Charles opened the study door, and Wagner quickly moved out of the way. He gave Darla a quick nod in acknowledgement and a smile as she passed him. She wasn’t sure yet what she planned to do about him. She was not interested in getting married and settling down. She also considered it would be helpful to have someone close to provide protection.
In all the years of knowing men who wanted to marry her, he was the first one who seemed to be genuinely interested, and not because of any money she could provide or from any personal gain he would acquire.
Things are finally falling into place for me.
The four of them climbed into the police cruiser. Darla sat in the front to provide directions. Meg and Charles sat in the back and talked animatedly, one a widow, the other a widower, and they marveled at the fact that their paths had never crossed before now. Darla rolled her eyes at the obvious romantic connection blooming between them.
“Officer Wagner?” Darla asked, looking over at him. She felt safe enough to talk since Charles and Meg were deep in their own discussion.
“Just Dylan. And yes?” Dylan smiled, not looking away from the road.
“I know you want to date me, but I feel like I must tell you something. I don’t ever want to get married or have kids.” Darla wasn’t sure why this confession mattered. Part of her longed for someone to spend time with, but it always seemed to add an extra layer of complications to her already complicated life. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”
Saying the words out loud took a burden off of her shoulders. His smile assured her that everything was going to be okay.
Perhaps there was a chance I can have it all, money, love, and security. All the things I have so desperately sought allthese years. My hard work switching all these times is finally going to work out for me.
Dylan glanced over at her, not saying anything. “Turn left off here?” he asked as he turned back to face the winding road ahead of them.
Darla looked back out at the road. “Yes.”
Part of her felt that the declaration was a way to push him away, which would ultimately be for the best.
“You can stop up here. I’ll go out and fetch it.” Dylan stopped slowly and put the car in park.
“You want me to come with you?” he offered, hand on his door handle.
“No. It is okay. According to Mr. VanHugh, it isn’t far. He told me it was the last walk he took since he had been mostly confined to his wheelchair. I will be back soon.” Darla opened her car door, walked around to the same side as Dylan’s, and began walking into the woods.
She remembered this walk as Richard. The smell of damp moss, the sounds of birds chirping in the sky above, and the shuffling of squirrels below.
The forest seemed more alive to her now. Her vision was absolutely perfect. She touched the tree bark as she passed. Her mind flashed back to her time as Jane, when she had played with her young daughter, Lizzie, in the woods.
A deep sadness filled her as the weight of realization hit her. She had left her true family so far behind her. She’d buried it deep to avoid any confusion in her current life. Her youthful vision barged the memory door open, and they flooded her mind.
She doubled over in the woods, holding her stomach as she let the sobs shake through her body. She dropped to her knees and the earth dug into her skin, pain radiated from the contact and from deep in her chest.
“Oh, what would Lizzie think if she saw me now?” she huffed out as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
She realized how much she had lost herself over the years. All the people she had hurt flashed through her mind, each face eliciting a new emotion each time. Then she thought about Dylan.
He was the first man she had met who seemed to genuinely care, and she was using him. This caused the final tears to spill out. She sat in the quiet for a few more moments. She promised then and there to make a change, to live a different life.
She stood and took the last few steps forward. Darla retrieved the key, hidden under a fallen tree overgrown with bushes. She considered throwing it. Instead, she had a new thought. She would hide it again, somewhere else entirely. She wouldn’t claim the fortune unless it was absolutely needed. A new life with Dylan called her name, one of simplicity and maybe even full of love.
She took the key in her fingers and slipped it into her womanhood. She didn’t have pockets, and felt this would be the safest place to keep it for now until she could hide it somewhere.
It seemed silly to be so paranoid since she had Meg with her—and a police officer— but the instinct was too strong to ignore.
She turned and made her way back to the car. Her heart felt full, and she felt lighter. The promise of a new simple life filled her with a warmth she long forgot.
Meg was still sitting in the back of the cop car. She had clearly been crying, refusing to look in her direction. Dylan and Charles stood with their backs to the car, waiting for her.
“Well?” Dylan asked, a hint of aggression edged in his voice. “Where is it?”
Charles watched her carefully. He looked down and noticed her empty hands. “She doesn’t have it.”
“What?” Dylan asked, looking at Charles, anger echoing in the trees around them. “You said it was the most likely scenario, that she would be the one to retrieve it!”
