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Chapter Sixteen
“As an only child,Sam knew how to get what she wanted from me. We didn’t have a lot of money and I was always working, but it was almost as if she knew when to ask. I’d come home from work after a twelve-hour shift, be ready to close my eyes from exhaustion, and this ray of sunshine would walk in the room with a huge smile on her face and strike.” Summer chuckles at the memory as tears begin to form in my eyes.
I’d seen Sam work her magic on Summer on more than one occasion.
“I couldn’t tell her no, even when I should have. The way her smile grew, lighting up the room, was what I lived for. Every day of my life I lived for that child. To make her happy. To hear her laugh. To watch her grow into the vibrant, young woman she was. The last conversation I had with Sam was about her hair. If you knew her well, you knew how much she loved to experiment. She was ready for her friends to get back from spring break so she could change her hair. Again.
“She was debating between hot pink and dark blue. We were fighting over which color she should go with and, per usual, Sam decided she could make the decision for us by flipping a coin. Heads she would go blue, tails pink. When it landed on heads she frowned and said she had to do best of three or it didn’t count. She wanted to get her way, but she wanted luck to be on her side as well.
“You see, she believed in things like that. Luck. Fate. She believed that things happened for a reason. And at that moment, that if her hair was meant to be pink, the coin would land on tails twice. Of course, it did. She kissed me on the cheek and bounced out of the house minutes later, heading in for her shift at Riley’s.”
Summer pauses, and I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. I wasn’t there for their conversation, but I could picture it in my mind. The frown on Sam’s face when the coin landed on heads. The joy when pink was the ultimate winner. The pep in her step as she walked to work.
The little victories brought her the most joy.
“If I had known that would have been the last time I would see my daughter, I would have hugged her a little tighter. Held her longer. Kissed her one last time. I would have poured my entire heart into that good-bye. But, like Sam, I also believe everything happens for a reason. That even though it hurts, her death was not in vain. It was meant to happen and there was nothing we could do to stop it.
“It’s hard to hold onto that feeling after all this time. Without knowing who or why. Without closure. But for Sam, I’m holding on. I’m trying my best to wake up every day and live the life I’ve been given. To believe that fate is still at work. That even though I don’t understand it, her death has a significance we’ve yet to figure out.”
Summer closes her eyes for a moment, her hand visibly shaking as she holds the microphone to her mouth. Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m standing next to Summer on the stage, taking her other hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
“Sam would have been so proud of you,” she says into the microphone, but her words are directed at me. “She’s smiling down on all of us, guiding us each and every day. Toward our futures. Toward our destiny. But you, Andrea, she’s walking by your side. I know it. You were the sister she always wanted. Her other half. When you two were together, you couldn’t tell where one of you ended and the other began. It was as if you were one person. Fate brought you together. She told me that once. She was feeling lost, and you walked in the door and everything felt right again.
“I may have lost my biological daughter five years ago today, but I’m grateful I still have you. I’m grateful for all of Sam’s friends. Without Spencer and Mia, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am. There are days I wasn’t able to pull myself out of bed, and there they were, forcing me to go on. A mother’s grief is indescribable. I don’t wish it on my worst enemy. No one should ever have to bury their child, but if the unfortunate happens, I pray they have a family of people who love them to pull them through.”
Tears are freely streaming down my face when Summer faces the crowd again. They’re all staring at me but the only person I see is Jay, standing in the back, smiling at me with tears glistening in his eyes.
“Before we reveal the fountain,” Summer continues, gesturing to the large object covered in a black sheet next to me, “I’d like to thank the community of Great Falls for rallying around me. For caring about my daughter as if she was their own. For helping in every way in an attempt to find out who did this to her. To bring justice for Sam. We will find out one day, and it will be because the love we all have for her kept us going. Pushing forward.”
Summer turns off the mic, dropping her arm at her side, as she nods to Spencer who’s moved to stand next to the statue. He gives the covering a tug, and the black sheet falls away, revealing a large sculpture. Four thin, stainless-steel beams bending and twisting around each other, reaching toward the sky. It stands in the middle of a large, square basin that’s filled with water.
Moments later, the water begins to move, shooting straight up through the four beams. The water rides back down on the steel, causing it to shimmer in the early afternoon light.
It’s gorgeous. A great representation of Sam and the way she touched everyone around her with her light.
“Thank you all so much for coming out today to celebrate Sam’s life. She would have been touched to know you all care. Please feel free to throw a coin in the fountain and make a wish. I’d like to believe Sam will make an effort to grant it for you.”
The crowd applauds Summer as she waves at them when they begin dispersing—some toward the vendors, others to get a better look at the fountain. I’m frozen in place, watching as everyone goes on with their lives. Knowing a life was taken in this very spot five years ago, the weight of why I’m here pressing against my chest.
The urge to run is overwhelming. To get in my rental car and never look back. Change my phone number and disappear. To curl up under the covers of my bed and cry the way I have for the last few years.
But you can’t outrun your past. It’s bound to catch up to you. The memories can’t be erased. They travel with you wherever you go. They’re a part of you, ingrained in you. They’ve made me who I am today.
The good and the bad.
Even the unforgivable memories have impacted me.
“Thank you again, Andi,” I hear Summer say, her words louder than I expect them to be. “Knowing you’re helping the police gives me a renewed sense of hope.”
The microphone. She didn’t turn it off.
“If there’s any chance of finding out who did this after all this time, I think this might be it.”
When I glance over my shoulder, I find everyone’s attention is focused on us again. They’ve stopped their retreat and are making their way back toward the stage. I’m frozen in place, sharing a petrified look with Jay as he pushes his way through the crowd, but that doesn’t stop Summer from talking.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing. You and Jay. Spencer’s been working so hard to—”
Summer’s words are cut off from the crowd as Spencer pulls the microphone from Summer’s hand and flips the switch. Her head jerks around in surprise to find Jay and Spencer staring down at her with a look of fear on their faces.
