I remained in my car and stared at Christine’s living room window. Amazingly enough, her blinds were open. Of course, if she had nothing to hide, she didn’t have any reason to keep her blinds shut.

  As I sat in my driver’s seat with a pair of binoculars pressed up against my eyes, I got a good view of Christine and her husband. The couple shared a quick kiss and then began chatting.

  A few minutes later, they headed into the kitchen.

  Once again, I found myself in a strange spot. With Christine and her husband both now at home, there was a high probability that they would be in for the night. Even though my instincts had told me to keep watch of Christine, it was now dinnertime and I had no new information to show for my efforts.

  Was it really worth it to stick around? Or would it just be a waste of my time?

  If there was even a hint that something peculiar was going on, I’d feel a lot better about continuing my stakeout. Unfortunately, my gut had not provided me with any sort of specifics to be on the lookout for. I just had a general sense that there was more to this story.

  Even then, after spending the majority of the afternoon and early evening sitting in my car, my instincts were still telling me that I wasn’t seeing the whole picture.

  If my gut wasn’t giving me such a hard time, I definitely would have driven away right then and there. Instead, I followed my instincts. They had been really good to me in the past. It wasn’t crazy to think they were correct this time as well. Patience just didn’t happen to be my strong suit.

  It took some effort, but I managed to muster just enough patience to remain in my car.

  The question became, would it be worth it?

  Chapter Seven

  I’m never going to question my gut again. Not for one second. I was so glad that I remained staked out in front of Christine’s house. Less than an hour after I questioned what I was still doing there, another car pulled into the driveway.

  In the front seat was an adult woman I didn’t recognize and a child I didn’t recognize.

  There were also two children sitting in the backseat of the car as well.

  The little boy and the little girl from the backseat got out of the car and walked toward the front door of the house.

  They opened the door and went inside.

  The green sedan then backed out of the driveway and drove off.

  Thankfully, the blinds in the living room of the house were still open.

  With my binoculars, I was able to see Christine coming out of the kitchen with an apron on.

  As she entered the living room, she gave the two children a big hug.

  Then Christine and the two children headed into the kitchen.

  At that moment, my heart sank.

  So, this was why my instincts had told me to remain staked out in front of Christine’s place. My gut wanted me to see those kids arriving home.

  What a crazy twist that was.

  I certainly didn’t see it coming. Or maybe I just didn’t want to. Whatever the case was, I was in absolute shock.

  I also happened to be filled with curiosity. I felt like I needed to get more information. Just to be sure.

  Don’t get me wrong. It sure seems like those were Christine’s kids. But maybe that was her niece and nephew.

  The possibility of that being the truth was slim, but I had to make sure before I reported back to Jim.

  The time for hanging back was over. I needed to take bold action.

  Under the cover of darkness, I rushed over to Christine’s house. I then made my way over to the side of the home and crouched down under her kitchen window.

  As I stood up a little, I saw that Christine was sitting at a table. Her husband sat across from her. The little girl and the little boy were also at the table.

  They were eating chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. It looked like a delicious meal. As a matter of fact, catching sight of a meal like that made my stomach rumble. My mouth was practically watering as I looked at the mashed potatoes. They were so buttery and fluffy.

  Before my taste buds took complete control of me, I restored my focus. There would be plenty of time to dream about potatoes later. Right then, I needed to procure more information.

  I remained quiet and eavesdropped on the family’s dinner conversation.

  “How was music practice today?” Christine asked.

  “It was all right,” the little boy said.

  “Just all right?” Christine asked.

  “It was pretty good, I guess,” the boy replied.

  “How about you, Tracey. Did you have a good time?” Christine asked.

  “I sure did, mommy,” the little girl said.

  “That’s great to hear,” Christine said.

  Christine’s husband then spoke up. “What would you say about your mother and I taking you to a concert this weekend?”

  The little girl became really excited. “That would be great.”

  “Fantastic. It’s settled then,” Christine’s husband said.

  “Yay. Thanks, daddy. You and mommy are the best,” the girl said.

  ***

  I listened to the family’s conversation for a brief time longer before heading back to my car. By the time I was back at my vehicle, I had a wealth of information at my disposal. Certainly enough to report back to Jim.

  If I wanted to, I could have called my client at that exact moment. I wasn’t about to do that. I needed time to process what I had just seen. A lot had taken place in a really short amount of time.

  On one hand, it had taken far less time than I expected to track Jim’s birth mother down. On the other hand, Jim’s mom had a family of her own.

  What a way for a case to end. That twist definitely blindsided me. At least, not the part about her having young children. I fully expected Christine to be married. Or in a relationship. But for her to have two small kids was quite a shock.

