Page 54 of Love At Peace

It was a lively dinner, with great people, plenty of laughter, and wonderful food. Gavin must have talked with Wendy about my budding, tentative relationship with Heather, because once the kids cleared out to play in the backyard with their puppy—an early Christmas present—she asked, “Did you invite Heather?”

I shook my head. “It’s, uh, kind of delicate right now. We’ve made up, but she’s still on edge about being with me. About being with anyone.”

“But you’re such a catch,” she said teasingly.

“Gee, thanks,” Gavin grumbled good-naturedly.

She kissed him quickly. “Seriously, why would she still be iffy about being with you if you’ve made up?”

“I think she is tempted to leave. To get away from David regardless of what she could have here with me.” I sighed, hating how much it hurt to admit that. “Anyway, she’s with Eric today.”

“How’s he doing?” she asked.

“Better, but he still doesn’t remember what happened that day,” Gavin said.

“And he’s so frustrated about it,” I said.

Wendy grinned. “Well, maybe he won’t have to wonder for long.”

Gavin and I shared a look then frowned at her. “Huh?” I wasn’t following.

“Okay, so Eric’s house is across the street from the Rosarios.”

I shrugged. I knew most of everyone in this town but the name didn’t ring a bell.

“Mindy Rosaro?” She raised her brows expectantly. “I work with her.”

“Ah. Okay.”

“Well, they’ve been out in Minnesota, helping Mindy’s mom deal with the last of chemo. They’ve been out of their house for a good month now, and they’ve got a Ring camera on their door. It’s not placed in an obvious spot, and I bet Marty doesn’t know it’s even there. He’s aware they’re out of town, of course. But she called me this morning to say Happy Thanksgiving and that they’re almost home again. I mentioned about Eric and all, and she thinks that if someone came to pick Eric up outside his house, their camera will catch it.”

I smiled wide. “About time there’s evidence somewhere.”

“Eric’s going to be so happy to hear about this,” Gavin said.

“Heather too,” I said.

“Now she only thinks it’ll show it, but she doesn’t know if it will. They forgot the Ring password and haven’t been able to log in and see the camera all this time. Which, if you ask me, defeats the purpose of it and all, but still. She said they’ll be home probably tomorrow morning and she’ll contact Marty as soon as possible once she confirms if the angle shows the front of his house well. She didn’t want to call and get his hopes up if it doesn’t pan out to show anything.”

I left later, after the games. My stomach was full of food, my spirits were lifted with great company, and I was optimistic about this news of a camera catching whoever picked up Eric before he was hurt.

As I drove away, I thought again about my niece. If she wasn’t so damn combative and flaky, she could’ve been there too. She was missing out, shoving everyone away in her life.

Well, she’s not pushing her baby daddy away.

I scowled as I drove, not looking forward to when I did see her. I’d need to tell her about the man she was with. How terrible he could be. It seemed like a lost cause reaching her, but when I spotted her biking that crappy old bike on the road, I pulled up alongside her.

“Want a ride?” I asked.

She looked over and narrowed her eyes. Her face was beet red from the wind burn. A beanie helped cover her head, but I spotted the ends of the neon-green and orange that she’d dyed it since I last saw her.

“From you? No.”

“Then where’s your hotshot lawyer of a baby daddy?” I asked. “Why isn’t he driving you around?”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear you say a single word about him.”

I gritted my teeth, hating that she’d grown up the way she had to not have the respect for herself to get with a loser. “Tough shit. I just learned how capable David is of some really nasty stuff.”