Epiphany (Legacy of Payne) (34 page)

“I won’t be long.”

A detective escorted me into the back of the station. She opened a door to an office that was small and cluttered in a disorganized way that probably made sense to her.

“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing toward the only chair facing her desk. She sat across from me and brushed the blond curls from her forehead. She seemed too young to be a cop, and I wasn’t even sure why.

Judd hadn’t been much older. I swallowed hard and silently recited the mantra that had gotten me through the past ten days:
He’s in jail. Don’t waste a thought on him.

Too bad some part of my stubborn mind refused to listen.

“I know this isn’t easy for you,” she said, and I blinked, reminding myself how I was in the here and now. I had something important to do—something that wasn’t easy, as she’d said, but it needed to be done.

“Take your time,” she said. “I’m here as long as you need.”

The next forty-five minutes picked at the scab covering my emotional wound. In light of what Judd had put us through, talking about my rape didn’t inflict as much pain as it once had, but it still cut deep.

Difficult or not, I couldn’t remain silent any longer. Professor Keely’s other victim was locked in a her-word-against-his battle, and from what Joe had told me, his father was likely going to beat the charges.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“You were very brave for coming forward, Ms. Hill.”

We stood, and I quietly thanked her as she opened the door for me. She led me back to the lobby, and almost immediately I found myself in Aidan’s arms.

“How did it go?”

“Good.”

“How do you feel?”

“Better. I never realized how much I needed closure.” I hesitated. “Maybe you’re right. I think counseling might be a good idea.”

He inched away to look at me. “I am so proud of you.”

Catching sight of my mom standing nearby, I gave Aidan a funny look.

“The sooner you clear the air with her, the better. Trust me.”

I scowled at him. “A little hypocritical, don’t you think?”

He grinned. “I just got off the phone with my mother. Things are far from resolved, but we’re working on it.”

“This is so not fair,” I grumbled.

He kissed my cheek. “You still love me.” He gestured toward the exit. “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

“Okay.” I watched him go before closing the distance between my mom and me. “Hey.”

“Hi, Kenz.” She pulled me into her arms and held on tight. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too.”

She let go a few seconds later, and we watched as two officers hauled in a scruffy blond guy who twitched every few seconds. “With everything that happened over Thanksgiving and afterward, I never got a chance to tell you something,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“That you can tell me anything. No matter what.”

I rubbed the toe of my sneaker over warn linoleum. “Part of me was ashamed.”

“You have no reason to be ashamed. If I ever get my hands on him . . .” I peeked up and caught her wiping beneath her eyes. “I wish you would’ve told me. Over the summer, I sensed something was wrong, but I would’ve never imagined this, and then when you dropped out of school and moved—” she broke off, shaking her head. “I couldn’t make sense of it.”

I wandered a few steps, too uncomfortable with our conversation to stay in one spot for long. “I knew how much you liked and respected his dad.” I lowered myself onto a bench and peered up at her. “Joe knew me better than anyone, and even he didn’t believe me.”

“I would have believed you. You’re my baby—I’m always going to be on your side.”

“Even though I’m with Aidan now?”

She sat beside me. “I don’t have anything against him. It’s true, I always thought you and Joe would get married someday and make me grandbabies.” She smiled. “But I can see how much Aidan loves you. Now that we know you’re not related . . .” She turned pink at the reminder.

“Yeah, can we not talk about that?” Bringing up that particular memory would only make reconciling things more difficult.

“Deal.” She glanced at my stomach, and I thought about the months ahead—soon my belly wouldn’t be so flat. “Looks like you’re going to give me grandbabies after all.”

“Grand
baby
,” I said, laughing. “Don’t hex me—Marcus already gave you twins.” Joe walked through the entrance, and I abruptly stopped laughing. “You didn’t.” My head swerved back to her, and I shot her an accusing glare.

“Hey.” She held up her hands. “I can honestly say I had nothing to do with this.” She stood, adjusting her purse strap. “I’ll let you two catch up. I told Marcus I’d babysit for him and Alicia. They’re down from Salem for the weekend.”

