He grabbed her hand, leading her upstairs. If he could, he'd change everything for Kenna. But this was his life. He couldn't think of a better one.
He had a woman he loved.
A club that surrounded him.
And he lived in the most beautiful place on earth.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Kenna
––––––––
River slid a paper across the table. Kenna pulled a piece of tape off the dispenser and added the note to the other clues. While they'd remembered all they could from their childhood, none of the places they thought would have a package had come to fruition.
The old house they'd last lived in with their parents was now owned by someone else and remodeled. Zane and River had rode over and checked it out, making sure their father hadn't left something there for them. But with new occupants and an intensive remodel, they checked their old house off the list of possible places to find the package.
"We checked the warehouse where Dad used to work. It's now a storage place for the heating and ducting company next door." River tapped her finger on a piece of paper. "We also checked off that park Mom and Dad always took us to—that was a long shot. It's a public place. If anything was left a decade ago, someone would've found it or a groundskeeper would've thrown it away." Her sister crossed her arms. "What about Ronald?"
The man who used to work with her dad and had initially set the idea in her head that Dad wasn't dead was her first guess on who would have the package. She shook her head. "He died two years ago. I found his obituary in the St. Maries paper after searching for every Ronald who lived there. Surprisingly enough, only three would be around his age. His full name was Ronald Kewsky."
River sighed. "That's sad."
"You know what else is sad?" Kenna sighed. "We went to the stables where Mom and Dad had Luxy stabled in the off chance they had records of where Luxy had gone. There was no sign of there ever being acreage or horses there. It's now a huge apartment complex. I didn't even recognize the area."
"I haven't thought of your horse in a long time," whispered River.
"You know, Kingsley tried to find Luxy for me after we went into foster care. He was told the horse had been sold at auction." She swallowed and whispered, "In my head, I keep hoping that some little girl got the horse and not—"
"That's what happened." River nodded. "You have to believe."
"I try." Kenna planted her hands on her hips. "I don't know where else to look. I feel like we didn't know enough about Dad's life to even make a wild guess where he would hide a package."
From the kitchen, Zane said, "Our dad's supposed to call today. He might have an idea on where we can look, considering he's somehow mixed into your dad's business."
"If he'll even tell us." Kingsley set his bottle of water on the counter. "It'll depend on if Dad woke up wanting to be an asshole today or not."
"Truth," muttered Zane.
River sat in the chair and cupped her chin. Kenna rubbed the back of their neck. They'd not only looked for the package over the last week, but she and River had also continued to work. But they weren't the only ones running on empty.
Kingsley and Zane had barely slept.
Whenever they had downtime, someone from the clubhouse, bar, or campground called. They were needed to keep Gem Haven running.
A knock filled the silence. Zane left the room. She reached for Kingsley, linking her fingers with his, needing that connection.Starting tonight, she would pamper him to show how much she appreciated all his help.
Kingsley always supported her no matter how wild an idea she had or how irrational she became over the last week.
Thethunkof boots and soft conversation infiltrated the dining room. She turned and found Zane leading Zora to them.
In Zora's arms was a basket of flowers. She stepped over and gave Kingsley's mom a hug, having not seen her since the day she had hurt herself.
"You're walking." She smiled. "How's your ankle feeling?"
"Much better." Zora looked down at her foot. "The swelling is gone and once the bruising is done changing colors, I won't even know I twisted it."
"Here, sit down." She stepped over and pulled out a chair. "Did you walk all the way over here?"