by Nora Roberts
Nor did he question it. He simply picked up his brush and went back to work.
And later when, still fully dressed, he tumbled into bed, he dropped straight into sleep with the image of Drusilla sleeping beside him.
“WHAT are you calling it?” Stella asked him.
They were standing in front of the painting, studying it in the glare of his studio lights. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.”
“Beauty Sleeps,” Stella suggested. “That’s what I’d call it.”
She was wearing an oversized chambray shirt and baggy jeans with flat canvas shoes that looked as though they’d walked a lot of miles. And when she tucked her arm through Seth’s he could smell hints of lemon from her shampoo and soap.
“We’re proud of you, Seth. Not for the talent so much. That’s God-given. But for being true to it. Being true to what you have and what you are, that’s what makes the difference.”
She stepped back and looked around. “Wouldn’t hurt you to clean up this place some. Being an artist doesn’t mean you have to be a slob.”
“I’ll take care of it in the morning.”
She sent him a wry look. “Now where have I heard that one before? That one there.” Stella jerked her head toward the painting. “She’s neat as a pin. Maybe too neat—which sure as hell isn’t your problem. Worries about letting anything shift out of place. Untidiness confuses her, especially when it comes to her own emotions. You’ve got to figure they’re pretty messy where you’re concerned already.”
He lifted a shoulder in a way that made Stella smile. “I’m putting the brakes on there. She’s too much damn work.”
“Uh-huh.” She twinkled at him. “You keep telling yourself that, boy.”
He wanted to leave that area alone. He didn’t mind messy emotions, but his own were in such a state he couldn’t be sure he’d ever manage to tidy them up again.
“Cam said I should ask you about the zucchini bread.”
“He did, did he? Maybe he thinks I’ve forgotten. Well, you can tell him I may be dead, but I’ve still got my wits. I wasn’t much of a cook. Ray handled that end for the most part. But now and again I stuck my oar in. One day in the fall I got a yen for zucchini bread. We’d planted the stuff, and Christ knows we had more than we could eat in six years. Especially since Ethan wouldn’t touch a morsel. So I got out the cookbook and tried my hand at baking some zucchini bread. Four loaves, from scratch, and I set them on a rack to cool. I was damn proud of that bread, too.”
She paused a moment, tipped her head up as if looking at the memory. “About a half hour later, I walked back into the kitchen. Instead of four loaves, there were just three. My first thought was, well, those boys have been in here and helped themselves. Felt pretty smug about that one. Until I looked out the kitchen window. What do you think I saw?”
“I’ve got no clue.” But he was sure he was going to enjoy it.
“I’ll tell you what I saw,” she said with a jut of her chin. “My boys, and my loving husband, out there in the yard using the zucchini bread I’d made from scratch as a goddamn football. Whooping and hollering and tossing that thing around like it was the Super Bowl. I was out that door like a shot, gonna skin the lot of them. About that time, Phil heaved that loaf high and hard, and Ethan loped over to receive. And Cam—he always was quick as a snake—he streaked over the grass, leaped up to intercept. Misjudged, though. The loaf caught him right about here.”
She tapped just over her eyebrow. “Knocked him flat on his ass, too. Damn thing was hard as a brick.”
She laughed, rocking back and forth on her heels as if her humor had weight. “Ethan snapped up the bread, stepped right over Cam as he sat there with his eyes rolling back in his head, and made the touchdown. By the time I got out to Cam to check him out and give them a piece of my mind, he’d shaken it off and the four of them were howling like loons. They called it the Bread Bowl. Last time I ever baked bread, I’ll tell you that. I miss those days. I sure do miss them.”
“I wish I’d had time with you. I wish I’d had time with you and Ray.”
She moved to him, brushed at the stray tendrils of hair that had fallen over his forehead. The gesture was so tender it made his heart ache.
“Is it okay if I call you Grandma?”
“Of course it is. Sweet boy,” Stella murmured. “She couldn’t cut that sweet heart out of you, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn’t understand it either, that’s why hurting you’s always been so easy for her.”
