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  There was also a matter of Rachel’s car, which had been found parked at a restaurant the night she was murdered. There was no evidence that showed she had actually eaten there that night, and the police concluded that someone else had parked her car there or she’d met someone there that night. As soon as they were done with the silver Lexus, I had it sent to my parents. I certainly didn’t want to see it everyday, but I also didn’t have the heart to get rid of it just yet.

  Zack was great at helping me with a lot when I would let him, but mostly that week I just insisted that he resume his life at work and I would try to resume mine. As well as calling to check on us every lunch hour, he still came over every day after work. Sometimes he’d even bring home dinner so I didn’t have to worry about making anything. I really appreciated that. And he and Maggie still had the same relationship with each other, so I was thankful for that also. She looked forward to him coming over each time and I hoped that it would help her adjust to life without her mom.

  I’ll admit that my relationship with Zack had changed, and it was my own fault. I just didn’t feel like the same person anymore, and it was almost like I had a carefree life that I could have enjoyed before but didn’t, and now that I couldn’t have it, I wanted the option back. I didn’t feel like he held that against me in any way—he was incredibly patient with me—but I think I was frustrated that we’d just entered a new level to our relationship, and then in the same night it all changed. I knew it could take some time, and Zack reminded me that he was there for me no matter what, but I never told him how pressured I felt to balance everything just right. I felt like I needed space to reassess things, just to give Maggie top priority. I wanted her to come first, and Zack always understood that, but I still felt guilty that he was giving more than I was in our relationship.

  “What do you think about taking Maggie to the children’s museum tomorrow?” he asked.

  It was a Friday night and the three of us had decided it was dinner-in-front-of-the-TV night. Maggie requested chicken strips and French fries, so we sat down in the family room to watch Rio.

  “I’m sure she would love that,” I said.

  “What do you think about bringing Ashlyn with us? That way Maggie could have a friend to play with.”

  I nodded my approval. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  I was very grateful for Zack, just for that reason. And I was especially glad that he had always included Maggie.

  “So did you get everything caught up at work?” I asked him.

  He considered it for a second and nodded his head. “Yeah, pretty much. I passed some of it along, so that helped,” he smiled.

  “Passed off your work, huh? Hopefully the boss doesn’t have a problem with that.”

  He slightly shook his head. “Nah, he was okay with it,” he smiled again.

  This particular weekend had been one of his scheduled marketing trips, but he deferred it to the next weekend instead. I knew he did it for Maggie and me, and I appreciated the gesture. I wasn’t quite ready to be on my own just yet, and I was glad he understood that.

  That’s why when he asked that night if Maggie and I wanted to go with him to Utah the next weekend, I really did consider it. But then I realized it would be Halloween, and I didn’t want my niece to miss it.

  “We can take her trick or treating there,” Zack said. “I have friends there and I’m sure they’d be more than willing to point us to a good neighborhood. Besides, I think they do stuff up at the lodge too.”

  “That sounds fine, but Maggie’s looking forward to Abigail’s party that afternoon. She even helped plan it and she really wants to go.”

  He thought about it for a few seconds and said, “Halloween’s on a Sunday, right? What if we just went a day early and came back a day— Oh wait, I’ve got… Yeah, that afternoon I’ve got something kind of big. Uh… Well, what if we did go a day early and then you and Maggie could fly back on Sunday morning? Would that work? I’ll be disappointed that I’ll miss Halloween with you guys, but I’ll make it up to her.”

  I smiled and said, “You don’t have to make anything up to her. She loves being around you and that means a lot. But about traveling… I don’t know, Zack. For one I don’t feel like I can just leave town with all of this still going on—you know, the investigation. And another, I just can’t spend any money right now until all of this financial stuff gets worked out. I want to make sure Maggie’s account is taken care of, and then I can evaluate my own situation.”

  “I’ll pay for your flight, Taryn. It’s my invitation and I’m including everything. I just want you girls to enjoy a different scene for a few days; maybe Maggie would like the trip and like being somewhere new. Can you just think about it and let me know by Wednesday?”

