Looking For You All My Life Part 80

then grinned.

"Or maybe we should try to be a little more open-minded

to this new development."

Clyde groaned. "I can't believe you're giving up, Maggie.

I thought you were such a fighter."

"I'm not giving up. I'll keep investigating the whole thing.

I just need to find out if this Byers fellow is really who he says

he is or not. And if it turns out that he's really on the up-and-

up, we'll be open to this whole thing, right?"

"And if he's not, will we slap his sorry story all across the

front page?"

She couldn't help laughing. "You bet we will!"

Barbara Harris arrived in Pine Mountain a day earlier

than she had planned, and Maggie met her at the hotel for Looking for You All My Life127

tea the following afternoon. Barbara was a fragile and

refined-looking woman, and though probably only a little

older than Audrey, in some ways she seemed to come from

a generation long past. With her perfectly coifed snow-white

hair, soft powdery face, and pastel blue woolen dress com-

plete with a single strand of pearls, she reminded Maggie of

someone from the Victorian era, especially by the way she

held her teacup so daintily with her little finger gracefully

pointing down.

"I'm still so amazed to be back here in Pine Mountain,"

she said as she set the fine porcelain teacup carefully back

into its saucer. "Everything looks so wonderful. Much nicer

than when we left. In fact, much better than I ever remember

it being. This hotel has never been this lovely before."

"How long did you live here?"

"I came as a young bride just after the war. My husband's

family ran several businesses in the area. I was originally

from the East-I met Steven Sr. while volunteering at a dance

for servicemen soon to be shipped off to fight in Europe. I

was only seventeen at the time, but totally smitten by this

handsome young man in uniform. I gave him my address and

we wrote regularly throughout the war. I guess we fell in love

long distance. And during that time I promised that if he sur-

vived the war I'd marry him." Her eyes grew misty.

"And so you did." Maggie smiled. "Then you came

here?"

"Not at first. We stayed with my parents for a while. But

Steven missed his home and family-he'd been through so

much during the war-I thought the least I could do was to

come out here. I didn't realize at the time that we'd settle

here permanently. I must admit that I hated it at first, but

over time I grew to love the mountains and the fresh smell

of pine trees. After many years of waiting, our little Stevie

was born here; then life was complete for me. Oh, it was a

quiet Sort of life, to be sure, but I had a few good friends and

belonged to a bridge club. A couple of my old friends still