Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Harry still kept an eye on her.
So did I.
As far as we could tell, she told no lies. She was good.
We still did it.
Harry told me Clifford Ballard’s mother came to visit him.
Harry closed that case, certain that Ballard was murdered by Abernathy.
She sat in his office, weeping and thanking him for giving her answers.
“And that’s why you do it,” I whispered after he was done sharing, knowing this already, because he gave the same to me.
“That’s why I do it, sweetheart,” he replied.
I knew it was more than just that. Much more.
I was simply glad Harry got a win.
And Mrs. Ballard got answers.
Mom and Dad’s suitcases and the letter Mom wrote me were released by the Idaho police.
I also got their wedding rings and Mom’s engagement ring. They were in the grave with them.
Make no mistake, I’d wondered where they were, but I thought Abernathy had taken them.
So I was beside myself they were returned to me.
When they were, they were clean as a whistle, bright and shiny, courtesy of some woman named Lynda.
I sprang for an expensive gold chain that dangled low, close to my heart, and wore them around my neck every day.
I also got Mom’s journals back, of course, but I didn’t read them.
I told Harry enough people were privy to her private thoughts, so for now, I wasn’t going to become one of them.
I also told him I’d read them later, for the sole purpose of making sure they weren’t too private, and if they weren’t, when the time was right, I’d let our kids read them so they’d know how much their grandma loved their grandpa…and me.
Just to say, Harry and I took a trip to Coeur d’Alene so I could meet that woman named Lynda, and Harry could take her out for a steak dinner.
He’d made arrangements before, and at that dinner was not only Sergeant Lynda Westwood and her husband, but the husband and wife who had retired from the motel business, and their daughter and son-in-law who took it over.
I’ll admit, I cried just a little when the man looked at me and said, “God, you’re the perfect combination of those two lovely people.”
But after I got over that, it was a nice night.
They’d asked if I wanted to see the room Mom and Dad stayed in, but I declined. We didn’t even go to the motel.
Though, I discovered Coeur d’Alene was an insanely gorgeous place, and weirdly, I felt some peace that Mom and Dad rested in such splendor before they came home to me.
That said, I told Harry I never wanted to go back.
I knew he thought it was gorgeous too.
But he agreed.
By myself, I went through their room and picked a few things I wanted to keep.
Once I’d done that, I let Ronnie and George, Shane and Sherise, and a few of their other friends make their selections.
Then Harry, Ronnie, George and I donated what we could, sold what we could, and got rid of the rest.
Rus and Doc came over, and they and George helped Harry paint the room.
(Painting, by the way, was also “man’s work,” and that was okay by me, considering, while they did it, I hung in the kitchen with Ronetta, Cin, and Doc’s very pregnant wife Nadia, with Maddie, and Doc’s son, Ledger, out back, playing with the dogs.)
I left all my stuff in my old room and created a cozy, cottage-y space that was a whole lot more unisex in taupes and soft mushrooms with a fun pouf at the end of the bed and fluffy dried grass instead of flowers in vases on the nightstands.
Harry’s dad had been an electrician before he retired, and he installed two droplights covered in wicker shades on either side of the bed. And there were lots of fluffy pillows for lounging (and other).
We did this because Harry found an architect who was going to design the blowout of the back of the house, and he said, if we didn’t mind some dust and noise, he could do it while we were still living there.
This thrilled Greg and Josh, and they moved forward with the sale of Harry’s place (though Amanda and Caroline had already had the old kitchen gutted before that even started).
The detritus of the burnt down stables were removed, and a large, attractive garage/storage building was going to be put up.
I was excited for them, and for Harry.
Same place. Same people.
But a fresh start.
And he’d always have the home his mom and dad gave him.
Greg wasn’t only an electrician, but like Harry, he was handy, and he liked to be busy. So when he was in town, he helped me with my properties, and my owners paid him for any electrical work that needed to be done, not to mention installations and repairs.
He liked this so much (along with being close to his boys, his grandchildren, Amanda, and…well, me), eventually, he was up in Misted Pines more than he was down in Phoenix.