"So what made you look me up now?" Patty asked.
While Zoe reached for the keys in her purse, Ryan pulled the old paperwork out of his pocket. "All this," he said. "We're hoping that somehow you were called before they dumped the contents of Faith's locker."
As Patty looked at the paper, her hands shook. "I was. And I picked up a stack of papers from the bus terminal years ago."
Hope flared in Ryan's chest. "What did you do with them?"
"Well I kept them, because I thought maybe Faith would come back one day." She blinked and he noticed her glassy eyes. "She didn't, of course."
"I'm guessing the papers are long gone by now?" Zoe asked.
"Actually…"
Patty stood and started walking, so Ryan rose and followed, Zoe behind him.
"I'm a pack rat," Patty explained as she headed into the hallway and paused at a closed door. "We've moved since I received the papers, but I kept all my old things in boxes. I never could bring myself to part with anything and since those items were my only link to Faith, I held on to them. I can't promise you that the papers are there, but if you don't mind dust, there's a good chance you'll find it if you dig around in the basement." She opened the door and flicked on an overhead light.
Ryan glanced at Zoe in her pink skirt and white halter top and asked, "Are you up for another dusty recovery mission?"
"I'm game if you are." In her eyes, he saw the same glimmer of hope and excitement that had flared to life inside him.
They shared this goal. He hoped in time they'd share many more. He didn't know what he'd find here, but he was glad she'd be with him no matter the outcome.
"Go right ahead," Patty told them.
He clasped her hand. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."
She waved away his words. "I wish I could have done more. I wish I had done more. Then maybe— "
"Don't go there," Ryan warned her. "I've learned it does no good. You were Faith's friend. The best kind of friend. Nobody could have asked any more of you."
Patty nodded. "Thanks, Ryan. You two stay as long as you need to."
"We appreciate that," Zoe said.
He led the way, helping Zoe down the long stairs in her heels and together they began to search through the large, unfinished basement. Hours later, they were only halfway through the unmarked, unlabeled boxes.
"Patty's not only a pack rat, she's an unorganized one," Zoe said, wiping her dirty hands against her light-colored skirt. "The bus depot was a breeze compared to this."
As he took in the dirt marks on her clothing and the smudges on her cheeks, she sneezed with gusto. "You're being a great sport."
She shrugged. "It's no big deal. I want to help you find whatever your sister left behind. Besides, the alternative is hanging out at the house with Grandma Vivian." Zoe gave an exaggerated shudder. "And I don't think she likes me very much."
Ryan shook his head. He needed to dispel that notion immediately. Although he hadn't thought his mother would take to Zoe, her turnaround where Faith and Sam were concerned gave him hope that she'd soften her ideas about what kind of woman made suitable marriage material for a Baldwin.
Personally, he didn't care what his mother thought, since his life was his own and he'd long since stopped doing what his parents desired. Yes, this woman could potentially cause a rift in the family, but then, so what? They weren't all that loving on the best of days.
Until very recently he'd feared the family shutting him out the way they had Faith, but he'd grown in the short time since meeting Zoe. He feared losing her much, much more.
"My mother doesn't know what to make of you. There's a difference between confusion and hate. If she can come to understand Sam, you'll be a piece of cake." He winked and, watching the blush suffuse her cheeks, he chuckled.
Zoe rolled her eyes. "Are you saying to know me is to love me?" she asked teasingly.
"You said it, I didn't."
Realizing her word choice, she glanced down and began rifling through her next box. Obviously love wasn't a term she wanted to discuss at the moment. He refused to take those concerns of hers too seriously right now. He'd already decided to keep things between them light and normal in the hopes she'd see how easy they were as a couple. So he began digging through his own treasure chest looking for something, anything, familiar.
Hours passed. His lower back hurt from bending, his shoulders ached from remaining hunched over and his neck was strained from tension and frustration. He was about ready to give up for good.
Zoe had already finished her share of boxes and now sat on the dirty floor leaning back against the cement wall, eyes closed. She appeared so fragile, a complete contrast to the strong woman he knew her to be. But seeing her this way made the ache inside him grow, made him want to take care of her.
He shook the fantasy out of his head and forced his gaze to the bottom of his last box. Unexpectedly, a sheath of papers caught his eye. At first glance they were just numbers on computer paper. Old computer paper, that looked as if it had come from a dot matrix printer, with the perforated edges still attached.
He pulled the papers out and, though the text and ink had faded, the words Baldwin's Department Stores headed the page.
His heart began to race. "Bingo!" he said, excitement rushing through him.
Zoe jumped to her feet and huddled beside him. "What'd you find?"
He sifted through the pages. Although Baldwin's was far more technologically up to date today, these were obviously old insurance claims.
"Old business statements from Baldwin's and…a letter or actually a diary of sorts. It's Faith's handwriting," he said, the familiar scrawl from the past making him feel as if his sister were here with him now. He shivered involuntarily.
"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.
"Yeah."
"Are you going to read it?"
A part of Ryan wanted to get the hell out of the dark, dank basement and read his sister's words in warm, familiar surroundings, and another part of him wanted right now to see what she'd left behind.
Curiosity won out. "Yeah I'm going to read it now. Want to see?" He wiped a hand over his forehead and lifted the old pages closer so he could see.
Zoe inched nearer and read along with him. His first glimpse was shocking and what he saw only became more horrifying as the meaning and intent in the letter grew clearer.
Nausea rose in his throat as Zoe stepped back and met his gaze. "It seems you were right," he said dully.