by Kathi Daley
“I was thinking about Papa and his accident. I’m glad Papa didn’t die when he crashed like Mom did. I would miss him so much.”
“Me too, sweetie.” I hugged Gracie as a tear slid down her cheek. The girls really hadn’t had much of an opportunity to process everything. From the moment I heard about the accident, everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t considered how close this might hit home, considering it had only been three years since a car accident had taken the life of our mother.
“Are you sure he’s going to be okay?”
“I’m sure,” I assured Gracie. “But if it would make you feel better you can ask Uncle Hunter yourself if we see him at the hospital.”
“Does Uncle Hunter know you’ve been kissing Uncle Kyle?” Ashley asked with a mischievous grin on her face.
“No. Not yet. But I’ll tell him.” Leave it to Ashley to bring up a delicate subject.
“Do you think he’s going to be mad?” Ashley prodded.
I really hoped not. “No, I don’t think so. You know Dr. Hunter and I talked things over and decided to just be friends.”
“Like you and Uncle Kyle were just friends?” Ashley asked with a gleam in her eye.
I should have known this would come up again; I was just sorry it was now. “Uncle Kyle and I are still very good friends, but now we’re also dating.”
“I haven’t seen you go on a date,” Ashley pointed out. “All I’ve seen you do is kiss.”
Out of the mouths of babes…
“Look, I want to discuss this with you. I really do. But not now. I need to go upstairs and get ready to go to the hospital. I’ll try to answer your questions later. But Ash, if we do see Dr. Hunter, please don’t mention Uncle Kyle until I have a chance to talk to him about things.”
“So you do think he’ll be mad,” Ashley pushed, I was certain in an attempt to make me squirm.
“I don’t know. Now finish your breakfast and then run up and brush your teeth.”
Ashley’s comments about Hunter’s response to finding out I was dating—or at least kissing—Kyle made me a lot more nervous than I wanted to be. The fact that Dad was doing well enough to be moved out of the ICU should have been cause for celebration, yet I felt a churning in my stomach as we pulled into the hospital parking lot. Maybe I should have made a point to discuss things with Hunter prior to bringing chatty Ashley to a place where we were almost certain to run into him. Of course, it was the Sunday of a holiday weekend. Maybe he had the day off.
I took Ashley and Gracie’s hands in mine and headed toward the information desk as soon as we entered the building. I didn’t know which room Dad had been moved to.
“Hi,” I greeted the middle-aged woman with red hair who sat behind the counter. “I’m here to visit my dad, Mike Jensen. He’s been moved to a new room since I was here last.”
The receptionist accessed her computer. “Your father is in room 212. Just go up the elevator to the second floor and take a right. There’s a note here to page Dr. Hanson when Tj Jensen arrives. I’ll have him meet you in the room.”
I glanced at Ashley and gave her a meaningful look. She responded with what could only be described as an evil grin. I momentarily considered taking the girls and leaving, but I knew how excited Gracie was to see my dad, so I took a deep breath and headed to the elevator.
Hunter was waiting at the nurse’s station when we arrived.
“Uncle Hunter,” both girls screeched as they ran up and hugged him.
“It looks like you’ve each grown a foot since I’ve seen you,” Hunter said.
“Ashley got taller, but I stayed the same,” Gracie said mournfully.
“Can we see Papa now?” Ashley asked.
Hunter glanced at Ashley and nodded. “You can, but we need to talk about a few things before you go in.”
“Tj told us,” Gracie said. “We can’t hug him or jump on the bed.”
“That’s good. Your papa is doing much better, but he’s still hooked up to an IV as well as a heart monitor. Don’t let that scare you, though. It’s just to make sure he gets better extra fast so he can go home as soon as possible.”
“We’ll be careful,” Gracie promised.
Hunter took each girl by the hand and led them to the room with me following behind. Hunter and I might not have been able to make a go of things in a romantic way, but he still felt like a part of the family, and I really hoped that wouldn’t change. I remembered how jealous I was when Hunter started dating other women, and they hadn’t even been anyone I knew. Ashley might be right that Hunter wouldn’t be thrilled to find out I was now kissing a man I’d assured him time and time again was like a brother to me and nothing more.
I hadn’t lied to Hunter when I insisted Kyle and I were just friends, although I might have been lying to myself. Kyle had been like a brother to me almost from the minute I met him, and any other thoughts I might have had were quickly suppressed. But when I finally allowed myself to look at Kyle in a different way, I’d realized the feelings I’d had for him weren’t really new; instead, they were emotions I’d been holding at bay for a long time. I suspected Hunter was going to realize that as well, and the last thing I wanted was to hurt a man who still meant so much to me.
“Look who I brought to see you,” Hunter said as he entered the room with my sisters.
Dad grinned, his face lighting up in spite of his injuries. “Ashley, Gracie. I’m so happy to see you.”
Dad’s voice sounded strong and steady, which brought a lightness to my heart.
“We missed you, Papa,” Gracie said as she took tiny careful steps toward the bed.
“Come on over here where I can get a good look at you.”
