Met Her Match

by Jude Deveraux

  “Billy was a big guy, like you, and that’s Terri’s type,” she said from behind the screen. “The only other man I’ve ever seen her with was an NFL football player who came here for a couple of weeks. You know, I think I should warn you that you’d better be careful. If Terri decides she wants you, she may put on a tight dress and try to take you away from dear little Stacy Hartman. I guess you know that her father is the mayor.”

  “Yes, I know that.”

  “But maybe Terri won’t try anything. She’s a nice girl now, but she used to be just like her mother.”

  “Her mother?” Nate had heard nothing about the mother except that she’d died when Terri was two.

  “Oh yes. She had a job in a store in Summer Hill, and when she met Brody, she went after him. She put on a tiny bikini and her short shorts and Brody never had a chance. Leslie always got what she wanted.”

  At the name “Leslie,” Nate’s eyes widened. It was the name Kit had texted to him. Nate waited for her to continue.

  “Everybody here at the lake hoped Terri wouldn’t turn out to be like her mother. But she did. In high school Terri was a real femme fatale—if you know what I mean.” Della stepped out from behind the screen. She had on a negligee that looked to be about thirty pounds of pink silk and white lace. She could have played a courtesan from the 1890s. As she sat down on an overstuffed blue couch, she fluttered her lashes at Nate.

  “Terri?” he encouraged as he took a chair a few feet away.

  An involuntary sigh of exhaustion escaped her, but her love of gossip made her go on. “Terri began wearing makeup when she was quite young. You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but she can be a real knockout. Put her in a slinky dress and wow! Back then she wore a lot of things that were tight and revealing. But then, she only had her dad, and Brody was overwhelmed with everything. He had no idea how to handle a beautiful teenage daughter. If he’d just had a wife... Or if he’d allowed me to help him, I could have...” She trailed off.

  Nate could see that the drink was catching up with her and she wouldn’t stay awake much longer. He wanted to get her back on track. “Billy Thorndyke?”

  “Oh, poor, poor Billy. He had no resistance against Leslie’s daughter. He was so in love with Terri—and truthfully, we thought she was with him.” Della leaned toward Nate. “You have to understand that Billy Thorndyke was from a very good family in Summer Hill. They’d been in the town from when it was settled, so it was a huge step up for Terri Rayburn. Not that there’s a class system in this country, but...”

  “I understand.” Only years of training in diplomacy enabled Nate to keep what he felt off his face.

  “Terri and Billy went together for over a year. Their... What do the kids call it? One of those initial things. PD... Public...”

  “PDA? Public display of affection?”

  “That’s right. Those two were always all over each other. Groping. Fondling. And Terri kept wearing less and less clothing. I tried to talk to Brody about her, but he wouldn’t listen. He was downright rude!”

  “What a shame,” Nate said. “And there you were trying to help.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought! And I turned out to be right because Terri dumped Billy. She dumped him. Flat. Just like that. One day they were all over each other and the next she wouldn’t speak to him. I tried to get Brody to tell me what was going on, but he said he didn’t know and that it was none of my business. I’ve always cared about him and his child so how was it not my business?”

  “I bet you didn’t let his words stop you.”

  Della gave a girlish laugh. “Certainly not! Poor Billy was heartbroken. We saw him pleading with Terri to listen to him. Begging! It was humiliating. But Terri would walk away. To see one of Virginia’s finest young men debase himself like that was more than most of us could stand. I mean, Brody is a tip-top man, but Terri is Leslie’s daughter. How did she dare hurt the Thorndyke son?”

  All Nate could do was swallow and nod. If he spoke he might tell the vindictive little woman what he thought of her.

  “Anyway, about a month later, the Thorndyke family moved. It was like on some murder mystery show. They didn’t tell anyone they were planning to go. They just packed up and left in the middle of the night—and they never returned. They hired someone to oversee the packing of their furniture, and sold the house to someone in the family. In the years since, they’ve never returned to visit all the people they know and love. We heard that Billy’s father took a job in Oregon. But what kind of state is that? Who lives there?”

