Page 30 of Little Shattered Dreams

“According to her, it was because she wouldn’t take him back after his affair.”

One less suspect to interrogate.

“You were busy last night, right before the session you were supposed to have with Quinn. What were you doing?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“The police are going to ask you the same question, and they’ll want an answer. Why not just tell me now?”

“I was with Abby. It wasn’t a session. She just stopped by to tell me about her day. She does that sometimes.”

Abby, the other staff member who worked in guest services.

“And what time did you see Quinn yesterday?” I asked.

He referred to the notes he’d taken. “Three o’clock.”

“Did you learn anything else during that session?”

He rubbed his hands together, thinking. “Yesterday, as she was leaving, she started talking about another bad experience she’d had in her life. I believe it was the main source of her pain, the one thing she wanted to heal from the most. She wasn’t ready to give me all the details. She said she was working up to it, and I thought after another day or two together, it would all come out.”

“Did she give you any hints about what the bad experience may have been?”

“She called it the biggest regret of her life, the one thing she wished she could take back more than anything. She’d sought counseling in the past, but it hadn’t resolved the issue.”

“Huh. I wonder if her daughter would have more information. I assume you’ve been told she was here at the retreat.”

He nodded. “I heard she had a medical issue. I hope she’s all right. It is a shame. I feel bad for all she must be going through right now.”

“I do too.”

I stood and thanked him for his willingness to share personal details about Quinn with me, even when he was reluctant to do so. On my way out, I turned back, realizing there was one last question I’d forgotten to ask.

“You said Quinn was focused on talking to you about one person in her life each day, and you saw her twice. You’ve already mentioned the ex-husband. Who was the other person she talked to you about?”

“It was Faith, her daughter.”

CHAPTER13

I was surprised to learn Faith was one of the seven people on Quinn's list. Upon further questioning, Karl said Quinn had expressed regrets over the way she’d raised her daughter. After Quinn divorced her first husband, Faith’s father, Quinn started dealing with bouts of depression, sometimes lasting for weeks. Mental health issues followed. Faith was eight years old at the time.

Fearing she couldn’t be the mother her daughter needed, Quinn sent Faith to live with her father. The arrangement was supposed to last only a short period, just long enough for Quinn to feel like herself again.

One year stretched into two.

Then three.

Then five.

At the age of thirteen, Faith returned to live with Quinn, but by then, their relationship was strained. Faith felt abandoned, and why wouldn’t she? During the years she lived with her father, both parents had made excuses as to why Faith didn’t live with her mother full time. They thought they were protecting Faith, but the older she became, her skepticism grew.

In the end, their excuses no longer worked.

The damage had been done.

Filled with teenage angst, Faith was no longer interested in the real reason she’d lived with her father all those years. She felt confused and betrayed. I didn’t blame her.

The years that followed were rough for both mother and daughter. Faith tolerated Quinn, but she remained at arm’s length until the twelfth grade—and the day her heart was broken by her high school sweetheart. As she buried herself beneath a mound of covers on her bed, she felt more alone than she ever had before. But this time, a wiser, healthier Quinn was there, ready and willing to offer a steadfast shoulder to cry on. As Faith’s broken heart mended, she began to see her mother in a new light. The new light led to a new beginning, and the chance to build a relationship they never had.

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