Finding Abby: A Romantic Suspense set in the Colorado Mountains (Whispering Pines Mysteries)

by Rhonda Blackhurst

  “Good question.”

  She put her hand on his thigh and gently squeezed. “I’m so sorry, Paul.”

  “My dad used to hit my mom. When he hit me, my mom did nothing to stop it. I would never do that to my kid.”

  His voice was unsteady and his eyes glistened.

  He looked out over the water, and Holly thought she’d lost him back in time for a moment. She decided it best to let him wander in his own thoughts for a moment and stayed quiet, allowing him the time. Finally, he broke the silence, his voice so quiet she had to strain to hear him above the waves lapping at the shore and the breeze, which was picking up.

  “There’s something I should probably tell you.”

  She stiffened and her heart started thumping. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re married with kids? Because if it is …” She stole a glance, afraid of what she was going to see there. His lips twisted in a half-smile.

  “No, I’m not married. But I do have a kid.”

  She heaved a sigh of relief. A kid she could handle. Heck, her job was kids. “Boy or girl?”

  “Is it a deal breaker?”

  “Which one, the fact that you have a child or whether it’s a boy or a girl?”

  He chuckled. “Either, I guess.”

  She grinned and lay her head on his shoulder. “No. Neither is a deal breaker. I love kids.”

  “A boy.”

  “Are you comfortable with me meeting him?”

  “Yes. In fact, I’m hoping to ultimately get custody.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Nine. Almost ten.”

  Holly’s stomach fluttered. She was thrilled that Paul wanted her to meet him. That must mean … no, she wasn’t allowing her mind to go there. To hope. But once again, it was too late. The seed of hope had already been planted. At this rate, she was going to have a whole garden of hope growing within her.

  “What’s his name?”

  She felt him stiffen. She lifted her head from his shoulder, pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed it. “You okay?”

  “I am. I hope you will be once I finish telling you what—”

  This time, it was she who stiffened. “You said you weren’t married.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then anything else is workable, Paul. You need to trust me.” She placed a hand on his back, rubbing it gently.

  He drew in a long breath, exhaling just as long.

  “Paul?”

  “My son’s name is Cooper.”

  Holly closed her eyes with relief, tilted her head back and laughed. “Oh, my gosh! You had me worried for nothing.” She looked at him, confused with what she saw there. Raw pain. “Paul, I love the name Cooper. I can’t believe you were worried about telling me such a simple thing. In fact, it’s more common than you would think. My friend Abby’s son’s name is Cooper.”

  “I know.”

  He was looking over the water as if seeing something that wasn’t there.

  “Oh, I told you that already, didn’t I?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like the name Cooper,” she assured him.

  “It’s the same kid. The Cooper you know and my son.”

  It took a minute to register, then her mind spun with confusion, her thoughts stumbling over one another. “But how? Abby’s ex-husband’s name was Hunter. She didn’t say anything about it being someone else’s child.”

  One look at Paul and time skidded to a halt. As wide open as it was around them sitting on the beach with nothing but sand and water, she suddenly felt like she was suffocating. She looked around them, hoping to see something, someone, but everywhere she looked was empty. She tried to stand but Paul held her hand, keeping her close to him.

  “Holly, let me explain. Please.”

  “What’s there to explain?” Her voice sounded shrill to her own ears. “That you deceived me? That not only did you not tell me your real name, you withheld critical information from me? So should I call you Hunter or Paul? Not that I’m even sure it matters at this point.” Her voice was getting louder. “In fact, why don’t you call me a ride home?” She yanked her hand away and stood.

  “Holly, please.”

  Tears stung the back of her eyelids. How could she be so stupid? And here she hoped … well, let’s just say she’d hoped too much, despite telling herself not to. Serves you right, Holly.

  “Holly?”

  His voice was little more than a whisper and sounded strange. She dared to look down at him, his face tilted up toward her, and she saw tears running down his cheeks. The pained look in his eyes made her breath catch.

