argument, Darrin had told authorities, so the police were asking for anybody with information of the whereabouts of Esther Marist to come forward.
Esther’s hands had jumped off the computer keys as if they’d been burned. Now she didn’t dare go back! She had no money and no way to get any, other than her salary and tips at the restaurant. She couldn’t even afford an attorney. What if they believed Darrin and she went to prison? It had happened to innocent people before this. Oh, why had she run? she wailed mentally. Why hadn’t she gone straight to the police and told them exactly what had happened! She’d only complicated her life by running away. Now she was as much a fugitive as Darrin would be if she’d told on him. And had he managed to get access to her mother’s fortune by now? If he had, he could afford the best attorneys in the world to represent him. And the best private detectives to find Esther.
She worried for days about what she’d read. She hadn’t known how to erase her search history on Butch’s computer, but she noticed that he almost never used it except to send emails back and forth and log on to the web page he kept to discuss wildlife rehabilitation. Hopefully he wouldn’t bother to check what Esther had done. And she had sent an email to an old friend whose email had been changed, so that it would come back as not forwarded. So she wasn’t totally lying, anyway.
* * *
Two weeks went by, during which Esther went to work, came home, counted her tips, made supper with Butch, and generally worried herself sick.
She had a little money now, so she’d had Butch take her back to the local Walmart to get a few more items of clothing. It wasn’t what she’d been used to, but there was great satisfaction in earning her living, paying for her own clothes. No more pampered little rich girl getting anything she asked for. Terry had been generous. Of course, Terry had also substituted money for love and hugs and understanding. It had been the housekeeper, Agnes, who had kissed away the little girl’s tears and bandaged the cuts and made Christmas special for her. It had never been Terry, who was constantly on the road with some new boyfriend to exotic and luxurious places.
If she ever had a child, Esther told herself, the baby would never be left with a housekeeper, not even for a day. Her child would go where she went, and she’d love the little one so much! She thought about children a lot. She and Butch spent time with Parker and his wife, Katy, and Katy’s daughter, Teddie. Esther loved Teddie. The little girl was sweet and smart and loved horses. So did Esther. When they’d lived in California, when her father was still alive, her father had owned a ranch and they rode horses together. Her mother had no use for animals of any sort. Sometimes, even through the sadness of loss, Esther thought about her mother’s reaction to her daughter living with a wildlife specialist and rehabilitator, who had a wolf in the house. It amused her no end.
“What are you cackling about?” Butch teased, joining her in front of the television with a refilled cup of fresh-brewed coffee. It was well after supper and they were watching an episode of Warriors and Warlocks.
“I was thinking about my mother,” she said, smiling as he sat down beside her. “She wouldn’t let me have pets. She thought all animals were filthy. I was imagining her reaction to us living with a wolf in the house.” She chuckled. “It was funny.”
He leaned forward, the cup held in his one hand. “It’s getting easier for you to talk about her, isn’t it?” he asked.
She nodded. “Still stings a little,” she confessed, smiling at him. “But I can remember some of the fun times now.”
“Was she a good mother?”
She rolled her eyes. “She was in love with love. There was a new boyfriend every other month and she loved to travel. She was mostly gone after Daddy died. I lived with our housekeeper. I never saw much of Mama until I was in my last year of high school. Even then, she made sure I was out of the way when she brought people home.” She laughed softly. “It bothered her to have a grown daughter. She didn’t want her friends to see me and