Part 10 (1/2)
She winced, looking at the mannequin again. ”Please,” she said softly.
”Because you're afraid of a statue?”
She shook her head. ”Because I'm just plain terrified. Of everything. I mean, I know I should be strong. And maybe I can be. I'm just not feeling it at the moment.”
He was so stunned by her words that he was surprised he was able to move. He walked over to where she was sitting, went down on one knee and took her hand. He had to turn this situation into something a little lighter.
Say no, he told himself. Tell her you'll sit outside her door all night, waiting and watching. Just say no.
He couldn't do it. The single word was beyond him.
”So now you're begging me to sleep with you?”
”Yes, I guess so,” she said.
”Okay, fine.”
”Okay, fine-you'll do it?”
”If you're begging, yeah, I'll do it. A guy doesn't get that kind of an offer every day.”
He could tell that she wanted to look away, but he didn't let her, catching her chin and forcing her to meet his eyes. ”Just remember,” he said a little harshly. ”I'm not the one who wanted the divorce.”
She nodded. ”I know that,” she told him softly. ”But it was never because I didn't want you.”
They didn't get a chance to go any deeper. They heard footsteps on the stairs, and Diego stood up quickly.
A minute later Brett walked in with Diego's bag. ”Where do you want this?” he asked.
Diego kept his eyes steady on Scarlet's. He wasn't going to lie, not where his partner and the Krewe were concerned. ”Scarlet's room,” he said.
Brett didn't blink. ”All right. I'll take the other room, then. Double the security for Scarlet. The main house will have Meg, Matt and Adam, and we can call in reinforcements if necessary.”
”Excuse me just a second,” Scarlet said, rising and hurrying out of the room.
Brett didn't say a word as he walked away to put Diego's bag in Scarlet's room, leaving Diego alone with the statue of Nathan Kendall.
”I don't know your true story,” he said, feeling a little foolish addressing a life-size carving, ”but hopefully we'll discover what really happened to you and your wife, and maybe save some of your descendants. But for now...”
The painted blue eyes of the statue stared back at him, and Diego suddenly discovered that he was smiling.
”But for now, I guess I ought to be thanking you,” he said.
He left the room to join the others. He realized he was feeling famished.
In many ways.
Downtown Estes Park was filled with tourists. No surprise. Autumn was a beautiful time to be in the mountains, with winter's potentially lethal ice and snow yet to come. Temperatures were a continuation of summer's comfortable days and cool evenings, and the leaves were just beginning to change, covering the slopes with vibrant color. The gold of the trees, the blue of the sky and the streams, and the majestic white of the mountain peaks rising higher and higher in the distance all combined to provide a truly breathtaking vista.
Scarlet was surprised but pleased that the others looked to her for information about the area, and she embraced the role of tour guide with enthusiasm. She pointed out all the things they could do if they had the time, visit the Estes Park Museum to learn about frontier life or head up to the MacGregor Ranch Museum, a homestead from 1896 and the only remaining operating ranch in the area. She also heard more about Lara Mayhew, Meg's longtime friend and Brett's brand-new fiancee.
As they got closer to town Scarlet pointed through a break in the trees. ”That's the historic Stanley Hotel. If you're a Stephen King fan, like me, you'll enjoy taking the tour that talks about how he conceived The s.h.i.+ning while he was staying there.”
”I'd love to get over there. It's certainly beautiful and s.h.i.+ning up there on that hill,” Meg said.
”And if you have time before you leave, you really should drive Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. People say it's the most scenic drive in the entire country,” Scarlet said.
She was sharing the backseat with Diego on her left and Brett on her right. She noticed that Diego was looking out the window as they drove, almost as if he was trying not to look at her. The longer they drove, the more she felt as if her left side was burning up. What on earth had she been thinking, inviting him to share her bed? A sense of longing swept through her with an intensity she wasn't prepared for.
What had gone so wrong? Why had she been so determined to get away from a man she had loved with all her heart? She knew intellectually what had been in her mind, but now, sitting beside him, knowing that he'd dropped everything the minute she'd called... She was starting to think she was the biggest fool who'd ever lived.
She reminded herself that back then he hadn't been there when she'd really needed him. And she hadn't been able to forgive that.
She hadn't let him explain or even hold her after-something inside of her had simply closed off.
They reached the compact downtown area and found a spot in a munic.i.p.al lot. From there, she told them, they could wander and choose a restaurant, and if they felt like shopping along the way, well, there were plenty of opportunities for that, too.
She pointed out her favorite stores as they walked. While T-s.h.i.+rts with moose, bears, racc.o.o.ns and other creatures emblazoned on the front were available everywhere, she made a point of showing them the shop Terry had talked about, where everything was all moose all the time. High-end stores offered crystal and silver, while others were more family-oriented and featured mountain animals carved in wood. Hiking and camping gear, along with every item of clothing that could possibly feature the words Estes Park, were plentiful, as well. Scarlet had always loved downtown, not despite the fact that it was completely touristy but precisely because it was, in the best possible way.
They settled on a barbecue restaurant. Vertical beams carved into totem poles rose to the ceiling, and there were giant wooden bears at the entrance, along with detailed carvings of woodland creatures that ran along the bar and climbed the walls. A children's play area, stocked with stuffed animals, was set up against one wall.
There were advertis.e.m.e.nts for the upcoming t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e Festival, so Scarlet had to explain what Rocky Mountain oysters were. She wasn't surprised when they all grimaced and opted not to try them.
After the drive and the walk to the restaurant, Scarlet suddenly realized she was feeling relaxed for the first time since she'd seen those hideous pictures-until she noticed that even in the middle of their own conversation, the others were listening intently to everything the people around them were saying.
She listened, too.
”I just don't understand the police,” a man at a nearby table was saying to a woman she a.s.sumed was his wife. ”Two people were murdered at the Conway Ranch, but they don't say who they were or how they were killed. They just leave us in the dark. h.e.l.l, we don't know whether to stay in town or get the h.e.l.l out of here. I mean, were they a couple of prost.i.tutes? A couple of g.a.n.g.b.a.n.gers? That would mean we don't have to worry.”
She put a finger to her lips, nodding in the direction of two children cuddling with a stuffed bear in the play area.
”They can't hear me,” he said, but he lowered his voice anyway. ”I heard they found remains up on one of the mountains, too. Just bones, so they must have been there for a while.”
”Where did you hear that?” the woman asked.
”At the hotel. Some guy heard it from some other guy, who knew a ranger, and the ranger talked to someone who saw the bones.”
”Oh, Oscar. That's just hearsay,” his wife said.
Scarlet had been holding her menu, and now she realized that her fingers were white from the tightness of her grip.
”Could be just a rumor,” Matt said softly, so no one could overhear.
”Or there could be more to it,” Meg said.
Their waiter came up just then, putting an end to any further speculation. Scarlet remembered the young man from a previous visit, and he remembered her, too.
He smiled when he saw her, and thanked her for coming back and bringing friends. ”What can I get you all? We're famous for our moose-ball hot chocolate. Don't worry,” he added, when Meg shot him a skeptical look. ”Our moose b.a.l.l.s are marshmallows. I'm Dane, by the way, and feel free to ask me any questions about the menu.”