Snapdragon Way (Firefly Hollow Book 8)

by T. L. Haddix

  Noah turned right into the parking lot of the restaurant, and took the last empty spot next to the guardrail beside the road. “Call him and see what he’s into. Have him come over and have lunch with us,” he told Eli.

  But Eli was frowning. “I don’t know. He looks like he’s tied up.”

  Across the road, John had parked beside the motel and was out of his car. As they watched, he went up to a room on the first floor and knocked.

  “What’s he doing?” Eli asked quietly. Even though the hotel was across the street, they had an excellent view of the parking lot and John. And distance didn’t disguise the fact that their father, in his shirtsleeves, was taking off his tie as he waited for his knock to be answered.

  “This isn’t… no.” Noah shook his head. “No.”

  But when Eli glanced at him, he saw that his brother’s eyes were glued to the scene unfolding across the street. Much like watching a train wreck, Eli’s own gaze was pulled back to the disaster.

  When the door opened and an arm reached out, the hand grasping the loose ends of John’s tie to tug, Eli thought he might be sick. Even from this distance, it was easy to tell the slender arm had belonged to a woman.

  Several long minutes passed after John went inside, the door closing behind him. Eli swiped at his forehead and the beads of sweat that had formed there. “There has to be an explanation. It’s Mom.”

  “At a hotel?” Noah asked. His face was drawn and pinched, his eyes haunted, as he looked at Eli. “They live ten minutes away. And I don’t see her car.”

  “Parked around back?” Eli knew the question was almost desperate. And given that the parking lot of the motel wasn’t nearly full, the probability was unlikely.

  In answer, Noah started the truck. “Let’s find out.”

  The air in the truck was suffocatingly close, and Eli turned the fan up as high as it would go. Three minutes later, they’d made two full circuits around the building. Zanny’s car was nowhere in sight.

  “What do we do?” Noah asked. He’d parked the truck at the end of the lot, facing John’s car.

  “Hell if I know. Go knock?”

  They exchanged a look. “No,” they chorused.

  “If he’s… I don’t want to see that,” Noah said quietly. “Call Mom.”

  Eli stared at him. “And say what? ‘Do you know where your husband is?’”

  “I don’t know,” Noah growled. “Just something.”

  “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want him to come out and find us.” Eli sighed and tried to think of a single explanation that might make sense. “Maybe he was meeting a client.”

  “A client who’s female and requires him to take off his tie, after meeting at a motel? Sure. That makes sense. Do you still want lunch?”

  Just the thought of food made Eli sick. He shook his head. “You?”

  “No.”

  From the way he was driving, Noah didn’t seem to know where to go, either. When he took the same road Eli had driven Haley on yesterday, ending up at the same spot, Eli couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I brought Haley here for some air,” he explained when Noah shot him a questioning glance. “What the hell are we going to do?”

  Noah’s face was full of pain. “I don’t know.” He grabbed his phone and made a call. “Hey, Sam. It’s Noah. Is Mom in?”

  “Shit! You’re not calling her, are you?” Eli asked, incredulous. “Noah!”

  “She’s not? Oh, okay. Where is she, do you know?”

  As Eli watched, his face fell. Whatever Sam, their Aunt Emma’s assistant had said, it wasn’t the answer his brother had wanted.

  “No, that’s okay. I can buzz her on her cell if I need to. Thanks.” He ended the call and dropped the phone into the cup holder on the dashboard, then sank down in his seat with a sigh. “Shit.”

  “Well?”

  “She and Emma went to do a photo shoot up in Knott County.”

  Eli’s heart broke. “God damn it all to hell and back.” Unable to sit still, he shoved his door open and got out, stalking to the fence, his mind and heart reeling.

  After several minutes, Noah joined him. “Come on. We need to get to the next appointment. We’ll figure this out.”

  “It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to figure out,” Eli said quietly as he followed his brother back to the truck. “How can he do that to her, Noah? After everything they’ve been through, how can he do that?”

  Noah paused, his hand on the driver’s door, and the torment in his gaze matched what Eli was feeling. “I don’t know. But we’ll find out.”

  “Sometimes being stupid and blind is a better alternative than knowing what you know.” As he buckled his seatbelt, Eli felt like crying. “There’s no way we can ignore this, is there? Pretend it never happened?”

  “No. There isn’t.”

  That’s what he was afraid of. “I just can’t believe Dad would do this to Mom.”

  “They had problems before,” Noah reminded him as they drove.

  “Yeah, but that was nearly thirty years ago. And it wasn’t… he wasn’t cheating on her.” But as he thought about what they’d seen, Eli wondered about what he’d been told through the years. “Was he?”

  If the look on Noah’s face was any indication, his brother was having the same doubts Eli himself was.

  “We’ll go over to the house tonight. Get some answers,” Noah said. His tone was firm, with no room for argument. “He won’t get away with this.”

  Eli thought about Zanny, about how kind she’d been to Haley just twenty-four hours earlier. About how good a person she was, how sweet she was, how much she loved her family. Her husband. About how much she’d been through over the years. And how she didn’t deserve to be married to a man who didn’t love her with every bit of his heart.

