Page 71 of Unpacking Secrets

“She did? Do you still have it?”

Excitement flooded my veins until Lewis shook his head again. Before disappointment could take root, Anne cut in.

“Oh yes, it’s in my dresser.” At her husband’s startled look, she smiled kindly. “When we got married, I found it tucked into one of our high school yearbooks. I showed it to Nan, because the whole town knew she’d been searching high and low for your mother. There was no return address.”

“What did it say?”

“Not much, just that she was sorry she didn’t get to say goodbye to Lewis, and that it was best for everybody if she didn’t stick around. But she did mention . . . ”

I straightened in my chair. “Mention what?”

“That she was pregnant. I don’t think Nan knew until I showed her the letter. I’ve spent decades feeling guilty for invading Melissa’s privacy like that, but it had been years since she left. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Lewis caught my gaze when it shot to him. “Much as I’d love a daughter like you, Juliet, Missy and I were never, uh, intimate.”

“Right,” I said softly, clearing my throat. “Anne, you shouldn’t feel guilty. I don’t know why my mom left town, but if that’s how Nan knew I existed, I’m glad you told her. She wrote me letters over the years, even without a way to send them. I found them in the attic.”

Henry squeezed my hand when my breath hitched—the likelihood of those letters surviving the fire was slim.

“I saved Missy’s note. I’ll go fetch it for you,” Anne said, hurrying into the house.

Lewis eyed us both carefully now that his wife was gone, then said in a low voice, “I do remember Tom Heller. I didn’t realize that’s who Missy was seeing, but if so, it was probably a good thing she left. He wasn’t a good man. Mid-twenties, maybe. Definitely some years older than us. He came into town on a construction job.”

Construction job.I met Henry’s eyes and saw he’d made the same connection to that newspaper clipping. An involuntary shiver slithered up my spine.

“Guy liked to park across from the high school, watch the girls from his truck. I wouldn’t be surprised if she caught his eye. Missy could shine like the sun, when she wasn’t storming like a thundercloud,” Lewis finished.

“And you’ve never seen him since?” Henry asked.

I could feel the tension radiating from him and gripped his hand tightly, though whether I was hoping to give comfort or receive it, I wasn’t sure. More puzzle pieces were coming together,even if we weren’t finding answers yet to all of our questions.

Lewis shook his head just as Anne returned to the table and handed me the letter.

“You keep that,” he said. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent. Connections like that letter become priceless.”

We stayed to finish our lemonade, but neither Lewis nor Anne could tell us much more than they already had. I impulsively hugged both of them before we left, ignoring Henry’s muttered speculation about Libby rubbing off on me, and the couple looked delighted by the gesture.

Henry shook their hands instead, then laced his fingers with mine as we walked back to the truck. I stayed quiet until we were enclosed in the cab.

“So, my father might be Tom Heller, who might also be a serial killer, if those clippings Nan kept are any indication. Do you think he’s responsible for the fire?”

Henry opened his mouth to respond, then snapped it shut for a moment while he thought it through. “If Heller left town, why would he come back now? It’s been thirty years.”

“Don’t they say killers like to return to the scene of the crime?” I asked, then shivered again. “I can barely wrap my head around it all. My mom definitely knew Heller. She fought with him in public after a dance and again outside the inn, right before she suddenly left town. Why? Because he threatened her? Because she told him she was pregnant?”

“Or,” Henry suggested quietly, “because she made the connection between Heller and those murders? She had quite a temper, from all I’ve heard. Maybe she said something that made him realize she knew the truth.”

My blood ran cold, then my mind cleared of all but one thought. “So she might have left town to protect Nan.”

“And you,” Henry added.

“And me.” My voice was barely a whisper as I processed that possibility.

I stared out the window as we drove home, caught on the idea that my mother disappeared to protect all of us, rather than to get away from Spruce Hill or Nan in particular. Stupidly, I'd assumed that she left town over something trivial. Whether it was some argument between Nan and my mom, or Mom and whoever my father might be, I figured it had been the result of a flare of my mother’s famous temper.

Not because of a murderer. What the hell did you get yourself into, Mom?

Henry rubbed his jaw, mulling over the possibilities.

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