Page 78 of Forgotten Dreams
“Oh.” I put the box down before going to my purse.
“I gave her a twenty and told her to keep the change for all her help,” he mumbles when he gets closer to me.
“My hero.” I smile at him.
“Let’s get these packed back up, so I can put them back and then we can leave.” I nod at him as he places the books back in the box in the same order, then turning and following her back into the room. I hold the book to my chest as if it’s my most prized possession.
He comes out of the room followed by the librarian, who locks the door behind her. “Thank you for all your help,” Caleb tells her as he puts his hand at the base of my back and ushers me out of the room. We stop at the office where we both hand in our badges before we walk out.
“So, successful?” he says, slipping his hand in mine.
“I would say so,” I tell him. “I wonder where they went to after.”
He shrugs as he opens the door for me and kisses me before I get up and in. He buckles the seat belt around me before he walks around. His phone rings as soon as he sits down. “Yeah,” he answers, putting it to his ear. “I’m just finishing something up.” He starts the truck. “Give me twenty.” He hangs up.
“Everything okay?” I ask him as he pulls away from the school.
“Yeah, that was Theo, asking me to go see him for something.”
“Why don’t you drop me off at the bakery? I’ll have a coffee and then walk home.” I look over at him as he just nods.
We pull up to the bakery, and as he parks I lean over to kiss him. “Thank you for today,” I tell him. “I’ll take care of you tonight.” I wink at him before reaching for the door handle and letting myself out.
I slam the door and head toward the bakery, pulling open the door and immediately being hit with the smell of baked goodness. I look around and see that some of the tables are taken by a couple of people before walking up to the pink display case and looking at the donuts they have in there. It’s Everleigh’s specialties, but she changes them almost monthly. “Hey,” Everleigh greets, walking out of the back room, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist, “this is a surprise.”
“It is.” I smile at her. “I was out with Caleb and he got a call, so I told him to just drop me off here.”
“What can I get you?” she asks.
“I’m going to have a latte with some cinnamon on top,” I tell her, “and then give me whatever donut you think I should try.”
“We have a new one this week,” she states, grabbing a plate and then white wax paper. “It’s called Fall into Apple.” She places the donut on a tray as I look at the little pieces of apple crumble on top of the donut covered in white drizzle icing. “It’s as if an apple pie and an apple crumble had a baby.” I laugh at her. “Go and have a seat, I’ll bring you the latte.” She motions with her chin as I grab the tray and head to the corner of the room, pulling out one of the cast-iron pink chairs, before placing the tray on the table and sitting down. I place the yearbook beside the tray, looking around as Everleigh comes over and places the latte on the tray. “What do you have there?” she asks, pulling out the seat in front of me and sitting down. “I think Mom is in here,” she says, laughing as she opens the book.
I gasp. “Really?” She looks at me with her eyebrows pulled together.
“Yeah, I think so. Mom!” she shouts for her mother, who comes out of the kitchen a couple of seconds later.
She looks around the room, spotting Everleigh sitting with me. “Must we shout?” she scolds her, coming to the table.
“Sorry, I was too lazy to get up and come and get you,” she admits. “Look at this.” She holds up the yearbook and Ms. Maddie’s eyes go big.
“Isn’t that a blast from the past,” she declares as she grabs it and opens it, seeing the teachers first. “I had this teacher, and I think he’s still teaching.” She points at one of the guys, laughing, then goes through a couple more. “This is like four or five years after I graduated,” she says. “What are you doing with it?”
“Did you know the Dyson family?” I ask, and she nods.
“I graduated a year before the brother did,” she says. “I want to say his name was Kevin, but I could be mistaken.”
“What happened to them?” I sit practically at the edge of my seat.
“There was talk about one of the sisters falling in love with someone from the wrong side of town and the father was having none of it, so he up and moved everyone away,” she relays.
“Which sister?” My hands are practically shaking.
“I think the older one,” she hesitates, not sure. “He was from up north somewhere.”
“Do you know where they went to?”
“I want to say Jefferson County, but I’m not really sure.” She shrugs. “The mom came from big money,” she fills me in. “Her father owned the newspaper in town, along with a couple of them from all over the United States.”
