“Wow…” Bailey looked down at the photo again. Her dad looked so much younger, but he also carried that working man’s stance, where Patrick looked like a carefree kid.
“What’s their age difference?” Ryan asked.
“Eight years,” Anna and Bailey said at the same time.
Bailey felt so distant from her family. She’d always wondered, but didn’t all kids wonder if they belonged? Didn’t all kids question why they didn’t fit in? While she questioned minor differences, it was never serious, even when her mother had tried so hard to teach her how to play the piano. She learned the technique, but she never had any style. Her mother told her that everyone had different gifts, and that, Bailey never questioned.
“Anna,” Ryan said. “Why did Patrick retire so early? Surely he could have worked for a few more years. Yesterday, you gave us the impression he wasn’t happy in retirement.”
“Oh, uh, honestly, I’m not really sure. He just sort of woke up one day with the big idea to sell his interests in the car dealerships to Stephen and me so he could retire. He said it was time to leave the work to the next generation. He’d been training us to take over for the last couple of years, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”
“We actually thought maybe he was sick and not telling us,” Stephen said.
“But then he gave us this weird talk about protecting his family and making sure the family business is safeguarded. It made no sense.” Anna’s eyes dropped to a photo of her father. “I’m still not sure why, but I guess he could be sick and trying to keep it from us.”
“I’m sorry, Anna. I hope that’s not the case,” Bailey said, her expression thoughtful.
“Thank you,” Anna said. “At least he’s out there enjoying life instead of kicking around this house with nothing to do.”
“Speaking of work,” Stephen stood, straightening his tie. “I really need to get going.”
Once he was gone, Bailey helped Anna clear the table. She’d made a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and some damn good blueberry pancakes.
Ryan laid a couple of plates on the counter and said, “Anna, you mentioned postcards on the phone.”
“Oh, right. I almost forgot. Let me go get them.” She quickly dried her hands and rushed from the room.
When she returned, she handed the stack to Bailey and slid onto one of the kitchen island barstools. Bailey and Ryan sat, too. Bailey counted five postcards: one from Vegas, three from California, and one from North Shore, Lake Tahoe. Bailey and Ryan both looked over the cards, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The most recent card was from Vegas and was dated only a few days before. Bailey read the back.
Don’t worry, love, I’m fine and having a good time on the road and loving life. I hope all is well at home.
Ryan took the card and examined the back. “You received this yesterday?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“You must miss him,” Bailey said.
“I do.” She frowned, but then her lips tipped back up as she reread the back of the card. “But he needs a little fun in his life after working so hard for so long.”
* * *
They had already decided to spend the rest of their last day touring the area and sightseeing before flying home in the morning. Bailey had gotten a list of spots from the internet, and they had a couple of suggestions from Anna and Stephen. They wanted to take a walk along the river, too. They’d been so stressed that Ryan insisted on relaxing for a few hours. They planned to have dinner downtown at a local brewpub and check out the Summer Nights concert. Appleton offered live shows featuring local groups in the downtown area every Thursday night during the summer.
Ryan followed North Catherine Street until it curved into North Green Bay Road, as Anna had described. As promised, it was a beautiful drive. Larger, older homes and tall trees lined the street. Before she knew it, the houses were gone, and the road opened up to a beautiful river. Walking partners trailed along the path, some picnicking. Bailey watched with a smile, feeling a little homesick.
“Whoa!” Ryan shouted, his eyes darting between the road and the rearview mirror.
Seconds later, Bailey felt the car lurch forward. “What the hell?” She turned to see the grille of a large, silver SUV getting closer to the back bumper. Within seconds, they lurched forward again, and the back window shattered, sending glass pebbles everywhere.
“Hold on, Bailey!” Ryan shouted, trying to swerve out of the way. He accelerated, his eyes darting again to the rearview mirror. Bailey watched in horror as pedestrians scattered to get out of their way. When the riverbank grew steeper, the road veered toward the left. Ryan tried to speed up, but the SUV rammed the rear of the car again, sending them into the guardrail and pushing them along the side of it. Bailey screamed when both passenger windows shattered and sparks from the metal-on-metal contact spewed out everywhere. She raised her hands to protect herself, but before she could do anything else, they were spinning. She felt an impact then jerked in the other direction before a large splash.
Dazed, Bailey and Ryan’s eyes met. Blood. Oh, God. Ryan was bleeding. “Ryan!”
He punched his seatbelt release, then immediately punched hers. Water soaked Bailey’s lower legs, then Ryan’s hands were on her waist, shoving her out of the passenger window.
“Go, go, go!” he shouted, pushing her.
The water rose quickly but thankfully didn’t submerge the car completely. When Bailey cleared the window, she dropped into breast-deep water. She turned in time to see Ryan dive out the window. When he had his feet under him, he grabbed her and hauled her to his chest.
“You okay?” he
