“Right.”
She turned to him, touching his face.
“You’re as lonely as me,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I should be more considerate. Thank you for last night. I apologize for all of it, but you made it worth every minute.”
Ben’s right after all. She’s not in love with me.
Damn it.
Quinn felt his mood sink.
“I guess you want to go then.”
She studied his face a long moment, then nodded.
“I should,” she said. “Damage control.”
He nodded and climbed out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweats. He caught her watching him and smirked.
But there’s still something there.
“Maybe you can drop by later,” he said. “Have dinner with me?”
She smiled.
“I’ll let you know.”
She took his hand and stood. He tugged her to him with a strong jerk, staring down into her eyes. She melted a little at his strength. He bent down and kissed her, feeling her free hand touch his cheek, her fingers curling around through his hair. He opened his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers.
“I have to go,” she whispered.
He nodded and turned away, walking her all the way to the kitchen. He helped her into her jacket and kissed her once more at the door. She fished her keys out of the pocket of the jacket and slipped out into the bright morning sun, dashing down to her car. A moment later, she was gone.
He didn’t even look at the yard across the street. He simply closed the door and leaned back against it, running his hands through his hair.
Chapter 17
UNRAVELED
Carol gone, Quinn got his shower and began his day, tossing his phone on the table without even checking his messages. He threw himself into his writing, inspired by the lovemaking during the night, and wrote feverishly until he heard the afternoon train pass by. His hands, neck, and arms ached from sitting so stiffly. He stood and stretched, groaning, and limped into the kitchen to scramble together something to eat.
He made himself a thick sandwich and stared at it when he sat at the table. Carol’s face kept flitting into his mind. He sighed.
“I think I’d really rather eat out.”
He half smiled and stood, wrapping up the sandwich.
Fifteen minutes later, he limped down the steps to his car.
***
He cruised across the little town with old music blasting, his sunglasses on, a light mood in his heart.
Floating on last night like a drug. Damn that woman’s got me.
He turned the corner and slowed, his heart in his throat.
Red and blue lights flashed from a collection of both marked and unmarked police vehicles and an ambulance. Quinn turned off the music and stared, his mouth open. He parked on the side of the road a little away and watched a moment, swallowing.
Do I go in? Maybe it’s not her.
He sucked it up and tensed, pulling back into the street. He turned into the parking lot. An officer in uniform held a hand up to stop. Quinn rolled down his window.
“Diner’s closed,” the officer said.
“What happened?”
“Stabbing,” the man said.
“Oh my god! Is everyone alright?”
The policeman had already turned away. Quinn backed out, staring at the windows of the restaurant.
How did ‘Ben, the great clairvoyant’ not see this?
He turned around and cruised back to the main street, turning into the store. He parked and sat a moment, staring at nothing.
My god.
He lifted his phone, remembering suddenly he never turned it on. There were a few messages from Kate, one from Megan, several from Tamara, but nothing from Carol. He lowered the phone and thought a minute.
He considered driving by her house but talked himself out of it.
He got out of the car and walked with a stilted gate, half limping, his mind a thousand miles away. He stepped into the store, not seeing anything, and walked back to grab a basket.
He heard a huff from somewhere to his right and glanced up, at last focusing on his surroundings. Lily stood a few aisles away. Repulsion made his stomach churn. He turned back to the basket.
What am I getting? I don’t even know. I should just go home and eat my sandwich.
But do I even feel like eating now?
“Well, I do hope you’re happy,” Lily said. She spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Sonya stabbed Timothy Lambert. Apparently because of some tryst you had going on with his wife?”
“Sonya?”
“The hostess,” she said.
“Wasn’t he fucking her?” Quinn stared back at her, his eyes just as ice-cold as hers. “I’m surprised Carol wasn’t the one to stab him.”
Lily blushed a little bit, flustered presumably at his speech. She walked around the aisle to stand beside him. She leaned in closer.
“You have no room to judge. You slept with her,” she said.
“Twice,” Quinn said.
“You admit it.”
“She was lonely and sad and so was I,” he said. “Since someone I liked very much refused to see me anymore.”
She seemed to fluff up like an agitated hen.
“Tim was screwing around with whatever her name is for some time,” he said. “Carol never even suspected. She left him last night.”
Lily went a little pale. She opened her mouth three times to speak, but nothing came.
“And since you’re a good Christian woman, how about keep what I just told you to yourself,” he said. “Since there’s gonna be enough gossip about her husband and the hostess as it is.”
He pushed past her deeper into the store. She stood there a moment, staring at the spot he had stood. She huffed and spun around following him.
“You’re a bad man, Quinn Tilman,” she said in a quiet voice.
He caught her glancing back at the register as she spoke.
“So I keep being told.” He shook his head and waved her off. “Just text me about it,” he said. “So I can block it and forget it.” He glanced back at her. “Like you did with me.”
“You’ve been sleeping with a twenty-one year-old girl.”
He sighed.
