Part 31 (1/2)

LIBBY swept her hair back into a pony tail. She rarely wore her hair that way because it made her look too young, but she wanted to work a little in the garden. The Drakes grew herbs and flowers in abundance and she planned to do the same when she moved with Tyson to the new house. More than that, she wanted to feel grounded again. She'd spent so much time thinking of Tyson and none concentrating on any of the problems cropping up around them. She needed her mind clear.

”Are you going outside?” Elle asked. ”It's getting dark.”

”Right now,” Libby answered, ”I need to feel the soil in my hands just to connect with the earth. I've been floating on air all day, dreaming instead of getting anything done. It makes me feel so silly to be so sappy, but I can't help it.”

”You're going to blind somebody with that rock on your finger,” Elle teased, handing Libby a pair of gloves. ”Cover it up!”

Libby held the ring up to allow the last rays of the sun to s.h.i.+ne on the stones. ”It's so beautiful. Ty does the most unexpected things. He'll forget everything and everyone while he's working, but when he pays attention, he's entirely focused. I love that and he makes me feel so incredibly special.”

”That's because you are special.” Elle pulled on a second pair of gloves. ”I'm glad you've found Tyson and he loves you so much. I feel it when I'm close to both of you.” She picked up the small bucket of tools. ”I've never seen a more beautiful ring.”

”He's such a surprise, Elle.” Libby pulled on the gloves and followed her sister out to the courtyard where the flower beds were. ”I never thought I could be this happy, even with everything else going on. I am worried about him though.” She looked around her and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ”I have a really bad feeling I just can't shake.”

”What is it, Lib?”

Libby sighed as she jerked a couple of weeds from the ground. ”I feel so disloyal even thinking it, let alone saying it aloud.”

”There's only the two of us.”

”I don't like Sam and I don't think I ever will. It isn't just the fact that he obviously despises me, I can live with that. Sarah didn't like Tyson all that much, although she's really trying now, but Sam puts Ty down in little ways.”

”He does?”

Libby nodded. ”He's probably been doing it all of his life. Sam was popular in school and is still popular. He's used to being the center of attention and Ty probably was a drag on him. Sam's mother made him hang out with Ty all the time and like all kids he probably made fun of his cousin behind his back. But I don't think he's ever grown out of it. He has such a smug superiority sometimes, as if Ty is clueless and no one could actually love Tyson for anything but his money. I think he honestly believes that and it makes me angry. He actually said that to Ty.”

”You don't think Sam genuinely loves Ty?”

”Yes, of course he does. He takes care of him, even bringing him food that Ty never seems to eat, but he has such a superior att.i.tude and it bothers me.”

”You've always been so empathic and sensitive, Libby. You hated it in school when one child picked on or bullied another, but many children-and adults-are compet.i.tive by nature. They need to feel superior in some way. You don't understand that kind of behavior and you never will.” Elle threw several clumps of weeds on the growing pile. ”We should have started earlier, it's getting too dark to see, although there's a full moon tonight and that will help.”

”I know, it was just that I wanted to be out here with the plants for a few minutes. I thought I'd feel at peace again.”

Elle reached out to her. ”Sam is Tyson's only family, Libby.”

”I know. I know. That's why I feel so guilty. I want to like him, I really do, and I've tried. It's just that I don't think he's really what he presents to the world. He isn't smooth and easygoing.” She rubbed her face and smeared soil across it. ”I should have guessed he wouldn't be. Neither is Ty. The temper must run in the family.”

”Tyson has a temper?”

”Big time. Especially if someone isn't very nice to me. And Sam has it, too. He got so angry with me one day he shook me.”

Elle glanced up sharply, storm clouds gathering in her eyes. ”He physically shook you? The b.a.s.t.a.r.d. No wonder you don't like him. You should have told me. I would have paid him a visit.”

Libby burst out laughing. ”Talk about a temper. You don't have to visit him, Elle. Tyson did enough damage.”

”Did he?” Elle asked curiously. ”What did he do?”

”He hit him twice and broke his nose. It was awful.” Libby ducked her head. ”And I'm ashamed to say I didn't want to heal Sam at first.”

”Ashamed? When he shook you?”

”He felt bad afterward. He apologized both to me and to Ty. Come on, Elle. I'll bet Jonas or even Jackson is capable of shaking one of us.”

Elle huffed out her breath. ”I don't want to think what Jonas might do, but Jackson's reactions to things are utterly primitive. He doesn't care about being thought of as a modern man and I'm certain he beats his chest on a regular basis.” She smiled encouragingly at her sister. ”Don't worry. You'll find a way to accept Sam, Libby. You're like that. You have a naturally compa.s.sionate nature and you're probably very protective of Ty. You're protective of all of us.”

