In the six years I spent tracking David Addley, it never occurred to me that he didn't exist. That he was the imagined character of a man who didn't want to own up to the things he'd done. How he was connected to Frank Parker and why Frank held the documents he did was still mysteries to us. Ones we were certain finding David would solve.
At this point, you may be wondering who 'us' is. 'Us' was me and my fiancé Hunter. After six years, we were still engaged. We both decided it was best to wait until we graduated before planning our wedding. Guest lists and Midterms don't mix well, we tried so we know. Not having that on our plate made life a lot less hectic so we were able to do more searching between classes.
It took us a while but we were able to find my last two Addley siblings, Linebacker Darrel Hagen and Housewife Casey Morgan-Levi. Darrel had taken on his stepfather's last name which is why we had trouble finding him and Casey, well, she was a different challenge all together. First off, she was adopted soon after birth, and then she got married young. When we found her she'd just spent a fruitless year looking for her mother. Hunter and I took on that job and we eventually found her too.
My birth mother, Hannah, had moved to Lake Alban three years after I found her. She and Mr. Morrison said it was to get better medical treatment but I believed it was to be closer to me. My adopted mother, Claire, felt a little threatened at first. She thought she might lose me, I think. Then she met Hannah and the two of them ended up becoming such close friends, I felt like I might lose Hannah, or Claire, or both. When I told Claire that, she laughed in her sweet way and said "How can I not be her friend? She gave me you. Our love for you is what made us friends, so don't feel threatened." She always did have a way with words.
Mr. Mills, Hunter's father, managed to get us both a position at the Lake Alban Gazette, his newspaper, after we graduated. Knowing that we didn't have to worry about a job, Hunter and I decided we'd work on planning our wedding the day after we graduated. But Roy messed up our plans when he proposed to my sister Samantha on graduation day. Somehow we found ourselves planning a winter double wedding with them. We were happy and blind-sided at the same time.
The very first invitation I gave was to the Morrison family. Hannah cried when I told her I wanted her there. I also sent one to each of my Addley siblings, all of whom accepted. "It'll be like a family reunion" Max observed when he called in August. "Yeah, only we were never together so..." I stated as I juggled my phone, laptop, and an issue of Brides Magazine. "It all depends on how you look at it. Oh, before I forget, when is Casey meeting her mom?" he asked. "A week before my wedding. She should make it as long as there isn't a snowstorm" I sighed. "Whose idea was it to get married on December 30th?" was his next question. I managed a weak laugh. "I don't know, honestly, I don't. After Sam and Roy announced they were engaged, dates flew around and somehow we settled on that" I replied. "Well, all I can say is this, if I ever get married, it will be someplace warm enough for me to wear shorts" he declared earning a laugh from me. "We're holding the wedding and reception at the same place, Wellman House. It's actually a mansion that pre-dates the Civil War..." Max cut me off. "That's nice, Vera. Can you do me a favor and talk about how hot your bridesmaids are, now?".
In the ensuing wedding madness, searching for David Addley was put on hold. Between work and seating arrangements, there wasn't any time. That summer and autumn flew by so fast, we were in December before long. Samantha and I became almost frantic as we tried to make sure everything was right, everything perfect. Sam needed help going through pictures of Roy for a video montage our friend and bridesmaid Skyler was putting together. She recruited me to help her though I had planned to call the florist.
I was slightly annoyed with Sam. She made a large fuss about needing help yet it took her fifteen minutes to pick out what she wanted. Roy's mother, Mary, helped her by bringing box upon box of photos from her attic. She had a story for each and every photo. I did my best to appear as interested as Sam.
