Free Sea to Sky by R. E. Donald

his coloring book. “My dad?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “Your Grampa Lucas,” she told him. “You never met your Grampa Lucas, but he was my father. He died before you were born. He died before I married your Daddy.”
    “Didn’t he like my dad?”
    Kelly looked at her father-in-law, who spoke up before she could answer. “Of course he did, Jordan. He knew your dad when he was just a little boy, like you.”
    “My dad wasn’t like me,” he said, still coloring carefully, “he told me that. He said I was a sissy boy, and he didn’t like sissy boys.”
    “No, Jordan! Your daddy loved you,” said Beth, reaching out to stroke his hair.
    Jordan smiled sadly. “I love you, Grandma,” he said, and turned his attention to choosing a new crayon.
    Kelly’s heart constricted. She wished she could have shielded Jordan from his father’s hurtful remarks; she loved that little boy more than anyone could know.
    “What do you say, Kelly? Will you and the kids stay with us in Seattle, at least for a little while?” John Irwin got up and put his hands on her shoulders. “It would be good for all of us.”
    “Yes,” said Kelly. “Yes, of course.” Images of a new life in Seattle flashed through her mind. A warmth started in her belly and spread to her entire body, and it had nothing to do with the fireplace in front of her. It was comfort, comfort mingled with happiness and hope and love, a feeling she hadn’t experienced for years. I’m happy that Mike is dead , she said to herself, not daring to look away from the fire.
    “Good!” John patted her shoulder, then stepped over to the bed and embraced his wife. “If you and the kids want to stay here, I think I’ll go to Kelly’s room and see if the police are finished there. If they are, I’ll lie down for awhile, if that’s okay,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. When she moved to stand, he said, “You can stay here with Kelly and the kids.”
    After he left, Kelly moved to sit beside Beth on the bed. Corenna had tired of her book, and was playing with toys on the floor at their feet.
    “Is Grand-da okay?” Kelly used the name that Jordan called his grandfather. “He looks pale.” She’d been wondering about his health since she first saw him at Sea-Tac airport. She was shocked at how thin he looked, almost like a shrunken version of the vigorous military man he’d been just two years before.
    Beth shrugged. “He’s seventy-two. Age does that. I don’t have the energy I used to have either.” She squeezed Kelly’s hand. “I could use a nap myself.”
    “Do,” said Kelly. She pulled her mother-in-law close and hugged her. “Go nap with Grand-da, if you want. We’ll be fine. I’ll put the kids down here in your room. It’s been a rough day for all of us.”
    When Beth stepped back and nodded, tears ran freely down her cheeks, and suddenly Kelly couldn’t hold back tears of her own. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” she said. “I’m so sorry that you’ve lost your son.”
     
     
    Hunter considered what El had said. If he had to stick around here in Whistler, he might as well do what he could to find out who had killed Mike Irwin, if he could do it without making things worse for himself by antagonizing the investigating officers. He decided that the first person he’d like to contact was the watching woman, if she was still around. It stood to reason that she would be at the same hotel as the Irwin family, so Hunter headed over there as soon as the police concluded there was nothing of interest in his car.
    He parked his Pontiac in the underground lot, wincing at the hourly rate as he pulled a ticket from the automatic dispenser, and found his way up a cold stairwell to the hotel lobby. He scanned a hotel directory on the wall that listed events taking place in the hotel conference rooms. He knew that Mike Irwin had been in Whistler to attend a purchasing conference of some sort, and on the board was “The Coast Peaks Hotel welcomes