  “Please, Holly. All I’m asking for is a chance to explain. To tell you my side of the story. When more than one person is involved, there’s more than one side. What she told you isn’t the truth.” He looked away and back over the open water. “Not the whole truth anyway.”

  She stood rooted in the sand, torn between running like hell and giving him the chance he was asking for. If she didn’t at least listen, she would never know for sure what happened. Then she would always wonder what if. Reluctantly, she sat back down, keeping a noticeable distance between them. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees.

  “You have five minutes. Go.”

  “Abby and I met when we were too young to know who we were, much less getting to know someone else.”

  “That’s the best you’ve got? The age excuse?”

  “Stop pouting long enough for me to get everything out. Besides,” he leaned over, gently pushing his shoulder against hers, “you’re only giving me five minutes so you have to let me have all of those minutes so I can get it all in.”

  “Sorry. Go.”

  “It all started out good enough. I was a cop and worked the night shift. Abby was going to school to get her Masters. As soon as she got pregnant, she quit her classes. Instead, she became insanely jealous over me being gone nights, insisting I was out messing around.”

  “She never told me that.”

  “Of course she didn’t. Why would she? Anyway, once Cooper was born, she used to get on me as soon as I walked in the door, a couple of times telling me I smelled of perfume. I was working by butt off to support her and my son, and the accusations just started wearing on me. Especially when she slapped me in front of Cooper.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Abby. Not at all.”

  “People can be whoever it is they need to be to get the approval of whoever it is they’re trying to win over.” Holly gave him a skeptical look and he held up a hand. “Just sayin’.”

  She looked at her watch. “Go on. You now have one and a half minutes left.”

  “One day when I came home from work, I was late because we had a call that took longer than expected. Abby was furious and started in one me as soon as I walked through the door. When Cooper came in the room, she started in on him, and when she got physical with him, I lost it. I remembered my mom all over again, not protecting me from my dad. I wasn’t about to not protect my son.” He looked at her, his eyes misty. “Did I go overboard? Probably. But I was just protecting my son. When that old man came in, Abby started putting on this show, being the consummate victim, and gave him this whole song and dance about how I was trying to kill her. I paid a heavy price for protecting my boy, Holly. Please don’t make me pay it again.”

  His eyes pleaded with her and she felt her heart giving in. She fought it, but her heart won.

  “Why did you tell me your name was Paul? Why lie?”

  “If I’d told you who I was to begin with, would you have even given me a chance? You already had your mind made up about what a monster I was because of what Abby told you.” He looked at her, scooting over, closing the space between them. “I wanted a chance. And in all fairness, I didn’t lie. I go by Paul now. Try living in this world when people know you’re a police officer accused and found guilty of domestic violence and battery by some stupid jury who doesn’t have all t
he facts. I’ve changed my identity, which includes my name.”

  “I just can’t believe Abby would hurt Cooper. That boy is everything to her.”

  She felt torn between Abby and Paul. Her head and her heart were leading her in two different directions. Her heart was quickly gaining ground in the race.

  “Again, anyone can be who they need to be to suit the occasion. You have admitted that Abby has only invited you over a handful of times, if that. There’s a reason for that.”

  She allowed him to take her hand, his other hand cupping her chin and turning her face toward his. He looked deep into her eyes, silently pleading with her. He gently leaned in and kissed her lips, lingering for a moment before pulling back, his face mere inches from hers. Her stomach fluttered and her knees felt like jelly. It was a good thing she was sitting down or she would have fallen. Her heart just won.

  “What do you say? Give me a chance? You’ve gotten to know me, Holly. You know I’m not capable of what she told you I did.”

  “I believe you,” she whispered, breathless.

  He leaned in and kissed her, teasing her with his lips before pulling back. “What do you say we head for the house and break it in.”

  17

  Abby found Piper deep in conversation with Jeremiah behind the counter. Piper, as usual, was the one talking, her dad listening, void of expression.

