The Sharpest Edge

by Stephanie Rowe

  It wasn’t even worth thinking about because it wasn’t going to happen. Why torture herself?

  “I loved her.”

  Kim’s gaze snapped to her dad’s face at the sound of a very rusty and gravelly voice. His eyes were closed, his lips still. Had it been her imagination? “Dad?”

  “I loved her.” He said it again, and this time she saw his lips move.

  “Dad!” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, tears blurring her vision. “Oh, my God. You’re awake!” Tears gave way to heaving sobs as she clutched his hand to her chest. “I thought I was never going to talk to you again.”

  His hand twitched in hers and then squeezed ever so slightly. “I felt the same way.” A single tear trickled out of his eye and she cried for both of them.

  After she ran out of tears—and energy—she sat there quietly, gripping his hand as though she’d never let go. He’d fallen asleep without saying anything else, but he was back. She knew he’d returned to her.

  They had so much to talk about, so much to say.

  A light tap sounded at the door. “Kim?”

  She blinked to try to clear her vision, then turned to the door. “Hi, Helen.”

  The older woman took in Kim’s tearstained expression and her face literally crumpled as she clutched the door. “What happened?”

  Kim managed to smile. “He talked to me.”

  “He…woke up?” Helen stared at her. “Don’t lie to me.”

  Kim shook her head. “He’s asleep now, but he woke up.”

  “Oh, God.” Helen fell to her knees beside the bed, tears streaming. “Max, Max, Max. Can you hear me?”

  He moved his head slightly and a faint smile curved his lips. “My love.”

  Kim decided to give Helen some privacy. Or was it she who needed the privacy? The tears were starting again and she wanted to be alone. She slipped out of the room and shut the door behind her, giving them a moment.

  How could she have doubted Helen? Maybe there was stuff going on, but it certainly didn’t include Helen stealing from Max or trying to kill him. She leaned against the wall and wiped her cheeks.

  Her dad was awake.

  Soon they would get a chance to talk, really talk, about things that should have been discussed a long time ago. It was time.

  But before she did anything, there was someone she needed to tell. She pulled out her cell phone and made a call. “Sean? It’s Kim. My dad’s awake.”

  SEAN EASED HIMSELF into Max’s hospital room while Kim and Helen waited outside, giving him a chance to be alone with Max. He paused when he saw Max’s eyes open. “Hi.” His voice felt rough and sounded strange, so he cleared his throat. “Good to see you, Max.”

  “Don’t be a fool…. Come hug me.” The words were slow and halting.

  Sean blinked hard. “Yes, sir.” He walked across the room and did as ordered. He felt sort of awkward until Max held him tight and didn’t let go. After a few moments, Sean gripped the older man right back. When they finally released, Sean was annoyed to find the old man’s tears reflected on his own face.

  He wiped them off and sat next to the bed. “How do you feel?”

  “Like hell.” He paused to take a few breaths. “How did you get Kim…back here?”

  “She came because of your accident.”

  “Really?” Max rubbed his chin and it seemed as though that small action took so much effort.

  “You haven’t asked her why she’s here?”

  “Doctors have been…bugging me…since I woke up.” His voice faded by the end of the long sentence. He lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again. “You going to…marry her…this time?”

  Sean studied his fingernails. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because.” He wasn’t about to tell Max that Kim was leaving again. Kim could tell her dad herself. “I’m sorry.”

  Max opened his eyes a crack. “Why are you sorry?”

  “Because I know you want me to marry her.”

  Max snorted once, so weakly, but it was still a glimmer of the old Max. “I’m too old…to worry about who you marry… I’m just—” he struggled to find the energy to continue “—glad you’re back in town.”

  Sean frowned. “You don’t care?”

  “You’re here. That’s enough.” Max shut his eyes again. “Glad you’re back, son.”

  “Me, too.” They sat for a few more minutes until Max’s even breathing told him the man was asleep.

  Son.

  Max had called him son.

  And Sean wasn’t even going to marry his daughter.

