A soft shiver raced through her, pooling in Susan’s stomach as she lifted her eyes from the journal only to have them captured by the keen warm eyes of Mr. Watkins. This was bound to be the adventure of a lifetime if Susan played her cards just right.
“So what is this big secret you never told anyone,” Susan wrenched her eyes away from the handsome man and turned to her grandmother. “Why didn’t you ever tell anyone?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I really saw it,” Gram snapped her eyes between the two younger people. “I was focused on the horses, and you know there are all kinds of critters up in those woods.”
“You never told anyone?” Susan asked, her brows furrowing.
“No, I asked Gary if he had seen anything, but he said all he saw were the horses. It didn’t seem important at the time, but now I don’t know.”
Chapter 2
'Two are better than one… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up!… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken' Ecclesiastes 4:9–12
“Your notes are very comprehensive,” Susan’s voice was reluctantly encouraging. “There are even notes here I haven’t seen before.”
“I’ve interviewed my whole family,” David replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Twice he had nearly lost his battle as he resisted the urge to push a strand of dark hair away from Susan’s face. Together they stood over a dark rich wooden desk in a decidedly masculine office off the foyer. David’s lips twitched as the young woman ducked her head peering at his journal, and that same stubborn strand of hair fell along her heart shaped face.
“It hasn’t always been easy.” The young man spoke. “Some felt that my grandfather got what he deserved while others swear he was a good law abiding man, who never sold moonshine. They all agree he was peaceful, whatever his other shortcomings might have been.”
“What do you think about what Gram said?” Susan looked up meeting his eyes. “Do you really think she saw something the day she found Israel and Oreo?”
David shrugged. “I don’t know. The forest is thick now, but people camp, hike, and hunt in there all the time. Maybe it was just a flash from some hiker walking by. I can’t believe it could be anything else.”
Susan bit her bottom lip, pondering the notion. Grandma Holmes was convinced that she had seen a flash of light in the woods, but what did that mean exactly? A car never would have made it up there, would it? Even before the dam upstream had burst, there were very few roads into the forest.
“Do you think you could find the spot where your grandmother found the horses?” David asked absently, his eyes fixed on Susan’s glistening lips. “I mean we could take a look around and see if we find anything up there. It’s crazy,” he added turning his back and pacing to a book shelf. “Maybe if we look at it with fresh eyes, we might get a feeling for something.”
“A feeling?” Susan placed her knuckles flat on her hips. “A feeling? How is that supposed to help?” She threw her hands in the air. “Maybe we should just call in a psychic, and they’ll be able to walk us to your grandfather’s grave.”
“We don’t even know if he’s dead,” David’s voice rose and he wheeled glaring at the beautiful woman still standing by the desk. “That’s the problem; no one knows where he is, or what happened to him. I’ve spent years watching my grandmother grieve the loss of her husband, but she couldn’t even put a marker up in his memory because she didn’t know what had happened to him.” All of the frustration of years spent wondering, spilled over and his light brown eyes sparked with anger. “If only I could have put her mind to rest. If only there had been answers. We buried her last month under a stone bearing two names but no dates for Pap-pap. Do you know how infuriating that is?”
Susan took a step back, the force of David’s passion washing over her like a wave. “What if you find out something you don’t want to know? What if everything the people of this town have whispered for years is true?”
David sagged under the young woman’s words. “Then at least we’ll have the truth, and I can move on. I promised my grandmother I would find out what happened to Pap-pap. I can’t quit now.”
Something turned over in Susan’s heart, and though she was still determined to solve the mystery herself, she felt a softening toward the young man with the sand colored hair.
“Come on,” she groaned, grabbing her keys. “I’ll take you to the place where Gram found Israel and Oreo. I hope you aren’t afraid of a hike though. It isn’t easy to get to.”
David followed Susan out through the kitchen to a small parking area at the back of the house and smiled at the Jeep Wrangler sitting, top down, under a tree. “I take it this is yours?” He raised a brow examining the bright blue four-by-four.
“Yep, I like the hills and get out there as much as I can.” Susan slipped behind the wheel and David hurried to jump in the passenger seat, as the engine roared. He barely had time to buckle up before Ms. Holmes was tearing out of the driveway and headed for the mountain road that brought you the back way into the forest.
A warm breeze ruffled his hair as they sped through town, past the library and down one long hill only to charge up the other.
“You love this kind of thing don’t you?” David smiled as the young woman focused on the road, her dark hair blowing on the wind.
“Pretty much,” Susan didn’t look at the man. She was focused on where they were going.