Blackout (34 page)

Donald waited outside the door. Alice stopped in front of him, looking up into his blue eyes with her own soft, brown ones. “Did you meet my dad?” she asked.

“Kind of,” Donald said. They shook hands. “I’m Donald Harris.”

“Sam Armstrong.”

“Donald brought me to Valleyview, Dad. Helped me.”

“Thank you for that.”

Betty watched Sam take his daughter’s arm, and they followed Jerod down the hall toward the exit. As the door closed behind them, Betty turned to her mother.

Alice looked up from the photo album as her father came back into Aunt Ginny’s living room.

“Who was that on the phone?” she asked.

“The sheriff. All charges have been dropped, and they’re checking into a pardon for me for your mother’s death.”

“That’s wonderful!” Alice exclaimed and got up to hug him.

After they broke apart, Sam held on to Alice’s arms and looked into her eyes. “It’s all due to you, you know.”

She shook her head.

“Yes, it is. If you hadn’t tried so hard to remember, I’d still be running. Now we can have a real life.”

Alice nodded, swallowing tears. She had to finish high school and then she hoped to go to college and major in psychology. Somehow she couldn’t be a social worker, but she still had a need to understand why people did the things they did, and the study of psychology should help her with that.

Her father and Aunt Ginny had never suggested she see a therapist to help her work through what had happened, but she was reading on her own and trying hard to accept it all.

She sat down on the couch again, her dad next to her. They looked at the pictures with him pointing out people and places and explaining where the people were and what they were doing. Alice had become fascinated with the family album and hungry for information about all her relatives, especially now since she only had Sam and Aunt Ginny left. Alice was glad Aunt Ginny had been able to rescue the picture album and some other personal items from Alice’s grandparent’s house before the county sold it for back taxes owed. Alice had tucked the negatives of the pictures showing her mother’s murder in between some underwear in her bureau and forgotten about them. Aunt Ginny had gathered up the whole pile, never noticing the negatives. When Alice went through her belongings, she found them, and they were the final evidence needed to prove her father’s innocence.

The doorbell rang twice, and her dad got up to get the mail. He came back smiling. “A letter for you. From Donald.”

She took the envelope eagerly and tore it open.

Dear Alice,
he wrote. He couldn’t get used to calling her Allison. She didn’t mind.

Things are finally settling down here in Valleyview. Brenda has been declared incompetent to stand trial and remains in a mental hospital. During the investigation, they found out she had convinced Mrs. Lacy and Mrs. Perkins to leave her all their money, so I’m thinking she is crazy like a fox.

Nancy was let go, and I understand she is in group therapy and plans to go to college and study design. Remember how she was always so interested in the old parts of the nursing center?

Yolanda is complaining about the paperwork still, and they haven’t replaced you yet as her assistant. Katherine did hire a new food service manager, and he seems competent, honest, and pleasant. She’s still searching for someone to replace Brenda, but so far, no luck.

Betty Senior is back to her usual acerbic self, and she and Betty send their love. They keep reminding me to tell you if you ever come back to town, you must visit them.

Well, enough. I want to remind you of what I said in my other letters. I love you, I will wait for you, and I want to spend my life with you.

I hope you are doing fine, that you are happy, and you’ll write to me soon. Do hope things have worked out for your father. Let me know.

She stared at the last line. For the first time, she felt he really did love her. He knew all about her, and he still had this regard for her, this wish to spend his life with her. Suddenly, a feeling of happiness and contentment overcame her like she’d never known before. She sat there, stunned, letting the feeling overtake her.

She looked down at the letter in her hand, at the photo album next to her on the couch, then up into her father’s face. The happiness grew, and she hugged it to her, trying to keep it with her forever.

BIO: I grew up in New Jersey and now live in Texas. I’ve had about sixty short stories published in various places over the last dozen years, two of which were nominated for a Derringer Award. Two others won a Fire to Fly award and the Mysterical-e 2000 Award for Best Story Previous to 2001. I write a regular column for Mysterical-e about reading and blog on Mondays about personal organization and on Friday’s about the writing life. Here’s how to find me:

Website:
www.janchristensen.com

Blog:
www.janchristensen.com/blog

Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Jan-Christensen/e/B004XTXSYO/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jan.christensen.9275

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Sara’s Search
is available for the Kindle. Contact me if you want a new autographed hardcover copy. I still have some of the original editions available.

Revelation, Organized to Death
and
Perfect Vicim
are also available for Kindle and in print at Amazon.com.

My new short story collections are all titled
Warning Signs
. Check out the mile marker on each cover for the number of the collection. These are collections of, usually, three previously published stories, all in Kindle format.

There is another series of single short stories published by Untreed Reads—The Artie Crimes. If you search for “Artie Crimes Christensen,” you should be able to find them anywhere ebooks are sold. Or simply go to my website, find the covers and click on any of them to learn more.