“I will see myself out Roland,” Marcus winked at her walking from the room.
She looked at the tray and then Roland, “How did you know?”
He chuckled, “Oh trust me, your father hasn’t cooked a meal in the seventy-five years he and I have known one another. I made this for you as a small girl.”
She looked at the chocolate chip pancakes with happy and angry faces and frowned, “Why don’t I remember you?”
“We were never to meet you and I.”
“Why?”
He sighed, “Can't we just leave it at that?”
She nodded, “For now.”
She watched as he left as silently as he entered, as always.
She looked at the phone beside her bed and called out to him, “Roland wait, I want to call that police officer.”
After a second he poked his aged face back in, “The young officer from the hospital, his name was Andrew Paulson?”
She nodded, “Yes.”
He nodded leaving again and shouted at her from the hall, “I will find the number and arrange for him to come right away.”
"No I want to call. Please."
She picked at her angry faced pancake, remembering how she had always eaten it first. She always wanted the anger gone first. It had always made her parents laugh. She remembered the pancake but never her parents making them, they just brought them in for her. She thought back at all the meals, realizing every meal was that way. She wondered what Roland could have done in his past that would warrant treatment such as he had endured. He had never eaten with her family, she had never even seen him until he found her in the forest.
The pancake tasted perfect, she savored the memory they brought. She remembered her parent's faces, together they had seemed happy. She remembered her mother’s face. So beautiful. Raven black hair, stark white skin with subtle freckles, grey eyes and a bow mouth. She was a tiny woman, shorter than Hanna. Her mother had looked plain upon first sight but when she smiled it was as if her heart shaped face exploded beauty. Her perfectly straight teeth glistened brightly, her eyes sparkled, her lips remained full even in a smile. Her dark eyebrows framed her expressive eyes, as if a painter had brushed them on to ensure every face she made was enhanced.
She looked at the huge mirror at her bureau wishing she could see something of her mother in herself. Her thick strawberry blond hair was her father's, her thin upper lip that vanished when she smiled was her father's, her honey brown eyes surrounded by thick black lashes were her father's and her thin face was also her father's. She looked at herself seeing nothing but her father.
She closed her eyes trying to remember what her mother had looked like right before the accident. She had promised herself she would never forget her face. It had grown harder to remember it exactly, as the features faded with the time.
She remembered her father before he’d grown sick, she remembered him standing tall and proud smiling at her when she had graduated. He smiled and yet somehow his face was still hollow and distant.
Suddenly her memory of him had become altered, she saw a something in his eyes she hadn’t seen before, regret, love, and fear. She could see it on his face as plain as the nose on her face, which was also his.
Tears welled in her eyes, realizing he had loved her all along, he had wanted to be with her. He chose her aunt and uncle to protect her and keep her out of harms way. He sacrificed the relationship they might have had to ensure she would always be safe and away from the dangers he possessed.
Lastly she recalled Rebecca, she felt relief seeing her friends face. She knew Rebecca had died as a result of being her friend but at least she knew it hadn’t been her fault. She breathed a freeing sigh thinking of her friend until she remembered the cookies, her aunt had made them for her. Her aunt hadn’t thought Rebecca would come home with her. Her aunt hadn’t been home, they ate the cookies from the plate. They were laughing about the recent Saturday Night Live skit, before getting in Rebecca's car to go for their Starbucks. She realized they had already ingested the poison when they had gone for coffee.
“The number.” She opened her eyes to Roland's smiling face and a piece of paper in his hand.
“Thank you.”
He nodded regally and left the room ever silent.
She picked up the phone, taking a breath trying to figure out her story.
Chapter Six: In that a gun in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?
“The young officer is in the front room.” Roland spoke again sneaking up on her.
She smiled, “How do you do it?”
He smiled, “I have no idea what you are referring to but I will let the young man know you are coming down.” He was gone again making no sounds, his feet never scuffed or shuffled or made a single step noise on the hard woods.
