Page 78 of Is Anyone Listening?
As we crossed the street, my gaze moved back to the yellow house. "Do you know who lives in my dad's old house now?"
"A couple with two kids. They moved in about five years ago. Moved up here from Boston so they could live in a small town."
"Do you live with your parents?" I asked as we walked up to the front door.
"No, I have an apartment in town." He opened the door and stepped inside. "Mom, Dad, we have a visitor."
The house was warm and smelled like cookies. The woman who came out of the kitchen with curly brown hair and blue eyes, much like her son, wore an apron covered with flour.
"Finn, what are you doing here?" she asked with surprise.
"I brought someone for you to meet. This is Cassidy Clarke, Ellen's granddaughter. My mother, Katherine Kelly."
"Hello," I said.
"Oh, my goodness." Her gaze ran across my face with surprise. "I had no idea Ellen had a granddaughter. Or that David had a daughter, for that matter."
"What's going on here?" an older man said as he shuffled down the hall.
Finn's dad's hair was gray, but he also had warm blue eyes like his son.
"This is Ellen's granddaughter, Cassidy, John," Katherine told her husband. "David's daughter."
"Seriously? That's surprising. I've often wondered what happened to David. Is he with you?"
"No. He's in Connecticut. That's where he lives." I cleared my throat. "I actually don't know anything about Ellen or my dad's life here. He never wanted to talk about it, and Finn said you might be able to tell me about his childhood, that you knew him."
John nodded. "David and I were in the same grade, and he lived right down the street."
"And I was a year younger," Katherine put in. "But I knew him, too. Why don't we go into the living room and sit down? I just made some cookies. I'll bring them out. Would you like something to drink? I can make tea."
"You don't need to go to any trouble," I said.
"Oh, it's no trouble. Sit." She waved her hand toward the living room.
I followed Finn and his father into the room. His dad settled in the brown leather recliner while Finn and I sat on the couch. There was a ball game on the TV, but John instantly muted it.
"So, what do you want to know, Cassidy?" John asked.
"Well, my dad never wanted to talk about his past or his family. It feels like something terrible happened to cause that rift, but he won't say what it was, and when I asked my grandmother, she said it was his story to tell. But he's not going to talk, and neither is she, and I need to do something to end the standoff. If I could get some insight into what could have occurred, that would be helpful. Also, I would just love to know more about him as a kid."
"Well, I don't really know what happened between David and his mother. I have my theories, like everyone else. But it's their truth to tell or not tell." He paused as Katherine came into the room with a plate of cookies.
"The water is just heating up for our tea," she said, sitting in the chair across from the couch. "But you can start with a cookie. These are chocolate chip with coconut and oatmeal, my special mix."
I picked up a small napkin and a cookie, taking a bite to be polite, but the cookie might have been one of the most amazing cookies I'd ever tasted. "Wow," I said with genuine sincerity. "This is a great cookie."
Katherine smiled. "I am known for them."
"How do you have time to bake cookies?" Finn asked. "I thought you were swamped with sewing that wedding dress."
"I was, but the bride is postponing the wedding for a few weeks because her brother was in an accident. He's going to be all right, but they want to wait until he can be there."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Luckily, it's going to be easy enough for them to reschedule. Since I had some breathing room, I decided to bake." Katherine gave me a smile. "Now, you want to know about your father."
"She wants to know why David left," John interjected.