  Della took a breath. “All because Terri dropped dear Billy. He was the type of boy who was destined for great things but he didn’t do any of them. The world never heard of him. He still lives in Oregon, and I think he works for his father.” She looked at Nate as though she was about to cry. “How could Terri have done that to such a lovely young man?”

  Only years of training enabled Nate to keep from lashing out at the dreadful little woman. “Did you try to find the answer to your question?”

  “Oh yes. I asked everyone what they knew, but not even Brody had an answer to explain what his daughter had done.” Della’s eyes were bleary as she again leaned toward Nate. “I tried to tell him that I could have helped. If Terri had been my child, things would have been very different.”

  Nate had to grit his teeth to keep from replying to that scary thought. “What happened with Terri’s mother?”

  Della was struggling to keep her eyes open. “No one told you? She ran away with another man and left her young husband and two-year-old daughter behind.” She paused to let this revelation sink in. “That child was left alone and she cried for hours. I think a lot of her problems now stem from that horrible night. She may think she doesn’t remember it, but she does.”

  “And Brody?” Nate asked softly.

  “He never recovered from his wife leaving him. I told him we’d all seen it coming. The way Leslie used to swish around this place in her skimpy dresses made men go crazy for her. Just as I predicted, she ran away with one of them.” Della gave a sleepy, one-sided smile. “You want me to tell you a secret?”

  “Very much.”

  “I tried to tell Jake—you know, Brody’s partner—this when it happened, but he wouldn’t listen. He threatened me that if I told anyone he’d... I don’t want to remember what he said but I’ve kept quiet all these years.”

  “What did you tell Jake?”

  “I believe that Leslie ran away with the man staying in cabin twenty-six. He was a very handsome man. Not as good-looking as Brody, but he had the advantage that he was rich. The man told me he was there because his wife was visiting her college girlfriends. He said she didn’t like water, so it was his chance to stay at a lake. I never believed him. I saw the way he looked at Leslie. And I saw her talking to him. Twice!”

  “You certainly keep an eye on people, don’t you?”

  “I do my best.” She fell back against the sofa, too tired to keep her eyes open. “Today no one wants to hear about what I see. Now they have the internet and reality shows. I ask kids why they’d want to watch what’s going on with strangers when the same things are happening right here.” She suppressed a yawn, but didn’t open her eyes. “Have you seen the lights that move around the lake at night?”

  “I have,” he said softly.

  “The stories I could tell you about who visits whom! Those women have babies nine months after a visit to Lake Kisses.” She gave a little laugh. “I tell people that we’re as good as a fertility clinic. They... They...” She was drifting off. “People think I can’t keep secrets but I do. I haven’t told the mayor that you’re living with Terri. That counts, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Nate mumbled, and he saw that she had at last fallen asleep.

  It took Nate several moments to recover from the anger he’d kept inside as he’d heard what the woman said
. Whatever the truth was behind a high school breakup, Della Kissel had magnified it into something horrible—and years later she was making sure the flames kept burning. Bad things had happened to the Rayburn family, but instead of comfort and support, they’d had to deal with Della’s snide innuendos and her endless prying into painful wounds.

  As Nate stood up and looked down at the little woman, he shook his head. What in the world had caused her to become so miserable that she wanted to take everyone down with her?

  He left her on the couch. She was small so it fit her and the huge silk garment would keep her warm.

  Outside, he felt as though he’d left a den of poison, as though an evil smoke was curling through the place, seeping into every crevice, into every pore of his skin.

  He drove back to Terri’s house and got out of the car. The doors and windows were open and there was music and laughter, but he didn’t go inside. He leaned against his car and breathed deeply of the cool night air. If there weren’t a houseful of people, he’d strip off and go swimming in the lake. Maybe the water would help to clean the inside of his mind.

