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Back A Flicker of Light
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Books by Katie Powner
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Dedication
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. About the Author
  61. Back Ads
  62. Back Cover

Bea peered at Jeremy’s face. He had that look he got whenever he started talking about family. A look of longing mixed with pain and questions about what could have been. She understood him well enough to know it was a look that meant this was important to him.

She sat up and waited.

“Found her. Gladys Fennel. Twenty-four East Meridian Drive in Chicago.”

Bea’s heart began to beat a little faster. “How did you—could it really be . . . ?”

“Only one way to find out. There’s a phone number.”

Her eyes bulged. “You’re going to call her?”

“Not right now. But I have an important question, and I don’t know who else to ask.” Jeremy copied the number onto a scrap piece of paper from his nightstand. “Maybe Great-Aunt Gladys will have the answer.”

Her brow furrowed. He was taking this really seriously. “What question?”

“Why did Grandma June go to Chicago that summer?”

Bea tilted her head. “Why not? Maybe she went every summer.”

“I didn’t get that impression, did you?”

“No.” He was right. It hadn’t seemed like an annual event. And Grandma hadn’t been eager to talk about it. “Maybe she needed to get out of Moose Creek for a while. I can certainly relate to that.”

“Okay, but why?”

A shiver of possibility tingled down her spine. “Do you think this has something to do with what Grandma was talking about on the mountain?”

“Maybe.”

“A baby?”

“A secret baby.”

Bea rested against Jeremy’s shoulder and rubbed her forehead. She thought about the look on her grandma’s face that time at her house when Bea reminded her she was pregnant. About Grandma’s desperation to find a mysterious baby during the snowstorm. About her great-aunt Gladys.

Why had Grandma June gone to Chicago?

THIRTY-THREE

ch-fig

Mitch nursed a cup of coffee and listened to the men yarn. He enjoyed Wednesday mornings at The Baked Potato—they were so normal and familiar—but today he struggled to pay attention to the conversation. Too much else on his mind.

“How about you, Mitch?” Willy jerked his chin at him from across the table. “You have any luck over the weekend?”

“What?” Mitch shook his head. “Oh. No, I never saw a thing. If there were any elk up there, they had better camo on than me.”

Willy chuckled. “Is that what’s got your mug full of tears over there?”

One corner of Mitch’s mouth lifted. “Got a lot going on is all.”

Willy sobered. “Your mom still having a time?”