“Tell them I said hi.” I was much too distracted by Joe’s presence as he waited across the room, his eyes straying to me every so often.

“See you soon,” Mom said. She gave me another hug before taking off toward the exit where she stopped to greet Joe on her way out. He didn’t waste time in ambling to my side.

“Hi, Mac.”

“Hi.”

He gave me a quick hug, and I was certain we both sensed the awkwardness between us. “How’ve you been?” he asked once he’d stepped away.

“Coping, but things are getting easier.”

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Your mom told me the news about you and Aidan. Must be nice to know you’re not being scandalous.”

I clenched my teeth. “Why are you here, Joe?”

He pointed a thumb toward the front desk. “They called me. Guess they have more questions for me or something.” His gaze swept my body from head to toe. “You seem . . . content.”

I managed a smile. “I’m getting there.” Probably the most at peace I’d been in months, despite things still being up in the air with Aidan and me. Despite the nightmares. Ten days since Judd had been arrested, yet we hadn’t talked about our future. We’d talked about the baby some, but everything else was off-limits, lest we disrupt the tenuous balance we’d created since everything had gone down.

“Promise me something,” Joe said, his voice dropping in that familiar way that told me whatever he had to say was important.

“What is it?”

“Come to me if you’re ever in trouble, no matter what. I’ll always be here for you, Mac.”

“I will.”

He shook his head. “No, I mean it. You’re always gonna be apart of my life, and yeah, I hate that I lost you, but I don’t want what happened to come between us. Promise me you won’t close the door on us.”

“I’m not the one who shut it in the first place.” I paused, biting my lip. “We can’t go back. You know that, right?”

“You say that, but I can’t throw thirteen years down the drain. I hope you can’t either.” He frowned. “If he wasn’t in the picture, would you give me another chance?”

“I’ve gotta go.” I moved around him, incapable of uttering the word “goodbye” because it just seemed wrong.

“Hey, Mac?”

I turned, and he met me with a sad smile. “Congratulations on the baby. You’re gonna be an amazing mom.”

“Thanks.” My mouth turned up the slightest bit, and the balance of my world evened out a little more in that moment. Everything was going to be okay; for once I believed it.

Aidan was waiting for me in the car. I settled into the passenger seat, and every tear I hadn’t cried in the past few days seemed to gush from my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. He placed his hand on the nape of my neck, his fingers tracing circles, and my body flushed and chilled at the same time.

I held my breath, but uncontrollable laughter bubbled up and spilled over anyway. I glanced at him through my tears. “Nothing. Everything. Probably just hormones.” I wiped my face. “I’m glad we came here today.”

“I figured you needed this.” His fingers lingered on my skin for a few seconds longer before he started the ignition. After several stoplights and a few turns, we were speeding down the highway toward Watcher’s Point. My throat ached with a new fear—one I knew we needed to talk about. The words wouldn’t come though, and the questions I needed answers to remained unasked.

What was going to happen to us now?

Was he staying in Watcher’s Point or did he want to go back to Boise? Would he ask me to go with him?

I’d follow him anywhere.

“The last time you were this quiet and distant, you broke up with me,” he said. “Your mother didn’t have any more confessions, did she?”

My mouth lifted at the corners. If he was worried, then maybe that was a good sign. “No. I think all her skeletons are out now.” God, I hoped so. “And I definitely don’t have any plans to break up with you.” I sent him a sidelong glance. “You’re too good in bed.” Even with a gunshot wound slowing him down.

He laughed. “At least I’ve got that going for me, seeing as how you’re insatiable.”

“Like you aren’t?”

“Guilty as charged.” He laughed again. “But I can’t help myself. The view is especially good when you’re on top.”

“You better eat it up now because I hear sex goes downhill after the baby is born.”

He shook his head. “No way. I can’t imagine that—not possible with you.”

“Speaking of the
after
. . . what’s going to happen with us?”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess I’m wanting to know . . . if you’re planning to go back to Boise? You left your life there, Aidan.”

He grabbed my hand. “I realize we have things to talk about, but I thought I was clear on my intentions.”

“I need to hear you say it.”

