by Ellery Adams
“Lots of people in Miracle Springs get around by bicycle,” Nora said placidly. “It’s one of the things I love about this town.”
“What will you do when you move to the Meadows?” Annette asked. “Won’t that be a tough commute when it rains or snows?”
Nora had to hand it to Annette. She was a shrewd woman. “I may upgrade to a moped. They reach speeds of thirty miles per hour and I can add a cargo carrier for groceries and books. But I should only focus on one major purchase at a time, and at the moment, a house at the Meadows tops the list.”
“In that case, I’ll see you in fifteen minutes,” Annette said pleasantly, and ended the call.
Nora couldn’t leave immediately. Because she’d be exposed to direct sunlight, she had to apply a generous layer of sunscreen and wear a baseball hat beneath her bike helmet. Her scars were now old enough that she was in no danger of pigmentation changes, but her grafted skin was thinner and more susceptible to sunburn, so she never went outside without protection.
Waiting for the sunscreen to dry put Nora at risk of being late, so she couldn’t call Hester and June from her house. That meant calling one of them on the way to the Meadows.
Nora had never had a reason to buy a cell-phone mount for her bike, but today, she wished she owned such a gadget. It was extremely difficult to hold her handlebar with her left hand and her cell phone with her other.
“You could plug headphones into your phone and leave it in your basket,” Hester suggested when Nora explained why their conversation had to be brief.
“I don’t have headphones,” Nora said. She gritted her teeth as her front tire dipped into a pothole and tried not to take her vexation out on Hester. “I’m on my way to the Meadows to see if I can get the rest of my loan paperwork by signing a contract. Did you review your printouts yet?”
“No,” Hester said. “I have to take care of my baking first. But I’ll call June and ask if she found anything. Be careful, Nora. Annette will be on high alert if she’s aware of last night’s incident. Don’t do anything to make her suspect you. Just stick to the subject of your future house. Got it?”
Hester’s bossiness made Nora grin. “Okay, Mom.”
Without warning, Nora’s call was dropped.
Nora couldn’t dwell on the abrupt ending because she needed both hands to make an upcoming turn, so she let her phone gently fall into her bike basket and focused on the road.
Her ankle was sore by the time she reached the model home at the Meadows. When she saw a brown sheriff’s cruiser parked at the curb, she was half-tempted to turn around. Instead, she dismounted and walked the bike to the front porch. Annette, Vanessa MacCavity, Collin Stone, and Sheriff Hendricks stood on the top step and watched her approach. It was extremely unnerving.
This was Nora’s first glimpse of Vanessa, and though it was nothing but a brief glance, her impression was one of arrogance. Taking a longer look, Nora noticed other details. Short, dark hair. Power suit. Arms crossed over her chest. Impatient drum of manicured nails. A forty-year-old woman who knew exactly what she wanted from the world and expected to get it.
“You’re favoring your right foot, Ms. Pennington,” the sheriff said. “Did you injure it?”
“It’s stupid, really.” Nora looked down at the offending limb. “I’m not used to wearing high heels and I caught the tip of my right shoe on the carpet’s edge. You can probably imagine the rest—‘down goes Frazier!’”
The sheriff eyed her with interest. “A girl who knows sports. I like that. Are you buying one of these nice houses?”
“I hope so,” Nora said. She then adopted a concerned expression and made eye contact with Annette before returning her gaze to the sheriff. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“We had a break-in last night,” Annette said, pointing at the house behind her.
Nora followed Annette’s gesture as if she expected to see a shattered window or another sign of destruction. “That’s terrible. Was anything taken?”
“No, nothing’s missing,” the sheriff answered. “It was probably kids. They get bored in the summer and dare each other to do moronic things.”
“The sheriff believes the thieves were deterred when they discovered that our flat-screen TVs and computers were props. As if we’d leave an unoccupied house loaded with expensive electronics.” Vanessa shook her head and then adopted a bored expression.
“That’s why I didn’t bother installing a security system in this house,” Collin said, addressing Nora. “And also because I’d done my research on the crime rate in Miracle Springs. One of the reasons I was attracted to this town was its lack of crime.” He smiled warmly. “You don’t need to be concerned about this isolated incident, Ms. Pennington. I agree with the sheriff. This break-in was nothing more than a bunch of teenagers acting out a scene from one of their video games.”
Nora nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. Will you install a security system to discourage future incidents?”
Collin mulled this over before saying, “I don’t think so. We offer them as options, though.”
“Well, I don’t want one,” Nora said stoutly. “I feel a bit isolated in my current house. Here, I’ll be surrounded by neighbors. I’ll have a community. People looking out for each other. Especially in light of . . .” She trailed off and darted a nervous glance at Sheriff Hendricks, who immediately cleared his throat and waved at Annette.
“You two should go on inside now. You don’t want your makeup to run,” he said. “I know how much you gals hate that. And I guess you really need to stay out of the sun, don’t you, Ms. Pennington?” he rudely added.
Vanessa covered her mouth with her hand, but not before Nora saw a flash of teeth.
