Kenzie came through the front door just as Rylee was setting the garlic bread on the table.
Rylee had been listening for her car without meaning to.
Hope’s message had been sitting in the back of her mind since she’d read it.
Tomorrow.
Glenn would be in Fairhaven tomorrow, and Hope was going to meet him.
Rylee had gone through the rest of the afternoon normally. Picked up Koda. Made dinner. Fed Pickle. Checked on Mabel. Nothing had changed simply because Hope had sent a message.
Still, tomorrow felt closer now.
The front door shut.
Mabel appeared from the living room almost immediately.
“There’s my girl.”
Kenzie bent to scratch beneath the cat’s chin.
Mabel leaned into her hand.
Rylee watched from the dining area.
“Oh, sure. She barely acknowledges me all afternoon, but you walk in and suddenly she remembers how affection works.”
Kenzie looked up. “Maybe she missed me.”
“She’s been here one day.”
“And?”
Rylee laughed.
Koda came running out of the kitchen.
“Kenzie!”
Kenzie straightened just in time for him to wrap his arms around her.
“Hey, you.”
“We’re having spaghetti.”
“I can smell it.”
“With garlic bread.”
“Even better.”
“And cheese.”
Kenzie looked toward Rylee. “Very fancy.”
“Thank you. I worked extremely hard opening the bag.”
Kenzie smiled and walked over.
She kissed Rylee.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Kenzie looked at her for half a second longer than usual.
Rylee knew that look.
She knew Kenzie had been thinking about Hope’s message too.
Neither of them said anything about it.
Not with Koda standing right there.
“How was work?” Rylee asked.
Kenzie made a face.
“Ask me after I eat.”
“That bad?”
“That annoying.”
Koda tugged lightly at her hand.
“Come sit down.”
“Yes, sir.”
They ate together.
Koda spent most of dinner explaining something that had happened at daycare involving blocks, a disagreement over a blue truck, and a boy whose name Rylee had heard several times but still wasn’t entirely sure she remembered correctly.
Kenzie listened seriously.
“So he took the truck?”
Koda nodded.
“But I had it.”
“That sounds rude.”
“It was.”
Rylee looked across the table.
“You’re taking sides without hearing the other child’s version.”
Kenzie looked at her. “I know my client.”
Koda grinned.
“You’re encouraging him.”
“I’m supporting him.”
“Completely different?”
“Obviously.”
Pickle sat beneath Koda’s chair, watching every movement of his fork.
Rylee glanced down.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Koda froze.
“I didn’t give him anything.”
“I know.”
Pickle continued staring upward.
Rylee pointed at him.
“I was talking to him.”
Kenzie smiled.
“He looks innocent.”
“He’s never innocent around food.”
Mabel had settled a few feet away from the table, close enough to watch but not close enough to participate.
Rylee noticed her occasionally looking toward Kenzie.
The cat was still figuring out the house.
Figuring out Rylee.
Figuring out Koda and Pickle.
But she seemed a little less uncertain than she had the day before.
For most of dinner, Rylee stayed with the conversation.
Koda’s daycare story.
Kenzie’s complaints about work.
Pickle waiting for food that wasn’t coming.
Tomorrow could stay where it belonged for another half hour.
After dinner, Koda carried the napkins into the kitchen while Rylee took the plates.
Kenzie began loading the dishwasher.
Koda looked at Rylee.
“Can I watch TV?”
“For a little while.”
“Can Pickle watch?”
Rylee glanced toward the dog already following him.
“I think Pickle made that decision himself.”
Koda smiled and ran toward the living room.
Pickle followed.
Rylee waited until they were gone before reaching for her phone.
Kenzie noticed immediately.
“That’s the face.”
“What face?”
“The one that means we’re finally talking about Hope.”
Rylee smiled.
“You were waiting?”
“You said we’d talk when I got home.”
“Technically, you said you had more opinions later.”
“I do.”
“I was afraid of that.”
Kenzie smiled.
Rylee unlocked the phone and handed it to her.
Kenzie read Hope’s message before handing the phone back.
“So it’s definitely happening tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
“How did Hope sound when you talked to her?”
“Fine. She understands what I want.”
“Which is?”
“For her to listen.”
Kenzie nodded.
“And not tell Glenn anything about your life now.”
“Exactly.”
Rylee put the phone on the counter.
