My heart contracted in pain as I remembered the guilt and shame I’d felt, even though it hadn’t been my fault and I’d done nothing to warrant the attack. “I tried to forget about it, but shortly afterward, some girls in my dorm told me they’d heard I’d slept with Roger and wanted to know if it was true. Obviously, he was telling people we’d had sex. When I saw the smirks on those girls’ faces, I knew they didn’t envy or admire me. I was a big joke—just a stupid, starry-eyed girl who had become another notch on the quarterback’s bedpost. Mortified, I felt used and abused. I’d been raised to stand up for myself, but that man stripped me of my confidence. I didn’t have the guts to tell the truth and press charges. Somehow I made it through finals and then decided to leave school for good. I lied to everyone back home about wanting to find myself. What I really did was suffer in silence.”
“Oh, Teresa. I’m so sorry,” Kim said, hugging me. My other friends echoed the same sentiments. Their arms surrounded me in a blanket of warmth and love.
Their devotion was genuine, but could they forgive me for what I’d done to Keith? No one had the right to take another human being’s life. Feeling I owed them a final explanation, I said, “When I discovered the way Keith had been treating all of you, something snapped. All I could think about was what that monster had done to me all those years ago. Both men used their looks and charm to get away with despicable behavior. There’d been no repercussions before. I couldn’t let that happen again. But I honestly didn’t intend for it to play out the way it did. I hope you believe me.”
Tears and understanding glistened in their eyes.
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Annette asked.
I shook my head. “You’ve always looked up to me. How could I let you down? Ever since we were kids, I’ve been the strong one in the group. I couldn’t admit that I’d been too scared and weak to do the right thing. I should have gone to the police and pressed charges, even if it meant being kicked out of school or getting put through the wringer at a trial. But I didn’t. I don’t know how many girls Roger forced himself onto before me, or how many came after. The fact that I did nothing haunts me to this day.”
“It’s time for you to let it all go,” Jackie said. “Roger, Keith, the responsibility you’ve carried all these years, all of it.” Her gaze locked onto mine and she squeezed my hands. “You were angry with Keith for what he did to all of us, but I know you didn’t set out to murder him tonight, no matter what you may have said before. We love you and we’ll stand behind you. Won’t we?” She searched each of my friends’ faces with hope in her eyes.
~ * ~
The next morning, Keith was found floating face down in the pool by a hotel staff member. The police were called and everyone in the hotel who had some connection to him was interviewed. The people from our bus tour who hadn’t yet left to catch their flights home sat with us in the lobby, unbelieving. Each person, including the six of us, told the same story when questioned. Keith had drunk a lot at the farewell dinner, and no one had seen him after he left the banquet room.
From what we discerned before boarding the shuttle that would take us to the Denver airport, the police would most likely rule Keith’s death an unfortunate accident, one in which there was no one but himself to blame.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
One Year Later
Phil squeezed my butt when I sidled next to him holding a tray filled with opened hamburger buns. “Hey,” I laughed. “Focus on your job, Casanova. Are those burgers done yet? We have a hungry crowd waiting.”
“They’re done,” he said, slipping one hamburger at a time off the grill until the buns were filled.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a quick kiss. “Do you know you’re my favorite chef?”
“You’ve told me a few times, but I never tire of hearing it, honey.” When he winked, I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach.
“Come on you two,” Jackie called, waving us over. “Everything’s on the table, and we’re ready to eat.”
Phil untied his grill apron and tossed it onto a lawn chair. He set the tray of burgers in the middle of my specially hand-built picnic table that seated twelve. It was so long and heavy, it would probably never leave my backyard. He and I took our seats and the passing of dishes began. The usual summer fare awaited us: Phil’s pure beef burgers, fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, chips, baked beans, lemonade and cold beer. It was a day for celebration.
As everyone dug in, I gazed around at the women I’d called friends my entire life. This time last year, we’d gone through an experience that bonded us even closer, if that was possible. This summer, I wondered at the way life had changed for us.
Last night we’d all attended the opening reception of Donna’s first one-woman art exhibit. Since returning home from the National Parks Wonders Tour, she’d spent the last year refocusing her energy on something positive, rather than Chad’s death and the money lost in Keith’s financial scam. All her hard work and determination paid off. She’d sold six paintings of wildlife animals at the reception and had also been approached by the CEO of a prominent business to create a magnificent one-of-a-kind mural for their lobby.
As if that wasn’t wonderful enough, she recently signed a contract to design a line of greeting cards with a wildlife motif for a major card company. Her future prospects were excellent, and she was talking of quitting her job as office secretary for the high school.
I popped one of Crystal’s yummy deviled eggs into my mouth and watched her peel the crispy skin off her piece of fried chicken. The first thing she did when we returned from the west was to start an exercise program and begin to eat more sensibly, resulting in a ten-pound weight loss. In my eyes, she was perfect at any size, but Crystal was proud of her accomplishment, which made me happy for her. Shortly after losing the weight, she surprised us all by signing up with an internet dating service. That’s how she met her boyfriend, Jared. He was a widowed engineer, father to a grown daughter, and grandfather to two small grandchildren that Crystal adored. Remarkably, he lived only thirty miles away. She promptly fell in love with all of them, and I hoped wedding bells would ring for her again in the future.
I still chuckle when I recall what she’d written in her dating application when it asked her to list the qualities she looked for in a man. She’d supplied: (1) a job, (2) all his teeth, and (3) monogamous. Apparently, Jared had fit the bill. More importantly, he was a good man who treated Crystal like a princess.
My gaze shifted to Annette, who was even more beautiful now at fifty-one than she ever was as a teen competing in beauty pageants. As she’d hinted on our trip, she and Bruce didn’t make it. It wasn’t but two weeks after we’d gotten home that she initiated divorce proceedings. Bruce didn’t fight it, which confirmed for her that it was the right decision.
