by Linda Wisdom
“So Mrs. Stone thinks she needs to watch over the morals of the townspeople?” Keely asked, fascinated with the gossip that probably traveled through the small town as fast as the speed of light
“Her husband was a minister. Dad said he probably died just to get away from her nagging.”
Keely choked on her drink and hastily put down her glass. She shook her head and stood up. “And on that note, I do believe I will return to setting up my office,” she announced.
Just at that moment the doorbell chimed.
Lisa ran over to the front window and peeked out. “Mike’s Porsche is parked out front. He’ll be doing his welcome to the community speech.”
“You girls finish eating. I’ll take care of the welcoming committee.” Keely shook her head as she walked to the front door. “What I wouldn’t give for a few hours of peace and meditation.”
The door chimes echoed through the house again.
“Damn,” Keely muttered. “So much for peace and meditation.”
Chapter 2
Keely quickly noticed Mike Palmer turned out to be everything Lisa had said. And more.
She opened the door to find a man lounging on the doorstep. She assumed he was dressing the part of the renegade reporter in jeans and a tweed wool blazer topping a cotton shirt with the collar left open. His designer sunglasses were ostentatiously tucked into the front pocket of his jacket. She privately decided he felt the demeanor went with the snazzy black Porsche parked in full view behind him. She just bet he spent his weekend mornings patiently hand-waxing the shiny exterior.
“Keely Harper?” He flashed a lady killing smile. “I’m Mike Palmer.” He held out his hand. “I’m with the Echo Ridge Pilot. I wanted to welcome you to the community and see if I could do a quick interview for our paper.”
Keely had never liked a man with smooth hands. It told her he didn’t deign to get his hands dirty. Mike’s hands were not only smooth, but a bit soft, and the nails professionally manicured. What irritated her even more was the way he looked her up and down in that thoroughly masculine way. For the first time, she didn’t mind a good-looking man catching her in her rattiest jeans, a T-shirt that hung loosely down to her hips and her hair pulled back in an untidy ponytail.
“Is that all right with you?” he asked when she didn’t answer him right away.
“Why would you want to do a story on me?” she returned.
He looked confused by her blunt question but quickly recovered. “Why not?” He flashed his killer smile again. “Not too many women want to return to a small town when they’ve had a taste of the big city. And I would think someone who looks like you would prefer the nightlife instead of wildlife.”
“You moved out here.” She knew she was rude by not inviting him in, but she sensed if she had invited him in, he’d be next to impossible to usher out.
He shook his head. “I’ve been here only for the past six years. I wanted a change of pace from big-city reporting, and the freedom of working on this paper means I have more time to work on my book. So, how about it? Any chance in my getting to know all about you?” He lowered his voice to an intimate murmur.
“I think if you wanted to know all about me, you’d be better off talking to my daughter,” Keely said pleasantly. “Steffie’s the one who knows all my secrets. Steffie!” She raised her voice. “How do you feel about being interviewed for the local paper?”
Steffie, with Lisa right behind her, appeared behind Keely.
“Newspaper?” she asked with wide-eyed innocence. “Really?”
Keely wasn’t fooled by her daughter’s look of naiveté. She had to give the girl credit for putting on such a good act.
Mike looked disgruntled but quickly recovered. “Sure, maybe the kid can tell me a few of your innermost secrets.” He chuckled.
Keely swallowed her laughter. There was nothing Steffie hated more than being called a kid. She was positive the girl would do her best to put on a good show.
“Perhaps she’ll find out a few of yours,” she countered.
He stopped just before he stepped over the threshold. “You’re not the cream puff I thought you were,” he said with a trace of admiration. “How about dinner some night?”
She wondered if he’d accept her rejection if she explained she could be starving and she wouldn’t go out with him. “Let me get back to you.”
He nodded, as if there was no doubt she’d call him with a suggestion they take off for the weekend. He glanced down at his watch.
