Tomorrow's Promise (The Hawks Mountain Series) (15 page)

Faith gasped.

“You know him?”

She nodded. “He’s my uncle.”

This time Cole was the one shocked. “Your uncle?”

“My mother’s brother. But I don’t know why he would— Oh no!”

Instantly, Cole came alert. His entire demeanor changed. Before her eyes, he became the sheriff, the symbol of law, the man determined to solve this mystery. “What?”

“It was her. It had to be her.” Faith dug her grandmother’s pendant out of the neck of her blouse, unhooked the clasp and laid it on the table. “My mother was here a while ago asking for this. My grandmother left it to me in her will, and I refused to give it to her. Her exact words when she left were, ‘I will get it. Count on it.’”

Cole shook his head. “I can’t believe your own mother would do this.” He waved his hand at the chaos in the living room. “You’re her daughter, for goodness sake. Why in heaven’s name would she break into your house and search it?”

“I can believe it.” When Cole still looked skeptical, Faith sighed, resigned to telling him about the incident that had happened a few days earlier. “You don’t know my mother. For all her Bible pounding, she’s a hypocrite.” Faith took a deep breath. “When my grandmother died, my mother tore Gramma’s house apart looking for the money my grandmother had stashed all over the place. Celia never stopped until she was sure she’d found every last cent. She found enough to buy a car.” Faith rose and poured the brewed coffee into two mugs. “If she could desecrate my dead grandmother’s house within days of her passing, she’d never let a little thing like me being her daughter stop her from getting what she wants.”

Cole sipped his coffee, obviously deep in thought as he digested what Faith had just told him. He set the cup down. “Your grandmother stashed cash around her house? Why?”

Faith giggled, recalling her grandmother’s reasoning. “Because she didn’t trust banks. Years ago, she and my grandfather fell on hard times, and the bank repossessed their house. From that time on, she said no bank would ever see a cent of her money.”

Cole leaned back and shook his head. “I can’t believe that Celia would do this just to get her hands on the pendant. What’s so special about it that she’d go to these extremes?” He picked up the locket and examined it. “It opens. What’s inside?”

“I don’t know what it would have to do with all this.” Faith took it from him and slipped her fingernail below the tiny catch at the side and flipped the locket open. Inside were two familiar photos. On the left was a picture of her grandmother smiling back at her, love filling her eyes. On the other was a picture of Fuzzy, Lizzie’s teddy bear.

Cole turned the locket to look at the photos. “Why would she put a picture of the bear in here?”

Faith smiled and fought back the tears threatening to fall. “My Gramma made Fuzzy especially for me. I was only nine when she gave him to me. She said that I should take care of him, and one day he would take care of me and make all my dreams come true, so she put the picture in there to remind me.”

“What did she mean by him taking care of you?”

“She said I’d know when the right time came.” Faith shook her head. “After she told me that, I was afraid something would happen to him, so I never played with him. He always sat on my bed.” She chuckled. “I think, in my child’s mind, I thought he was magic, and I half expected him to come to life when I needed him.”

A deep sigh emanated from Cole as he leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. “Other than that SUV belonging to your uncle and being parked so close to your house, there’s nothing here that points to your mother being the one who did all this. I know it looks that way and there’s every reason to believe that it was her, but there’s no evidence.” He frowned. For a moment, he remained silent. “I can bring her in to the office and question her if you want, but I wouldn’t expect too much. She’ll most likely deny it, and we can’t prove otherwise.”

There was just enough of her childhood fear of her mother still remaining in Faith to instill alarm in her. If Celia hadn’t done this, and deep down Faith believed she had, she was certain her mother would find a way to make her life a living hell. Right now, Faith had enough on her mind without having to contend with her mother. “No. No. Don’t do that. This could have been nothing more than a random burglary.” She shrugged. “Maybe some kids looking for something to sell to get money for booze or drugs or whatever.”

Cole looked skeptical. “You do realize that this is all speculation.”

Faith nodded. “Yes. I know.” She also knew exactly how to bring this whole mess to a conclusion.

