Free Buried Truth by Dana Mentink

Tears began to flow down her face.
    Bill tensed, waiting for Margot to reach out a hand, but her fingers gripped the cane and she did not move. He allowed himself another moment of hesitation before he found himself sitting beside Heather, an awkward arm around her shoulders. “Ms. Stark, there is a fugitive at large in Rockvale, a man named Oscar Birch who wants to punish me. He’s attempting to do that by terrorizing Heather.”
    A flicker of fear crossed Margot’s face. “I see.” She nodded slowly. “So you and Heather are together, then?”
    Bill flushed, grateful that Heather appeared not to hear. “No. Not anymore, but Oscar thinks so. It would be better for you not to come to this town for a while.”
    Margot pursed her lips, and cocked her head slightly. It was a gesture he’d seen Heather make many times. “I am an old lady now, Mr. Cloudman, and I don’t have much to lose. I’ll stay. But you’re correct in helping Heather leave town if that is the safest choice for her.”
    Heather stiffened and her head came up. She stared at her mother, and the naked emotion on her face made Bill want to pull her to his chest and hide her from the world. She was overwhelmed, but underneath was an undercurrent of white-hot anger.
    “I’ve wanted you to come back for so long,” Heather said, brushing the tears from her face. “And now that you have, I’m sorry about it.”
    Margot blinked. “Why?”
    “You should have come back to be a mother to me,” she whispered. “That’s the reason you should be in Rockvale, not because of your health or rent or whatever.”
    Margot shifted and there was a flicker of uncertainty on her face that quickly disappeared. “Heather, by now you must know I was never very good mother material.”
    Heather stood and cleared her throat. “That lesson I learned.” She turned to Bill. “Thank you for the ride.” She kissed him on the cheek and he fought every instinct to prevent himself from pulling her close.
    In a moment, she was gone.
    He turned back to Margot. “Ms. Stark, I still recommend you find someplace else to stay, but if you are determined to be in Rockvale, I will drive you out to the cabin.”
    Her eyes remained on the corridor where Heather had been a few seconds before. “Yes. That would be very good of you, Mr. Cloudman.”
    Bill sat uneasily behind the wheel. He’d long ago decided he would rather face an angry felon than a hysterical woman. He wished he could rewind the tape and play the whole airport scene again, only the way it should have gone. There would be a tearful greeting, Ms. Stark would beg Heather to forgive her abandonment and they’d both fly away arm in arm to put their lives back together. He wondered what Heather would be like with her mother’s love in her life. Maybe if Margot had appeared earlier Heather would have escaped her battle with alcohol. Heather had told him her father had tried to be both parents to her. Bill knew that was an impossible job. He’d tried to be the parental voice of support and reason for his older sister, Leanne, in spite of the years between them.
    But he hadn’t come between her and the drugs.
    Neither had the love of her two daughters.
    He was grateful that Margot Stark appeared lost in her own thoughts until they rolled up to the cabin. He helped her from the truck and brought her bag into the house, checking thoroughly for signs of Oscar’s presence. There were none, so he left her his number with instructions to call if she needed anything.
    On his way out she laid a cool hand on his shoulder. “Mr. Cloudman, thank you for helping my … for helping Heather.”
    He nodded and continued out the door.
    He did not want to be on that property anymore. There was something empty and forlorn about it now. The irony of Margot’s return on the heels of Heather’s departure was too much. He checked his watch. She’d be in the air soon. After a quick glance up to the cliffs that seemed to scrape the sky,he