Nora couldn’t refrain from responding. “Actually, burn victims are encouraged to seek exposure to a moderate amount of sun. As long as it’s been at least a year since our initial injury and we’ve taken certain precautions. Going outside is good for everyone.”
Annette hurried to open the front door for Nora before the conversation could continue, and Nora entered the house. She could feel several pairs of eyes on her back as she moved.
“Would you like coffee or water?” Annette asked once they’d settled in her office. “You must be hot after your ride.”
Removing her Carolina Panthers cap—another flea-market find—Nora shook her head. “I’m fine. I need to be at the bookstore by quarter of ten and I’d love to see which lots are still available before I make a decision.”
“Certainly.” Annette retrieved the site map from the bulletin board and explained that a red sticker represented a sold lot, while a green sticker meant that the lot was available.
“That corner lot is my favorite,” Nora said, pointing at a lot near a designated green space. “There won’t be any houses behind that one, right?”
“No, it’ll be all woods back there.”
Nora touched the map. “And when could I expect my new house to be ready?”
“If you signed a contract today, your move-in date would be mid-January.”
“Which would give me plenty of time to sell my house,” Nora murmured as if speaking to herself. In a louder voice, she said, “Okay, so what’s the next step?”
A satisfactory gleam entered Annette’s eyes and she moved from the table to her desk. “Let me get a copy of your loan-approval documents. As you know, Madison County Community Bank is our preferred lender. They’re offering a three-point-seven-five-percent financing for thirty years for our first twenty-five buyers. Mr. Hendricks told you about their incentive program, right?”
Nora couldn’t remember if Dawson had, but such a program would explain the low down payment amounts listed on the HUD statements in the file folder tucked between the cereal boxes in her kitchen.
“Yes,” she said to Annette. “Without that incentive, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Annette made a noncommittal noise and returned to the table with a blank sales contract. While she summarized th
e legalese, Nora pretended to listen, but her mind was elsewhere. If the bank’s incentive was legit, then last night’s break-in was useless. Had she and her friends failed to obtain a shred of evidence to incriminate Pine Ridge?
Nora tried to focus on what Annette was saying. She knew it was important to act interested in every element of the purchase, but her thoughts drifted to Estella. Nora had desperately wanted to give her a shred of hope for when they next spoke.
“You’ll sign here and here and initial here.” Annette placed a pen within Nora’s grasp.
If I sign this, I might be complicit in an illegal fraud ring. Nora scanned the contract without absorbing a word. But if I don’t, what chance do we have of securing Estella’s freedom?
Either way, Nora Pennington didn’t have enough money to meet the down payment. Not without selling Caboose Cottage. And she had no intention of doing that.
“Are you all right?” Annette asked.
Nora released a heavy sigh. “To be honest, I’m nervous. You see, I went to the bank to get a copy of my loan because I wanted to be sure that I had enough funds to cover the down payment. Mr. Hendricks was out to lunch, and a teller gave me a copy of my file. However, some of the paperwork was missing, so even though I’m here now, I haven’t reviewed my loan agreement, and I don’t want to sign this contract until I do.”
Annette smiled. “That’s a fixable problem. I can give you all the time you need to review your loan agreement.” Again, she crossed the room to her desk, retrieved the loan papers, and placed them next to the sales contract. “I’m going to make coffee. Give me a shout if you have any questions.”
As soon as Annette left the room, Nora started reading her HUD statement. It looked the same as those in Neil’s file and she learned nothing by examining every line.
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath. She felt completely trapped.
And then, Nora heard the front door open and Annette’s bright hello as she welcomed potential customers.
“Please make yourselves at home,” Nora heard her say. “I’m with a client, but I’ll be available shortly.”
Nora folded the copy of her loan agreement, pushed back her chair, and hurried to the office door. Annette was just about to enter when Nora nearly barreled into her. “I’m sorry. I have to go. There’s a delivery waiting for me at the shop.” She held up her papers. “I’ll look these over at work and call you later this afternoon.”
Without giving Annette a chance to reply, Nora stepped outside into the glaring sunlight.
She didn’t even bother with her bike helmet, but pulled her baseball cap down low over her forehead and mounted her bike. The rush of air over her skin as she descended the hill toward town felt heavenly. However, the tree-lined road was curvy, so as soon as the Meadows was out of sight, Nora stopped to put on her helmet and to check her voicemail messages.
Seeing she’d missed a call from June, Nora dialed her number.
“Did you find something in your stack of printouts?” she asked.
“Not a thing.” June sounded crestfallen. “Hester said you rode up to the Meadows to sign a contract. Did you get to see Annette’s handwriting?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t look like the numbers on the train schedule.” Nora sighed. “June, let’s face it. We’re doing a crap job at this detective work. How are we going to free Estella?”
“Don’t you get down on us,” June commanded firmly. “We’re all Estella has. Get your ass to work. We’ll figure out how to give her a morsel of hope—anything to keep her going another day. Hester wants us to come to her place tonight. I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to all this socializing. My neighbors will think I’ve found myself a boyfriend.”
Nora laughed. “Heaven forbid!” She was about to tell June her plan to contact the North Carolina branch of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, when June announced that her manager was heading her way and that she had to go. Suddenly, the line went dead.
