didn’t have Angel View Lodge. First time I’ve ever lived in a place where I could look down on the clouds. Takes my breath away.”
“You and Benson are a great addition to our staff.”
“You mean for a couple of crazy Cajuns who talk funny?” Savannah laughed. “We do love it here.” She looked down at the mess again. “I’ll be right back.”
Mama put her arm around Abby. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
“Sorry for the hassle. I’m a little off today.” Abby waited, longing for her mother to say something—anything—to acknowledge the anniversary.
“Well, an Angel View sunrise can distract the best of us.” Her mother’s cheery demeanor belied the heaviness in her voice. She wet her finger and wiped something off Abby’s cheek. “It’s a good thing that Beaver Lake is beautiful in every season. Mother Nature draws the guests. All we have to do is make them comfortable.”
“You sounded like Daddy just then.”
“I’m surprised you remember details like that after all this time.”
“I do. And I remember the last time I heard his voice was five years ago today.”
Mama flinched ever so slightly, and Abby could almost hear the dead bolt slide across the door of her heart. “I’m well aware of what day this is.” She seemed to stare at nothing, her eyes watering. “I’m glad you find comfort in remembering. I don’t.”
“Don’t you ever wonder if Daddy and Riley Jo are still alive?”
“I accepted a long time ago that they’re not coming back. Maybe one of these days we’ll find out what happened so we can put it to rest.”
Abby bit her lip. “People still gossip. Why don’t you defend Daddy?”
Her mother ran her thumb across the diamond wedding band she still wore. “We’ve been through this, Abby. My being defensive won’t stop the gossip. Or change anyone’s mind. Gossip is pure poison, and there are always casualties.”
“Well, I refuse to be a casualty.” Abby folded her arms across her chest. “I’m the only one in this family who ever defends Daddy.”
“And has defending him put a stop to the talk?”
“At least everyone knows where I stand.”
Mama tilted Abby’s chin and looked her squarely in the eyes. “There’s a pain so deep in me, there’re no words for it. But I don’t feel obligated to discuss my private thoughts with anyone.”
“Because you have doubts?”
“Because I don’t. Now drop it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Abby set her lips in a straight line and turned away.
“It’s hard enough getting through each day without them,” Mama said. “It doesn’t help when my own daughter criticizes me for the way I handle my grief. I can only be what I am. I can’t live in the past, even if people in town are still whispering about it. I’ve put it behind me the best I can.”
Well, I haven’t. Abby looked back into her mother’s pretty face and sad blue eyes, wishing she hadn’t brought it up.
Savannah came out of the kitchen, carrying a large plastic bucket, a broom, a mop, and a dustpan. “Benson said to tell y’all that he’s making gumbo and cornbread for today’s lunch special. That oughta make your taste buds stand up and sing.”
“Everything he’s made so far has,” Mama said. “I’m enjoying adding a little Cajun flair to our Ozark cuisine.”
As Abby left the conversation, she glanced out at the tinted fog on the lake, powerless to shake the heavy, ominous, unsettling feeling that she had anticipated would descend on this day. The only thing harder to bear than the unanswered questions was the fact that her mother had stopped asking them.
Buck Winters sat with a friend at Flutter’s Café and observed his granddaughter taking the breakfast order of the folks at table six. Even though Abby was pleasant, he could tell that the smile she wore was strictly professional. She was probably embarrassed and upset about the earlier mishap.
Abby liked to please. And Kate had high expectations of everyone on staff, including her kids. Probably because Kate and Micah had built Angel View Lodge from the ground up and invested so much of themselves. Since Micah’s disappearance, it had become almost a monument to his memory.
Buck’s gaze followed his granddaughter as she tended to customers. Abby was so much like Kate at sixteen, her hair long and thick and the color of an Irish setter. Deep blue eyes. Fair skin and a natural blush to her cheeks. Cute figure. Sweet from the inside out. It was both a wonder and a blessing that she didn’t have a serious boyfriend