house to sell about ten years ago.” Troy’s grandparents had died before he was born and he’d lived in their house with his mom and dad until the day they’d moved. “I tried to find you, but I had no idea where your dad ended up and no clues as to where you might be.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Troy. He found people for a living and here he was, a missing person to his own relative. He dared not ask if Zach ever hired a private investigator, and he couldn’t really confess to being one in this exact moment with Julie sitting next to him.
“Anyway,” Zach continued, “I found this. It was your mother’s. There are gaps of months, but it’s all here. Everything you should know. Everything you need to know.”
Troy’s curiosity peaked. As a P.I., he was naturally curious, but the fact that this had something to do with his mother had his palms itching to read that little book.
“From the time your mom was in high school to a few days before she...before she died.” He had trouble getting out those last words, but Troy didn’t blame him. It had been a huge shock for all of them.
Zach handed over the book. “What you need to know is that if I’d known, life would’ve been a hell of a lot different.” He shook his head, sadness and regret apparent in his dark gaze. “I didn’t know. Maybe I should’ve, but I didn’t.”
This buildup set Troy more on edge, more worried about the information hidden in his mother’s diary. He took the book, soft and worn from age and use. How many times had he entered a room as she wrote in it? How many times had she smiled at him, closed the book and put it aside to talk to him or fix him something to eat? But she also hid it every night before his father got home. Sometimes she tucked it under the mattress or in the very back of her lower nightstand drawer. Troy hadn’t thought too much about it at the time because he hid things too. Things he didn’t want his father to see. Like the candy the store clerk used to sneak him when he went shopping with his mother or the five-dollar bill he found at the playground. So, yes, he understood his mother’s need for secrets. They never knew what might set off his dad, so they kept to themselves and were thankful when a day went by without him getting angry and forcing his mom to bear the brunt of that anger. She’d been his savior, his salvation from his father and when she died, he hadn’t had anybody to protect him.
Troy turned the book over in his hands. It seemed so small now. Maybe its value, its size, had been in the way his mother had treated it. “It’s still in good shape.” Troy felt the need to say something.
“I’ve kept it for you.” A sad smile curved Zach’s lips. “I was hoping one day I’d get to give it to you. It’s rightfully yours.” Zach stood and Troy followed. Julie got up too, but a little bit slower. He could tell her leg was still sore. “Look I’m going to go...give you a chance to read it in your own time.” He walked to the door and opened it, but turned before leaving. “How long will you be in town? I’d like to spend some time with you...after you read that.” He gestured to the diary.
“We’ll be here for four or five days. If that’s okay.” Troy hadn’t planned on even seeing his uncle so the fact that he’d been caught—so to speak—threw some guilt on his shoulders.
“I told you a long time ago this place was yours. I’m sorry it’s been so long, but I’m glad you finally made your way home.” Zach glanced at Julie and nodded before closing the door behind him.
Troy stood there holding the pink diary in his hand while curiosity and apprehension mingled in his chest and created a roller coaster in his intestines.
“Seems like it’s pretty important,” Julie said.
“Yeah.”
When he didn’t say anything else, she continued, “So, maybe I’ll keep working on this character, Elizabeth, and let you get to that.” She turned to go, but Troy felt an odd sense of comfort with her around and didn’t want to be alone.
“Can you do it in here? With me?” Yeah, he liked her company. A lot. “I don’t