“I put the house in Boise up for sale. I’m not going anywhere, unless you do, and in that case I’ll follow you.” He glanced at me. “Though the Watcher’s Point Herald did offer me a job, if you want to stick around.”

“If you weren’t driving, I’d jump your bones right now.”

“Don’t make me pull the car over.”

I smiled, nibbling on my lip to keep from telling him to do just that. The remainder of the ride home passed in companionable silence. It was weird, how the word “home” seemed synonymous with Watcher’s Point. With Aidan. He was my home.

We pulled onto his street, and the sight of the beach house made me shudder. We hadn’t been back since Judd had snapped his last frail thread of sanity. Yellow tape hung from the staircase, flapping in the breeze and calling attention to the fact that something horrible had almost happened there.

“You sure you’re ready to come back?”

“No,” I said as he came to a stop in the driveway, “but we’ll have to face this place sooner or later.”

“True, but it can be later. We don’t have to go inside yet.” He let the engine idle. Normally, he would have opened the garage by now.

Half of me was tempted to return to the hotel where we’d hidden for the past ten days, taking the time to recover, the time to adjust. His wound would heal, but the ones left on our souls would hurt for a long time. We’d chased the pain away by wrapping ourselves in each other—the outside world hadn’t existed within that room.

I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go in.”

He reached for the garage opener but halted as a gray pickup pulled in behind us. A door squeaked open, and I turned in my seat and saw the sheriff get out.

Aidan and I exchanged a look, and I could tell he was just as surprised by McFayden’s arrival. He killed the engine, and we got out of the car.

McFayden greeted us with a tentative smile. “Your mother mentioned you might be here.”

“How’s your arm?” Aidan asked.

“It was just a flesh wound.” McFayden jammed his hands into his pockets. “I’m a coward. I’ve thought about contacting you every day since that night.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Wasn’t sure what to say. What I should tell you.”

“How about the truth?”

McFayden gestured toward the house. “Mind if we go inside and talk?”

“Sure.” Aidan led the way up the stairs. He flipped on the light in the foyer and chased away the evening shadows. The sun had begun its languid dip below the horizon, and the sky was already darkening through the skylight.

I willed my heartbeat to slow as memories rushed me. I held onto the good ones, and the warmth of Aidan’s hand at my back calmed me.

“Would you like something to drink, Sheriff?”

“Call me Jeff. You got coffee?”

Aidan nodded as he ushered us into the kitchen. He prepared the coffee pot, and the sheriff and I took seats at the center island. Aidan leaned against the counter on the other side and studied the granite for a few moments, seemingly lost in thought.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I can understand why my mother wouldn’t after all these years but to find out you have a kid and not say anything?”

“I wanted to. You don’t know how hard it was—” McFayden drew in a breath as he brushed his hair back, and the bags underneath his eyes gave away his sleepless nights. “We knew we needed to tell you eventually.”

His answer seemed to irritate Aidan. “Eventually as in another thirty years?”

“No, Aidan”—the sheriff quickly shook his head—“your mother didn’t want to involve you, but considering everything that’s happened, I think keeping you in the dark is a bad idea. Promise me you won’t repeat what I’m about to tell you.”

Aidan stood straighter. Something about the sheriff’s tone put us both on alert.

“I guess that depends on what it is.”

McFayden nodded. “I suppose that’s fair. Your mother came to me a couple years ago. She was here in town for old man Davis’ funeral.”

“Yeah, I remember. Dad didn’t show—he couldn’t stand my grandfather.”

“Well, she came to see me afterward. She was terrified, said she found something on Hamilton and that he threatened her.”

Aidan narrowed his eyes. “Threatened her how?”

The sheriff clenched his hands. “He threatened to have her killed.”

“My father is a lot of things,” Aidan said, pushing away from the counter, “but he’s not a killer.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about him. I’ve been investigating him since.”

“Why?”

“That day when she told me about you, she swore me to secrecy and begged for my help. She didn’t have to beg hard. I’ve always loved her, Aidan.”

“Why come to you?” Aidan folded his arms. “She could’ve gone to the police in Seattle or the FBI. She could’ve told
me
.”