by Linz, Cathie
Skye hugged her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
“Not with her around.”
“Then I’ll get rid of her.”
“No, wait . . .”
“What are you two whispering about in there?” Violet called out. “It’s not polite, you know, whispering behind my back that way. Come in here and face me.”
“Why didn’t you ever answer my letters?” The words poured out of Angel as she gathered the courage to confront her mother. “Why didn’t you even acknowledge the birth of my daughters?”
“You know how your father felt about things.”
Angel waved her hands dismissively. “Forget him. What about you?”
“He died a year ago,” Violet said.
Angel paled.
“Of lung cancer,” Violet calmly continued. “You know how he loved his cigarettes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Angel whispered.
Violet shrugged. “The last address I had for you was in Alaska. The envelope came back marked ‘addressee unknown.’ ”
“I meant when you got here. Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
“I had to prove who I was to your daughter first. Anyway, as time went on, I got to thinking that maybe I should contact you. But I didn’t know how. Then I saw the story on the TV.”
“And suddenly contacting your family looked a lot more appealing now that a million dollars was involved, huh?” Skye said.
“You’ve raised a cynical daughter,” Violet told Angel. “She also has questionable taste in her decorating choices.” She shot another disapproving look at the couch before gingerly perching on the very edge.
Leave it to Toni to march right up to Violet and demand, “Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
“Toni. I bite. Skye is my mommy.”
Violet blinked. “Ethel, you have a granddaughter?”
“Who’s Ethel?” Toni asked, looking around. “Is she an invisible friend?”
“Of course not. She’s your grandmother.”
Toni narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?” she repeated.
Violet sat up straight. “I’m your great-grandmother.”
Toni eyed her suspiciously. “What’s so great about you?”
“Everything,” Violet stated proudly. “As you’ll find out for yourself soon enough.”
“I don’t think you’re great. You’ve got mean eyes,” Toni declared.
“Nonsense. You really should teach this child some manners, Ethel. She should show more respect when addressing her elders.”
“A word of warning . . . ,” Skye began.
“I should hope so.”
“To you, not to Toni. You really don’t want to insult my child.”
The older woman sniffed her disapproval. “No offense intended, but . . .”
Sue Ellen shook her head and interrupted her. “Trust me on this. You don’t want to insult Skye’s kid. She gets very upset about that. I’m just trying to be helpful here.”
“And who are you again?” Violet asked.
“The birthday girl. I’m also about to become a realtor, should you be interested in looking at a double-wide trailer. I could get you a really good deal—”
“Sue Ellen!” Skye grabbed her arm.
“What?”
“She’s not moving here.”
“I haven’t made that decision yet,” Violet said. “I feel a headache coming on. A nice cup of Darjeeling tea would be lovely.”
Angel hurried into the kitchen. Skye followed her, while Sue Ellen engaged Violet in conversation. Toni and Lulu remained cautious observers.
“She’ll have to stay with me at Julia’s house.” Angel spoke in a distracted undertone as she turned off the heat under the teakettle.
“Not if you don’t want her there.”
“Well, she can’t stay here. There’s no room, and Toni would end up biting her for sure. Not that I’d blame her.”
“Don’t let Violet force you into doing something you don’t want to do.”
“She’s my mother. I don’t know how to say no.”
“Well, I sure do,” Skye assured her. “I know how to say whatever I want, including no when the situation warrants it. And it seems like this situation warrants it.”
Angel took a deep, cleansing breath. “Everything happens for a reason. Including her traveling here. Maybe the time has finally come for us to reach some kind of peaceful understanding.” Seeing Skye’s skeptical look, she added, “It could happen.”
“Any other relatives you haven’t told me about?”
“No. I’m an only child.”
“No ‘good girl’ sister to egg you on, huh?”
“No. And you know Julia doesn’t mean to—”
“Yeah, yeah. Forget about Julia and me. You’re going to have your hands full as it is with Violet.”
“I’ll take it.” Skye pointed to the ratty floral couch against the back wall in the thrift shop. She’d come shopping first thing Monday morning, to rid herself of the bad feeling left over from Violet’s unexpected appearance the day before. Toni had come with her and was seated in a child’s plastic chair, setting up a tea party for the toy animals.
“Are you sure?” Sister Mary eyed her dubiously.
“Positive. It’s got good lines. Angel will make it look great in the front row of the theater.”
“If you say so. I heard that Angel’s mother is visiting from California. That must be nice for her,” Sister Mary said.
“Not really. They haven’t been . . . close.”
“That’s too bad. Well, perhaps this visit will make up for that.”
“That’s the stupidest couch I ever saw.” Skye was startled by Toni’s emphatic statement, until she realized her daughter was speaking to a plastic monkey, repeating Violet’s words from the night before.
“She picked that up from Angel’s mother, Violet,” Skye told Sister Mary.
“So this Violet has definite ideas about decorating, hmm?”
“She has definitely wrong ideas about almost everything, from what I could tell.”
“That’s a shame.”