  Suddenly, Sean’s chest felt tight and his eyes started to act up again.

  He stood and cleared his throat. Time to get back to the interrogation of Alan, which had turned up not a single shred of usable evidence against him so far. The man was good, Sean would give him that, but he would break him.

  THIRTY-SIX HOURS LATER, Kim and Sean were sitting beside her dad’s bed and Alan had been released.

  According to Sean, Alan hadn’t coughed up any useful evidence during the interrogation and Didi had been waiting outside to pick him up. Alan seemed surprised to hear that Didi had been so supportive of him, but accepted her ride anyway. Something wasn’t right there, but neither Sean nor Kim could figure out what it was.

  Which was why they were in here to grill Max on what he knew. Yeah, he was still weak, but they simply had to find out the truth. Max was propped up, eating Jell-O, and he had some sparkle in his eyes. The doctors deemed him recovered enough to sit for an official interrogation.

  Kim watched Sean prepare to begin the interview. He hadn’t been home in a day and a half, interviewing Alan around the clock to try to get him to admit something. The first time Kim and Sean had seen each other again was outside this room five minutes ago, even though she’d continued to stay at his house. Sleeping in his bed. Wondering when he’d come back and unsure what she’d say when he did. She should have gone to a hotel. But she hadn’t been able to make herself. It felt right to stay at Sean’s place, so that’s what she’d done.

  She missed the fool. Or was she the fool? Either way, when he’d approached the hospital room, she’d wanted to throw her arms around his neck and hug him. Oh, sure, he probably would have embraced her if the look on his face was any indication, but what would that accomplish? It wasn’t as if it would change anything, make him decide that she was more important than her dad. Or, at least, equally important. She could settle for equal billing, couldn’t she?

  “You guys an item again?” Max asked them.

  Kim wrapped her fingers around the arms of her chair and didn’t look at Sean. “No.”

  Max didn’t look as though he believed her. “Why not?”

  “Because.”

  Max looked at Sean. “You not doing right by her?”

  Sean shifted in his seat and looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know.”

  Max turned back to Kim. “He loves you.”

  She met his gaze. “No, Dad. He loves you.” Sean didn’t deny it.

  Max grinned. “I love him, too. Great kid.”

  “He’s not a kid. And see? That’s the problem. He would choose you over me and I can’t marry someone like that.” She frowned. “I couldn’t before and I couldn’t this time. Last time, Mom was the one who saw it, but this time I figured it out on my own.”

  Sean still said nothing, but he was looking at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. What was he thinking about?

  Max’s smile faded. “Helen said you had some questions about Mom.”

  Kim hesitated. Somehow, it didn’t seem so important to bring up the past. Except that she still didn’t forgive her father, and the little girl in her wanted everything to be all right with Daddy. And part of her wanted to know the truth. No, she didn’t want to know. She had to know.

  “Show him the letter,” Sean said.

  She looked at him and saw in his eyes the same need t
o get closure on unanswered questions. Just as she had believed her dad was a murderer for so long, Sean had held him up on a pedestal. Maybe it was time for both of them to learn the truth.

  “What letter?”

  She unfolded the envelope from her purse and gave it to Max. “I received this a few days after Mom died.”

  Sean handed Max his glasses. Then the two of them waited while he read. She almost reached out for Sean’s hand but stopped herself. What would be the point? They had to learn to go their separate ways.

  Yet when he took her hand, she didn’t resist. They curved their fingers together and waited. Was he also wondering if his world was about to collapse?

  By the time Max finished reading, there were tears in his eyes. A month ago, Kim would have dismissed it as show, but now? Maybe they were real. She didn’t know.

  Max looked up. “I’m so sorry you didn’t tell me about this. Is this why you left in the first place?”

  “Yes.”

  He sighed and leaned back against the pillow, suddenly looking very tired.

  She took his hand. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry for leaving.”

  Sean’s grip tightened on her other hand.

  Her dad squeezed her fingers. “And I regret so much that I didn’t chase you across the country.” He sighed. “Your mom was clinically depressed. She’d been on medication for years, but sometimes she stopped taking it.”

