Lost & Found Love

by Laura Browning

  “Come back inside,” Evan told them both. “I have a feeling that the earth hasn’t quit shifting beneath our feet.”

  * * * *

  Tabby studied them when they returned. Jenny’s arm was tucked in Stoner’s elbow. Evan was just a step behind, and all of them were smiling. She blinked against the sudden tears in her eyes. Her dream of a family was becoming reality.

  “I guess it’s my turn to confess now.”

  Everyone in the room stared at Catherine. Tabby had known she was hiding something. Now it seemed tied to this mess.

  “Katie?” Stoner inquired. “What on earth could you possibly have to confess?”

  She looked at her husband and sighed. “You’re not an easy man to live with, Stoner. You’re an even harder man to love. I’ve alternately loved and hated you for thirty-five years.”

  She tugged at her earring, an unusual gesture from the normally poised woman Tabby had come to know. “Five years ago, I answered your private line when you were out hunting one morning. A woman asked for you. She sounded much older than the political groupies who flocked to you in Washington, so I drew her out. She had called from a pay phone in Asheville, North Carolina.”

  “Katie, what did you do?” Stoner whispered.

  Catherine’s eyes went to Tabby. “It was your mother, honey. It was Mary. She told me who she was, said she didn’t want you to know—didn’t want Stoner to know—but she was desperate to get you away from there so you could go to college.” Catherine reached into her pocket and drew out a sketch that bore the creases of being folded and unfolded time and time again. “She said you had incredible artistic talent, so she sent me this as proof.”

  Catherine handed the sketch to Stoner who gasped. It was a sketch of him sitting on the porch of the cabin, looking as he had around Evan’s age. When he passed it to Joe, he held it for Tabby to look at. She touched it, smiling in nostalgia.

  “I called it ‘Mama’s Memory’ because she talked about it so often from the time I was a little girl until I left for college. She never told me who the man sitting in front of the cabin was. I always wondered what happened to it.”

  Catherine smiled. “I flew to Asheville, and we met for lunch. I think your mama was ill even then, honey, but even if she wasn’t, I could see how life had worn her down. She showed me your picture. I saw so much of Stoner in you. She described your talent and the trouble with your stepfather. I set up an account for you, jointly in your name and hers, to help you with college. When I heard she passed, I made sure you found out about the teaching position here.”

  When Joseph twined his fingers through hers, Tabby realized she had tears welling in her eyes. The letter would have brought her here to visit, but it was Catherine who had opened the door for her to move here, to get to know her family. Joseph tucked a handkerchief in Tabby’s hand so she could wipe her eyes.

  “That explains why you weren’t shocked to hear Dad was her father the day of the accident,” Evan mused. “You already knew.”

  “Forgive me,” Catherine said, staring at Tabby contritely. “Despite having helped you, Tabby, I was still prepared to dislike you. After all, you were my husband’s love child, conceived and born after I had already given him children, after I had been married to him for ten years. But then I saw how you two meshed, how you changed him. Suddenly, I was looking again at the Stoner I fell in love with decades ago. He laughed without that awful cold edge to it. He used to lock himself in his study or his wood shop and stare morosely into space, and suddenly he was creating, talking, smiling, even making jokes about his house arrest.

  “I will never forget his face that afternoon he knelt next to you, keeping you alive until the ambulance came. I knew if we lost you, we would lose him before anyone else had a chance to see the real Stoner.”

  Catherine rose from her chair, crossed the room, and cupped Tabby’s cheek in her palm. “Tabby, I couldn’t love you more if you were my own child. You’ve given me back my husband. I don’t think he’s called me Katie since before Erin was born.”

  She bent and kissed Tabby’s cheek before resuming her seat. Tabby looked at Stoner, Evan, Jenny, and Catherine. Her family. Almost. She finally asked the question that had bothered her through this whole story. “Where is Erin?”

  Evan twirled Jenny’s hair around his fingertips. Stoner frowned thunderously. Catherine sighed.

  “The last time I heard from Erin, she was the cook on one of those sailing boats somewhere in the Caribbean. What do they call them?”

