Page 117 of Weight of Guilt

She nodded. Right. Her sisters would be there.

She only wished she could be multiple places at one time. She didn’t know where she needed to be—only that she wanted to be there for Mason.

A few minutes later, Nash slowed and nodded through the windshield. “We’re here. Let’s talk to Paige.”

Nash had his hand raised to knock when the porch light came on.

Paige opened the door in a housecoat, one hand still on the knob. The television murmured somewhere behind her, and every light down the hall was on.

Her face changed when she saw Wren.

“I heard about Mason.” Paige’s voice softened. “Honey, I’m so sorry.”

Wren swallowed, realizing how strange it might seem for them to show up now with Mason missing. “Thank you. We . . . we wanted to see how you were doing also. I . . . I guess I just need to keep my mind occupied.”

Paige pushed the storm door open wider with her hip. “Come in. Both of you.”

The kitchen looked more crowded than it had on Sunday. Grocery bags sat on the counter beside paper plates and plastic forks. The legal pad from before had migrated to the end of the table beneath a stack of mail, and somebody had added suit and flowers to the list.

“Sit.” Paige reached for the coffeepot. “I’ve had coffee going since eight this morning, and I don’t know why I keep making more. I guess it’s just giving me something to do.”

“I’ll take some.” Nash pulled out a chair.

Wren stayed on her feet.

Her gaze landed on a grocery bag half-unpacked on the counter. She reached inside, took out a box of crackers, and set it in the pantry.

Paige turned. “Honey, you don’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Wren grabbed a jar of peanut butter next and set it on the shelf, unsure if it even belonged there. “I just need to do something.”

Paige watched her a second, then seemed to understand. She lowered herself into the chair across from Nash.

He wrapped both hands around the coffee mug but didn’t drink. “Paige, I’m sorry to show up this late, but I’d like to go back and review Roy’s trips in more detail.”

Her brows drew together. “Are you talking about the gas receipts?”

“Yes. You told us your uncle has been making those drives for months. But you only moved in this spring.”

Paige leaned back. “That’s right.”

“So a couple of months is only what you personally saw.”

She thought about his statement, then nodded. “I suppose it is.”

“Did Roy keep receipts anywhere besides the truck?” Nash asked.

Paige gave a tired little laugh. “That man kept everything pertaining to that truck.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Hold on.”

She disappeared down the hall.

Wren finished putting away the groceries while Nash waited.

A minute later, Paige came back carrying a shoebox and set it on the table.

The lid bowed upward from everything packed inside.

“He kept this in a closet in his room.” She nudged it toward Nash. “There are two more just like it.”