“Hope doesn’t know where I live. She knows I work at a veterinary clinic, but she doesn’t know which one or where it is. And she knows not to give him anything personal about Koda, you, or anything else that could lead back here.”
“Good.”
Kenzie leaned against the counter.
“You trust her.”
“Yes.”
“That helps.”
“It does.”
Kenzie glanced toward the living room.
Koda was laughing at something on television.
“What do you think Glenn knows?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nothing?”
Rylee smiled faintly.
“I have ideas. That’s not the same thing.”
Kenzie nodded.
“He knew Shannon before Tyson.”
“Yeah.”
“And he was close to her.”
“Really close, apparently.”
Kenzie thought about that.
“So even if he doesn’t know what happened to her, he could know things about that time nobody else does.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
Kenzie looked at her.
“Are you nervous?”
“Curious.”
“That’s it?”
“No. But curious is probably the biggest part.”
Kenzie reached for her hand.
“I still don’t love Hope meeting some guy she barely knows.”
“I know.”
“But she’s meeting him in public?”
“That was the plan.”
“And if something feels wrong?”
“She leaves.”
Kenzie nodded.
“Okay.”
“That’s all?”
“For now.”
Rylee smiled.
“That was fewer opinions than I expected.”
“I’m pacing myself.”
“Great.”
Kenzie leaned over and kissed her.
Rylee kissed her back.
Then Koda shouted from the living room.
“Mommy!”
Rylee pulled away.
“What?”
“Pickle took my blanket!”
Kenzie laughed.
Rylee sighed.
“Apparently we have a crisis.”
They found Pickle curled directly in the middle of Koda’s blanket.
Koda stood beside the couch with his hands on his hips.
“See?”
Rylee looked at Pickle.
Pickle didn’t move.
Kenzie sat beside him.
“I don’t think he’s giving it back.”
“It’s mine.”
“Tell him.”
Koda looked at Pickle.
“Move.”
Pickle stayed exactly where he was.
Rylee laughed.
“You’re going to have to negotiate.”
Koda climbed onto the couch and began pulling gently on one corner of the blanket.
Pickle finally stood, circled once, and settled on the opposite side of Koda.
“There.”
Koda pulled the blanket over himself.
Pickle immediately climbed halfway onto it again.
Koda looked at Rylee.
“He did it again.”
Rylee smiled.
“He loves you.”
“That’s not sharing.”
Kenzie laughed.
The rest of the evening stayed ordinary.
Koda finished his show.
Kenzie helped him pick out pajamas while Rylee cleaned the kitchen.
Mabel explored the hallway, stopped outside Koda’s room, then retreated when Pickle came trotting toward her.
By the time Koda was in bed, he had forgotten about the blanket argument completely.
Rylee kissed his forehead.
“Good night, baby.”
“Good night.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Pickle trotted to the ramp beside Koda’s bed and made his way onto the mattress.
Rylee looked at him.
“You staying?”
Pickle turned in a circle before settling beside Koda.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Koda smiled.
Rylee pulled the door mostly closed behind her.
Kenzie was waiting in the hallway.
They headed toward the bedroom together.
Hope would call when there was something to tell.
For tonight, there was nothing else Rylee needed to know.
Tuesday morning began with Koda deciding he could pour his own orange juice.
Rylee turned around just in time to see the carton tilt too far.
“Koda—”
A stream of juice missed the cup and spread across the counter.
Koda froze.
Kenzie covered her mouth.
Rylee looked at her.
“Don’t laugh.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I’m trying very hard not to.”
Koda looked at the mess.
“I spilled it.”
“I noticed.”
“I was helping.”
“I know.”
Rylee reached for a towel.
Koda grabbed another.
“I can clean it.”
“Okay. Wipe that side.”
Together they cleaned the counter.
Kenzie finally gave up and laughed.
Rylee looked over.
“You’re helpful.”
“I stayed out of the way.”
“That’s not helping.”
“It can be.”
Koda finished wiping his side and held up the wet towel.
“Done.”
“Good job.”
He smiled.
Breakfast continued without further disaster.
Kenzie left first.
Before walking out, she kissed Koda and then Rylee.
“Let me know when Hope calls.”
“I will.”
“Even if I’m at work.”
“I know.”
Kenzie pointed at her.
“I mean it.”
Rylee smiled.
“Go to work.”
