Jane’s heart felt like it would bounce out of her chest. The late-afternoon sunshine warmed her arms, but fear was a cold blanket enveloping her with its chill. This was a moment she’d dreamed of and longed for, but now that it was here, it took all of her strength not to turn and run. She might have done just that except for the steadying touch of Reid’s fingers on her elbow.
They rounded the side of the house, and her breath seized at the scene of incredibly blue water rolling to a beach of boulders and sparkling sea glass. Movement in a gazebo caught her attention, and she stared transfixed at the woman who stepped into a patch of sunlight. Her mother. The scent of patchouli floated in Jane’s memory, though all she smelled now was the scent of the sea, teeming with life.
When she’d last seen Kim Hardy fifteen years ago, she’d been thin, almost gaunt. She looked . . . different . . . almost too good to be true. She exuded good health and happiness. Her mother’s unsophisticated blonde hair had been replaced with a hairdresser’s attention to detail, with lowlights and an expert cut that just brushed her jawline. Her curves had filled out, and she was beautiful in stylish capris and a sleeveless top. A smile stretched across her face as she threw a ball for the eager German shepherd dancing around her feet.
Jane must have made an involuntary movement because her mother’s smile faded, and she shaded her eyes with her hand to look their direction.
Reid took Jane’s hand. “Steady.”
Jane inhaled and let it out in a slow exhale. “Thank you.” She released his hand and took a step forward. “Kim Hardy?”
Her mother took a step back. “Kim Wilkinson. You must have the wrong address.” Her voice trembled, and she cleared her throat.
Jane had interrogated enough people to recognize the note of panic in her mother’s voice.
Her father had been telling the truth.
Jane stepped out of the house’s shadow and lifted her face to the sunlight. She’d been a girl, only fifteen, but surely a mother would recognize her own daughter. She couldn’t have changed that much.
Her mother stood staring at her, and Jane registered the moment recognition dawned on her face. Her lips parted, and her hazel eyes widened. Jane clenched her fists and held her breath as she waited.
A small gasp escaped her mother’s lips. “Jane.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.
Jane wanted to run, but she forced herself to step closer. Reid’s presence by her side gave her courage. “Hello, Mom. You’ve hidden well for a lot of years.”
Her mother shot a glance toward the house, and she clenched her hands in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
That was it? No welcoming smile, just fear? Jane’s eyes burned, but she swallowed down her dismay and forced her face muscles not to reveal how much she was hurting inside. What good would it do? Her mother obviously didn’t care.
Her mother wet her lips. “Well?” Her challenging tone was a contrast to the wobble in her voice. “You shouldn’t have come. I told Charles never to tell you where I was. My girls will be home soon. I want you gone by then.”
My girls. No mention of missing her. No fierce hug that told her never to go away again. Jane inhaled past the stab of pain to her heart. Even faced with her past, her mother wanted her out of the way before anyone knew she’d come.
“Dad didn’t tell me. I discovered your whereabouts without his help.” She forced a carefree tone. “Believe me, Dad made sure I knew you didn’t want to see me. What did I ever do that made you cut me off so completely? What went on at Mount Sinai that made you separate yourself from your family? I’m here for answers. You took something from Liberty’s Children, and Gabriel wants it back.”
Her mother’s gaze darted to the left and right, and she took a step back. “You’ve talked to Gabriel? He knows where I am?” Her voice rose.
“He doesn’t know where you are, but he showed up in Pelican Harbor looking for you. He’s threatened me and my family if you don’t give back what you stole. I realize that our well-being means nothing to you, but Will is everything to me, and I’m not leaving here without whatever it was you took. So if you want your past to remain secret, you’d better start talking.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then why are you twisting your hands together? Why do you seem so terrified? Are you afraid I’ll tell your so-called husband you’re not really married? He doesn’t know you’re still married to Dad, does he? How would it look for the world to know he’s married to a bigamist?”
Her mother held out a pleading hand. “Look, you need to get out of here. Please. I can’t talk to you now.” Tears tracked down her cheeks.
Jane didn’t want to have any sympathy for her, but she couldn’t stop the traitorous stab of pity. “You have to give me some answers, Mom. I can’t leave town without them.”
“The girls will need dinner, and I’ll get them settled doing homework. Are you staying at the hotel?” When Jane nodded, she rushed on. “What’s your room number? I’ll meet you there at eight.”
“I don’t have it yet, but I can text it to you. If you don’t show up, I’ll come back here. I won’t be put off.”
“Fine, fine. Please, just get out of here before the girls get home.”
Jane gave a jerky nod and turned back toward the house.
“They’re home,” her mother hissed. “Walk along the water like you’re on a stroll.”
Reid took Jane’s hand and tugged her to the water’s edge. Jane heard the sound of teenage laughter and saw two girls, chattering excitedly, hurry toward her mother. She drank in their faces and fixed them in her memory. The oldest one resembled their mother. And Jane. The youngest must have taken after her attorney father. She had dark hair and a taller build than Jane and her mother.
Jane’s knees trembled, and she clung to Reid’s hand as he helped her walk along the shale and rocks until the sound of the waves drowned out the young voices. She’d probably never even get to meet her half sisters, though everything in her made her want to turn and proclaim the truth. What right did Kim have to live a lie—to deprive Jane of a real relationship? She’d hated the lies told to her by her father, and yet here she was letting her mother continue them.
Who was she to judge what Reid and her father had done? She was doing the exact same thing by walking away.