  That was saying a lot. After all, I had seen a lot of jaw-dropping things over the years. I had over a hundred cases under my belt. This one was supposed to be different.

  After all, when I investigated suspected infidelity, it wasn’t a stretch to believe that the case would end on a poor note. Same with an insurance fraud case. Or a family law or custody case.

  When it came to reuniting long-lost relatives, most of the time the cases ended with a positive outcome. In fact, those tended to be the most heartwarming cases that I worked on. There was something magical about bringing two people together. Especially family members. At least, when things went according to plan.

  Unfortunately, this case had taken a crazy turn on me. If I had approached this investigation with a more skeptical eye, I probably wouldn’t have been so surprised by the outcome. But I really wanted things to work out. I was rooting for Jim. I craved a happy ending for him. Which made the truth even more disheartening.

  It was during moments like that when I realized what a strange job I truly had. To an outsider, Christine’s life seemed pretty great. She had a husband, two kids, and a couple of dogs. She also had a good job. There was a lot to love about her life…as long as you didn’t happen to be the son that she had given up for adoption decades before.

  To Jim, this news would probably be devastating. In fact, I couldn’t picture a scenario where he wasn’t completely crushed after hearing about this.

  It was safe to say that I wasn’t looking forward to talking to Jim tomorrow. Our conversation would most likely be filled with a lot of sadness. Unfortunately, there was no way around that. There was also no sugarcoating the situation

  Typically, I tried to keep an emotional distance between myself and my clients. It was just easier that way. It also provided a much-needed buffer.

  In this case, I wasn’t able to keep a distance. My heart went out to Jim. I felt bad for the guy. Especially since he didn’t even realize what was coming.

  As I sat in my car and reflected on what I had just seen, I knew that I had all of the information that I needed to wrap up my investigation. Since I had a sixty-minute drive ahead of me to get back home, I decided to fire up the ignition of my car and head out.

  Even though it only took me an hour to get back to my hometown of Majestic Cove, the drive felt much longer to me. That was probably because I had so much on my mind. After working on a number of depressing cases back to back, I really wanted things to turn out differently this time. Granted, sharing bad news was frequently part of my job. But there was an emotional toll that came with a constant stream of bad news.

  Rather than linger on the situation too much, when I arrived back at my mid-century modern home, I headed straight to bed.

  The nightmare scenario was that I’d keep myself up all night worrying. Tossing and turning in bed for hours would be awful.

  Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I actually crashed out shortly after my head hit the pillow. I think my brain realized just how much I needed the rest.

  ***

  In the morning, I scheduled a meeting with my client at my office. When Jim arrived at the private eye agency that I ran with my business partner, his spirits were high.

  Uh-oh.

  He was in for a real surprise. When I phoned him earlier, I intentionally avoided tipping my hat either way. In my experience, both bad news and good news were better shared in person.

  As I looked at Jim’s face and saw just how excited he was, part of me wished that I had lowered his expectations a little on the phone.

  There was no going back, though. He was standing right in front of me. And he wanted answers.

  “I was so happy when you called and told me that you have an update,” Jim said. “Does that mean you found my birth mother?”

  I slowly nodded.

  Jim’s eyes lit up. “What’s she like? Tell me everything.”

  Jim was in his early twenties, but right then, the muscular guy looked just like a little kid. It soon became clear that this conversation would be even more heartbreaking than I anticipated. To the point where my tongue got tied when I opened my mouth to respond to him.

  When he saw that I was having trouble getting words out, he looked at me with concern in his eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Jim asked.

  “Yeah. I just couldn’t seem to untie my tongue. I’m good now, though.”

  “That’s nice to hear. So, about my birth mother.”

  “Right. Her name is Christine Aldridge. She lives in Oak Canyon.”

  “That’s interesting. I figured she’d still be in Majestic Cove. I wonder why she moved away.”

  “I don’t have an answer to that. But I can tell you that she works as a loan officer at a bank.”

  He scratched his chin. “Interesting. That’s not the career I thought you’d say.”

  “What career did you expect her to have?”

  “I don’t know. Something really awesome. Like a celebrity chef. Or a famous actress.”

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

  “Are you kidding? You found my birth mother. There’s no need for you to apologize.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Why? Did something happen? Did you talk to her? Is she not cool or something?”

  I put my hand up. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

  He didn’t heed my advice. “Please tell me she’s not mean.”

  “She seems like a really sweet person.”

  Jim breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you said that. It would break my heart if she was awful to deal with.”

  “Nope. She seems to get along well with everyone around her.”

  “Does that include you? What I’m asking is, did you speak with her directly?”

