her. Maybe the resort owners? Did they think she’d take away too much business? It seemed unlikely. From what she’d heard, the resort was well run and was always booked solid. Other local businesses? Again, it didn’t really make sense. If anything, her business should be good for theirs.
Deciding she wasn’t going to solve the mystery just then, she pulled into a small gallery in town that provided framing services. She had dropped off the baseball cards after deciding she wanted to frame them. She’d done as Riley had asked and checked in to their value. While she probably could have sold them and made several hundred dollars, she had decided she’d get far more enjoyment out of having them preserved and displayed at the inn. She had been excited to show Riley what she’d decided to do with the cards, but now she had to wonder if he’d ever see them.
Next, she stopped by the sheriff’s department. Jake wasn’t in so she dropped off her computer and left an explanation with the deputy at the front desk. Jake was due in later that evening, he could call her then and ask whatever questions he had for her.
Lastly, she needed a few groceries. She parked her car, but decided to stroll down the street with the dogs and maybe grab a cup of coffee before doing her shopping.
Jake hadn’t liked the way Riley sounded when he’d called earlier in the day. Something was wrong, Jake was certain, but Riley wouldn’t get into it over the phone. The fact that Riley was home in the afternoon when Jake knew he’d been working almost nonstop was another red flag.
Riley answered before Jake could knock. The dark circles under his eyes that Jake had noticed on Easter were worse…much worse. Riley hadn’t shaved and Jake wasn’t certain he’d even changed clothes recently.
“Riley, what in the world is going on with you?”
“I need your help, but you’ve got to keep it quiet for now.” Riley grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside, kicking the door closed behind him.
Riley’s eyes were strangely focused and bored into Jake. It was the sort of look Jake had seen often in his line of work. It belonged to those who were desperate for help and didn’t know where else to turn “What is it? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No, no, it’s not about me. Well, not really. It’s about Ryan. I need to sit down.”
Riley moved unsteadily to the nearest chair and fell into it. Jake followed. “You need to tell me what’s going on, Riles.”
“Yeah, okay.” He was quiet for a minute and Jake thought he’d lost his train of thought, but then he started again. The words came out fast.
“I was with Ryan last night. We were talking and he said something about liking hockey. I asked him if he’s ever played and he said his Aunt Jenny told him he had to be six before he started. I mentioned his birthday coming up and not having to wait much longer. He gave me this look like he thought I was pretty dumb or something then said he’s going to be five on this birthday.”
Riley paused for a moment and Jake tried to catch up. So the boy was younger than Riley thought…
“So I said to him, ‘Ryan, you’re going to be six.’ He looked at me again and this time figured he needed to show me. He held up his hand and tried to show me four fingers saying he was that many and when he had his birthday he’d be a whole hand.” Riley was demonstrating with shaky hands.
Jake stared at Riley. If the kid was really younger than Riley had calculated…or had been told…then that meant he couldn’t be Riley’s.
“Don’t you get it, Jake? If he’s only four, he’s not my son.” The words came out like a loud whisper and Riley dropped his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t know if he’s mixed up or what. I was going to ask Lissa for an explanation, but when I dropped off Ryan, Courtney said she was sleeping. The more I thought about it, the more I decided I don�
��t want to confront her until I’m sure. Something’s not right with her and I’m worried for Ryan. If she takes off with him, I’m not sure he’ll be safe.”
“Okay, Riley, you’ve got to calm down.” Riley’s voice was hoarse and Jake spotted the tremor in his hands. “What do you want me to do? Do you want me to try to talk to her?”
“No! She’ll freak out for sure.” Riley stood and walked to the window, pulling back the heavy curtain just enough to peek outside. He looked up and down the street as if expecting someone to be watching his house, watching him. “I want you to try to contact her family.”
Jake looked quizzically at Riley. “Contact her family? Why me?”
Riley leaned forward in the chair, elbows planted on his knees and his chin resting on his knuckles. His voice took on that of one devising a scheme with his co-conspirator. “I’ve been thinking about it. What reason would they have for talking to me or answering any of my questions? If you call, you can explain Lissa’s in town with her son and there’s some…I don’t know, make something up. Just try to figure out what the story is with her.”
“Riley, I can’t just call, say I’m the sheriff in Misty Lake, and that I want to know everything there is to know about this woman. They’ll be under no obligation whatsoever to answer my questions. Think about it…would you answer questions from someone claiming to be in law enforcement? There’s got to be a better way to go about this.”
Riley was on his feet again. “Dammit, Jake, I don’t have time! I have to know if he’s my son. Do you know what the past ten days have been like for me? She shows up out of the blue with this kid, tells me he’s my son. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around that, finally felt like I got there, and now this? I can’t take much more, Jake!”
Jake couldn’t recall ever seeing Riley quite as upset. “Calm down, Riley. We’ll figure something out.”
“I won’t be able to calm down until this is resolved. Don’t you get that?”
The Inn at Misty Lake: Book Two in the Misty Lake Series Page 26