  What was he talking about? “Are you serious?”

  “I’d taken her to so many different doctors and we found medication that would stabilize her for a while and then she’d go off again.” He rubbed Kim’s hand, staring off in the distance as if he wasn’t even aware of Kim and Sean in the room. “I loved her so much and I blamed myself for her depression. It was Helen who helped me see that it wasn’t my fault.”

  Kim tensed. “So you were dating Helen before Mom died?”

  Her dad looked at her. “Yes, I was.”

  She pulled her hand free, all her old feelings of anger and resentment resurging. “Did Mom know it? Is that why she killed herself?” She caught a glimpse of Sean’s face and he looked absolutely shocked.

  Her dad sat up. “I gave everything to your mother until there was nothing left of me, either. Helen saved me. Without her, I would have fallen with your mom. I needed a woman who thought I was actually worth something. You think that letter was awful? Try living with a woman you love more than anything who tells you how horrible you are whenever her medication stops working. She’s the one who killed me, and Helen saved me.”

  Kim stared at him. “You take no responsibility for cheating on Mom?”

  “Of course I do. It was wrong. I actually broke it off with Helen three months before Mom died. Once Helen showed me I was worth something, I decided I was strong enough to save Mom.” He met her gaze with an unwavering stare. “I wasn’t. No one was. Not you. Not me. Not anyone.”

  “So when she died you ran to Helen’s arms without another thought?”

  “I had plenty of thoughts, but I’m human. I needed her.” He shook his head. “And now look what I’ve done. I almost lost Helen because I couldn’t stop thinking about Mom and wondering what I could have done differently.” He looked at her. “Helen has stood by me for ten years while I blamed myself for everything. Did you know she was in the process of filing for divorce when I had my accident?”

  Sean sucked in his breath, and when she glanced at him, the lines around his eyes seemed deeper than before. “Was she embezzling?” he asked.

  Max nodded. “She told me about it. Said you two would figure it out soon.”

  Oh, wow.

  “She admitted it?” Sean sounded dumbfounded.

  “Yes. After the accident, she realized she didn’t want to lose me, so she figured the only thing that would save me would be to destroy my past and make me live for the future.” He shrugged. “I think she was right.”

  “You do? You’re not mad?” She’d been so certain that losing the camp would destroy him, which is why she hadn’t believed that Helen was guilty. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m selling the place. You and Cheryl get first dibs and if you don’t want it—” he looked at Sean “—you can have it. Otherwise, it’s going on the market at the end of the summer.”

  Hope flashed across Sean’s face, replaced almost instantly with the heaviness of despair. “I can’t afford it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We’d work out a payment plan.”

  “Even though I’m not married to Kim?” A hint of fire flashed in his eyes. A fire she hadn’t seen since she’d been back. It was the energy of hope for a future, for a home, for his deepest desires to come true. How could she compete with that?

  Max looked aggravated. “Who the hell cares if you’re married to Kim? You’re still my only son.”

  Kim stared at her father, her mind reeling. He considered Sean his only son. By giving Sean the Loon’s Nest, Sean would never need her. He had everything he wanted.

  Loneliness surged through her and she fought to keep the corners of her mouth from turning down. She didn’t have to be lonely. Not anymore. She had her dad back, and that was something, right?

  In some ways, Max was exactly the man she’d imagined. He’d cheated on Joyce. But he carried so much pain she’d never imagined, she actually found herself feeling sympathetic. He’d suffered as much as the rest of them. She lifted her hand, hesitated, then touched her dad’s shoulder, her fingers lingering for only a moment.

  Sean cleared his throat and she glanced at him. His jaw was locked, his eyes cold. His gaze flicked briefly at her and she saw the hurt deep in his soul. She had just learned that her dad wasn’t as horrible as she’d thought, and he’d had the opposite experience. His idol had fallen.

  “Did Helen arrange for your accident?” Sean’s voice was harsh as he blew off the personal discussion and focused on the investigation. Too much for him to deal with?

