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It took a second before I realized what he’d just said. “He didn’t know.”
“We didn’t discuss it.”
I felt nauseated. “There wasn’t another way?”
“It took care of two problems at the same time, didn’t it? Besides, the world is a better place with less trash.”
“Now I’ll never know what my sister told him before he killed her.”
“She didn’t tell him a goddamned thing,” he ground out. “That shit stain Drew was lying through his teeth.”
Part of me wanted to believe him. The part of me that still believed magic was real and unicorns existed.
I swallowed the bile in my throat. “You had ulterior motives for saving Ava. You’re going to use it to get Peterman to back off.”
He was silent for a moment, and when he answered, his voice was husky. “Never claimed to be a saint, Detective Adams. If you thought differently, that’s on you.”
“A mistake I won’t be making again.”
I hung up, pissed and feeling used, but he was right. He’d never claimed to be anything but himself. I had to respect that kind of honesty, even if I resented him for it.
By six, my father hadn’t come home, and I wondered if he was staying in the local B&B until his secretary found his new place…our new place if I accepted his offer. Which I planned to. I might have a job lined up, but this way I could save money until I figured out what do with the rest of my life.
It occurred to me that I hadn’t talked to my mother since my father had dropped his bombshell. Might as well suck it up and get it over with. I was in my sweatpants and T-shirt, and I still hadn’t done anything to my hair, but I didn’t have the energy to fix myself up to have this conversation.
I knocked on the back door and my mother answered in surprise. She looked me up and down, and I braced myself for her criticism. “Harper, you don’t have to knock, you know.”
My jaw dropped. Who was this woman and what had she done with my mother?
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “I heard that Ava’s home.”
“I heard that too.”
The way she studied me suggested she knew I had something to do with it. I thought she was about to ask, but then she turned abruptly and headed over to the stove. “I’m sure you’ve spoken with your father by now,” she said matter-of-factly as she started to stir something that smelled like butternut squash soup on the stove. “He said he’d be the one to tell you.”
“Uh, yeah,” I said in confusion. “He told me yesterday. In fact, that’s why I’m here. I thought you would have served me with my eviction notice by now.”
Her eyes widened. “Eviction notice?”
“Come on, Mom. We both know you never wanted me to move back home, and now that Dad’s left, you don’t have to keep me here.”
“Harper,” she chided, setting her wooden spoon down on a ceramic spoon rest and turning to face me. “Whyever would you say such a thing? Of course I wouldn’t kick you out.”
Now I was certain this woman had replaced my mother. “Mom, you told me that the only reason I was here was because Dad insisted that I come home.”
She waved a hand. “Water under the bridge.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m here to let you know I’ll be out by the end of the month.”
Her face fell. “But…I thought you were taking your father’s job.”
“I am, but I’ll be moving out of the apartment.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You’re going to leave me?”
I stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve been home a little over two weeks, you can’t have grown that attached to me already.” Not to mention she’d acted annoyed the few times we’d interacted.
She walked over and patted my cheek. “You’re my daughter, Harper. Of course I’m attached to you. It’ll just be the two of us, keeping each other company.”