Kenzie laughed and left.
Rylee dropped Koda at Mrs. Whitaker’s daycare a short time later.
She pulled into the driveway and saw Wendy outside in the front yard with two of the other children.
Koda barely finished hugging Rylee before running toward them.
“Bye, Mommy!”
Rylee smiled.
“Have a good day!”
“I will!”
Wendy waved.
Rylee waited until Koda reached Wendy and the other children before returning to the car.
Pickle sat in the front passenger seat.
“Just you and me.”
His tail moved.
Rylee pulled out of the driveway.
She thought about Hope once on the drive to the clinic.
Then she let it go.
Whenever the meeting happened, it happened.
Hope would call afterward.
The clinic was already busy when Rylee arrived.
Stephanie was at the front desk, talking to a client while flipping through a file.
Rylee lifted a hand when Stephanie noticed her.
Stephanie smiled briefly, then returned to the conversation.
Rylee headed toward her office.
Pickle went straight to the bed beneath her desk.
“You’re predictable.”
He circled twice before settling.
Rylee set down her purse.
By the time she returned to the front, Stephanie had finished with the client.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
Stephanie glanced toward the hallway.
“Dr. Ronaldo’s already in exam two.”
“That busy?”
“Since the door opened.”
Rylee smiled.
“Good morning to us.”
Stephanie handed her a file.
“Welcome back.”
The next hour disappeared quickly.
A beagle needed his ears checked.
A nervous cat had scratched its owner while being placed into the carrier.
An older shepherd mix had developed a limp.
Rylee moved wherever she was needed.
She was coming out of an exam room when the front door opened.
Wes stepped inside.
He carried a small paper bag in one hand.
Stephanie looked up.
“What are you doing here?”
Wes smiled.
“Good morning to you too, Steph.”
Rylee kept walking toward the desk.
Stephanie’s expression softened.
“You’re supposed to be working.”
“So are you.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
Wes held up the bag.
“You left this in my car.”
Stephanie looked at it.
“My lunch.”
“Unless you planned to eat whatever they keep in the supply closet.”
Rylee laughed.
Stephanie gave her a look.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Wes handed over the bag.
“You’re welcome.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned across the counter and kissed her quickly.
Rylee looked away with an exaggerated expression.
“Oh, please.”
Stephanie laughed.
Wes glanced at Rylee.
“You always this difficult in the morning?”
“Only with people I like.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You shouldn’t.”
Wes smiled.
His radio made a brief sound from his belt.
He glanced toward the door.
“I’ve got to go.”
Stephanie nodded.
“Okay.”
“I’ll call you later, Steph.”
“Okay.”
He looked toward Rylee.
“Have a good day.”
“You too.”
Wes left almost as quickly as he had arrived.
Stephanie looked down at the lunch bag.
Rylee smiled.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re thinking something.”
“I was going to say he’s trained well.”
Stephanie stared at her.
Rylee walked away before she could respond.
The morning kept moving.
Appointments came and went.
Phones rang.
A terrier barked at every person who walked past the waiting room.
Pickle spent most of the morning in Rylee’s office, occasionally wandering out to see what was happening before returning to his bed.
Rylee stayed busy and let the morning move at its own pace.
By late morning, the waiting room had finally begun to thin out.
Rylee helped Dr. Ronaldo with a shepherd mix that had decided the examination table was unacceptable.
“Easy,” Rylee murmured.
The dog tried to step backward.
Rylee kept one hand against its shoulder.
“You’re okay.”
Dr. Ronaldo smiled.
“You always tell them that.”
“They need reassurance.”
“I’m not sure he agrees.”
The dog looked at Rylee.
“He’s considering it.”
They finished the exam.
Rylee stepped into the hallway and felt her phone vibrate.
She pulled it from her pocket.
Hope.
Call me when you can.
Rylee read the message.
Stephanie came around the corner carrying a file.
She stopped.
“What?”
“Hope.”
Stephanie’s eyes widened slightly.
“She met him?”
“Looks like it.”
“What did she say?”
“Just to call when I can.”
Stephanie glanced toward the front.
“Go.”
Rylee looked at the clock.
They were less than half an hour from lunch.
“I can wait.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Stephanie studied her.
Rylee smiled.
“I’m not going to explode in twenty minutes.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You were thinking it.”
Stephanie smiled.
