He reached across the table and took her hand. “Some people live many years with ALS. Stephen Hawking lived over fifty years with the disease.”
“But 50 percent die in two to five years.”
“She said something to you today?”
Jane took comfort from the warmth of his hand on hers. “She told me she’s having trouble breathing and will see the doctor tomorrow. And she’s the one who told me about the statistic. She asked me to sign on as Megan’s guardian.”
“Right on the spot?”
“She had the papers all drawn up and asked me to sign them before Megan came out of her room. Of course I said yes. We’d talked about it when she first got sick.”
She saw the wheels turning behind his eyes. “You think I shouldn’t have agreed?”
“No, that’s not it. I was just thinking through logistics. If we end up with Megan and Will in the same house, we might have to be uber careful about leaving them alone. Young love and all that.”
Her breath hitched in her chest. “You’re assuming we’ll be in the same house.”
His gaze held her captive. “I love you, Jane. We’re meant to be together, and I think you know it too. No matter what is going on with Lauren, we’ll have to figure it out. It might take a few months, but so what? We have a lifetime ahead of us.”
She squeezed his fingers as she battled the lump in her throat and her burning eyes. “Do we? I thought Olivia had many more years ahead of her until this ALS diagnosis. Life is unpredictable.”
“All the more reason to live each day to the fullest. You can’t let fear of loss keep you from moving forward with life.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Aren’t you? You thought you lost everything when you were fifteen, and that experience has colored everything you do. You’re afraid to let yourself truly love me because of it. You’ve never been in a real relationship since, have you?” A slight smile lifted his lips. “Not that I’m complaining. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d married someone else.”
Her chest squeezed at his admission. “Maybe I always knew you were out there somewhere.”
And she was only half teasing. Hadn’t he always been in the back of her mind and her thoughts? Will’s sweet baby scent had followed her everywhere too. Some things change you forever, as much as you don’t want to admit it.
“I wish I could believe that’s the reason you hold back so much of yourself.”
She pulled her hand back. “I give everything in me to Will.”
He gave a grudging nod. “True enough. One thing you need to know, Jane—I’m not going anywhere. I’m patient, and I’ll be here when you realize it’s safe to tear down that wall.”
With his words she felt a small crack develop in that very wall. How could she tear it down all the way? And did she even want to yet?
He picked up the iPad and slid it across the table to her. “I booked two flights to Folly Shoals for tomorrow morning, and we’ll come back on Wednesday. Your dad is going to take care of Will while we’re gone. I’ve reserved a rental car.”
She should have been angry he’d done it without consulting her, but his tender care for her overwhelmed her pride. “What time?”
“Just before ten out of Mobile. We get into Bangor around four. It’s about an hour by car to the ferry stop out to Folly Shoals from there. We can be on her doorstep by dinnertime.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. The thought of facing her mother made her pulse wonky, but why was she so fearful? She already knew her mother didn’t love her, so there would be no surprises. All Jane needed to do was deliver Gabriel’s message and find out from her mother what he was doing in Alabama.
She was on the cusp of finding out the last pieces of what happened so many years ago. The knowledge might finally blow up the wall Reid had mentioned. She might be able to step out of the shadows and into the bright light of a new life.
* * *
The sun had barely poked a few rays through Jane’s office window at the station when Augusta opened the door and stepped inside, bringing the scent of early morning dew with her. Parker raised his head, then plopped back down to resume his nap.
Jane looked up from skimming the progress report from yesterday. “Thanks for meeting me so early.”
Augusta’s brown eyes were alert. “Not a problem. You saw the update?”
“Traces of roofies in Gail’s coffeepot. So we’re definitely investigating a murder. Any new prints?”
“Nothing new, but she was clearly drugged at home.”
“What about Drew? Anything new there?”
Augusta smiled. “Oh yeah. Nora found a treasure trove on Gail’s hard drive. He told her she’d better drop the suit for more money or he’d make sure she lost everything.”
“No threat of personal injury?”
“Not a direct threat, but his rage was clear. I posted them in the file a few minutes ago, and you should be able to access them now.”
“I’ll be back in town tomorrow night, and I’ll check them out then.”
“I had Jackson follow up on that Gabriel fellow and his cohorts, and I put out some feelers. Several people spoke to them in the hardware store when they picked up supplies. They were warned not to go out to the island but clearly didn’t listen.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Your dad is still mum about what he knows?”
“He claims he doesn’t know what Gabriel is talking about. Which is why I’m going to go see my mother. We wouldn’t want a firestorm here like the one that went down in Michigan fifteen years ago.”
Jane glanced at her watch. “I’d better drop the dog at my dad’s. I’m meeting Reid there. Keep me posted.”
As Jane hurried to her SUV with Parker, she tried to quell the nervous shiver running down her spine. Meeting with her mother after all these years was enough to make her want to run, but she had to face this. And Reid’s presence would bolster her courage.
Ten
Parker ran to sniff Reid’s tires when he parked in front of Charles’s big two-story brick farmhouse behind Jane’s SUV and got out. Will tossed a ball to the dog as soon he got out of the backseat, and Parker chased it with his tail wagging. Jane wasn’t in her SUV, so Reid went up the steps to the front door. When he entered, he heard raised voices from the living room. Was that food burning?
Uh-oh.
He found Jane standing toe-to-toe with her father. Fists clenched, chin up, and eyes flashing, she was madder than he’d ever seen her. Smoke roiled from the kitchen, and Reid rushed past them to turn off the skillet of bacon.
Reid opened a window and the back door, then returned to the living room. “Whoa, what’s going on?”
Spatula in hand, Charles whirled to face him. “This is all your doing! Buying a ticket to go see her mother. Are you insane or just stupid?”
Reid exhaled and relaxed his fingers. He took a stance of nonaggression and prayed his own anger wouldn’t spike. “She needs answers, Charles. You aren’t giving them to her, so we’ll go see what Kim has to say.”