Something completely unexpected relating to the divorce was her son’s reaction and ultimate support. She’d worried that her and Bruce’s separation might send Dustin further over the edge, but it seemed to do the opposite. In time, he found a job and then a girlfriend, and had finally moved out of Annette’s house last week. But not before their relationship had been repaired, which made her happier than I’d seen her in years. Now she was truly an empty nester, and she appeared to be relishing in her new freedom as a single, independent woman ready for adventures.
“Could you please pass the potato salad?” Kim asked. The bowl was in front of me, so I scooped a spoonful onto my plate and then passed it down the line. “Thank you!” she said, as I returned her contented smile.
True to her word, she’d come home and immediately gone into counseling. It didn’t take many sessions for her to discover that the shoplifting correlated with her issues of never marrying or having children. Lo and behold, those issues all related directly to Eddie. After ten years, she dumped him and kicked him out of her house.
The man who sat next to her now at our picnic was a guy we’d graduated from high school with. He’
d had a few tricky issues of his own to deal with in the past, but had been clean and sober for three years, held a regular job, and had just enough of an edge to hold Kim’s interest. Having always been a rebel, both of Eric’s arms were decorated with tattoos, he wore a diamond stud in one ear, and I often saw her on the back of his motorcycle as they tooled around Harley’s Grove. Although he looked tough, turns out he had a soft spot for cats and babies, which I found endearing.
They’d only been dating for several months, but we’d known Eric all our lives. When Kim confided in me a couple of weeks ago that she thought he was going to pop the question, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. It was about time someone realized what a catch she was. Hopefully soon, she’d have that big wedding with red roses and gold accents that she’d dreamt of since she was a young girl.
Jackie’s granddaughter woke from her nap fussing. “She looks like a little doll dressed in that pink and white polka dot outfit,” I commented. Jackie lifted Tiffany from the car seat she’d been sleeping in on the grass.
“I think someone needs her diaper changed,” she cooed, giving the baby a kiss on the forehead. After she’d put a fresh diaper on, she opened a jar of baby food and held Tiffany in her arms and fed her while her own food grew cold.
I couldn’t have been more proud of my friend. The change in Jackie began the moment we arrived back in Harley’s Grove. She told Chris Stevens to take a hike—as well as any other man who tried to hit on her. Her focus became her husband; helping to care for him and making his final days as comfortable as possible.
Milton died in August and, as promised, he left everything to her. No one came forward to challenge the will, so she was wealthy beyond her wildest imagination. Before Milt passed away, she told him how much she cared for him and appreciated all he’d done for her. It was unknown whether he understood, because he was heavily medicated those last couple of weeks. At the end, Jackie stayed by his bedside holding his hand and swears she felt a tiny squeeze right before he breathed his last breath.
In December, Tiffany was born. I’d never seen Jackie respond to someone with such unconditional love and devotion, and that included her own three children. As far as her kids went, she was determined to improve her relationships with all three and was making good strides. Since Madison and her husband were just starting out with their marriage and careers, they graciously accepted Jackie’s offer to live in one wing of the mansion. Now she was able to see her daughter and granddaughter every day. They seemed to be all she needed.
When I asked her recently if she ever thought she’d marry again, her answer was an emphatic “Not on your life.”
As for me, this confirmed bachelorette finally gave in. Upon my return from the west, Phil came over the night after I got home, handed me a dozen roses, and cooked me a fabulous steak dinner, which we ate by candlelight. Afterwards, we snuggled together on the couch listening to music. When the song ended, he told me he’d missed me something awful while I was away. Then he broke my cardinal rule. He told me he loved me. He said he didn’t want to spend another day without me. I just about passed out when he presented me with a beautiful emerald-cut diamond ring and asked me to be his wife.
Realizing that I wanted to go to sleep with him every night and wake up with him every morning, I told him I loved him, too, and I’d be proud to marry him. He let out a whoop and took my face in his big hands and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before.
Our wedding will take place in October, right here in my backyard under the oak trees. Jackie, Donna, Crystal, Kim and Annette will stand beside me as I promise to love and cherish my man. But not obey, I joked when I showed them my ring.
The bond between the six of us is stronger than ever. Once we left Colorado that day, none of us heard from the Denver police again. Supposedly, Keith’s death was ruled an accident. It’s not something we ever talk about. On the flight home, we vowed to take the secret of that night in South Dakota to our graves.
Sometimes when I’m alone, the memories will come rushing back, and I’ll sit straight up in bed in a cold sweat. But as life goes on in Harley’s Grove just as it has for 185 years, the nightmares come fewer and farther between.
The girls and I still meet in Crystal’s garage every Monday night. Nowadays, we share a lot less complaints and more laughter. Recently, Kim mentioned it’s about time we learned some new dance steps.
They used to look to me for things like that, but after fifty years, I’ve learned a new word: delegate. And it sure feels good to be down from off that pedestal. I never did like heights.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacey Coverstone is a multi-published author in a variety of genres: women’s fiction, contemporary and historical western romance, mysteries and suspense, and ghost stories and Gothics. She lives in Maryland with her husband, their dogs and cats, and a paint horse named Bill. They have two grown daughters and a baby granddaughter. When she’s not writing, Stacey enjoys reading, photography, target shooting, traveling, and making scrapbooks of her adventures.
To view all of Stacey’s books with blurbs, please visit her website at: http://www.staceycoverstone.com.
If you’d like to be notified of new releases, feel free to subscribe to her announce only newsletter group. You won’t receive any spam. You can also find all of her books in the Kindle Store.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider posting a review on Amazon.
Thank you!
Table of Contents
Start
Line Dancing Can Be Murder Page 13