  “Windjammers,” Joe supplied.

  “Not hostessing at the topless bar in St. Thomas anymore?” Evan inquired mildly.

  Stoner made a choking noise. “What?” He glared at Catherine. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

  “It was only for a few weeks between life guarding for the hotel and being a nanny for the owner and his third wife.” She looked at Tabby and Joseph apologetically. “Erin left for school at eighteen, and when she was able to access her trust fund at twenty-one, she disappeared. We haven’t seen her in five years.”

  “We should invite her to the art showing.” Tabby said it quietly, but she refused to let it drop until Stoner nodded.

  Chapter 14

  Tabby was awfully tired. Joe helped her to her room. Evan and Jenny had left with Peter a short time earlier. Stoner invited Joe to spend the night and gave him the guest room across the hallway from Tabby.

  “Is he deliberately tempting us?” Tabby yawned.

  Joe laughed. “That didn’t sound convincing, darling. You’re not supposed to yawn if you’re being tempted. Besides, you did ask if I might stay here while you’re recovering.”

  “Can we kiss?”

  “I can if you can.” He smiled and helped her into a chair. He sat at her feet and took her shoes off for her. His hands gently massaged her arches, then her calves, easing the tension she felt from walking so cautiously. Light gleamed off the golden hair of his bent head, and his massage was doing much more than relaxing her.

  “Joe?”

  “Hmm?” he responded absently. He had shifted behind her, unbraiding her hair and brushing it out.

  “Will you mind living here for a while until I get back to where I was before the accident?”

  “Not at all. You and your dad are good for each other. As much as I love you, I can’t ignore my parishioners or my work. There will be times when I can’t be with you because I have to visit people, lead Bible studies, work on my sermon. This way, I can do those things knowing someone is watching over you, someone who loves you as much as I do. Best of all, when I can grab some spare time, you’ll be right here.”

  Tabby turned her head to smile up at him. “I do love you, Joseph. I hope you don’t get tired of me saying it.”

  “Never.” He set the brush down and settled her carefully on his lap. His kiss was soft, his hands cupping her face. Tabby ached to be able to touch and caress him. He was so beautiful. Her lips parted, and Joseph groaned as he slipped his tongue inside to explore. Their breathing grew ragged. Heat flowed through her, settling in an empty feeling deep in her belly.

  There was a discreet knock at the door. Stoner stuck his head in. “Look, I gave you time to help her get ready for bed. After all, you are her fiancé, but you don’t have permission to be in here all night. So get busy, get her tucked in, and say good night before I get my shotgun.”

  Joe laughed. “Yes, sir.”

  Stoner stared hard at both of them. “Look. Don’t touch.”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  As soon as the door shut, they resumed their kiss.

  * * * *

  Stoner watched the news outlets and the Internet like a hawk. By the weekend, Tabitha Richardson’s engagement had made news not only in Virginia, but neighboring states as well. It wasn’t every day that a disgraced former U.S. senator announced the engagement of a daughter no one even knew he had. Castle County’s weekly paper, The Messenger, had jugg
led numerous calls for photos of both Tabby and Joe. Eventually, the wire services picked up Amanda Brown’s story of Tabby’s accident and near death, and how the senator literally held her artery closed with his bare hands. Suddenly, the phone rang off the hook at Richardson Homestead.

  If Peterson answered, he simply said that the senator and his family were not available. If by chance Stoner got one of the calls, he usually hung up with a terse “go to hell” until he caught Tabby frowning at him and decided he should simply let Peterson continue to screen calls. Stoner knew from experience that the interest would die down pretty quickly. That suited the hell out of him. He wanted Tabby left alone so she could recover.

  He had discussions with both Joe and Sam about the publicity. Sam had located a driver’s license photo of Tabby’s stepfather and distributed copies to his deputies. Joe and Stoner had taken a good look at it too. As plans moved ahead for the art showing, both men decided some caution was warranted.

