Grabbing Amber's diary, I head to the living room, hoping to find more clues in the entries. Especially looking for a hint about the baby's gender, assuming she's far enough along to know. Settling on the couch, I start flipping through the pages and eventually notice one entry that draws my attention.
Dear Diary,
It's been three months since I told Andy about the baby and two days since I broke the news to my parents. My dad is still furious and has forbidden me from seeing him, convinced that his family is no good. I tried to explain to him that I love Andy, but my words fell on deaf ears. Thankfully, my mom has been a source of comfort to me and even seems excited to have a grandchild. She's been accompanying me to all of my obstetrician appointments, which I'm grateful for.
Yesterday's appointment was an amazing experience. They did an ultrasound of the baby, and seeing it was surreal. The tiny being looked like a little peanut, but I could make out its itty-bitty arms, legs, hands, and feet. The ultrasound technician was confident that it was a girl, and I hope he's right because Andy and I have already picked out the perfect name for her. We plan to name her Roxanne Brinley Dawson and get married before she is born.
Despite our parents' disapproval, Andy and I are determined more than ever to be together and raise our child as a loving family. Andy doesn't want to tell his parents about the baby because he feels uncomfortable with them. His dad is hard on him, and he's afraid he will ruin our relationship. However, I'm confident that we can overcome any obstacle together. I wish I could tell Andy we are having a girl; I know he will be as over the moon as I am.
I can't wait to be a mother, marry Andy, and start our life together, even if we have to sneak around until we escape our families. I will find a way to be with him. Our parents can't keep us apart forever, and we will fight for our love and our little girl.
As always, thanks for listening, diary.
"Holy shit! Amber Catalano has to be my mom. There's no way this is a coincidence," I say to myself while jumping from the couch and pacing around the room. This had to be the connection. The name they picked out for their baby girl was mine; the last name was different, but the first and middle are the same.
This could be my family home; my mother might have grown up here. I needed to determine if Andy was my biological father or even still alive. While I suspected Amber's parents had passed away, I wondered if her siblings were still alive. If they are, where might they be now? And if she is my mom, why didn't they try to find us? More questions to add to my growing list.
Once the excitement starts to drain from my limbs, I sit on the couch still clutching the diary and turn on a movie to pass the time until Zeke gets home. As the movie plays on, a yawn escapes me, and I grab the thick grey blanket off the back of the couch. Snuggling into the softness, the warmth envelopes me, and I start to doze off.
Someone starts to call my name, but it sounds far away. The voice is soft but persistent, and my shoulder is shaking. My eyes flutter open to see Zeke standing over me, smiling.
"Hey, wake up, sleepyhead," he says. "You always fall asleep before I get home. I made dinner while you were sleeping." That quickly woke me up, and my stomach growled loudly in response. Zeke chuckled at the sound. Slowly sitting up, I remembered I was holding the diary, but it was no longer in my hand, and panic seized me. I began to search around the sofa. When I reached under the couch, I felt the book. I grabbed it and placed it on the coffee table before us. Zeke took my hand and led me to the kitchen. During dinner, I started to tell him about the information from the diary.
"Z, you will never believe what I found in the journal today,"
"Uh-oh, is it good or bad?" He says, looking up from his plate.
"A little of both, but it's mostly a case of mixed emotions for me." Quickly, I explained everything to him about the entry.
"So, this amber and your mother may be the same person for sure. Wow, that's crazy. I thought it was a stretch, but now I'm curious too," he states, his voice full of curiosity.
"As I was going through papers in the home office, I found a file on this Andy guy, but I'm scared to find information about him with the threatening letter and Sheriff Dawson being his father." My tone was heavy with worry.
"Rocky, I will do everything I can to help you find information on Andrew Dawson, and there's a way to find out if he and Amber are your parents," he says matter-of-factly. "We can ask him for a DNA test." Zekes words register with me, and I nod in agreement.
The next few days, we worked relentlessly in our free time to gather as much information as possible about Andrew Dawson. We searched the internet, library, and town hall archives for any leads or clues that could help us. Despite our exhaustive search, we were only able to confirm that he was still alive because we didn't find any death records anywhere.
We were sitting in the office with the limited information we found. As we were deep in thought, trying to figure out Andy's whereabouts, a loud banging on the front door jolted us out of our conversation, causing us both to jump.
"Damn it, that scared the crap out of me," Zeke mutters under his breath as he gets up and heads toward the front door. Feeling both curious and apprehensive, I followed loosely behind, hoping that the person at the door was not the one behind the mysterious note.
My heartbeat with fear the closer we got to the door. The sound of our footsteps echoed through the empty hallway. Zeke swings the door open to reveal Sheriff Dawson standing there looking angry, and his gaze is directed at me. This can't be good. His hateful gaze caught me off guard.