“Yeah. Listen . . .” Skye looked around to make sure no one was near enough to overhear them. The shop had appeared empty when she’d walked in, but she remembered how she’d thought Cosmic Comics was safe, only to find Nathan lurking inside. “Nathan’s not in here someplace, is he?” “Better safe than sorry” had never been her mantra, but just this once she figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
“No.” Sister Mary was clearly surprised by her question. “Why?”
“You know how I never wanted to hear about Nathan’s past? Well, now I do.”
“I didn’t realize you didn’t want to know before.”
“A bunch of people tried to tell me about him—Sue Ellen, your sister . . .”
“So, why not go to one of them? Why come to me?”
“Because I figured you’d give me the most accurate answer.”
“I’ll try to, but the most accurate information would come from Nathan himself.”
“I already tried to talk to him about it.”
“And?”
“And all he told me was that he loved his wife and that she meant everything to him.”
“She died in a car crash back in Nebraska. Before Nathan moved here.”
“Was Nathan driving?”
“I don’t believe so, no. He was working and heard the information about a crash come over the police radio. He never dreamed that his wife was involved at first, but he quickly found out when they listed the car’s license number. He was at the scene shortly thereafter.”
“He’s still grieving for her.”
“Grief is a unique thing, affecting every human being a little differently. Some people are able to pick up the pieces faster than others. And some never allow their emotions to come out, so they never really heal.”
“Is that what you think is going on with Nathan?”
; “I know he was devastated. My nephew Cole is Nathan’s best friend and was rooming with him in college when he first met Annie. Cole was here when the accident occurred, but he flew out to Nebraska for the funeral. He’s the one who convinced Nathan to come to Rock Creek and apply for the position of sheriff.”
“Did they have any kids? Nathan and his wife?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
Skye didn’t answer, not wanting to confess to the feelings she had about Nathan. And those feelings weren’t just observations about the pain he carried within him. Something was going on there.
But something was also going on within Skye. Authority-figure guys like Nathan had never been her thing. So what was it about this particular man that got to her?
That’s why she needed to figure him out. Not because she thought they had a future together. So she could get over whatever this was she had for him.
Opposites might attract, but they’d drive each other crazy over time. Nathan was a do-gooder who deserved someone equally respectable.
“Why this sudden interest in Nathan?” Sister Mary asked.
“I’m trying to figure him out,” Skye admitted.
“Difficult to do with any man, but even more so with someone as reserved as Nathan. I think you’d be good for him.”
Skye blinked at the nun with stunned disbelief. “Why do you think that?”
“You’d draw him out of his shell. Give him hope and enthusiasm for the future.”
“I’d drive him crazy,” Skye retorted. “I do drive him crazy.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly what?”
“You get to him. Everyone has seen it. Right from that very first day.”
“And why is that a good thing?”
“Because you shake up his world. He’s spent the five years since his wife’s death refusing to put himself out there again.”
“I can’t really blame him for that.”
“I’m not saying I blame him. I’m saying that it’s as if he put himself in that coffin with his wife. He ended his life when she lost hers.”
Skye rubbed away the sudden, stinging tears that Sister Mary’s words evoked.
The nun patted her shoulder reassuringly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, it’s just . . .”
“Yeah, it is.” Sister Mary understood Skye’s unspoken sentiment.
Feeling like an idiot, Skye took a deep breath. “Thanks for telling me what you know.”
“No problem. And, Skye, there’s one more thing I know.”
“What’s that?”
“That Nathan would be good for you, too. He’d be your anchor and you’d be his kite. He’d keep you grounded and you’d give him hope to fly again.”
“What makes you think I want to be grounded?”
Sister Mary just gave her a look.
“If I wanted to get grounded, I could do it on my own,” Skye said defensively. “I don’t want to be tied up like that.”
“The town bad girl talking to a nun about being tied up.” Sue Ellen shook her head as she joined them. “I never thought I’d hear such a thing. What are you two doing back here?”
“I’m buying that couch.” Skye pointed to it.
Sue Ellen stared at it in horror. “You aren’t!”
“I am.”
“That couch is the Charlie Brown Christmas tree of couches.”
“Yeah, it is,” Skye cheerfully agreed. “And we’re going to make it look beautiful.”
“By burning it and putting it out of its misery?” Sue Ellen asked.
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Sister Mary said.
“Hey, I go to church every Sunday.” Sue Ellen was instantly on the defensive. “Not your church, but the Baptist one.”
Sister Mary grinned. “I’m happy to hear that, but it’s not what I meant. I was referring to the couch makeover.”
“I like those makeover decorating shows on HGTV. Home and Garden TV,” she clarified for the nun’s benefit.
“Me, too.”
Sue Ellen was stunned. “You watch HGTV?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think nuns did that.”
“There’s a lot you probably don’t know about nuns.
Like the fact that there are more nuns over seventy than there are under thirty.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Skye said. “I wouldn’t make a good nun.”
