Page 78 of Whispers of the Lake

I nodded. “I do.”

“And do you truly forgive her?”

I gave the question some thought. “I have moments where I get angry. It feels ridiculous sometimes, resenting a dead woman and all,” I said, huffing a laugh. “But yes, I truly do forgive her.”

“That’s good.” She gave me a warm smile. “So, start there. Forgive and move on. Forget about Cole. Forget about Sage Hill. Forget about whatwasand focus on whatis. You have the right to be angry when you need to be, and sad about your friend the next, but what I want you to remember, Rose, is that Eve’s choices had absolutelynothingto do with you. She was never your burden. She was battling something within herself. And sometimes those battles are the hardest to conquer.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Sunlight bounced off my white ceramic coffee mug. I sat at my desk, watching how the light reflected off of it, making the papers shine whiter. Ever since I discovered everything about Eve, I found myself appreciating the little things. I realized after all that I had gone through, that I needed to slow down.

Yes, I was at work, but at the moment I had no deadlines or stories to report. I was sure something would come up within the next couple of days, but right now it felt good to sit and work through a few returned edits from Twyla. It seemed like my life had completely changed in a matter of days. After the incident with Victor and Eve, the story was one Twyla wanted front and center onPremier Daily.

The hook was: Reporter’s Search for Missing Best Friend Becomes a Deadly Encounter.

It’s not exactly the headline I would’ve gone for, but it was already getting a lot of views and traffic. Herbert covered the story and interviewed me, Gina, and Rory. Twyla insisted that I write the piece, but I was glad to offer the opportunity to Herbert. The last thing I wanted was to slip back into that dark place. I’d provided Herbert as many details as I could over several bottles of wine in my apartment. In my opinion, he deserved a promotion and he’d gotten it because I’d moved up to senior reporter.

Sure, it could’ve been because of Twyla’s pity. But still, a win was a win.Take that, Janna and Bree. I picked up my coffee and took a deep sip. A knock sounded on the door and Twyla popped her curly head in.

“You have visitors,” she informed me. “Should I send them in?”

“Yes, please.” I smiled, already knowing who was about to walk through my door.

Twyla opened the door wider, and Kennedy walked in with Rory trotting behind her. Rory carried a container of brownies in her hand, which made me laugh.

“Are you trying to make me fat, Rory?” I asked, giving her a hug.

“No. I was just bored,” she said over my shoulder. She didn’t seem as hollow as she had been a few weeks ago. It seemed like since her brothers had been taken into custody, she was shining a bit brighter. Sad to say, considering how much she loved them.

“Have a seat. Please.” I gestured to the chairs on the other side of my desk.

“We won’t be here long,” Kennedy assured me, adjusting her hips in the chair. “Just wanted to pop by and let you know James and Alex Reed will be going to trial. According to Damian, Alex and James suggested burying Eve’s body in their mother’s grave.”

“What were they charged with?” I asked.

“Concealment of death. They’re facing serious felonies.”

“Wow.” It still hit me hard that it was Eve’sbodynow and not justEve.

“Yep. Took a couple days but we pried the truth out of him. Alex is the one who did the digging. Damian tagged along because James threatened that if he didn’t help, he would frame him and put him in jail for Eve’s murder.”

My throat thickened with emotion. Rory let out a deflated sigh.

“The good news is Rory won’t have to face the foster care system again,” Kennedy went on, smiling warmly at the teen next to her. “Since Damian was threatened and provided us a full confession, his lawyer worked out a deal with the DA and she pulled some strings. He’ll do two years of community service and will be on house arrest for eight months, but at least he’ll be home.”

“Thank God,” Rory said, wiping fake sweat from her forehead.

“Oh, now you want to thank God?” I teased.

“Uh, yeah! He saved my life and yours!” She looked at the ceiling and said, “So sorry for blaspheming you, my heavenly Father. I’ll never do it again.”

I smirked. “Well, I’m glad you’ll still have one of your brothers, at least.”

“Yeah, me too.” Her smile slipped a bit. “We’re thinking about traveling after his two years are up. Getting out of Sage Hill. I’ll be ready to graduate by then and we can make plans now. I think it’s time we branch out.”

“That would be nice. You should definitely do it.”

“Right. Well, I really swung by because I’ve been informed that they’ll need Eve’s body for just a few more days,” Kennedy told me. “Just to be thorough with evidence. Once we have everything we need, we’ll have her body delivered so you can give her a proper burial.”

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