Chapter 16

LATER THAT NIGHT, Faith sat in the darkened bedroom gazing blindly out the window and trying not to think about Cole sleeping a few feet away in her living room. After finding her house torn apart, he’d insisted on staying with her. Despite any argument she’d made that she’d be fine, he wouldn’t budge.

Truth be known, she was glad he was here. It gave her one less thing to worry about and a sense of security and knowing someone cared about her that had become foreign to her until she met Cole. She pushed the events of the day from her mind, but another worry edged its way in to take its place. Money.

Mentally, she reviewed her finances, and the outcome, to say the least, looked bleak. No matter how she’d juggled the numbers, she figured she’d be in the hole for the foreseeable future. Hunter was paying her well for her receptionist services, but with what she owed Doc Amos for rent and utilities, her paycheck didn’t stretch very far.

She fingered her grandmother’s locket. “Gramma, I sure wish you were here for me to lean on. It seems like for every shovelful of debt I take out of the hole, three more pile back in.”

She flipped open the locket and gazed down at its contents: a photo of her grandmother and the photo of a fuzzy bear. “Fuzzy, how are you gonna make my dreams come true? You’re just a stuffed toy. Are you gonna pay Doc back or finance Lizzie’s birthday party?”

With her piles of debt, Faith couldn’t, in good conscience, waste money on a party when she owed Doc so much for all his kindnesses. If there was no party, Lizzie wouldn’t know, but Faith would. She would be failing her daughter once again.

At that moment, a mother’s love overcame common sense, and Faith made up her mind that even if Doc had to wait for his money, her daughter would have her birthday party. Besides, how much could cake and ice cream cost? After the party was over, she’d make a doubled-up effort to pay off Doc. She was sure he’d understand. Once she’d made her decision, she crawled into bed and slept fitfully.

THE FOLLOWING weekend, Faith had everything in place for Lizzie’s birthday party. Hunter’s and Rose’s twins and Nick’s and Becky’s son were busy playing with blocks on the living room floor. The adults had gathered in the kitchen.

Despite her tight budget, the party had come together nicely. Granny Jo had made gingerbread cookies for all the children and decorated them with colorful shirts and pants and big icing smiles. Cole had arrived with two cake boxes, one large and one smaller.

After retrieving Lizzie from the living room and carrying her into the kitchen, he opened the big one to reveal the birthday cake in the shape of a teddy bear. “What do you think, sweetie?” He lifted Lizzie so she could see the cake.

Lizzie squealed and pointed at the brown bear cake. “Fussy.” It was the one of the few words she came close to pronouncing clearly. She reached for the cake, but Cole rescued it just before her little fingers could wreak havoc on it.

“We have a special cake for you to tear into, sweetheart,” he said. Putting Lizzie down, he opened the second box he’d brought into the kitchen. It contained a miniature duplicate of the larger bear cake. “My sister called it a smash cake. She said it’s the latest thing for kids’ birthday parties. Karen says the process is to set the birthday girl in her highchair, put the cake on the tray, and let her have at it.” The expression on Cole’s face told Faith that Mr. Neatness was having trouble processing this concept, but he was really enjoying this whole birthday party thing. And if it was for Lizzie, he’d move a mountain.

Faith already knew that Cole never minded lollipop juice on his shirt or sloppy wet kisses from a little girl that thought the sun rose and set in him. In his eyes, Lizzie did no wrong. He genuinely loved the little girl. And that only made it harder for her to fight her growing attraction for him.

Faith took the smash cake and placed it on the table beside the larger one. “She’s gonna love this. Thank you, Cole, and please tell Karen thank you for me.”

The back door opened, and Davy Collins came in, accompanied by his faithful companion, Sadie. At first Faith wanted to tell him to leave the wolf outside. She was quite comfortable with Sadie, having had her in the office with her on a daily basis. However, she wasn’t sure how everyone else would react. But then she realized that she was the only one in the room who showed the least bit of apprehension about the animal joining the celebration.

