Page 6 of Two Hearts Reunited

Unlocking the back door that led into the enclosed porch, she propped the shovel against the inner wall before heading inside the cabin through the kitchen door.

“Brr. I hope the pipes didn’t freeze,” she muttered aloud, rushing into the kitchen and opening the cabinet doors to check beneath the sink.

Nodding approvingly, she checked the outside and inside temperatures on the small weather station she had mounted to the window above the sink.

She’d inserted a new electric fireplace insert into the opening of the fireplace in the dining room last evening. For the first time since October, Anya had felt warm when she’d gotten out of bed.

Once she’d paid to install a new electrical box with circuit breakers to handle additional baseboard heating, she’d begun making inexpensive improvements to the cabin. It would have cost too much to rewire, and there was no way she couldafford to pull out walls and add insulation and drywall. So, the electric fireplace was providing just enough heat to make her feel comfortable again since the baseboard heating hadn’t seemed to keep her warm enough.

Mom’s former boss, Mike Callahan, who’d always been known as Cal, had been more than happy to send an electrician from Callahan Construction to give her some advice about how she could survive winter in the cabin. She suspected that they’d given her a very deep discount on construction materials and services. The electrician had run six new heavy-duty lines into the kitchen, dining room and bathroom, where she had installed a stacking washer-dryer earlier this summer.

Now she was living in only three rooms and had closed off the large living room with vaulted ceilings along with the numerous bedrooms upstairs. The bathroom and kitchen along with the roomy dining room, which she’d converted into a family room—where she slept on a sleeper sofa—was all the space she needed until spring. It would have been nice to be able to still work out of her office in the den, but there were too many drafty exterior windows. All Mom’s graphs and charts were still set up there if she needed to take a quick look at anything. Most everything that Anya did when it came to research was online, so she’d transferred many of mom’s files onto storage devices for security.

The place was beginning to feel like home, despite having to currently live out of only three rooms. She’d spent time this summer decluttering the rest of the place of unnecessary items with no sentimental value and had even moved a few things over from the other house before it had sold.

Including Shanna’s belongings, which Anya had left boxed up. Packing her room had been one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do in her life.

Which reminded her. Anya had packed up Shanna’s stuff before she sat down to take a look at the collection of materials and information that Mom had been obsessing on since Shanna had disappeared. Anya had been overwhelmed by all the work she’d had to do to clean out the house, so she’d been in kind of a hurry. As she recalled, there had been some journals and possibly a diary she’d discovered wedged beneath the loose window seat in Shanna’s room, when she’d removed the old cushion to wash it and clean the windows.

She had a sneaking suspicion that Mom had never found the diary and journals, although Shanna’s room was like a shrine to her missing daughter. Time had stood still. Even after ten years, it had been extremely difficult for Anya to go inside and pack up the room when she’d had no choice but to sell the house.

But still, Mom had removed anything that came close to being a clue about her whereabouts from Shanna’s room, Anya had noticed, so the diary and journals wouldn’t have remained hidden if Mom had found them. They’d be spread throughout the family room downstairs, since Mom had used it as her dedicated investigative space and had pictures and notes plastered all over the walls, as well as a chalkboard and a bunch of printouts pinned onto a gigantic corkboard.

When Shanna had first gone missing, it had seemed like every friend and neighbor that they’d ever had were there to assist. But as time went by, there were fewer people who were ready to believe that Shanna had been kidnapped, especially after the local police had supposedly claimed that they’d done all that they could.

Mom had tried to get help from the police in several adjoining communities, but no one appeared to be taking her seriously, even though Anya knew otherwise.

But Mom had become so obsessed, that everyone had seemed to steer clear of her. Anya had watched her levelheadedmother sink further into depression, and as much as she’d tried to help, nothing she did to assist was enough for Mom anymore. When Anya had suggested the possibility of talking to a professional about her mood swings, Mom had flown off the handle. Anya had worried that what was happening to Mom might cause her to have some kind of breakdown. And Anya had become even more concerned after Mom had insisted that Anya should take the scholarship offer.

It’s not that her mom had really been mad at her, Anya had realized later. The chief of police, Sam Danielson, had pulled her aside one day to have a talk with her. His wife, Penny, was one of Mom’s closest friends, and they’d not only been worried about Mom, but Anya as well, he’d explained, so they’d reminded Mom that she had another daughter. Penny Danielson owned Sanders’ Floral, where Anya had been working part-time since she’d turned sixteen.

“We haven’t really closed your sister’s case,” he’d reassured her. “We just haven’t wanted to get your hopes up. My wife has been especially worried about the toll it’s been taking on your mom. Penny wanted me to let you know that she’ll be sure to keep an eye on her if you decide to take that business scholarship offer in Madison.”

“Thank you, Chief,” she’d answered with relief. “I’m not sure how I’m going to manage financially, even with the scholarship.”

“You’re going to Madison, right?” His look had been thoughtful. “That’s my alma mater and Penny has some connections with the local florists down there. Maybe we can come up with a couple of job opportunities for you. You’ve still got a few months, so we’d be glad to help.”

“It might be less expensive if I live off campus, I’ve heard, but I think I have to get permission to do that during my freshman year.”

Sam nodded.

“Thank you again, Chief,” she said. “I feel a lot more reassured.”

“Just take care of your mom for now, okay?” he’d replied.

Snapping her mind back to the present, she realized that she really needed some rest. Having Eric O’Neill show up tonight had thrown an emotional wrench into her carefully compartmentalized life.

“Why did he have to come back?” she muttered. She’d been so proud of herself, thinking that she’d finally been able to forget. And then there was the fact that sure, he’d been really good looking when he’d been sixteen. But now…

She shivered, remembering that intensity in his eyes as they’d met hers. It wasn’t just because there were unresolved feelings between them. She knew from instinct that he’d dealt with some horrific situations when he’d been stationed overseas. As a teen, he’d been carefree. That was what she’d loved about him—he’d had a calming effect on her. No matter how bad things had been at home, when she was with Eric, he’d made it easy to forget. But there was definitely an alertness and maturity that he conveyed that wasn’t at all about growing up. He was someone who gave orders.

Probably someone in charge, Anya decided. She was willing to bet that he’d surpassed an airman in rank. He was just too damned sure of himself.

She blinked. How in the world did she think she knew so much about him after only being with him for a total of fifteen minutes during the past ten years?

Anya tried not to wonder about how many women there’d been since he’d left her. It scared her to realize just how much it had affected her, running into him again tonight.

Because the last thing she needed were any distractions right now. She was determined to discover what had happened to her sister, no matter how horrific the answers might be.

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