“It’s good seeing you again, too.”

They were standing close together. They both felt awkward. Jerry wanted to kiss her goodnight but was afraid she would misinterpret his action. Suddenly he remembered something that gave him an excuse to break the tension.

“I brought you something.”

“What?”

“Wait here.”

He went into the guest room and rummaged around in his suitcase. When he returned he was holding a folded sheet of paper.

“You know how I told you I found the file my father kept on your father’s case?”

Ashley nodded.

“I found this in it. My dad wrote it to your dad after he graduated from college. I thought you might want it.”

Ashley took the letter.

“Well, that’s it for me,” Jerry said. “See you tomorrow.”

Jerry left the kitchen, and Ashley put the wineglasses in the sink with some plates that were left from lunch. As she washed the dishes she thought about Jerry. The first time they’d met he was in his mid-twenties and she was a teenager. They seemed ages apart. Now he didn’t seem that much older.

She could hear Jerry moving around in his room, settling into bed. It was odd having someone else in her apartment, especially a man. She had not let herself get involved with anyone since running from Portland. Not that she would ever get involved with Jerry. He was her lawyer. Their emails had mostly been about business, although he always asked how she was doing and offered her encouragement. She didn’t know much about him, anyway. He didn’t wear a wedding ring but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a girlfriend. And he was educated. She didn’t even have a high school diploma.

Ashley shook off her thoughts and went to her room. She wanted to read the letter but waited until she was in bed. There were two holes in the top of the paper. They’d been made so it could fit on the metal prongs in a file. The copy had been made with carbon paper and the letter had been typed on a typewriter, not a word processor. Some of the words were smeared.

Dear Norman:

I wanted to drop you a note to thank you for inviting me to your graduation ceremony at Portland State. I was very moved when you carried Ashley on stage to accept your diploma. I know that this must have been a terrific moment for you, but it was also a terrific moment for me. Law is a tough profession. There are a lot more downs than ups. But seeing you, your daughter, and Terri, and you holding that diploma, made up for a lot of disappointments. As you know, I have a son, Jerry. Some parents want their son to grow up to be the president of the United States or the quarterback of a pro football team. I want my son to grow up like you. You have been an inspiration to me. Good luck with your teaching job next year.

Congratulations again,

Ken

Ashley’s throat constricted as she read the letter and she fought to keep from crying. There was a picture in one of her folks’ albums of Norman Spencer carrying her onto the stage at Portland State when he accepted his diploma. She had seen it a few times but never appreciated the sacrifice that her father and Terri had to make to bring about that moment. Then her father had made the ultimate sacrifice when he rescued her from Joshua Maxfield.

Ashley closed her eyes. She thought about the last moments she’d shared with her father, something she had tried to block out since the night he died. He had been in pain; he had been on the verge of death, yet he had smiled, because he knew that she would be safe. If she stayed here she would be safe, but her father had not sacrificed his life so she could grow old hiding in a small, dark apartment.

Ashley got out of bed and walked into the hall. The door to the guest room was closed. She knocked on it.

“Yeah?” Jerry said. He sounded half asleep.

“Can I come in for a second?”

“Sure.”

Ashley opened the door. Jerry was under the covers. She stood in the doorway.

“This isn’t a life, Jerry. I have to lie all the time, I’m always looking over my shoulder. I can’t have any real friends. Sometimes I wonder if Joshua Maxfield is interested in me anymore. What if he doesn’t care and I’m holed up here, scared to death of someone who doesn’t even think about me anymore?

“And there’s Casey. That’s very…confusing. I’ve gotten used to having no one, but now I find out I have a mother.” She looked down. “I want to go home.”

“Then I’ll take you. We can leave whenever you want to go.”

“I want to go as quickly as possible.”

“We will. I’ll take you home.”

Look at this,” Jerry said as they walked toward their gate in the airport in Florence.

They were in front of an airport shop that sold magazines and books. One shelf had paperbacks in English. Jerry walked over to it and took down a copy of Sleeping Beauty. A black-and-white photograph of a smiling Casey Van Meter graced the cover.

“Have you read it?” Jerry asked.

“No.”

“Miles did a good job. It’s very accurate. Do you want me to get it for you for the trip home?”

“Thanks, Jerry, but I really don’t want to read it. I don’t want to bring back bad memories. I know what happened to my parents and Casey.”

Ashley paused. If Jerry was right, Casey was also her parent. It was strange thinking about the dean in that way. She still had trouble getting her head around the idea that the icy, elegant blonde she’d met on her first visit to the Oregon Academy had carried her inside her body for nine months and had given birth to her.

Last night, Ashley had looked in the mirror and tried to see something that reminded her of Casey Van Meter. They both had blond hair but Casey was tall and willowy while Ashley was stockier and more muscular. Their complexions were similar. After several years in Italy Ashley’s skin was as tan as she remembered Casey’s.

The dean had been strong and self-possessed. Ashley remembered the way she’d dealt with Randy Coleman when her husband had accosted her at the Academy pool. Was she like that? She was a leader on the soccer field. In high school, the girls always looked to her to show them the way. Even though she was a foreigner and new in town, the women on her team in the village saw her as their leader.

Jerry put back the book and they sat down at their gate. Ashley looked around at her fellow passengers. Some seemed excited. Many seemed tired or bored. Five years before, when she’d gone to the airport in Portland, Ashley had felt that she was on the brink of a great adventure, that she was flying to freedom. Today, Ashley was frightened. She hoped that Joshua Maxfield was not interested in her anymore, she hoped that Casey Van Meter would come out of her coma filled with love for her long-lost daughter, but she knew that both of these dreams could become nightmares.

A town car met Jerry and Ashley at the airport and drove to an apartment that he had rented under his name. Jerry told the driver to wait while he helped Ashley carry her bags up to the apartment. He had called ahead and had his secretary stock the refrigerator. She probably thought that he had a mistress. Jerry smiled at the thought. His love life had been pretty dull since he’d ended a two-year relationship with an ambitious stockbroker. She had dropped into a deep depression after being laid off when the market tanked, and had finally moved to New York when a new job opened up. In retrospect, Jerry believed it was for the best. He hadn’t been interested in any of his infrequent dates since she’d left.

“Is this okay?” Jerry asked after Ashley made a brief inspection.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“It’s only rented for the month, so you can move out if it doesn’t suit you.”

“No, I like it.”

“I paid for cable,” Jerry said, pointing to the TV. “You can catch up on all the bad television you missed while you were away.”