“It’s okay, child.” Granny Jo leaned over and patted the wolf’s head. “Everyone in Carson has made friends with this big old baby.” Sadie licked Granny’s hand as if to thank her for her vote of confidence. Then Sadie walked straight to Lizzie and nuzzled her neck.

Lizzie giggled and hugged the wolf. “Dawg!”

“Miss Faith, Lizzie’s present is outside. Can I bring it in?” Davy was fairly dancing in place with anticipation.

She smiled at his excitement. “Sure.”

Faith had no idea what the present was, but having been around Davy a lot at work, she was prepared for almost anything. He was impulsive, matter-of-fact, sometimes wise beyond his years, and amazing with any animal he came in contact with, and she’d grown to love having him around.

Davy raced out the back door. It slammed noisily behind him. A few moments later, he came back in carrying a white ball of fluff. “It’s one of Sadie’s babies.” He held the puppy out for Faith to take. “It’s a boy dog,” he added in a very serious tone. “He’s two months old, and he still pees inside.”

Everyone laughed. Cautiously, Faith lifted the puppy from Davy’s hands. A part wolf in her house? “Uh, thank you, Davy.”

Faith had to admit the puppy was adorable, white and soft and squirming to get loose. Thankfully, Lizzie was back in the living room playing with Rose’s girls. Faith looked at Cole. Her unease must have shown on her face.

He put a hand on her shoulder. As if reading her mind, he said, “It’ll be fine. Lizzie will love this. Besides, I’ll feel a lot better if you have a dog in the house.”

He didn’t say why, but Faith knew it was because of the break-in. His concern sent a wave of warm comfort through her. “Okay. Can you get Lizzie, and we’ll introduce her to her new friend?”

As Faith had assumed she would, Lizzie was delighted with her new friend. “It’s a puppy,” Faith explained as she placed the animal in Lizzie’s outstretched arms.

Lizzie squealed and hugged the puppy close as he licked her face and nuzzled her neck. “Pup. Mine.”

“We have to give him a name.” Faith patted the puppy’s head.

“Pup,” Lizzie announced firmly. “Mine.”

Cole kissed Lizzie’s cheek. “Pup sounds good to me.” Sadie barked. “And it sounds as though his momma approves, too.”

Everyone laughed. Davy’s gift was the hit of the day. Faith smiled and the last doubt about having spent money she really couldn’t afford on this party vanished.

THE FOLLOWING weekend, Cole sat in a meeting in Charleston, but his mind was not on the workshop the FBI agent was giving on the advancements in DNA processing. When it was over, he left the room as soon as he could and headed back to Carson.

Faith was sure her mother had broken into her house, but until Cole saw absolute proof of that, he couldn’t rest easy.

He’d spent every night on Faith’s couch until Wednesday when she’d insisted she’d be okay and that he needed to go home. Reluctantly agreeing, he’d done as she’d asked, but as a result, had spent the rest of the week in sleepless nights and haunted days.

If anything happened to that woman or her daughter, Cole would not be responsible for what he’d do when he came face to face with the person accountable.

He’d given up denying that he loved Faith, and not because of Lizzie. Yes, he adored the child, but if Faith had been totally alone, Cole would have loved her. And no one messed with the people he loved. In fifth grade, he’d beat the pudding out of a kid who’d called Cole’s sheriff father a pig.

Showered and dressed, he carried a cup of coffee into his living room and sat on the couch. On the coffee table was the mail that had accumulated over the time he’d been gone. He set his cup down and picked up the pile of envelopes. Slowly, he thumbed through them, tossing the junk mail aside and collecting the stuff he had to look at in a separate area. About half way through the stack, he found an envelope with the return address of the school in Atlanta where he would begin teaching in the fall.

He opened it and read the words welcoming him to the faculty and setting up a date for him to come for orientation. Leaning back with a heavy sigh, he finally made the decision he’d been putting off for weeks. Going to Atlanta was out. He just couldn’t leave Faith. After throwing the letter on the coffee table, he pulled his cell phone out and dialed the number on the letterhead.