“Maybe.”
Rylee slipped the phone back into her pocket.
She wanted to know.
Of course she did.
But Hope had said call when you can.
Nothing in the message sounded urgent.
Twenty minutes wasn’t going to change whatever Glenn had said.
The last appointment before lunch ran late.
By the time the clinic finally closed for the hour, Rylee headed straight to her office.
Pickle lifted his head when she entered.
“Hey, buddy.”
She closed the door and sat at her desk.
Then she called Hope.
Hope answered almost immediately.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Rylee leaned back in the chair.
“You met him.”
“Yeah.”
“How did it go?”
Hope was quiet for a second.
“Interesting.”
Rylee frowned.
“That can mean about twelve different things.”
“I know.”
“Was he okay?”
“Yeah. Guarded at first, but I expected that.”
“You met somewhere public?”
“A diner.”
“Good.”
“And I didn’t give him anything personal about you.”
Rylee relaxed slightly.
“What does he know?”
“Only that someone else may have questions. No name, no location, nothing about your family or your life now.”
“Okay.”
Hope paused.
“And after talking to him, I really think you should be that someone.”
Rylee looked down at the desk.
“What did he tell you?”
“A lot.”
“Start at the beginning.”
Hope exhaled softly.
“He and Shannon really were best friends. For years.”
“That part we knew.”
“Right. What we didn’t know was exactly what happened between them after Tyson came into the picture.”
Rylee waited.
“Glenn said Tyson didn’t like him.”
“Why?”
“He thought there was something going on between Glenn and Shannon.”
“Was there?”
“Glenn says no. They were never romantic.”
Rylee glanced toward the closed office door.
“What did Tyson do?”
“Glenn said Tyson started showing up when Shannon was with other people. If Glenn and Shannon were talking, Tyson would find a reason to interrupt. He wanted to know where she was, who she was with. Glenn described him as controlling.”
Rylee looked away.
None of that surprised her.
“What did Shannon think?”
“That’s where Glenn and Shannon fell apart.”
Hope continued.
“He confronted her about Tyson. Told her he didn’t like the way Tyson acted around her.”
“And she defended him.”
“Yeah.”
Rylee gave a quiet sigh.
“I did the same thing.”
Hope didn’t say anything.
Rylee appreciated that.
“What did Shannon say?”
“That Glenn didn’t understand Tyson. That Tyson loved her.”
Rylee closed her eyes for a moment.
“And Glenn?”
“He told her that wasn’t what love looked like.”
Rylee opened her eyes.
“After that they stopped talking?”
“Almost completely. They still saw each other because it was Fairhaven and they had the same people around them, but they weren’t close anymore.”
“For months?”
“Yeah.”
Rylee rubbed her thumb along the edge of the desk.
“So why did she call him?”
Hope went quiet.
“That’s where it gets important.”
Rylee sat straighter.
“The week Shannon disappeared, she reached out to him.”
“After months?”
“Yes.”
“What did she want?”
“She wanted to meet him.”
“Did she say why?”
“Not completely. She told him there was something they needed to talk about face-to-face.”
Rylee waited.
Hope didn’t immediately continue.
“There’s more.”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
Hope took a breath.
“Shannon told Glenn she was pregnant.”
Rylee went completely still.
“What?”
“She was pregnant.”
“Before she disappeared?”
“Yes.”
Rylee stared at the wall across from her.
“How far along?”
“Glenn doesn’t know.”
“Who else knew?”
“Nobody, according to Shannon.”
Rylee’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“Nobody?”
“She told Glenn she hadn’t told her parents. She hadn’t told her friends.”
Hope paused.
“And she hadn’t told Tyson.”
Rylee stood.
“Tyson didn’t know she was pregnant?”
“Not according to what Shannon told Glenn.”
Rylee walked toward the small window in her office.
“Did she tell Glenn Tyson was the father?”
“No.”
Rylee turned.
“No?”
“Glenn assumed Tyson probably was because they were together, but Shannon never actually said it.”
“So we cannot say Tyson was the father.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Rylee looked outside.
That mattered.
Every piece of this mattered.
“What did Shannon want from Glenn?”
“He doesn’t know exactly. She told him she was pregnant and said she needed to talk to him. Whatever else she wanted to say, she wanted to say in person.”
“Did she tell him what she planned to do?”
“No.”
