Her voice shook a bit when she said, “I don’t understand.”
“Catherine was working with the pregnancy patients, the ones that were recovering addicts. Though some didn’t recover. It was hard on Catherine. I didn’t understand why she put herself in that position, but she loved the patients. There was one patient in particular that Catherine bonded with. She was a young woman, a heroin addict who was working to get herself clean. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes you get that one patient who really does pull their act together for their baby. This woman was like that. Never saw someone work harder to get herself clean and sober. That’s what makes it so tragic.”
Arissa spoke only one word. “What?”
“She died. Overdose.” Sasha said softly. Silence settled before she offered, “She had worked so hard, but after the baby came it must have been too much for her. They found her in an alley.”
“Oh my God.” Arissa felt sick, and realized that sometimes it was best to leave the fucking string alone. “When was this?” Arissa asked.
“Nineteen eighty-four.”
A sickening sensation filled her. “What happened to the baby?”
“Don’t know. Lost in the system maybe. You’d be surprised how many babies are born to addicts and the homeless. It’s hard to keep track of them all but that was when Harley Aldridge stepped in. He’d always had a soft spot for addicts because he lost his own daughter to addiction. When he learned about Cassidy, her dying, it broke his heart but he wasn’t going to let her child be lost in the system, so he started looking for him.”
“Cassidy’s baby was a boy?” Those words from Arissa were broken.
“Yeah, a healthy baby boy.”
Arissa couldn’t move, that knot in her stomach was a full on ache now. It was all there, but she was afraid to allow the picture to form because as soon as she confirmed it… Bile rushed up her throat. She swallowed it down, forced herself to ask, “Is there a record of his birth?”
“No, Harley had asked for that too, but his records must have gotten lost.”
“Did Harley ever learn what happened to the baby?”
Silence settled for a few seconds before Sasha said, “From what I can remember, he was on to something, said so himself but never had the pen to connect the dots.”
Arissa knew what it was Harley had discovered and wished she’d heeded Hank’s advice and laid off. And still she asked, “How did you know it was a boy then?”
Sasha responded instantly, “Catherine told me.”
Arissa was going to be sick. She hurried inside. “Thank you,” she rushed out, didn’t wait for a response before she ran to the bathroom and threw up.
Craig appeared. “Shit, you look like I feel.”
Arissa wiped at her mouth, leaned back against the wall.
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you the rest.” Craig wondered out loud.
Arissa ignored him and asked, “Were there any records of Catherine getting pregnant?” Arissa rested her head in her hands, her eyes closing, her body sinking into the black behind them. Arissa whispered, “Please, please tell me there is.”
“No, there’s no record of Catherine getting pregnant, but what’s even stranger…”
Arissa lifted her head and just knew what he was about to say next was going to change everything.
“Catherine and Henry Weathers didn’t exist prior to nineteen eighty-four.”
Fuck. Arissa closed her eyes again, her heart ached with the news she had to share with Hank, and then she abruptly stood, her movements frantic as she hurried about the hotel room, grabbing at her things. “I’ve got to get home.”
20
Hank had just finished making patties from the chopped meat when he saw Arissa pull down his drive. His girl was coming home today, she was gonna get one of his burgers but that was after he fucked her. Hank was so excited that he took the day off. Fuck it if the crazies burned down the town, Arissa was back. It had only been a few days but to Hank it felt like he’d been waiting forever for her. Actually, he had been and didn’t realize it until she walked into his life.
He put the plate in the fridge, washed his hands and moved to the deck. Arissa was sitting in her car, the engine off but she was staring ahead, her eyes unseeing. Hank waited a second, watching her. She must be tired. Then he put two fingers in his mouth and blew. The loud whistle had Arissa jerking out of her trance; her eyes darted to him. She didn’t smile.
Hank waited for her to slowly open the car door and just, if not more, slowly exit it.
“There’s my girl,” Hank said with a huge grin. “Tired?” He asked as she dragged her feet along the asphalt to the steps. She hadn’t even started to climb. She just stared at him. “Sweetheart, what’s up?”
Arissa had the car ride to figure out the best way to drop the news on him and couldn’t think of one single way that wasn’t going to hurt him. And the thought of hurting him had the tears she’d been fighting since that morning filling her eyes again. She moved then, right into him, hitting him with enough force he was jarred back a step. Her arms wrapped around his waist, she buried her face in his chest. “I love you,” she said, almost chanting it. She felt his body go tense, his muscles turning to stone. She glanced up, and the wave of emotion that moved over his face had her saying again. “I love you. You know how much I love you, right?”
She was moving back to the city. This was it, history was repeating itself. His throat felt like it was closing when he grated out. “Yeah.” He enclosed his arms around her, closed his eyes stamping this memory into the book.
Arissa held him as tightly as he held her. Her eyes didn’t leave his, saw when he closed his own, but not before seeing that damn