“Wow, I had no idea it was so late,” he said with studied surprise. “I’m sorry, but I guess I’ll have to talk to your daughter another day.”
“Fine with me,” Steffie piped up.
He managed a smile and nodded. “I’ll call you.” He flashed his polished smile at Keely and ambled back down the steps to his waiting Porsche.
“Egocentric jerk,” Keely muttered, carefully closing the door after him even though she really longed to slam it.
“What a putz!” Steffie said, storming into the room with an astonished Lisa on her heels. “Sheesh, Mom, the guy acted as if he expected you to jump his bones any second.” She rolled her eyes with typical teen disdain along with the ick factor of the idea of her mother having sex.
“If he’s hoping to get lucky he better not hold his breath.” Keely managed a wan smile at Lisa. “You poor thing, you probably didn’t expect all this.”
“Are you kidding? I got to see Mike Palmer put in his place,” Lisa enthused, eyes shining. “Dad said he’d get his one day and I’m just glad I got to see it”
“With someone like him it’s not usually over so easily,” Keely said.
“But you basically told him ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” Steffie argued.
“Which means he thinks I was playing hard to get and he’ll be back for more.”
Lisa looked at Keely with open admiration. “How do you know that?”
“I asked her that once and she told me it came with the years,” Steffie pronounced.
Keely looked properly affronted at that. “I am not over the hill just yet.”
Steffie jumped up. “Come on, let’s dig through my makeup collection. I went to school with a couple girls whose moms were on the soaps. They always shared the makeup they got from the makeup artists. I’ve got tons of stuff,” she bragged.
Keely thought of the boxes Steffie had packed so carefully. “Tons is a good word for what you brought with you,” she murmured, not even wanting to think what the girls would end up looking like.
Sam’s favorite time of day was the evenings when he sat on the back deck with a beer and cigarette, although he was cutting down on the latter. He enjoyed this time because he could reflect on problems that had cropped up during the day and sometimes even solve them. This evening was no different. Except the problem he mulled over didn’t come from the station, but lived right up the road and had the kind of smile that warmed a man’s insides.
“You shouldn’t be sitting out here by yourself,” Lisa scolded, walking outside and settling in the chair next to him. She wrinkled her nose at his bottle of beer and cigarette. “Not healthy, Dad.”
“Yeah, but neither is chocolate and I remember you scarfing that stuff down only five minutes ago.”
She haughtily ignored his teasing statement and looked off in the distance where she could see what he did— pinpoint lights twinkling from Keely and Steffie’s house.
“Keely is really nice, isn’t she?”
Sam’s internal radar sounded a warning at his daughter’s all-too-casual question. “She seems to be.”
“Steffie says even with her heavy work schedule Keely always made sure to get to anything going on at Steffie’s school. And she goes in-line skating with her.” Lisa’s enthusiasm grew with each word. “Isn’t that neat? I don’t know any moms who would do that.”
“In line?”
“Rollerblades.”
Sam shuddered at the thought of rolling on skates not t
hat much more reliable in his eyes than ice skates. Lisa had been asking for a pair and he had been able to put her off so far. He feared if her new friend had a pair, it wouldn’t be so easy to deny her from now on.
“Daddy.” A small hand wiggled its way into his.
He set his beer bottle on the ground and transferred his cigarette to the other hand so he could keep her hand in his. “The last time you called me that you wanted me to allow you to go to the movies with Richard Lamb. You’re not going to ask if you can bleach your hair blonde or something equally disgusting, are you?”
“No.” She prudently remained quiet a few moments. “I just thought we could have them over for dinner some night. I mean, they’re new in town and everything.”
“Honey, I don’t think we have to worry about their
being alone for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. Harper’s social schedule was be filled in no time,” he said with a wry twist of the lips.
“Not if she tells all the creeps off the way she told Mike Palmer.” She giggled, and then proceeded to tell her dad about the aborted interview.
