Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (19 page)
Read Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) Online
Authors: Becki Willis
Hearing
the sound from inside, the startled woman on the porch jumped back and let out
a slight squeal. Looking around her feet in fear, she retreated hastily and
scurried back to her car.
After
a painfully long moment, Makenna dared another peak. “She’s leaving.”
The
sisters let out a collective sigh but did not breathe easily until the silver
Cadillac disappeared through the overgrown lane. Another two minutes elapsed
before they moved from the window and felt marginally safe.
“She
knows where the cabin is.” Makenna stated the obvious.
“We
have to get out of here.” Kenzie was surprised at how sad that thought made
her, despite their restless night.
Makenna
nodded, blowing out a commiserating breath. She knew exactly how her sister felt.
“I think we should hurry, in case she comes back. Let’s get packed and shut
everything down.”
Kenzie
eyed the tub of pictures. “I wish we could take that tub with us. I wonder how
I could convince them this was something we found on our cruise.” She tried to
spin an explanation in her mind, but nothing sprang to mind.
“Even
you would have trouble with that one, sister dear. Let’s take what photos will
fit in our suitcase. The others we could take out of their frames.”
“That
might take too long. I don’t want to be here if that woman decides to come
back, especially if she decides to bring someone else with her.”
“Okay,
but on our way out of town, let’s stop back by the diner. Maybe that guy Mel
will be back today and can shed some light on our past.”
“Maybe,”
Makenna sighed. “But right now I’d say it’s still looking pretty dark.”
Twenty-Two
The
noonday rush had given way to the relaxed lull of afternoon. With no hint of
the silver Cadillac in sight, the sisters found a table easily enough and were
greeted by the same waitress from the day before.
“I
hope Mel is better today.”
“Oh
yes, and back at work,” the waitress smiled.
“Would
you mind telling him we’d like to speak to him when he has a chance?” Makenna
asked politely.
The
waitress tossed her head back and laughed unexpectedly. “I’ll tell Mel you’d
like a word,” the woman agreed with a grin. “But I think you’re going to be in
for one big surprise.”
As
she scampered off to the next table, Kenzie frowned. “What was all that about?”
“No
idea. But another waitress is coming this direction. Maybe she’ll make more
sense.”
A
heavy-set woman with graying curls made her way toward their booth, laughing
and talking over her shoulder as she swished down the pathway that seemed too
narrow for her hips. As the first waitress passed and said something to her,
the older woman looked their way. The smile faltered on her face and the
laughter died on her lips. She was still smiling when she reached their table,
but the sentiment never reached her eyes.
“Hello,
ladies, and welcome to Mel’s.”
They
each returned the greeting, although with a bit of hesitation.
“What
can I do for you?” the woman asked.
“Thank
you, but the other waitress took our order,” Makenna assured her with a smile.
“We’re just having coffee.”
“Heard
you wanted to talk to me.” The smile did not quite cover her look of
irritation.
“We
wanted to speak with Mel, the owner,” Kenzie explained, looking over the older
woman’s shoulder for the man in question.
Again,
there was laughter. Slapping a beefy hand onto her ample chest, the woman’s
eyes finally glimmered with amusement. “Little lady, I
am
Mel!”
“Oh!”
“Oh,
we’re sorry, we just assumed…”
“Happens
all the time,” the woman assured them, waving a dismissive hand in the air.
“Heard you’ve been in a couple of times asking for me. Do I know you ladies?”
“No,
but we understand you know most people in the community, past and present,”
Makenna said. “We’re looking for some of our family that lived here in the
early ‘90s and before. The Hannah family.”
“Sure,
Aaron and Anne. Knew them well. Fine people.”
“Would
you care to join us?” Kenzie offered, scooting over in her booth seat.
Instead
of sitting beside the younger woman, Mel took a chair from a nearby table and
turned it around to face the booth. She settled her ample frame onto the
rickety chair without batting an eye.
“I
understand they had several sons and one daughter,” Makenna continued.
“That’s
right.” Her words were cautious. The smile was gone from her eyes again, but
she met Makenna’s gaze without wavering.
“We’re
interested in knowing more about their daughter.”
