Page 5 of Families and Other Enemies

CHAPTER THREE

WHENSHECROSSEDthe state line into California, Kellen began to feel less wild-eyed. Even putting an imaginary line between her and Aunt Cora was liberating. She drove straight west and didn’t stop until she reached Highway 1, the narrow road that snaked up the Pacific Coast from the Mexican border north to Canada. She stopped for gas, and a cold iced tea and a bag of corn nuts, and got back in the car and headed north. She drank and ate, rolled down her windows to let the salty odor of the ocean drive memories of her childhood to the back of her mind.

She had nowhere to go, no duties to perform. For the first time in years, she was aimless, and she let herself be aimless. She’d never driven through Big Sur; it was as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as its reputation claimed. She stopped and stayed in Monterey, drove through San Francisco, then up the Northern California coast into wilder territories. Here and there a chunk of ancient rock had flung itself into the waves, and sea lions and gulls basked in the spray of the waves. She overnighted in foggy Eureka, then crossed the border into Oregon. Glorious scenery, but the farther she drove, the more she was aware that, with a quick turn inland, she’d be at the Oregon winery where Max and Rae lived.

She should stop. She knew she should stop. Max had once been her lover. She didn’t remember all the details—that pesky amnesia—but she knew it had been a good relationship. How to explain to him she was having difficulties accepting Rae as her child?

Not that she didn’t believe Rae was her child. Without a doubt, she knew that was the truth.

RAE DI LUCA:

FEMALE, 7 YO, NATIVE AMERICAN/CAUCASIAN/ITALIAN ANCESTRY. BLONDE, CHEERFUL, IRREPRESSIBLE, MISSING FRONT TEETH, LOVING, LOUD, ENTHUSIASTIC. THE SPITTING IMAGE OF KELLEN’S COUSIN AT THAT AGE.

Oh, Rae was so Kellen’s daughter.

But to suddenly be called on to fulfill the twin ties of kinship and duty... Kellen didn’t know how. Kellen, who had always looked down on people who abandoned their duty, was running. Not away, she assured herself, but past.

Which was okay. It had been Max’s idea that she take a little time to wrap her mind around the life-changing circumstances she now confronted. Although probably he never meant her to wander with no end plan.

Shehadn’t meant to wander with no end plan, either. What was she doing? Besides driving while steeped in self-loathing?

Yet she still kept going.

She crossed the border into Washington, still traveling that winding highway, and as she neared Yearning Sands Resort, she considered stopping. Her military friends were there. The folks she’d worked with at the resort. But everyone knew her secrets, her situation. They’d enjoy some much-appreciated gossip, but Kellen needed someone not tangled up in this whole mess to talk to, to confide in. Someone who understood duty and service, disappointment and pain. Someone who had been broken and put herself back together.

She kept driving up Washington’s coast, and inevitably she spotted the sign for Virtue Falls.

Welcome to Virtue Falls

Founded 1902

Your Vacation Destination on the Washington Coast

Home of the World-Famous Virtue Falls Canyon

Population 2,487

Of course! Now she knew who she should find. She knew who would understand. She sped up, eager to get into town and—damn it! As she passed a turnout, a car pulled out behind her, and red and blue flashing lights blared in her rearview mirror.

She pulled over onto the shoulder and killed the engine.

Best. Week. Ever.

She watched the long-legged female officer slowly lift herself out of the driver’s seat and Sheriff Kateri Kwinault moved toward Kellen’s car, walking stick in hand.

SHERIFF KATERI KWINAULT:

FEMALE, EARLY 30S, 5'8", 140 LBS, HALF NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY, HALF STUCK-UP WHITE-BREAD BORING PHILADELPHIA ARISTOCRAT ANCESTRY. FORMER COMMANDER OF THE LOCAL COAST GUARD UNIT. BEATEN, BATTERED—SHE WOULD SAY MURDERED—BY THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI CAUSED (AHEM) BY THE FROG GOD WHO INHABITS THE OCEAN. RETURNED TO LIFE...BARELY. BECAME THE TOWN’S LIBRARIAN. MIRACULOUS RECOVERY. WAS NOW THE FIRST FEMALE SHERIFF OF VIRTUE FALLS. MIRACULOUS RECOVERY CONTINUED.

Kateri Kwinault had been kicked around by life—and she was exactly the person Kellen wanted to see.

Kellen rolled down the window and smiled feebly at Kateri.

Kateri stared in surprise. “Kellen. Kellen Adams. I didn’t expect to see you behind the wheel. Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“I have a pretty good idea. I assume you’ll be wanting my license and registration?”

“Please.” As Kellen dug out the papers (why were they never easy to find when a cop stood outside your car door?), Kateri asked, “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

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