Page 42 of Unburied

“Me, too,” Elijah replied with no small amount of remorse. “I know I wasn’t there for her as much as I should have been, and I regret it.”

It was a crappy situation all around for everyone, and it was only going to get worse. Before Vivi could broach the subject of what had happened with Christine, the waitress delivered their meals. They made small talk as they ate until, finally, Vivi could put it off no longer.

“So, you’re probably wondering exactly why I asked to meet with you,” she said, nerves causing her insides to flutter.

Elijah nodded a little. “What’s on your mind?”

“What happened with Christine…” she started, then stopped. “We found Christine’s diary a few weeks ago when we were packing and⁠—”

“Her diary?” Elijah’s tone was ice-cold, his posture rigid.

Vivi studied him. “Yeah, I found it in her old bedroom. I was going to give it to Ellen, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react. I thought I would ask you first.”

“No sense in dredging up bad memories,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’d throw the stupid thing away.”

Vivi paused. He was holding something back, she could tell. She strove for calm as she spoke. “That’s fine. I’ll just put it with the rest of Ellen’s things.”

Elijah nodded stiffly, and silence descended for a few seconds. Vivi's heart told her to leave well enough alone, that Elijah and his family had endured enough tragedy already. But her mind screamed at her for answers. She couldn’t just let it go. They’d come this far; she needed to find out if he knew about Christine—and Russ.

She swallowed hard. “That actually brings up my second question. I was wondering…”

She trailed off, and Elijah lifted a brow in question. “Yeah?”

“Did you know she was pregnant before she⁠—?”

He speared her with a hawk-like gaze, cutting her off. “What?”

Vivi bit her lip, wishing she could read him. Did he know all the sordid details or not? “Well, we found out”—she gestured between Mason and herself—“that Christine had a baby, a little boy, just a few months before she killed herself.”

“That wasn’t common knowledge.” He leaned close, his eyes dark with anger. “Who told you that?”

Mason reached forward as if to physically ward Elijah away, his tone hard. “Let’s just relax for a second. We found out because Christine’s child—Tyler—tried to break into Vivi’s house.”

Elijah looked absolutely stunned, and he sank back in his chair. “What are you talking about?”

Vivi drew in a deep breath. “A couple nights ago, Mason heard someone outside. Tyler was sneaking around the backyard, so Mason brought him in and we asked what he was doing.” An understatement, but she wasn’t inclined to tell Elijah the whole truth. “He explained that Christine had given him up for adoption, and he only found out about her through letters he received much later.”

“I…” Elijah’s mouth opened and closed. “I had no idea he knew. From what I understood, the adoption was supposed to be sealed.”

Vivi shrugged helplessly. “I’m not sure. But that brought up a whole new issue. Tyler is looking for his biological father.”

“Couldn’t help you with that.”

His hard tone and the tic in his jaw told Vivi otherwise, and she pressed on. “You still lived at home when she was married to Russ, right?”

Resentment rolled off Elijah in waves, and she could just imagine him trying to clamp down on his anger as he responded. “They married when I was in high school, but they separated a few years after Christine passed. She stayed with him way too long.”

“Do you know where he is? Tyler would love⁠—”

Elijah was already shaking his head. “Not a clue. We didn’t get along too well, and I didn’t bother to keep in touch.”

He glanced at his watch, then tossed a strained smile Vivi’s way. “Sorry, but I have to get back to work. It was good catching up with you.”

“Yeah, of course. Thanks for coming.”

Unease swirled in Vivi's belly as they tossed down some money to settle the bill and headed outside. She somehow managed to curb all of her questions until she and Mason were ensconced in his truck and pulling away from the diner.

“Well that was interesting,” she remarked with no small amount of sarcasm.