Page 134 of Eight Years Gone

He captured her hands, playing with her fingers. “I know he’s not your favorite person, but he was your dad’s closest friend. Maybe your dad said something to him.”

She steamed out a long breath. “Sometimes I hate it when you have valid points.”

He grinned, nudging her face closer to his, kissing her lips. “I can talk to him if you’re uncomfortable with the situation.”

She shook her head as she locked her wrists around the back of his neck. “He’s not my favorite person, but I need to know the truth.”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late, but we can try reaching out—do a conference call.”

She exhaled another long breath. “Okay.”

He reached for his phone on the coffee table, searching his contacts, quickly finding the number they were looking for. “Ready?”

She nodded. “If he knows, I want to know everything he does.”

He put the call through.

“Jagger,” the colonel’s voice boomed through the phone after the second ring. “It’s always good to hear from you.”

Jagger watched Grace’s shoulders stiffen as he put the colonel on speaker. “I have Grace here with me. I hope we’re not calling too late.”

“Not at all. Sue and I just finished our dinner. We were out and about this evening. What can I do for you kids?”

Grace cleared her throat. “I found some of my mother’s old journals at the house in Wakeview. I have some questions about the past that I can’t ask either of my parents. I know you talked to my dad regularly.”

“I did. It’s still hard to believe he’s gone.”

Jagger couldn’t help but feel a wave of sympathy. It wasn’t hard to hear the grief in the older man’s voice. “Did Steve ever mention anything to you about Jessica, Grace and Logan’s babysitter?”

“Jessica? No, I can’t say that he did. I always thought Bea helped Rose and Steve.”

“She did,” Jagger added, not wanting to mention anything further when the colonel clearly had no idea. “Grace was just hoping to track Jessica down.”

“I wish I could be more help.”

“We appreciate you trying.”

The colonel cleared his throat. “You know, Steve and I talked the day before he died.”

Jagger nodded. “I remember you mentioning that.”

“We did some talking about you, Jagger—about you being stateside again.”

He and Grace looked at each other.

“Is that right,” Jagger said.

“Steve had been in and out of the country for several weeks, so we hadn’t had a chance to connect until our final conversation. I mentioned that you’d come by to pick up your car. We surmised that since your eyes have only ever been pointed in one direction, you would head up to Preston Valley to find Grace.”

“You both knew me well,” Jagger said, knowing the colonel had more to say.

“Steve asked me if I thought you were home for good. When I told him I imagined that to be the case, he sounded relieved. Pleased, even. He told me he’d been wrong to push you two apart. He said you were both good kids. He made a lot of mistakes, but he wanted you to be happy, Grace.”

Grace rushed up to walk to the window, crossing her arms as she stared out.

“I know there has been a lot of bad blood,” Colonel Hinders continued. “I know I’ve played a part in it. I thought you might like to know that Steve had wished he’d done things differently.”

Jagger stood, walking up behind Grace, wrapping his arms around her rigid body, kissing the top of her head. “It’s good to hear,” Jagger confirmed. “We appreciate you telling us.”

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