Between Now and Forever

by Barbara Freethy

  * * *

  Fifteen minutes later they were in Ryan's car and on their way to the quilt shop. For the first time since Brandon had disappeared, Nicole felt hopeful.

  "It's strange to be outside," Jessica murmured. "How can everything look so normal when my life is upside down?"

  Nicole turned in her seat to meet Jessica's gaze. "I feel exactly the same way, but we're going to find our way back to normal."

  Even as she said the words, Nicole realized that her version of normal would be far different from Jessica's. But she wouldn't think about that now.

  Jessica gave her a tentative smile. "I'm glad you came down here. My friends have been supportive, but as the days go by, everyone goes back to their own life, and I can't ask them not to."

  "I understand. I'm glad we came, too." As she finished speaking, her phone rang, and as she grabbed it out of her bag, her brother's name flashed across the screen. She'd had a few missed calls from Sean, but she hadn't had a chance to call him back.

  "Sean," she said. "Sorry I never got back to you."

  "No problem. I've been worried about you and Brandon. Mom filled me in on the twin brother, which I can't quite believe, but is there any more news?"

  "Not yet. We're in Angel's Bay now talking to the other parent."

  "That's what I heard. How long are you going to be there?"

  "At least until tomorrow, maybe a few more days after that. We'll see how things go. We think we'll get further faster if we all work together."

  "Sounds like a solid plan. Look, I'm about an hour from Angel's Bay," Sean said. "I thought I'd come up and meet you, see if I can help."

  "Really?" she said in surprise. "I thought you were in San Diego with your band."

  "I was, but when I heard you were coming down the coast, I decided to drive up and meet you. I don't have another show until next weekend. I know you have Ryan with you, but you're a little short on Callaways. I can't believe no one from the family came along."

  "Everyone offered, but it's more important that they keep things going in San Francisco."

  "I get it. But I'm free, so I'd like to help. I'll call you when I get in. Okay?"

  "That would be great." She was touched that Sean was going out of his way to meet her. Sean was four years younger than her and while the gap in age wasn't that much, their lives were very different, and they hadn't been close in years. She was a wife, a mother, and a teacher, and Sean was still chasing his dream of being a rock star.

  "What's great?" Ryan asked, having only caught her side of the conversation.

  "Oh, Sean has been performing in Southern California. He's coming here to meet us and should be in town in about an hour." She shifted in her seat to look at Jessica. "Sean is one of my five brothers, younger by four years."

  "Five brothers?" Jessica asked, awe in her voice. "That's a lot."

  "And I have two sisters, which makes eight siblings. Sometimes the family seems way too big, but in times of crisis, I can always count on them." It suddenly occurred to her that Jessica seemed very much on her own. "Do you have family in Angel's Bay?"

  "Travis's family is in town." Jessica's lips tightened. "They don't care much for me, especially Travis's mother, Paula. She hated me from the second Travis brought me home. I didn't think it was possible for her to dislike me more, but since Kyle disappeared, she's practically foaming at the mouth."

  "That's rough."

  "As for my family, it's just me and my mom, and she lives in Vegas," Jessica continued. "She couldn't come out here, which is fine. She'd only add more drama, and that's the last thing I need." Jessica crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I just want to get Kyle back. He's the only person who makes sense in my life." She took a breath. "Take the next right, Ryan. "The quilt shop is about halfway down the street. Park anywhere you can find."

  * * *

  The quilt shop was located in the center of the downtown area and the streets were crowded with locals running Saturday errands, and tourists strolling along the charming streets, checking out the antique stores, art galleries and cafés. Angel's Bay was a beautiful town, Nicole thought, wishing they'd come here for another reason. Then she could have enjoyed the small town atmosphere. Instead, she was tense and silently praying that Jessica's friend, Kara, would be able to tell them who had made the quilts.

  When they entered the store, Jessica said, "Kara is probably upstairs. That's where they run a lot of the classes. Wait here, and I'll go check."

  Jessica disappeared down the aisle, heading for the stairs.

