Part 18 (1/2)

”When's supper?”

”When's Mommy coming back?” ”Has anyone heard from her?” Chelsea asked.

”He's in surgery. They're trying to fix the leg.”

”Ahh. Good.” Trying to fix the leg was a sight better than cutting it off. ”Maryjo didn't know when she'd be back. I'm taking the girls to my house for dinner and the night . The twins liked that idea. ”I need my blankie,” one said, and disappeared in a flash. The other was fast on her heels, shrieking, ”Grover!”

”Need anything, Caro?” Glady asked.

Chelsea suddenly found the older girl standing closer to her. ”Can I stay here a little longer?” she asked timidly. ”It'll be easier for Mommy if things are clean.” Chelsea immediately picked up on her offer, saying to Glady, ”She's been showing me where things go. We'll just be a few minutes more. I'll walk her over when we're done.” Glady looked none too sure that that was the bestidea. ”It isn't far,” Caroline said, still timidly but making her wishes known nonetheless. After another minute Glady shrugged. ”Guess there's no harm. Don't be long. We're having pizza.” 384 The Pa.s.sions of Chelwa AMC ing for the twins, she turned and left. While Caroline put away the remaining groceries, Chelsea finished slicing the strawberries. In time Caroline reached for a pumpkin cookie and took a small bite. In nearly as small a voice, she asked, ”Are you really having a baby?”

”Uh-huh.”

”In January?”

”Round or about [email protected] Caroline took another nibble of the cookie. Then she looked up and said with unexpected poise, ”Don't listen to Glady. She's wrong about January. I was born in January. It isn't a bad month at all.” Chelsea smiled at the child's sweetness. She touched her long dark hair, then gave her a hug. Had it not been for the dinner she still wanted to make, she would have taken the girl home with her. But Judd was waiting.

He didn't know it. But he was. Chelsea made stir-fry chicken with rice, which was the best she could do in the least amount of V”-Jime. She cooked for four-Judd, Leo, Sarah, who ,.”,',had taken over for Gretchen, and her. She could see ”Ahat Judd was in pain. His skin was pasty, and he moved stiffly. He had barely finished half of what was on his plate when he mumbled, ”Gotta lie down,” excused himself from the table, and left the room. Chelsea started after him, but Sarah caught her arm. ”Let him be for a bit. It's hard for him to feel weak when someone's around to watch.” A door clicked shut. ”He's in the bathroom. He'll be fine.-Chelsea wasn't so sure, but she sat back at the 385 Barbara Deunshy table. Like Gretchen, Sarah was closer in age to Leo than to Judd, which meant that she had probably known Judd most of his life. She was right about strong men having trouble feeling weak. Judd would be that way.

”He's a good man,” Sarah said. ”I know.”

”That his baby?” Chelsea looked at Leo, but he was playing with Buck's whiskers. ”No. It's not.”

”Do you wish it was?” Sarah asked. For a minute Chelsea felt a swelling in her throat. She forced a breath through and shot a helpless look at the ceiling. Judd's baby. Oh, yes. The thought of it was new, but not at all bothersome. There shouldn't be any reason why she would want Judd's baby. But the thought of it, oh, yes, the thought lingered. ”It might have been nice,” she whispered, and lowered her head. ”You love him?”

Love him? She barely knew him. But there was the thing about wanting to be near him all the time, feeling safe with him, desiring him. Love him?

”I don't know.”

”He needs a special kind of woman, Judd does,” Sarah said in a soft, gentle way that wasn't offensive. It occurred to Chelsea that Sarah was that kind of woman, just as Gretchen had been. She should have known Judd would hire only the kindest for Leo. ”He needs a woman who'll give him lots and lots of love. It doesn't matter where it is-here or somewhere else-but he needs someone to be with him and only with him.”