“And if a handsome twenty-one year-old boy happened to want you, would you turn that down? Somehow I doubt it.”
“Of course I would.”
“I’m not that much younger than you, but you certainly had no issue falling into bed with me.” He smirked. “Old enough to be my babysitter. Wasn’t that what you said?”
Her shocked face almost made him want to laugh out loud. Instead, he stormed past her, ignoring the ache in his ankle. She ran up behind him, grabbing his arm.
“You’re a beast,” she whispered, again her eyes flicked up front on the person running the register. “Using all of us. It’s no wonder your wife kicked you out.”
He walked straight to the counter, slamming his basket down. Billy stood there waiting.
“Hello Mister Tilman,” he said with a nod.
“Hi Billy, how’s the band?”
Billy grinned.
“Rocking, man. Got a gig coming up on Friday night at Maxine’s. You should come. It’s a young crowd, but hey at least the music’ll be damned good.”
Quinn chuckled.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He handed Billy his card.
“Crazy about the Lamberts, yeah? That bitch hostess stabbing old Tim.” He leaned close to Quinn. “She’s been bragging all over about how she’s been screwing the richest man in town. But it’s not his money.” He chuckled. “Apparently he told her the truth and she lost it.”
“Told her?”
“Haha, yeah. Carol kicked him out last night. He was staying in a camper out behind Dean’s warehouse. Sonya demanded to know why he didn’t kick her out.” Billy starting chuckling. “Then he had to tell her the money was Carol’s, not his.”
“So she stabbed him.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Didn’t kill him, but she’s going to jail.”
“My god.”
“Yeah, some messed up shit happens around here, man,” he said. “Never a dull moment.”
“Well, you have a good evening Billy.”
“You too, Mister Tilman.”
Quinn grabbed up his bags and headed for the door as Lily stepped up to the register.
“Hi there, Mrs. Barnett, how are you?”
“I’ve been better Billy.”
“Uhoh. That’s not good. Anything I can help you with?”
“Oh things will get much better as soon as that door opens and someone leaves the store.”
“What?”
Quinn turned back at her, noting Billy glancing at him. Her eyes met Quinn’s for only a few seconds. She blushed.
“Nothing, Billy. Forget I said anything.” She sighed.
Quinn sucked in a deep breath and pushed on the door. He stumbled out as Stephen pulled it open. Stephen grabbed his elbow.
“Oh gosh, Mister Tilman, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright, Mister Christmas. How are you?”
“Fine, fine.”
Stephen let the door close and walked with him to his car. He sighed, looking down at the parking lot.
“I’m kinda glad I ran into you, actually, because I kinda have to say something, sir,” he said. “It uh, it’s been brought to my attention that Tamara shouldn’t be seeing a man of your age.”
“Yeah,” Quinn said. “I’ve already been told.”
“So you’re stepping back?”
Quinn glared at him but nodded.
“She’s about to have some serious trouble,” Stephen said.
“You’ve been talking to Ben?”
Stephen met his gaze, squinting. He nodded.
“Her pa is gonna go ballistic. We know it wasn’t you,” he said. He too made his fingers into scissors. “But better to leave it now than deal with the mudslinging later.”
Quinn groaned, rolling his eyes.
“I guess the whole town must know my personal business?”
“No, man,” Stephen said, stepping closer. “Just the elders. The ones who keep an eye on everyone. See, something no one talks about happened when Miranda’s shadow boxes started turning up after her death.” He glanced around them. “I shouldn’t even be talking about it, but I just feel like you need to know. There’s a group of us, the older families who live here. The Christmases, the Maetters, the Cutters, and a few more. We were here from the beginning. We watch over things. Watch over the folks here. We try hard to keep the peace. Something like what just happened to the Lamberts… well… Normally that sort of thing isn’t allowed to happen. We see it coming and we stop it. But in this case, we chose not to intervene. It’s a lesson for everyone involved, including you.”
“What are you saying? Ben predicts the future and you all decide what to let happen and what to change?”
“Something like that. Mostly it’s Miranda.”
Quinn laughed, shaking his head.
“It’s more like a flow,” Stephen said. “We see the pattern. Everything connected. All the lines like thread, spider web, interweaving. Thanks to her shadow boxes, we know when trouble is coming. And we knew, you were gonna be trouble.”
“I’ve done nothing illegal,” Quinn said. “Nothing wrong.”
Stephen chuckled shaking his head. He patted Quinn’s back.
“Just breaking a few hearts,” he said.
Quinn glanced back at the store.
“Yeah.” Stephen nodded. “Lillian Barnett.”
Quinn turned to him.
“So why let Carol suffer? Why let Tim get stabbed?”
Stephen smirked.
“You don’t think Carol is better off without Tim?” He shrugged. “She’s a kind soul, Mister Tilman. If Sonya had just quit, he would have moved heaven and earth to get her back. And she would have-”
“Gone back,” Quinn said. “Because she wants so badly to please.”
Stephen nodded.