  As Nicole's gaze followed Jessica, it caught on a large glass display case by the stairwell. "I think that's the original quilt," she murmured.

  Ryan frowned. "What?"

  She smiled at his awkward stance. Ryan had never liked to shop, and she'd always been amused by how uncomfortable he got in places like lingerie departments and now apparently quilting stores. "I said I think that's the original memorial quilt from the shipwreck. I want to take a look."

  "Let's just wait here."

  "It's right over there," she said, ignoring him.

  Despite his protest, Ryan followed her over to the glass case. There were probably more beautiful quilts than this one, but there was so much history in the quilt that Nicole saw the beauty in every stitch.

  There was a placard next to the case that detailed the history of the quilt and the names of the quilters and their loved ones.

  "Look," she said, pointing to a name. "Helen Schilling—she must be a relation to Travis's family. She made the quilt for her son, Donald, who died in the wreck at the age of five," she added, feeling a kinship with that young mother. But Brandon wasn't dead, she reminded herself. He was coming home. She was going to be with her son again. "It's amazing to think that this quilt was made over a hundred and fifty years ago; a beautiful reminder of a terrible tragedy." She looked back at Ryan. "You aren't saying much."

  "I'm not that interested in that old blanket," he said tersely.

  She frowned. "What's going on with you? You're so uncomfortable in here."

  "There's a lot of estrogen in this place."

  "True, but is that really the reason?" she questioned. "Something else is up."

  He met her gaze and let out a sigh. "I don't want this to be a dead end, Nicole. Every hour that passes, every day that goes by—"

  She cut him off by putting her fingers against his mouth. "Sh-sh. I don't want to think about the time passing. It's too scary."

  "Sorry," he muttered.

  She dropped her hand, her fingers tingling from the warmth of his mouth. "We have to stay in the moment. It's the only way I'm going to survive."

  "You're right." His gaze bored into hers. "You know why we used to be so good together? When you were weak, I was strong, and when I was weak, you were strong. We were always able to pull each other up."

  "Until we both went down at the same time."

  "Yeah."

  All the emotions of the past few years passed between them in one long glance. And then the connection was broken by the arrival of Jessica and Kara.

  Kara Lynch was an attractive and pregnant redhead with a warm, friendly smile.

  "This is Nicole and Ryan Prescott," Jessica said.

  "Nice to meet you but very sorry it's under these circumstances," Kara said. "Jessica tells me you're looking for the quilter who made the quilts for your sons."

  "Yes, would you have a record of that." Nicole asked.

  "My grandmother should. While we've started to computerize, we've only put in the last couple of years, so the information would probably be in one of my grandmother's many journals. I'll be finishing up here in the next ten minutes, and I can stop by her house on my way home. Will that work?"

  "That would be great," Nicole said. "Of course, we need everything as fast as possible."

  "I completely understand. I have a child, and I know what you're going through is horrible. My husband is also a cop here in town. He's been working overtime on
the case, along with all the other officers."

  "We're very grateful," Nicole said.

  "We'd like to know not only who made the quilts but also who ordered them," Ryan interjected. "I assume someone has to notify the guild of an upcoming birth."

  "If it's not for a local child, yes," Kara replied. "Otherwise, usually the pregnant woman knows someone in the guild. But lately we've been taking orders for newborn quilts from all over the country."

  Nicole's heart sank. She didn't want the order to have come from the East Coast. She wanted to feel like they were getting closer and not farther away.

  Kara gave them a thoughtful look. "You know Sharon, Travis's first wife, was a quilter. She might have ordered the quilts, although why would she order two if she only adopted Kyle? I guess that doesn't make sense." She turned to Jessica. "I'll talk to my grandmother, and then I'll give you a call."

  "Thanks," Jessica said. "We really appreciate it."

  "It's the least I can do. I'll fill Colin in and Joe, too, if that's all right with you," Kara added.

  "Of course," Jessica said. "That will save us a call."

  As Kara left, Nicole turned to Ryan. "Speaking of calls, I should phone home and get someone to take a photo of Brandon's quilt. Then we can match his blanket to Kyle's and see if there are any differences."

