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He stared at me in shock. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be so nonchalant about it all.”

“I think we already established you don’t know all that much about me,” I mumbled and focused back on the notebook. I didn’t like letting people close, and I kept cracking the door open for Lexington. I needed to put a stop to it, keep him at arm's length. It was safer for me; he would forget it anyway… he had already forgotten about me once.

A line in the notebook drew my attention: “Question the survivor?”

He leaned over into my space and read over the note before training his eyes on me with a nod. “The librarian, oddly enough, gave me the suggestion. Apparently, there is a survivor. Did you know?”

I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. The first murders, there was a girl left behind.”

“The Taylors, right?”

I nodded, closed the notebook, and handed it back to him. “She was found in the laundry basket, of all places. They interviewed her a couple of times right after the fact, but she didn’t see anything. She was put into protective custody shortly thereafter.”

“Shit, poor girl,” he muttered. “Why haven’t you tried to get in touch with her?”

“First, it’s your case. You’re leading this, I’m just here to give some guidance when needed. So why haven’t you gotten in touch with her?” I challenged.

He rolled his eyes again with a smile. “Whatever,” he teased.

“Second,” I continued, ignoring his comment, “when Detective Ransom sent me the files, I glanced at hers, and she’s separated herself from it all. Moved out of the town, cut any ties with it; she doesn’t even go by her name anymore. I figured she wanted to move on, and I wanted to let her,” I confessed. I knew better than most how damaging it could be to be dragged back to the worst moments of your life.

“She would be, what? Twenty-six, maybe twenty-seven now?” Lexington asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, right around that.”

He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Can we at least try reaching out? It wouldn’t hurt.”

I sighed and stood, turning to him. “Fine, I’ll reach out. I doubt she’ll be any more receptive than anyone else from this town is.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” He motioned toward the car and started walking. We had talked to everyone we could at the festival and had a meeting with Detective Ransom we needed to get to. I followed him toward his SUV.

“What’s this girl's name, the survivor?” Lexington asked.

“Why?” I asked with a raised brow.

He shrugged and walked toward the passenger door, opening it for me. I hopped in as he spoke. “Fifty-nine other people died, but she didn’t. Seems right I give her credit where credit is due.”

He closed the door and rounded the hood before sliding into the seat next to me. The ignition clicked on with a steady thrum, the radio playing softly in the cabin.

“Her name is Marigold. Marigold Taylor.”

He sighed. “I think it’s time we try and get to know this Marigold. Don’t ya think?”

Lexington

“Ijust feel like she’s keeping something from me,” I groaned from Oliver’s front lawn.

All of the kids were currently playing in the grass. River and August chased the older kids while giggling. I always felt grateful that Oliver’s kids were so kind to River. I had loved having a brother and often felt heartbroken that I couldn’t give the same to my son.

Well, I could, but I was in no place to date. Before River, I could admit I was the very definition of a playboy. I had never had a real relationship, and embarrassingly enough, I couldn't recount every person I had slept with, let alone every person I had kissed. I was ashamed of my actions now, but I couldn’t go back and change them. So I chose to grow from them.

Dating as a single dad was hard. I had tried to go on a few first dates over the years, but they had all ended in disaster. One woman was only dating me to get to River. She didn’t care about a relationship; she just wanted to be a mom. I mean, more power to her for knowing what she wanted, but I wouldn’t let her within ten feet of my son. Another woman had called me thirteen times in a day after the first date. One call would have been fine, but when the eleventh came in at one in the morning, I was done. She had only managed to get two more in because I had to Google how to block someone.

Dating was officially a non-starter for me, and so was any idea of giving River siblings. Most days, I didn’t mind. He was all I needed, but then I saw him with his cousins—the way he lit up with August, or fawned over Kaia. He was also desperately in love with Violet, but I knew it was a phase he would grow out of.

“Who is keeping something from you?” Theo asked from her spot on the ground next to me.

She, Oliver, and I were lying on the lawn in the middle of the chaos, ready to jump in if the kids needed us. My back was on the slightly damp grass as I watched the grey clouds move lazily across the sky, but I kept an ear out for River in case he needed me or simply wanted me to join in on the fun. Though, as they were getting older, it was becoming more and more obvious our days of being included in playtime were falling behind us.