When she got home, Sully was marinating some chicken breasts in the kitchen at the store.

“Oh, you sweet man, you couldn’t wait for me. I brought us some broccoli.”

“Why do you have such a satisfied look on your face?” he asked.

“I finally ran into Victoria Addison. Literally. I took her to a pub for a glass of wine and the story of her life. It’s a bit different from the story Hannah told us.”

“If you think she’s not a good person, should you be spending time with her?”

“Someone she doesn’t suspect has to, Sully. Besides, there’s an old saying—keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“And what is it you hope to gain?”

“Her motivation,” Helen said. “It’s exactly the way you’d construct a novel. The villain can’t just be bad for no reason, they have to be driven to be bad for a very specific reason. Hannah and Owen can’t very well protect Noah from harm if they don’t know what they’re dealing with.”

“Is it not possible she just wants to spend time with her only grandchild?”

“Anything is possible, darling. We’re going to find out.”

“Helen, do you do this sort of thing regularly?” he asked.

“Oh, a time or two I’ve dug around in places I should stay out of, but nothing terrible ever happened. Oh, there was that one time... I called the police department and after explaining who I was and what I did for a living, I asked them how a person would dispose of a lot of heroin. This was before Google, you know. They referred me to the information officer who never returned my call. But I did have an unmarked car in front of my house for a long time. And an excessive number of patrol drive-bys. Why they didn’t just ring the bell and ask me why I wanted to know is beyond me. But see, nothing bad—”

“Jesus,” Sully said. “You’re lucky the SWAT team didn’t kick in your door and cuff you!”

“I don’t think there’s any danger of that here. Do you?”

“No, but you could piss someone off!”

“Somehow, I don’t think so. I think she’s dirty. All I’m lacking are the facts.”

However mean your life is,

meet it and live it.

—Henry David Thoreau

15

Hannah watched as September gently settled over the land just as she settled into her new life. The leaves were just starting to turn and Sully’s campground had fewer campers.

Noah had come a long way since that first day of school when he thought he was too sick to go. Now he was happy each morning and even wanted to see some of his friends outside school. That presented a new challenge to Hannah—she wasn’t sure how to verify that the homes he’d be visiting were safe for him without looking like she was paranoid and overprotective. She decided to admit her doubts and wear them like armor. His first playdate was just after the first week of school at his friend Seth Loughlin’s house. She decided to be up front about everything when she dropped him off.

“Mrs. Loughlin, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a new mother. In fact, I’m not an official mother, but have been Noah’s guardian for the past few months and we’re a forever team.”

“I didn’t know,” Sue Loughlin said. “Please, call me Sue. I guess that explains why he calls you Hannah. My daughter went through a phase of calling me by my first name, so you can never tell about things like that.”

“I’m pretty inexperienced at this but I feel like I should ask a few questions before dropping Noah at your house to play.”

Sue laughed lightly and said, “The house is safe and childproofed. My husband’s hunting rifles are locked in a gun safe in the garage and there are no guns in the house. If Noah has any food allergies, just tell me and I’ll be sure he doesn’t get any of those foods at our house. And I will absolutely be supervising. They can play in the rec room or the fenced backyard. There is no pool, and they aren’t allowed in the front by the street unless I’m out there with them.”

Hannah smiled. “Do I have any other questions?” she asked with a laugh.

“If you think of something, call. You plan to pick him up after two hours, right? And tell me, does Noah need any kind of assistance?”

“No, he’s as fast on those crutches as I am on my two legs. But watch your shins—those shoes are hard.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“And please don’t let anyone but me pick him up.”

“Would someone else try?” she asked with a look of concern.

“We have a slight issue. Noah’s biological grandmother wants to see much more of Noah than I would like, though I can’t imagine how she would know he’s here. But to be safe...”

“I will stand guard! Have a nice two-hour break!”

Hannah’s nerves over being away from Noah or sending him off for a playdate began to calm and she enjoyed helping Owen in the shop. One problem, working together like that with Noah at school led to hanky-panky. She would feel his hand on her butt or his lips on her neck and the next thing she knew she was sprawled naked beneath him, shuddering with a mind-blowing orgasm.