  “A little bit,” I said. “I went into the bank yesterday and had a brief discussion with her.”

  “What’s she like?”

  “She was very nice to me.”

  “Good.”

  “What does she look like?”

  I pulled up a photo on my phone. “This is her.”

  He stared at the photo. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up.

  “Wow, it’s amazing how much we look like each other. I must have gotten most of the genes from her side of the family.”

  He was getting more and more excited. That would make things even harder when I shared the bad news with him. I had to step in right away.

  “Jim, there’s something you need to know—”

  He was so busy with his own thoughts that he didn’t even listen to me.

  “I can’t wait to meet her. There are so many things that I want to ask her.”

  “Before we go any further, there’s something I need to tell you about your mother.”

  “What is it?”

  I exhaled and then paused for a moment before replying. “Look. There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. Your mother, she’s not living alone.”

  “Who is she living with then? Is she married?”

  I nodded.

  “To my birth father?” he asked.

  “That does not appear to be the case.”

  “Well, I guess that’s to be expected. My mother probably had me when she was really young. It’s hard to make a relationship work when you’re young.”

  “I agree.”

  “So, who is she married to?”

  “We can get into that later…if you want to—”

  He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I want to? I want to know everything about my birth mother’s life.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Why? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “There’s something I discovered during the course of my investigation. It will probably come as a big shock to you. That’s why I’m reticent to tell you about it.”

  “Melody, I want to know the truth.”

  “Even if it’s tough to swallow?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. In that case, here we go. Your birth mother has two other children.”

  When I finished speaking, Jim nearly did a double-take.

  “I’m sorry. Did I hear that correctly?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “I can’t believe it. Are they around my age? Did she give them up for adoption too?” he wondered.

  “No. They are both under the age of ten. And they live with her.”

  “Oh. That’s a much different story.”

  “I know that wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”

  “No. Not at all. I just don’t get it. How could she have started a new family?”

  “I’m afraid that I don’t have answers for you.”

  “What’s so special about these other kids? Why did she keep them and not me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she felt like her life was in a better place. Perhaps she felt like she was old enough and mature enough to try again. Honestly, I’m not sure what the truth is.”

  “It doesn’t make sense. Why wasn’t I good enough to keep? What’s wrong with me?”

  “Nothing is wrong with you.”

  “Then why didn’t she keep me?”

  “I think that has a lot more to do with her than it does with you.”

  “You’re just saying that to try to make me feel better.”

  “No, I’m not. You seem like a great guy. In my mind, there’s only one explanation why she would have given you up for adoption. It has everything to do with her. Her emotional state. Her level of maturity. Her life circumstances. Her inability to cope with the responsibilities of motherhood. None of that has anything to do with you.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Maybe I’m right, or maybe I’m wrong. Either way, I’m sorry. After everything that has happened to you, this is the last thing that you needed.”

  I felt really sorry for him right then. This was just the latest in a string of heartbreaking incidents in his life. Starting with the death of his adoptive parents. And now this.

  Talk about a devastating turn of events. Some people would never recover from something like this.

  “What am I supposed to do now?” Jim asked.

  “I’m not sure. This isn’t really my area of expertise,” I said.

  “Right. That’s what a therapist is for.”

  “If you’d like to talk things out, I can recommend a good therapist in town.”

  “Thanks, but I already have one. And she’s going to be hearing a lot from me after this.”

  “I truly am sorry. This investigation turned out much differently than I expected it to.”

  “You and me both. I thought I’d be leaving your office today and heading straight out to meet my birth mother. Now, I want nothing to do with her.”

  “That’s a shame.”

  “No, the real shame is that I can’t go back and undo my decision to seek her out in the first place. I should have resisted the urge to find her.”

  “To be fair, you didn’t know this would happen.”

  “Let me tell you something. Fair is the last way I would describe this situation. If anything, the universe seems to be finding new ways to turn my life upside down.”

  “I’m very sorry about that. I hope things change for you soon.”

  “So do I,” he replied. “I suppose they can’t get any worse. Can they?”

  Chapter Eight

  A few minutes later, Jim got up from his chair and left my office. Before he made an exit, I tried my best to comfort him. There was only so much that I could do, though. He was really shaken. With good reason. If I was in the same position as him, I would be in rough shape as well.

  Once Jim was gone, my co-worker and fellow investigator, Lisa Williamson, entered my office. At first, I didn’t notice her because I was staring out the window.

  When she tapped on the doorframe to my office, that got my attention.

  Lisa looked at me with great concern in her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Lisa asked.

  I shook my head. “At the moment, no.”

  “That’s what I figured,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”