  In addition to Tabby’s story making it to traditional media, Stoner found it plastered on the Internet. He read the article and saw the mention of his other children. Erin’s name jumped out at him. Stoner rubbed the ache in his chest. When Catherine couldn’t reach Erin by phone, she had sent her e-mail about Tabby and the upcoming art exhibition, but she’d heard nothing in return. The last thing any of them wanted was for Erin to find out about Tabby by reading it in a news story. Stoner hated the disappointment that rose in him when he thought of Erin.

  If she showed up at all, it would surprise him. Erin and surprise usually weren’t two words anyone wanted in the same sentence.

  * * * *

  Evan’s cell phone chimed just as he returned to his office in the courthouse after grabbing a sandwich at Mercer’s on Tuesday. As soon as he saw the caller’s identity, he swiped his thumb across the screen.

  “Hey, Jake! What’s up, man?”

  “Took a call about an hour ago from Dennis Underwood. Any chance you can come out to Mike and Missy Matthews’s house?’

  Evan’s heart sank. Shit, if anything had happened to that little girl Tabby was so worried about, she would be crushed. He was already turning away from his office door with its gold stenciled “Commonwealth’s Attorney” lettering.

  “What’s going on, Jake?”

  “They’re dead. Melodie’s MIA.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  He made it in record time. Now, Evan stood beside Jake outside The Matthews’s house. Jake was tapping his cap against his thigh, always a sign something was bothering him. Well, something was bothering Evan too—the knowledge that Tabby had not overreacted and everyone else had underreacted.

  Jake cleared his throat. “Mike and Missy Matthews are both in there. You might want to take a look, see if you need to gather additional evidence, but it seems pretty clear cut, Ev, as a murder-suicide. There are signs a pretty violent struggle took place. Mike’s dead in the kitchen from multiple stab wounds. Kitchen shears appear to be the weapon. They’re lying nearby. Plenty of blood. Missy’s in the master bath downstairs with slit wrists, knife on the floor next to her. So far, we haven’t found Melodie.”

  Evan stared at the big home and shook his head. “You think she’s dead?”

  Jake grimaced. “I don’t know. We found traces of blood behind the couch in the den that don’t fit any of the spatter patterns for Mike or Missy, and there’s blood upstairs in the little girl’s room, but not enough to be consistent with a fatal injury. There were also hair samples—more than normal hair loss, like it was pulled.” Jake blew out a breath and resumed tapping his cap against his thigh. “My men have searched the house, and we can’t find her anywhere. We’ve tried calling her name. I even brought her teacher over.”

  “Yes.” Evan slapped Jake on the back. “That’s it. You just brought the wrong teacher, Jake.” He pulled his cell phone out and called Jenny. “Hey, honey. What are the chances I could bring Tabby over here to the Matthews’s house?”

  “She’s not up to a whole lot of moving around yet, Evan. How much of an emergency is this?”

  Evan hesitated telling her. Jenny had known Missy. They’d gone to high school together. In the end, though, there wasn’t much choice. He needed her permission to bring Tabby over.

  “Mike and Missy are both dead. Melodie’s missing.”

  “Oh no! Tabby was right about everything. But, Evan, she’s still so fragile.”

  “I’ll help Tabby, and I’ll only keep her here five minutes, I promise. Jen, you know she’s got a connection to this little girl. It looks like a murder-suicide, but we can’t find the little girl anywhere. If Tabby—”

  “You think Melodie will come out of hiding if she knows Tabby’s looking for her?” Jenny sighed heavily. “Five minutes, Evan. You have to promise.”

  “I swear to you, five minutes only, then I’ll personally take her back to Dad’s. I love you.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

  “Call Sam. Have him bring Tabby here. We’ll have five minutes. I’ll call Joe. I want him here with Tabby.” When they finished their calls, Evan looked at Jake. “Let me take a look. It might not need additional investigation for Mike and Missy, but until we find the girl, we have to keep looking for evidence.”

  Evan had seen some grisly sights, but this was one of the worst. Added to it was the fact the coroner put the time of death more than forty-eight hours ago. He braced for what they’d find inside, his stomach tight. Before they entered, Jake handed Evan a mask, gloves, and booties. Evan put on the booties and the gloves, but shoved the mask into his pocket. The things always made him feel smothered. He took his handkerchief out instead and held it over his nose. They looked at Mike’s body first.