“Next summer I’m going to plant a garden like Sully’s, but on a slightly smaller scale,” she said.

Owen raised up on an elbow and smiled down at her. “You’re still all pink from sex and you’re talking about digging up my yard.”

She giggled. “This isn’t good for your career progression,” she informed him.

“It’s good for my life, though.”

“It’s a honeymoon,” she said. “No interruptions, no kid calling out every five minutes... Oh, Owen, what you do to me.”

“I know—I make you think of dirt. I’m not letting you dig up the yard unless you marry me.”

“We don’t have to do that...”

“We could get married and adopt Noah—then we’d all have the same last name and be a real, legal family. It could give us a little extra protection against the Rogers and Victorias of the world. Want to think about it? Talk to Noah about it? Want to ask Cal if it would make your position more secure?”

“Is it too soon after Erin’s death?” she asked. “I don’t want Noah to feel like we’re ignoring his mother. She’ll always be an important part of our lives and I’ll do whatever I can to keep her memory alive...”

“It might make him feel more secure. I’m in for the long haul.”

“Are you sure? Because I love this life with you but I haven’t really figured everything out yet. I have no job.”

“You don’t? For someone with no job, you sure seem to be busy all the time. Do you worry that if you find something you’d like to do, I’d try to stop you?”

“You might, once you get used to my help in the shop.”

“Nah. You’ve called off two weddings, saving yourself for me. Do you have your heart set on a big wedding? If so, we have to start planning. And we have to get Cal to work us up a pre-nup. Not for me, for Noah’s trust. Did you say yes yet?”

She put her arms around his neck and rolled with him, ending up on top, her hair falling like a curtain around his face. “I think we should let Noah decide if he wants us to be a forever family. I know he’ll say yes, but I want to reassure him.”

“Okay,” Owen said. “Let’s do it. And then I’ll help you dig up the yard next spring.”

“Don’t you have trips planned?” she asked.

“I’m not going anywhere until we’re all buttoned-down here.” He gave her a little kiss. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“I thought it was the other way around.”

* * *

Helen was feeling a little guilty. She wondered if she should tell Hannah or at least Cal that she was sticking her nose in Victoria’s business. But she wanted to have more information to present before doing that. On three different days over two weeks she’d had three more casual glasses of wine with the woman and really felt she was getting to know her. Well, getting to know the person Victoria wanted her to know.

In the couple of weeks since their first glass of wine, Victoria had read some of Helen’s books. She had a lot of questions about how many books Helen had written and how many copies she had sold. Helen was devilishly tempted to ask her if she wanted a calculator. She had no proof but it seemed as though Victoria was trying to estimate Helen’s net worth.

Victoria raved about Helen’s writing for a good fifteen minutes—it appeared she had read at least three or four books. Helen found it hard not to be charmed by her. In fact, if Helen weren’t inherently cynical and suspicious, she would make Victoria her best friend.

But Victoria’s conversation was punctuated with heavy sighs and a bit of nervous twitching. “Victoria, is something wrong? You seem not quite yourself.”

And then Victoria dropped the bomb. “Oh, I haven’t been feeling well. I’ve lost a few pounds, my lymph nodes are swollen, I’m fatigued. I’m afraid my cancer is back. Hodgkin’s.”

“Oh, no!” Helen said. “When did you have it before?”

“A few years ago. Five years now.”

That was a different number. Cal had been told seven years ago.

“What will you do?”

“I’ll go back to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. That’s where I was treated before.”

“Will you stay in Minnesota, then? To be closer to your doctor?”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I let my house go. I think I’ll stay somewhere near the clinic for tests. I might come back here. I do have my grandson here. I’m going next week—there’s only one way to know for sure—biopsies and blood work.”

“We can keep in touch by phone.”

“I’ll try. It’s an insidious disease,” Victoria said. “It couldn’t come at a worse time. And, of course, my insurance was canceled. Fortunately I have enough saved to get through the biopsy.”