“I don’t intend to leave this house until the day I die,” Viola vowed firmly. “Surely the rest of you don’t agree with Bernice. Wilma, what about you?”
Wilma stirred uncomfortably beside Ann, looking first at her and then at Bernice before saying, “Well...actually, I do think Drew’s plans have merit.”
Viola’s expression became even more severe. “And the rest of you?” she asked crisply. Several ladies nodded their heads. Viola spun around to Ann and fixed her with a direct glare that had Ann squirming as though she’d been caught passing a note in class. “You haven’t changed your mind, I hope. The rezoning vote is tonight. I’m counting on you, Ann.”
“Ann’s duty is to carry out the wishes of the majority of Crossfield’s citizens,” Bernice stated firmly. “Not to cater to one stubborn old woman.”
“Ladies, please,” Ann pleaded, standing up to address the meeting. “My duty as a council member is to always have Crossfield’s best interests at heart. I assure you however I decide to vote, that will be the case. Now, if you all will excuse me, I have to go.”
A few minutes later Ann walked down to the river and sat on the bank as a thick fog settled over the water. All was silent except for the occasional plop as a frog hopped into the water, the sound magnified against the wall of mist.
Ann could feel the moisture against her face and arms, and she shivered in spite of the warmth of the afternoon. She suddenly felt chilled as she sat there taking a long, hard look at her life for the first time in years, and the mist falling softly against her skin had very little to do with it.
Nothing remained static in this world, she reflected. You either changed with the flow or you got left behind. Some people preferred to be left behind. She had always thought she was one of them. But now looking back on all the long, lonely years of her life, she had to ask herself why she had allowed herself to drift for so long in yesterday’s shadow. The answer was painfully simple. Because that had been her only link to Drew. To take that away from her was to take away the only happiness she had ever known.
But Drew was back in her life now, and he was offering her not only the present but also a future. Why was she so afraid to accept it? Why was she still so afraid to let go of the past? Aiden and her father were dead. Her obligations to them were over. She had obligations to no one now except to herself. And perhaps to Drew.
The plain and simple truth was that she was scared to love Drew again, scared to trust him again, scared she would be hurt by him again, but that fear suddenly seemed a dim thing in comparison with the years and years of dragging loneliness she had glimpsed at Viola’s. If she wanted Drew, she had to be willing to pay the price, and the price was giving up the past.
She just had to make sure, for both their sakes, she was ready to do that.
* * *
It was late in the day when Ann finally walked back to the house. It was already growing dark because of the fog, and the gaslight at the end of her drive had automatically turned on. The thick haze curled like smoke in the indistinct, yellow glow. Ann stood on the porch for a moment, letting memories swirl like the mist around her.
She and Aiden playing on the swings underneath the old oak tree in the backyard, laughing and squealing as they soared high enough to touch their toes to the leaves. Her father sitting in his study after dinner, head bent over his desk as he worked on his accounts...
Those memories and a million others were so much a part of this old place, and yet looking at it now, Ann felt herself a stranger here, as though she’d just stepped from a time warp and no longer belonged. Or maybe it was because she was finally ready to let go.
She walked into the house, flipping on the light to ward off the early darkness. The message light shone on her answering machine. She dashed across the room hoping it would be Drew, but when she replayed the tape, it was Jack’s voice she heard.
She dialed his home number first, and getting no answer, dialed his office. He answered on the first ring, as though he’d been sitting there waiting for her call.
“What the devil went on out there last night?” he asked without preamble when she had identified herself.
Ann paused briefly, frowning into the receiver. “What do you mean?”
“I mean Drew left here a few minutes ago after dropping quite a bombshell on me. He said he’d spent the night out at the farm last night because you thought someone had tried to break into your house. Is that true?”
“Well, yes,” Ann hedged, not wanting to reveal too much. “I’m sure it was my imagination, though. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
But she could hear the concern in his voice when he said, “Ann, Drew was in a very strange mood. He asked me a lot of questions about...Aiden.”
Ann felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. “What about Aiden?”
There was another slight hesitation before Jack continued. “About how she died, about the last time I saw her alive. Ann, what’s going on with you two? Have you decided to sell Riverside Development your land?”
“Let’s just say I’m contemplating my options.”
“But I thought...well, I just assumed when he said he was leaving town after the council meeting tonight—”
Ann’s heart stopped. “Leaving town? He said that?”
“Yes. He said he was going to have Riverside send someone else down here.”
“Jack, are you sure about this? I mean...he’s really leaving?” She knew her voice held an edge of desperation but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t let him leave, not without telling him her decision. “Did he say where he was going after he left you?”
“He didn’t say. Why?”
“I’ve got to find him, Jack. I have to talk to him.”
There was a slight pause, then, “So it’s that way, is it?”
She closed her eyes briefly, whispering, “Yes,” as though just admitting it to herself for the first time, too.
“Even after everything he did to you?” Jack asked in a strangely detached tone.
“The past is finally over,” Ann said, feeling relief flood through her as she voiced the words. “I don’t want to live there anymore.”
“You may have a hard time convincing Drew of that. He seemed pretty down when I saw him earlier.”