Sam had to chuckle at that. “It just goes to show there are some women who can’t be charmed by a snake.”
As he sat in the darkness with his daughter curled up beside him, Sam thought about the years that loomed ahead of him. He knew Lisa was growing up so fast. Before he knew it, he would be spending these evenings alone while wondering what boy was daring to debauch his daughter and plotting what he’d do with the kid Along with those thoughts were more than a few about the lady living up the road. If he was even half as cocky as Mike, he’d be on the phone asking her out for dinner. Except Sam never liked rejection and if he wanted to be honest, he doubted he was even close to the type of man Keely Harper liked. After all, what woman wanted a small-town sheriff who wasn’t into bright lights and parties?
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you in for your first day?” Keely asked Steffie over breakfast
The girl shot her mother her patented “Get real, Mom” look.
“Lisa said her dad will take us today although she usually takes the bus,” she explained a little too patiently. “It will look more normal that way. I won’t look like the new kid in school.”
“You’re right it’s entirely normal for a child to arrive in a sheriffs car.” Keely poured herself a cup of coffee. She decided not having to get up at four in the morning was a definite plus. “And whether you like it or not you are the new kid.”
“Not if I don’t act like one. Which means I can’t have my mother driving me to school my first day.” Steffie displayed composure Keely was certain the girl had been born with. “What about you? You’re not going to turn into one of those moms who cleans the house until it’s sterile and bakes cookies, arc you?”
“Someone must have crept into the house years ago and stolen my real daughter, replacing her with a perky little robot. Surely by now, you know that will never be me.”
“Little? I’ll have you know I’m almost an A cup!” Steffie thrust out her chest. She glanced at the clock and yelped. “I’ve got to get my stuff together before Lisa and her dad show up!”
Keely chuckled as she settled back in her chair and sipped her coffee.
“So, what are you going to do today?” Steffie shouted from her room.
“I thought I’d invite Mel Gibson over for a quickie.”
“Ha! If you had Mel Gibson over you’d make sure he’d never leave the house and that I could never get back in!” Steffie bounced back into the kitchen, carrying a knapsack that held notebooks. “There they are.” She ran for the front door at the same time she heard the sound of a horn. “See ya later.”
Keely followed at a slower pace. She doubted she looked all that attractive with her hair barely combed and no makeup, but she could see the two girls were rapidly turning into good friends and figured Lisa’s father might as well see her at her worst. Hopefully, he wouldn’t run off screaming.
By the time she reached the outside, Steffie had already climbed into the back seat with Lisa.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Keely asked, greeting Sam with a broad smile.
His grin split his craggy features and almost softened them. “Two is usually easier than one. Plus, they can’t get into any trouble back there.”
“I like the way you have the screen dividing the front seat from the back,” she commented, then turned on her mother persona. “I think I’ll see if they can do that with my Blazer. It could come in handy sometime. Steffie said the bus would bring her home.”
He nodded. “It drops them off around three forty-five. Although either I or one of my deputies pick Lisa up when the weather’s bad. I can do the same for Steffie if you’d like.”
“That’s very nice of you, but—”
“No, it’s just my way of keeping them safe,” he interrupted what he knew to be a protest. “And none of my men mind helping out. We’re a small town and we all do what we can for each other.”
“Since I work at home I’m more than willing to share carpool duties,” she offered.
He nodded and grinned. “Sure, if you want to be that brave.” With a wave he started off.
Keely winced as she heard her daughter’s voice through the open window as the truck rolled down the driveway.
“I can’t believe Mom had the nerve to come out here without any makeup on! Believe me she usually doesn’t look so bad.”
“She used to be such a sweet baby,” she complained, going back into the house.
When Keely later drove into town to pick up her mail, she found a hand-printed envelope in her mailbox. Once she was seated in the Blazer, she used her thumbnail to slit the envelope open.
Keely,
You ruined too many lives to be allowed to go un
punished. The time is coming when you will understand just what you will have to do to atone for such terrible sins.