They weren’t talking about Dru now, he thought. But about Gloria. “I don’t want to think about her. She can’t hurt me anymore.”
“Can’t she? Trouble’s coming. Trouble always does. You be strong, you be smart, and you be true. You hear me? You’re not alone, Seth. You’ll never be alone.”
“Don’t go.”
“You’re not alone,” she repeated.
But when he woke with the early sunlight just sliding through his windows, it seemed he was.
Worse, he saw the folded note under the door. He forced himself to get up, to walk over and pick it up.
Lucy’s Diner, next to the By-Way Hotel on Route 13.
Eleven o’clock tonight.
Make sure it’s in cash.
Trouble’s coming. Seth thought he heard the echo of a voice. Trouble always does.
TEN
AUBREY STEWED ABOUT it, picked it apart and put it together again. And the more she fumed and fiddled, the madder she got. Temper made it very clear in her mind that Drusilla Whitcomb Banks needed a come-to-Jesus talk, and Aubrey Quinn was just the one to give it to her.
Since she and Seth had made a pact, she couldn’t vent to her mother, her father. She couldn’t go by Sybill’s and ask for some sort of psychological evaluation of the thing. And she couldn’t go to Anna just to spew out her annoyance and resentment.
So it built, layer by layer, until she’d worked up quite a head of steam by the time she left the boatyard at five o’clock.
She practiced what she intended to say as she drove into town. The cool, the controlled, the keen-edged slice of words that would cut Little Miss Perfect down to size.
No one got away with making Seth unhappy.
Mess with one Quinn, she thought as she scooted her pickup into a space at the curb, mess with them all.
In her work boots, dirty T-shirt and well-sprung jeans, she marched into Bud and Bloom.
Yeah, she was perfect, all right, Aubrey thought, and bit down on her ire while Dru wrapped a bunch of daisies for Carla Wiggins. Just perfect in her pink silk blouse and wood-nymph hair. The slacks were stone gray and fluid. Probably silk, too, Aubrey thought, annoyed with herself for admiring the classy, casual look.
Dru’s gaze shifted up and over as the door opened. What might have been polite warmth chilled into caution when Aubrey glared at her.
At least that was something.
Carla, bouncy and glowing, turned. “Hi, Aubrey. That was some game yesterday. Everybody’s talking about your home run. Bases loaded,” she said to Dru. “Aub knocked those Rockfish out of the water.”
“Really?” Dru had heard the same, a half dozen times, already that day. “Congratulations.”
“I swing to score.”
“I about had a heart attack when that ball flew.” Carla patted her tidy little breasts to demonstrate. “Jed’s still flying. He got walked,” she said to Dru, “to load the bases before Aubrey came to bat. Anyway, I’m cooking dinner for his parents tonight—talk about the wedding plans some more—and there I was running around straightening the place up—I took a half day off work—and it hit me I didn’t have any flowers for a centerpiece. It’s going to be spaghetti and meatballs. That’s Jed’s favorite. Just fun and cheerful, you know. So Dru said daisies would be nice in that red vase I’ve got. What do you think?”
Aubrey looked at the flowers, moved her shoulder. “They’re pretty. Friendly, I guess. Kind of simple and sweet.”
“That’
s it. That’s just exactly right.” Carla fussed with her fine blond hair. “I don’t know why I get so nervous. I’ve known Jed’s folks all my life. It’s just different now that we’re getting married in December. I told Dru my colors are going to be midnight blue and silver. I didn’t want to go with the red and green, you know, but wanted to keep it Christmassy and festive. Do you really think those colors will work?” Carla chewed on her lip as she looked back at Dru. “For the flowers and all.”
“Beautifully.” The warmth came back into Dru’s face. “Festive, as you say, and romantic, too. I’m going to put some ideas together, then you and your mother and I will go over everything. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Oh, I can’t help it. I’ll drive everyone crazy before December. I’ve got to run.” She scooped up the flowers. “They’ll be coming along in an hour.”
“Have a nice evening,” Dru said.
