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Reese didn’t know one way or the other if the story brought her back near Cider Creek to investigate. Although, it would make sense as the reason she’d gotten herself in danger if she’d been poking around in the wrong place. She cursed trauma for stealing her recent memories.
“Yes,” she said, unsure if it was true or not. To be fair, they had just read about Tandra.
“Do you see similarities?” Virginia continued.
“I’m not sure,” Reese admitted. “But I’d like to learn more about what happened with Camree Lynn.” She put up her hand to stop Virginia from saying anything just yet. “And I know it was a long time ago.”
“Dear child,” Virginia said. “Where do I even begin? I miss my daughter every day. I wonder if she’s alive. I think about what she might have become. Would she have gone to Dallas with you to work, in art and fashion like the two of you always planned? Would she be as successful as you?”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t be modest, sweetheart,” Virginia protested. “I’ve followed your career.” Her chest puffed out a little. “I’ve been proud of you.”
Tears welled in Reese’s eyes. “It means a lot to hear you say that, Virginia.”
“You deserve it, dear,” Virginia continued. “And I can’t help but think the two of you would have stayed lifelong friends.”
“That was the plan,” Reese stated.
Virginia dropped her gaze. “The divorce was hard on my daughter.”
“Yes,” Reese agreed. There was no use lying at this point.
“I didn’t know what to think at first,” Virginia said. “When Camree Lynn first...disappeared. We’d been fighting. The family was a mess.” She looked up and searched Reese’s eyes. “We never should have dragged her into our marital problems.”
“I doubt you could have hidden anything from her,” Reese said.
Virginia nodded. “That very well might be true. Still, I believed the law when they said she’d run away.”
“And now?”
“No one stays mad this many years, do they,” Virginia stated it like it was biblical truth. “She would have come home a few months later, after she’d had a chance to cool off. I tried to tell the sheriff the same thing, but he brushed me off. With the divorce, well, it was a little too easy to say she ran off to Houston or Dallas in an election year. Otherwise, he would have allowed a killer to stalk a young person in his county, right under his nose.”
“Doesn’t bode well on election day, does it,” Darren said. The disdain in his voice reminded her that he’d been friends with Camree Lynn, too.
DARRENCLENCHEDHISback teeth. Being lazy on a job was one thing. A law-enforcement officer being lazy on the job was enough to make him see red. If the sheriff had treated Camree Lynn’s case correctly, would she be sitting here at this table with them? Would her mother’s smile reach her eyes? Because it sure as hell didn’t now, and he couldn’t blame Virginia one bit. The thought of losing one of his girls...
His grip around his glass was tight enough to break it, so he forced himself to cool off and set down the glass.
“No. It doesn’t,” Virginia said about his election-day comment. She placed her palms on the table. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my Camree Lynn. I called police in Houston, Dallas, Austin. They weren’t any help.”
Darren could only imagine the pain. He prayed like hell that he would never have to experience something as awful as losing a child.
“Funny thing is, you lose everything with your child,” Virginia continued. “Oh, at first everyone is wonderful. They see you at the grocery store and can’t wait to give you a hug and tell you what your child meant to them. After a while, it calms down and then you become this visual reminder of how awful it is to lose your baby. Folks see you in the soup aisle and skip it.” She waved her hands in the air. “I’m sure they don’t mean to come across as coldhearted. It’s like they can’t face you any longer because you remind them of whattheycould lose.”
“I’m so sorry,” Reese said with the kind of emotion that said she meant it.
“You were just a child yourself,” Virginia said. “I imagine you were doing the best you could just to survive every day.”
“For the record, I never believed she ran away,” Reese stated.
Virginia rocked her head. “I know. Looking back, I should have listened.” She studied a spot on the table in front of her. “What’s the saying? Something about ‘out of the mouths of babes.’”
Reese nodded. Darren had heard the saying, too.
“You’re right, though,” Reese said. “None of the other adults listened to me, either. Not the sheriff or my grandfather.”
Virginia reached across the table for Reese’s hands. “He was so hard on you.”