  “Where’d Cooper disappear to?” Abby asked.

  “Ran upstairs for a minute,” Piper said.

  “Escaped from you already?” She teased her sister. “That didn’t take long.” Piper made a face at her. “How long are you staying?”

  “Why? Trying to get rid of me already?”

  “No,” she laughed. “Just that you never told me. Since weekends are so busy I was hoping you’d be staying longer so we can have some quality quiet time. Not that time with you is ever quiet.” She struggled with Piper’s bag she opted to carry and looked at the suitcase on wheels that her sister brought with her. “By the looks of it, I think I’d be safe in saying you’ll be here through the week.”

  Piper laughed at her. “Yeah, we’ll see how long I can rough it up here in camp of the woods. You know that wilderness has never really been my thing. Unless I’m on my bike. But I can tell you this, one dead squirrel or one dead anything and I’m gone.”

  Piper’s bike was a new Harley-Davidson Sportster she’d just purchased four months ago. “For a tough biker chick, you’re a bigger baby than Gus.”

  They bantered back and forth as they made their way to the guest room, just steps down the short hall from Abby’s room. Abby saw Piper watching her with a smirk as she struggled to hoist the suitcase onto the bed.

  “Don’t bother helping me,” Abby said.

  “Wouldn’t think of it. It’s too much fun watching you struggle.”

  Abby made a face at her and finally got the weighted case onto the bed. “I’m sure I could find you a tent to sleep in, you know.”

  “We both know that ain’t happenin’. I’d be knockin’ on Stewart’s cabin door.” Piper looked around the room. “I have to say, you’ve done a fine job with the place.”

  “You act like you’re surprised.”

  “Not surprised, really, just … well, I guess I didn’t expect it to be so cozy and cute.”

  “Yeah, cause that’s totally not me, is it?” she asked sarcastically.

  “I expected beaded curtains in the doorways, peace signs and tie dye.”

  “Come on, you jerk. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  Abby led Piper through the small upper level, showing her Cooper’s room, clothes strewn all over the floor and video game controller lying in the middle of the floor.

  “I need to teach my nephew to clean his room. Can’t even see the gorgeous hardwood floor with all of his clothes everywhere.

  “I’m pretty sure kids don’t care about gorgeous hardwood floors. Besides, I choose my battles carefully when it comes to raising my son. His space is his space.”

  “He still needs to be responsible for his space.”

  Piper pointed to a spot in the corner beside Cooper’s nightstand, and Abby winced. There sat a partially hidden and half-eaten bagel, the cream cheese dried and crusty on the top. A brown banana peel lay beside it.

  “Uh, yeah, that I’ll have to talk to him about. He knows he’s not supposed to have food in his room.”

  “You’ll have rodents here in no time. It’s probably where the squirrel on your front porch came from.”

  Abby laughed and touched Piper’s arm, giving her a gentle push. “Not so. Besides that,” she pointed at the food, “we can’t expect a kid to keep his room the way we as adults keep ours.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think we have to worry about that with Cooper.”

  “Sarcasm aside, my judgmental sister, I do have a rule of no food in his room except on certain occasions. And I’ve told him if anything comes crawling out because he’d snuck food in here, I would clean it. And I guaranteed he wouldn’t want that because I would toss everything out.”

  “Oh, let’s.” Piper grinned like a little girl. “I want to help so I can see if he has a journal with anything written about Victoria.”

  Abby laughed a hearty sound. “Stop it right now. Besides, tell me you never snuck anything into your room when you were Cooper’s age. Come on, I dare you.” Piper was silent. “Aha! See? You can’t. Because we both know better than that. I remember when you snuck—”

  “And that’s enough out of you, little sister,” Piper said cutting her off.

