Page 30 of Is Anyone Listening?
"Of course."
"You said you come here often." I paused, choosing my words carefully. "I've heard that there's been some trouble here in the past year, women who come to the inn but then disappear."
"You're talking about that woman who went missing last year," Dorothy said. "Natalie."
My heart skipped as Dorothy said her name with some familiarity. "You met Natalie Warren?"
"Yes. She was here the same week I was, last June. I actually gave her a knitting lesson. She seemed anxious, and I told her that knitting calms the mind. You seem a bit anxious, too. Would you like to learn a few stitches?"
The offer seemed so incongruous with what we'd been discussing that I almost laughed. But there was something gentle in Dorothy's expression, something that said this was more than just a random suggestion.
"Uh, I guess. But I don't know anything about knitting."
"Then let me teach you." She pulled extra yarn and needles from her large tote bag. "Come, sit next to me."
I moved to the ottoman beside her chair, and she showed me how to hold the needles, how to loop the yarn. Her hands were patient, guiding mine through the basic stitches.
"Natalie sat right where you're sitting," Dorothy said softly. "She was troubled, that one. Looking for a way to change her life."
"She said that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual even as my hands fumbled with the yarn. "Did she tell you why she was upset? Was she having trouble with someone, maybe an ex-boyfriend or a family member?"
"She didn't get into specifics. She just told me she needed to fix her life, and she wasn't quite sure how to do that. She didn't have any family support. She mentioned making some mistakes in her past that she wished she could take back. I told her we all have regrets at times in our lives, but the important thing is to look forward and not back. She had time to start over, to be whoever she wanted to be. She seemed to lighten with those words. And the knitting calmed her. She was less stressed after her lesson."
"Did she say anything about an ex-boyfriend or a man who might have been bothering her?"
"No. She said she was all alone."
"Did she say goodbye to you when she checked out?"
"I didn't see her. She left early in the morning, I believe. I didn't think anything of it until a few weeks later when I heard she was missing. I was very sad and shaken by that information. I hate to think anything happened to her. I prefer to believe she just did what she'd wanted to do—started her life over." Dorothy paused. "She had the prettiest locket. It was silver, and her initials were engraved on it. She couldn't stop playing with it. I asked her about it once, and she got a very pensive expression on her face. She said she didn't know why she still wore it, but she couldn’t take it off. That maybe she would now."
Natalie's words in retrospect felt like a sign that she had been looking to change her life in a profound way. Had she just run away from her past? Was she completely fine living somewhere far, far away? I wanted to believe that. The alternative was very dark.
But if there was no mystery about Natalie, why had someone searched my room last night? Why had they left a threatening note? Why did they care what Tessa and I were doing here?
Unless the threat hadn't been about Natalie at all? Was it possible my grandmother just wanted to scare me into leaving before I found out something about my family?
"Natalie was a beautiful young woman, with her dark hair and deep-brown eyes," Dorothy continued. "You have similar eyes, Cassidy."
I didn't like that comparison, because there was already too much about Natalie's life I could relate to.
"Did you tell the police about your conversations with Natalie?" I asked.
"I mentioned to Tom that we'd spoken. He didn't think our conversation was important."
"Tom?" I echoed. "You know the sheriff?"
"Oh, sure. I've lived in Stonecross for more than fifty years. Moved here when I married my husband."
"I didn't realize. I thought you were visiting from somewhere."
Dorothy smiled. "No, I live in town. I find my home to be unbearably lonely at times, so I come here for a week every two to three months. I get to be around young people, which I enjoy very much. And I also get to spend time with Ellen, who has been very kind to me."
"Really? I have to say Mrs. Clarke is not the warmest person I've ever met."
"Ellen has a hard shell and high walls around her heart. But once she lets you in, you see a whole new side of her."
I wasn't quite sure I believed that, but Dorothy clearly knew my grandmother better than I did. "I heard Ellen is also a widow."
