18
“It’s okay, Ally, go on in.”
Ally turned the new key and went into
her house, Rob right behind her. Everything looked the same.
Nothing else had been touched in the twenty-four hours since she’d
left. She let out her breath and walked into the kitchen. The
faucet was dripping, and the refrigerator buzzed like a chronic
asthmatic, but that was nothing new.
Rob put a new set of keys on the table.
“Here you go. There are two new back door keys and two for the
front. I’ve got a set as well, which I’ll return to you as soon as
this is all settled. The guy who came to change the locks says he’d
also recommend getting some window locks and an alarm
installed.”
“I’m sure he did, but I can’t afford to
do that right now.” Ally picked up one set of the keys. “How much
do I owe Jackson anyway?”
Rob shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll
have to ask him yourself.” He held out his hand. “Do you want me to
put those new keys on your key ring for you?”
“I can do it myself, thanks.” Ally
struggled to remove her old front door key and broke a nail in the
process. She frowned down at her key ring. “Where’s my back door
key?”
“Don’t you have it?”
Ally tried to remember. “I know you
returned it to me after you made those copies, but what did I do
with it then?” She stared at Rob. “If I lost it somewhere, that
might be how the person got in.”
“When did you last use
it?”
Ally started to pace the small kitchen,
checking the work surfaces and bowls as she passed. “I don’t
remember. The last couple of times, you guys have unlocked the
doors for me.”
Rob shifted his weight. “Can you think
about it some more? It might be important.”
Ally stopped walking and closed her
eyes. “I’m thinking.”
“I suppose it doesn’t matter too much
anymore, seeing as you’ve changed all the locks, but it might give
us some idea about when the key was taken.”
“I probably just lost it,
Rob.”
“Maybe, but I’ve got to consider all
the worst scenarios.”
“I suppose you do.”
Rob took a step toward her. “Look, Ally
. . .”
She held up her hand. “I’m not sure I
want to hear anything you have to say to me, Sheriff, and I have to
get to work, okay?”
She picked up her new keys and walked
out the back door, hoping to hell he’d get the message and keep
away from her, even if it was just for a little while. She knew
he’d never let it go and would be back demanding stuff from her,
but she was not going to let him hound her into making decisions
quite yet.
“Ally.” He’d followed her out, and she
reluctantly looked back into his determined blue eyes. “I need your
help to solve this.”
“And I don’t want to be anywhere near
you.”
He winced. “Yeah, I get that, but you
might be in danger. Someone’s trying to hurt you, and I just can’t
let that happen.”
“Oh, right, because you’re a
cop.”
A muscle twitched in his cheek.
“Because despite everything, I care about you, and I want to make
things right.”
Ally swallowed back the sting of tears.
“Stop pretending you ‘care about me’ and just do your
job.”
Rob looked like he wanted to argue
about that, but after a long moment he continued. “How about you
just give me a list of all the folks in town who you think might
have a grudge against you or your mother.”
“You can just pull out the electoral
roll and use that.”
He didn’t smile. “I’d appreciate it if
you could be more specific.”
All traces of emotion had gone from his
voice, and he was now pure cop. That was what she’d wanted, wasn’t
it? So why did it hurt? “I’ll do that. Anything else?”
“Manpower permitting, we’ll probably
have someone drive by the property regularly, especially when you
are on the premises.”
“Okay, I can deal with
that.”
“And, Ally, if anything freaks you out,
even the smallest thing, you call me or Jackson right away,
okay?”
“I’ll definitely call
Jackson.”
Rob rubbed his hand over his unshaven
jaw and suddenly looked more tired and defeated than Ally had ever
seen before. “Whatever works for you—just promise me you’ll do
it.”
“I will. Now I really have to get to
work.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No thanks.” Ally turned on her heel
and walked away from him, her heart thumping, her knees threatening
to give way. It wasn’t fair that she still wanted to do everything
he told her to do, that her stupid body wanted to fling itself into
his arms and beg him to make everything right for her.
For a change, Lauren didn’t bug Ally
too much on her shift and just let her get on with her work. While
she cleaned tables, Ally thought about Rob’s request for her to
write a list of all the people in town who had a big fat grudge
against her. The trouble was, the most obvious candidate was
working right alongside her in the diner and just happened to be
the sheriff’s sister.
