Though his mother didn’t say a word and never would, he could hear her thoughts.
Your father never put his Ranger duties ahead of his family when it counted.
And that hurt.
Chapter Four
Natalie was in the middle of making tacos for dinner when she heard her cell ring. There was no Caller ID, but Kit had given her a heads-up earlier in the day. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Harris? I’ve brought your husband’s car home. It’s in the driveway with the key in the ignition. I’ve left it unlocked.”
“Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
After she hung up, she turned to Amy who was in her playpen chewing on one of her doughnut toys. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.”
She left the kitchen and hurried through the house to the front door. When she opened it, she found it strange to see Rod’s Sentra again, knowing he was out of their lives permanently. Her feelings were so dead where he was concerned, she felt as if she’d turned into an entirely different person.
She opened the trunk and reached inside for the quilt. The cell phone and laptop were in there, too. She gathered everything in her arms and shut the trunk before rushing back into the house.
Natalie put the things down on the couch but carried the quilt to the kitche
n. “Look what I’ve got, honey!”
Amy pointed at it, but kept playing with her red doughnut. While she was still content, Natalie took the quilt to the laundry room to be run through a wash and dry cycle. Before doing anything else, she walked to her bedroom and gathered the rest of Rod’s things from her closet. Kit had mentioned wanting to look through them, so she carried them to couch.
Once he’d checked everything, she would throw out the last vestiges of Harold Park. A shudder ran through her body. She couldn’t wait to be rid of anything that reminded her of him. That included his car. She’d take it to a used-car dealer to sell or, better yet, donate it.
While she finished cutting up some tomatoes and avocado, her cell rang. She saw that it was Colette and took the call.
“Oh, Colette. Thanks so much for calling me back.”
“Of course. I feel terrible that I couldn’t fly to Austin for the graveside service, but Chad had his appendix removed that morning and I had to stay home with him.”
“I understand totally. To be honest I’m glad you didn’t come.” Natalie’s voice shook.
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you have a few minutes?”
“Sure I do.”
Natalie gave her friend a brief account of what had happened.
“My gosh, Natalie. I don’t believe it. Rod was a felon?”
“Afraid so. There’s so much to tell you, but not right now. The reason I’m calling is because the Texas Ranger who’s working on the case wants to fly to Phoenix to talk to you about the day you saw Rod with that other woman.”
“You mean the woman who wasn’t your cousin?”
“That’s the one. When would it be okay to come? He says the sooner the better. Amy and I will fly there with him.”
“Come tomorrow. Chad is feeling better every day. I’ll meet you at the airport to save you time.”
“That would be wonderful! I’ll tell him and get back to you on the exact time.”
“Good. I’ll wait for your call. Stay safe.”