The hiss of the coffee steamers mingled with the conversation flowing in University Grounds. In spite of joking around about spiders, Paradise still reeled from the ordeal of watching her brother walk the backyard where her father had died. She’d stood in the backyard where she’d once hung her legs over the edge of the tree house. Her mind’s eye saw what the autopsy had revealed—her father sprawled out here dead, and even with the hiss of the steamers and the strong scent of brewing coffee, she couldn’t erase the images. Her father had been bludgeoned with the same bat the killer had used on her mother while Paradise hid in the closet.
Why couldn’t she remember all of it? Only bits and pieces had filtered back to her consciousness. Her feelings of guilt increased with every small memory that resurrected itself.
Drew placed an iced peppermint mocha in front of her on theoutside table. Tupelo Grove University students usually thronged the sidewalks and the porch with their notebooks and computers spread out on the iron-and-glass tables, but it was summer break. They had the porch to themselves today.
Blake exited University Grounds with his drink in one hand and a plate of beignets in the other. “Sustenance.” He slid the plate of treats in front of her.
Paradise stared at the diary on the table. “I need a pot of coffee before I tackle this.” The pink cover with its old clasp was so familiar yet so alien. The gilding on the paper edges was even still there.
Her biggest question was, why had she hidden it?
She took a sip of her drink before she reached for the book. It felt terrifying in her hands, though she knew she’d once loved writing on its pages. It felt all wrong to have this now, to feel the smooth faux-leather cover. The pen was missing. Maybe it was still in that hiding place.
“Want me to read it first?” Drew asked. “Or Blake?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ll start at the beginning. Maybe some of the events will jog my memory.” She lifted the cover and stared at the first entry: March 15, 2004.
I’ve never had a diary before! My birthday was so fun. Mommy curled my hair, and I wore my new pink dress. Abby got me this diary along with a bright pink pen, and I’m going to write down everything that happens this year.
Her eight-year-old self sounded so joyous and excited. Had she ever been that happy since the year before she lost her parents? She gazed at Blake sitting across the table from her and at Drew beside her. Maybe now was even happier. She knew lossand heartbreak yet had weathered them both to find a new life. She appreciated those contented days more than she had as a child. When you never knew pain, you couldn’t fully be grateful for the blessings.
She flipped each page slowly, reading about school and tests, then came to one with a different tone in October.
Mommy told me I had to stay in my tree house until she called. She had a visitor, and she didn’t want me in the house. I had my binoculars with me in my backpack and my snacks. My tin of Cheez Balls was gone first, then I used my binoculars and looked in the kitchen window. I didn’t know the man there. She was crying, and she kissed him! Right on the mouth like she does Daddy. I didn’t want to see so I put my binoculars in my backpack.
Paradise caught her breath. “Drew, look here.” She slid the diary to him. “Could your father have come to see her?”
Drew’s frown deepened as he read the entry. “You’d never seen your mother with another man?”
“The sheriff used to come by sometimes, but I never saw her kiss him. I’d heard that a neighbor reported they’d kissed, but it wasn’t in the file. I don’t think it was true. His wife said they were having an affair, but I’ve never found confirmation of that.”
“This was four months before she died. It might mean something.” He snapped a picture of the page with his phone. “Are there a lot more entries?”
She fanned through the pages. The diary was nearly full. “There are a lot more.”
He glanced at his phone. “I don’t want you to miss anything,but I need to call my partner. He has a question about a case we’re working on.”
“And I need to get back to the park,” Blake said. “Let’s table the diary until after dinner, unless you want to read it by yourself while I take care of the night meal for the predators.”
She pushed back her chair and rose. “I’ll help you. We can reconvene after dinner and see if there are any other clues. This feels like it could be important though. Why would Mom not want me around? It had to be a discussion she thought would get back to Dad.”
Drew took his phone and put it to his ear, then went down the steps to the sidewalk. His words were soft and muffled from the distance.
“Maybe she thought you wouldn’t understand,” Blake said.
“I didn’t understand the kiss.”
“Do you remember the incident at all?”
She closed her eyes and tried to remember how she felt sitting in the tree house with the leaves fluttering around her. The view to the house was decent, but most days she’d lain on the hard pine floor and stared at the foliage over her head. She’d watched ants crawl on the tree’s bark and listened to the neighbors argue. They were always arguing, and she’d been glad her parents never fought.
A memory slammed into her brain. Her dad yelling, her mom crying. The sound of a door slamming. Her eyes flew open. “I just remembered something that happened a few days before they were murdered. I’ll tell you on the drive.”
Chapter 9
Paradise fastened her seat belt but waited until her brother got in the back seat of the truck and Blake started the engine. She gave a last, lingering look at the house where her life had changed forever. Coming back here wasn’t something she wanted to do ever again. It was too painful.
Blake turned the truck toward the Kate Norris Bridge. His window was down, and the salty scent of the Gulf wafted in as they passed the houses on stilts along County Road 1. “What did you remember?”
