walked to the desk.
He finally raised his eyes when I was standing directly in front of him. “Can I help you?” he asked with an accommodating smile.
“Yes,” I said, making sure my request sounded professional. “I’m looking for one of your guests.” I figured I’d start small, then try to expand—to find out how long he’d been staying here.
“Name?” he asked, hands poised over his keyboard.
“Coleman,” I said, “C-O—”
His hands dropped, and his smile disappeared. “Let me stop you right there. I’ve already told the rest of you people this, we’re not giving out any information—”
“Olivia?”
I turned around and saw Nathan Coleman walk through the same doors I’d just passed through.
“Hi,” I said, trying to catch my bearings. This receptionist had been implying that others were asking after Sean Coleman—probably media. He would’ve had to hand over any details to the police, but they’d probably warned him not to talk to the press, as they had to me.
“Were you looking for me?” Nathan asked.
“Yes,” I said. And then, turning to the receptionist, “Looks like I found him.”
The man’s face fell, and for a second it seemed that neither of us had known there was a different Coleman currently staying at the hotel.
As I walked toward Nathan, sirens started up in the distance, coming closer. I tensed, imagining police cars pulling into this lot. Nathan turned, too, so we were both looking through the glass doors as the ambulance went by, continuing on. Toward the campgrounds and the mountains beyond.
“I forget sometimes that there are emergencies happening every day,” Nathan said. “That people everywhere are getting the worst news of their lives. Or the best. Makes me feel a little better to remember.”
Like it was all a cycle and we were just a small part of it. “Me, too,” I said, though I’d never thought about it that way.
“There’s a café here in the hotel, just around the corner. The coffee is adequate, but the beer is better. Want to head there?”
“Sure,” I said, following him down the hall. “I wasn’t sure if you would still be in town. How long are you staying?”
“As long as it takes,” he said, peering back at me. Nathan had purpose, and you could see it in every movement. It made him seem older, that he knew what he wanted. And right now he wanted the person who’d killed his father to pay. He implied that he would stay until then. I had no doubt he would make that happen.
“I wasn’t sure if you had people waiting for you back home,” I said. I didn’t notice a wedding ring on his hand, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a wife, or kids, or a serious girlfriend.
He slowed as we approached the counter. “Well, my dog will be pissed about it, I’m sure.” He gave me half a smile. “But my neighbor’s taking care of things. Luckily, I work for myself. I’m taking some time.”
I picked the same beer that Nathan ordered, not caring either way—I didn’t plan on drinking it—and followed him to an empty café table in the back corner. There were a few other people scattered around the room, but no one seemed to be paying attention.
“I need to tell you something,” I said as soon as we were seated. I needed to guide the conversation, control where it led. It was better to hear it from me.
“All right,” he said, taking a long sip.
“I found a letter from your father in my mailbox. I didn’t see it until today. I called the detective—she has it now.”
He didn’t answer at first, just watched me with an intensity that made me look away. “What did it say?” he finally asked.
“Just that he wanted to talk to me. I didn’t know who he was until I heard his name. But when the detective shared his identity with me, I did know, Nathan. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you from the start, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. I hadn’t seen him in twenty years, but he was there the night he died because of me.”
Then, as he silently listened, I told him everything. About who I was and how I’d changed my name, leaving it all behind me. How I hadn’t heard from Sean Coleman ever since, and hadn’t recognized him when I saw him. That I didn’t know why he’d come to see me after all this time.
When I finished talking, he didn’t change his expression or his body language. Didn’t