Page 60 of Little Shattered Dreams

I nodded.

Simone did the same.

“Did you talk to Faith this morning?” I asked.

“I did.”

“How’s she doing? How’s the baby?”

“Baby’s fine, but I get the impression Faith’s not.”

“I’m sure she’s still reeling over what happened to her mother.”

“Her phone’s been ringing nonstop since family and friends learned about Quinn’s death.”

“What else did she say?” Simone asked.

“It seems Quinn was a private person, even when it came to her own daughter. Faith said she doesn’t know much about her mother’s life prior to her birth.”

“What did she say about her relationship with her mother?” I asked.

“They’d been through their share of ups and downs over the years, but when Faith told Quinn she was trying to get pregnant, Quinn promised she’d be there for them both.”

And then she died, without even having the chance to redeem herself.

What a shame.

“I wonder why Quinn felt she needed to make a promise like that to her,” Simone said.

“Ask me, Quinn was worried Faith wouldn’t want her around the baby all that much,” Foley said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Quinn battled with depression from time to time. For years, Faith asked her to get help, but she resisted.”

“Coming to the retreat was a big step for her then,” I said.

“A giant scissor-step in the right direction that ended up being the wrong one,” Simone said.

Moving the conversation in a different direction, I said, “Turns out one of the guests who was here this week knew Quinn.”

“Seems like a big coincidence,” Foley said. “Did she know Quinn was going to be here?”

“She didn’t.”

“How did she know her?”

“She worked at Quinn’s flower shop … and get this, her real name isn’t Quinn. It’s Brynn.”

“Huh. Wonder why she changed her name.”

“In my opinion, a person doesn’t change their name on a whim. They almost always have a compelling reason. Now that we know her given name, I’m hoping we’ll learn a lot more about who she was back then.”

“If you learn anything useful, let me know. Hey, did you know Faith’s stepdad committed suicide? Guess he hung himself the day after Quinn served him with divorce papers.”

“I’d heard, yes,” I said. “I bet that caused a rift with his family members.”

“I’m sure it did. Something we’ll follow up on.”

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