Ally thought it was far more likely to
be one of the losers her mother had allowed to live in the house in
exchange for sex and drugs. She couldn’t remember the names of all
the guys Ruth had slept with, but some of them might have stayed
around and become upstanding citizens in Spring Falls. Perhaps they
were worried that Ruth had mentioned them in her journals or
something. She’d never made a secret of her diaries.
She scraped a half-eaten egg into the
trash. Why had Ruth kept the journals? It was surprising that in
her later years when she’d gotten clean she hadn’t thrown out any
reminders of her past. But maybe she’d left them for Ally. To help
her . . .
“You can take your lunch,
Ally.”
Ally looked up to see Lauren waving at
her from the diner. “My lunch?”
Lauren looked exasperated. “Your break,
then—just take it now and make it last half an hour,
okay?”
Ally glanced at Fig, who raised his
eyebrows at her and muttered, “Just take it, dude. She’s obviously
in her happy place.”
“Okay, I’ve got to go to the library,
anyway, and I’ll grab a sandwich at the coffee shop.” Ally took off
her apron and kept her gaze on Lauren, just in case she was about
to change her mind. “See you later, guys.”
Rob waited until Ally left before he
walked back through the kitchen to Lauren’s office. He’d asked
Lauren to get Ally out of the diner while they talked, aware that
in the small space, loud voices would carry. And he suspected it
was going to get loud. He knew he was walking a fine line, taking
on his sister himself, but he couldn’t allow anyone else to do his
dirty work. If there really was a case to answer, he’d do his civic
duty and hand it over to another officer to
investigate.
Lauren was waiting for him, so he
closed the door behind him and took a seat on the
couch.
“What’s up, big bro?” Lauren asked, her
brown eyes narrowed, her foot tapping against her
desk.
“I want to talk to you about
Ally.”
“What’s she done now?”
“Did you know that someone broke into
her house a couple of nights ago?”
“Into that dump? Whatever
for?”
“That’s what I’m trying to establish.”
Rob took out his notebook, and Lauren stiffened. “Can you tell me
where you were on Sunday evening?”
“Are you serious? Do you really think
I’d waste my time breaking into her crappy home? If I did get in
there, I’d be more likely to suffocate her in her bed and get rid
of her once and for all.”
“Is it any wonder I’m asking you these
questions when you talk about her like that, Lauren? Everyone in
town has heard you bad-mouthing her.”
“And that makes me a
suspect?”
He met her gaze head-on. “Yeah, it
does.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re
serious, aren’t you? What the hell has she been saying about
me?”
“Ally’s said nothing. But every single
person I’ve talked to about this has mentioned your
name.”
“So because I tell it how I see it, I
must be guilty?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes the most
obvious answer to a question is given by the person who shouts the
loudest.”
“I didn’t break into her house, Rob,
and you know it.”
Rob hardened himself against the
outrage in her eyes. “Then tell me where you were that night and
we’re done.”
“Fine, I was at home in my
apartment.”
“All evening?”
“Yes!”
“Is there anyone who can vouch for
you?”
“My cat.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t speak cat.
Anyone else?”
“The pizza-delivery guy from Alfredo’s
came about seven.”
Rob wrote that down. “Cool, I’ll check
into that.” He stood up. “Thanks for being so helpful,
Lauren.”
Lauren shot to her feet too. “I don’t
get it, Rob. Why are you doing this? I’m beginning to see why Ally
walked out on you in the first place.”
Suddenly, Rob felt weary. “Well, at
least one good thing has come out of this, then.”
She grabbed his hand. “You don’t need
her!”
Rob sighed. “I do, Lauren. I’m sorry
but I do. I haven’t felt the same about anyone else since she left.
You know that. How many women have you
introduced me to over the years? Have I ever wanted any of them for
anything except a few dates and a quick fuck?”
“That’s not true, I—”
Rob put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m
a big boy now, sis. I can take care of myself, and I want
Ally.”
“And what if she doesn’t want you?”
Lauren whispered.