  “No. He sure as hell won’t.”

  He didn’t know what in the world they’d say to John that evening, but whatever it was… they’d get to the bottom of things. Whatever the truth was, they’d learn it. Eli just hoped the fallout didn’t tear everyone apart.

  John Campbell was feeling particularly pleased with himself as he got the grill going Tuesday evening. He’d finished a project at work that had been plaguing him for weeks, his wife was working on fixing his favorite meal in the kitchen, and for lunch… well, he imagined the best way to describe lunch was indecently decadent.

  He grinned just thinking of it.

  “What are you smiling about?” Zanny asked as she stepped out onto the patio. Clad in shorts and a tank top, she looked at least ten years younger than her actual age. Maybe twenty.

  “This and that,” John told her, bending down to kiss her softly. “You know, this will take a few minutes to heat up. If you don’t have anything to do…” He let the words trail off as he peppered kisses across her jaw and down to the spot on her neck that never failed to elicit a response.

  “I have a thousand things to do,” she said breathlessly as her fingers curled into the soft fabric of his T-shirt. “I just can’t think of a single one at the moment.”

  John kissed her soundly, then pulled back to scoop her into a hug that lifted her off her feet. “I love you. Do you know that?”

  Zanny slid her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “I do know that. I love you back.”

  He ducked his head for another kiss, but before his lips could meet hers, the doorbell rang. She turned her head, and his mouth grazed her cheek, instead.

  “I’ll go see who that is,” she said as she pulled away.

  John adjusted his erection in his shorts. “I’ll wait here for a minute.”

  The appreciative look Zanny sent him didn’t help matters. “Mmm, you hold that thought for later.”

  “That’s a promise,” he ca
lled after her.

  He managed to get himself under control once she’d gone, which turned out to be a good thing because a minute later, Eli and Noah were stepping through the back door.

  “Hey! What are you two into this evening?” When he saw the anger on their faces, his heart sank. Surely they weren’t fighting again.

  “Boys, are you staying for dinner?” Zanny asked before they could answer. She handed John the platter of steak and chicken she’d prepared.

  They exchanged a glance. “We’ll see, Mom,” Noah said. He gave her a tense smile.

  “Okay.” She looked at John and shrugged. “I’ll work on the rest of the food.”

  “What’s going on, guys?” John asked as he started placing the meat on the grill. “Is something wrong?”

  “You tell us,” Eli said, crossing his arms and stepping closer. He lowered his voice. “How was lunch?”

  Noah adopted a similar posture, his scowl more impressive than his brother’s as he waited for John’s response.

  “Lunch?” John couldn’t think of what in the world they meant. “It was fine.”

  Noah snorted. “I’d say it was. You lousy…” He stalked off a few steps, hands clenched by his sides. “Fine.”

  Between their obvious anger and the disappointment on Eli’s face, John knew something was seriously wrong. “What’s going on? What’s this about?”

  “We saw you today,” Eli told him quietly as Noah stalked back over to stand beside him. “Who is she?”

  For a full minute, John stared at his youngest son, dumbstruck. He didn’t realize his mouth was open until he went to answer. “Who is who?”

  “The woman you’re screwing behind Mom’s back,” Noah ground out, his voice so low John had to lean in to hear him. “The woman you met at the motel today, Dad. We saw you.”

  As the meaning behind the words sank into his shocked brain, John shook his head. “I don’t believe this. You think… I don’t believe this.” Moving around the boys, he opened the back door. “Zanny. Come here, please.”

  He was gratified to see his sons exchange an uncertain look. “I can’t believe you think I’d do that. I just can’t believe that,” he said as Zanny reached the door.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  His face feeling like it was on fire, he shook his head. As anger warred with amusement and embarrassment, he pointed at their sons. “Tell them where you were for lunch today.”

  A soft flush bloomed in her cheeks as she looked first at him, then at the boys. She bit her lip and tucked her right foot up behind her left calf, balancing on one foot. “Um…”

  “They saw me meet my mistress today, apparently. And they’d like to know her name.” John stared at Noah and Eli, who were looking decidedly uncomfortable. At least Eli was. Noah was still glowering at him. He shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

  “Mom?” Eli asked.

  “I met your father for lunch today. There is no mistress.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t really think John would… Boys. Surely not?”

  Noah was shaking his head. “That doesn’t make sense. I called the studio. Sam said you’d gone to Knott County with Aunt Emma. Why would you get a motel room if you have a house not ten minutes away? No. That doesn’t make sense.”

  Eli groaned and covered his face with a hand. “Oh, my God. Oh, geez. I don’t—don’t answer the whys,” he said. “I’m sorry, Dad. Mom.”

  Zanny looked at John, her eyes full of sympathetic amusement. “I never expected this.”

  He rolled his eyes and brushed past the boys to check on the grill. “Neither did I. How could you even think I’d cheat on her, boys?”

  That they’d be so distrustful infuriated him, and it hurt, he had to admit. But Zanny’s laughter spilled out, and as he watched her fall apart with mirth, most of his anger faded.

