He came around the desk to sit next to me in the other guest chair. “I’m sorry we never figured out who did it.” He patted my shoulder with his large hand. “The serial killer we suspected must have died or gone to another part of the country. We never had another victim that matched up.”
My sister hadn’t matched up. We’d already covered that, so I kept quiet.
I wiped under my eyes. “I’m sorry. You’d think after all this time, I could talk about her without crying.”
“Being home brings up a lot of memories.”
He was so sympathetic I almost started to cry again. “That’s right,” I said. “Which is why I haven’t been home much.”
Every time I’d brought Brooke to see her grandparents, the memory of Beth haunted me. We’d talked so many times about how our kids would grow up together right here in Logan Bend. “You’ll be a teacher and I’ll own a bakery and we’ll each have three kids,” she’d said.
Best-laid plans and all that, I thought now.
“I was sorry to hear about your dad.” Ford patted my shoulder again.
“Thanks. He went fast. No suffering. Heart attack.” Ford knew that. He lived here. He was sheriff. He knew everything.
“I’m sorry to say but a cold case like this—well, it’s not likely we’ll find much of anything at this point. Keep reading the journal. I’ll pray for a miracle.”
“Maybe there will be something. Anything.” The hope in my voice made me inwardly cringe. I stood, thanking him for his time. “I appreciate you listening to me.”
“Anytime.” He stood as well. “Before you go, I wanted to mention that Cole Paisley moved back here a few years ago. He built a house on the family property. The place is worth a fortune now, what with the river access.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. “They still had that property?” I’d assumed they’d sold it years ago. Why would they keep it? An investment, perhaps.
“Rumor has it that the Paisleys divorced after leaving here but she kept the property. Sold it to Cole for next to nothing.”
“Okay, well, thanks for telling me. I really have to go.” I scurried out of there as fast as I could, knowing if I stayed any longer, I’d start asking a dozen questions about Cole Paisley. I wasn’t ready to know the answer to the biggest one of all. Was Cole Paisley married?
Of course he was. He probably had a big family and a bunch of animals. Why else would he have moved back here? The perfect place to raise kids and have a small farm as he’d always wanted.
I’d have to get out of here before I ran into him. Not knowing any details about him allowed me to still have my fantasies. After thirty years, I still had my daydreams. They were still all about Cole Paisley.
Some things never changed.
4
Cole
I’d dropped my load of vegetables at the food bank and headed down the street toward the grocery store. Logan Bend had changed since I was a kid. The brick buildings from the early days remained, but they’d been updated to look quaint and attractive. A park with a gazebo had been put in where the run-down town square had been. Flowerpots hung from business fronts. Cafés and restaurants were packed with summer visitors. I passed by a family with three young children sitting on a bench in front of the ice cream shop happily licking away at their cones. A sliver of sadness threw a shadow over the beauty of the day. I’d wanted that. With Carlie.
That’s when I saw her come out of the tea shop. I stopped dead and stared. Was it true? Carlie Webster was here in town? Was I truly seeing her, or was it a mirage? I held on to a lamppost for support. My heart beat between my ears. I couldn’t feel my lips.
Fair hair cascaded down her back. Her remarkably high cheekbones were more prevalent than when she was younger. Her face thinner, too. She wore a loose-fitting blue sundress and flat sandals. Not as slight as she’d been in high school, more womanly. Even more beautiful. She had the same straight posture and long, slender neck. She’d always reminded me of a ballerina even though she always insisted it was Beth who had the dancing talent.
As she always had, she took my breath away. I didn’t know what to do. Did I call out to her? Would she even recognize me? Remember me? What if I’d built our romance up in my mind? I might have been a blip. Long forgotten. Cole who?
She looked at her wristwatch, then rummaged in a pink purse that dangled from one arm and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. A car came down the street, and I lost sight of her. When it passed by, I thought for sure she’d be gone, having not really been there at all. But no. She remained standing in the exact spot. Her head tilted downward as if she were contemplating something.
Then, abruptly, she headed away from me, toward the grocery store. I’d have known her gait anywhere. The way she walked with the pressure on the toes of her feet was unmistakable.
I’d follow her. That’s all there was to do. I couldn’t let her slip away. Not after waiting for this moment for the last thirty years.
5
Carlie
In aisle six of the grocery store, I knelt down to get a box of pasta. Out of my peripheral vision, a pair of scuffed work boots approached. I used the handle of my cart for stability as I straightened. One knee cracked. I was about to roll my cart away when I heard my name.
“Carlie?”
I turned and almost gasped. Cole Paisley stood before me. Sparks of shock traveled up my spine and raised the hair on the back of my neck. He was taller and broader than the boy
