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“Esme is never late,” Doug reported. “the Sutton Book Club is her life. She knows people rely on her.”
The woman frowned. Ben was suddenly filled with dread.
“Did you attend her husband’s funeral?” the man on the porch asked. “How did she seem?”
Doug and Ben now exchanged looks of panic.
“Larry died?” Ben asked.
The woman nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Doug made a strange noise in his throat. He’d encountered so much death over the years, but Ben understood that losing Larry felt personal. He’d been a necessary partner to Esme, who’d brought so much love to their lives.
“He was a good man,” Ben said.
“How did he pass?” Doug asked.
“Heart attack,” the man answered. “Two weeks ago.”
“We were holed up at home for a while,” Ben explained. “We didn’t know.” He was ashamed for not having helped Esme through this terrible time.
The woman took a tentative step down the porch stairs. For the first time, Ben saw something in her face—something familiar.
“My name is Rebecca Vance,” she said. “My mother is Esme Gardner.”
“Jesus,” Doug muttered.
Rebecca eyed Doug with disbelief. “I don’t suppose you’re Doug Coleman?”
“You surprised I’m still alive?”
Rebecca laughed gently. Her father stepped up behind her and shoved his hands in his pockets. Doug’s smile disappeared.
“I’m just glad to see you again. How are you holding up?” Rebecca asked.
“Still kicking,” Doug reported.
Together, Rebecca, her father, Ben, and Doug observed the locked door of the Sutton House. Nobody wanted to admit just how concerned they were.
“I’m sure she’s just at home,” Rebecca said finally. She glanced back toward Doug and Ben. “Does she still live in the same place?”
“Since the day you left,” Doug affirmed.
Rebecca’s eyes watered. She turned toward her father, who nodded. “We’ll head over there. Thanks for your help.”
Ben and Doug turned and walked back to Doug’s truck, leaving Rebecca and her father on the porch to mutter angrily and with confusion. Once in the truck, Doug grunted and glared up at them as though he didn’t trust them as far as he could throw them. “Those Suttons were always so lost. They never knew how much love they had.”
Ben cocked his head. “So that’s Esme’s first husband?”
“Poor excuse of a man if you ask me,” Doug hissed. “Let’s go back home, shall we? I have a can of beans with our name on it.”
Ben burned with curiosity for these mystery Suttons. Even as he pulled out of the handicapped spot and drove back toward Doug’s “estate,” as he called it, Rebecca’s question echoed in his mind. “Does she still live in the same place?” What kind of person didn’t know where their mother lived? And what had happened in Esme’s past to result in such broken relationships between mother and daughter?
Chapter Six
Rebecca and Victor had had a long day. They sat in the front seat of Rebecca’s SUV in disbelief as an early evening sun dappled the front windshield. It was time to drive to the house they’d both spent significant years of their life in and face Esme.
“It’s bizarre that she’s not here,” Rebecca muttered as she turned the keys. “She was always here when we were kids.”
