Solo let go of the rock. Let go of the past.

The sunlight of the present day crashed into his face.

“Are you okay?” Cecily asked, scrambling down to join him.

The others gathered around.

He looked into the eyes of the woman he loved more than anything in the world, wondering where he would find the strength to tell her the truth.

He closed his eyes and pictured the man again.

It was definitely Dirk.

In a way, it made sense. He had filmed a movie right where they were standing. He would have had ample time to interact with residents of the town.

But he remembered Cecily saying that her aunt was the one to have an affair with the movie star.

Could Dirk Malcolm have had affairs with both sisters?

It occurred to Solo that maybe the vision he had just seen was a vision of Cecily’s aunt and not her mother at all. Maybe he had picked up one of her memories at the house.

He’d seen pictures of Cecily’s mom, but not her aunt. He wondered if the two women looked alike. Cecily shared her mother’s curls. Maybe they ran in the family and everything he had just seen meant nothing.

“What is it?” Cecily asked. “What did you see?”

“I’m - I’m not sure,” he hedged. “Do you still have family in this town?”

“Yeah,” Cecily said. “My Uncle Ray moved to Portland when I was in high school, but my Aunt Stacy’s here. She still has the nail salon on Main Street.”

“Can we go see her?” Solo asked.

“Sure,” Cecily said. “Absolutely. Come on, guys.”

He could see the worry in her eyes. But until he learned more, there was nothing Solo could do to ease it.

Cecily drove, a look of resolve on her face.

Solo was glad she was determined, glad she wanted to know the truth. If it could be found today, he would find it for her.

At last they pulled up in a small downtown area.

Cecily parked the RV and they all piled out.

The town library had handsome marble columns, otherwise it was a modest town square filled with glass storefronts and metal benches.

Cecily set off in the direction of a shop with the words Greenfield Nail Salon on the awning above it.

“We’ll go to the cafe down the block,” Kate told Solo. “You go on with her. Let us know if you need us.”

Solo nodded and entered the nail salon after Cecily.

Solo noticed the scent of chemicals, then the line of women sitting on large chairs with their feet in small pools of water.

“Cecily?”

A woman stepped from behind the cash register. She was very tall, with stick-straight brown hair and big brown eyes.

“Aunt Stacy,” Cecily said warmly.

The two women embraced and Solo felt their happiness in his heart. At the same time, he knew that this was not the woman from his vision.

“What are you doing here, honey?” Aunt Stacy asked.

“We need to talk privately,” Cecily said.

“Come on back,” her aunt said.

“Come on, Solo,” Cecily said.

They all followed behind the curtain to a surprisingly bright room with glass doors overlooking a small grassy courtyard. There was a table at the center of the room with two half full water glasses on it. The counter top next to the table held a coffee maker and a row of mugs.

“Do you guys want something to drink?” Aunt Stacy asked.

“We’re fine,” Cecily said. “This is my friend, Solo. We came here because… because he needs to ask you a few questions.”

“Oh, okay,” Aunt Stacy said, giving Solo an appreciative once-over. “Nice to meet you. I hope you kids are staying in town for a while. You’re welcome to my guest room.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well,” Solo told her honestly. He would have preferred they meet under less auspicious circumstances, but he was glad to have the chance to connect with someone important to Cecily.

“Well, what would you like to ask me?”

He considered. There did not seem to be a mannerly way to ask her what he needed to know.

“Cecily tells me that you once… dated Dirk Malcolm when he was filming a movie in this town,” he said at last. “Is that true?”

“Oh,” she said, looking less surprised than he would have expected. “Um, yes, Dirk was here to film a movie and that rumor certainly spread around this town like wildfire.”

That was an answer and also not an answer.

“Was the rumor true?” Solo asked.

Aunt Stacy bit her lip.

Solo looked down at the table to give her a moment to compose herself. He hoped that she would want her niece to have the truth.

The sunlight from outside hit the water glass in front of him, shooting a glare into his eye.

He reached out and pushed it away.

A clear image of Dirk Malcolm holding the cup dropped down around him.

“He was here,” Solo said, letting go of the glass.

“Here? But, you didn’t even have this place back then,” Cecily said.

“No, he was here today,” Solo said. “Earlier this afternoon.”

“Oh, Cecily,” Aunt Stacy said, “I…I…”

She began to cry into her hands.

Solo grabbed the water glass and closed his eyes to let the curtain of memory fall around him.

Dirk Malcolm stood in the doorway of the room.

Stacy poured two glasses of water into the cups, glancing up at him nervously.

“Stacy, I wouldn’t have recognized you,” Dirk said.

“Oh boy,” Aunt Stacy said. “You’d better sit down.”

“I never stopped thinking about you,” Dirk told her.

“Well, you’re wrong about that,” Stacy told him. “I need to explain something.”

“Listen, there’s nothing to explain,” Dirk said. “I was young and dumb. I didn’t know my butt from a hole in the ground—”

“—I’m not her,” Stacy yelled.

“You… I’m sorry, what?” Dirk asked.

“My name is Stacy Page, but you didn’t sleep with me, you slept with my sister,” Aunt Stacy said.

“I—I did?” he asked.

“Her name was Agnes, after our grandmother,” Stacy said, handing him the glass of water and indicating the seat in front of him. “But she always hated that name. Thought it made her sound like an old lady.”

“Agnes,” Dirk echoed.

“When you approached her, she freaked out and gave you my name instead. She never thought hers was cool, and she wanted to impress you, I guess.”

Aunt Stacy smiled fondly.

“Wow,” Dirk said. “Where is she now? Is she still in town?”

“No,” Aunt Stacy shook her head.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dirk said. “Wherever she is, I’ll go there and find her. I was young and stupid when we met. My Red Hot Alien Summer was the first movie I ever headlined. I thought all I cared about was my career, and that a good woman like your sister wouldn’t be able to keep up with my lifestyle. I know better now. I would trade it all for another chance to be with her. I’ve always felt like I left a piece of myself here with her. I’m sure she’s settled down with someone else, but I still want to tell her how much she meant to me.”

“Oh, Dirk,” Aunt Stacy said, tears brimming in her eyes. “She passed away four years ago.”

There was a moment of silence and then Dirk Malcolm dropped his head into his hands and his shoulders racked with big, ugly sobs. This was real and horrible - nothing like the movie, where a single tear ran down his manly squared jaw.

Solo couldn’t help but feel he was intruding on a moment not meant for his eyes. He removed his hand from the glass and looked to Cecily’s aunt.

“Her mother begged me not to tell,” she said helplessly. “Everyone already said I was a wild child anyway. And she was always such a good girl.”

“Do you want to tell her or should I?” he asked.

“Her mother didn’t want her to know,” Stacy pleaded.

“I want her to know,” he said.