"S-s-sheriff Dawson, what are you doing here?" I ask with a shaky voice.
"I came to ask why the hell you are digging into my son Andrew?" He practically yelled.
"We are only trying to find information because he dated one of the daughters who lived here," Zeke announces.
"Who gives a crap if he dated one of them, and why the hell does it matter? My son had nothing to do with what happened to them." He didn't give either of us a chance to reply to him; he just kept ranting and yelling. His face turned red the madder he got. I had had enough of his crap.
"Sheriff Dawson, stop yelling!" I screamed. Both men turned to me, shocked, and I continued. "We are just trying to figure out why the family disappeared for our own peace of mind. I'm sure they just fled because of taxes or something. This research is for my own peace of mind. That's all." I was lying through my teeth, but he didn't need to know that.
"I don't care what your reason is, put a stop to it right now," he says as he looks us up and down. "You need to quit looking into this family. Nothing good can come from it." His words sounded familiar to me. They were too similar to the note I received. My instincts kicked in, and I just wanted him gone.
I spoke my next words softly, dripping with resignation. "Okay, we will stop looking into your son." Fixing my eyes on him, I could see some of the tension leaving his body. He seemed pleased with her words, but Zeke looked at me like I had lost my mind. All that was happening was that I was diffusing a volatile situation to make him leave the property.
The sheriff, however, was not done speaking, "I hope you do, little girl." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I stared back, not willing to back down at his intimidation tactics. So much for diffusing the situation; he just pissed me off by treating me like a kid. He was a bully like any other in my life, and I wasn't going to let him get the best of me.
"I'm not a little girl," my voice was as sweet as honey, even though I was seething in anger. "You all have a nice night, Sheriff."
As the Sheriff turned around to leave, he leaned toward me and spoke in a menacing tone. "Stop looking into the family. It's the last time I'm warning you. This will not end well for you."
"What the hell was that all about, Rocky? And why did you agree to quit looking for Andrew?" Zeke exclaimed. I know he wasn't trying to be harsh with me; he's just confused.
"Don't worry, I just said that to get him out of here. I have no intention of stopping my search for Andrew. Especially because he could be my father," I explained. " If I find Andy, we can do the DNA test to see if we are right about him and Amber." Zeke locks the door, and we head back to the living room. Sitting on the couch, Zeke joins me and eases into the warm cushions. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he pulls me into his side, and I lean into him, letting his warmth surround me.
"Just be careful. The sheriff has already painted a target on your back. I'm scared every time I'm not with you," he stated.
"Don't worry, Z, I know," I whispered. We spent the rest of the night watching TV.
The next morning, there was a heavy feeling in my stomach, and it refused to go away. I tried to shake it off, but it just persisted. Zeke was already in the living room drinking coffee when I entered.
"Hello, handsome, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked.
"I thought we could work on the kitchen," he replied, "We can start replacing the cabinets."
"Sounds like a plan." I headed to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee before we got started. As I reached for my cup on the counter, it moved away from me, crashing onto the floor and breaking into several pieces. The movement was so sudden that it made me jump in fear. Zeke came running in to see what had happened, finding me with pieces of the cup lying at my feet. He motioned for me to stay put while walking to the corner of the kitchen to grab the broom and dustpan to clean up the mess.
"What was that? Are you okay?" He asked me, his voice laced with concern.
"I'm fine," I say as my heart races. "The cup just flew off the counter," I explain, still trying to understand what just happened or if my mind was playing tricks on me.
After cleaning up, we work steadily, each of us lost in thought. The hours flew by before we stopped for a quick lunch. Zeke spent his time working and watching over me carefully. He knew my favorite part was the demolition, but he also knew I tended to get carried away. Removing the old cabinets was easier than we anticipated. Zeke was thorough in his job, making sure every screw and bolt was removed before proceeding to the next one. We were a great team together, complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses as we went.
We didn't stop until night fell. We decided we were too tired to make dinner and decided to have something delivered. There were only two options to pick from: subs or pizza; we decided on subs and salads. Walking to the living room, I collapsed onto the couch, my head sinking lazily onto the soft cushions. Today took its toll on me, leaving me completely drained. Zeke sat on the couch next to me, feeling just as tired as I was.
"How are you feeling, baby? You doing ok?" He asked with concern.
"Z, I'm okay. Just feeling sleepy." I tilted my head toward him, leaning in to kiss his lips, catching him off guard. He paused briefly before kissing me back. As we were lost in the moment, it was shattered by loud popping noises. We didn't realize our night was going to become a nightmare.