They drove back to town and parked outside the grocery store. Next to this was a café, which wasn’t too busy, considering it was lunchtime. Going inside, they found a table by a large window.

A woman straight out of the seventies, complete with white apron, came over to them looking bored with life. Her name tag read ‘Dolores’, which seemed appropriate. “You want coffee?”

She had a pot with her, but Caris screwed up her cute nose at the dark brew.

“Can I get a latte, please?”

The woman sighed. “It’ll take a minute.”

“I’ll take a regular coffee thanks, Dolores,” he said, hoping to mollify the woman.

She gave him an appraising head-to-toe look then poured his coffee. She may have been smiling, or it could have been a grimace.

“On second thoughts, I’ll take a regular too, please.” Caris was a quick learner.

Dolores pursed her lips but filled another cup. “That all?”

“Maybe some pie? If you made it.” Caris slapped on some butter and was rewarded for her efforts with a bit of enthusiasm.

“Damn straight. The best apple pie in the whole of Texas, if I do say so myself.”

“Two slices, please,” he said, as he gave Caris a wink behind the woman’s back. At least Caris was following his lead, and he hadn’t asked her to. Maybe she would be a help. Leastways, the jury was out about it being a good decision or not to bring her along.

He was such a stickler for his own rules, he’d surprised himself by allowing it. Still, it wasn’t like they were after a drug lord or a fugitive.

There was no hurrying Dolores, but eventually, the pie came out and he tucked in. Caris ate with less gusto as the waitress hovered over his shoulder.

He drank the horrible coffee and swallowed hard. “Great pie, Dolores. Never had better.” He acknowledged to himself that this might have been one of the biggest lies he’d ever told.

She blushed slightly. This time her eyes crinkled, and her lips actually slipped into a rough version of a smile. It wasn’t pretty, but it was an improvement on her resting face.

“You want another piece?” she asked.

“Sure, but could you put it in a doggy bag?” There was no way he could force down another piece of the hard pastry and tasteless filling.

“No problem.” Dolores shuffled away and returned with a neat package. “Thought I’d put it in one of these takeaway containers. Pie ain’t so good when it’s smooshed.”

“I’m mighty grateful. Say, I wonder if you knew my mom? She lived here many years ago when I was a kid.”

“What’s her name?”

“Patsy Carlile.” The name sounded funny on his tongue, and to his ear. The answer was instant, which was a huge surprise.

“Sure. She lived out on Braxton Lane. We worked together for a few years, right here. I remember her having a boy. Tall for his age and fair hair. Wouldn’t be you, by chance?”

“It is.” The next bit was harder and wasn’t helped by the pie feeling like it had solidified in his throat. “Could you tell me about my father and why he left town in such a hurry?”

She gave him a cagey look. “I don’t think I recall much about him.”

Andy pulled his wallet from his pants pocket, taking out five twenties and Dolores’s eyes grew big.

She developed a chatty stance—hip resting on the edge of the booth, her hand almost beside the notes. “I heard tell he owed money all over town and had to leave, if you catch my drift?”

Unfortunately, he did. “Do you happen to know who was after him?”

“No, that’s all I know. Your mom was heartbroken when you disappeared, not so upset about your father. I reckon she had no bruises after that.”

“I’m sure.”

“He was a cunning man, your father. I’m sorry to say.” She didn’t look overly sorry as she pocketed the notes. “She’s been gone some time now.”

“Yes, she’s living in Florida.”

Her interest waned, and her mouth pinched in once more. “Nice for some.”

“I’m visiting her tomorrow, but thought I’d take a look at the old place. See if I know anyone in the area.”

“People come and go around here these days, but Braxton Lane seems to have stayed in that decade. Same people, same cars, same houses.”

It was interesting that Dolores was part of the same decade, but couldn’t see it.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Caris was more than willing to leave her barely touched pie, and the first thing he did when they got outside was to biff the container into the nearest trash can.

“Care to walk down memory lane with me?”

“I’d walk anywhere with you, silly.”

A grin escaped, and once more his foul mood was tamped down. It only lasted until he turned the SUV into his old street. Number seven might be lucky for some, but his life had come crashing down around him more than twenty years ago, right there.

“Is that it?”

He nodded. “Not much to look at, is it?”

“I’m sure it was much nicer back then.”

He was touched by her effort to say something positive about the run-down street with more pot-holes than tarmac, and litter along most of the curbs and verges. “Not really. Pretty much the same, actually.”

“Oh.”

“Caris, would you mind waiting here? I’ll knock on doors either side and maybe across the road. I shouldn’t be too long.”

“If that’s what you want.”

It was. He had no idea who would be behind those doors and grubby windows, and he wasn’t about to put her in harm’s way. “Thanks.”

He forced himself out of the car and tried to put in his mind the idea that this was simply work—a job he had to do. It may have helped marginally, but when he spoke to the strangers who answered his knocks, it felt raw and personal as they recounted what he already knew.

He returned to the car, shutting the door a little too forcefully.

“You know what? This is not helpful. No one’s going to say any more than Dolores, are they? Let’s get back to the hotel.”

They went straight to her room and began to outline a plan for tomorrow. While Caris checked her emails, Andy called the pilot and made sure he’d be available first thing and to get the flight plans lodged.

Caris sat cross-legged on the bed, back straight, twirling her hair. It was something she often did without realizing and made their age difference seem more extreme, since he could no more sit in that position than skip rope. Yet, Andy wanted her more with each minute they spent together, and with a bed that handy, it was impossible for his mind not to wander to his favorite topic. Making love to her.

She put her phone down. “Are you all right?”

He shook his head to clear it. “I’m fine.”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

If only she knew that she was the cause. “This whole business is painful,” he bluffed.

“Are you thinking about your dad?”

“I try not to, but naturally with what’s happened he has to take the lion’s share of the blame. At least he would if he was alive. I’d make damn sure of it.” He hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but it did have an effect on his desire, which wasn’t a bad thing right now.

“He wasn’t nice to you, ever?”

“Not that I recall.”

She pulled a face. “I never met him, but I saw the bruises. You deserved better.”

“Growing up, I wanted to believe it was so. You know I ran away a few times? It was a crazy thing to do when you have no money. Each time, I ended up back with him before I could make it even part way back to Texas, hungrier and the worse for wear.”

“It must have been scary, especially when you were so young, and in a strange town.”

“It was scary, particularly once I’d calmed down. It was always after a bigger than normal fight, when all I wanted was to get back to Mom, no matter how. It seemed like the perfect solution at the time.”

The conversation reminded him of the boy he’d been. Trying to be tough in a new city, with a father who couldn’t stand him, life had been miserable back then.

“I bet if you’d asked my dad, he would have found her.”

“You know, I think he would have, or your mom, but how could I ask strangers to do that? Then it was too late. When your mom took me in, I believed mine was dead, and it didn’t occur to me to think otherwise. Life sure can give you lemons.”

She smiled, tenderly. “And, you made lemonade. Look at what you achieved.”

“I worked hard, but it wouldn’t have been possible without your family.”

Caris slipped off the bed and came to stand in front of him, but he walked around her to the connecting door. “Let’s go get dinner. Dolores’s pie needs to be removed from my system and my mind ASAP. I’m thinking a steak would do the trick.”