“Welcome to small-town America,” she said to herself, tossing it to one side. For a moment, she wondered how the writer had gotten her post office box number, not to mention what the letter even meant Right now, she wouldn’t put it past Jay to send her the letter as a sick joke.
Keely put the letter out of her mind as she returned home and performed chores around the house before retiring to her office after lunch. Except, as she sat before her computer, the words from the letter haunted her. When she realized there wasn’t any way she could design a cheery logo for a baby clothing store, she turned off the computer and went into her bedroom. It didn’t take her long to change into an old pair of jeans and T-shirt. Perhaps poking around the house would keep her mind off the letter.
“Mom, where are you?”
Keely looked out of her bedroom. “What are you doing home so early?” she asked, glancing at the clock. “It’s only one-thirty.”
“Isn’t it great? They only have a half day every other Thursday,” Steffie explained, pulling off her backpack and setting it down. “What are you up to?”
“How was school?”
She shrugged. “Not too bad. Pretty much like my old school, except most of the kids with a driver’s license don’t have a BMW. Pickup trucks and are the vehicle of choice around here.”
“Thank heavens for small favors,” Keely said under her breath. “I thought I’d go over to the house and make a list of what needed to be done, so I know what I need to hire someone to do and what I can do myself.”
Steffie’s eyes lit up. “Can I come along?”
“Sure. An extra pair of hands is always useful. You better change into something you don’t mind getting dirty.”
Steffie changed her clothes in record time and they were off.
Keely felt the first stirring of something foreboding as Steffie read the directions to the house and Keely began driving. She could feel her palms grow moist and slide along the perimeter of the steering wheel, although the air in the truck was comfortably cool. A tiny knot began twisting its way t
hrough the lowest part of her stomach and she felt as if her lunch had turned into a large disagreeable ball.
“Turn left here,” Steffie instructed, unaware of her mother’s distress.
Keely’s hands slipped on the steering wheel as she turned it She quickly wiped one palm then the other on her legs as she drove slowly down the side road. Towering trees hid the house from view but something in the back of her mind told her that there was a time the trees weren’t that high. She stopped the Blazer in front of the two-story house and just stared at the building.
The wood exterior was appropriately faded and weathered and the stone along the sides made to look as if the house had been built around old boulders. A bay window dominated the front while upstairs several windows were bare of any covering. There was a hexagon-shaped window at one end. There was nothing threatening about the house, so why did Keely feel so uncomfortable the longer she stared at it?
“Wow, this looks really nice.” Steffie pushed open her door and jumped out “Do you have the key?” She jogged up the steps and cupped her hands around her face as she peered in the bay window. “No furniture.”
“The house was always rented out unfurnished,” Keely said in a low voice. Her pace was much slower as she climbed the five steps. Why did the house bother her so much? She reached inside her jeans pocket and pulled out a key. She could have sworn it suddenly turned white-hot in her hand.
She cleared her throat “Let’s take a look, shall we?” She inserted the key in the lock and slowly turned it to one side.
Steffie stood close to her side, eager to go inside and explore.
Keely pushed the door open. There was no creak as it effortlessly swung back to one side. The interior was dark and she blinked to adjust her eyesight.
Steffie had already gone inside and searched for a light switch. “No electricity,” she announced, flipping the switch up and down.
“I guess I’ll have to arrange to have it turned on,” Keely said in a faint voice. She couldn’t step inside! Her legs seemed to refuse to move. She finally ordered one foot to move forward and it did. As she stepped into the entryway, she happened to look at the stairs before her. Without any thought, her gaze lifted to the top of the stairs and the railing that looked down. She swayed slightly. A roaring sound filled her head and brightly colored spots danced in front of her eyes. She felt as if she were listening to far away screams. Screams and cries and other loud noises rang in her ears, deafening her to anything else. She dropped to her knees, slapping her hands over her ears to drown out the sounds, but they refused to stop.