by Potter, LR
Spooning her from the back, he said, “Tell me what you’ve found while here.
“Heartache,” she said quietly.
“For yourself?”
“For myself and for the families,” she answered.
“Any of the families… yours?”
Sadly, she shook her head. “I had three possibilities. I saw two of the three, but no luck… for anyone.”
“What about the third? Are you going to check them out? We can hire a private investigator, Tate. You don’t have to do this alone. I don’t like you visiting people you don’t know. I think it’s far too dangerous.”
She sat silently for a few minutes. “I’d like to contact the last family here, and then we can go home. Okay?”
“Home with me?” he asked hopefully as he began to run his fingers over her taunt belly.
Goosebumps broke out at his touch and she shivered. “Okay,” she whispered.
His hands stilled. “Did you just agree to move in with me?”
“If you’ll still have me.”
With ease, he flipped her over to face him and pulled her in to crush her against his chest. Against her lips, he said, “Oh, I plan to have you in so many ways.”
Chapter 11
The next morning, while Jace checked them out of the hotel, Tate called Alan. She expected she’d have to leave him a message and wait for him to call back, but he answered on the second ring.
“Tracey,” he said gruffly.
“Hey, Alan. It’s Tate.”
“Hi! I was hoping to hear from you… especially after speaking to your young fellow. He seems like a good man. I’m happy for you.”
“He is a good man. I’m lucky to have found him,” she said with eyes suddenly misting at the truth of her words.
“I think he’s the lucky one. Have you had any luck in finding your parents? Is there anything I can do?”
“No. No luck, yet. But that’s why I’m calling. Someone stole my backpack and I need the list again. Do you still have the information?”
“Yeah, of course. Give me a minute,” he answered.
Tate sat holding the phone to her ear when Jace reentered the room. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head while holding out a bag with the name of a little boutique which had been situated next to the thrift shop. With her eyebrows scrunched together, she gave him a questioning glance, but he just smiled before sitting down next to her.
Interrupting her thoughts, Alan came back on the line. “Do you need all the names?”
“No. I’ve already been by the Monroes and the Williamses. I just need the other name,” she replied.
There was a pause as Alan read down the list. “Okay, the other name is Janice and Lance Thomas. Their daughter’s name was Jessica. Their address is 49 Clover Field Trail, in Greeneville.”
“Thanks, Alan. Sorry to bother you.”
“It’s no bother. I’ll help however I can… always. Take care of yourself, Tate. Call me any time. Hey, if you find them, will you let me know?”
“I will,” she promised, “Thanks for everything. Bye, I’ll… talk to you soon,” she said as her chest tightened with suppressed emotions.
She clicked the phone off and stood to walk into Jace’s arms. He held her, wordlessly offering her the comfort she needed. “You okay?”
“I am now,” she murmured, thankful for the assurance of his love and his touch.
He kissed the top of her head. “I bought you a present,” he said, stepping away from her.
“A present? What’s the occasion?” she asked, wiping a hand across her eyes.
“Umm… because I love you and because you have no clean clothes,” he said, grinning.
She opened the bag and pulled out a simple yellow sundress with a crocheted inset in the top. It was simple and elegant at the same time. At the bottom of the bag was a pair of slip-on yellow sandals and a pair of underwear. Holding the items to her chest, she said, “I love them, thank you!”
He pulled her back into his arms. “You’re welcome. I had to guess on the sizes, so I hope they fit. There are panties in there also, but consider them optional,” he said with a lascivious grin. “Easier access.”
“If you had any easier access, I’d never get out of a prone position,” she said with the most carefree giggle she’d ever given.
He pulled back to grin down into her shining face. “You make me so happy,” he said softly.
“Ditto,” she murmured.
After showering and dressing in her new clothes, Tate and Jace turned in the keys to the room and the map. After stopping by the diner for breakfast, they set off for nearby Greeneville.
As they drove, Jace asked, “What will you do if this turns out as the other two?”
“I’ll just keep looking, I guess. I have to know… I need to find them.”
“How do you go about talking to them?”
She explained about using her supposed thesis paper.
“That’s a pretty good cover story. What will you do if you think the next people are your parents?”
“Wouldn’t I just tell them?” she asked.
Jace tilted his head as he considered her question. “I don’t know, Tate. I mean, I would think they’d doubt whatever you told them. They have probably lived with dead-ends for a long time, and the pain would make them wary. Don’t you think?”
“I guess so. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
When they pulled onto Clover Field Trail, Tate heard Jace take in a deep breath. As she had already been through this twice, she was a little more calm and confident. She reached over and laid a hand on his arm.
“I love you, Jace. Thanks for doing this with me.”
As he pulled the car to a stop and cut the engine, he leaned over and placed her face in his hands. “I love you, too. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me,” he said before pressing his lips softly against hers.
She waited until Jace got out of the car and opened her door for her. He reached for her hand, and together, they walked up the sidewalk to the Colonial-style house with white pillars in the front. The yellow house was trimmed in neat, white shutters and white window frames. They climbed the steps, and after taking a deep breath, Tate knocked on the door.