“Nothing about keeping the baby?”
“No.”
“Nothing about leaving Tyson?”
“No.”
Rylee nodded slowly.
Facts.
Stay with the facts.
“Was Glenn the only person she ever told?”
“He says he was.”
“And he never told anyone?”
“Not until today.”
Rylee turned away from the window.
“He kept that to himself for twenty years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Part of it was that Shannon had trusted him with it. Then she disappeared, and everything got complicated fast.”
Rylee returned to the desk but didn’t sit yet.
“When were they supposed to meet?”
“The next day.”
“And she never showed.”
“No.”
Rylee sat back down.
“Did he try to reach her?”
“He called. No answer.”
“What did he think at the time?”
“That she changed her mind. They’d barely spoken in months, so he thought maybe she decided reconnecting with him would cause more trouble with Tyson than it was worth.”
Rylee looked down at Pickle.
He had climbed out from beneath the desk and was now sitting beside her chair.
“Did Shannon want Tyson to know she was talking to Glenn?”
“No.”
Rylee looked up.
“Glenn is sure?”
“He asked her directly whether Tyson knew she’d called him. She said no and said she wanted to keep it that way.”
Rylee rested one hand against Pickle’s head.
The pregnancy.
The secret call.
The planned meeting.
Shannon had reached for someone Tyson hadn’t wanted in her life.
Then she never arrived.
“What happened after she disappeared?”
“Glenn didn’t tell anyone about the call right away.”
“Why?”
“He was seventeen and scared. Everybody was already talking. Some people thought Shannon had run away. Some thought she left town with somebody. He didn’t know what was happening.”
Rylee understood the fear.
“When did he finally say something?”
“A few days later.”
“To the police?”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell them?”
“That Shannon had called him. That they had arranged to meet. That she didn’t want Tyson knowing about the contact.”
Rylee waited.
“But he didn’t tell them she was pregnant.”
“No.”
“Why leave that out?”
Hope was quiet for a moment.
“He said by then he had already convinced himself the pregnancy was something Shannon had told him in confidence. He was seventeen, Rylee. He didn’t understand what mattered and what didn’t.”
Rylee closed her eyes briefly.
“He understands now.”
“Yeah.”
“What did the police do?”
“They questioned him about Shannon, Tyson, where the meeting was supposed to happen, when he’d last seen her. He said they contacted him one more time later.”
“And then nothing.”
“Nothing he knew about.”
Rylee looked at the desk.
If Glenn had told police about the phone call and planned meeting, there might have been a written statement.
An old report.
Something.
But the pregnancy wouldn’t be there.
Not if Glenn had truly kept it to himself.
“Did police tell him whether they believed Shannon ran away?”
“No.”
“What did Glenn believe?”
“He said he never thought she ran away.”
“Why?”
“Because she had just contacted him after months of barely speaking and arranged to meet him.”
Rylee thought about it.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“He knows.”
Rylee looked up slightly.
“He said that?”
“Not in those exact words. But he didn’t try to turn it into proof. That’s one of the reasons I believed him.”
“Tell me about that.”
“Every time he didn’t know something, he said he didn’t know. I didn’t get the feeling he was trying to make Tyson guilty.”
Rylee leaned back.
“Did he say Tyson hurt Shannon?”
“No.”
“Did he say Tyson had something to do with her disappearance?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Hope was quiet.
Rylee knew how that sounded.
“I don’t mean good because I’m defending Tyson.”
“I know.”
“I know what Tyson did to me. I know people saw him act aggressively with Shannon. But that still doesn’t mean we get to turn what we suspect into what happened.”
“I agree.”
Rylee scratched gently behind Pickle’s ear.
“What does Glenn actually claim?”
“That Tyson was controlling with Shannon. That Shannon and Glenn’s friendship fell apart partly because of it. That Shannon contacted him shortly before she disappeared. That she told him she was pregnant and said nobody else knew. That she wanted to meet him privately and didn’t want Tyson knowing they were talking.”
Hope paused.
“And that she never made it to the meeting.”
Rylee let the information settle.
That was enough.
More than enough.
“Do you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Even the pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he had nothing to gain by telling me.”
Hope’s voice softened slightly.
“And he was careful. He didn’t suddenly decide twenty years later that he knew who the father was. He didn’t say Tyson killed her. He didn’t invent an answer to what Shannon wanted to talk about.”
