Page 50 of Canyon Killer
“I’m sure that was very traumatic for your parents,” he said.
“I’m twenty-three. You’d think they’d be over it by now.”
“I can’t blame them for loving you. I’d have given anything when I was growing up if my parents paid that much attention to me.”
“But you’re an only child, right? Weren’t you spoiled rotten?”
He shook his head. “My parents were too involved in their own lives to waste much effort on me. I had nannies, then went to boarding school and summer camps. My grandmother was the only person who was close to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
The pity in her voice tore at the long-buried hurt he didn’t like to examine too often. “Don’t feel sorry for me,” he said. “I learned to be independent from a young age. But watching my parents also made me think how I’d treat my own children differently.”
“I’m sure you’ll be a good father,” she said.
He didn’t answer. It unsettled him even more, talking about children with her. As if they were discussing their own children. The idea wasn’t an awful one. She would make a good mother. One day. In the future. After he had established the via ferrata and returned to traveling around the world to climb.
That had always been the plan—to spend a few months in Eagle Mountain, getting the project off the ground, then move on to another location, even another country. He wasn’t ready to settle down in one small town.
But the thought of leaving Bethany set his heart racing. He couldn’t decide which upset him more—the thought of never leaving or the thought of never seeing her again.
Ian cleared his throat. “What would you like to do?”
“Let’s go to the cemetery.”
He thought he was getting used to Bethany’s quirks—her impulsivity and outspokenness, and her sometimes imaginative view of a situation. But this caught him off guard. “Is there something at the cemetery you want me to see?”
“We can walk around and talk there and not be disturbed. It’s a beautiful place.”
“So is the park.”
She grinned. “And I want to look for Katherine Boston’s grave.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
“Okay.” He shifted the Jeep into gear. “To the cemetery.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bethany gave Ian credit for not freaking out when she’d suggested an afternoon at a graveyard. He’d even waited until they’d turned into the parking area for the cemetery before saying anything else. “Now do you want to tell me why we’re here?” he asked.
She told him about her visit to the historical society and what she had learned about the accident that had damaged Katherine’s leg as well as the fire at the newly wed Gerald and Abby’s home.
“If they went missing only a short time after someone tried to burn down their house, why wasn’t law enforcement more suspicious when they disappeared?” Ian asked. “Why didn’t they at least investigate the possibility of foul play?”
“Maybe because the family said Abby and Gerald had talked about moving to get away from Katherine’s harassment,” Bethany said. “I wonder if the sheriff questioned Katherine about the fire. I know she couldn’t walk long distances, but maybe she could have set the fire?”
“I don’t know if they have records going back that far, but we could ask,” Ian said.
“I also found the official notice of Gerald and Katherine’s divorce,” she said. “It was granted six months after Katherine’s leg was injured, a year before Gerald married Abby.”
“We know Gerald remarried,” Ian said. “Did Katherine?”
“If she did, I didn’t find any mention of it. But we know there were rumors she had a boyfriend—someone who could have set that fire for her and maybe even have murdered Gerald and Abby.” Excitement zinged through her. “I wonder how we could find out if she was seeing anyone special.”
“When did she die?” he asked.