“There’s a way,” Ann said with new determination. “But I need your help. I need a favor and a big one. I want you to draw up papers donating the farm to the city for use as a park facility, and I want to have them ready for the town council meeting tonight.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. It’s the perfect solution. Will you do it?”
“What time’s the meeting?”
“Eight o’clock. I know that doesn’t leave you much time,” Ann said worriedly.
“No, not much,” Jack agreed. “But I’ll do what I have to do.”
Thirteen
Ann glanced at her watch, then hurriedly attached tiny pearl earrings to her lobes. She had just enough time to swing by Jack’s office for the papers before the council meeting started. She wondered if she should give him a call, make sure they were ready for her—
The overhead light dimmed and flickered, then went out all together, as though the bulb had shot. With an impatient sigh, Ann felt her way across the room to the lamp beside her bed and twisted the switch. Nothing. The electricity was out again.
“Great,” she muttered, trying to acclimate herself to the darkness. The fog outside completely obscured the moon. The room was pitch black.
She groped for the top drawer of her bedside table, opened it and retrieved a candle and matches. The wick sputtered, then flared, sending black shadows scurrying toward the corners of the room. Setting the candle on the edge of the dresser, Ann picked up the phone to call the electric company, but the line was dead.
If she’d had any second thoughts about getting rid of the farm, Ann decided she didn’t now. The inconveniences were be
coming more and more difficult to live with—
Her thoughts broke off as a sound interrupted them. She stood dead still, listening. There it was again! A sort of muffled rustling noise, as if someone was moving softly about somewhere in the house.
A tremor of warning shot through her, and with it came an awareness of something dark and sinister. An almost overwhelming sense of danger swept through her. It was more than just fear; it was as though she had a direct connection with the source of the danger.
She picked up the candle and stepped tentatively across the room. The hinges squeaked, sounding as loud as a scream as she pulled back the door. She paused, listening, lifting the candle in her hand and peering down the hallway.
All was silent. The rustling had stopped. Probably nothing more than a tree limb against a window, she decided, trying to shake off the persistent sense of danger. But the feeling was so prevalent, it was almost tangible, like a heavy, black cloak dropping over her shoulders.
Almost with a will of their own, her eyes strayed down the hall to the closed door of Aiden’s room. And as she did so, another indistinct sound came to her from behind the door.
Ann’s first instinct was to run, but something held her back, some remnant of rationale that told her her imagination was running away with her. She took another step toward Aiden’s room, and her hand reached for the knob.
The door swung silently inward. Ann held the candle tightly in her grasp as her eyes frantically searched the shadowy corners, then, more slowly, her gaze roamed the room. There was a slight movement on the other side, as though a stray breeze had stirred the air, leaving behind a strangely familiar scent, spicy, exotic. Shalimar...
The cloak of danger tightened around her, almost strangling her with its insistence. Fear pulsed through Ann with every beat of her heart as she hovered in the doorway.
“Aiden?” The name was a whisper as Ann’s throat tightened on a scream.
Something moved in the shadows. Ann’s gaze clung to the darkened corner by Aiden’s bed. Slowly, deliberately, a distinct form materialized and separated from the blackness, moving into the center of the room. Candlelight softly touched each familiar feature....
* * *
Drew glanced at his watch as he pulled into the parking lot at Jack’s office. He was supposed to be at city hall in fifteen minutes for a pre-council meeting with the mayor, but halfway there he’d discovered he’d left his briefcase in Jack’s office and there were papers in it he had to take back to Dallas with him tonight. Papers he’d hand over to his replacement, he thought with a grimace as he opened the car door and got out.
Driving through town earlier, after he’d left Ann at the farm, he’d had the perverse notion that he’d buy the whole damned town, bulldoze the place to the ground, and take away her comfortable, little hiding place.
Because that’s exactly what it was, damn it, whether she admitted it or not. The farm, the town, her job—all made a nice, safe little place for her to watch the world go by. But as much as he wanted to, he realized he couldn’t force her out of the past. She had to want to come willingly.
And that’s why he was going back to Dallas tonight. He wanted to inform his superiors that he was removing himself from the project. Whatever the outcome of the meeting tonight, he wanted no part of the project any longer. He wanted a resolution between him and Ann without anything—or anyone—clouding the issue. He just hoped she’d be willing to give him another chance.
He sighed deeply as he ran a tired hand across his eyes. He’d never seen her angrier than she had been this morning when he’d left, but how could he blame her? He must have sounded like the worst kind of heel, lashing out against Aiden as he had, trying to sugarcoat his own betrayal. He’d never meant to tell Ann about her sister. He’d never wanted her to know the truth, but he’d been desperate, and now he’d pushed her even farther away.
The very worst thing he could have done was attack her family. Drew didn’t begin to understand all the complexities of Ann’s loyalty to her father and to Aiden; he only knew that he’d give anything to have her feel that way about him.
Jack’s secretary, Kate, looked up and smiled as Drew tapped on the glass door. She got up from her desk and came to unlock the door for him.
“Jack’s got you burning the midnight oil, I see,” Drew said as he stepped inside.