Rylee nodded.
“He stayed inside what he actually remembered.”
“Exactly.”
That mattered to Rylee more than almost anything else Hope had said.
“What made him finally tell you about the pregnancy?”
“I asked whether Shannon had told him anything before she disappeared that nobody else knew.”
“And he just told you?”
“Not immediately. He hesitated.”
Rylee looked down.
“But he told you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said if people are asking questions about Shannon again, maybe keeping it quiet doesn’t protect anybody anymore.”
Rylee was silent.
That sounded different from a man eager to be part of a story.
“Does he know you’re going to tell me?”
“He knows I’m going to tell the person I’m helping.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
Rylee took a slow breath.
“And he agreed to talk to me.”
“Yes.”
“Without knowing who I am?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Only that someone else might have questions about Shannon and Tyson.”
“Did he ask who?”
“Of course.”
Rylee smiled faintly.
“What did you say?”
“That it wasn’t my information to give him.”
“Thank you.”
“He asked whether you knew Tyson.”
“And?”
“I didn’t answer.”
Rylee nodded.
“What did he say about taking the call?”
“That if someone is asking about Shannon after all these years, he’d rather answer questions than wonder what he could have said.”
Rylee looked toward the phone in her hand.
“Does he have my number?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“He gave me permission to give you his.”
That changed something.
Until now, Glenn had still been a person on the other side of Hope.
Now there could be a direct conversation.
Rylee and a man who had known Tyson before she ever had.
More importantly, a man Shannon had apparently trusted with something enormous.
“What do you think she wanted to tell him?”
“I don’t know.”
“No guesses?”
Hope laughed softly.
“You told me not to give you guesses.”
“I know.”
“I’m learning.”
Rylee smiled.
“Good.”
Hope became serious again.
“Rylee, I really do think you need to hear the rest from him.”
“The rest?”
“Not another secret like the pregnancy. I mean everything around it. What Shannon was like before Tyson. What changed. Things he remembers from being around them that I can repeat, but I can’t explain the way he can.”
Rylee understood.
“And I don’t want to keep being the middle person,” Hope added. “Not when you can ask him yourself.”
Rylee looked down at Pickle.
He rested his chin against her knee.
“If I call him, he’s going to ask who I am.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to give him something.”
“Probably.”
Rylee considered it.
She didn’t need to tell Glenn where she lived.
She didn’t need to give him Koda’s name.
She didn’t need to tell him about Kenzie or the clinic or anything that could identify where her life was now.
But she could tell him the truth that mattered.
She had been married to Tyson.
She knew what kind of man Tyson could be.
And she had reasons for wanting to understand the parts of his past he had never told her.
“I can tell him I was married to Tyson.”
“That would explain why you care.”
“It might also make him ask a lot more questions.”
“Probably.”
Rylee smiled faintly.
“You’re really helpful.”
“I try.”
“What does Glenn expect?”
“He said he’ll answer questions, but he’ll probably have some of his own.”
“That’s fair.”
“You don’t owe him answers you’re not comfortable giving.”
“I know.”
Rylee looked toward the closed office door.
The clinic was quiet on the other side.
“I’m going to call him.”
Hope was silent for a second.
“Okay.”
“Not right now.”
“I didn’t think right now.”
“I want to talk to Kenzie first.”
“Good.”
“And I want to decide exactly what I’m telling him before I’m already on the phone.”
“That’s smart.”
Rylee smiled.
“Don’t start.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Hope laughed.
Rylee reached for the lunch container she still hadn’t opened.
“Send me his number.”
“I will.”
“Hope?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For meeting him. And for not deciding what his answers meant before you brought them to me.”
Hope’s voice softened.
“You asked for facts.”
“I did.”
“That’s what I’m trying to give you.”
Rylee nodded.
“I appreciate it.”
They said goodbye.
Rylee ended the call.
A few seconds later, her phone vibrated.
Hope had sent Glenn’s number.
Rylee added a new contact.
Glenn.
Nothing else.
Pickle looked up at her.
Rylee set the phone beside her lunch.
“You have no idea what any of this means, do you?”
His tail moved once.
She smiled.
“Probably better that way.”
Rylee opened her lunch.
She ate slowly.
Her mind kept returning to one thing more than the others.
Shannon had been pregnant.
Not a rumor.
