shook my head. “Listen, you can barely feed Eva, let alone me. Besides, I need to go back.”
“What about your landlord?”
“I’ll figure something out,” I said vaguely. “I need to be there for Daniel when he comes home.” My heart lightened when I said the words. Of course he’ll come home. I imagined my little boy walking through the door, smiling in the way that revealed the tiny dimple on his chin. He’d run to me, and I’d press my nose against his forehead, his soft blond curls soaking up my tears. It was all a big mix-up, he’d explain. He’d seen the snow, he’d tell me, and gotten lost. A kind family had taken him in until the storm passed. They’d been good to him, given him a warm bed. And hot chocolate. I smiled to myself.
“Oh, honey,” Caroline cried. “I want to believe that Daniel is coming home; Lord knows I do. But at some point you’re going to have to—”
“No!” I snapped, closing my eyes tightly. I took a deep, calming breath. “He will come home. I know it.”
I walked to the door and grasped the doorknob. Just before I stepped outside, I felt a soft tug at my dress.
“Aunt Vera?” Eva whispered, her eyes big and cautious.
I knelt down to her. “Yes, honey?”
She handed me a piece of paper. “I made this for you.”
A bold tear rolled down my cheek and nestled into the crease of my mouth, salty and bitter. “Why, it’s just…beautiful, dear,” I said, looking over the drawing she’d made for me.
“That’s Daniel, there,” she said, pointing to a stick figure holding a stuffed bear. “And that’s me,” she added.
A third figure hovered over the crudely drawn children. A woman, perhaps? The elaborate hat she wore resembled a peacock. “Who’s that, Eva?”
The girl scrunched her nose. “No one.”
“She must be someone,” I said. “You drew her here behind you and Daniel. Who is she, honey?”
“Just a lady, that’s all.”
I nodded. “Well,” I said, standing up again, “I love it. Thank you. I shall treasure it, always.”
“You know you can come back,” Caroline said before I turned to leave. “You’re always welcome here.”
I answered with an air of finality I could no longer repress. “Thank you, dear friend, for everything.”
I walked the familiar route back to the apartment, but I didn’t feel my feet touch the ground. I merely floated. Like a ghost, invisible in my grief. People passed, but no one looked at me. Do they see me?
I pushed past a crowd of angry men lingering near the saloon. The air reeked of ale, skunky tobacco, and sweaty skin from the night before. “Excuse me,” I said to a reasonable-looking man near the doorway. “Have you seen Mr. Ivanoff?” He’d been working in the saloon the morning of the storm. Maybe he’d seen something, someone.
The man’s smile morphed into a sneer, and I regretted the question immediately. “Ivanoff, the mason?”
“Yes,” I said, inching toward the stairs.
The man rubbed the stubble on his chin and took a step closer. “What do you want with him?”
“I want to speak to him,” I said.
“Well, then you’ll need to go down to the jail,” he said with an amused look on his face. “He was arrested last night.”
“Arrested?”
“That’s right,” he said. “Slapped around his missus. Hurt her pretty bad. Doc had to stitch her up.”
My heart raced. I remembered how gentle Mr. Ivanoff had been with Daniel, how softly he’d spoken to him. Like a father. I shivered. How did I not see that he had a violent streak?
The man edged closer. “If you’re looking for someone else to show you a good time, I—”
“Good day,” I said, pushing past him.
I picked up my skirt and ran to the stairs, nearly tripping on an old bearded man passed out on the landing as I made my way up to the second floor. I pulled the key from my pocket, and a vein in my hand pulsed as I jammed it into the lock.
My heart swelled. Maybe Daniel is here. Maybe he climbed the cherry tree and pushed through the little window. Maybe he’s waiting inside.
I turned the key, but it stuck. I tried again, turning it right and left, with no luck. My God. Mr. Garrison. He must have changed the lock.
“No!” I cried, pressing my cheek against the door. I heard footsteps inside. “Hello?” I pounded on the door. “Hello? Who’s in there?”
I jumped back when the doorknob began to turn. The confused face of a