Free Holly Grove Homecoming by Carolynn Carey Page A
Authors: Carolynn Carey
been back in town long. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. You’re right. I haven’t been back very long. And you haven’t lived here long enough to know all the good restaurants obviously. Tell me again how you decided on Holly Grove when you needed a place to hide from your stalker. This town is a long way from Philadelphia.”
Carly knew she should have been prepared for that question. After all, Trooper was an FBI agent. He wasn’t in the habit of letting people shrug off his questions or dance around them as Carly had done with the townspeople. She turned her back to retrieve the lettuce keeper off the top shelf of her refrigerator and ordered her mind to work at warp speed.
One thing she knew for sure: She couldn’t tell the truth, that she’d come to Holly Grove because of Eric Duran, the runaway she’d tried to help when she worked in television, the boy who’d first told her about Holly Grove and the double murder/suicide that had taken place there twenty years earlier. She’d tried to get Eric to tell her what he knew about that incident, but he’d been terrified of the man still living in Holly Grove who’d abused him and then gotten him hooked on drugs. When Eric had disappeared, Carly had decided to move to Holly Grove in hopes she’d be able to find Eric or at least learn more about the man Eric believed was responsible for a triple murder.
But she couldn’t tell Trooper any of this. She’d given her word to Eric never to share the little bits of information he’d passed along to her. She didn’t like lying, but in this case, she had no choice. When she turned back around to face Trooper, she was smiling in hopes of portraying a nonchalant attitude.
“I heard about it from a friend in Philadelphia. He had come through here on his way back from a Florida vacation and thought it would be a good place for me to hide out until the police caught my stalker.”
Trooper wrapped his hand around his water glass and studied his fingers a second. “How’d the man end up coming through here on the way from Florida to Philadelphia. It’s not exactly on the main route.”
“He was a bargain hunter, someone who got off the beaten path looking for yard sales or auctions, that type of thing.”
“Ah,” Trooper said. Carly couldn’t tell whether he believed her or not. She wanted to change the subject but decided instead to try to beat him to the punch. “And I’ll bet you’re wondering why I stayed here after my stalker went to prison.”
“The question had occurred to me.”
“A lack of motivation to move on,” Carly replied. It was partly the truth. “I liked this house and I liked the area. It’s close enough to cities that I can get in my car and drive to a nice shopping mall if I want to. Or see the latest movie. Whatever.”
“Don’t you have family in Pennsylvania who would have preferred that you move back close to them?”
“No. I went to Philadelphia because that’s where I found a job when I graduated from college. I was born and raised in Indiana. Now my folks spend half the year in Florida, and my cousins are all scattered from the East coast to the West.”
“No brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. What about you?” She almost bit her tongue. Probably she was supposed to know that. But if Trooper thought anything about it, he didn’t let on.
He shrugged, sort of a one-sided shrug, as though he was still favoring that left shoulder. “I’m an only child too. But I have lots and lots of cousins.”
“So do I. Fifteen to be exact. That’s on both Mom’s and Dad’s sides of the family. How about you?”
“Fifty-seven on Mom’s side.”
Carly grinned. “You don’t have to gloat about it.”
Trooper grinned back. “Believe me, there’s a lot to gloat about. When I was growing up and my mother’s family had a reunion, we took over the entire town park. But it was great fun. We could divide up and have our own softball teams.”
“What about on your
“No need to apologize. You’re right. I haven’t been back very long. And you haven’t lived here long enough to know all the good restaurants obviously. Tell me again how you decided on Holly Grove when you needed a place to hide from your stalker. This town is a long way from Philadelphia.”
Carly knew she should have been prepared for that question. After all, Trooper was an FBI agent. He wasn’t in the habit of letting people shrug off his questions or dance around them as Carly had done with the townspeople. She turned her back to retrieve the lettuce keeper off the top shelf of her refrigerator and ordered her mind to work at warp speed.
One thing she knew for sure: She couldn’t tell the truth, that she’d come to Holly Grove because of Eric Duran, the runaway she’d tried to help when she worked in television, the boy who’d first told her about Holly Grove and the double murder/suicide that had taken place there twenty years earlier. She’d tried to get Eric to tell her what he knew about that incident, but he’d been terrified of the man still living in Holly Grove who’d abused him and then gotten him hooked on drugs. When Eric had disappeared, Carly had decided to move to Holly Grove in hopes she’d be able to find Eric or at least learn more about the man Eric believed was responsible for a triple murder.
But she couldn’t tell Trooper any of this. She’d given her word to Eric never to share the little bits of information he’d passed along to her. She didn’t like lying, but in this case, she had no choice. When she turned back around to face Trooper, she was smiling in hopes of portraying a nonchalant attitude.
“I heard about it from a friend in Philadelphia. He had come through here on his way back from a Florida vacation and thought it would be a good place for me to hide out until the police caught my stalker.”
Trooper wrapped his hand around his water glass and studied his fingers a second. “How’d the man end up coming through here on the way from Florida to Philadelphia. It’s not exactly on the main route.”
“He was a bargain hunter, someone who got off the beaten path looking for yard sales or auctions, that type of thing.”
“Ah,” Trooper said. Carly couldn’t tell whether he believed her or not. She wanted to change the subject but decided instead to try to beat him to the punch. “And I’ll bet you’re wondering why I stayed here after my stalker went to prison.”
“The question had occurred to me.”
“A lack of motivation to move on,” Carly replied. It was partly the truth. “I liked this house and I liked the area. It’s close enough to cities that I can get in my car and drive to a nice shopping mall if I want to. Or see the latest movie. Whatever.”
“Don’t you have family in Pennsylvania who would have preferred that you move back close to them?”
“No. I went to Philadelphia because that’s where I found a job when I graduated from college. I was born and raised in Indiana. Now my folks spend half the year in Florida, and my cousins are all scattered from the East coast to the West.”
“No brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. What about you?” She almost bit her tongue. Probably she was supposed to know that. But if Trooper thought anything about it, he didn’t let on.
He shrugged, sort of a one-sided shrug, as though he was still favoring that left shoulder. “I’m an only child too. But I have lots and lots of cousins.”
“So do I. Fifteen to be exact. That’s on both Mom’s and Dad’s sides of the family. How about you?”
“Fifty-seven on Mom’s side.”
Carly grinned. “You don’t have to gloat about it.”
Trooper grinned back. “Believe me, there’s a lot to gloat about. When I was growing up and my mother’s family had a reunion, we took over the entire town park. But it was great fun. We could divide up and have our own softball teams.”
“What about on your