Page 64 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Oh, just some old friends.”

Aspen wanted to ask for names, but something else occurred to her. “Mom was in college, but she and my dad were married, right?”

He nodded, but she saw tightness around his lips.

She’d hit on something, something important.

“Dad never talked much about their relationship, so I don’t know their story. Were you and my dad friends too?”

Brent’s focus had hardly moved from her face, as if talking to Aspen were the only thing that mattered. Now he shifted his attention to the fire and didn’t look at her for a long time.

“I take it by your silence the answer is no. So you and my mother were…?”

When he looked at Aspen again, she saw pleading in his eyes. He leaned close and lowered his voice. “First, this has to stay between you and me. Talking to you about this… I’m the mayor. I’m not sure if you knew?—”

“I heard.”

“I have a reputation. A business and a family. People know I knew your mother, but most don’t know the extent of our relationship, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, so she nodded. “I’m not here to ruin your life. I just want to find out what happened. I need to know.”

“Why? Why does it matter now?”

It was a good question. The obvious answer—that her father had sent her there—wasn’t the real one, not anymore. Yes, Aspen had come to Coventry because of Dad’s last words. But it was more than that now. Now that her father was gone, Aspen had nobody in the world. She felt…adrift. Like she no longer had anything solid to hang onto.

Without her father… Without her dad’s restaurants and her job, without her home back in Kona, Aspen didn’t know who she was. She’d always been a daddy’s girl, but she’d had a mother too. She didn’t feel like she could ever truly know herself until she knew where she’d come from.

She didn’t say any of that to this virtual stranger. Instead, she said simply, “She was my mother.”

He studied her another few moments before he seemed to make a decision. “I knew your father, of course. Coventry is a small town, and we were in the same grade. You know how they call people ‘old souls’?” At her nod, he said, “Your dad was an old soul. Always so mature and grown-up compared to the rest of us. He was a great kid. But there were goofballs, and there were normal kids, and then there were people like your father. Smart and mature, even from a young age.

“Your mother had a thing for him. I don’t know why. Your mom was so vibrant, and your dad… Don’t get me wrong, he was a great guy. He worked full time in the summers and put away all his money to cover his tuition. But his family barely got by. I think your grandfather worked at the factory.”

He seemed to be waiting for her to confirm or deny that, but she had no idea. Nobody’d ever talked with Aspen about their time in Coventry.

“He made great grades. He took life seriously. He was just a nice, normal, sort of boring guy.”

“Not good enough for my mom.” Aspen heard the irritation in her voice but didn’t temper it. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“Just…different. That’s all.”

Aspen sat back and waited for him to continue.

Brent gave her an apologetic look. “I’m not doing a very good job of this. Everybody liked your mother. I’m pretty sure most of the guys at Coventry High were half in love with her. For whatever reason, your mother liked your dad. She dated lots of guys, but your dad never asked her out. I always figured he knew she was out of his league. And then something happened in the summer between our freshman and sophomore years in college. I’d been gone for an internship, and when I came home, she was pregnant with his kid. By Christmas, they were married. You were born a few months later.”

Dad had married Mom because she was pregnant? Had they loved each other at all?

Today was a day for revelations, but with every one, Aspen felt she had more questions, many of which would never be answered.

“Your mom didn’t want to give up school,” Brent said, “so your father quit and got on full time with the construction company. His parents kept you while he worked. That fall, your mom went back to class as if nothing had changed.”

Aspen tried to fathom what that must have felt like for her father, to give up college when he’d worked so hard to go. To suddenly be saddled with an infant when his wife didn’t seem to care.

Meanwhile, Mom was off at college. And so was Brent.

“I take it you continued to be friends with my mother after they got married.”

He was looking at the flames when he nodded. “We were more than friends. She loved you, but she didn’t like being married. She didn’t want to be tied down. Truth is… Maybe the other guys we graduated with werehalfin love with her. I was completely in love with her.”

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