  "Good idea," he said. "Do you want to do that now?"

  "I'll wait until we get back to the house."

  As they left the shop and walked down the street, Nicole glanced at Jessica. "This is a beautiful small town."

  Jessica nodded. "Travis loved it here. He told me it was the kind of place where people looked out for each other and bad things didn't happen. Unfortunately, he was wrong about the bad things."

  "But not about the people," Nicole said. "I feel like everyone in Angel's Bay is looking for Kyle and now for Brandon." Her phone rang as she got into the car. It was Sean again. "Where are you?"

  "Just driving past the Welcome to Angel's Bay sign," he said. "Where can I meet you?"

  "We're on our way back to Jessica's house now. That's Kyle's mother. Why don't you meet us there?" She gave him Jessica's address and said, "We'll see you in a few minutes." As she slipped her phone back in her bag, she glanced back at Jessica. "I hope you don't mind if my brother meets us at your place."

  "Of course not. And if anyone is hungry, I have plenty of food that the neighbors have dropped off."

  "I could eat something," Ryan said.

  Nicole nodded. She was hungry, too. They'd been in such a hurry to get to Jessica's house, they'd skipped breakfast, and it was now past one o'clock. "I don't want you to go to any trouble though."

  "I'll just be opening up containers," Jessica said. "That's actually my best skill when it comes to cooking. I thought about taking some cooking classes when Travis and I got married, but he loved to cook. So I let him. Do you cook, Nicole?"

  "I used to cook more," Nicole replied, thinking how lazy she'd gotten in that department. She was always rushing back from some appointment, too tired, or too busy to do more than throw a few things together. And since Brandon would only eat a very small variety of foods, it wasn't that much fun to cook for him. It had been a lot more fun when Ryan was around, when they were first married, when they'd drink wine and chop vegetables and make dinner together.

  "What about you, Ryan?" Jessica asked.

  "I'm better on the grill than the stove," he said, shooting Nicole a smile. "Wouldn't you agree?"

  "You can grill a mean steak. But when it comes to side dishes…"

  "That's all you, babe."

  Her stomach fluttered at the casual caress of his words. It had been a long time since he'd called her babe, and she hadn't realized until just this second how much she'd missed it. She deliberately forced herself to look away from him. She had enough to handle right now. She didn't need to get lost in the past.

  Chapter Eleven

  After arriving at Jessica's house, Ryan and Jessica headed into the kitchen to find some food while Nicole sat down on the front steps to call Emma and wait for Sean to arrive.

  Emma answered on the first ring. "Hey, Nic. Any news?"

  "We're working on a possible lead. The little boy here in Angel's Bay has a baby quilt exactly like the one that came with Brandon when we adopted him. If we can figure out who made the quilts and gave them to the boys, we may have a better chance at locating the birth parents."

  "That's amazing. Have you told Max?"

  "Not yet. We haven't come up with any names yet, but we have someone in the quilting guild looking into the records for us. Can you let Max know?"

  "Of course. I'll call him as soon as we're done."

  "I also need a favor," Nicole continued. "Can you go over to my house and take a picture of Brandon's quilt? It's on the top shelf in Brandon's closet, wrapped in plastic. We want to compare the two, see if there are any differences."

  "I'm headed to a fire scene right now, but I should be able to get to your house in about an hour. Is that soon enough, or should I call Mom? I think she's still at your place."

  "An hour is fine," she said. "If I need it sooner, I'll call Mom myself."

  "How are you and Ryan getting along?"

  "Surprisingly well. Ryan seems different. He's determined, optimistic, and his mind is whirring with ideas. He seems like the old Ryan."

  "Does that mean you're turning into the old Nicole, the one who was madly in love with him?"

  Nicole didn't know how to answer that question. "I don't want to talk about our relationship right now. It's not the time."

  "Some day you're going to have to make the time."

  "That day is not today. I'll let you get to work, Em. Send me the photo as soon as you can."

  "Will do. Good luck, Nicole."