  Max shook his head. “She says she didn’t, and I believe her. Why try to knock me off when she was already filing for divorce?”

  Sean hunched his shoulders and Kim realized that Sean didn’t know what to believe anymore.

  “Why did you hire Pete Gibbs?” Sean asked.

  Yep. He was in denial.

  She should be annoyed with him or feel smug because all his harsh judgment of her had been proven unfair, but instead, she felt his pain. He hadn’t been right about Max and Helen and her mom, but then again, she hadn’t been entirely correct, either. It was a mess, and she was probably the only one who understood what he was feeling. She moved toward him until her shoulder was brushing against his and he immediately leaned into her, as if they were drawing strength through their touch. Did her father’s fall from heaven change anything between them now? Did she want it to?

  “Pete Gibbs.” Max shook his head. “The man took my money and then disappeared. What a thief.”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Really? Dead?” At Sean’s nod, Max rubbed his chin. “Well, I guess that’s a good excuse for not returning my calls. Heart attack or something?”

  “Gunshot to the head.”

  Max’s hand stopped moving. “Oh. Why?”

  “The only missing file was yours,” Sean said. “We think he was killed because of the investigation he was doing for you. What did he turn up? Was it Helen?”

  “Stop with Helen. Just because she stole some money doesn’t mean she’s a murderer.” Max resumed rubbing his chin, a contemplative tilt to his head. “I hired him because I was getting worried. I was hearing rumors that someone was asking questions about Kim and Cheryl and that scum she married. Someone searched my office and my house. When I looked into it and found out that Jimmy was getting out on parole, I decided to have Pete look into things.” He shrugged. “Then Pete disappeared and I went to my office to meet someone and I got clobbered on the head. Next thing I knew, I woke up here.”

  “Who called you?” There was an edge to Sean’s voice, de
speration for answers he didn’t have.

  “Will. He was working the front desk that night and said he’d found a discrepancy in the payroll system he couldn’t reconcile.”

  Poor Will. He’d been manipulated, then killed.

  Sean leaned forward and handed him a mug shot of Alan. “Did you ever see this guy around the camp?”

  Max peered at it. “Nope. Good-looking guy, though. Who is he?”

  “Jimmy’s brother,” Kim said quietly. And my former best friend.

  “The scum has a brother?”

  Sean filled Max in on all the details while Kim leaned back in the chair and watched them together. They were a perfect match, bouncing ideas off each other, finishing each other’s thoughts. They should be father and son. They were far more alike than she and her dad were. Except there was an undercurrent of tension between them now—a new one—and it was coming from Sean. The man he’d idolized no longer existed. How would he take it?

  Welcome to her world.

  Then her dad smacked his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this.”

  She sat up and Sean leaned forward. “Think of what?”

  “Did you pull down the overhead light fixture in my office?”

  Sean shot a look at Kim and she shrugged. “What are you talking about?”

  “Pete was going to install a digital camera in there in case someone broke in again. It was supposed to feed to my computer. I figured he didn’t do it because he never called to confirm. But maybe he did it before he died and hooked it up.”

  Sean snapped his notebook shut. “I’ll go check it out.” He looked at Kim. “Walk me out?”

  Her heart immediately jumped. She didn’t know what to say to him in private. Heck, she didn’t even know what to say to herself. Both their worlds had been ripped to shreds. “I’ll be right back…Dad.”

  Max nodded and she followed Sean into the hall, where there was an officer reading a newspaper on a chair next to the door. Kim frowned. “Is he here because Alan is out of jail?”

  “Yes.”

  She pressed her lips together. Alan couldn’t be a murderer. He couldn’t. But what other options were there? Helen?

  “Listen, I want you to stay here until I get back. I don’t like Alan being out,” Sean said. He didn’t touch her. Didn’t try to bond. Just threw on his cop persona and ignored the rest. Why wouldn’t he let her in? “I’m also worried about Didi. If she stops by, try to detain her until I get back. She’s going to get herself in trouble if she hangs out with him.”