Page 88 of Trace of Doubt
“Okay, I will. I’m starved.” She gave me a thin-lipped smile. “Grandma told me we looked alike.”
I leaned on the counter. She might have weighed ninety pounds, so much like me at her age. “Yes, we do. Aria, I don’t know what to say. I’m shocked to see you.”
“I feel strange too. I mean, we’re seeing each other for the first time, but I had to find you.” She sighed. “Grandma said only you had answers.”
“About your dad?”
She shook her head. “My mom.”
I experienced the longest fifteen minutes in history, but I called Sheriff Wendall and James Peterson with the happenings. Finally I sat across from Aria. She poured syrup over pancakes and scrambled eggs... I used to sweeten my eggs with syrup too.
“Did you talk to your granddad?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s not happy, but he’s glad I’m safe.” She stared down at her plate. “He has a worker who will close up the bakery today. He’ll be on his way in the next few minutes. Which means you and I have plenty of time together.”
I folded my hands and asked God to put the right words into my heart and mouth. “You’ve been told what happened to your father.”
She stared into my eyes, and a mirror looked back at me. “Yes. Mom told me.”
“What are your questions? I’m fairly certain Marissa gave you the facts.”
She swirled a forkful of pancake on her plate. “She said as a teen you shot my dad and went to prison for it. And she let me read the court transcripts. You were always in trouble and broke Grandma and Granddad’s hearts.”
How sad for my niece to be aware of the family’s black sheep.“Then you know everything. I’m sorry you’ve grown up without a father. He was a godly man. You have every reason to despise me, and still you’re here. If you’re after vengeance or have hate to spew, I understand.”
Her face clouded. “I used to hate you until I found Jesus and forgave you. Grandma always took me to church, but I didn’t know the stuff I kept inside was hurting me until Jesus and Grandma helped me see it.”
“I’m a Christian too.”
“Grandma told me.” She eyed me with a tilt of her head. Eerily familiar. “You don’t understand. There’s more going on since you were sent away.”
Weird choice of words forprison. “I’m listening.”
“Mom has never loved me. She’s told me I’m a burden. If someone is around, she puts on an act to look like the perfect mom. And it hurts. Always has. Granddad and Grandma raised me since Mom seemed to be sick a lot and needed time away to rest.” Aria took a long drink of water. “She’s supposed to have rheumatoid arthritis, but she doesn’t take any meds. I’ve looked everywhere. When I asked the name of her doctor, she said it was none of my business. I talked to Grandma about my mom to find out what’s wrong with me. Grandma cried. We’ve always been able to talk about anything.”
Aria drew in a breath. “She told me Mom’s behavior had nothing to do with me. She said life isn’t always what it looks like, and I should seek out the truth—from you.”
“Was this conversation before or after I visited Sharp’s Creek?”
“Both. She said you promised to find the truth.”
I gazed into her young face. I’d always believed Marissa was a perfect mother. So many reasons for her rejecting Aria, from guilt of killing Travis to having me take the blame. But it wasn’t her daughter’s fault. Maybe Aria had inherited more than my physical likeness. Perhaps my curiosity streak. What else explained her visit and accusations against Marissa?
“Why does Mom make everything about her?”
“I have no idea.”
Aria worried her lip. Rats, I did the same thing. Were the similarities why Marissa might have held back on her love?
Aria glanced around us as though someone might be eavesdropping. “I overheard two conversations lately. Mom was talking on the phone and didn’t know I’d come home from school early. I have no idea who was on the other end. She said, ‘Shelby’s release has to be short. Do what’s needed to eliminate her.’”
I fixed an impassive expression on my face. Yet my pulse sped. “There’s no way for me to judge the conversation without hearing all of it. Perhaps she feared for you or she was concerned I’d try to contact the family.”
“The only thing Mom fears is not being the center of attention.”
Harsh, but I didn’t contradict her.
“The second thing happened when I overheard Mom and Grandma talking. Grandma knew you didn’t kill my dad.” Aria gasped. “She asked if Mom pulled the trigger.”
