been through. He’d already expressed his own rage and grief a dozen times over. All that was left was quiet acceptance that I’d been through hell and was on the other side of it now. Only poor Marco was left with my insecurities and tendency to be distrustful.
“What do you want to do?” he whispered.
“For now, nothing.” I pulled back, his arm still loosely around my back. “This changes nothing.”
“So you’re gonna hide for the rest of your life.” The look in his eyes told me that didn’t settle well with him.
Oh, how I loved this man. He would move mountains for me. “No, but we’re going to let it sit awhile.” I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek. “I’m safe, and I’m with you. No need to disrupt that until we have a clearer picture of what my father’s up to.”
Still, a part of me wondered how safe I was in Drum. Jerry’s killers still weren’t behind bars. What was to stop them from hurting me or someone else I cared about?
He pushed out a sigh as a grimace crossed his face. “Carly.”
Closing the distance between us, I pressed my lips to his, giving him a kiss of reassurance and love. I’m here with you, Marco. I’m not leaving you.
But was I content to stay in Drum? I didn’t need to make that decision yet. Neither of us did. Not until we had a much better idea of what was happening and what it might mean.
I sat back and snuggled into his side. His arm shifted to wrap around my shoulders. We sat like that for a few moments, watching the river water rush over the rocks.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking about my mother,” I said. “Maybe because of Jerry’s murder.”
His arm tightened around me. “Oh shit, Carly. I never even considered—”
“Stop. It’s okay,” I said, turning to smile up at him. “But I’ve started thinking about when I was a little girl. When we were happy.”
The look on Marco’s face told me that he was biting his tongue. He’d already told me that he thought my memories might be inaccurate. That a man didn’t go from adoring his wife and daughter one minute, to killing one and shunning the other on the turn of a dime, regardless of any perceived betrayal.
“I’m wondering if you might be right,” I added.
There was no gloating, just a grim nod.
“But I got to thinking that I could talk to someone who would know. Someone who might even be able to tell me about my biological father.”
“You mean your uncle?” I’d told him my theory, that my father’s brother was the one who’d donated half of my DNA.
“I don’t know that Uncle Will’s my father. It’s just an assumption because I heard my parents arguing about him days before my mother’s car accident. Since I don’t have access to any kind of test results I’ll have to resort to anecdotal evidence.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Who do you plan to talk to?”
“My mother had a best friend, Tiffany. I remember she came to visit us several times, and she always brought me gifts. One of them was a T-shirt from Auburn, their alma mater. She obviously had history with Mom. She came to her funeral.”
“You want to contact her?”
“I figure it couldn’t hurt,” I said. “I doubt my father would be watching her. Even if she doesn’t know anything about my biological father, she can at least give me more information about my parents’ marriage. It probably won’t help us go after my father, but it might help me understand things and put things in perspective.”
He gave me a soft smile and squeezed my arm. “I think it’s a great idea. Do you want me to look for her?”
“You mean officially?”
“Unofficially.”
Pursing my lips, I considered it. “No,” I finally said. “Let me do some sleuthing first. I don’t even remember her last name.” A grin spread across my face. “But I’m a master with Google.”
He kissed me, then studied my face. “You tell me what you need, Care. Whatever that is.”
His new nickname for me warmed my heart. He’d started calling me that after Jerry’s death, telling me it bridged my two names. He knew and loved me as Carly, but he also wanted to honor the woman I’d been.
“You’re already giving it to me,” I whispered.
He nodded, then said reluctantly, “As much as I hate to say this, I need to get goin’.”
I stood first and pulled him to his feet, then wrapped