Gracie glanced at Hunter. When he nodded, both girls went closer to the bed. They stopped when they were inches from the mattress, but, as we’d discussed, they didn’t touch anything.
“Does your eye hurt?” Ashley asked.
“A little, but not as much as some of my other parts.” Dad smiled at the girls. “I really got myself into a mess this time.”
“Me and Ashley can take care of you if you want to come home,” Gracie offered.
“I’d love nothing more than to come home and have you be my nurses, but Dr. Hunter wants me to hang out with him here for a few more days. How’s everything at home?”
“It’s fine,” Gracie answered.
“Anything new?”
I gave Ashley a look when she opened her mouth. She grinned and then told my dad she’d moved around the furniture in her room.
Gracie launched into a story about her cat, Crissy, and the mischief she’d gotten into, so I gestured to Hunter to join me in the hall.
“What’s up?” he asked as soon as we were clear of the room. Luckily, the hallway was deserted.
“I need to tell you something, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. I could just wait and tell you later, but Ashley knows, and I’m afraid she might tell you before I have a chance to.”
“Okay.” Hunter looked hesitant. “What is it?”
“It’s about Kyle.”
“Kyle?”
“You know he went with me to Gull Island, and although I never intended it to happen, our relationship sort of evolved.”
“Evolved?”
“We’re dating. Well, not really dating,” I clarified, remembering Ashley’s comment. “But, well…” I hedged. “We’re together.”
I watched Hunter’s face. I could see the news had affected him, but he recovered quickly and smiled.
“I’m happy to hear that. Kyle’s a good guy. You deserve that.”
“You aren’t mad?”
“Why would I be mad? We broke up, remember?”
“I know. And I still think it was the right thing to do, but I got upset and sort of hurt when you started dating right away,
even though you had every right to, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. I’ll always love you. I know we agreed to just be friends, but I want to be sure you understand how very important your friendship is to me.”
Hunter’s forced smile softened. “Our friendship is important to me too. I guess knowing you and Kyle now have the relationship you and I once did stings a little, but I want you to be happy, and I really do think he can make you happy.”
I hugged Hunter. “Thank you.”
He hugged me back. I sensed a certain intensity in his arms that I totally understood.
“I haven’t really had a chance to ask you how you’re doing with everything since I’ve been back.”
Hunter shrugged. “I’m okay. I still miss Grandpa and his presence in my life, but I’m starting to get used to him not being around. It just takes time.”
“Yeah. It does. Are you still dating the pediatrician?”
“No. Things didn’t work out. I decided I needed to take some time for myself before jumping into another relationship.”
“Yeah, I get that.” I looked at the door behind me. “I should get back.”
“I have another patient to check on, so I’ll see you later.”
I smiled. “Okay, thanks.”
Hunter walked down the hall and I returned to the room alone.
“Papa’s going to help me paint my room when he gets home,” Gracie announced as I walked in.
“He is? What color do you want to paint it?”
“Maybe purple or blue. I’m getting bigger and the Noah’s Ark stuff on the walls is sort of babyish.”
My poor heart was breaking. My baby was growing up.
“If Gracie’s going to paint her room, I want to paint mine too,” Ashley said. “Maybe black.”
“All black?” I asked.
“No. Maybe some of the walls can be black and some can be white.”
“I saw a room like that in one of the magazines a nurse gave me to look at,” Dad commented.
I settled onto a chair as the conversation continued. It was an odd one, given the situation, but it did seem to bring a sense of normalcy to what could have been a very tense moment.
Ashley and Gracie wanted to hang out with Kristi and Kari when we left the hospital, so I dropped them off at Jenna’s house. Dennis was off for the entire weekend and agreed to keep an eye on them. Frannie had called and left a message while I was visiting my dad, asking what time I wanted to meet her at the library. I called Kyle and he said he was available to join me, so we agreed he’d pick me up at the resort in half an hour.
“How was Mike this morning?” Rosalie asked.
“Much, much better. He’s even making plans to help the girls remodel their rooms when he gets home. I’m heading out to the library to meet Frannie, but I’ll be back to help with the guest events this afternoon. Ashley and Gracie are over at Jenna’s, but I think she plans to bring all four girls by when she gets off.” I paused. “Should I check with you before having guests?”
Rosalie looked surprised by my question. “Absolutely not. This is your home. You can invite anyone you’d like anytime you’d like.”
“Good. I just wasn’t sure how you felt about having kids underfoot all the time.”
“I love having kids underfoot. I never met the right man in time to have children of my own, but I always wished for them. I’m enjoying living in a house with so much energy.”
I laughed. “Yeah, we’ll see how much you love all that energy after the girls really settle in. It can get pretty hectic at times. It looks like Kyle is here. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Kyle was about to get out of the car, but I motioned to him that I was on my way. I grabbed my purse and notebook and headed out the front door. He leaned over for a quick kiss once I slid onto the front seat.
“I think we should go on a date,” I said as he pulled onto the resort road.