  So I did agree to think about it. It really was something that I wanted to do, and by Tuesday I decided that it would be a good idea. I told Zack yes, and he booked our flight. I was excited on Wednesday evening, and after packing for a weekend in the snow, Maggie was excited too.

  But it hadn’t dawned on me that she had never been on an airplane before. I realized this as we were on our way to the airport Thursday morning when she had asked me if flying was scary, and I vaguely remembered my sister saying something about Maggie’s fear of any kind of ride—even a carousel. I did my best to give her a pep talk and ease her worries, but once it was time to board for our flight, she was in tears.

  Zack picked her up and started talking to her right away. He continued to chat with her as we handed over our boarding passes, walked down the terminal, and came face to face with the pilot and a stewardess to greet us.

  As we walked to our seats he continued with, “And when we get to Utah, you’ll get to see the really big mountains and all the snow, and then we get to go to the lodge we’re going to stay at—it’s really, really cool,” he added with a smile, like he was telling her a secret. By then we’d made it to our seats, and Maggie was totally calm.

  “Is the lodge big?” she asked him.

  “Yep, it’s really big. You’ll like it a lot. There’s a swimming pool, and there’s a game room—kind of like a really big playroom—and you get to eat as much ice cream as you want.”

  “Ahem,” I said with a playful warning.

  “And if you eat your dinner, you get ice cream for dessert,” he added, putting an arm around me with a smile.

  Maggie was still sitting on his lap when she said, “I don’t know how to swim.” She said it like we’d be really disappointed, and even looked down at her hands.

  “Even better,” Zack shrugged. “Because now you and I get to learn together. I don’t know how to swim very well either,” he whispered to her.

  “You don’t?” she asked, totally surprised.

  “Nope, not really. I’m good in the snow—I like playing on the mountain—but I haven’t spent a lot of time in the water. Taryn’s gonna have to teach us both.”

  She smiled and then looked at me and smiled. “Will you teach us to swim?” she asked.

  “Hmm, what if I don’t know how to swim very well?” I teased.

  “You can swim!” she giggled. “Can’t you?”

  I chuckled and replied, “Yes, I can swim. And I’d be happy to teach you how to swim. Both of you,” I added, giving Zack a wink.

  After that it was smooth sailing—uh, flying. Our seats were extremely comfortable, the flight attendants took care of us well, and Maggie was really happy with a window seat and snacks and beverages. When she dozed off an hour later, I cuddled against Zack and said, “You’re amazing.”

  He seemed surprised and asked, “Why?”

  “You just want the compliments?” I teased.

  He lightly laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. But it’d be nice to know what works with you so I can do it again.”

  With a smile I shook my head. “You make a lot of things work. Thank you. And I do mean it when I say you’re an incredible guy. And don’t get me wrong with this—because this trip and the
flight and everything you’ve planned for us is great, and I’m really excited—but I don’t really care about ‘stuff,’ you know? It’s you that I’m excited to be experiencing this with. And it’s what you’ve done for Maggie that makes me happy. We’re very lucky to have you.”

  Zack and I weren’t usually too “mushy” with each other, and for me, that was being a little more expressive than I normally was. He was aware of that and just chose to accept my physical appreciation when I kissed him.

  He smiled and said, “Mmm, very worth it,” and then we continued on how we were when I laid my head against him. We talked quietly with each other until Maggie woke up when the captain announced our descent.

  Utah was beautiful. And all Maggie and I had to do was enjoy the sights around us because Zack had everything else taken care of. The guy that picked us up from the airport was named Rusty, and apparently he was pretty familiar with Zack; picking him up from the airport was standard.

  Snowbird was gorgeous too, and I was impressed right along with Maggie. I grew up in San Francisco, so I didn’t get to witness too much snow during my life. I’d been to a few mountains over the years, and after moving to Washington I’d seen a few more during the summertime—Maggie and I had even had a picnic at Mount Rainier one day—but I’d never seen anything like the mountains of Utah, or the immensity of snow.

