Page 120 of Finding Us
“I’m peachy, thanks for asking.”
“You do realise they are in front of us and can’t see us, right?”
“But they could turn around at any moment,” I retort. When she growls, I bark out a laugh. “You do realise your sass turns me on?”
“Because you’re sick.”
Leaning down, I place a kiss on the side of her head. She’s right, I am sick …love sickfor her.
We arrive back at the house and once I’ve slid out of the vehicle, I hold my hand out for Red. I’m half waiting for her to slap it away, but she takes it gracefully, even thanking me.
I move around the back of the car to get Blake, but Grace is already on it. Seeing her with my son makes me think of my own mother. I know she would’ve loved him, like she did me. It makes the disdain I hold for my father grow. He robbed us all of so much.
My mother used to dote on me whenever he wasn’t around. Not so much when he was home, because it usually got her in trouble.“He’ll never become a man if you keep babying him,”is one of the things he’d say often.I used to worry that becoming a man meant I’d be more like him, thankfully that wasn’t the case.
As we’re heading up the front stairs, my phone starts to ring in my pocket. I don’t think much of it, because it could be Rob or Olivia, or someone from Bridge, but when I see Connor’s name on the screen my heart sinks.
Jacinta pauses beside me as I stand there staring down at my phone. “Everything okay?” she asks, placing her hand on my back. When I hold up the phone, showing her the screen, she turns to her mother. “Can you and dad take Blake inside?”
I suck air into my lungs before answering the call. “Connor,” I say once I’ve placed the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Mas,” he replies and then the line goes quiet. I hold my breath as I wait for him to speak again. “We … umm found her.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“Exactly where you thought she’d be.”
“Are you sure it’s her?”
“The coroner will confirm it, but that could take weeks. Do you remember if she used to wear any jewellery?”
“Yeah, she did.” I close my eyes and conjure up the image from when I was at the house with Connor. “Pearl earrings and a pearl pendant on a gold chain. She also wore a solitary gold wedding band on her ring finger.”
“Okay. We found the ring and the necklace with her remains, but the guys are still sifting through the soil, so they may also find the earrings.”
I can’t even describe the emotions that are running through me, but my despair must be evident because Red steps forward, rests her face on my chest, and wraps her arms around my waist.
“I’ll organise a flight home,” I say to Connor, my voice cracking as I speak.
“You don’t need to rush home, we’ll be here for a few more days, and as I said, the coroner could take weeks.”
“I want to be there.” The guilt I’ve been feeling since we found that envelope escalates tenfold. I never should’ve left. I should’ve spoken up all those years ago. My father got to continue on with his life, while my mother rotted in our backyard.
“Give me a call when you land then, and I’ll come get you.”
“Okay.”
Once I’ve slid the phone into my back pocket, I fold Jacinta in my arms. “They found her?”
“I heard. I’m so sorry, Mason.”
“I’ll need to organise a flight home.”
It’s most definitely not the outcome I wanted, but at least I now have answers.My poor mum;she deserved so much more than what she got.