After a few minutes, a tall man with white hair and deep brown eyes opened the door. He flashed them a smile. “Can I help you?”
Tate offered a hesitant smile of her own. “Hi, my name is Tate Morgan and this is Jace Staton. Are you Lance Thomas?”
He answered as he wiped his hand on a dish towel. “Yes.”
“This may seem an odd request, but I’m a student at the University of Florida and am doing research on families who’ve had a child abducted. Would you mind answering a few questions?”
Tate studied the man as she spoke, looking for anything to link him to her. But she didn’t see anything.
Lance Thomas’s face went from friendly solicitation to pensive in a flash. “I don’t think so. That was a long time ago. I’d rather not subject my wife to that, if you don’t mind.”
Thinking rapidly, she asked, “Can you tell me what color your daughter’s eyes were?”
His eyebrows raised in confusion, “Hazel. Why? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Did you use any nickname for your daughter?” she asked quickly, not giving him a chance to shut the door.
Again he raised his eyebrows. “Tinker Bell. I don’t really understand your questions. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said politely but firmly as he closed the door before locking it securely behind him.
Jace’s tug on her hand brought her back to him. “Ready?” he asked softly.
Inhaling sharply, she gave a nod of her. Disappointment bloomed in her chest. “I just so wanted to find my family,” she whispered.
He kissed the side of her head. “I know, sweetie. I’m sorry. Let’s go home. We’ll find the best private investigator to help us look, okay?”
Dist
ractedly, she murmured, “I can’t afford that.”
“Ahh… but I can,” he said as they walked to the car.
“Jace, I can’t…”
“Stop. We are a couple and a team. I’ll help any way I can and that’s the end of it. Understood?” he said, interrupting her.
When they reached the car, she turned to face him and gave him a watery smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go home. The sooner I get you there, the quicker I can get you naked,” he said with a grin.
As she slipped into her seat, she said, “Why wait till then? Maybe we’ll stop somewhere along the way…”
Jace leaned his forearm on the roof of the car before laying his head on his arm. With his eyes closed he groaned, “Woman, you’re trying to kill me, right?”
She gave him a smile, thankful to him for lifting her spirits. While she hadn’t found her original family, she had found her new family… her new life – with him.
As they turned off of Clover Field Trail and back onto the State Road, Jace asked her, “Why did you ask him about eye color and nicknames?”
“I have this reoccurring dream that I’ve had for as long as I can remember. In the dream, sometimes there’s man and sometimes a woman, I used to think they were angels. Anyway, in the dream, they repeat this little ditty over and over. I think they used to call me Dandelion. Pretty silly rationale, huh?”
“I don’t know, honey. It’s hard to say what’ll help at this point. When we get home… and after I’ve spent several hours ravishing your delectable body… we’ll make a list of everything you remember. Later, we’ll present that information to a private investigator and see if it helps.”
She leaned over and brushed a hand over his hair and took in his beautiful face. “You’re sweet,” she said quietly.
He gave her a quizzical look. “Why, specifically?”
“For not laughing at me and my funny notions.”
“It’s not funny. Who knows what’s stored in our minds. What about the eye color? Why that question?”
“When I visited the first family, Marla Williams showed me a picture of their little girl. She had blue eyes. I thought I’d nip the questions in the bud if the eye color wasn’t right. I’m not sure why Alan gave me the name of a family missing a child with blues eyes.”
“How old were you when you were abducted? Do you know?”
“I don’t know exactly. Travis Moon told Alan around three or four,” she replied.
“Huh.”
“What?” she asked.
“How old was the little girl in the photo?”
“I don’t know… two or three, maybe. Why?” she asked.
“Well, not that it’ll probably matter, but you know blue eyes can turn brown anytime within the first three years. There have been cases where the eyes turned even later than that. Some rare cases have even been documented to have occurred even at seven years.”
Tate sat quietly as she contemplated his words. Had she been too quick to dismiss the first family? She remembered the feelings the farm and the woman had raised in her.
“Jace, I need to go back,” she said softly.
He pulled his eyes off the road to give her a questioning look. “What?”
“I want to go back. Please take me back.”
“Back to where?”
“Back to the Williams’ farm.
“Tate, the stuff about the eye color might not mean anything.”
“I know, but I totally dismissed them because of it. I need to go back and see if I’m wrong. Please take me back,” she begged.
“Tate, I…”
“Please, Jace. We’re so close. And what if it’s them?”
“I just don’t want you disappointed again. And what about the Williamses? What about their feelings?” he asked in a quiet, rational tone.
She folded her hands in her lap. With her head bowed, she said, “I can’t explain it, but I need to go back. Please?” she asked, raising beseeching eyes to him.
Exhaling slowly, he slowed the speeding car down and made a U-turn, taking them back the way they came.
It was nearly two o’clock before they turned onto the unpaved road of Tank’s Holler. She saw Jace wince as his low-sitting sports car bumped along. Tate studied the farm once again and struggled to place the feelings tightening her chest. She waited until Jace came around to open her door for her.
