Part 15 (1/2)

”It's a loose dress,” Judd said because it was his opinion that dirty old men shouldn't go unchallenged. ”Everything she wears is loose. How's that showing off?” ”Her legs,” George said. ”They're bare.” Oliver grunted.

”So're the legs of half the people in town this time a year.” 332 ”M .'.-Well, it isn't their legs old Buck is stickin' to, taste.” He rge retorted. ”I tell you, the dog7s got t to one side, still looking out.

”'Course, if he'd a little, I could get a better look.” L rd sakes, George,” Emery complained, shaking o va a fresh handkerchief, ”you're getting worse by @@.jhe day. Listening to you, a person'd think you --badn't seen a woman in weeks, but I happen to know that the new secretary you just hired-”

”I'm a widower,” George snapped. ”I can do what I want.” ”Oh, I know that, Emery said, all calmness and rosy cheeks as he removed his spectacles and began to polish the gla.s.s. ”What I don't know is what she'd see in an old geezer like you.” He tossed his head toward Chelsea. ”That one sure as h.e.l.l ain't followin' you around.

Maybe that s what bothers YOU.” Judd wondered if it was true, but in lieu of answering, George turned to him with a confrontational look. ”I told you what they're sayin' in the bar at the inn. Know what they're sayin' at Crocker's?” Judd finished off his coffee, crushed the cup, and lobbed it into the wastebasket. He folded his arms on his chest.

”What're they sayin' at Crocker's?” As if he didn't know. He was there once a day, at least. No one said anything to his face, but he waswt dumb. He knew the talk. It was his business to know it. ”They say yotfre porldn' her. That so?”

”Nope,” Judd said. ”Like h.e.l.l it isn't,” Emery sputtered. Oliver pushed out his lower lip and kept his eyes on Farr's, while Emery furthered his case. ”Whole town knows where you're going at night when Millie Malone comes to stay.” He guffawed. Barbwa Defingby ”G.o.d knows you ain't doin' it to Millie.” George stuffed his hands under his suspenders and gave Judd a speculative look. To Emery, out of the corner of his mouth, he said, ”Can see why she'd like him. Right size.

Right age. I said that before, when we told him to keep an eye on her.

Seems he's done more'n that.” To Judd he said, ”You're playing with fire. Already been burned by one city woman. Looking to be burned by another?”

”'m wiser,” Judd said. ”So was Leo, and look what happened to him. He was done in by a city woman, too. Never got over your mother leaving. I swear, the trouble he's havin with his mind now can be traced right to that.” Peeling his back from the wall, Judd drew himself to his full height. ”Leo and I have done just fine.”

”Well, good,” George said, ”but if you're smart as you think, you'll stop foolin' with Chelsea Kane and start puttin' her in her place. She wants to get business for the company, that's fine. She wants to turn this town upside down, that ain't fine. And if you can't tell her that, there's plenty who can. You keep it in mind, Judd.” The cymbalists clicked out of their houses on either side of the clock, clapped their cymbals five times, then clicked back inside. Judd looked at Oliver. ”It's ten-thirty. I have to get to the quarry. If you want me to drive you, you'll have to leave now.”

”You listening, Judd?” George demanded. Oh, yes, Judd was listening. He was also thinking about breakfast two mornings ago, when Nolan Mccoy s lid onto his booth at Crocker's and started talking. Someone was making strange phone calls to Chelsea-d.a.m.n her hide for not telling him about 334 The ra.s.skws of Chelsea Kmw at, either. He wondered if George knew anything -,*bout it, because what he'd just said sounded suspi- , like a threat. Judd wasn't having anything to , with Chelsea, but if the calls continued, or if any- ”o, ne dared harm her with the intention of scaring off, they'd have to answer to him. He wasn't havg the possible damage to a helpless, unborn child his conscience. Labor Day in the Notch was a variation on the @@'theme of the Fourth of July.

Faces were more tanned now, legs more lazy. There was no parade, but there a bicycle ride through town to raise money to ”,,fight muscular dystrophy, a fair highlighted by a I. Acontest for the largest zucchini, a frog race, a merry- on the green, the summer league playoffs, and Labor Day Dessert, which was an evening freevalornall of pies, puddings, and cakes. Chelsea was pleased with herself. She made it without lapsing into a blue funk, which ”. wasn't to say she'd been deliriously happy, simply [email protected] she'd made it through. She had been lonesome. [email protected], @ft was hard seeing families having fun together, and -much as she viewed various groups with an eye .,.toward which one she might belong to, she remained very much the outsider. The hardest part was seeing Judd play basketball and win and not being able to give him a victory hug, but she made it through that, too. She wasn't a beggar where men were concerned.