  “I see you’ve met Della.”

  Nate wasn’t surprised to see Frank Cannon stepping out of the dark. He didn’t have on his sheriff’s uniform, just jeans, and a T-shirt that said he’d been conceived at Woodstock. “I did.”

  “I saw you plying her with drink, then volunteering to drive her home. No one willingly spends time with her unless they want to know something. So what was your question? About Stacy or Terri?”

  “I wanted to know about Billy Thorndyke.”

  “Ah. Right. How our Terri dumped the golden boy?”

  Nate could hear anger in Frank’s voice. He’d seen that the man loved Terri, so it was understandable. “I don’t get it,” Nate said. “A high school breakup is blamed for ‘ruining’ some kid’s life? And a girl’s shove to a footballer ‘ruined’ his life? Why is Terri being blamed for these things that are blown way out of proportion?”

  “Leslie,” Frank answered. “It all comes from her.”

  “If Della is to be believed, she was the Slut of Summer Hill.” It was dark, but from the light of the house, Nate could see anger flash in Frank’s eyes.

  “She wasn’t,” he managed to say. “Della Kissel wanted Brody, but Leslie got him.” He took a few breaths to calm down. “You heard Della’s jealous version of the story, so anytime you want to hear the truth, come to me. I have files.”

  “I’m not a mystery solver,” Nate said. “I’m going to marry a lovely young woman, open a branch of my family’s investment firm and start a family. That’s all.”

  “I understand,” Frank said. “And that goal led you to get Della drunk, take her home and ask her a lot of questions. But I can assure you that the truth of Leslie Rayburn is much more interesting than what Della Kissel tells. Not that I know it all. My contacts are too limited to find out much. But one thing I did discover is that Leslie didn’t exist before she arrived in Summer Hill.”

  “I don’t—”

  “I know!” Frank put up his hand. “You don’t want to be involved. You had all that with Kit. He told us enough about his life that I know what you two did. Now you’re what? Thirty-five? Six? You want to retire and make babies. I want to retire and fish and read cowboy stories. We all have our dreams. But in the end, we do what we can.” He took a few steps toward the house but turned back. “Let me give you some advice. Don’t mention Leslie to either Brody or Terri. And Billy is taboo to her. You start opening your mouth and you’ll find yourself thrown out of the house, out of the friendship, and no longer welcome at the lake. You got that?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Nate said.

  “Hope you have a happy life, kid. That new office of yours sure is slick. Summer Hill ain’t never seen nothin’ like it. It’s New York in Virginia—with some Texas thrown in.” With his laughter drifting into the dark, Frank went into the house.

  Chapter 8

  Terri didn’t want to be awake. She wanted to snuggle back under the covers and stay there. It was Sunday and it must be very early because she didn’t hear a single motor on the lake.

  She got up, went to the bathroom, then, yawning, started to get back into bed. The clock said it was ten fifteen, but that couldn’t be right. She never slept late. Besides, Nate was supposed to be at the Hartmans’ at eleven. He must have already gone. Odd that she didn’t hear him.

  She was nearly back to sleep when she realized that he hadn’t left. There was no way he could have slipped out of the house quietly enough that she hadn’t heard him. By the end of the party he’d been grilling food. If he hadn’t taken a shower last night, he needed one this morning, which meant that he had to get up now!

  She threw back the covers and, barefoot, ran past the kitchen and down the hall to Nate’s room.

  He hadn’t drawn his curtains so no light came in. Nate was still in bed, on his stomach, and the blanket across his waist bared his broad, naked back.

  For a moment, all she could do was stare. How very much she’d like to touch him! She’d like to pull off her clothes and get on top of him. Feel the warmth of him, the heat, her bare breasts against his nude skin. She’d like to kiss his neck, then move down his spine.

