Page 32 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

“I suppose we expected that,” I said.

Belinda reached for her door handle. “Let’s get out and walk around.”

Before I could stop her, she was already climbing out the door.

I wanted to follow, but the house reminded me so much ofthe house, the one where I’d been kidnapped and tortured by Tripp a decade ago. The house where I’d watched him torture and murder a woman.

I wasn’t sure I could get out of the car.

Belinda walked around and opened the car door, squatting in front of me. “Magnolia,” she said in a serious tone. “What’s scaring you?”

Tears swelled in my eyes. “Who says something’s scaring me?”

“This isn’t like you. Not the you before…everything.”

“Maybe it’s the me now.”

She narrowed her eyes. “No. I don’t believe that. Sure, you’re a different person now, but you were fearless before.”

“I was stupid. Colt’s stuck with a fool.”

“Magnolia…” She hesitated, then reached out a hand. “No one would ever accuse you of being stupid. Especially Colt.”

“I can’t go in there, Belinda.”

“So we don’t go in,” she said, sounding perfectly reasonable. “We’ll just walk around the property. Come on. It’s a nice day.”

She was right. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was out, and it was in the low seventies, and blessed relief, the humidity was relatively low. We’d spent the morning talking to two different private investigators and then ate gas station deli sandwiches for lunch since I was worried about being recognized if we went into a restaurant. But I felt cooped up, and truth be told, I was missing Colt like crazy. Part of me was ready to call this whole trip a mistake and head back to Franklin. With any luck at all, I’d be home before Colt got back from his gig tonight.

“It’s a farm,” I said. “There’s no point in getting out of the car. Let’s just forget all of this and tell Mr. Cooper that I’m selling. Lord knows Colt and I could use the money.”

“Fine,” she said. “Sell the farm, but at least get out of the car and look around first.” She stood and tugged on my hand. “Come on.”

I let her pull me to my feet, and she graced me with a smile.

Still clasping my hand, she started to walk toward a barn a few hundred feet past the house.

“When we finish here,” I said, “I think we should go home.”

She stopped in her tracks. “What are you talking about?”

“I should have listened to you. We should be on a beach somewhere, sucking down tropical drinks while we bask in the sun. Not traipsing around an overgrown, neglected farm.”

“So we’ll take that trip next time with the money you make off the farm, but we’re already here, so you might as well see it.” Belinda stopped and tilted her head back to glance up at the sky. “Just think. Your mother grew up in that house and looked up at this same sky when she was growing up.” She was quiet for a moment, then said, “It makes me feel closer to her.”

It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only one grieving the loss of my mother. Belinda had grown quite close to her while she was married to my brother.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the wind blowing my hair and the sun shining on my face. My mother had always seemed like such a city girl that I struggled to imagine her here.

“Don’t you want to know why she left?” Belinda asked quietly. “Sure, people leave where they grew up, but they usually go back home to visit their family.”

“Ididn’t,” I said, opening my eyes and turning to face her. “I never once went back home until I had to.”

“And you had a reason,” she said. “Your mother must have had one too. Aren’t you the least bit curious about what it was?”

I was, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit it and give her more ammunition to use against me. Still, it was obvious Belinda wanted answers too. I needed to take her feelings into consideration.

“We’re already here,” Belinda said, “so I say we finish looking around the farm, then call Summer and tell her we want to hire her.”

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