  “From the way items were broken,” Jake explained, “it looks to me like he dragged Missy through the house in here, maybe to use the phone. His cell phone’s still in the car in the garage.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t dragging the girl?”

  “Possible but not logical. He could have carried her. Anyway, it looks like once they got in here, Missy somehow got hold of the kitchen scissors and went to work on him. We’ve already lifted prints from the shears consistent with the size of her hand and bagged the scissors for evidence. They’ll print Mike and Missy at the morgue so we can match it up. From the blood on both sides of the back doorknob and on the deck railing, I believe Missy came outside after she killed Mike.”

  They stepped out onto the deck, into the fresh air, and Evan took the handkerchief away from his face to breathe deeply.

  “You think she was looking for the girl?”

  “I want to believe that,” Jake said. “There are bloody prints throughout the house. If it’s Mike’s blood, that would fit a scenario of Melodie still being alive after Mike’s death.”

  Evan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus, Jake. How could a woman do that to her husband?”

  “I think the theory you were looking into is probably correct. It goes back to the baby she lost last year. I—I keep thinking what it would have been like, you know? What if when Holly went into labor we had delivered Noelle, and she had been dead? Can you even imagine?”

  Evan shuddered. “No way. It would be tough enough as a father, but to be the one to carry the baby for nine months, feel it alive and moving inside of you, then…nothing?” Evan shook his head. “It ripped me up finding out what Jenny had to go through with that miscarriage. I was scared shitless when she delivered Peter.”

  One of the sheriff’s detectives, who had come to assist in the investigation, poked his head around the corner. “I’ve got what looks like the girl’s church clothes from Sunday, and sir, your sister just pulled up with Sam.”

  * * * *

  Tabby sat in the cruiser. She wasn’t ready for this. She was still trying to absorb the news that Melodie’s parents were dead. Fear churned heavily in her stomach that Melodie couldn’t possibly have survived.

  Evan opened the door and
squatted next to her.

  “Don’t get your hopes up, Evan. I know she trusted me to help her, but if she’s alive, she must be so traumatized.”

  “Just try, honey, that’s all we ask. She needs our help. Her mama and daddy are dead. They’ve spotted blood in Melodie’s room we think belongs to her, but we can’t find her, Tabby.”

  Tabby closed her eyes, clutching Evan’s hand for a minute. Please God, she thought, help me find this little girl. Let me help her like she trusted I would.

  “Help me up.”

  “Tabby,” he warned. “You have to take it easy.”

  Her gaze lifted beyond him to where Joseph stood, outlined against the trees and the afternoon sunlight that filtered through them. He looked tall and golden. Even from this distance, his innate peacefulness flowed over her, soothed her. “Joseph,” she called. “Help me. Take me inside. I want to go to her room.”

  “Tabby,” Jake said. “You need to be prepared. Mike and Missy Matthews have been in there dead for two days. Melodie’s room is upstairs….”

  Tabby looked at all three men. “One of you can either carry me or I’ll crawl, but I will get there. That’s what you brought me here to do, and I promised her I’d help her.”

  Her voice rose, and two of the investigators looked around. Joseph stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’ll help.”

  It was slow going. By the time they stood at the base of the staircase, Tabby stared at Joe, feeling a little light-headed. “I can’t do it, Joseph. I can’t get up those stairs, but I feel sure it’s where she would try to hide. Some place where she felt safe, and some place far away from what happened down here.”

  He smiled. “If you can’t do it on your own, then I’ll carry you. Put your good arm around my neck. I’ll try not to jostle your other shoulder. We’ll do this together, Tabby. You’ll help Melodie. You’ll find her.”

  Tabby gazed into his warm blue eyes and knew he was right. His confidence bolstered hers. Jake led the way into Melodie’s room with Evan bringing up the rear. As Joseph set Tabby on her feet, he kept his arm around her waist to support her. She saw the blood-spattered paper, and her heart missed a beat.