  Turning, she took a step out of the room. She couldn’t do this to herself. She had to get control. Maybe if she got dressed and went out in her boat, she could calm down.

  But what about Nate? If he slept through the brunch, they’d ask questions—which could lead to finding out where he lived.

  “Oh hell!” she muttered. When she was back in his room, she did her best not to look at Nate’s bare skin. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at the back of his head. “Get up! You’re going to be late.”

  Turning away from him, she went to his closet and slid the door open. “I bet you haven’t even thought about what you’re going to wear.” She spoke so loudly that she was close to shouting. “It’s supposed to be hot today so maybe you can get away with no jacket.” She pulled out a white short-sleeved shirt and held it out. “No. Too informal. You’d look like a salesman.”

  She pulled out a light blue long-sleeved cotton shirt. “This one will do.” As she tossed it on the end of the bed, she looked at him.

  He’d rolled over and put a pillow behind his head, but his eyes weren’t fully open. His naked chest was exposed. She threw another pillow at him, but he caught it before it hit his face.

  “Late for what?” he mumbled.

  “Brunch. Remember that? At the mayor’s house?”

  With a groan, Nate shook his head. “I think I broke a toe last night. Or maybe it was an ankle.”

  Terri was going through hangers of Nate’s trousers and stopped at a black pair with a crisp crease down the front. “Nothing on you is broken and you can’t get out of this. You have to take a shower. You smell like beer and smoke.”

  That made Nate give a snort of laughter and he threw back the cover. The only thing he had on was a pair of blue boxers.

  Terri watched him walk into the bathroom. Legs! Was every part of him big and strong and hard? It wasn’t until Nate disappeared around the doorway that she let out her breath.

  “There are no towels in here.”

  “Look under the sink.”

  “I used all of them last night when the Wilson kid got sick. Elaine put them in the washer and later I stuck them in the dryer.” Nate looked around the door. “Could you get me a couple? Please?” He went back into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

  Terri took off running down the hall. She and Nate had had to adjust to each other’s laundry. She’d learned to search his pockets. “You washed this paper and I can’t read it,” he’d complained. “It’s the model number off that broken pump that’s under cabin sixty-two. Now I’ll have to slide back under there in that filth to read it again.” Her request was that he not put her br
as in the dryer. “They’re expensive and the dryer destroys the elastic. Just sling them over the shower door.”

  She got two towels out of the dryer, hurried back down the hall and got clean underwear out of his chest of drawers. She’d put them in there the day before.

  The bathroom door was ajar and, keeping her eyes off the shower, she put her load on the counter. She paused by the door, her face turned away from him. “So what did you want to know from Della? The dirt on Bob Alderson? Your competition?”

  “Does everyone think I was after something from her?”

  That question startled her enough that she turned around. Ah. Nate naked behind a piece of frosted glass. She could see the silhouette of him. He was shampooing his hair. But it was so short that maybe he was using bar soap. It seemed odd that there was something she didn’t know about him. “Who else asked you? Wait. I bet it was Uncle Frank. I saw him watching you flirt with Della. Anyway, what did you find out?”

  “I wasn’t flirting.”

  She saw him pause under the water as he rinsed his body. His strong, hard body. She had to get out of the room! But Nate’s voice made her stop. “What have you heard that’s bad about this guy Alderson?”

  Terri was silent as she watched him. He was making her body ache.

  “Are you still there?”

  Terri saw him lean forward as though he meant to look out. Quickly, she sidestepped and left the room, then hurried to the closet to rummage through his few pieces of clothing.

  When Nate came into the bedroom, he had a towel around his waist. It wasn’t a Dad towel that fastened high above the belly button. No, it was way down low on his hips. She did her best not to look at him—and she began talking fast. “Pick me up at five and we’ll go get something to eat and I’ll tell you about Widiwick. Tomorrow is what Dad calls the Day of Demons.”

  “Is that what they were talking about when they said D Day? I thought that was about WWII.”