Page 110 of If We Never Met

And then there was Dante. He wanted her to spend the week with him. He didn't want to waste the time they had left, but she was afraid of falling more in love with him. His departure was going to hurt. On the other hand, she was depriving herself of a lot more fun.

But it wasn't fun anymore. It was just over.

She turned away from the window and started the coffeemaker. Then she popped bread into the toaster and sliced up an avocado and a tomato. She munched on that as she waited for the pot to fill. When it was done, she filled a large mug with coffee and took a grateful sip.

Her mother walked into the kitchen. "Good morning," she said, a cool note in her voice.

"Morning. Coffee is ready. Can I get you something to eat?"

"I'll just take coffee. I'm not really hungry."

She filled a mug and took it over to the table, sitting down across from her mom. "Did you sleep?"

"A little. You?"

"Same. Have you heard from Mark?"

"Yes. I just spoke to him. When he got back to the inn last night, the room was really bad, so he checked out and went to the Sunset Lodge. This morning, he spoke again to Adam. They haven't picked up Mandy yet, but they did see her car on a traffic camera, on Highway 10, heading out of the mountains."

She was relieved to hear that. "So, she's gone."

"They think so. They're going to watch the Denver airport and also alert the police department in Los Angeles, where she lives."

"I wonder if she'll go home. She must know the police are looking for her."

"Mark says she has a brother who lives in Fresno, California. Maybe she'll go there. I'm sure they'll find her, and this should be the end of her blackmail."

"What do you think about everything now, Mom?"

"Mark was in a very difficult situation. I'm not saying I would have made the same choices, but I understand why he did what he did. It's not easy to be married to someone who is that unstable, and his child had to come first."

"I agree with that, but a woman died because of his wife, and she never had to answer for it."

"That's true. Mark said there was a part of him that always hoped she had just made it up in her head the way she'd made up so many other things. That because they fought over Gretchen and then Gretchen died, Valerie thought she was responsible but wasn't."

"That sounds like an excuse, a way for Mark to rationalize not going to the police."

"Possibly. You've been looking for a reason not to like him, and you certainly got one."

She frowned. "This isn't my fault, Mom. I didn't make this up. Mark did what he did. And I'm not even the one who brought it all out; that was Mandy."

"I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm just sorry you were right."

"I'm kind of sorry, too."

Her mother met her gaze. "Why?"

"Because you like him."

"I do like him. All the old feelings from when I was a teenager have come back. He makes me feel young again. I'm not injured or ailing when we're together; I'm just me. I don't want it to end."

"It doesn't bother you that he kept so much from you?"

"I think he would have told me eventually. He said that again this morning. He feels bad that Mandy showed up here at the house and he didn't know about it. He didn't think she was dangerous to anyone, but after seeing his room last night, he realized he hadn't seen how out of control she was. He said he felt bad for her when she first came to him. She'd just gone through a bitter divorce and she'd lost her last remaining parent. She has a brother, but everyone else is gone. And she needed money. She needed someone to take care of her."

"And he wanted to do that."

"Yes. It wasn't just blackmail; it was also guilt. He wasn't responsible for what happened, for that fire. He had no idea his wife had left the house. And he believes the fire was truly an accident. But he still felt like Gretchen's death was his fault. Maybe he should have forced Valerie to get medical help, but she was very resistant. She wouldn't take her meds. She wouldn't see a doctor. He felt helpless."

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