Chapter 69
Susan sat in the hotel suite, the humid night of Seaside City spreading beyond the window.
She held a teacup but hadn't taken a single sip.
The door opened. Logan led someone in.
It was a young man, dressed plainly, his features marked by the weariness of years spent on the road.
He was a private investigator Susan had hired who'd been investigating in Seaside City for some time now.
"Any progress?" Susan spoke, her voice carrying an anxiety she herself hadn't noticed.
The man nodded.
"Found it. The Arden family grave is on that mountainside." He paused. "But the caretaker's very guarded. I went to ask several times, but he wouldn't say much."
Susan's expression tightened.
The Arden family grave.
Was Emily's grave there too? Then where was her granddaughter?
"Also," the man continued, "most of the Arden family has passed away. Now there's only a woman in her twenties and a woman in her forties, probably Emily's sister."
He paused. "But I haven't found where they went yet."
Susan nodded. That young woman must be her granddaughter, right?
Having a lead was better than nothing.
She took a deep breath. "Arrange a car. We're going to the cemetery now."
The car climbed along the mountain road.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the branches, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
Susan sat in the car, watching the scenery flash past the window, her feelings impossible to describe.
After searching for so long, was she finally going to find her?
The car stopped in front of an iron gate.
The cemetery sat on a hillside facing the sea. Cloud shadows fell across the tombstones, cold and desolate.
Susan was helped out of the car into a wheelchair. Logan pushed her toward the entrance.
The cemetery caretaker spotted them from a distance.
He stood at the gate, frowning, his gaze falling on the investigator, his expression darkening.
"Didn't I already tell you?" he spoke, his voice hard, "The Arden family grave isn't here. Stop coming."
Susan gestured for the investigator to step back.
She had Logan push her forward and softened her voice to greet him.
"Hello," she said. "I'm here on behalf of Emily's adoptive mother, looking for Emily's grave."
The caretaker froze.
"Emily?" He stared at Susan, scrutiny in his eyes. "Why didn't her adoptive mother come herself? And who are you?"
"Emily's adoptive mother just passed away. Emily... was my daughter-in-law. Years ago... there were some misunderstandings," Susan said, her voice catching. "Now I want to pay my respects."
The caretaker looked at her for a long moment, muttering, "She's been dead over twenty years. Where were you all this time..."
Susan went rigid, tears streaming down her face. Emily had been gone that long?
Counting back, Emily must have died not long after leaving the Gray family and giving birth.
What terrible sins had she committed...
The caretaker watched her grief-stricken expression, something shifting in his eyes.
Finally he sighed. "Follow me."
Susan followed him, passing row after row of tombstones, walking deeper into the hillside.
They went farther and farther off the path, finally stopping in an open area.
But there was nothing here.
Only wind, and the distant sound of waves.
Susan looked questioningly at the caretaker.
He sighed.
"Emily had a hard life," he said, his voice drifting on the night wind. "Died too young."
"I heard her will said not to erect a grave, just scatter her ashes in the sea. The Arden family honored that."
Susan froze.
She looked down at the urn in her hands.
Emily's ashes had been scattered in this sea.
Alice's will had also requested her ashes be scattered in the ocean.
So they'd both, in the end, left this world the same way.
Her hands trembling, she opened the box.
Wind blew in, carrying the salt of the sea.
She grabbed a handful of ashes and released them.
Gray-white powder scattered on the wind, drifting and swaying, falling toward the distant sea.
She grabbed another handful.
And another.
Tears streamed down, blown away by the wind.
"Alice," she murmured, her voice shaking, "you're home now. You can be with Emily now."
"Emily, I'm sorry. I came too late. I'm so late..."
The people behind her stood quietly. No one spoke.
Only the sea wind silently carried the ashes away, taking with them the joys and sorrows of generation after generation.
For a long while.
Susan finally steadied her emotions. She wiped her tears and turned to the caretaker.
"What about Emily's family?" she asked. "Are they all gone too? If there are graves, I'd like to pay my respects."
The caretaker looked at her. "She really was your daughter-in-law?"
Susan nodded.
"Then when their family met with disaster, you didn't know?"
Susan froze.
The caretaker sighed, a long sigh that seemed to exhale many years.
"The Arden family went bankrupt," he said. "The family was destroyed. Now only Emily's sister remains, and her sister's daughter."
Susan's heart clenched.
"Emily's sister is named Linda," he continued. "After her husband died, she lost her mind. After the Arden family grandmother passed away, only her daughter was left holding everything together."
"Only Linda's child? What about Emily's daughter?" Susan's voice tightened.
The caretaker shook his head.
"Emily didn't have a daughter," he said. "It's Linda who has a daughter. Did you get it wrong?"
Susan froze.
Emily didn't have a daughter? But Alice had clearly said Emily herself told her she had a child...
She temporarily pushed down the confusion in her heart.
She said, "Could you take me to see the Arden family graves?"
The caretaker glanced at her and nodded.
The graves were on the other side of the hillside.
Three tombstones stood quietly side by side.
Daylight fell on them, illuminating the carved words.
Susan approached. She could see clearly now.
"Grandfather Cody's Grave, erected by granddaughter Evelyn."
"Grandmother Raina's Grave, erected by granddaughter Evelyn."
"Father Heath's Grave, erected by daughter Evelyn."
She stood frozen in place.
Evelyn?
It was Evelyn!
Wind blew past, tousling her white hair.
She stared at the graves, her mind buzzing.
Evelyn was Linda's daughter?
Susan's hands began to tremble.
She spun around sharply to face the caretaker.
Her voice shook. "This Evelyn... she's Linda's daughter?"
The caretaker nodded.
Susan's heart sank.
"How... how old is she?"
"In her twenties, I think," the caretaker said. "I don't know exactly."
"I just know the girl's had a hard life. Father dead, mother sick, grandmother gone. Only she's left."
Tears flooded Susan's eyes again.
She thought of Evelyn's face, of that inexplicable sense of connection she'd felt the first time they met.
No wonder.
No wonder Alice's eyes had lit up like that when she saw Evelyn that last time.
No wonder Alice had desperately reached out trying to touch her, trying to say something.
Thinking of everything Evelyn had been through, Susan crouched down, her hand touching the tombstone.
The rough stone hurt her palm, but she didn't notice.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, tears dripping onto the stone. "I came too late. I'm so late..."
The wind blew past. No one answered her.
Only the sound of waves carried from far away, one after another, like compassionate sighs.