said I would.”
He turned to meet her gaze as if studying her face.
Kelly started at the heat sparking between them. “Just what is it you did up North?”
“Corporate development.” Dan spoke the words flatly, as if he hadn’t appreciated her asking.
“And now?”
He inhaled sharply. “And now I figure out what really happened to my sister…and Rachel.”
They rode in silence for several long seconds. Kelly turned to stare out the side window, her focus landing on a small cemetery tucked away along the side of the road.
“Diane would have celebrated her birthday later this week.” Dan’s voice broke the silence. “Instead she’s in there.”
Kelly’s heart squeezed. She turned, intending to reach for his hand, but catching herself before she made the far-too-intimate gesture. “I’m sorry.”
The fact she’d come so close to touching him shocked her. She hadn’t felt compelled to reach for any man since Brian had stomped all over her faith in the opposite sex, yet the raw emotion strangled inside Dan’s voice had registered deep inside her. She’d have to watch herself, and her reactions.
Silence beat between them yet again.
“I’m a graphic designer,” Kelly blurted out, suddenly uncomfortable with the tension squeezing the air out of the small car. “You don’t suppose a business owner like a pharmacist could use a new brochure every now and then to boost business, do you?”
She turned toward Dan in time to see the lines of his profile sharpen. “Might be worth a shot.” He jerked a thumb toward the colorful notebook still sitting on her lap. “Anything?”
Kelly flipped through the blank pages. “Not much. Just one word on the last page.” She fanned the sheets. “And it looks like several pages are missing.”
“What’s the word?”
“Shakespeare.”
“Shakespeare?” He grimaced, shooting a glance at Kelly. “Was she a big fan?”
“No.” Kelly shook her head. “She couldn’t stand him.”
She stared at the word then flipped the notebook closed. Disappointment eased through her. She’d hoped the notebook would hold more than one word. At least they had the pharmacy board lead.
“Do you think ‘S’ could be Shakespeare?” she asked.
“I’ll call and find out.” Dan pulled into the driveway of Rachel’s house and cut the engine. “I’ll meet you at the chamber at six. Miller shouldn’t see us together.”
Kelly gathered the mail and the notebook and hesitated as she climbed out of the small car. Tension still filled the space between them, but the fact he’d accepted her idea had shifted something intangible between them. “Thanks.”
He nodded, averting his gaze from her face. “I’ll see what I can find out about our friend Shakespeare.”
She climbed to the top of the steps, pausing to watch as his car pulled away. What had Rachel gotten herself into? Whatever it was, Kelly had a sinking feeling it had gotten her killed.
DAN SAT staring through the car windshield at the Sunset Assisted Living complex. Lilac mums lined the sidewalk and hunter-green shutters framed spotless windows. The sun reflected off the bright white vinyl siding.
The building looked so calm on the outside. Orderly and neat. Nothing like the inside where minds and bodies failed—some slowly, some quickly.
His mother had been a resident for almost a year, since her dementia had worsened to the point where she needed round-the-clock care. She seemed content here, though. As content as could be expected.
Dan sat for a moment, letting his thoughts trace back over his conversation with Kelly. He shouldn’t have mentioned Diane’s birthday when they passed the cemetery. He wasn’t a fan of sharing personal details, let alone details that hinted at weakness. Kelly and her questions had somehow burrowed beneath his skin like an itch he had no intention of scratching. He’d have to be more careful when he saw her again tonight.
Dan’s stomach tightened at the thought, but he shook it off, refocusing on the building waiting before him. He pulled the key from the ignition and climbed from the small car, slamming the door shut before heading for the entrance.
“How are you doing, Dolores?”
The strawberry-blonde sitting at the reception desk looked up, flashing a warm smile as Dan pushed through the glass doors. “Pretty good, Mr. Steele. How ’bout you?”
“Can’t complain.” Liar. “Is she down in activities?”
The young woman glanced at the clock on the wall. “Should be.”
“Thanks.”
A long walk later, he found his mother sitting in a wingback chair facing a window. The familiar ache pulled at his heart. She deserved so much more.
The rest of the unit residents sat in a circle, tossing a beach ball from one to another. Strains of Glenn Miller filled the air.
His mother’s back served as a wall between herself and the others, so unlike the vital, social woman she’d once been before her world had fallen apart.
Dan nodded to the activities aide and pulled up a chair. He put his hand on the arm of his mother’s chair, letting his gaze follow hers.
Gulls floated in the breeze above the sound. Sunshine glistened off the surface of the water, broken only by the wake of a small sailboat headed back toward the marina.
“Mom.”
She turned to face him, her soft white hair seeming to have grown even thinner since last week, her pale blue eyes more milky.
“It’s me, Dan.”
“I know who you are.” She turned her attention back to the window. “How’s your sister?”
“She’s d… She’s okay, Mom.” He’d probably go to hell for lying to her, but why not?
“I saw him kill her, you know.”
His pulse quickened. “What?”
His mother’s gaze stayed fixed on the sound. She raised her hand, pointing a bony finger toward the water. “Right there. I tried to tell her. They wouldn’t let me tell her.”
She lowered her hand to her lap and fingered the zipper on her housecoat.
“Who, Mom? Diane?”
“No.” She frowned, the grimace accentuating the wrinkles left by age and the life she’d loved alongside the ocean. “The other girl. I tried to tell her, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“I