* * *
The brutal confrontation with Jane’s mother had taken its toll. Reid eyed Jane over the rim of his water glass and wished he could take the shadows from her hazel eyes. How hard it must have been to realize Kim cared nothing about seeing her firstborn daughter.
He watched Jane aimlessly smooth the white linen tablecloth as she stared out the large windows facing Sunset Cove. The waitstaff buzzed through the Sea Room’s full tables with smiles and courteous service, but Reid’s attention was fixed on Jane’s face. They’d both ordered scallops, but he knew she’d have trouble eating. Food was the last thing on her mind.
She checked her watch for the third time in five minutes. “She won’t come, and I’m not sure what to do when she doesn’t show up.”
“We’re here for the truth, and I don’t think we should leave without it.”
She held his gaze. “Even if it destroys her family?”
“Does truth ever really destroy more than it gives? Would you rather not have learned that your dad lied to you?”
She bit her lip. “Of course not. Knowing Will has been my greatest joy in life. But the truth might destroy life for my mom.”
“It might. Does that make the truth wrong?”
“I know it’s wrong to want revenge, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit part of me wants her to suffer the way I have.” She ducked her head and reached for her crystal water glass.
“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel that way. We have to find what she took and why. That’s the only way to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
“I can’t see her being honest about it. Her whole life has been spent covering up her past. Getting her to open up will be hard. Maybe impossible.”
“And if she refuses? Are you going to go back and tell her husband she’s a bigamist?”
She raised her gaze to lock with his. “I don’t know. What would you do?”
He winced. “I didn’t do a very good job of handling things with you. I wish I’d been honest right from the start. But there’s a lot to consider here. Those teenage girls, for one thing. You’re a good police chief and a good detective. You can find the truth no matter what she does or says. So if you want to wait, I wouldn’t judge you for it.”
Her gaze softened. “You sound like you have a lot of confidence in me.”
“I do.”
Their server, a perky twenty-something brunette, delivered their food, and Reid said nothing more for several minutes. He wasn’t sure what to advise her. What good would it do now to demolish her mother’s house of lies? It wouldn’t change anything. Jane’s half sisters were too young to be allowed to have a relationship with her. Their father wouldn’t welcome finding out he’d been “married” to someone who already had a husband. It would be a huge mess that might be impossible to unravel. On the other hand, the truth was never wrong, and he’d regretted not being honest when he first came to Pelican Harbor. What to do?
“You’re thinking dark thoughts,” Jane said.
“Just considering all the possible outcomes.”
She put down her fork. “I’m not going to blow up her life. I can’t do that to her girls. There would be no advantage for them to learn about me. I can wait if I have to. I’ll figure out what Gabriel wants some other way.”
“You could always meet your sisters when they’re older.”
She nodded. “While I’ve decided not to tell her family, Kim doesn’t have to know that yet. If she doesn’t show up tonight, I’ll go back there after the girls are in bed. If she thinks her present life is in jeopardy, maybe I can pressure her into telling me the truth.”
Reid nodded and tucked into his steaming pile of sautéed scallops. “Yum, this is good.”
Jane pushed her food around before she took a reluctant bite. Her eyes widened. “It’s delicious.”
He watched her eat a few bites, then his phone dinged with a message from Will. He read it aloud. “‘Hey, parents, hope you’re having fun. Gramps and I went fishing today, and I caught a shark. It bit my arm as I was hauling it in. Ten stitches, but I’m doing okay.’”
His pulse stuttered, and Reid looked up in time to catch Jane’s gasp as she grabbed for her phone.
Her message alert came, and she frowned. “That brat. It’s a joke. He went fishing at the lake and caught trout.”
“Nothing like getting our heart rates up without having to jog.”
She shook her head and put her phone down. “That boy of ours is a handful. But I wouldn’t trade him for anything.”
“What about us? Would you trade us?”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth and shook her head. “I don’t know what it’ll take for us to be together, but I can’t see life without you and Will in it.”
His breath caught at her admission. “It’s about time you said that. I wouldn’t want to turn into a stalker.”
“It’s hard to walk away from someone with as much heart as you.”
Her chuckle lifted his heart. “I’m the steady sort.”
Her smile faded. “When will Lauren be served with divorce papers?”
“This week sometime, I think. I signed them yesterday. I’m praying she doesn’t put up too much of a fight.”
“Not going to happen, Reid. She wouldn’t have stuck around this long if she didn’t intend to fleece you for all you’re worth.”
“I have to admit, I sometimes wish she’d get hit by a truck or something. Poof, she’d be gone.” Her eyes widened and he knew he shouldn’t have said it. “That’s wrong of me, I know. I shouldn’t want revenge, but she’s still hurting Will.”
Jane reached across the table to take his hand. “Things will work out. C. S. Lewis said, ‘We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it,’ and I guess it’s true. I keep stumbling over that whole forgiveness thing. It’s harder than I ever dreamed.”
“Before Lauren showed up, I would have said I was good at forgiveness, but I was wrong. It’s easier to let go of what she did to me than it is to know she’s hurt Will. And you. If she hadn’t shown up, I would already have a ring on your finger.”
A teasing light flashed in her eyes as they crinkled into a smile. “You’re awfully confident, Mr. Dixon. I might not be that easy to catch.”
“Will did most of the work.”
Her fingers tightened on his. “I think you did it all by yourself. I could have Will without taking you. Divorced parents do it every day. But I don’t think I can live without you now.”
While they were words he’d longed to hear, a dark foreboding warned that things couldn’t be that easy.