Page 33 of So in Love
“Well, Ben was a lot older than her—almost thirty years.And he settled the town.Maybe Dorinda came here because their families knew each other?”
“That would make sense,” Crystal said.“But would a young woman really come all the way across the country at that time by herself?”
“We don’t know if she was by herself or not.”
Crystal hung her head for a moment.“Duh.Darryl and I were shooting ourselves that we didn’t look for Dorinda’s background.Now I can’t believe we didn’t look for other Fosters—her maiden name.”She pulled her phone out and shot off a text to Darryl telling him about Benjamin Archer and asking him if he could find any connection as well as any other Fosters who might’ve come west with Dorinda.
“Because we know she married Hiram Olsen here, right?”Brooke asked.
Crystal nodded.“Yes, but I’d love to know where he was from too.”She sent another text to Darryl.“Sometimes I think I get lost in all this.”
“Me too,” Kelsey agreed.“Anything else from Darryl?”
Crystal’s lips curved up.“Yes, and this is exciting.He’s been working with some other historical societies around the Willamette Valley, and they finally found an article that mentioned the fire.”
Brooke and Kelsey let out excited gasps.“Do tell!”Kelsey urged.
“It’s from theDaily Journal, which was produced in Salem.Darryl’s working on getting the original for the exhibit for us.”
“He’s the best,” Kelsey said.“I think he should maybe cut the ribbon on the exhibit next month.”It was due to open to the public right before Valentine’s Day.
“Not a bad idea, but I’d think you should choose someone from Ribbon Ridge,” Crystal said.
Brooke nodded.“I agree.Rob Archer, probably.They are the first family of Ribbon Ridge, and they did fund most of this.”
“True,” Kelsey said.“But I think Rob would be the first one who’d support Darryl doing it.He and Emily are really into the history of this and appreciate all the research we’ve done—none of which would have been nearly as fruitful without Darryl’s help.”Kelsey gave Crystal a look of excited impatience.“Anyway, back to the article.What did it say?”
“It wasn’t terribly descriptive, but it says a brothel outside Ribbon Ridge burned on July 28, 1902, which coincides with Dell Beatty’s letter and—”
Brooke cut her off.“Dorinda’s death certificate.That means she died in the fire.”
“Definitively.The article said the owner died.”Crystal pressed her lips together.They’d assumed that was what had happened given everything they’d learned, but this evidence was proof positive.
Kelsey frowned, her eyes sad.“Well, bummer.I hate thinking she died in a fire.”
“Especially one set by the fucking KKK.”Brooke’s eyes heated with anger.“Did the article mention that?”
“No.”Crystal—and Darryl—had been disappointed.
“That would be too easy,” Kelsey said darkly.“But we’ll get to the bottom of it.Maybe as early as tonight when you see what Angie has.”
Brooke leaned her elbow on the display case and set her chin in her hand.“Ugh, do you really think Angie has a bunch of KKK stuff sitting in a box that she’s just going to pull out and let us put on display?”
Kelsey shook her head.“I have no idea.Knowing Angie, she’d hate that there was any family connection to that vile organization.”
Brooke straightened.“You got that right.”She looked over at Crystal.“Does she know what you’re looking for?”
Crystal felt slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden.“Just historical stuff.I didn’t tell Jamie about the KKK.Like you said, it’s pretty distasteful.”
Silence bloomed between them all for a moment.“But they should have a heads-up, right?”Brooke asked.
“Yeah, probably,” Kelsey said, sounding a bit conflicted.“I get why Crystal didn’t say anything.But I think I’ll mention it to Luke tonight.”
“I’ll do the same with Cam.”Brooke looked at them intently.“Geez, maybe we’re all dumb.If we’d just asked them a few days ago, they might’ve said, ‘Oh yeah, we have this crazy, horrible side of the family that was into that garbage.’”
Crystal looked down at the display case.“Yeah, maybe.Damn, now I feel bad that I didn’t say anything.”
“Don’t feel bad,” Brooke said.“I probably would’ve done the same thing.Besides, it’s not like you and Jamie are close like I am with Cam or Kelsey is with Luke.We’re the potential jerks here.”