“Thanks. See you later, Aubrey.”
“Yeah. Hi to Jed.”
The door closed behind Carla, and as the bells on it stopped ringing, the cheer that had filled the shop faded.
“I don’t think you’re in the market for flowers.” Dru folded her hands. “What can I do for you?”
“You can stop screwing with Seth’s brain and putting me in the role of the other woman.”
“Actually, I was worried that was my role, and I didn’t care for it.”
All the cool, controlled, keen-edged words Aubrey had practiced flew out of her head. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Do you think Seth would be poking at you if he were interested in someone else?”
“ ‘Poking at’?”
Aubrey hunched her shoulders. “Family phrase,” she muttered. “What do you take him for? He’d never move on you if he was moving on someone else. He’s not like that, and if you don’t already know it, you’re just stupid.”
“Calling me stupid is going to end this conversation before it gets started.”
“So is punching you in the nose.”
Dru lifted her chin—Aubrey gave her points for it, and for the derisive tone. “Is that how you solve your disagreements?”
“Sometimes. It’s quick.” Aubrey showed her teeth. “And I owe it to you for the ‘buxom blonde in black’ remark.”
Dru winced, but she kept her voice even. “A stupid comment doesn’t make me stupid. But it was uncalled for and ill advised. I apologize for it. I suppose you’ve never had something pop out of your mouth that you’ve instantly regretted.”
“All the time,” Aubrey said, cheerful now. “Apology accepted. But that doesn’t cover the bases regarding Seth. You messed with his head and you made him unhappy. That’s worth a hell of a lot more than a punch in the nose, from where I stand.”
“It wasn’t my intention to do either.” And she felt a flare of guilt. She’d had no trouble making him mad, but she’d never meant to make him unhappy. Still, she’d done what she thought right for everyone.
“I won’t be a game piece to a man, even if he doesn’t realize that’s what he’s making me. I’ve seen the two of you together. I saw the way you looked at me yesterday when I came into the boatyard. I’m standing here right now with you jumping down my throat because of what you are to each other.”
“You want to know what we are to each other?” Riled up again, Aubrey leaned on the counter. “We’re family. And if you don’t know family loves each other and sticks up for each other and worries when one of them looks to be getting in deep where he doesn’t belong, then I’m sorry for you. And if the way I look at you makes you unhappy, too bad. I’m going to keep right on looking at you, because I’m not sure you’re good for him.”
“Neither am I,” Dru said calmly and stopped Aubrey in her tracks. “There we have a point of agreement.”
“I just don’t get you,” Aubrey admitted. “But I get Seth. He already cares about you. I’ve known him . . . I don’t remember ever not knowing him, and I can see it when he’s gone soft on someone. You hurt him yesterday, and I can’t stand to see him hurting.”
Dru looked down, saw that her hands were gripping the counter. Deliberately, she relaxed them. “Let me ask you something. If you found yourself getting involved with a man—at a point in your life where it’s really the last thing you want, but it’s happening anyway—and you see that man has a relationship with another woman—a really attractive, vibrant, interesting woman—that you can’t define—all you can see is that it’s special and it’s intimate and beyond your scope—how would you feel?”
Aubrey opened her mouth, shut it again. She had to take another moment before she answered. “I don’t know. Damn it. Damn it, Dru, I love him. I love him so much that when he was in Europe it was like a piece of me was missing. But it’s not sexual or romantic or anything like that. He’s my best friend. He’s my brother. He’s my Seth.”
“I never had a best friend, or a brother. My family doesn’t have the . . . vitality of yours. Maybe that’s why it’s hard for me to understand.”
“You’d have gotten a clue if you’d seen the two of us cracking up after kissing yesterday.” Aubrey’s lips twitched. “That’s Seth for you. You planted that seed and so he worries over it, picks at it. ‘Gee, am I screwing around with her, am I messing up people I care about? How can I fix it?’ So he tracks me down and gives me the big picture, tells me he needs to kiss me—a real guy-girl smackeroo—so we can make sure there’s nothing going on in that direction.”
