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Darren didn’t want to get too caught up in the fact Reese wasn’t married. One thing was certain—he wanted to throw a punch if he ever saw his uncle again. Matias never showed his face again after luring Reese away from town with a paid summer internship in Dallas. The man was considerably older than Reese, seventeen years to be exact. And though, technically she’d been an adult—she’d turned eighteen on April twentieth—a thirty-five-year-old had a helluva lot more experience under his belt.
Even so, it had been a little too easy for her to cast Darren aside. Some of those wounds must still be tender if he was thinking about it while standing on the porch of the mother of a friend who’d been missing for thirteen years.
Chapter Nine
The door opened a crack and someone picked up the barking beast. A sliver of Camree Lynn’s mother’s face could be seen. From the looks of her, the last thirteen years had been hard.
“Reese?” Virginia Bowles, or whatever her last name was now, sounded like she was in shock.
“Yes, ma’am,” Reese responded. “It’s me. And I know it’s been a long time but—”
The door swung open and in the next second Reese was being brought into a hug. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. Heard you’d moved to Dallas and dusted this town off your boots years ago.” Virginia took a step back. “Let me look at you.” Tears welled in the older woman’s eyes. This might have been what Camree Lynn would have looked like if she’d lived into her midfifties. Platinum-blond hair, brown eyes and a heart-shaped face. Mrs. Bowles’s skin had that worn-in, leathery look. Too much time in the sun during Texas summers could easily add years to a face. She had sunspots and a mole just above her lip, just like the one Camree Lynn had.
Reese fought back the sudden urge to cry. “May we come in?”
Mrs. Bowles stood there, stunned. She shook her head like she was shaking off a brain fog. “Of course.”
The door swung open, and it seemed Mrs. Bowles noticed Darren for the first time. “You’re the Pierce boy.”
“Darren. Yes, ma’am,” he said, his voice smooth as silk. He had a deep timbre now that had a way of sliding over Reese and through her. He seemed able to touch a place deep inside her that no one had discovered.
“Come in,” the older woman said, holding her arm out. She was dressed in work clothes despite the late hour. “I’m catching up on emails. Don’t mind the mess.”
She walked them into the eat-in kitchen, which had a laptop and a stack of books. “I’m going back to school, so ignore these and have a seat anywhere you like.”
Mrs. Bowles’s home had always been spick-and-span, with a place for everything. Only a couple of necessities were allowed to be on the kitchen counters. This place wouldn’t exactly qualify for an episode ofHoarders, but it would if they had a tidy edition.
“What are you studying?” Reese asked as she took a spot at the table.
“Accounting,” she said without hesitation before turning in front of a cabinet. “Can I get either of you something to drink?”
“Water, if it’s not too much trouble,” Reese said.
Darren nodded. “Same for me.”
“Two waters coming right up,” she said, smiling. After filling two glasses with ice and water from the fridge, she brought them over and set them down on the table. “It sure is good to see you.”
The look in her eyes said it was also painful. No doubt being around Reese brought back a lot of memories of Camree Lynn. She had worried that showing up here would bring back painful memories for the woman.
“What makes you want to study accounting?” Reese asked, unable to find the right words to ask what she really wanted to know, without some type of lead-in.
“Ever since Evan left...” She flashed her eyes at them. “He was my second husband.”
Reese nodded.
Camree’s mother sighed sharply. “Well, ever since he took off with his bookkeeper, I’ve had all kinds of time on my hands. Figured I’d find out what was so great about a numbers person.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, Mrs.—”
“Virginia,” she interrupted. “Please. Call me Virginia.”
It would take some getting used to, but Reese figured she could manage. “Will do, Virginia.”
The older woman smiled as she took a seat across the table from Reese and Darren. “What can I help you with? I know you didn’t come all the way down here from Dallas to find out what I’m studying these days.”
“Thank you for seeing us without any advanced warning,” Reese began, taking advantage of the opening while hoping the words would flow. “It’s about Camree Lynn.”
Virginia heaved a sigh, and it looked like her body deflated. “I thought maybe that’s the reason you were here.” She lifted her gaze and inhaled a breath. “I read about the girl in the news. Tandra. My phone rings every time a reporter digs around in a case that might look anything like my girl.”