“That’s twice in one day that my friends have hung up on me,” Nora mused aloud and dumped the phone in her bike basket.
Several cars had zipped by her during this conversation, so Nora was careful to glance behind her before continuing forward along the shoulder. She was now approaching the most treacherous part of her ride, being that there was a sharp bend in the road that created a significant blind spot for any car coming up behind her. If the driver took the bend too close to the shoulder, he could clip Nora with his mirror or worse, sideswipe her with a trailer that swung out over the lane line.
Many of the locals drove this stretch of road faster than the posted speed limit. Because the road led from the downtown shopping district, through a hilly residential area, and eventually to a large, scenic lake, it was common to encounter trailers carrying boats, jet skis, horses, ATVs, motorbikes, and pop-up campers along this route. Nora didn’t want to get too close to any of these.
She’d made it halfway around the bend when she heard the gunning of an engine directly behind her. Instinctively, she knew she should be afraid.
Nora didn’t have to turn to sense a car bearing down on her.
She cast a frantic glance to her right. A low guardrail was the only thing separating the road from a steep drop into dense woods. Nora knew that if she flipped over that rail, she could very well die.
This left her one choice. An insane choice.
And she took it.
Instead of slowing, she pedaled as fast as she could.
Behind her, the car also accelerated. It sounded like it had a powerful engine. A V-6 or V-8. A truck or SUV. Nora couldn’t register any details beyond that. She could only pedal, pushing her legs faster, faster, faster.
She could feel the car closing in on her, but before it could box her in on the right-hand side of the road, she veered violently in the opposite direction, crossing over the double-yellow line and desperately fighting to stay in control while hitting the brakes.
Nora felt, more than saw, the car roar past. She caught a blur of a dark paint—midnight blue, charcoal gray, or black—before she fell.
After then, there was nothing.
Chapter 14
On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it . . .
—E.B. White
“We really have to stop meeting like this.”
Nora opened her eyes to find Jedediah Craig staring down at her. Above him was not the wide canopy of the summer sky, but the interior of a car cabin. A car. Not an ambulance.
Despite the pounding in her left temple, Nora tried to sit up.
“Not yet,” Jed commanded softly. “You had a nasty crash. Thank God you have a decent helmet. Without that, I’d be driving you to the hospital right now.”
“My bike—”
Jed put a hand on her shoulder. “No worse for wear. I loaded it in the back.”
Now that she was fully awake, Nora recognized a host of subtle sounds: an idling engine, air-conditioning whispering through vents, the steady clicking of hazard lights.
“Did you see what happened?” she asked Jed.
He shook his head, his eyes straying to her temple. “No. I was on my way to the lake when I noticed you on the side of the road. It’s my day off. That’s why you’re lying on the backseat of my Blazer instead of riding in the Band-Aid bus.”
“Did you see the car?” Nora propped herself on her elbows. “The one that tried to run me off the road?”
“Are you serious?” Suddenly, his phone was in his hand. “I’d better call this in.”
Nora grabbed the phone. “No! It’s better if they think I’m too scared to talk.”
Jed looked at her in alarm. “Who is they? What’s going on, Nora?”
“I can’t tell you.” Nora wanted to escape from her current position. She felt too vulnerable, stretched out on Jed’s rear seat while he knelt on the floor, his wide shoulders wedged between the two front seats. Not for the fir
st time since she’d met Jedediah Craig, Nora felt inexplicably aroused. Part of her wanted to be anywhere else, but another part of her—a side she’d managed to keep dormant until now—wanted to run her fingertips over the bristle covering his jawline and chin. She wanted to curl her palm around the back of his neck and coax his mouth toward hers.
To stop herself from doing something stupid, Nora sat up. However, the movement was too abrupt and she instantly felt nauseated.
Desperate for fresh air, she cracked the door and took in several long, slow breaths through her nose.
“Hey,” Jed said. He pressed something cold against her forehead and the nausea instantly receded. “Look, I won’t ask any more questions if they’re going to upset you. Okay? But I seriously want to make sure you’re not concussed. Can I take you in for an examination?”
“No,” Nora replied. “I’m fine. Really. I think the bump on my temple is actually from the end of my handlebar. It’s going to leave a bruise, but other than some throbbing, there’s no pain. I can live with that.” She made small movements with her arms and legs, testing to see if she’d sustained other injuries. “I feel pretty normal.”
Jed raised his brows. “Sure. Which is why you were dizzy and nauseated from sitting up.” He raised his hands in defeat. “I can’t make you see a doctor, but if you refuse to be treated for the second time since we’ve met, then you’ll have to agree to a different condition.”
“Which is?”
“A doctor would keep you under observation,” Jed said. “Since that’s not an option, I’d like to keep you under observation. Do you have to open the shop now?”
Nora nodded.
“I figured as much.” Jed smiled. “Well, you now have an unpaid employee for the day. I can do all the heavy lifting.”
“That’s really nice of you, but I can’t accept.” Nora pressed his hand in gratitude. “You were headed to the lake for some much-needed time off. You should hike and swim and enjoy the sunshine. Being in a bookstore all day will be dull in comparison to all that action.”