Her relations.h.i.+p with him had been unexpected and short-lived. She would survive it. The open house, on the other hand, was a triumph from start to finish. Over the course of the weekend, no less than two hundred friends, col- 335 Barham Deffnshy The pa.s.sions of Cbefsen Kam leagues, and potential buyers came to the Notch. Some made the trip in a day, others took advantage of the excuse to get a jump on the leafers in viewing the splendor fall made of the New England hills. The best of the colors was nearly a month away, but the first of the swamp maples had turned red, the first of the birches yellow. Whether into leafing or not, all who showed up for the open house had a wonderful time, if the amount of money spent at Farr's, the level of laughter at the bar at the inn, and the buckets of barbecued chicken and apple brown betty consumed at Boulderbrook was any indication. Crowning the weekend were a dozen large orders for granite. Oliver studied the work orders with satisfaction. Judd hired another five men. Chelsea ran with Donna at sunrise on what promised to be a bright September day. The air was fresh and brisk enough to leave their mouths in tiny white puffs. Likewise the landscape, which was more vibrantly colored by the day, was stiff with an almost frost. They wore sweats.h.i.+rts that would be tied around their waists by the time they finished and Lycra tights that covered their legs, and they ran with the extra spring to their step that the crisp air inspired. It was the kind of morning that brimmed with optimism, the kind of morning when- Chelsea felt that things were finally coming together for her at Norwich Notch. Boulderbrook was finished and lovely, decorated in a warm, homey style, with area rugs and quilts and macram6 pillows and prints that she would never have dreamed of displaying in Baltimore but were fitting here. The arduous hours of phone calls and letter writing she had done in 336 P Julie and July were paying off in steady activity at the quarries and full utilization of the new cutting Granted, Kevin refused to visit her, but she continued to call. She wasn't giving up. Sooner or later he would realize that she loved him as much as ever. She was four months pregnant and feeling strong, which didn't mean that she was carrying on with the sarne spriteliness as before. She had gained eight pounds-still comfortably hidden under loose clothing-and4elt every one, so she ran a bit slower and not quite as far. That was why running with Donna was perfect. Cydra, who had stayed with Chelseaa aat Boulderbrook for the open house weekend, teased @”:;ber mercilessly when she fell behind. Donna was @@,@,-content with the slower pace, not that she wasn't ”athletic. She and Chelsea were built remarkably alike. But she didn't have the history of running that Chelsea did or,,therefore, the endurance. On this particular morning they ran side by side, near perfect shadows of each other. They headed in the direction of the traffic, although with the sun barely up there wasn't much of that yet. Since Chelsea was the hearing one, she ran on Donna's left and edged her closer to the shoulder of the road when a vehicle approached from behind. She did that this time. From the rumble of its engine, she guessed the vehicle to be a truck, as most were at that hour. The rumble came closer, then closer still in a way that made Chelsea glance over her shoulder nervously. Stunned at how close to the side of the road the truck was, she gestured for it to. give them room.

It had the rest of the road to itself. Rather than moving off, it aimed for the shoulder 337 ”k, , Barbara Definsky of the road. With seconds to spare before they were hit, Chelsea threw herself at Donna and tumbled them both into the brush at the side of the road. Breathing hard and trembling, they scrambled to their knees and stared off at the disappearing truck. Then they looked at each other. No signing was necessary. Donna's stunned expression said that she knew what Chelsea did. The white writing on the tailgate of the dirty gray truck identified it, clear as day. 338 6 sixteen CL RE YOU SURE IT WAS ONE OF OURS?- JUDD asked. ”It was a Plum Granite truck,” Chelsea confirmed.

Nolan sat behind his desk, jotting notes on a form. His office was done up in metal and would have felt cold, had it not been for Nolan. He was a large man in blue with graying hair, a bull neck, and a warm way about him that surprised Chelsea each time she saw him. ”Did you see anything of the driver?” he asked now. ”I couldn't. The sun was just coming up behind it, so the cab was dark. Besides, I really expected that it would pa.s.s us like the others all do. When I looked back and saw it so close, the only thing I had time to do was to get us out of the way. By the time it occurred to me to wonder about the driver, it was long gone.”

”Are you sure you're all right?” Judd asked. His eyes held hers, telling her the nature of his concern. She imagined he would have looked at her stomach if it weren't for presence of the others. For all he lacked in softness, he was discreet. Barbara Definsky ”I'm fine,” she said quietly. She looked at Donna. ”Are you okay?” Donna nodded. ”No bruises?” Nolan asked. He, too, was looking at Donna. His eyes were filled with the softness Judd's lacked, and for an instant Chelsea felt an overwhelming envy. Then she realized the folly of that. She wouldn't want to trade places with Donna. Not only did Donna have a physical handicap that prevented her from hearing the sound of her own son's voice, but she had a husband who treated her like dirt. She more than deserved what little gentleness came her way. Donna shook her head no to Nolan's inquiry. She s.h.i.+fted to Judd and mouthed, ”Who?”

”There are four trucks that size,” Judd said. ”Three are parked at Moss Ridge every night. Oliver drives the other.”

”You didn't see a license plate?” Nolan asked Chelsea. She shook her head. ”I was too shocked by the writing on the back of the truck.” After a hesitant glance at Donna, she asked Judd, ”is it safe to a.s.sume that it was one of the three parked at Moss Ridge?” Judd looked her in the eye. ”Oliver may be ornery, but he isn't evil. Or stupid. The business is moving again. Knocking you off would be sabotaging his own prosperity. Knocking Donna off would be suicide.