“I’d love to. Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I made a comment to Ashley this morning that our relationship had evolved now that you and I were dating, and she pointed out that she’d never seen us go on a date; the only thing that’s new is the kissing. I think things will go over better if we tell people we’re dating rather than kissing, so we need to go out on a date.”
Kyle reached over and took my hand. “I’d love nothing more than to date you. I assume kissing is still on the table?”
“Absolutely.” I tightened my hand around Kyle’s. I was enjoying this new paradigm between us. “By the way, I told Hunter about us.”
“And…?”
“And he says he’s happy for us. I could tell he was a little hurt, but I really believe it’s as important to him as it is to us to maintain the friendship we all share.”
Kyle seemed relieved. “I’m glad he’s okay with things. I was a little worried about his reaction to the news. He’s been a good friend to me, and I know how important he is to you. The last thing either of us wants is to hurt him.”
“I agree. And I really think he’ll be fine.”
Kyle smiled as he turned onto the highway. “Good. How did the visit with your father go?”
“Really well. Better than I hoped. He seems to be doing a lot better and the girls adapted quickly to his appearance, as well as to the tubes and monitors he’s still attached to. They had this whole discussion about redecorating the girls’ rooms when he gets out.”
“So you’re planning to stay at the resort?”
“For now.” I turned slightly in the seat. “Rosalie swears she wants us there, and I think it’ll be the best thing for everyone at this point.”
Kyle clicked on his blinker and turned into the library lot. Frannie’s car was already there. We parked on the side and headed to that entrance. Frannie had asked me not to use the front door so no one driving by would think the library was open.
“I have the book the men both looked at out on the table,” Frannie said. “I’ve looked at it until I’m cross-eyed and I can’t figure out what interested them. I’m hoping you can provide a new perspective.”
“We’ll try,” I promised.
Frannie tucked a stray hair up under the tight bun she often wore. “I’m not sure figuring it out will even be relevant to Harold’s death, but it makes me feel useful to try to provide some insight. I’m still having such a hard time with the whole thing.”
“Yeah.” I squeezed Frannie’s hand in an offer of support. “Me too.”
The book was a scrapbook of sorts, containing a collection of letters, photographs, newspaper articles, and maps. I’d seen several other books similar to this one covering different periods of time. This one, as Frannie had mentioned, covered 1968 to 1978. A number of things had happened in that ten-year period, so narrowing down what the judge and Bristow were interested in wouldn’t be easy unless there was an additional clue to find.
“You said Bristow looked at books from other time periods before honing in this one?” Kyle asked.
Frannie nodded. “As I said yesterday, I had the feeling he was looking for something specific but wasn’t certain where he’d find it.”
Kyle turned several pages, pausing to glance at each one. “We know he’s a developer, so it would make sense that he was looking for something to do with real estate. Maybe a land transfer or something relating to a deed.”
That made sense to all of us. If Judge Harper had come looking to verify whatever it was Bristow was searching for, he must have discovered something relevant to the strip mall he was trying to build.
Frannie and I stood behind Kyle so we could all look at the book at the same time. Frannie had said it seemed as if whatever the men were looking at was in the middle of the book, but because there was no way to know where the middle started and the beginning ended, we decided to start on the first page.
Looking through the book was interesting. There were photos of Serenity that did a lot to demonstrate how much it had changed in forty odd years, as well as newspaper articles announcing births and deaths and awards and honors. And there were blueprints and street maps, as well as maps that showed land owned by the forest service as opposed to private ownership. Every page seemed to hold something that looked both relevant and non-relevant. It was so hard to know what might be important when we didn’t know what Bristow had been looking for in the first place.
“I’d think Bristow would be most interested in anything having to do with the land he wants to develop,” I pointed out. “Can we isolate that land on these maps?”
Kyle turned back to a map we’d found earlier. “It looks like this is the county road that used to service the whole area.” He slid his finger along a narrow line. “Given the location of the lake, I’d say the land he wants to develop is about here.”
I narrowed my gaze to focus on the spot Kyle was pointing to.
“Who owned it back then?” I asked.
Kyle turned back to the map that showed individual plots. “If I had to guess, the plot Bristow owns now is this one. The key indicates that in 1969, the date this map was drawn, the land was owned by Zachary Collins.”
I looked at Kyle, who had inherited Zachary’s entire estate when he passed away. “How did Bristow end up with it? Zachary would never have sold to a developer.”
The room fell silent as we all paused to consider the situation. Eventually Frannie spoke. “Zachary could have sold it to someone who sold it to Bristow. We can search the county records for the ownership history now that we have a plot number. Of course, the county offices aren’t open today.”
“I can probably find the information online, but I sort of doubt that’s what we’re looking for,” Kyle answered. “Based on the fact that Bristow came in here and spent a ton of time looking for something, it must have been something he couldn’t easily find by some other means.”
“Kyle’s right,” I stated. “If Bristow wanted to know who owned the land back in the sixties, all he needed to do is go to the county or, as Kyle said, look it up online. Whatever he found was something he wanted the judge to know about. It must be something that would help him in his campaign to build his mall.”
