Page 45 of The Summer that Changed Everything
“No way... Two killers? Come on.”
“Improbable isn’t the same thing as impossible.”
Making a face, he set his beer aside as if it was souring his stomach. “Well,Idon’t believe it. If you ask me, Lucy’s going on a wild-goose chase. She’s foolish to waste her time, energy and resources. I mean... what does she hope to accomplish here? She’s come back for nothing. Stands to gainnothing!” he repeated more emphatically.
“People treated her badly when she lived here, Chet. I think she wants everyone to know that she might be related to a terrible person, but she isn’t a terrible person herself. That’s important to her. It would be important to anyone. She also feels whoeverdidhurt Aurora needs to be punished.”
“There is no one else. She’s just going to upset everyone for no reason. I mean—” he threw up his hands “—what’s she goingto do? Ask those who were living here back then if they know anything?” He chuckled humorlessly. “Anyone who might have something to share probably won’t even speak to her, so it’ll go nowhere. She needs to weigh the cost-benefit ratio.”
“That’s just it.”
Chet leaned forward. “What?”
“The cost won’t be quite so bad for her since I’m helping. I’ve hired a private investigator to look into it.”
Chet’s jaw went slack. “Are you kidding me?”
“No.”
He stood. “Why wouldyouget involved?”
“Because I think she has a right to clear her name, if she can.”
“Shedidn’t get the blame!”
“In a way, she did,” Ford argued.
Chet wrinkled his nose to show his skepticism and denied that statement with a shake of his head. “What she’s doing is ridiculous!”
Kira came from putting the baby down and did a double take when she saw her husband’s face. Normally pale under all the freckles, it was now mottled red. “What’s ridiculous?” she asked, picking up on the last of the conversation.
“The daughter of the murderer I told you about is back—”
“Lucy,” she broke in.
“Yes, Lucy. She’s trying to get everyone riled up again.”
Ford scowled. “She’s not trying to get everyone riled up again. She just wants to do what the police didn’t and make sure we really have the answers we think we do.”
“But why?” Chet asked. “There’s no point.”
“I just explained it to you,” Ford said.
Kira looked confused. “Honey, why would it make any difference to you?”
Finally, Chet seemed to get hold of himself. “I don’t know,” he said, sitting up straighter. “I guess that was a crazy time for all of us, and I was looking forward to a fun summer here—notone where we’re once again plagued with that old bullshit. It’s upsetting to have a friend die, but it’s even more upsetting to learn that she waskilled.”
At the softening of Chet’s tone and attitude, Ford relaxed. “I get it. Sometimes I think about Aurora and can’t believe she’s gone—that I know someone who wasmurdered.”
“It’s upsetting,” Chet said. “We don’t need any reminders.”
Kira put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “I married a sensitive guy. And I love him all the more for it.”
Chet reached up to cover his wife’s hand while pretending to be emasculated. “Come on, honey. I’m not sure I want you to perceive me asthatsensitive,” he joked. “I’d rather you thought of me as a big, tough dude.”
“You’re everything I want you to be,” she said with a smile. “So let’s not get caught up in Lucy’s return and what she might be doing this summer.”
“Okay,” he said.