She looked at herself smiling, her afternoons reflection seemed to increase the amount of pride she felt seeing her father's face in her own. The navy v-neck sweater and black skirt offset her red hair. Her pale skin and slight amount of freckles seemed to glow in the color. The leather knee-high wedge boots fit like a glove as if they had been made for her huge size nine feet. She even loved the argyle knee socks he had left her in the bundle. She tried not to think about the fact he had also picked out her under garments. She imagined it was equally as painful for him.
Her straight thick hair looked shiny from the amazing products Roland always seemed to supply the house with. She wondered if he hired a personal shopper or if he honestly knew what Alterna’s Bamboo Collection for shiny hair really was. She loved the silky feel of her hair but had been stunned by the price of the small bottle.
She left the room wondering how the conversation would go, once the young police officer knew the truth about her friend's disappearance.
Hanna smiled seeing Officer Paulson in the front room, admiring her father's painting above the mantle of the lit fireplace. The room was warm and inviting with over sized dark leather furniture and over sized rubber wood coffee tables. Her father had actually picked the stone around the fireplace from a river, he hand selected every stone. Since learning so many of his hidden truths she pondered what year it had been exactly he had selected the stones? She had assumed he had bought the house when he had brought her there, only months prior. Seeing the way Roland fit into every nook and cranny made her more convinced it was possible her father had built the house.
“Good evening Officer, thank you for coming.”
He turned taking her breath away. His piercing blue eyes sought the truth out, speaking directly to her soul. He smiled preventing her breath from returning completely.
“Hanna it's so nice to see you again. How are you?” His tone was genuine as were his eyes.
She shrugged, “Getting better I guess, I need to tell you something.”
She pointed to the large couch, “Please take a seat Officer Paulson.”
“Thanks and it's Andy. So you live here then?”
He sat next to her instead of across the sofa. She smiled sweetly batting her eyes lashes, “My parents are both dead.”
He nodded, “Yes I’d heard of the passing of your father recently.” His eyes grew full of concern, “I’m so sorry. You're so young to be an orphan.”
She nodded, “Thanks, anyway when my father died he left me some family secrets. Secrets I hadn’t been made aware of until recently.”
His eyebrow raised, “Secrets?”
She nodded, “Yes.” She treaded very carefully around him knowing her heart wanted to tell him the entirety of the tale, “My mother died in an accident and so my devastated father felt it would be better if I were raised by my aunt and uncle. His life style never suited a child. They have raised me for eleven years.”
He followed with nods.
“Anyway it turns out my aunt and uncle have enjoyed certain aspects of my being there more than others.”
His brow furrowed, “What aspects?”
She bit her lip, “As I’m sure you noticed this house is nice, my fathers things are all very nice. He had a lot of money, he compensated them to ensure I never went without.”
He frowned, “He paid them to take care of you.”
She nodded, “I didn’t know about this. I was only informed after his death. I turned eighteen and apparently was then given an enormous amount of money in trust. No one ever told me about the money.”
He grimaced seeing where it was all going, “Are they your next of kin?”
She nodded biting her lip again.
He took a deep breath, “This changes everything.”
“I thought it might.”
He bit his lip, making her focus on his mouth, he had a beautiful mouth. She couldn’t deny the fact she was insanely attracted to him.
“So have any memories come back then?”
She nodded, “Yup, I remember we went to my aunts first then Starbucks. We ate cookies at her house, she had left them for me on a plate. We ate them and then went to Starbucks. I remember telling Rebecca I wanted to go home and I had my coffee in my hand. My stomach was starting to hurt.”
“She poisoned you both with cyanide then?” He looked confused at her still sitting beside him and not dead like her best friend.
She shrugged, “I must have gotten sick, at any rate I don’t remember anything after the car ride. She must have stopped the car by the woods and I got sick there. Then whatever happened to us happened there.”
He looked very gravely at her, “This is serious Hanna.”
“I know, I went back to get proof.”
He looked lost again, “I’m not following you.”
“I snuck into my aunt and uncles back yard. I watched in the kitchen window as they ground something white up. Then they stirred it into the sugar canister on the counter. My aunt told my uncle not to eat it and to tell me how he had switched to honey in his coffee and tea. She was reading a letter and they started talking about my money. It was awful. She was saying I would take it all with me when I left. She said they deserved the money.”