Final Mend by Angela Smith Read Free Book Online

convinced this woman had anything to do with her missing child?”
    “Because I know her. I know her type. And I know she doesn’t want anything to do with being a mother.”
    Winona pushed her plate aside and drained the rest of her wine. She almost reached for the bottle but remembered it wouldn’t be fair to Jake. Eyebrows tapering, he grabbed the bottle and reached over to pour her a glass.
    “Are you trying to get me drunk?”
    His eyes twinkled, lips curling. “I can’t seduce you if you’re sober, now can I?”
    “How do you do it?”
    “Do what? Seduce women?”
    Wine shot out of her nose as she burst out laughing. Setting the glass down, she grabbed a napkin. “How do you ignore this bottle of wine?”
    “It doesn’t hold any appeal to me any longer. It’d be like you holding a glass of piss. You wouldn’t want to drink it, would you?”
    “Well, of course not.” She fumbled with her napkin and set it in her lap. She crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. Finally, she parked her elbows on the table and eased her chin in her hands in an effort to stay still. “But that doesn’t taste like piss.”
    “To me it does. Okay, no, that’s a lie. I’ve convinced myself it does. In reality, I’ll never stop craving it. But it’s not the taste I crave.”
    Winona straightened her spine and nodded, growing somber again.
    “You started drinking after your parents died?”
    Jake frowned at the table, his brows narrowing.
    “I’m sorry.” She reached across the table in an effort to reach his hands, but he was too far away.
    “It’s okay. I drank before their death. Typical teenage stuff, you know? But afterward, yeah, I feel into a pretty damn deep pit.”
    She sat back upright and nodded. “Tell me about Brandon’s parents. Have the cops shared anything with them?”
    “His mother is in a nursing home. He lost his father years ago.”
    “Did Brandon have any siblings?”
    “No. I was as close to a brother to him as you could get.”
    “And the cops aren’t sharing anything with you?”
    Jake shook his head. “All they say is it’s still under investigation. We’ve had everyone in town get together and search for Amy for days on end, but nothing. Then the cops shut down, like they didn’t want to talk to me anymore.”
    “It’s not unusual for cops to be silent during an investigation.”
    “I brought pictures like you asked,” he said.
    “Great. Let’s see them.”
    He slid back his chair and stood, grabbing their plates and heading to the sink.
    “I’ll do the dishes,” Winona said. “You cooked.”
    “I don’t plan on leaving you with a messy kitchen.”
    “We’ll do them later.”
    “Okay.” He dropped the dishes in the sink and went to the bag he’d brought with him. Dropping the bag on the table, he rifled through it until he found the pictures he wanted.
    Jake slid a photo toward her. His forearms tightened, and it looked like it was all he could do to hold onto his control.
    She hoped she wouldn’t have to be the one to destroy another person’s life by telling him their loved one was dead.
    She looked at the picture. Sadness crept into her joints, weighing her down. She said a silent prayer of protection for this beautiful little girl, but prayer hadn’t helped much in the past. She didn’t hold out much hope it would help this time.
    Most people would say she’d become bitter over the years, but she considered herself a realist. A lot of bad, terrible, horrible things happened in this world and they were outside her control. She had to keep herself distant and indifferent. If that meant staying unemotional, that was what she’d do.
    “I’ll contact the agency and see what info I can get from their investigation. But otherwise, I’m not sure what I can do for you. We can’t traipse through the woods. That’s hopeless, especially if you think the mother had anything to do with it. And if she did, I bet she’s lying low right now and trying to keep her