Dragonfly

Chapter 22

When I got back, Nancy was at her desk drumming her pencil. "How'd it go with Kyser," she asked.

"Not bad. There's definitely a story there, but I'm not sure how to find it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh!" I realized I'd answered Nancy with the question I'd had in my head. "I meant it was really interesting. He's got a great story."

"Write up your notes, and I'll get one of the reporters to give him a call. Maybe we could give you a dual-byline."

"Oh my god!" My first real clip! "Nancy! Thank you!"

She grinned and gave me a hug, but her face went back to tense.

"What's wrong?" I said. "How'd it go with Ms. LaSalle?"

"She won't talk. Said it's all in the past, and she's not interested in being a topic of conversation."

"Did she say why she quit so abruptly?"

"No."

I scrolled through the features I'd been copying onto the computer. It was so much easier than rifling through old papers in the archives, and I was glad I'd been spending so much time scanning them. Finally I arrived at the photo I'd left with Mr. Kyser. The one that clearly unsettled him. It was at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and I leaned in close to the computer screen staring at Ms. LaSalle.

"What're you doing?" Nancy was right behind me.

I jumped and squealed. "Nancy!"

"We were just talking!" she laughed. "What are you sneaking around here doing?"

"I'm not sneaking. Okay, maybe a little, but look at this. Look at Ms. LaSalle. Is she pregnant in this picture?"

Nancy leaned in. "What's the date on this?"

I looked at the top left corner. She had to be expecting Julian.

"It's the summer before I was born," I said. That would be right about his age.

"What're you getting at, Anna?"

I pulled up another file and started scanning. "It's not in here. Do you have the obit on Meg Kyser?"

"No, but it'll probably be around here." She walked back to the archives room.

"Do you remember when she died?" I asked.

"Well, let's see she had the three kids, but I think they were babies..."

"That's right!" I remembered my first conversation with Bill Kyser. He said the twins were three when it happened. My eyes widened. This was taken before she died!

"What's going on, Anna?"

I was humming now. "I don't know for sure."

"What do you think's going on?" Nancy watched my face, her brows pulled together.

"What if the reason Ms. LaSalle quit painting was because she got pregnant? She never married. What if it had something to do with Julian's father?"

"Like what?" Nancy said.

"I don't know." I couldn't tell her what I was doing, but it was possible she might inadvertently help me.

Nancy pressed her lips together and leaned against the desk. "It's an interesting angle, but after talking to her today, it's not one she'll discuss."

"Could I get Julian's birth certificate?"

"Slow down, Anna. This isn't a gossip rag. Even if that was her reason, it's outside the scope of our article."

"Right," I quickly backpedaled. "You're exactly right. Why would anybody need to know that? I'm sorry."

She smiled and patted my hand. "It's a good instinct. Being pregnant could've been her reason to quit working with Kyser. She was probably keeping some pretty long hours. But I don't see how a baby would cause her to quit painting. And her son's a rising artist now. She clearly encouraged him to pursue that. The dots don't connect."

"You're right. I just got excited. It's an interesting mystery."

I gathered my things to leave. I didn't need to see Julian's birth certificate for my own proof. I'd seen his father's face this afternoon. But Nancy was right. Julian wouldn't have caused Ms. LaSalle to quit painting. There had to be another reason. And why was Ms. LaSalle such a recluse now? I wanted so much to find out what had happened. Maybe I could help her. Maybe I could help all of them somehow.