  As she finished the call, Sean pulled up in a twenty-year-old, dark green mini-van that had definitely seen better days. But apparently the van still worked well enough to haul his music equipment up and down the state.

  When Sean got out of the car, fast food wrappers fell onto the sidewalk, and she smiled. Sean had been on the road a while, and whatever money he made was usually put back into the music or the band. Her brother was a free spirit, and in some ways the rebel of the family, the one who couldn't quite conform with the Callaway image put forth by their father, Jack.

  But like the other Callaway men, Sean had dark hair and blue eyes, an attractive combination that made her brothers very popular with the ladies. Nicole suspected that adding a guitar into the mix made Sean even more appealing.

  "Nicole," he said, greeting her with a hug. "How are you holding up?"

  "I'm still standing. Thanks for coming."

  "No problem. So this is the other family's house? Will they mind if I'm here?"

  "No. Jessica Schilling, Kyle's mom, is very nice. She's actually a widow. Her husband died last year. And since then she's been raising his kid."

  "Not hers?"

  "He adopted Kyle with his first wife. It's a complicated story, but the bottom line is Jessica is Travis's mom, and she's worried sick about him."

  "Got it."

  Nicole opened the front door and ushered Sean into the house. As they entered the dining room, Ryan came out of the kitchen with a salad bowl in his hands. He set it down on the table and then came forward to shake Sean's hand.

  "I'm sorry," Sean said to Ryan. "This whole situation sucks."

  "Yeah, it does. Thanks for coming."

  "Mom said Dad was thinking of driving down here, and I figured you'd have rather have me than him."

  Ryan nodded. "I certainly would. I'm not Jack's favorite person these days."

  Nicole knew that her father had been hard on Ryan the last year, but deep down Jack Callaway had a lot of love for Ryan. He just treated him like a son, which meant his love came with high expectations.

  Jessica came out of the kitchen holding a casserole dish with two potholders. She set it down on the table and then came over to meet Sean.


  "I'm so sorry about your son," Sean said to Jessica.

  "Thank you. It's nice of you to come and help your sister."

  "It's the least I can do. I was kind of an annoying brother when we were growing up. So I probably owe her."

  Nicole liked how easily Sean could take the tension out of any situation. "No probably about it; you were annoying. Sean used to drive me crazy playing the same screeching chords on his guitar over and over and over again," she told Jessica.

  "I was practicing," he said defensively. "I got better."

  "Not fast enough for me," she teased. "Although, I am now one of your biggest fans."

  "Why don't we eat?" Ryan suggested. "You can share family stories over lunch."

  "I wouldn't want to bore Jessica," Nicole said, as she pulled out a chair.

  Ryan gave her a smile. "Your stories are never boring. Like Jack, you know how to spin a tale."

  "He's right," Sean added. He looked at Jessica. "Whenever Nicole would babysit us, she would make us listen to endless stories about Gods and Goddesses. And they were actually somewhat entertaining."

  "I hope my students think so. I teach Greek mythology at the local community college," she explained to Jessica. She hadn't given much thought to her job in the past few days, but she knew the college would cover her classes with subs until she got back.

  "That sounds like an interesting job," Jessica said. "I never went to college. I always wanted to, but I barely made it out of high school, and there wasn't money for more, so I went to work."

  "What did you do?" Sean asked as he helped himself to salad.

  "I did everything. I worked at fast food restaurants, retail shops. I even did some dog walking. But I made the most money when I started dancing. My mother is a former Rockette and Vegas showgirl. When she stopped dancing, she started teaching. I was usually tagging along, so I learned how to dance before I could walk. I didn't really want to follow in her footsteps, but I didn't have any other skills. For the most part it was fun."

  "And Vegas is where you met Travis?" Nicole asked.

  "Yes," she said, a smile parting her lips. "He was working as a project manager for a building going up on the strip. It was a six-month job, so he'd packed up Kyle and himself and moved to Vegas. One night he came to a show and the next night he invited me to meet him for dinner. Two days later I was introduced to Kyle. It was very fast, but