Chapter 26
We arrived back at Honey’s in time to meet Lidia and Dahlia, who had come by for another play date.
“How’s everything going?” I asked Lidia when she had released her niece into the fray. Honey’s girls pulled Dahlia into their games right away.
Lidia pushed the hair back from her eyes, which had dark circles under them despite her makeup. “Good. I’m starting to make headway on clearing out Valerie’s apartment. I’m not sure if I’m going to get through it all before the funeral, and my husband is supposed to be home from the Philippines next week. I’m anxious for him and Dahlia to get to know each other better.”
“How does he feel about gaining a daughter?” Honey asked. I could tell she was choosing her words with care.
A smile lit Lidia’s face. “He’s excited. We’ve never been able to have children together, and we’ve talked about adoption a few times.” She turned to Dahlia, who was walking a Bratz figure alongside Madison’s doll as if the two of them were out for a stroll in the park. “Sometimes wonderful things can happen in the midst of tragedy.”
I agreed with her. If Dahlia started receiving the kind of love and support rumor had it she didn’t get from her mother, it would have some silver linings for the little girl. And for Lidia and her husband.
Chance ran over with a blue three-ring binder and shoved it at me. “Hey, you want to see what I did for my project?”
“Sure.” I took the book from the eager boy and paged through it. Each plastic sleeve held pictures. The middle picture on each page was one of his parents or sibling. The other photos were of relatives with information about the trait the main person had inherited from them. These included talents and physical characteristics, so it was clear his mother had lent a hand. I wondered when she’d had time to help him with everything else going on.
After his family, there were pictures of me with my parents and grandparents and the qualities I’d gotten from them. Following my page was one with photos of Dahlia with shots of Lidia and Valerie on the sides. The picture of Dahlia was of her in Tad’s arms as they laughed together—probably one of the few taken of Dahlia the night of the murder. The comments on the page were strictly about the characteristics she’d gotten from her mother and aunt. I found my eyes drawn back to the picture in the middle, studying both faces. Valerie wasn’t the only person Dahlia resembled. My mind started to race.
I needed to think this over before sharing it with anyone, so I flipped the page again and finding nothing else, handed it back to Chance. “That’s awesome. You did a great job. I bet your teacher loves it.”
He beamed at me and rattled on about the science fair and how excited he was. While I tried to focus on him, I kept finding myself looking back to Dahlia. Could it be a coincidence? Something told me it wasn’t, and I needed to make another trip to Prescott to chat with Tad.
When Honey redirected Chance to the table to finish his homework, I caught Lidia’s eye. She seemed to be watching me, but I pushed back my suspicions and changed the subject. After a few more minutes I looked at my watch. “I need to head home. I’m supposed to meet Shawn to go to the Silver Spur tonight. I have less than an hour until he comes to get me.” And a ton of stuff to unload from my vehicle.
“Have fun.” Honey winked. “I expect a full report.”
“I’ll call you in the morning,” I promised and said goodbye to Lidia and the kids.