“I don’t really like this,” he said, as she stood tense beside him.
“I have to at least see.”
“What will you say?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.”
As before, the dog named Homer rousted himself out from under the porch and moved unhurriedly towards them. Tate hunched and called softly to the dog. “Here, Homer, come here, boy.”
The dog bounded over to her and she petted his head. A man came from behind the house and halted at the sight of them. He was a rotund man wearing a recognizable brown UPS uniform.
“Can I help you?” he asked with a friendly smile.
Tate swallowed, suddenly unsure of what to say. “Uh… my name is Tate Morgan. Are you Tyson Williams?”
The man strolled closer to them and bent down to scratch behind the dog’s ear. “Yep, that’s me.”
Tate studied him, searching for any type of memory. “I was here yesterday speaking to your wife. I’m from the University of Florida. I’m doing research on the effects of families who’ve had children abducted. Your wife was nice enough to speak to me, but I became upset and had to leave. I… I wanted to apologize.”
Tyson Williams looked between Tate and Jace. Jace stepped forward and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Dr. Jace Staton.”
Tyson Williams stepped forward and shook hands with Jace. “What exactly is this research for?”
“I’m compiling research for my thesis. And your name was one of the names given to me,” Tate replied.
Tyson Williams appeared hesitant, but eventually nodded his head. “Well, come on in. Marla is in the house.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“So what kind of doctor are you?” she heard Tyson Williams ask Jace.
She tuned out their conversation but could hear the cadence of their voices. In her mind, she struggled with what to say to Marla Williams. How did she actually determine whether these were her parents?
She paused as Tyson rounded her and opened the door. As he stepped through the threshold, he called, “Hey, Marla, honey, we have company.”
Tate watched Marla step down the stairs leading to what appeared to be a second floor of the house. Marla’s eyebrows creased in consternation at seeing Tate standing in the house.
“Mrs. Williams, this is Dr. Jace Staton. He is here with me. I wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly yesterday.”
“Are you okay? I was worried,” Marla Williams said.
“I’m fine. I would like to ask a few more questions if you wouldn’t mind.”
Tyson and Marla Williams glanced at each other but eventually Tyson Williams said, “Okay. What would you like to know?”
Marla directed them to sit in the same seats she’d been in the day before. “Can I get either of you something to drink? I just made tea,” Marla asked politely.
Both Jace and Tate shook their heads. “No, thanks,” Tate said.
“What information can we provide?” Tyson asked.
“Can I get the particulars of how your daughter was taken? I know Mrs. Williams told me from her viewpoint, can you tell me from yours?” This time, Tate was determined to listen to the story and not let her mind drift as it’d done yesterday.
Tyson Williams sat for a long minute before responding. “It was mid-summer and we’d gone into town. There is always a small fair going on at that time of year. Sophie was so excited to see all the people and the sights and sounds of the fair. I’d been asked to judge a chili cook-off so Marla had taken Sophie off to see some more of the sights. She probably doesn’t realize that I
knew she was actually taking that girl off to buy her something. But I always knew.”
Tate turned her eyes away from the obvious love between the two Williamses as he leaned over and grabbed Marla’s hand.
“Well, they’d been gone about an hour, when Marla come running back to me, frantic as Sophie had wandered off. That girl wasn’t scared of nothing. We went to the security tent and notified them and they closed down the fair, not letting anyone enter or leave, but it must have been too late, because we never found her.”
Tate swallowed at the tears which threatened to overwhelm her at the pain which radiated from the couple.
“I’m so sorry,” Tate murmured softly.
Tyson nodded. “We miss that girl every day. We look for her wherever we go. Why, she’d be about your age now, I reckon.”
“We hope everyday she’ll come home. As silly as it is, we’ve left her room just as it was,” Marla Williams added.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Marla asked Tate, “How did you get interested in something like this?”
Tate glanced at Jace and he leaned over and reached for her hand. Swallowing painfully in her indecision, she took a steadying breath. “I was abducted when I was a child.”
She felt both sets of the Williamses’ eyes flash towards her. Tyson recovered first. “How awful for you. Did your family find you, or you them?”
“No, not yet.”
Again, the Williamses flashed their eyes at her after glancing at each other.
Clearing her throat, Tate asked softly. “Would it be inappropriate if I asked to see Sophie’s room?” She felt Jace tense next to her.
“Tate, I don’t think…” Jace began before being cut off by Marla Williams.
“I think it’d be all right,” she said, rising to her feet.
“Marla, are you sure?” Tyson asked her, rising to his feet also.
“Ty, what’s the harm?” she asked softly.
Instead of answering, he simply placed his hands on her shoulders and drew her back to place a soft kiss on her head.
Marla led the way up the stairs. At the top of the landing, she turned left and led them through a door painted red with Sophie’s Room painted in bright yellow. It wasn’t quite the colors Tate was expecting. She’d assumed a little girl’s room would have been done in pinks or purples.
