“I already know all this, told you as much on our first date, Drew. What’s your point.”
His jaw clenched, and I knew he was struggling with his patients, he was really worried about this.
“You know how the media loves to spin things in the most dramatic and tragic light, Eden. Whether it was by the request of your family or because the media just wanted the public to assume the baby died with the mother, the fact remains the same—you surviving the whole ordeal was never mentioned—not even once. But, the part you should be worried about is that there was no record of birth, or even an announcement of your birth—under your father’s name. Have you ever bothered to actually read your Birth Certificate, Eden—because I did? I knew enough information to order one online and guess who is listed as your mother. You can bet your ass that it is only a matter of time after the reopening of the case goes public, before whoever killed your mother goes digging deeper, and when they do…”
I didn’t know what to say. Based on Drew’s reasoning, it was possible that whoever killed Echo thought I’d died with her. Hell, if it had been me, I would have thought the same thing. The silence stretched through my little car for the next few moments as we drove down the hill leading to the high school. When the metal statue of a buffalo, our school mascot, came into view, Drew cleared his throat, and I glanced over at him.
“Did you know that Russel Porter, the vet that found her and delivered you, actually erected a memorial where she died?”
“What,” I asked surprised, but not for the reasons Drew was probably thinking.
“Yeah, there’s a concrete cherub that has a plaque with Echo’s name on it sitting in the middle of a horse pasture!”
“Holy crap, Drew, that’s Porter’s Field! I thought Porter’s Field was a baseball field or maybe a specific field at the soccer complex, but no—Porter’s Field is a freaking horse pasture! It was mentioned in one of Danny’s letters to Echo. He wanted her to meet him in Porter’s Field. I’d never paid attention to the Vet’s name, how could I have missed that! What are you doing after school today?”
He parked the car and pinned me with a sideways glance, “Practice. Why do you ask?”
I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to see that field. I more than wanted to see it, I needed to see it. It was where I came into the world and where Echo had left it. If there was anything that could force a revealing memory from Echo’s death to the forefront, standing in the place where she died might do it. I tried not to let the disappointment sink into my voice when I answered him.
“Don’t worry about it.”
I reached for the door only to be gently pulled toward the driver’s side. Drew turned my face to look at him, and I was sucked under by the intimate space I was suddenly sharing with him. He smelled like a shower and deodorant and was barely a breath away. His thumb ran over the cut he’d left on my jaw when I’d lost the battle of wills with Echo, and he’d knocked my lights out. He brought his eyes up to mine, and somewhere in the recesses of my conscious, I thought about how I could get lost in those depths of green and never surface again.
“I can skip practice this once, Eden. I’d rather spend the afternoon with you anyway.”
His gaze dropped to my lips, and I knew he was going to kiss me. Or at least he would have if Jennifer hadn’t started banging on my passenger window. I whipped my head around and glared at her. I would have loved nothing more than to ring my best friend’s neck for ruining what would have undoubtedly been a really good kiss.
“Of course,” Drew grumbled and got out of the car. I opened my door and narrowly missed hitting Jennifer in the side with it.
She took a step back and let me have some room to get out.
“Sorry to ruin your moment Eden, but this can’t wait!”
She grabbed my good hand and was pretty much dragging me behind her. It was then that I noticed the half-dozen police cruisers and emergency response vehicles haphazardly parked in front of the school. I hadn’t seen them when we drove up because no lights were flashing. I heard my horn beep as Drew locked my car, and within seconds he’d caught up to us.
“What the hell,” he asked in wonder. “What happened, Jennifer?”
“Mrs. Camden happened,” Jennifer said wide-eyed, “she collapsed in the cafeteria and did a face plant at the coffee station she was standing in front of. One second she was fine, and the next she wasn’t. I saw Eden’s car coming over the hill and ran out here.”
“Mrs. Camden—as in your volleyball coach?”
“Is there any other? People are saying the coffee was poisoned. No matter what the paramedics try, they can’t get her to wake up.
The three of us hurried toward the school cafeteria but didn’t make it there because just as we reached the building, the front doors swung open, and the paramedics wheeled an unconscious Mrs. Camden to the ambulance on
