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.The country singer.”“What? Why didn’t you guys tell me this?” Campbell shook her head.“She’s famous.”“Yes, she is, darlin’,” Adele said.“Really famous.” Campbell glanced at Luke, who had also managed not to reveal who his sister was.She mailed a letter to a famous singer, and she didn’t even realize it.“Let’s change the subject,” Adele said.“Where are we at with your daddy-search?”“I found some more scrapbook pages.” The words escaped before Campbell had a chance to decide if she wanted them to.“You did?” Jane set her mug down.“They were hidden in the trunk.With letters Mom had written to her parents.”Adele let out a slight gasp.“The letters had been returned—unopened.”“What in the world was wrong with Suzanne’s mom?” Jane shook her head.“I don’t understand how a mother could intentionally stop speaking to her own child.”Campbell glanced at Adele, who looked away.“I’m so sorry, Adele, I didn’t mean—” Jane’s cheeks went red.“No, darlin’, you’re right.It’s no way for parents to carry on with their children.Yet, here I am.” She paused, as if trying to decide whether to go on.“I made a grave mistake with Meghan, and she’s makin’ me pay for it.I have to let her work it out for herself and pray that the good Lord brings her back to me.”Campbell smiled softly as her eyes met Adele’s.“Campbell, what did the pages say?” Lila asked.“I only read one of them.It was from the first night she met a boy out on the dock.She said she’d had a huge fight with her parents and she snuck out.He was there.They talked.Sounded innocent, but I think you might’ve been wrong.Whoever this guy was—I think maybe she loved him.”Lila and Jane exchanged a look.“Do you still think it could’ve been Mark Davis?” Campbell tried to read them both.Jane shrugged.“It would really surprise me if it was.”“It seems the most logical possibility,” Lila said.“Mark was so good-looking and we all knew he’d end up rich like his father.I think in some way we all had a crush on Mark Davis.”“Lila!” Jane threw her napkin at her.“What? I’m just telling the truth.Not like your crush on him, of course.” Lila laughed.“Maybe it was Gunther,” Jane said.Confused glances criss-crossed over the table.Then Lila burst out laughing.“I am sure your mom had better taste than that.Mark Davis is definitely the best option.”Campbell went to bed that night replaying the conversation in her mind.She’d spent hours editing photos, but even that distraction couldn’t keep her mind from wandering.As she tried to sleep, her thoughts returned to the pages in the trunk.The words her mother had written.Quietly, she opened the lid and fished the stack from inside.One by one, she read the pages her mom had hidden.Like a delicious romance novel, the pages chronicled not only a love story, but a friendship—between two people who felt misunderstood everywhere but on that dock in the middle of the night.One of the pages described a conversation they’d had about their fears of moving beyond high school—something that supported the argument that it was Mark Davis and not an older man.Another page mentioned her friends and how she needed to be careful to keep from wanting anything but friendship from this boy because it could erode the relationships that meant so much to her.Another clue that it was Dr.Davis.One page, written in white paint pen on a dark navy sheet of cardstock, had been titled “The Night Everything Changed.”Her mom had drawn stars and a sliver of a moon on the background.The dock led to a boat, and in the boat, her mom had drawn two people.The journaling read:Tonight he arrived with a yellow rose.Maybe I wanted it to mean more than it did.Maybe it wasn’t a symbol of his undying love—just something pretty he found on the way to the dock.I didn’t mean for this to happen.I know better.We had the perfect friendship—one that I could count on, different from my girlfriends, and I ruined it.I let us ruin it.We had gotten so close, but I think we both got confused.I let myself fall for someone that was never supposed to be mine to begin with.And I made a huge mistake.He told me he was sorry.He’d never meant for it to happen either.My heart is broken.Everything will change now.We’ll never be the same.But I’ll never forget it.Not for as long as I live.Mom had loved him.Whoever he was.He broke her heart.Campbell cried, not just for herself, but for her mom—who’d never found someone to replace the love she knew in Sweethaven.THIRTY-FIVECampbellSunlight poured in the windows, rousing Campbell from sleep.She looked at the scrapbook pages strewn across the floor.She must’ve dropped them when she drifted off.She’d discovered more evidence to prove Lila’s theory.A wave of fear shot through her body.Dr.Davis could be in town at that very moment.She curbed the emotions, trying to forget she had a grandfather to attempt to forgive and a maybe-father to confront.So far, every effort to ignore those facts had failed.She threw off the covers and hurried to get ready.After one final glance in the mirror, she went downstairs.The house was quiet.Even Mugsy was gone.Tonight she’d pick up her prints and take them to the gallery for framing.She walked down Elm Street to Main and turned toward downtown.Campbell took a couple shots of the flurry of activity in Sweethaven Square as residents decorated the gazebo.She walked down a busier than usual Main Street until she reached the Café.Inside, her eyes grazed the crowd until she found Luke behind the counter.As he glanced up and met Campbell’s eyes, his smile widened and he waved.The little old lady he waited on followed his stare until she spotted Campbell, gave her the once-over, and then wiggled her eyebrows, teasing Luke.His face flushed red, and he handed the woman her drink.“Did you get all your shots edited?”“I finished them around two, but I took more this morning.”“Did you send them to the place I told you about? I called my buddy Jeff—he’s going to rush them through for you.”“Yeah, I e-mailed them.Thanks, Luke.” Had anyone ever been so nice to her?“My pleasure.Listen, I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but I thought you might want to know that Dr.Davis is here.” Campbell’s pulse quickened.“Right over there.” He pointed to a man sitting at the high counter against the wall.The man was reading a newspaper and drinking from a disposable coffee cup.His back was to them so she couldn’t make out his features.Campbell switched her bag from one shoulder to the other.She knew an opportunity had presented itself.Her maybe-father was only a few feet away.She could potentially sit down and have a conversation.Maybe God had opened a door for her.But that was silly.Why would God do that?“He’s by himself,” Luke said.“Should I talk to him?” Campbell’s mouth went dry like someone had swabbed the moisture away with thick strips of cotton.Luke laid a hand on her shoulder.“I think you’re the only one who can make that decision.”Sometimes she hated being a grown-up.“All right,” she said.“Wish me luck.”She hitched the bag up higher on her shoulder and walked toward Dr.Davis.She left a seat between them.Dr.Davis concentrated on his newspaper.He wore reading glasses and a thick gold band on his left ring finger [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]