”Maybe. I hope so. It's not like I detest Sam or anything,” Libby hastened to explain. ”I'm sure it wasn't easy growing up with a boy genius several years younger but always ahead of you in cla.s.s. Ty even admits he embarra.s.sed Sam a lot. You know how boys have such egos.”

Elle smiled at her sister. ”I'm sure it won't take long before you'll be protective of Sam, too. And you know he'll be coming to all the family functions with Ty, so we'll help mellow him out. Joley always mellows the men out. They drool over her.”

Libby winced. ”He said a few disgusting things about Joley. Maybe that's what makes me dislike him. Well...” she hedged. ”I suppose dislike is a strong word. I have mixed feelings. He definitely wants to go to bed with Joley and brag about it to his firefighter buddies.”

”You can't be too angry with him over that. Half the men in the world want to go to bed with her. She oozes s.e.x. She can't help it. That's just the way she's put together. She walks down the street and she stops traffic.”

”She doesn't like it, does she?” Libby asked shrewdly.

Elle shrugged. ”No, but she accepts it. We all have things we don't like but we live with. Joley isn't at all as she appears to the public, you know that. Her public image is just that, an image that sells her music. She's doing the rounds with the late-night talk shows to laugh at herself over this latest write-up. She won't say one way or the other if those pictures were of her, but it will give her more publicity and turn a bad thing into something positive. She knows what she's doing.”

”I don't know how she manages with all the lies they tell about her.” Libby shook her head. ”I'm upset for her, more than she seems to be.”

The door banged open and Kate waved to attract their attention. ”Libby, you just got a garbled phone message. Something about Irene and Drew and you're to meet Tyson at the Chapman house.”

Libby pulled off the gloves. ”Was it Ty?”

Kate shrugged. ”I don't know, but I a.s.sumed so. I asked him to repeat what he said, but he hung up.”

Elle and Libby exchanged a long look and both laughed. ”That sounds like Ty.” They said it simultaneously and that had them laughing again.

Libby stood up and dusted off her jeans. ”I hope Irene hasn't changed her mind. This morning, Tyson was so excited. He was absolutely certain he'd figured out why the drug wasn't working as well for adolescents and he was all set to conduct more experiments and write up a report for BioLab.”

”I hope he found what he was looking for,” Kate said. ”If he did, would it help Drew, do you think?”

”He'd need to do a lot of testing before he'd trust a drug he came up with on the general public, especially teenagers, but he looked so excited, almost like a kid with his first bicycle.” Libby leaned against the door. ”I remember that look on his face in school sometimes. He'd just suddenly get something and be so eager to try it he couldn't contain himself. And he was always on the right track.”

Elle suddenly reached out to hug her. ”I'm so happy for you, Libby. You'll always have that, you know, the ability to share in his excitement of discovery. And he'll always be trying to figure out how you do your magic.”

”I am happy,” Libby admitted. ”Who would have ever thought Tyson Derrick could make me feel like this?” She glanced at her watch. ”It's getting late. I'd better go check on him. He didn't get any sleep last night. Once he decided he was on the right track he was working.” She tossed her gloves into the tool basket and hurried into the house to find her car keys. She hadn't seen Tyson all day and she was eager to be with him. It might be silly if she thought about it too much, but she didn't care.

Libby hurried out to the Porsche and slid behind the wheel, smiling at the thought of how Tyson always grabbed the keys. He'd grown very fond of her Porsche and he definitely had a penchant for driving too fast. Each time he got behind the wheel, he pushed the speed just that little bit more. The next time, she resolved to take the car keys away from him until he could resist the temptation to speed.

She s.h.i.+fted as she came onto the narrow switchback climbing the mountain and as she did so, a shadow slid across the moon. At once her heart jumped and she glanced in her rearview mirror. A vehicle was pulling off the shoulder of the road. She hadn't seen it because the lights were off and it was parked beneath the ma.s.sive shrubbery growing along the side of the mountain.

Again, her heart reacted, beginning to pound with real fear. The car paced along behind her at a safe distance, but for some reason she felt threatened. Apprehension didn't just creep over her, it hit her hard. Her mouth went dry and she felt panic welling up. Libby increased her speed. Her car was fast and built for taking the curves on the highway. And she knew the road. She'd grown up there. The Porsche should have easily outdistanced the other car, but when she looked in the rearview mirror, it was still maintaining the exact distance behind her.

Libby tried to tell herself her imagination was getting the better of her, but she couldn't convince herself. She debated trying a U-turn and making her way back to the Drake house, but she was only a couple of miles from the Chapman home and Tyson. She glanced in the mirror again and her heart leapt to her throat. The car was moving up on her fast. Too fast.

She fought down panic and forced her frozen body to perform. She had the better car. She wasn't the greatest driver in the world, but she should be able to outmaneuver the other driver until she reached Tyson's home.