Family Sins(56)

Talia sighed. “I remember.”

“I would be honored to accompany you to the ceremony.”

“Yes, please,” she said.

Bowie hesitated. Something had been on his mind ever since he’d come home and discovered her secret. Now felt like the time to say it.

“I have to tell you what a special woman I think you are. You gave up everything you wanted to care for and honor your father. I can’t imagine how hard it was, and how lonely you must have felt, but I am so proud of you. I feel blessed that we get to pick up where we left off.”

Talia shivered.

“Thank you. I love you, Bowie. So much.” She scooted backward and then curled her legs up beneath her. “Is everything okay at your house? Do you know anything more about the case?”

“We don’t know anything new, and today has been hectic but it’s getting better. Everyone is in the kitchen canning green beans. It’s noisy and chaotic and kind of wonderful at the same time.”

Talia smiled, imagining the life she’d always dreamed of with his family.

“That sounds like fun,” she said.

“Mama said to tell you that you’re welcome to come here. She’s worried about you being on your own.”

“I’m not afraid to be alone,” Talia said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Bowie said. “But promise you’ll call me if you need me.”

“I will. I promise.”

Bowie wished he was curled up in bed beside her.

“Love you,” he said.

“Love you, too,” Talia said, then lay back down on top of the bed with her phone tucked under her chin and closed her eyes.

*

The green bean canning proceeded just as Bowie had predicted. Working together amid laughter and an occasional bout of tears was strengthening the incredible bond that already existed between them. Shared work, tears and laughter were always good for what ailed a broken heart.

Once the canning was over, they put together a quick supper. The baby had long since gotten enough of everything, and had been fussing and crying off and on for the past hour. Leslie and Aidan loaded up their stuff and took him home to put him to bed while the others finished cleaning up the kitchen.

The dark mood from Leigh’s visit to her childhood home had long since lifted, and she was at peace, surrounded by family.

*

Justin Wayne was not nearly as Zen as his sister Leigh. Thanks to the plate that had hit him in the face, he had a wicked cut on the bridge of his nose, and both eyes were getting blacker by the hour. He’d left the house right on the heels of Leigh’s departure and driven the back roads of the county with one purpose in mind. Payback. He wanted to take that oldest son of Leigh’s down and make him hurt like Leigh was hurting, and after several hours of plotting, he knew just how to do it.

Go after his woman.

He drove into Eden and took the back streets to get to the house where he’d seen them kissing, then found a place to park unobserved.

There was no moon, and the stars were mostly hidden by slow-moving clouds. The street light near the woman’s house was out, which made it that much better.

It was just after two in the morning, and he was about to get out of the car when he saw a police cruiser coming down the street, driving slowly. He sat motionless in the car and waited until it left the neighborhood. The moment the taillights disappeared, Justin bolted from his car and slipped through the alley, and then across the street. He didn’t know this woman’s name or anything about her, but it didn’t matter. He no qualms about what he was going to do. She was a means to an end and had the misfortune to love the wrong man.

His heart was pounding as he moved across her backyard to the window where a night-light was glowing. There was a two-inch clearance beneath the Venetian blinds and the windowsill, enough to see the woman curled up asleep on top of the bedspread. She didn’t look like much. Too skinny for his tastes, but he wasn’t here for that.

He moved away from the window to the back porch. He got all the way up the steps and was about to pick the lock on the back door when he began hearing sirens, and then the sound of an incoming helicopter. All of a sudden the landing lights came on at the helipad behind the house, and when he turned to look, he realized he was easily visible from both the sky and the ground should anyone happen to be looking this way.

He leaped off the porch, then ran around the house and across the street to his car. Seconds later a police car came flying down the street in front of the woman’s house with lights flashing, and for a moment he thought they were after him. When he realized they were going to meet the Life-Flight helicopter, he let out a shaky breath. His heart was pounding as he drove away, but it had calmed by the time he got home. He crawled into bed and closed his eyes, already thinking of a different and better way to take her out.

*

The day of Marshall Champion’s service dawned on a clear and beautiful morning. It was, for Talia, a reminder from God that her father’s suffering was over. Dressing for the service, she rejected tradition and pushed aside a little black dress. Black was for grief and sorrow. She dressed in yellow, rejoicing that her father’s spirit was finally free from the disease that had ended his life.

She glanced at the clock. It was almost nine thirty. Bowie would be there soon, and she still needed to finish her makeup. She’d left her hair loose, letting the soft curls fall on her shoulders. All she needed was a little mascara and some lipstick, and she would be ready.