  “I’ll see you in a few hours,” Rusty told Zack as two different men took our luggage out of the SUV. “Everything arrived last night and it’s all ready to go.”

  Zack picked up Maggie and asked her what she thought of the lodge, and after she said it was “Awesome,” he took my hand with a smile. When we were following our luggage inside I asked, “What’s in a few hours?”

  “Oh, uh, I just have a meeting.”

  He didn’t even have to give his name at the check-in desk; the lady smiled and greeted him with, “Welcome back, Mr. McClain.” In fact, he didn’t even have to check in and we just headed to the elevator with our luggage. Even the bellhop knew him by name, and one of the maids obviously recognized him when she said hello.

  “How often do you actually come here?” I had to ask when we’d arrived at our room.

  The bellhop unlocked the door and led us inside, and as I gaped at the beautiful room we were in—complete with a fully stocked kitchen—Zack replied, “Uh, probably eight times a year.”

  That really didn’t sound like a lot, but I guess it could be considered once a month for the ski season, and for a resort stay, I suppose that was significant.

  “But that’s to Utah in general. It’s not always this resort.”

  “Oh,” I only said. By then he’d tipped the bellhop and he was standing at the window with Maggie, looking out at the mountains.

  “So what do you guys want to do first?” he asked, turning around to face me.

  “Uh, what do you usually do first?” I asked.

  He chuckled and replied, “Uh, work. But this is a special weekend, so I want you girls to take full advantage of anything you want. And I booked you a spa treatment for whenever you want,” he told me.

  “A spa treatment? What does that even mean? I’ve never been to a spa.”

  “Then it will be quite the experience,” he smiled.

  “Zack, I don’t need a—”

  “Nuh,” he said, holding his hand up to stop me. “No objections.”

  “But Maggie—”

  “Maggie and I can take care of ourselves. There are plenty of ways we can get in trouble—er, I mean have fun,” he grinned.

  I shook my head with a smile, but I wasn’t so sure about going to a spa. I guess I could get out of it when the time came because by then Zack was asking Maggie what she wanted to do.

  “Swim,” she told him.

  “Swim, huh?” I noticed him glance at the clock briefly, but he said, “I’m sure we could do that. What do you say, Taryn? You ready to teach us to swim?”

  I knew fitting in a swim session before whatever meeting he had was going to be tough, so to Maggie I said, “Hmm, why don’t we have Zack give us a tour of the lodge first. Then we can see everything, know how to get there, and make a plan. Does that sound okay?”

  She nodded her head and was ready to go that instant.

  “Thanks,” Zack said quietly on our way out. “I’m sure I could have made it work but…”

  “No problem. Quit letting a five-year-old run your life,” I teased.

  He smiled and kissed me while Maggie was heading for the door. “I’ll give you the same advice then,” he said. “If you trust that Maggie will be in good hands, you and I can have some time alone this weekend. If you want.”

  I did like the sound of that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Maggie loved exploring the lodge, and of course when we took a tour of the swimming area, she wanted to try it right then. I was a little surprised that she was being so outgoing, but it pleased me. I didn’t like seeing her become so reserved over the past couple of weeks. I didn’t want her childhood to be defined by the death of her mother.

  When Zack left for his meeting, Maggie wanted to know where he was going and what he was doing. I was curious too, so once we figured out he was on level C, we made our way to the meeting rooms, just to see what it looked like. We didn’t see Zack of course, but there was a hotel staff member that looked like she was attending to a meeting, and she was about to take some coffee into a room.

  “Is there something I can help you with?” she politely asked.

  “Oh, no thank you,” I smiled. “We were just kind of exploring.”

  Just then there was a huge eruption of laughter that came out of the room she was about to enter, and then I heard Zack’s voice just as Maggie exclaimed, “He’s in there!”

  “Are you looking for someone?” the woman asked.