  “I still don’t understand,” Noah was saying. “You were the woman in the room?”

  Zanny nodded. “I was. At least once a month, sometimes more if the mood strikes. And we aren’t discussing the household budget, Noah James. Do you understand me?”

  “Of course I understand you. Geez, Mom,” Noah blustered, pacing to the edge of the patio. He kicked at a dandelion on the edge of the grass. “It just didn’t make any sense. Doesn’t make any sense. And no,” he said, holding up a hand, “I don’t need any further explanation.”

  “Don’t tell me that just because we’re old married people you expect us to have a boring sex life,” John drawled, feeling a perverse gratification when his oldest son turned a horrified glare in his direction. “We like to shake things up. Sometimes we even do it outside or in the car. We almost got caught a few months ago up on one of the old strip jobs.”

  “Ah, geez. No!” Noah actually covered his ears, shooting John a dirty look. “That’s mean.”

  Too much information? Absolutely. But as payback for the misdeeds they’d imagined? The jibe was perfect.

  “I’ll head back in now,” Zanny said. “Supper’s ready whenever you are.”

  Eli perched on the edge of the table, his face red. “I’m sorry, Dad. We’re sorry. We should have known better than to even think… I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, you should have known better,” John said, not quite willing to let them off the hook just yet. “How could you even think that I’d do that?”

  “We didn’t want to,” Eli said with a shrug. “We just couldn’t figure out any other explanation. Mom’s car wasn’t there, and then Sam said she’d gone with Emma to Knott County. All we knew is that you’d gone into that room, undressing, with a woman.”

  As much as it irked him to admit, John had to acknowledge he’d have had concerns if he’d seen what they had. “Where were you?”

  “Getting ready to eat lunch,” Noah said. “We were behind you coming up the hill.”

  “Needless to say, we didn’t have lunch,” Eli muttered. “Geez, I feel like an idiot.”

  John pulled a second platter out from underneath the dirty one, stacking the clean one on top, and started bringing the meat off the grill. “I guess that would look bad. I’ve never cheated on your mother. I’ve never wanted to. I never would. Now, can we please close this subject and move on? This food won’t eat itself.”

  “No, sir, it won’t,” Eli said. “Are you sure we’re welcome after all this?”

  John shifted the platter to his right hand and pulled Eli into a hug with his left. “Silly boy. Come on. Let’s eat.”

  As he led his embarrassed sons inside, he shook his head. This would be one for the books. By the time Sunday dinner came around, the entire family would likely have heard the story. It’d be interesting to see how much it had changed by then.

  He’d have to have a talk with Zanny to see if they could come up with an adequate payback for their sons. Maybe it was time to get in on the matchmaking his parents had been trying.

  “Yep, I think that will just about do it,” he muttered as he watched them try to make amends with Zanny. “That will do very nicely indeed.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  By the time his head hit the pillow Tuesday night, Eli was exhausted mentally and physically. That exhaustion showed him clearly that he wasn’t as fully recovered as he thought. Regardless, he was asleep within minutes of lying down.

  When he woke up at one o’clock, he was drenched in sweat. The sheets were soaked, too, and as he sat up and shoved them back, he shuddered. The damned dream had felt so real.

  “Nightmare, more like,” he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

  A full moon was out, and it shone through the curtains with an eerie, cold glow. He didn’t need to turn the light on to see what he was doing as he slipped the prosthesis on. Standing, he stripped the bed, then grabbed a clean quilt from the closet and spread it
out. That would do till morning.

  He didn’t want to wake Noah by running the shower, so he settled for a quick sink bath instead to get rid of the sweat that had dried on his skin. As he met his reflection’s gaze in the mirror, he sighed.

  “Should have known this would happen,” he told himself.

  Between the stress of worrying about his parents’ marriage, the shift in his relationship with Haley, and the rough night he’d had the night before, it would have been surprising if the nightmare hadn’t hit him.

  Clean but not tired enough to try sleep again, he eased out into the living room as quietly as he could. He stopped at the fridge to grab a cold soda, then headed for the deck and some air.

  The clearing Noah’s house sat in was fairly large, nearly two acres all told. The house faced a fenced-in garden that covered most of one of those acres. Eli walked off the deck and down onto the path, strolling slowly as he thought about the nightmare.

  Erica, lying cold and dead on a slab in the morgue. Bruises all over her face, cuts along her shoulders, and her hair limp and brittle in the harsh lights of the facility. Her eyes flew open to stare at him accusingly.

  “You did this,” she whispered in a raspy voice that cut into him. The voice of a woman dead and sentenced to Purgatory.

  Then he was flying through space and time to revisit the first time he’d discovered her infidelities. Then the fight they’d had, and finally, seeing her walk away on Noah’s arm as his brother grinned over his shoulder at him with a demonic glow in his eyes.

  Sick, twisted, and packed with the power to leave him feeling uncertain and lost, the dream had done a job on his emotions.

  When he heard the door slide open behind him, he turned.

  “You okay?” Noah asked. “I heard you get up and… Just checking.”

  Eli took a swig from the bottle, wishing it were something more potent than cola. “I’m not sure. What are you doing up?”