Steff had planned after all. He suddenly didn’t feel like going down memory lane.
But when he turned back to look at Kate, she was still standing there, that puzzled expression on her pretty face. Then she said something that really put his head in a dizzying spin.
“I still have it, you know.”
An alarm went off in his head. “Have…what?”
“The sketch you drew of me, remember?”
He’d only drawn her face about a thousand times, so yes, he did remember. “Yeah, sure.”
“You always were talented, Parker. I’m glad you kept at it.”
“Thanks.” He watched as she turned and walked away. And he had to wonder if he’d somehow misread her. Maybe Kate Brooks truly did want to take up where they’d left off, if only for the sake of their old friendship.
A friendship that could have been so much more, if they’d been given a chance.
A tap on Parker’s arm pulled him out of his memories. He was still at the police station, facing more questions.
“Ready to go back over this, Parker?” Nikki asked, dropping her badge onto the desk in front of them.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied. “I’ve already told you and Jim everything I know. Nikki, I didn’t have anything to do with this murder.”
“I sure hope not,” Nikki replied. “I like Kate. Always have. I’d hate to see her hurt.”
“But not me, right? I mean, you already think I’m guilty, don’t you?”
The detective gave him a blank look. “Not for me to say. I just follow the evidence.”
Parker reached inside his coat pocket. “Then you probably need to see this.”
“Oh, right. The thing you and Kate wanted to show us. Let’s have a look.” Surprised, Nikki glanced down at the two gaudy toy lockets inside the plastic bag.
“Well, well, that does add a new wrinkle. Where’d you get these, Parker? And why didn’t you show them to us right away?”
Parker let out a sigh and ignored the throbbing in his scarred right leg. “Why don’t I start at the beginning?”
TWO
Kate put the phone down then turned to her son. The expectant look on Brandon’s face broke her heart. But she couldn’t lie to him. “That was your daddy.”
Brandon jumped up and down, clapping his hands. “Is he coming to my birthday party? Is he?” It was almost a month before Brandon’s birthday, and it was all he could talk about.
Kate took Brandon by the hand, leading him to the small round breakfast table centered under the bay window. “I’m sorry, honey. He can’t take time away from work.”
Considering Dexter had finally found a new job after being unemployed for five months, Kate could almost sympathize with her ex-husband. She wanted to believe he had long-term, unbreakable plans, but she knew he was more likely planning to go to some sports event or a rock concert instead. Dexter still had a lot of growing up to do. He hadn’t asked for joint custody of their child because he didn’t want to deal with fatherhood, even part-time. He just didn’t want to have a family at all.
“But he promised,” Brandon said, his bottom lip beginning to quiver. “How come he misses everything? He missed Christmas, ’member?”
“I remember,” Kate said, taking her son onto her lap. “Daddy lives far away now, so it’s hard for him to make arrangements. But he loves you, you know. And I’m thinking he’ll send a nice present even if he can’t be here.” She’d see to that herself, just as she always did.
Brandon pressed his head against her fleece bathrobe. “Why can’t he just bring the present? Then I could have my daddy here, too. Like we used to be.”
Kate knew Brandon wanted his family back together. Had she been wrong to do this to her child? She’d certainly tried to make her marriage work; she’d prayed about it, consulted her minister back in Nashville, even begged Dexter to go to counseling with the minister. But in the end, Dexter hadn’t wanted to do that. He’d simply decided he had to have his freedom. And now, it seemed as if his son didn’t matter to him either. Since they’d been back in Magnolia Falls, Dexter had called Brandon only a few times and had seen him even less.
But it mattered to Kate. She glanced out the window to the street. She’d been lucky to find this little cottage in the older part of Magnolia Falls, not far from the college campus. Here the streets were lined with moss-draped live oaks, age-old magnolias and crape myrtles. But her backyard wasn’t really big enough to hold a birthday party, and her budget didn’t allow for having a party at the fun-filled pizza place out on the interstate. She debated asking her mom to host the party, but Grace Duncan did more than her share of babysitting when Kate had to work extra shifts or stay late at the hospital. And besides, Grace would turn what should be a fun time into some sort of formal, stuffy event.
“What we need is a big yard for your party,” Kate said. “Like a park or a nice garden, maybe.”
Brandon perked up at that, his eyes going bright. “Nana Grace says Mr. Parker Buchanan has the biggest yard in the county. She says his garden is supposed to be real pretty. I heard her talking ’bout it with Mrs. Welch from church. Maybe we could borrow his yard.”
Wishing her well-meaning but gossip-loving mother hadn’t spilled the news that the Patchman creator lived about eight miles from them, Kate looked down at her son. “Oh, honey, Mr. Buchanan is a very busy man. And he doesn’t like visitors on his estate.”
Which is why she’d hesitated even to try to track Parker down since the class reunion months ago. Each time his name came up amongst her friends, Kate tried to change the subject. By not getting back in touch, Parker had made it clear he didn’t want to be bothered. Not even by an old classmate. And not even a murder investigation could change that, since it had been rumored that he’d balked when everyone attending the reunion had had to submit statements to the police.
Parker Buchanan might live in Magnolia Falls, but he was apparently off-limits to everyone in town. He hadn’t even tried to call Kate after they’d reconnected at the reunion. But then, she hadn’t made any effort to keep in touch with him either. She told herself that was because she was a busy working mom and distracted by all the strange happenings around the college campus lately.
“If we asked nice though?” Brandon said, his eyes widening. “You always say to use manners.”
Kate had to smile at that. “Yes, manners are important, but asking someone for the use of their home isn’t very polite.”
“Even if we say please?”
Brandon’s innocence never ceased to amaze her. But she also worried that her son would get hurt if he got grand ideas about meeting the famous Parker Buchanan. Yet Parker had said at the reunion that he’d like to meet Brandon.
With all the scandal following the identity of the body buried on the campus grounds, everyone was a bit skittish. The media had
