William strained to remember a time when his stepfather hadn’t been front and center. Once Dennis and his mother had married, she had stopped telling stories of his father, and as a result the memories had faded. She had shushed him away at first when he’d asked to hear a story, and over time he’d stopped trying.
With his mom out of earshot, he plucked his cell phone from his pocket to finally retrieve the voice mail.
“Mr. Kauffman, this is Special Agent Denver Corrigan again. I’d like to remind you that the Miller case has been reassigned to me and you are required to meet with me or risk us issuing a warrant for your arrest. You can reach me day or night at this number. Thank you.”
William deleted the voice mail on Denver’s final breath. He had no intention of ever going back, regardless of what the consequences might be. He and Old Red were rocketing west as soon as he could sell his truck and secure a little cash. If he could manage to leave Chinoodin Falls on good terms, even better.
* * *
ANNIE MET MARJORIE on the front stoop of her house.
“Thanks for coming, Margie. I need to run a few errands.”
“Is he sleepin’?”
“Watching cartoons.”
“Of course. Take your time, honey. We’ll be fine.”
“Keep the doors locked in case—”
“I know the drill, sweetie.”
There were few people in the world Annie trusted her children with, and Marjorie was one of them. “I’ll be back in a half hour,” she said.
After two days of bone broth and popsicles, James had finally developed an appetite. She intended to get him anything he wished, which at the moment was a special request for peanut butter pie and french fries.
Arriving at Pop’s Place, she hesitated when she spotted William’s truck parked in the back lot. She slipped through the door and bypassed the office, but not before catching a glimpse of William at her desk. He was pouring over papers again.
Annie kept moving.
“How’s the little guy?” Karrin asked, sidling up beside her as she fixed a take-home container. A lifelong waitress in her early forties, with silver-streaked black hair, Karrin reeked of coffee and old-time diner as she crushed Annie in a sideways hug.
“He’ll be better with some peanut butter pie. Please tell me we have some.”
“I think we have a piece left.” Karrin followed Annie to the dessert case and hung close by as she hunched over and delicately jostled the last slice of pie into a Styrofoam box. “So...have you talked to William?”
Annie jerked her head. “Why?”
“He was asking about James.”
“So.”
“Joyce mentioned something about you two... You know...”
Annie straightened, her eyes darting around for eavesdroppers. “No?”
“You two...used to be an item?”
“What did she say?” Annie wafted her hand in the air as Karrin drew a breath to explain. “No. Never mind. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I have to get home to James.”
She pecked Karrin on the cheek and hurried to the back door, relieved she was about to duck out without anyone else spotting her. But before she did so, she hesitated and listened to William shuffling papers a few yards away. Before her brain knew what her feet were doing, she found herself creeping closer until she was loitering in the office doorway. She was just as surprised as William was when he noticed her.
“What are you doing here? How’s James?” he blurted, jumping to his feet.
“He’s fine. It was a virus. He’ll be better with rest...and french fries.” She jostled her take-home container.
“Good.” William nodded, clutching the back of his neck. “He was holding his stomach... If I overreacted about it, Annie, I was only—”
“No. Actually I came back here to tell you...” She paused, admiring a sweetness behind his eyes that she hadn’t seen since before he’d returned to Chinoodin Falls. He had looked at her like that when they’d snuck out to Little Foot Mountain so many years ago, and she’d been in the topsy-turvy early stages of falling in love for the first time. She had been wearing a yellow sundress she’d bought specifically for their date, and he’d told her she had brightened his day. Lying beside him on an old afghan he’d had in his truck, he had run his fingers playfully down the front of that dress, delicately plucking at each tiny button in between peppering her lips with soft kisses. For years afterward, though it had fallen out of style, she’d hidden the dress at the back of her closet, unable to part with it or perhaps unable to part with him.
“What?” he asked, taking a step closer.
Annie bit her lip, trying to jar herself free of the memory. “Thank you for intervening with James.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“He shouldn’t have been sitting out there alone.”
“No.”
“He’s only a little boy, you know?” she whispered.
William’s eyes squinted in seriousness. “Yes, I know.”
Annie swallowed a lump in her throat. “When I think about it... I can’t stop thinking about it...”
“It wasn’t your fault, Annie. He’s okay now.”
“Sean just doesn’t...” She vigorously shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know what to do sometimes.”
“You mean with Sean?”
Annie opened her eyes to a dark look falling over William’s face. “He’s difficult.”
“Difficult?” William’s eyebrows shot up, and she knew it was no use dancing around her troubles with Sean.
“Well...you saw.”
He nodded. “I have a feeling I haven’t seen the half of it.”
“You want to know why I married him, don’t you?”
“Well...”
“I know you do.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“And what have you come up with so far?”
“From what I know about you—”
“What on earth do you know about me?” Annie sighed. “You’ve only been back a few days.”
“I knew you once,” he replied, his voice a low drawl like the morning sun warming over her. She lifted her face, searching his for any explanation as to why he didn’t know her that way now.
“And?” she mustered.
“I know you wouldn’t marry him for his money.”
Annie feigned a smile. “Is that what you’ve heard? And how do you know that? Women marry for money all the time.”
“Not you.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I’ve seen you with Betsy. You’re such a good mom, I know you wouldn’t put her in a situation like that unless...”
“What?”