As soon as I rolled into Salmon, I stopped at the grocery store and bought some essentials to help me make it through the week. When everything was packed up, I made the twenty minute drive up the mountain. When I rounded the corner and saw the cabin in front of the lake, I sighed with relief. I’d been driving for several hours and hadn’t slept since the night before so I was exhausted. First thing on the agenda, unpack groceries. Second thing, sleep.

The cabin was exactly as I’d remembered it. I grabbed all of my bags and went inside. The windows were closed up, and it smelled musty—not to mention it was freezing. Winter was fast approaching, and up here in the mountains I would likely see some snow before I went back home. I put the groceries down and found the bag that held the firelogs and matches. Getting the fire started turned out to be pretty simple. I hadn’t really spent too much time up here during the winter months and I had been slightly nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get the fire going. But I managed fine and mentally patted myself on the back.

After the groceries were unpacked, and new bedding put on the bed, I slid in between the freezing cold sheets and quickly fell asleep, but not before my mind replayed Kyler’s harsh words … You’re nothing to me.

I was on my way home from my Dad’s funeral. I honestly didn’t know how I’d made it through. I had to hold my mom up several times during the service. During the eulogy she’d wailed so loud that we’d had to escort her into another room so she could calm down. Then, at the gravesite, she started to collapse when they lowered my Dad’s casket into the ground. I’d stayed strong up until that very moment too, but when I threw a clump of dirt on top of the shiny wood, the tears started to stream silently down my face. His death was so final for me in that moment.

Two days had passed since I’d found out that Harper had left. Two days, and nobody knew where she was or where I could find her. I’d visited her office yesterday and practically went postal on her poor office assistant. Ignoring her protests, I went into Harper’s office and searched every desk drawer and file for anything that might tell me where she was, but I came up empty handed.

I left there broken and beaten down. It didn’t help that right after I left, I had to meet Finn and my mom at the funeral home to finish making arrangements. This was officially the lowest point of my life thus far.

People came pouring into the house carrying flower arrangements and food. Why anybody felt it necessary to bring flowers when they’d die in a few days anyway always confused me. I made note to throw them away as soon as they all left. Same went for the food. Why bring food, when most people are usually too depressed after the death of their loved one to even think about eating?

All of the guys from the band came to support me and my mom today. Anders, Sonny, and Levi shook my hand and told me how sorry they were. It was Lincoln that shocked me. The normally quiet and broody guy took one look at me and then gave me a bear hug. I stood there, unsure of what to do or how to react, but the guys walked away and gave me some space.

Finn looked over at me. “That was fucking weird, dude.”

I chuckled. “It was, wasn’t it?”

We were both laughing but slowly stopped. We sat in the kitchen watching the people come in and out, each offering their condolences to me and my mom. I was thankful that my mom had her friends to comfort her. I supposed it made me feel good having them around her, when they’d known her and my Dad since high school.

Finn’s phone started to ring. Paris Hilton’s “Turn You On” played and he looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and he laughed.

“Your Dad just died and yet you still felt the need to change my ringtone?”

“Why fix what isn’t broken, dude?”

He was chuckling when he answered the phone. “Hey, Tiny Girl, how are my girls doing?”

Hearing him talk to Em like that made my heart ache. I really missed Harper, and I couldn’t help but feel like all of this wouldn’t feel so hard if I’d had her hand to hold through the day. She would have given me the strength to deal with all these people, my mom, my own feelings. As Finn spoke, I heard him say something about Harper. I watched him while he listened. He nodded his head, and said a lot of ‘uh-huhs’ and ‘yeahs.’ Eventually, he hung up the phone and looked over at me.

“Spill it, man. I’m already worn thin today.”

He said, “Em told me that Harper has a hidden key under a rock in her flower bed in the backyard. I guess it’s one of those fake rocks. She’s really worried about her and doesn’t like that Harper didn’t tell her where she was going. Em wants you to go to Harper’s and see if you can find anything that might suggest where she’s gone.”

I stood up and started moving for the door. Finn grabbed me by the arm and I stopped to look at him.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, but maybe let Em know that I’m on my way over there, and tell her I’ll give her a call the moment I find something.”

“Alright, man. But … what about your mom?”

I looked over at her as she sat in the living room, surrounded by her friends.

“I think she’ll be okay for right now. Just go hang with the guys and I’ll let you know what’s up.”

What would normally have been a ten-minute drive took me half the time. When I got to Harper’s place, I went around back and found the rock that the key was under. How did I not know that she had a hidden key?

When I unlocked her front door, I walked in and went straight to her bedroom. The smell almost brought me to my knees—it smelled just like her. Being surround by her things and her space, my chest ached. I didn’t know where to start.

There were clothes strewn across the made bed. I walked into the bathroom and noticed a few things missing. Her toothbrush was gone, the perfume she normally wore wasn’t in its usual place, and her bathrobe was missing from the back of the door. I didn’t think I’d find anything in there so I went to the nightstand by the bed. Not surprisingly, there was a vibrator—at least she hadn’t taken that, I thought. There were little things like a pen, notepaper, a romance novel, and an old watch.

I went through everything I could in her room, including her dresser and the few shoeboxes I found in the closet, but I came up empty. Moving on to the kitchen got me nowhere either. She had one junk drawer but it only had take-out menus and pens. The fridge had a couple of magnets that held a photo of her and Em, a new one of Allie, and in the middle was a picture of me playing the guitar. She must have taken it when I wasn’t looking the last time I was in the recording studio. At least she hadn’t taken it down.

I was getting frustrated. She didn’t have a room that she used as an office, and she didn’t have a desk in her house. Where else could I possibly look? I went to the front hallway closet and looked on the top shelf. Hmmm … there was a lock box. Thankfully it wasn’t locked and I was able to lift the lid. There were several papers that looked like documents. My eyes scanned the papers for any sort of hint that this was what I was searching for.

“Please, please, please,” I quietly whispered.

Then my eyes landed on a piece of paper that looked odd. What on earth was this? It looked like a deed, but for what? Pulling out my phone, I called Em.

“Ky, have you found anything?” I heard the baby fussing in the background and Em sounded concerned.

“I’m not sure, actually. Do you know anything about a deed to some land in Salmon, Idaho?”

She was quiet, then said, “No. I don’t think I do. What does it say?”

“Well, it looks like some land with a house on it was given over to Harper when she was really young, after her grandma passed away. It states she’s the sole owner.”