Not something somebody in Fairhaven had heard years later.
According to Glenn, Shannon herself had told him.
And as far as he knew, he had been the only person she trusted with it.
Rylee didn’t know what that meant yet.
She refused to decide that it meant anything beyond what it was.
But it changed the questions.
That much she knew.
When the clinic reopened, she went back to work.
The afternoon was busy enough that she had little time to sit with what Hope had told her.
A dog came in with a sore mouth and refused to let anyone near one side of its jaw.
A woman called twice about medication instructions she had already been given.
Stephanie spent ten minutes trying to convince a frightened cat to come out of a carrier and finally called Rylee over for help.
By the time the clinic began winding down, the afternoon had carried her forward.
Stephanie was finishing paperwork at the front desk when Rylee walked over.
“So?”
Rylee looked at her.
“So what?”
Stephanie stared.
“You talked to Hope.”
Rylee smiled.
“You waited this long?”
“I was being professional.”
“Very impressive.”
Stephanie leaned closer.
“What happened?”
Rylee glanced toward the waiting area.
Nobody was there.
“Hope talked to Glenn.”
“And?”
“He knew Shannon as well as we thought he did.”
Stephanie waited.
Rylee lowered her voice.
“Shannon contacted him shortly before she disappeared. She wanted to meet him.”
Stephanie’s expression changed.
“Why?”
“He doesn’t know everything she wanted to say.”
“They met?”
“She never showed.”
Stephanie frowned.
Rylee continued.
“And Tyson wasn’t supposed to know she’d contacted Glenn.”
“That’s…”
“I know.”
Stephanie studied her.
“What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know yet.”
That answer came easily.
Because it was true.
“But you’re going to talk to Glenn.”
Rylee nodded.
“Yeah.”
Stephanie looked at her for a moment.
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
She didn’t ask for more.
Rylee was grateful.
The pregnancy stayed with her.
She wasn’t ready to hand that detail to anyone else yet.
Not until she had spoken to Glenn herself.
By the time Rylee left the clinic, she had already texted Kenzie.
Hope called. We need to talk tonight.
Kenzie responded before Rylee reached the car.
Everything okay?
Rylee typed back.
Yes. Just new information.
The reply came quickly.
Okay. Tell me when you get home.
Rylee put the phone away.
Pickle waited beside the passenger door.
She opened it for him.
He jumped into the seat.
“Come on. Let’s go get Koda.”
The ride to daycare was quiet.
Rylee didn’t try to solve Shannon’s disappearance on the drive.
She didn’t try to decide who the father of Shannon’s baby had been.
She didn’t try to turn Glenn’s memory into an accusation against Tyson.
There would be time to ask questions.
For now, she knew more than she had that morning.
That was enough.
Koda ran toward her when she arrived at Mrs. Whitaker’s.
“Mommy!”
Rylee smiled and crouched as he reached her.
“Hey, baby.”
He hugged her.
“I made a house.”
“You did?”
“With blocks.”
“What color?”
“Blue and red.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It fell.”
Rylee laughed.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was okay. I made another one.”
He spotted Pickle waiting near the car.
“Pickle!”
Rylee smiled as he hurried toward the dog.
For a few minutes, the questions moved somewhere else.
Koda told her about the second house.
Then about something Wendy had given them for snack.
Then about a bug someone had found outside.
Rylee listened.
They got into the car and headed home.
When they pulled into the driveway, Mabel was sitting in the front window.
Koda saw her immediately.
“Mabel!”
The cat disappeared from sight.
Rylee laughed.
“I think you scared her.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You yelled her name from the driveway.”
“I was saying hi.”
They went inside.
Mabel appeared near the hallway a few moments later.
Pickle stopped.
Mabel stopped.
They stared at each other.
Koda looked between them.
“Are they friends yet?”
“Not yet.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tomorrow?”
Rylee smiled.
“Maybe not that fast.”
Koda seemed disappointed.
Rylee set her purse down.
Kenzie would be home soon.
Later, after Koda was asleep, Rylee would tell her what Hope had learned.
She would tell her about Glenn.
About Shannon calling him.
About the pregnancy.
Then they would decide how much Rylee was willing to tell Glenn in return.
Glenn’s number was in her phone now.
She wasn’t calling tonight.
But she was going to call.
And when she did, she intended to listen to exactly what he knew.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.