Kate threw a glance heavenward. “A last-minute emergency. He went out to grab us some dinner. I’m surprised to see you back here so soon.”
“I left my briefcase in Jack’s office. All right if I get it?”
“Sure, let me unlock the door for you. Jack always keeps everything locked up tighter than a drum around here.”
“I’m sure his clients appreciate that,” Drew said, throwing her another grateful smile as he entered Jack’s office and flipped on the light. “Mind if I use the phone while I’m here?”
“No problem,” Kate assured him as she closed the door behind her. Within seconds Drew heard the muted clatter of her typewriter as she settled back down to work.
His briefcase was lying on the floor in front of Jack’s desk where he had left it earlier. He picked it up and set it down beside him as he perched on the edge of the desk to place his call. By the time he finished talking to Mayor Sikes, he was running more than a few minutes late. With a muttered oath, he hurriedly stood as he grabbed the handle of his briefcase and yanked it up. The corner of his case caught a leather folder lying on Jack’s desk and sent it flying to the floor. The jolt knocked lose the clasp, and the contents sailed helter-skelter.
“Damn it!” Drew slammed his briefcase back down on the desk, then bent to retrieve the folder. Everything seemed to be working against him getting to that meeting on time and seeing Ann, telling her his plans. His whole damn future was at stake, and he was down on his hands and knees picking up Jack’s schedule and phone messages.
He gathered up the loose sheets of paper and pink message slips, then picked up the leather planner to stick them inside. An envelope slipped out of the pocket on the inside cover and fell to the floor. With another oath, Drew picked it up and started to shove it back inside. His movements froze as he stared down at the envelope in his hand.
He would have recognized that handwriting anywhere. After the divorce, it had gotten so bad that he’d hated to check his mail, dreaded to see that flowing, flowery script that invariably signaled a new threat, a new promise, a new plea in the letter inside.
The postmark was smudged, as though something liquid had been dropped on it and rubbed off. The letter might have been years old, but something inside Drew set off a warning, maybe because his thoughts had been so tuned to Aiden since his and Ann’s quarrel. Maybe because Ann’s dream had brought back too vividly that final ultimatum. If you go near Angel, you’ll live to regret it. But she won’t.
Numbly, he removed the single sheet of paper from the envelope and unfolded it, scanning the words quickly with a terrible premonition of dread. “Dear Jackie. I’m writing to make you an offer you can’t refuse....”
“Oh, my God,” Drew breathed, feeling nausea rise to his throat as he quickly finished the letter. Everything was so clear now—the shots in the woods, someone in Ann’s house. It all made sense now. The past had been more threatening than he could ever have imagined. While he’d wasted time arguing with Ann, her life had been in danger. Was still in danger—
He stood quickly and grabbed for the phone. “Is Ann there?” he almost shouted when one of the council members finally picked up the phone at city hall.
“She’s not here yet. Is that you, Drew? Where the hell are you two—”
Drew hung up the phone and quickly dialed the number of the farm. He let it ring ten times before slamming down the receiver. Kate looked up in surprise as Jack’s office door opened so abruptly it was flung back against the wall.
“Call Sheriff Hayden and have him meet me at Ann Lowell’s place!” Drew shouted, already pushing open the front door.
&
nbsp; “What?”
“Just do it!” The glass door slammed closed with a bang. Drew was already backing out of the parking space by the time a stunned Kate had picked up the phone.
Inside Jack’s office, a draft of wind caught Aiden’s letter. For a moment, the sheet of paper hung suspended in the air. And then slowly it fluttered to the floor....
* * *
Ann stood motionless in the doorway of her sister’s bedroom, her breath trapped in her throat, stifling the scream that still clung there.
“What’s the matter, Ann?” her cousin asked in a voice that was at once familiar and strange and fraught with a dark, hidden emotion. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
For a moment Ann could only stare back at him, feeling relief flood through her. She put a hand to her heart as she let out a long breath. “Jack? What are you trying to do—scare me half to death? What are you doing in here?”
He stepped forward slowly, moving to Aiden’s dressing table. He picked up the glass swan jewelry box and held it up, observing the delicate sculpture almost abstractedly. “I’ve been thinking about Aiden all day,” he said softly. His features were shadowed by the candle glow, but when he looked up at her, Ann thought she saw sorrow in his eyes. Sorrow and something else, something that might have been pity.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again, trying to assuage the lingering unease. “Did you bring the papers?”
“Papers?” His gaze dropped to the crystal jewelry box as he turned it in his hand, watching the candlelight spark the edge of the glass.
As Ann stood watching him, the scene began to waver, as though the flickering light played tricks on her vision. She blinked once, then again, but all she could see was darkness, as though she were deep, deep underwater. She could feel the cold seeping through her skin, touching her very soul. And terror—terror everywhere—
She was struggling with someone, someone who wanted to kill her. She could feel the weight of the water closing over her head as hands around her neck pushed her deeper, deeper. She fought her way to the surface, gasping and clawing at those relentless hands. For one brief moment air touched her face and flooded into her lungs. Moonlight showed starkly across a face she knew so well....
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