“I told Elizabeth I could stay in a hotel,” he went on. “I don’t want to trouble you.”

I held my breath as I waited for Aggie to respond. I really wanted her to say yes. I was afraid that if I let Nick out of my sight again, he’d disappear. I couldn’t go another six years wondering where he was, who he was, what answers he might have.

Please, Aggie, I thought.

“All right,” she said, and nodded once. “We have plenty of room around here. No sense keeping it all to ourselves.” She came around the counter and sized Nick up. “You related to the Vermont family? You look like Old Man Vermont.”

The Vermont family? I didn’t know anyone by the name of Vermont.

Nick shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“Hmm,” she said again, and turned to me. “Can you get him settled in? I need to finish this batch of cookies for the fair this weekend.”

“Yes.” I went over to her and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Aggie.”

She smiled, and a bit of tension left her shoulders. “No need to thank me, dear. Now go on so I can get back to work.”

Nick called good-bye to Aggie as I led him out the back door to the carriage house.

The stairs to the apartment started at the front of the building and twisted around to the back, where a small deck overlooked the garden and storage shed beyond. I grabbed the spare key from under the mat and unlocked the door.

It’d been a while since I’d been inside the apartment. Dust swirled in the sunlight pouring through the large windows. It was a studio, one big open space. A queen-sized bed sat between the two biggest windows, across from the entrance. In one corner was a kitchenette, with a rickety laminate-topped table and matching chairs.

To the far left was the living-room area, with a couch and an old traveling trunk used as a coffee table. The bathroom was tucked between the kitchenette and the “living room.”

If I didn’t love my room so much, and being near Aggie, I would have taken the apartment in a heartbeat. It had a good vibe.

“There are extra blankets in the closet,” I said, and pointed at the closed door to our right. “I can get you shampoo and stuff if you need it.”

“No,” he answered. “I have everything I need.”

I frowned. He didn’t have anything with him. “Where?”

“In my truck. It’s still in town.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you say something while we were there? We could have grabbed it before coming here.”

He walked farther into the room, keeping his back to me. “I have to go into town anyway. I’ll grab it then.”

“Okay.”

I thought about offering to go with him, but more than anything, I wanted him to want me to come with.

He didn’t ask.

“If you need me, I’ll be in the main house. I’m making dinner tonight.” I fidgeted with the hem of my Merv’s Bar & Grill polo, wanting to say more. Not knowing what to say. Why had I mentioned making dinner? “Is there anything in particular you’d like? I was going to make a casserole but—”

He turned to me. “I can get something in town.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess I’ll see you later, then?”

He nodded, and I started for the door.

“Elizabeth?”

I turned. “Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I left him, immediately wishing I could stay.

17

NICK

I WATCHED ELIZABETH RETURN TO THE main house, and as soon as the door shut behind her, I dug out the cell and called home.

Sam answered.

“Where’s the dog?” First thing he said to me.

That was our code for, Are you okay? If the dog was in the house, I was good. If the dog was in the shed, the shit had hit the fan. Which meant, Get the fuck over here.

“It’s in the house,” I answered.

We all wore GPS tracking devices when we were separated, but I wasn’t good about remembering mine. I’d left it—a necklace—in the truck since last night.

“You’ve been in the same place for over twelve hours,” Sam said. “Or did you forget to put it on again?”

I groaned. “What do you think?”

“Put the damn thing on, Nicholas.” Sam always used my full name when he was pissed.

“Let me talk to Anna.”

A pause. Then, “Hold on.” There was a rustle, a whisper, then Sam again. “Put on the tracking device, Nick.”

Anna came on the phone a second after, as if she’d ripped it away from Sam. “Hey,” she said. “How are you?”

I dropped onto the couch in the back corner of the apartment and all the tension left my body. I wasn’t at home, but in this place I felt as safe as I’d ever felt. I couldn’t explain it. Maybe it was the little old lady who owned it. Maybe it was Elizabeth.

Maybe it was Anna on the other end of the line.

“I’m okay,” I answered.

“So what have you found?”

I went to the kitchen, pulled open the fridge. Nothing inside. Not a goddamn thing. I needed a bottle of something strong.

“Nick?” Anna said.

I returned to the couch. “I found the girl. The one from the flashback.”

“Go on.”

“And I’m staying in the apartment above her garage.”

A long exhale.

My eyes burned as I waited for Anna to say something. She was processing, most likely. I went to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked like hell. I checked the cabinet—actually, the old pie cupboard pretending to be a cabinet—looking for eyedrops. Nothing.