“Oh God.” Dru closed her eyes. “And he didn’t see that was insulting to you?”
“Nope.” Surprised, and rather pleased Dru had seen that angle, Aubrey leaned more companionably on the counter. “I didn’t let it bother me that way because he was so stupid about the whole thing, so worried and flustered. So we had our little experiment. He gets major points in the lip-lock department. He knows how to kiss.”
“Yes, he does.”
“There was relief all around because the earth did not move. It didn’t even tremble. Then we laughed ourselves silly, and we’re fine. I wasn’t going to tell you that part,” Aubrey added. “I thought letting it hang would make you suffer more. But since you said I was attractive and vibrant and interesting, I’m cutting you a break.”
“Thanks. And I’m sorry. It was beginning to . . .” Dru trailed off, shook her head. “Never mind.”
“We’ve come this far, don’t hold back now.”
She started to shake her head again, then realized that was one of her flaws. She held back. “All right. What’s happening between Seth and me was beginning to worry me a little. I had someone I cared about, very much, cheat on me. I started to see myself as that woman, with some sympathy for her position. I didn’t want to have any sympathy for her. I prefer despising her.”
“Well, sure.” Nothing could have been clearer to Aubrey’s way of thinking. “You can relax. The field’s all yours. Are we square on that?”
“Yes. Yes, we are. I appreciate your coming in to talk to me, and not punching me.”
“Punching you would’ve pissed off Seth, not to mention my parents, so it’s just as well. I guess I’d better get going.”
“Aubrey.” It was always a terrifying thing for Dru to go with impulse. “I don’t make friends easily. It’s not one of my skills. I’m terrific at making acquaintances, at social small talk and casual conversation. But I don’t have many friends.”
She took a long breath. “I’m going to close a little early today. It’ll take me a few minutes to close out and lock up. Are you in a hurry, or would you like to go have a drink?”
Seth was a goner, Aubrey realized. He’d never hold out against those hints of vulnerability and need hiding under the polish. “Got any good wine at your place?”
“Yes.” Dru’s lips curved. “I do.”
“I’ll swing by home, grab a shower. Meet you there.”
FROM his studio window, Seth watched Aubrey stride back out to her truck. He’d seen her stride in nearly a half hour before. And t
hough he hadn’t been able to see her face, he’d read her body language clearly.
She’d been ready to brawl.
He hadn’t gone down. Until he’d seen Gloria, and locked that entire business back in his mental vault, he was keeping a distance from his family.
But he’d listened for the sounds of shouts or breaking glass. If it had come to that, he’d have run down to pull them apart.
But it hadn’t come to that, he noted as Aubrey jumped nimbly into the cab of her truck and zipped off without any indication of temper.
One less worry, he supposed, as he walked into the kitchen to look at the clock on the stove. A little more than five hours left to obsess, he thought. Then he’d meet Gloria, give her the cash he’d withdrawn from his account.
And get back to his life.
DRU had barely walked through the door when Aubrey pulled into the drive. It gave her no time to fuss with the crackers and cheese she’d planned to set out, or to wash the fat purple grapes she’d picked up on the way home.
However casual the invitation, she was accustomed to entertaining a certain way. That certain way wasn’t having her guest walk in, push a brown bag into her hand, then look around and whistle.
“Cool. Front page, House & Garden.” She sent Dru a cheeky grin. “That wasn’t really a dig. Man, my mother would love this. She’s been itching to get a look at the inside. You got a cleaning service?” Aubrey asked and smoothed a finger over a tabletop. No dust.
“No. It’s just me, and I don’t—”
“Ought to. Working woman and blah, blah. Mom can give you the whole pitch. Big place.” Aubrey began to wander without invitation as Dru stood holding the bag. “I want a big one when I get out on my own. Rattle around a bit, you know? Change from living with what feels like a million people sometimes. Then I’ll be lonely and miss them and spend half my time at the house anyway.”
She looked up. “High ceilings,” she commented. “Must cost you some to heat this place in the winter.”