“That’s because they moved away the next year. I have no idea what happened to him.” Billy was looking at Nate. “You have something in mind, don’t you?”
“I don’t like that Terri is blamed for things she didn’t do and I’m trying to figure out a way to stop it.” He glared at Billy. “If the lies and innuendos are to stop, you’re going to have to tell the whole town the truth about what you did.”
“I will. Without hesitation. Kris is another matter. She came back here to show the town she was respectable. She won’t like telling why she and her mom fled.”
“I really don’t care about her reputation,” Nate said. “Terri’s had enough blame put on her.”
Billy smiled. At first it was just a bit, then he broke into a real grin. “‘Nate will fix it.’ It looks like Terri was right. Whatever you need from me, I’ll do it.”
“Thanks,” Nate said.
Chapter 21
When Terri woke, she knew something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. Nate was in bed with her—or was she dreaming that?
She turned slightly to see his whiskery cheek. Light was barely coming in between the drawn curtains. She could feel the warmth of his body all down the length of hers, and she moved her leg so it was near the center of him.
He moved in his sleep, his arm tightening on her as though he thought she might run away.
At that thought, her memory came back to her. She remembered the skeleton in the car trunk. Remembered the handcuffs.
Her mother had been murdered! She didn’t run away with another man. She’d been handcuffed and put into the trunk of her own car, then driven to the dock and...
Nate’s other arm encircled her and he drew her close.
“You...?” she whispered. “She...? How did...?” Terri didn’t know where to begin.
Nate stroked her hair out of her eyes. “What do you want to know?”
She was glad he wasn’t going to patronize her with a sugarcoated version of the truth. “All of it. What happened and what you’re planning.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.” Her back was to his front and she thought that when she was in his arms she could handle anything. Quietly, with great patience, he told her what they’d been able to piece together. Someone had handcuffed and tied Leslie Rayburn, put her in the trunk of her own car and driven it through a storm onto the old dock.
“Then he cut the posts to the dock away,” Terri said. “I guess he wanted to make sure it wasn’t used anymore and risk discovery.”
“That’s our guess too, and it worked since no one saw the car in all these years.”
“Until you.” Terri kissed the back of his hand. “You found it.” Turning over to face him, she kissed him on the mouth. Oh, how good it felt to be able to touch him! On their last night together, a year’s separation had seemed so practical. She would stay at the lake and Nate would be... She didn’t know where he would go, but she did know they had to wait to give the town time to calm down. But now she wanted to feel him close to her. As close as possible.
Nate pulled back to look at her. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.” She moved her leg between his. “Did you take off my clothes?”
“Some of them. Thorndyke—”
She gave a little chuckle as he kissed her neck. “I think Billy is afraid of you.”
“He should be. He—”
“Wait!” Terri pushed on his shoulders. “What about the note? Who wrote it?”
“Someone who knew Leslie’s handwriting and could imitate it.”
His hands were running down her body. She still had on some clothes and Nate was deftly removing them.
Terri wanted to ask more questions, but at the moment she could think of nothing but his hands and his lips on her skin.
Besides, something Dr. Jamie had said yesterday was coming to her. “There is always a good side,” he’d said. “You just have to find it.” He’d made her realize that the cloud that had hung over her since she could remember—that her mother had abandoned her and her father—was no longer there. Her mother had wanted them. She didn’t discard them and run away with someone else. She wasn’t—as Terri feared—now living somewhere else with another family. She wasn’t helping another daughter buy a new dress. She wasn’t taking her other children to swimming lessons. Wasn’t laughing with them and never thinking about