“You did.”
He pulled another arrow from the quiver and straightened out the feather things on the end. Not feathers, he’d told her. The fletching.
“When he was twenty-two, Rafe got in a car accident. He was driving to the Crow in his sleep and ended up in a ditch. He’d had a few incidents before, but this time, they decided to commit him to a place called Brook Haven.”
“Mental hospital?”
“Yeah. I took the first flight I could find and drove to Brook Haven straight from the airport. He could only have one visitor at a time, and Bobbi was back with him. Bill was in the waiting room. He wasn’t happy to see me. Called security and had me kicked out. He blamed me for us getting lost. Easier than blaming himself.”
“You should tell Rafe you tried to see him. He should know.”
Jeremy shook his head as he nocked his arrow.
“Rafe took his dad’s death hard. It’s harder when there’s unfinished business. I shouldn’t have gone anyway. Tempting fate.”
“I’ll tell him if you—”
“No, you won’t. And that’s more than enough about me. What about you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Anyone you’re leaving behind in Ohio?”
“Oh, me? Nobody. Ever.”
“Ever?”
“I just want a family again,” she said, “not boobs and boners in my face. Priorities, man.”
Jeremy looked at her, then said, “Agree to disagree.”
He pulled back the string again—
“Oh no.” She gasped as a realization hit her quick as an arrow in the guts. “He doesn’t remember it. If Rafe doesn’t remember anything from when you two were lost, and that was when you two were together, then he doesn’t remember…”
Jeremy drew back the string.
“I don’t know what’s worse, that he doesn’t remember I’m in love with him or that he doesn’t remember he was in love with me.” Jeremy smiled, but it was so fleeting she wasn’t sure if she’d seen it or not. “At least I can still play ‘Primavera.’ I can play it from memory. If I had to, I could play it blindfolded.”
He sent his last arrow flying. Gold.
Chapter Twelve
Mom washed the dishes while Rafe dried. Through the window over the kitchen sink, he saw Jeremy and Emilie taking turns shooting arrows from the five-yard line. He couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other, but every now and then, Emilie would laugh, and they could probably hear it in the next county.
“They’re having fun out there,” Mom said, scrubbing the caked-on crumbs from the pie plate. Dinner had been fried pork chops topped with caramelized onions, salad, and apple pie for dessert. Why hadn’t he cut his hair and shaved his beard off months ago? He knew why. Because every time they were together, Mom would tell him to call Jeremy.
“Sounds like it.”
“It’s been nice to see your face again. Forgot how much you take after me.” She gave him a wink. “What made you change your mind?”
“Maybe I just missed your pie.”
“Oh, sure, that’s gotta be it,” she said with subtle sarcasm. Emilie’s laugh rang out again.
“I can handle these on my own. You ought to go out there and show ’em how it’s done. You know you want to.”
He did want to, but he was afraid to go out there. It felt like his father was watching him, making sure Rafe did what he was supposed to do—help his mother with the dishes.
“Go on.” She’d caught him staring out the window and lightly elbowed him. “Go have fun.”
“Dishes are more fun,” he said.
“If you say so.” She glanced out the window again. “That Emilie is a sweet girl. Quite a talker.”
How long had he and Jeremy been alone downstairs while Emilie was up here with Mom? Long enough to wreak havoc.
“Lord, what did she say?”
“Nothing much. She said she’d hired Jeremy to look for her sister, a girl named Shannon Yates.”
He knew that tone of voice, that look. She was fishing for something.
“When your son goes missing in a state park, you learn the park rangers’ names pretty quick. You learn their wives’ names, their kids…You put your hands on their shoulders sometimes,” she said and reached out and put her hands on Rafe’s shoulders, “and you say things like, ‘Mike, tell me the truth. Are we ever going to find my son?’ And they say things like, ‘I don’t know, Bobbi. We’ve never found Shannon Yates, and we’ve been looking for her five years now.’ And you never forget that name because you know what Shannon’s family’s going through because you’re going through it too.”
Rafe met her eyes. This was the most they’d talked about his disappearance in years.
“They need me to go with them,” Rafe said. “Not want. Need.”
His mother slowly nodded. “I see.”
“If you don’t want me to go with them to the Crow, I won’t.” He glanced out the window to where Jeremy was showing Emilie how to keep her elbow high enough.