Besides”-he spoke more quietly-”he only drives the truck from home to work and back, and then only in broad daylight. Anything more scares him. His reflexes aren't good. In a pinch, I've seen him put Margaret behind the wheel. Usually it's me.” 340 The Pa.s.sions of Owlsen Kane hritis,” Donna said. Her voice was too loud, ,@@but no one minded. She was visibly shaky. ”That, too,” Judd confirmed, ”only no one's supposed to know. He has an image to protect.” Chelsea shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that Judd covered for Oliver. He took care of his own father above and beyond the call of duty. It stood to reason that he would respond to Oliver's frailties. He was that kind of man. I What she didn't understand was why, if he could be understanding and compa.s.sionate toward a wretch of a man like Oliver, he couldn't be understanding toward her. She supposed it was because she was an intruder of sorts. There was no shared past, no loyalty or sense of obligation. They had briefly been lovers, never friends in the sense of going through life's trials together. ”Let's focus on the other three trucks,” Nolan said. ”Where are the keys?”

”In their ignitions, I a.s.sume,” Judd answered. ”They're not locked up at night?” Chelsea asked.

”Nope.”

”Why not?” ”Because this isn't the city,” he said without apology. He was looking her straight in the eye again, daring her to say something or do something or feel something that would betray what had happened between them. ”We don't lock things up the way you folks do.”

She ignored the ”you folks” but not the dare, -because ignoring dares wasn't in her nature. ”That means,” she concluded with a straight-in-the-eye look right back at him, ”that anyone, even someone with nothing to do with the company, could have been driving that truck.” 341 Definsky ”Only if that person wanted to crash through the gates,” he said. ”They are locked at night.” . has the keys to the gates?” Nolan asked. ”I have a set. Oliver has a set. Each of the site foremen has a set. So does the shed foreman . Problem is, we're not talking about Fort Knox here. The locks aren't sophisticated.

They could probably be picked by anyone who knows anything about picking locks.” ”Then I was right,” Chelsea said. She didn't look Judd in the eye this time. She was tired of that game. The fact was that either there was a lousy driver on the road, or someone was out to run her down. ”It could have been anyone.” Nolan checked his watch. ”I want to start looking around. It's nearly seven-thirty, Judd. Your men already there?” When Judd nodded he reached for his hat and rose. ”I'll follow you out.” But Judd was reaching for Chelsea's arm. ”I'm taking her home first. I'll meet you there.” Chelsea would have run home had her legs felt stronger. But she didn't want to push, not with the baby. Promising Donna she would stop by on her way to the office, she went along with Judd. He didn't say a word until they had left the town green behind.

”Are you really feeling okay'?” His eyes were on the road. She couldn't tell if they held concern. His voice gave nothing away. ”Worried, is all.”

”You look pale.”

”I'm not wearing makeup.”

”I've seen you without makeup before.” And so he had. ”You still look pale.” She shrugged and turned to the window. The fact was that she was feeling shaky and scared and that 342 The FASWOns of Chelsea Kane she wanted most was to slide across the seat and be held for a minute. Instead she wrapped her arms around herself. He took in the gesture and braked. ”Maybe Neil Summers ought to check you out.”

”I'm fine,” she insisted, and waved him on.

Reluctantly, she thought, he returned to the gas. ”Have you seen him about the baby?”

”Not yet.”

”What are you waiting for?”

”I have a man in Baltimore.”

”Lotta good he'll do you down there. Don't you think you should see someone here?”

”I will.”

”When?”

”Soon.”

”When are you going to make it public?”

”When it shows.”

”It shows now.”

”Only if you look for it.”

”It shows.” So he'd been looking. That knowledge set off a humming inside that she determinedly ignored. ”What's the rush?” He was silent, jaw set, brow beetled. ”Someone wants you out of this town enough to make phone calls at night and then, when that didn't spook you, try to run you off the road. If whoever it is knows you're pregnant, he may think twice. Harming you is one thing, killing your baby another.” . ”Good G.o.d, Judd,” she breathed because the word killing made her shudder. ”I should pretend it isn't a possibility? Aren't you concerned?”

”Of course I'm concerned. Why do you think I'm 343 Bmtom Defimsky sitting in this car right now?” His profile was hard. ”Maybe because you want to get home faster so you won't be late for work. You know, it wouldn't kill you to take it easy a little. If this hadn't happened, you'd probably have kept running until you were ready to drop the kid.”

”No. I'll only run for another month. Less if it starts to bother me.

I'm not that irresponsible, Judd.” He shot her an incredulous look.

”You're running after today?”

”Definitely.” Cydra might have called the near miss a sign, but what did Cydra know? ”Are you crazy?”

”No. Running airs me out.”

”You are crazy.” ”Not crazy,” she mused. ”I like exercising. I also like the freedom to choose where I go and what I do. I refuse to be intimidated by a madman in a truck.”

”Now, that's smart.” His sarcasm stung. She tried to shrug it off. ”That's the way it is. Donna and I have been taking the same route each time we run. Next time we'll vary it.- ”Clever.”