Fear coalesced in Rob’s gut. “If she
doesn’t, it’s my own damned fault.” He squeezed Lauren hard. “I’ve
gotta go. Thanks for the help, Lauren, and please, lay off Ally,
will you? Someone’s trying to hurt her, and the last thing she
needs is you on her back as well.”
Lauren bit down on her lip. “I’m not
going to do that.”
Rob carried on as if she hadn’t spoken.
“She’s so strong, Lauren. Strong enough to get away from her
fucked-up mother and survive a drug addiction. I didn’t appreciate
her enough before, but I sure as hell do now.” Lauren’s eyes
flickered, but she didn’t say anything. “At least give her credit
for growing up.” He shook his head. “You’re a better person than
that, sis. Maybe it’s time for you to grow up, too, and get over
this once and for all.”
He nodded, opened the door, and left
before she could say anything else.
Ally glanced back down the street at
the diner and thought she saw the flash of a white patrol car. Was
Rob looking for her? If so, he was going to be unlucky, and she was
pretty sure that Lauren wouldn’t help Rob find her. As she walked,
she tried to work out how much longer she needed to get the house
fixed up and whether she stood a chance of avoiding Rob for that
long. Neither calculation came out well.
With a sigh, Ally went into the coffee
shop and smiled as Nadia immediately poured her a cup of coffee and
held it out. “You want a muffin with that, Ally?”
“Yes, please, Nadia.”
“Did I tell you that your mom worked
here for a while when we first opened?”
“You didn’t.” Ally managed to
smile.
“She gave her notice because she
thought her presence here tainted our new business, and she didn’t
want to make it fail.”
“Yeah, I hear she was thoughtful like
that,” Ally muttered.
“Yes, she was. You are much like her.”
Nadia paused. “Hey, do you knit?”
“Yeah, I do. How did you
know?”
“Ruth knitted as well, and a little
bird told me that you’ve been getting pattern books from the
library. I run a knitting circle on Wednesday nights. Do you want
to come?”
“That would be awesome,” Ally said
quickly. She’d taken up knitting in the rehab place when she’d
needed something to do with her hands and had come to love it. “I
didn’t know my mom knitted.”
Another link to Ruth and, perhaps more
importantly, an opportunity to get reacquainted with some of the
town residents who might have stories to offer about Ruth to help
her understand her mom better. And she needed to do that. She
realized it now. Perhaps coming back to Spring Falls hadn’t been
all about Rob after all. . . .
Nadia was still speaking. “Don’t forget
about the job, either, will you? I don’t think this town would
survive now without my baked goods and my husband’s coffee.” She
patted Ally’s arm. “I don’t want this nonsense to make you leave
again. It will all settle down. I’m sure of it.”
Ally wasn’t quite so certain, but she
took the muffin and coffee and found an empty seat in the corner.
Yet another example of a mother she didn’t know and had never been
allowed to know . . . She checked the time and blew hard on her
coffee. Lauren had given her half an hour, but she still didn’t
want to be back late, and she had to check the library for the book
she’d requested online.
“Hey, Ally.”
She looked up to find Jackson smiling
down at her.
“Hey.” She tore her gaze away from his
and stared at her coffee. He didn’t seem to take the hint and
instead pulled out the chair opposite her and sat
down.
“You’re still mad.”
She flicked a glance at him. “Well,
duh.”
“And if I tell you you’re
overreacting?”
“I’d tell you to mind your own
business.”
“It is my business. I’m part of this.
I’m not going to let you or Rob take over again.”
“Rob’s the only one who does
that.”
“You’re both behaving like
idiots.”
“He used me, Jackson.”
“And have you let him explain
anything?”
“What is there to
explain?”
“How did you feel when he wouldn’t
listen to you on the night you left?”
“I felt awful. That’s one of the
reasons why I ran so far and didn’t come back until
now.”
“And now you’re doing the same to him?
Shutting him down before he can explain? Getting your own back
before you walk out on him again and break his heart?”
“It’s not like that. He only wanted
sex. He told me so.”
Jackson reached across and took her
hand. “Ally, you know that isn’t true.”
“What do you want me to do, Jackson? Go
and kiss his ass and tell him he’s right and I’m wrong? I can’t do
that.”
