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O’Neal knew she was supposed to start talking, but her vocal cords felt paralyzed.
“So,” Jason said after clearing his throat, apparently deciding he needed to be the one to break the ice. “I’m not sure how much help I can be, but if you have questions, I’ll do my best. You said you’re doing a project?”
O’Neal forced her voice past the constriction of her throat. “Yes, I’m a journalism major. But I’m also her daughter. I just…want to know more.”
“Of course you do.” His eyes were sad but kind. “And I wish I had a lot of answers for you or had something that would help solve Katie’s case. Believe me. I’ve racked my brain and memories over the years trying to find anything I missed. She…meant a lot to me. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
O’Neal took a shaky breath, his obvious affection for her mother making a mix of emotions well up in her. Her mother had been a person in his life. Not a name on the news. Not a cold case. She’d once had friends. Lovers. Hopes. A life here.
“I really appreciate you meeting with me even if you can’t answer all my questions.”
“Sure,” he said. “To be honest, I wanted to meet you too. Katie used to show us photos of you. She was really proud. Said you were the smartest, most adorable kid on the planet.” He gave O’Neal a somber smile. “You look a lot like her.”
O’Neal pressed her lips together, her eyes already burning with unshed tears. Auden put his hand on top of hers under the table. A thick lump was growing in her throat.
“Thanks.”
The word came out as a croak.
“So what were your questions?” he asked, clearly sensing that he was venturing into make-her-cry territory if he kept up with the sentimental stuff.
O’Neal inhaled deeply and sat up taller in her chair, trying to find the burgeoning journalist inside her instead of the grieving kid. “I guess my first one is were you two dating? Some of the stuff I’ve read says yes, some says no. Most make it sound like it was a hookup in a night of hookups.”
The waiter brought their iced teas and waters and then slipped away, obviously sensing they weren’t ready to give their orders.
Jason took a quick sip of his drink and adjusted in his chair, glancing between the four of them. “It wasn’t a hookup. The news media paints Katie like she was some wild child, like she was partying with a bunch of guys. But that’s not accurate.”
“Okay.” O’Neal’s leg was bouncing beneath the table. “So what was accurate?”
He sighed. “Katie wasn’t at school to party. She was on a mission to get her degree so she could get a job and…”
“And?” Lennox prompted.
“And get away from her family,” Jason said, looking at O’Neal as if to gauge her reaction. “She wanted to be able to support herself and you and to live her own life without having to live by your grandparents’ rules. She felt very…smothered is how I remember her describing it, but she couldn’t say anything because they were raising you while she went to school. They wanted her to find a husband because they didn’t think it was good for a child to be raised by a single mother.”
“Find a husband?” O’Neal asked, thrown by the knowledge but not surprised that her grandparents would think that way.
“Yeah, and she was determined not to do that,” Jason continued. “She said she didn’t want the distraction of a relationship. Plus, she had you. She didn’t want to bring some college guy into her kid’s life. So we weren’t dating. We were good friends.”
“But you were sleeping together. The DNA,” O’Neal said, proud that she’d been able to say it so matter-of-factly.
He ran a hand over the back of his head. “The night she went missing—sorry, this is a little weird telling her kid.”
“I’m nineteen,” she said. “And I already know what the DNA meant.”
“Right.” He nodded. “Well, that night, she was with me and a friend of mine. All of us…together.”
Auden, who’d been taking a sip of water, choked a little and set down his glass. Quyen gave her a wide-eyed look
“Oh,” O’Neal said, her brain spinning.
Jason rubbed his thumb along his glass. “It wasn’t a regular thing. That night was the first and only time. Katie was good friends with both of us, and I think she suspected that I…”
“Suspected what?” Len asked, obviously impatient.
“That I was in love with my friend,” Jason finished, a touch of chagrin in his voice. “But I wasn’t out at the time. Not even to myself really. And we were all hanging out and drinking a little, and I think she thought she would help break the ice between me and the friend. It started as a silly truth or dare thing but ended up turning into more.” His lips lifted at the corner, his eyes distant. “And it was a gift. Because with her there, we were all able to let our guards down. Turned out that the friend felt the same way about me.” He looked up. “After that night, we dated for about five years.”
O’Neal gasped softly, the story knocking her back in her chair. “She had a threesome with youto play matchmaker?”