“We had a meeting and decided to let it play out. Of course, we couldn’t know if Sonya was gonna kill him or not, but it was a risk we had to take, for the Tanner family.”
He blew away a long sigh.
“I’ve said more than I should,” he said. “You have a good night, Mister Tilman. And thank you for dropping Tamara.”
“Yeah.” Quinn walked around and slid into his car, watching as Stephen helped Lily put her groceries in her trunk. He backed out and zipped away into the growing darkness.
***
He parked in the driveway and got out, going around to open his trunk. Headlights shined beside him. He looked back, seeing Lily’s car pull in beside his. She got out and stood there, staring at him.
“What do you want, Lily?”
“I never got to finish what I was saying.”
“And I said to text me.”
“I’ve deleted your number.”
“Then write me a fucking letter since you have my address,” he said, pointing at the house. He grabbed up his bags and slammed the trunk.
She stared up at the house, making a cross on her chest. He huffed, shaking his head.
“Go home, Lily. You’re even afraid of the damned house.”
He climbed the stairs and opened the front door. Turning back he saw her carefully taking slow hesitant steps up to the porch. He rolled his eyes, setting the groceries on the table.
He began putting everything away and glanced back just as she reached the screen door.
“Can I come in?”
“Why are you here? Because if you’ve come to give me shit, you can just leave. I’ve already been married to that for more than twenty years. I don’t need to relive it.”
“I just came to give you a warning,” she said through the screen.
“I’ve already been warned.”
“Your time is coming, Quinn.”
He groaned.
“I told you,” he said, turning to her. “I’ve already been told. I’ve already given that up.”
The old woman across the street began singing. Her voice drifted over them both.
“She sees it all, Quinn,” Lily said.
Both Lily and the old woman spoke at the same time.
“You’re a bad, bad man.”
Quinn ran to the door, gritting his teeth like a beast. Lily stumbled backward, her eyes huge. He stopped just at the screen door.
“You know, to me you were the most beautiful, most intelligent woman in this town,” he said. “So I’m surprised. I thought you were above all that hocus pocus stuff. Above all the superstitions, the bottle trees, the wards.” He glared at her, stepping up close to the screen. “I thought you believed in God instead.”
Her lips clamped into a long thin line. She backed up and turned away, running down the stairs. She got into her car and sped away, tired spinning, throwing up gravel.
“Stupid bitch.”
He slammed the door, turning the bolt.
***
After a fast dinner of a soggy sandwich and soda, he fell into the recliner to rock and think.
His phone jingled at him, vibrating so loudly on the metal tray he snatched it up fast.
Megan? I forgot she texted me earlier.
First, he checked over Kate’s messages, all work-related; another book signing scheduled, some announcements about changes to their standard communications, and when Jerry would be back.
Then he read Tamara’s.
“Baby, I have to stop seeing you.” She inserted a half dozen crying and sad emoji. “My dad ordered me to. He found out how old you are. That bastard Ben told him. But I want you so bad, baby. I was thinking about trying to sneak over there tomorrow night, but he got to Megan too. Now she can’t be my friend anymore. I feel like I’m in prison. But it’s my life and I haven’t done anything wrong.”
A little while later she had sent another set of texts.
“And now
you’re not speaking to me either. I guess they got to you. I wanted to be with you, baby. I love you. Damn it, why can’t they just let me have my own life? I hate everything.”
And after that, she spoke one last time.
“I guess this is goodbye, baby. Dad is checking my phone and deleting all my numbers. I hid your number as a different name but now he’s just gonna wipe them all out. Stephen is even changing my job so I don’t work the register anymore, so I can’t even catch you there. The whole damned town’s in on it! I want to drive by but they’ve got Billy carting me around. Damn it. I just want to be with you Quinn, baby. Please, find some way to reach me. I love you, baby.”
He stared at her words for a long moment. The thought of sneaking around trying to get a moment alone with her gave him a little thrill, but he shook the thoughts away.
“Ben said he’d handle it,” he said. “And I was getting a little bored anyway. I should let this go.”
He closed her conversation and looked at Megan’s flashing notification.
Now, what does kitty want?
“Kitty’s looking for some big red wolf loving, sugar.”
She sent him a full-on nude, half-heartedly trying to cover her privates with one hand, her lips pursed into a kiss.
“Tamara’s a sweet girl, but a mature man like you needs a real woman, and I’ve always had a thing for gingers.”
He stared at her photo for a long moment. Part of him was definitely interested, but the other half was completely repulsed.
A little slut, knocking at my door, selling cookies.
He shook his head.
“No.”
He closed the conversation and rubbed his face with his hands.
“I should text Carol.”
He picked up his phone and stared at her name. After a long moment, he tapped it. It rang five times.
“Hello?”
“Carol?”
“Oh, Quinn.”
“You’re busy.”
“Yes.”
“I heard. Are you alright?”
“Yes…No… Oh, Quinn, I don’t know.”
“You need me to come over?”
“No, no. Not now. Police are here. Not a good time.”
Lasting Shadows Page 21