“I don’t expect you to. I just want you
to think about talking to him before you make any firm decisions
about leaving. Is that too much to ask?”
Ally looked into his dark eyes. “This
is such a mess. I didn’t mean to drag you into this
either.”
His smile lit up his face. “You have
given me my life back. I don’t want you to leave town.” He squeezed
her fingers hard. “Do you want to stay?”
“How can I?”
He stood up and put his sunglasses back
on. “You can—you just have to want it.”
Ally stared at his back as he went up
to the counter to get his coffee. How dare he make it seem so easy?
She knew what he really meant. She should forgive Rob and
everything would be fine again. Well, she couldn’t do that. Rob had
stepped over the line one too many times for her
liking.
She bit into her muffin and envisaged
leaving town, the house sold, and enough money in her pocket to do
whatever she wanted. But all the people she truly loved were right
here in Spring Falls. Ally almost choked on the crumbs. She didn’t
love Jackson and Rob; she was just using them for sex like they
were using her. Even her conscience laughed at that
lie.
Ally stood up, her stomach churning and
her mind in chaos. She didn’t want to love anyone. Love hurt like
crazy, and she didn’t want to go through that again. She threw the
rest of her muffin in the trash and walked out, her coffee gripped
in her hand. Outside, she breathed in the hot, dry California air
and fought to regain her composure.
In the distance, she watched Jackson
cross the square and head into the old courthouse. He was right
about one thing: She would have to make some decisions soon, and
all of them would require some sort of compromise.
She turned to the library, which faced
the courthouse across the square, and made her way through the wide
oak doors. As usual, Mrs. Orchard manned the front desk, her
poppy-patterned blouse a riot of color over her imposing
bosom.
“Good afternoon, Ally, and how may I
help you?”
“Hi, Mrs. Orchard. I ordered a book
online, so I’ve come to pick it up.”
“Slide your card for me dear and I’ll
check.” Mrs. Orchard tapped away on the keyboard and then nodded.
“It’s here. I’ll go and find it for you.”
Ally waited patiently at the desk, the
quiet solitude of the library easing her mind and making her
relax.
“Here you are.” Mrs. Orchard waved the
book at her. “Now here’s a funny thing, Ally. The last person to
get this book out was your mother, Ruth.”
Ally glanced at the title of the book;
it was one Jill had recommended. “My mom read Stop
Repeating the Same Destructive Relationships and Become the Woman
You Were Meant to Be?”
Mrs. Orchard lowered her voice and
leaned in closer to Ally. “She read a lot of these kinds of books.
I don’t really believe in them, but they certainly seemed to help
her. She became a much better person after you left.”
“So everyone keeps telling
me.”
“Now, Ally, I know you had it rough,
but at least your mom tried to turn her life around at the
end.”
Ally managed a tight smile before she
walked out. Anger sat like a lead weight high in her chest. She
didn’t want to hear about what a great person Ruth was ever again.
Ruth had been a terrible mother and hadn’t even protected her own
daughter from harm.
Ally veered off the path and took a
detour into the small grassy sitting area in the center of the
square. She clutched the library book to her chest and sank down on
the grass, her back against one of the old oak trees. The light
dazzled her eyes, and she closed them tight, bringing up memories
of her childhood and of her mother.
With a groan, Ally wrapped her arms
around her knees and rested her forehead on them. What weird
instinct had made her jump to defend her mother when all the
evidence suggested she might at least have been involved in what
had happened to Susan? Just because she was identifying with her
mother’s struggle with addiction didn’t make them exactly the same.
Ruth hadn’t been aware of much that went on in her own house,
hadn’t listened when Ally had desperately begged her not to allow
some of the men to stay.
Logically she knew Rob had a point, but
it was difficult to hear her mother being vilified again. She’d
tried so hard to pretend that everything was normal and that her
mom wasn’t a crazy, spaced-out mess. She’d even wanted to believe
in the new Ruth, the clean, drug-free friend to all. But she
couldn’t. She just couldn’t. Ally raised her head and stared at the
old courthouse. And that meant she needed to grow up and help Rob
sort this out.