”My Emma is special,” Leo said, looking up with a 386 The Pagslem of caelmo jlmw I smile. ”Will she be here soon?” S 040 n, dear,” Sarah said. ”Aht but look, here's re chicken. Such tasty chicken.” She speared a ece with Leo's fork, handed it to him, then ched to make sure that he remembered to put it k7, his mouth, chew, and -swallow. Chelsea tried to imagine Kevin being reduced to uch 0 a state. It would devastate her to see him s Alsabled. She could imagine what Judd felt. A sound came from the hall. She looked at Sarah u t oningly. he shower,” Sarah said with caution. hen Chelsea left the table this time, Sarah Idn't stop her. ”Judd?” she called from outside the ,. She knocked on the door. ”Judd. ” She tried the handle, but the door was locked. She knocked again. Either he didn't hear or he wasn't answering. She jiggled the doork.n.o.b. ”Judd!” In the end, she had to wait, leaning against the wall outside the bathroom, wondering whether he was alive and standing or had sunk to the floor and drowned, until the water went off. Then she pounded on the door with a fist.

”Open up, Judd!” He opened the door just enough to say, ”What's the problem?” But his voice was as pale as his face. She slipped inside.

”You weren't supposed to get that shoulder wet.”

”I didn't.” She checked. the bandages. They seemed all right. He must have covered them somehow. The rest of him was dripping wet. ”There're clean sweatpants in the second drawer in the dresser. Get them?” She wanted to help dry him off but, with Sarah's advice fresh in her mind, opted for the sweatpants. It 387 Defingby only took her a minute. By the time she returned, Judd had done a cursory job drying himself. He was leaning against the sink, holding the towel closed at his waist. She knelt down and held the sweatpants ready for the first foot. ”I can do that,” he said. ”Indulge me.”

”Chelsea.”

”Come on, Judd. I've seen it before.

You're only wasting time.” He resisted for another minute, at which point she a.s.sumed his strength waned. She had the sweatpants over his legs and hips in no time, but when she thought for sure that he would stumble back to bed, he continued to stand there, braced against the sink. Show me your stomach,” he said quietly. Her pulse skittered. ”I did before.” He shook his head. She swallowed. ”You ought to be-lying down.”

”Show me.” The door was right behind her. She could have turned and left. But she didn't. Instead she smoothed the sweater over her stomach. ”Lift it,” he said. She lifted it to a point just beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

”I want to see skin.” Her pulse flipped, then raced on.

Unsteadily she slipped the stretch denims down until the softly rounded belly was revealed. He stared at it for the longest time, just stared, then, before Chelsea could stop him, put his hand there. He moved it lightly over the mound. Her breath came faster in an effort to release the heat that was gathering inside. 388 Me Pa.s.sions Of Chelaw KMW e turned his hand over and ran the back of it er her skin. ”Jesus,” he whispered, and covered r once more with his palm. She wanted more, so much more, the ache inside intense. She wanted him to touch her with hands. She wanted to move closer to him, @,,:wanted him to wrap her in his arms and hold her tight. She'd been dying for that. She hadn't realized much until now. Unable to bear not having it all, she grabbed his band and held it still. ”Don't.”

”Don't what?” His voice was hoa.r.s.e.

”Tease me.”

”You're the one who's the tease,” he said. Tugging his hand free, he moved past her out of the bathroom. It was a minute before she'd recovered her wits enough to straighten her things and follow him, but the wits scattered again the instant she saw him sprawled on the bed. His hair was damp and disheveled, his chest bare and damp as well, his hips and legs lean, his s.e.x p.r.o.nounced. It was all she could do not to touch it or him. ”How am I a tease?” she asked, stowing her hands under her arms for safekeeping. ”You were the one who said you wanted to see the baby.” He remained still. ”Tell me, Judd.” But he wouldn't.

After the longest time, she retreated to the chair. Gradually the-p.r.o.nounced state of his s.e.x grew less so. ”Go home,” he finally murmured, sounding groggy- ”Later.”

”You need sleep.” 389 Barbwa Demmsky ”Later.” She didn't hear from him again. He fell into a light sleep that deepened progressively. When she finally drew the quilt over him, he was dead to the world, By then Sarah had cleaned up the kit4zhen and seen that Leo was bathed and in pajamas, and [email protected] sitting with him in front of the large televis ”Dn set in the living room. Chelsea stopped only Ionr enotgh to say a soft good-bye to each of them and to Bljck, before climbing into the Pathfinder and heading home. The instant she turned onto the Bou'llerbrook road, she knew that something was wrolqg.