“I would,” Sue Ellen declared. “If I wasn’t a Baptist and didn’t look pale when not wearing jewel-tone colors. But should you ever want to buy a double-wide trailer, sister, then I’m your girl.”
Sister Mary said dryly, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
As Skye led Toni out of the thrift shop, she wondered if she’d ever be able to keep Nathan out of her mind. The odds weren’t looking real good at the moment.
Nathan sat in the squad car, filling out a status report on the noise complaint he’d just responded to. Usually, the Regency Trailer Park was a fairly quiet place, aside from Mrs. Trimble’s 911-dialing parrot, but today the parrot had added something new to its repertoire. It had started shrieking obscenities through Mrs. Trimble’s open window, causing her neighbors to complain.
“Wilson started watching cable TV without my realizing it,” Mrs. Trimble tearfully explained. “He knows how to use the remote control.”
“When he starts to rant, you might want to keep your windows closed,” Nathan suggested.
“I’ll do that. Thank you so much, Sheriff. Uhm, while you’re here, I wanted to ask you about that woman who took Owen’s money.”
“What woman?” Nathan asked, though he was almost certain he knew who Mrs. Trimble was talking about.
“The one with the strange name. Skye, is it? An innocent-sounding name for someone who causes so much trouble.”
“Do you know her?”
“I’ve never spoken to her, but I’ve seen her around town. Flaunting her body the way she does. Poor Owen didn’t stand a chance.”
Nathan knew the feeling. His own chances of being unaffected by Skye had long since evaporated.
“You keep an eye on her, Sheriff. She’s up to no good, I just know it. Rock Creek would be better off without her sort.”
Nathan left Mrs. Trimble’s trailer, her words still ringing in his head. Keep an eye on her. He’d done more than that. He’d kept his hands on her, every inch of her. And he was aching to do it again.
Angry with himself over his temporary lapse in allowing Skye back into his thoughts, Nathan focused his attention on checking out the neighborhood as he drove back to the station. When he saw a group of kids hanging around a storage shed when they should have been in school, he stopped. Most of the kids took off, but he recognized them and would be speaking to their parents later. For now, he focused on the one he’d caught. Jay.
Nathan fixed him with the steely stare he’d perfected as a Marine. “Why aren’t you in school?”
“School sucks.”
“Does your mom know you’re not in school?”
“She don’t care. She don’t care about nothing but—” Jay’s mouth clamped shut.
Nathan knew his mom. She had a drinking problem and he’d been called in to break up a domestic dispute with her and a live-in boyfriend a couple of times. Nathan had gotten Jay involved with the Big Brother folks, and had thought that was working out.
He’d made a point of intervening with kids like Jay, taking them on field trips to the juvenile detention facilities to warn them away from the mistakes that others had made, before they did something they might regret the rest of their lives.
Nathan came from a family of do-gooders. It was something of a joke in the Thornton family. But also a matter of some pride.
So he sat there with Jay and listened to him. Sometimes, that’s all it took to make a difference.
As Skye approached the Tivoli Theater, holding Toni by the hand, she noticed a biker parked out front. He wore jeans and a black leather vest with
no shirt underneath, and he had more tattoos than Lulu. His head was covered with a bandanna and his white beard was shaggy. He hopped off his Harley and greeted her.
“You must be Skye. I’m Lulu’s grandfather, Jerry. I just got back into town from South Dakota. Lulu tells me you could use my help.”
“That’s right. I bought the theater, and it needs renovating before I can reopen it. I heard you were an electrician.”
Jerry nodded. “For twenty years. Want me to look things over for you?”
“That would be great.”
“I can do it now if you’ve got the time.”
“I’ve totally got the time.” She led him inside the theater. “A lot of the main switches are in the office.” Skye hadn’t spent much time in there since she and Nathan had gotten intimate—not returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. Not that sex between two consenting adults was a crime by any stretch of the imagination. At least, not in her book.
Nathan was working with an entirely different set of guidelines. He’d been married to a woman who was everything to him. Skye had never had that in her life. Never been married. Never found the one man who was everything to her.
In the past, she’d liked her guys dramatic—artistic and edgy. Like Toni’s father, a musician and all-around player in search of heavy-metal glory. He’d certainly taken off fast enough after hearing the news that Skye was pregnant.
Given her history, it surprised Skye that she’d felt such intense chemistry with Nathan. And that chemistry hadn’t diminished any because they’d had sex. If anything, it had increased.
And it also wasn’t like her to avoid a place just because it reminded her of a man.
“What about the main fuse box or circuit breakers?” Jerry’s question interrupted Skye’s thoughts. She didn’t usually indulge in thinking about past mistakes.
“I don’t have a clue where those are,” Skye admitted. “Tyler might know if he’s around.”
“That’s okay. I’ll find what I need.”
She showed Jerry into the auditorium, where his attention became focused on the organ in the corner. “Oh, man, a Wurlitzer organ with four hundred and fifty pipes.” He reverently ran his fingers over the keys before wincing at the sound. “I’d be glad to tune this for you.”