“Why?”
The
blunt question took them by surprise. Kenzie recovered first. “We’re
researching our family, but no one has been able to tell us anything about
their daughter. We understand she married and moved away.”
“That’s
right.”
“What
can you tell us about her?” A seasoned interviewer, Makenna changed tactics.
These one and two word answers were getting them nowhere.
“Not
much.”
“Ah,
but I was told you knew everyone in this town. From the way people talked, I
was expecting to see you whip out entire history books from your apron! They
said if there was anything we wanted to know, just ask Mel.”
The
flattery softened the unblinking gaze of her eyes, but did not loosen her
tongue as Makenna had hoped. “Didn’t say I didn’t know much, just couldn’t tell
you much.”
“And
why is that?” Kenzie prodded. “Has their daughter … passed?” Maybe people were
reluctant to speak ill of the dead.
Mel
gave a short, unpleasant laugh. “Oh, she is very much alive.”
“I
understand she did not marry well, is that correct?” Makenna asked.
“That’s
a fair way of putting it.”
“What
was the problem, if you don’t mind me asking? Did he not support her and their
children?”
“He
supported her in grand style, as a matter of fact. Too grand, if you ask me,”
Mel harrumphed.
“Actually,
we heard someone else say the same thing,” Kenzie lied.
Her
tactic worked. Mel did not want someone else getting more credit than she did for
providing information. “He may have money and a fancy career, but some things
are sacred. The old home place, for one. You don’t sell off the family farm, no
matter how much money the power company dangles before your eyes!” She clucked
her tongue in disapproval. “Especially since he was profiting from both sides.
Everyone knows he arranged the whole thing.”
“Her
husband is in real estate?” Makenna guessed. She felt like she was prying the
words out of Mel’s mouth, one syllable at a time.
Mel’s
eyes glittered a harsh light. “He has his finger in a dozen different things.”
“What
kinds of things?”
“The
kind that made him too good for little old Grafton County. Oh no, he had
grander things in mind!” Mel tossed her gray curls and crossed her arms over
her chest with censure.
Kenzie
asked the question they really wanted answered. “We understand they had a
daughter. What can you tell us about her?”
“Maggie?”
The older woman’s face softened.
“Yes,
that’s the one. Was she their only daughter?”
“Yes.
Three sons and little Maggie. What a precious child! Came every summer to stay
with her grandparents. She even worked here in the cafe one summer, did you
know that?”
“No,
we didn’t.” Kenzie looked around with new interest, trying to imagine a
teen-aged version of the woman from her photographs in a waitress uniform,
moving among the tables.
“She
was a natural, our Maggie girl,” Mel said with fondness. “Always thought she
would wind up with Cal Larson. But she didn’t come one summer, and then he left
for college. And the next time she came, she had another man on her arm and a
ring on her finger.”
“Who-Who
did she marry?”
“A
handsome dark haired man she met at college with some foreign sounding name.
Seemed like a nice enough fella, though,” Mel shrugged. “Doted on Maggie, but
he had a far-away look in his eyes. Hard to talk to. She claimed it was because
he was some sort of genius. Looked like one of those computer nerds, if you
asked me. Needed a little hard work and sunshine to give him some color.”
The
bell above the cafe door jingled as a group of five came inside. Mel waved in
greeting and called out, “Be right with you!” She shoved to her feet, even
though the sisters were not through with their questions.
“We
heard Maggie was estranged from her father,” Kenzie said, hoping to hold the
aging waitress there.
“If
you mean she was disowned, then say so.”
“All
right. Was she?”
“Yes.”
This, on a heavy sigh.
“Why?”
“That’s
not my story to tell.”
“We
understand that Maggie is dead.” Makenna’s voice was gentle.
Wrinkles
puckered Mel’s forehead as she glanced between the two women. “That’s what we
were told.”
Kenzie
heard the wariness in her answer. “You don’t believe that?”
“We
also were told the babies were with her. ‘Course, they wouldn’t be babies no
more. They’d be about your age, in fact.” Mel eyed them with a shrewd look.
“Did
you- Did you ever see her children?” Makenna asked breathlessly.
