Evidence of Life - By Barbara Taylor Sissel Page 0,41

same lecture, how many times? Hadn’t she? Her memories of her children, her family, were they real?

A noise at her elbow made her jump.

The waitress grimaced. “Sorry,” she said, and her brow furrowed. “You okay, hon?”

Abby touched her fingertips to her face, blinking back tears. The waitress set a glass of water on the table and produced a paper napkin that Abby used to blow her nose. “I don’t know what’s come over me,” she said into the napkin. Her cheeks felt warm. She had so little control, it was a risk being out in public.

“Man trouble, I bet.”

Abby smiled.

The waitress—Peg, according to the tag pinned to the white-cuffed pocket of her pink uniform—rolled her eyes. She could deliver a sermon on the subject. She was older, in her sixties at least, but she still had a rollicking gleam in her eyes. Her longish red hair was faded and streaked with gray at the temples, and she wore it tied up in an outrageous pink chiffon bow. Rhinestones dangled from her ears. A profusion of rainbow-colored plastic bracelets cuffed one wrist.

Nick would have said Peg wasn’t ready to hang it up yet. He’d have teased her and charmed her until she laughed her big, sassy laugh. He’d have left her a huge tip, and if Abby had made a comment, he’d have said something about how hard Peg worked, that tip money was the only real money women like her could ever earn. He was generous that way.

“I knew it,” Peg said, “the second I laid eyes on you. I told Griff, he’s my cook, I told him there’s a woman with heartache on her mind.” Peg leaned down and wiped a spot on Abby’s table with the corner of her apron. “I said she’s either going to him or runnin’ from him. Guaranteed.” Peg’s glance narrowed. “Am I right?”

“Honestly, anyone who knows me wouldn’t believe I’m here.”

“They don’t approve.”

“They wouldn’t. No.” Abby realized Peg still believed they were talking about a man.

She ordered a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and a cup of coffee, leaded, she said when Peg asked. While she waited, she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She thought how she’d never liked seeing people eat alone. They made her sad.

When Peg brought her sandwich, Abby could only eat half.

“Box that up for you?” Peg asked.

“No, thanks,” Abby said.

“Well, how about dessert? The chocolate pie is real good. Griff doesn’t make the pies. My sis does.” She grinned widely. “Hon, there’s nothin’ like a dose of chocolate to rev up your spirits, keep you awake on the road.” She scooped Abby’s plate and utensils onto the tray she balanced on her hip. “You going far?”

Abby glanced at her. The Canary Islands, Madagascar, Hong Kong, Belize, the names lined up in her mind. “The Hill Country,” she said. “Bandera,” she added.

“Figures,” Peg said.

Abby raised her brows.

“Your man’s a hunter? Right? Gone off to the deer lease and you’ve had it up to here.” Peg passed the flat of her palm through the air above her head.

Before she could think about what she was doing, Abby reached inside her purse, pulled out a snapshot and handed it to Peg. “Have you ever seen them?” she asked.

Peg studied the photograph. “Gorgeous family,” she said. “Yours?”

Abby nodded. “My husband and my daughter drove this way last April. They might have stopped here.”

“They were going to Bandera?”

“They were headed in that direction the weekend it flooded. They’ve never been found.” Abby slipped the picture back into her purse. “The police think there was an accident, that they drowned.”

“Oh, hon, oh, how awful. I’m so sorry. My aunt and uncle have a place out thataway. They lost near everything, but they’re alive, thank you, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Peg shifted the tray against her hip, and the cutlery clanked as if in frustration. She gestured. “I thought I saw two kids in the picture.”

“My oldest, Jake, is in college, at A&M. He had to study that weekend.”

“Well, thank God, huh? Most of ’em jump at the chance to cut school.”

Abby smiled and asked for her check.

Peg thumbed through her pad. “So are you goin’ to visit friends in Bandera?”

Abby said, “Not exactly,” and was instantly regretful that she’d left herself open to more questions.

But Peg only said, “Shoot, I can’t find your check. Must of left it in the kitchen. Back in a sec.”

While she waited, Abby used her napkin to mop up the widening puddle of water under her