Page 38 of Chosen Path
Greg’s face contorted with strong emotion. She gave him a moment to compose himself. As she did, she remembered that Corrine had served on the village council alongside Greg.
Perhaps they’d been closer than she realized. Who was she kidding? Everyone in this town was close to one another—except for her. She needed to bear that in mind.
“Are you okay?”
He frowned, then nodded. “Yes. I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you telling me this?”
“I was hoping you might know how to get in touch with Derek.”
“Derek?” he repeated.
“Derek Wolf? Her son. He’s her next of kin, and I don’t have contact information for him.”
“Derek Wolf.” He slowly untied the bright green apron from around his waist and rolled it into a tube, wrapping the strings around it and tucking the ends in neatly as he mused. “I haven’t heard that name in years.”
“I understand he moved away from Scandia Bluff when he was just a little boy. I thought you might know where he ended up.”
“Corrine’s brother’s people up in Maine, if I recall correctly.”
“Her brother died a while back, and Derek would be an adult now. Maybe you know where he is now?”
“Now why would I know that?”
He looked puzzled but she heard more than a question in his voice. It was a challenge. She remembered the message Bodhi had been tasked with delivering to her and lost her patience.
“Three reasons. You’re the head of the village council, so you would have been aware of the problems Derek had after his father died. Two, you served alongside his mother on that council for, I don’t know, decades? And three, he stole paint thinner from this store, from you. By that point, he’d pretty much made a menace of himself in the village, right? Fighting, setting fires, and stealing? I have a hunch Derek went to live with his uncle because you and Corrine worked out an arrangement. Something like you wouldn’t press charges, but he had to go.”
“You’re accusing me of forcing Corrine to ship her son off, is that right?” His mouth tightened.
“I’m not accusing you of anything, Greg. In fact, I think if therewasan arrangement like that it probably inured to the boy’s benefit in the end. This town was a reminder of all he’d lost. A fresh start in a new place may have been exactly what he needed.”
His face was a stone. “That’s an interesting theory. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do inventory.”
She’d been dismissed.
He started to walk around the counter, and she moved to block his path.
“What about Corrine?”
“What about her?”
“Her next of kin needs to make the arrangements for her body and, presumably, her funeral and burial.”
“I told you I don’t know where Derek Wolf is. As far as I know, nobody in town does. Corrine may have, but if she did, she didn’t mention it to me. But don’t worry, Scandia Bluff takes care of its own. Whenever someone dies without family, the village council handles the arrangements.”
“Like Nikolas Lundgren.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered it. “Like Nikolas.”
She held his gaze for a moment longer, then stepped to the side. “I don’t want to keep you from your inventory. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the service for Nikolas.”
“I suppose you will.”
She turned to leave.
He waited until she’d started to walk away, then called after her. “Oh, and Doctor Hart?”
She looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”