  They journeyed their way to Abby’s room next. An enormous Cedar Lake Bent Branch bed covered almost half of the room. It was her very favorite piece of furniture in the whole house. Beside it, tucked into the remaining space between her bed and the wall, was a Cedar Lake Cabin nightstand. Abby saw Piper eyeing the bed with envy. Abby admired again, as if for the first time, the beautiful cedar logs with some of the inner bark and knots visible, and the branches perfectly and artfully placed for the headboard and footboard, all with the vintage whiskey finish she’d chosen when ordering it.

  “Geez! You could get lost in that thing.” Piper jumped, doing a half twist, landing on her back on the bed, her red hair splayed around her. “I want to sleep in this bed.”

  “You’re not sleeping with me. I had to share a bed with you when we were little and swore I’d never do it again.”

  “And why not?”

  “Because you’re a bed hog. And you snore.”

  “I do not snore.”

  “Yes, you do. Trust me. Not to mention you said Aaron’s name a million times in your sleep.”

  Piper stood up and playfully punched her in the arm. “You’re such a sensitive spoiled child.”

  “I had this bedroom furniture in Oakland, but it fits much better here.”

  “Ya think?” Piper snorted. “It’s been a long time since I was at your place there.”

  “I hadn’t noticed.”

  “No need to get all bum-hurt about it.” Piper gave her a half-hug.

  Her sister opened the cedar chest at the foot of the bed. It held mementos for Cooper from his grandparents, some photos of his father Abby would give him some day, journals and letters she had written to him from the time he was born, as well as a quilt her grandmother had made. Her dresser was Cedar Lake Cabin, matching the nightstand. A candle, as well as a small water feature, sat in the center of her dresser.

  Piper picked up the candle and sniffed. “Ooohhh, vanilla.” She sniffed it again and smiled at Abby. “You know that vanilla is an aphrodisiac, right?”

  “And you know you’re perverted, right?”

  Piper chuckled. “Mirror?”

  “What about it?”

  “I don’t see one.”

  “Don’t have one and don’t want one.”

  Piper looked at her dumbfounded. “What do you mean you don’t want one?”

  “Why would I?” Abby met Piper’s stare and gaping jaw with a smile. �
�I don’t need to look at myself like you apparently do. I have a mirror in the bathroom if I need to worry about my hair and makeup.”

  Piper shook her head. “I swear we’re from different parents.”

  “And I swear you’re a complete contradiction to a typical biker babe.”

  Next, Abby showed her the bathroom she would be sharing with Cooper, his towel from that morning still in a heap on the floor, a glob of hair gel on the vanity. When did he start wearing hair gel? Abby stooped down to pick up the towel, folded it in half and hung it on the towel bar.

  “If you’d rather, you can share my bathroom,” Abby said.

  “I may take you up on that,” Piper answered, grimacing as she looked at the toothpaste left in the sink from that morning.

  They went downstairs to the main level and into the family room. Despite the furniture not being as rustic as her bedroom furniture, it still fit a whole lot better here than it had in Oakland. She was surprised when Piper didn’t give her a hard time about it.

  “Love the real wood fireplace, Abs. Have you become a girl scout so you can light a fire for us?”

  “As a matter of fact, Cooper and I both know how to make one impressive fire.” She thrust out her chest with pride.

  Piper whistled. “You just keep amazing me, kiddo.”

  They ended back in the sunny yellow and white kitchen with green and white gingham café-style curtains. Abby could hear Victoria’s voice from the store as she checked in a couple of campers. She looked over her shoulder and stretched her neck to be sure there wasn’t anyone waiting. Cooper was stocking last minute items on shelves and checking the minnows pooled in clumps in their compartments, unaware that they were soon to be big fish food.

  She looked through the big picture window in the front of the room and saw Sam by the lake working on one of the paddleboats. Stewart stood behind him looking on. She knew Jeremiah was out working on her studio. Warmth spread throughout her innermost parts as she watched everyone doing exactly what they loved to do. She felt more complete and safe than she had in a long time. This is exactly where she belonged. She made a cup of coffee for Piper and herself.