  “No, we’re just—”

  “Zack!” Maggie informed her. “I heard him!”

  It was an awkward moment, for me at least, and the hotel employee said, “Do you need to speak with him? I can just let him know—”

  “No, it’s okay,” I told her. “Like I said, we were just looking around and… Well, I’m his, uh…”

  “I think I know who you are,” she smiled. “It’s Taryn, right? And you must be Maggie,” she said, lightly touching her head.

  I wasn’t sure why she would know that, but I just said, “Uh, yes. Well, we’re just going to—”

  “I’m Sophie, by the way,” she told us. “And I’m sure Mr. McClain would like to know you’re here. Let me just deliver this coffee to his guests and I’ll quietly let him know that he has—”

  “No, I don’t want you to bother him,” I told her. I had no idea what kind of meeting he had, but there was no way I wanted to affect his job somehow. What if his boss got upset with him, or the people that were meeting with him?

  “He really wouldn’t mind,” she said.

  “But I would, so I don’t want to interrupt his meeting. Thank you anyways. We’re just going to continue exploring the lodge.”

  She slightly nodded her head. “Okay,” she smiled. “It was very nice to meet you.”

  “Um, thank you. You too.”

  I took Maggie’s hand and we retreated to whence when came.

  “Aw, I wanna see what he’s doing,” she pouted.

  “He’s in a meeting. They sit around and talk about things. It’s boring.”

  “They were having fun,” she challenged me.

  “No, they weren’t. They were just laughing about something to make the boring meeting go by faster.”

  She didn’t respond after that, but as we were headed down the hall, I heard Zack say, “Taryn, wait.”

  I was embarrassed that he saw us there, snooping on his activities or whatever it was that he was up to. Maggie went right to him, but I took my time. This made him curious as he said hello to Maggie and picked her up, and I think he could tell I wasn’t happy that Sophie had told him we were there.

  “I’m
glad to see you,” he said mainly to Maggie, but he glanced at me too. “Come on in; I’ll introduce you to some people—”

  “Zack, I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting. I really wasn’t expecting to see you. We were touring the area and—”

  “You’re not interrupting. Come on in.” He was already headed for the door with Maggie in his arms.

  “I don’t want to go in there,” I told him firmly.

  “Why not? There’s actually something you can help me with, if you don’t mind.”

  “Help you with? Like what?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Like come in and see,” he chuckled.

  “Can I help?” Maggie asked excitedly.

  “Well, yeah,” he replied, like it was totally obvious.

  “Yay!” she cheered. “What do I get to do?”

  “You like to dress up, right?”

  “Yes!”

  “You wanna be my little snowboarding princess?”

  Her mouth gaped open for a second, which was funny, and then she answered, “Okay!”

  “Okay, then,” he said, opening the door to the meeting room. “Let’s get to work. Come on, Taryn,” he had to coax from the doorway.

  By then I knew his meeting attendees were aware of my presence, and I felt very insecure.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my little model for today. This is Maggie,” he said, sitting her on his lap as he sat down at the head of the table. He smiled at me still standing in the doorway and motioned me into the room. “And this is Taryn. She’s my model’s assistant.”

  That got a chuckle from the eight faces that surrounded the conference table.

  Zack offered me a seat that was next to him (actually Rusty got up from it and slid down a seat so I could have it), and then he seemed to continue on where he’d left off. He had a lot of merchandise in the room, from snowboards and equipment to clothing and other gear, and it seemed to fit right in with the large windows that displayed the snowy playground outside.

  It was actually kind of funny to watch him talk to a bunch of business men and women. And I say that because he didn’t do it in a way that was any different than how he conversed on any other given day. I suppose it made sense, being that he was marketing products that were supposed to be fun and recreational, but it was also just his everyday personality. Maggie would interrupt and I’d be tempted to parent her, but I decided to let Zack take care of it since he was the one that dragged us into the meeting. It didn’t even faze him, and it didn’t seem to bother the other participants in the room either. I guess Zack must have known that when he invited us in.