Even with every window rolled up, she could stnell the smoke, and it wasn't the kind of smell that ' 50 frequently from chimneys now that fall had come- it was the more ominous smell of somethirig lairge aflame. Heart in her throat, she drove on. Boul(lerbrook was made largely of stone, but there was Dlenty to burn. There was the roof. And there were the insides that she had had so painstakingly redone. The trees broke to reveal the farmhouse. Smore wafted all around it, but the glow of the flar4es caftie from safely beyond, where the old barn that had stood unused was in its last stages Of fight before moaning mightily and toppling to the gro4nd jo a hail of sparks. 390 UDD FELT AS THOUGH HIS SHOULDER HAD BEEN over by a truck, but that didn't keep him from ng Oliver to the barber shop the next morning, r did it keep him silent while the selectmen of o *ch Notch nonchalantly discussed the demise f Chelsea's barn. He was angry and was feeling kless enough to let them know it. He waited until the first of the three was on Zee's air, until the other two had poured themselves ffee and taken up proprietary positions at the ndow overlooking the green, until the cymbalists clicked out of their houses on either side of the ock, clapped their cymbals three times, and icked back inside. Then he spoke. ”Something's not right in this town. I want to Ow what it is.” The two at the window-Oliver and Georgeooked at him in surprise, then at each other.

”What's he doin' here?” George asked. ”He's with me,” Oliver muttered, ”only he's not upposed to speak.” ”It's about time someone did,” Judd said. Bwtwm Lkabighy ”Chelsea Kane came here in good faith. She made a legal arrangement, and she's keeping her end of the deal. But someone's trying to either knock her off or scare her away. I want to know who.” ”He's talkin' about the fire,” George mused. Oliver snorted. ”Don't know nothin' about the fire.”

”Then what about the truck that nearly drove her down?” Judd asked, directing himself to George and Emery since he'd already been through it with Oliver. ”Or the phone calls she gets? Any of you know anything about those?”

”How in the devil would we know?”

Emery barked from the chair. ”You all want her gone. Maybe you're giving her a push.” ”You accusing us?” George asked. Judd was ripe for the challenge. ”If the shoe fits .. George snorted. To Oliver, out of the corner of his mouth, he said, ”He's sweet on her. Didn't I say so?” To Judd he said, ”That your baby she's got?”

”Not mine. But it's someone's.

And I don't want it hurt.”

”How do you know it ain't yours?” Emery called. ”Because she conceived before she ever moved here.”

”How do you know that?”

”Because she's five months pregnant.”

”How do you know that?” ”Because the said so.”

”You'd take her word on it?” ”d.a.m.n right,” Judd said. ”Her word hasn't proven wrong yet. What she says, she does.”

She didn't necessarily tell the whole truth. More than anyone else, Judd knew that. But she didn't lie, no, she didn't lie. 392 MW Fa.s.siom Of cher ”M on her, I tell you,” George muttered again. ly sore it ain't his kid.” d ran a hand over the back of his neck. His les hurt, no doubt because of the mess he'd of his shoulder, and the morning's tension help. Probably sore it ain't his kid. d.a.m.n right which was the last thought he'd had falling the night before and the first thought he'd 7-waking up this morning, but he sure as h.e.l.l I going to tell it to George. he said wearily, ”you three pride yourves on running this town.

Well, you're doin' a y job if you can't find out who's trying to hurt and get it stopped.”

”That's Nolan's job,” Emery called. And indeed it was, but only to an extent. ”You're 7the selectmen. You make the rules.

You can rule -that she isn't to be hurt.” Oliver stared broodingly out at the green. ”I told her not to buy that place. I told her it was haunted.” ”You also told her it ought to be burned to the ground,” Judd reminded him. ”You sayin'I did it?”

”I'm sayin' maybe you know who did.”

”You want to know who did,” George put in, ”go ask Hunter Love. He knows all about setting fires.” Judd wasn't dumb. He'd checked Hunter out first thing that morning after Gretchen had come with the news. ”Hunter was at the hospital in Concord until Wendell got out of surgery last night.” ”Says who?” asked George. ”Says Hunter.”

”And you believe him?

Fact is he's been causing trouble since the day they found him wanderin' down that road. They shoulda let him wander right on past Norwich Notch and take his trouble somewhere else, and they would have, but for Oliver and Katie Love.”