Jeremy shrugged. “Mom and I will live here. Well, I’ll go back and forth to school, so I’ll live here most of the time but not all.”
Using this as our base didn’t sound great. Not terrible, but was it the right answer? I’d been through too much in a short amount of time to be able to think anything through rationally.
“We can’t sell it. We can’t rent it. We can’t turn it into a haunted hotel, though people would pay to visit that.” Jeremy smiled. “I read the trust documents and we’re locked in for six more years.”
Until then, all we could do was hope to blunt the pain seeping through the walls by flooding the rooms with dessert baking, decency, and happiness. With Halloween over and the winter about to settle in we had plenty of time to set up here as we rebuilt the café and tried to put our lives back in order.
“This is for you.” Cam handed me an envelope.
A white envelope. Same black lettering on the front. Just my name.
Yeah, that made sense. “You’ve been my mystery mailman.”
“A reluctant one.” Cam leaned against the fireplace. “It was a final request from Xavier.”
“He could have asked the police to investigate or just been forthcoming with me. Why play the game with the notes?” I asked but I knew. Xavier insisted on the subterfuge because that’s the only way Xavier knew how to operate. The brilliant businessman sucked at dealing with actual people. Asking me for help was the last thing, literally, he would ever do.
“I was after him for years to push for answers. He told me that had to wait until he was dead. Then he left this list of notes for me to give you, depending on if you were investigating and what you found. I think it was his way of providing an incentive and encouraging you to do the right thing when he didn’t.”
Stella shook her head. “So manipulative and so on brand.”
“He wanted the truth about the family’s deaths to come out, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure what it was. He blamed Aubrey for so long...” Cam shook his head. “Looks like he punished her for something she didn’t do.”
Aubrey might be scary—no, she was scary—but she didn’t kill her family, and we should be ashamed for how we acted when we thought she did. Me included.
“Not his best behavior.” Cam’s serious tone didn’t waver. “He also recognized he treated you pretty shitty for all these years. He wasn’t the only one.”
The idea of Xavier having any remorse... No. Not him. Not ever. “Meaning?”
“He watched Jeremy from afar. He was proud.” Cam’s stern features relaxed a bit as he looked at me. “He was also proud of you.”
Uh, no. “I think we’ve all had enough lying. With respect—”
“Here’s the paid mortgage to the café.” Cam handed me another envelope. A bigger one this time. “He was the lender behind the company that bought the mortgage. He planned to pull it so many times over the years, put pressure on you, but didn’t.”
Not a surprise. Even with the file I had on him, that had been one of my greatest fears. Xavier seeking custody first. Destroying the business a far second. The combination of the two, that he’d maneuver the situation so that he could throw me out and use my lack of an address and a job as a reason to take Jeremy, had been the worst of all potential outcomes.
I saw the look on Cam’s face. Something unexpected and a little embarrassed hid there. “Hold on. Are you saying you convinced him not to take my business?”
“Or Jeremy. He’d ruined one woman. That was enough.”
Stella fumbled her teacup. “Go back for a second.”
“No, we’re going to let Dea rest in peace.” Xavier didn’t deserve my protection, but the one thing I’d managed to do over the last few days was contact Dea’s family. They requested her name be left out of any discussion of Xavier’s life. They knew who killed her and were done begging people to listen. I planned to honor that request.
Cam stared at the newest note in my hand. “I thought about just telling you what Xavier wanted you to do, almost confessed when I ran into you at the hospital, but I doubted you’d listen to me. It was easier for me to comply with his wishes. I apologize if the notes scared you.”
“They added an unnecessary level of drama.” But he wasn’t wrong. Without the notes I probably wouldn’t have poked around, and Jeremy might have been safer. I don’t know what the right answer was, but that part of my life was over. Almost...
Before I started reading, I ignored Stella’s offer to leave and Marni’s mumbling about this not being her business. They’d been my partners in this investigative nightmare. I was done hiding things and keeping secrets from them and from Jeremy.
Hanna
I tricked you into being a mother, then waited with rapt excitement for you to fail. You made it work. You built a life. You protected him. You refused to play the intricate game I planned for you.
It’s taken me two decades to accept that you didn’t need me, not even my money, and that you wouldn’t come running to me. Honestly, I despised your surge of personal strength. You were supposed to be an unserious teenager, not a resilient woman. I counted on a lack of maturity you didn’t possess.
I also, to the very end, silently and reluctantly admired your determination. How you handled yourself is how I knew you would be the one to uncover the truth about what happened that day fifteen years ago. If you’re receiving this letter, you’ve done it. I didn’t search for answers because the reality of Patrick’s loss already damned me. You do not carry that burden.
