Page 19 of No Business Like Snow Business

My heart sank. There wasn’t any reason to think Freddy would still be with the guy in the photo. Especially if Travis Jones had still been in college in 1989. But on some level, I guess I’d hoped.

“Betsy Horner,” Linda said at once.

“Betsy Horner,” Bob agreed.

I stared down at the photograph. At the smiles on the men’s faces. If Cap Guy was TravisJones, then we were probably no closer to finding Freddy than we’d beenyesterday. I couldn’t help glancing at Harvey. I didn’t know what I was expecting—or hoping—to see. Some indication that he was as disappointed as I was?

I was surprised to find him looking at me. Not some conspiratorial, back-to-the-drawing-board look either. When I turned, he sort of shook himself, like he’d been caught daydreaming. Like he’d been studying me on the sly and was embarrassed about it. He gave me a warm smile, and I gave a tight one in reply before turning back to Bob and Linda. “Thank you. That’s helpful.”

“Who was Travis’s friend?” Bob asked Linda. “They were joined at the hip that year. Oh, that friend of his would come meet Travis when his shift was done and stuff his face full of caramel corn from the machine while he was waiting for Travis to punch out. I can’t believe I’d forgotten about the two of them!”

My heartbeat had picked up again.Freddy,I thought.

“Gabriel Baum.” Linda placed a hand on Bob’s shoulder. “He left town after that summer. I don’t know that Travis stayed in touch with him. They had a falling out before Travis went back to school.”

Once again, that sinking sense of disappointment entered my gut. But I was confused too. Gabriel Baum, joined at the hip with Travis Jones and then gone, leaving Travis to finish college and marry Betsy Horner. Could my uncle have used a false name during his time in Christmas Falls? Had he wanted to separate himself from his family that badly?

“That’s right,” Bob said. “Hmm. Gabriel.”

A hint of disapproval slipped into his tone, and Linda stepped closer to his chair and nudged him with her hip. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been staring again at the vibrant green of her pants.

Harvey’s leg nudged mine, and I couldn’t tell whether it was an accident, but it made warmth spark through me either way. He’d been unusually quiet during this interview, none of his usual amateur sleuthing skills on display.

“He a relation of yours?” Bob asked me. “Travis?”

“Oh, um. No. I… No.” I should tell Linda and Bob my uncle’s name. It was Freddy we were trying to find, after all—not Cap Guy. But something about the Gabriel Baum story had unsettled me. I could sure as hell think of a reason two boys might have been joined at the hip one summer, then had a falling out before going their separate ways. I could put two and two together and figure out why Linda and Bob Hanks were uncomfortable talking about it, too. Besides, if Linda or Bob had recognized Freddy as Gabriel, they’d have said so. Right?

Another glance at the photo. Maybe the two boys weren’t a couple after all. Or they were, but it only worked so long as they didn’t put a name to it. As long as they pretended to the world—and to each other—that they were merely good friends. Maybe one of them had tried to name it, tried to say what he felt. And the other had reacted badly.

I realized I was making quite an assumption here, thinking Freddy had used a fake name. Letting my imagination run away with me.

Why not just open my mouth and ask whether the other man in the photo was Gabriel Baum? Why was I suddenly afraid that would invite more information than I wanted? Prompt Linda and Bob to repeat the whispered gossip that had no doubt circulated about these two in the late eighties, with knowing nudges and winks. Harsher, uglier gossip than was likely circulating about Harvey and me now.

“Is that Gabriel, then?” I finally blurted, holding up the photo. “The other guy?” I could sense Harvey leaning forward alongside me.

“Oh, goodness.” Linda adjusted her position to peer at the photo again. “I couldn’t be sure. I only saw Gabriel once or twice. Bob?”

Was it my imagination, or was there something theatrical in the way Bob squinted this time? “I don’t think so. Gabriel haddarker hair. Hard to remember what he looked like, it’s been so long.” He leaned back in the chair and left it at that.

That seemed strange. Freddy was looking right into the camera in the photo. Most of his hair was under the knit cap, and the photo’s overexposure could easily be making his hair look lighter than it had been. Still, it made a certain amount of sense. They’d both last seen Gabriel over thirty years ago. Whereas they saw Travis Jones around town and could make the connection between the young ‘fellow’ in the photograph and the man they still knew.

I wasn’t sure whether it was time to say our goodbyes, and Harvey wasn’t giving me any cues. Luckily, Caspar bounded in just then with a squeaky toy shaped like a gingerbread man. He tossed it in the air, caught it, then leaped to ricochet off the end of the couch.

“Alright, alright,” Bob said, rising from the chair. “I can take a hint.” He looked at us. “My apologies, but it’s time for a game of fetch in the backyard.”

Caspar twirled in a circle, biting down on the gingerbread man repeatedly to make it squeak.

“Take some treats,” Linda cautioned. “In case he gets it in his head to go through the broken fence.”

“It’ll be fine. He’ll be so focused on destroying that gingerbread man, he’ll forget he can make a break for it.” Bob kept a hand on his hip for a moment and stretched, his back cracking. “Got to do something about that fence, though. Thanks for stopping by, you two.”

“Thank you,” Harvey said. “We appreciate your time.” But something was off. He didn’t sound like his usual sunny self.

“We do,” I echoed. “Thank you.”

Linda showed us to the door. Before we stepped out into the cold, she put a hand briefly on Harvey’s shoulder. “Take care,” she said.

“You too,” we said in unison.

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