Chapter 14
Daniela had a rough night. She kept waking up. Twice she got up and went to Sari’s room to make sure she was still there. Obviously Angel’s call had rattled Daniela more than she’d expected. It was pretty distressing to have nightmares like this, but to know a real threat was behind them made it that much worse because it was no longer a nightmare; it was something that was possible.
To lose Sari at this stage would be devastating. Daniela had gone through the process in good faith, believing it was all legal and upfront. But was it? Her husband had handled that aspect of things, and now she had to wonder if she trusted him. While he’d been alive, she had, at least up until his last few months, when she found out he’d been so anxiously spreading love around the world, but now what? Had he done something to deliberately screw her over, like make that paperwork not be legal?
She didn’t want to believe he could have been so vindictive. But, toward the end, he had been full of anger, hate and frustration. There definitely hadn’t been love.
She tried to push that thought into the back of her mind, as she once again crawled into bed. A branch brushed against her window, making her look out at the early morning darkness. It was still summer here, but winter set in fast and early.
Did she want to leave? She hadn’t for all the time she had been here. She’d been totally okay to stay, right up until Weston brought up the possibility of moving south. And now she wondered if she could make that happen somehow. She would miss her sister, but she wouldn’t miss the hardship of being here.
Alaskans were a unique breed of people, and she loved them dearly, but she had never really felt like one of them. Five years in Alaska hadn’t been enough to make her the same hardy homestead stock most of them were. Of course a lot of the people in the cities were no different here than anywhere else. Would she have an easier time finding a job down South?
She had an online business, so it didn’t matter if it moved or not. Could she make it something more full-time so she could afford the higher rents down South, or could she find a place that was a compromise between weather and location, so the rent was still something she could afford? These thoughts only served to keep her emotions flipping from one side to the other as she lay here, dry-eyed, staring as the sun slowly crept up over the horizon. She finally gave up any pretense of trying to sleep and got up, heading into the shower.
As she came out, wrapped in a towel with her robe on, she dressed quickly, feeling a sudden chill in the air. Almost as if a chill were in her soul. Stopping to check in on Sari, she found her daughter sound asleep. Soon she was in the kitchen, and, after she put on the coffee, she stared out at the hills around her home. She was in an odd mood. Everything had suddenly flipped, and she didn’t like it. When warm arms wrapped around her, she wasn’t even surprised. She leaned into his gentle comfort. “It all feels so weird now.”
“I was afraid you weren’t sleeping after all of Angel’s phone calls.”
“And what does the lawyer have to do with any of this?” she exclaimed, twisting in his arms.
He smiled, wrapped her up close and gave her a hug.
Nothing sexual was in it, just comfort. Just somebody who realized she was upset and wanted to help.
And when he stepped back, he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out two coffee cups. As soon as the pot had finished dripping, he poured the coffee. “Shall we enjoy the early morning sun?”
She smiled and took a cup from him and followed his lead outside. “Did you come to any realizations overnight?” she asked.
He looked a little surprised and shook his head. “No,” he said. “I’ve been in this business long enough to know I have to shut down my mind. Otherwise it revolves around and around with no answers. Besides, you need information before you can start making deductions.”
She just nodded.
“Or is that not what you meant?” he asked, his gaze on her face.
She smiled and took a deep breath. “This doesn’t even feel like home now.”
“Why is that?” He frowned.
“I don’t know.” She had trouble even trying to explain it to herself. “I was fine to stay in Alaska, until you mentioned the possibility of moving elsewhere.”
“Ah,” he said. “Some suggestions are like that. You don’t realize there is another way to live until somebody says, ‘Hey, what about this?’ Right?”
She nodded. “I have a small budding online business that can go with me anywhere, as long as I have room for my garden. Plus I was working at the local dollar store, doing temporary shift work, but haven’t had a shift in weeks. They keep canceling them.”
“And then you have offsetting babysitting costs,” he said.
“Yes. Or I have also done babysitting for other people,” she said. “And that works well.”
“That can’t pay too much, does it?”
“It’s very irregular and in just short periods at a time,” she said.
“So what would you really like to do?” he asked. “If all this trouble with Angel wasn’t hanging over your head, would you still be considering a move?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “A lot about my husband still is here, and a part of me says I need to have a clean break from it all.”
“A lot of people find it difficult to leave an area where their spouse or child passed away,” he said.
Something searching was in his