“Of
course I did! They came in here at least once a week. Cute as two pearl buttons
on a fuzzy pink sweater. Broke my heart, thinking they had died with Maggie.”
She returned the chair to the correct table and offered a last thought. “Even
if the town managed to forgive Maggie’s Daddy for his dirty deeds, we could
never forget how he turned Maggie and her babies away. Their deaths made for
some awfully hard hearts.” She eyed the sisters one last time, her gaze
measured. “But maybe we’ve had it wrong all these years. Maybe the babies
survived.” She gave a smart tap to the table and bustled away to greet the new
customers.
“She
knows,” Kenzie murmured.
“I
wonder what dirty deeds she was talking about?”
“Beats
me. But one thing is clear. No one cares much for our grandparents.”
***
“Nice
hotel,” Kenzie said with approval as they settled into their room near the cruise
port.
“Would
you have it any other way?” Makenna teased with a smile.
“Hey,
I’m not a snob. I just have good taste.”
“And
high standards.”
“Better
to have high standards than to wallow in the gutter,” Kenzie assured her
sister.
“I
still can’t believe you rented a storage unit for Yoko.”
“If
we left her in the parking lot, she would be impounded. If we paid someone to
take her back to the cabin, we would be giving away its hidden location.
Storing her seemed like the only solution,” Kenzie rationalized.
“I
can hardly wait to see Travis’s reaction when he sees your new car.” Makenna
started laughing, just imagining the long-legged Ranger in the cramped vehicle.
“I
can hardly wait to see him, period.” Kenzie’s face was not nearly as jovial as
her twin’s. “I hope he’s safe.” She closed her eyes, unwilling to imagine any
other scenario.
“I’m
sure he is, Ken. He’s very good at what he does.”
“I
still worry. So much could go wrong undercover.” She blew out a deep breath and
issued a quick, silent prayer for his safety. With a forced smile, she opened
her eyes and changed the topic. “I know you’re excited about seeing Hardin
tomorrow.”
“It
seems like forever since I’ve seen those amazing blue eyes,” Makenna said, a
wistful tone seeping into her voice. “I just hope he forgives me when he finds
out what we’ve done.”
“Maybe
we shouldn’t tell him right away.”
“I
can’t lie to him. Not anymore than I already have.” She nibbled on her lower
lip worriedly.
“I
was hoping we would come home with enough answers that he and Travis would
forget all about being angry with us. Instead, we’re just coming home with more
questions.” Kenzie plopped down on the leather sofa overlooking the waterfront,
but her mind was too full to appreciate the view.
Makenna
wandered over to the window and stared out at the twinkling lights of the
harbor with an unseeing gaze. She murmured some of those questions aloud. “Who
are our grandparents? Why would no one talk about them? Why wouldn’t they tell
us about our past?”
“Why
did our grandfather disown his only daughter? Did he know our father was
involved with the mafia?” Kenzie mused.
“From
what little people had to say about him, I would think he was the one more
likely to be tangled with the mafia. No one seems to think very highly of him.”
“Apparently
they hold it against our grandmother for marrying a rich man from the city.”
“I
wish we could have learned more about them. But mostly I wish we had learned
more about our mother. Everyone seemed to love her, no matter who her parents
were.”
“But
what happened to her?” Kenzie whispered.
That
was the real question, the one that haunted them both.
***
Kenzie
and Makenna took a short cab ride to the port, where they slipped among the
crowd, entered the terminal, and then emerged again from the other side. To the
casual observer, they appeared to be exiting customs with the other returning
passengers, suitcases in tow.
“Makenna!”
She
heard Hardin’s voice above the crowd, long before she saw him. A delighted
smile transformed her face as she searched for him among the sea of faces.
“I
can’t believe he came here to greet us!” she gushed, raising her hand and
waving her location, even though she could not see him. She craned her neck and
stood on tiptoe, until at last she saw his athletic form sprinting her way.
“There he is!” she said excitedly, clapping her hand on Kenzie’s arm. “Oh,
lordy, I have missed that man! Look how wonderful he looks!”
“I
was thinking how furious he looks,” Kenzie muttered, picking up on the thunder
in his expression.