by Marta Perry
Thanksgiving flooded her soul. Thank You, Lord.
Jay had hit a crossroads in his life, and he’d turned in the right direction.
“I’m glad we got here in time to see the noon formation.”
Ken said the words that were appropriate to the occasion, but Juli wasn’t sure he meant them. His eyes were hidden behind his dark sunglasses, but the tautness to his jaw said that the Air Force Academy was the last place on earth he wanted to be right now.
“It’s certainly impressive,” Juli murmured, watching the uniformed cadets marching in unison along the paved rectangles of the Academy grounds. Her heart seemed to swell as the flag went by.
Still, she didn’t particularly want to be here either. Hadn’t she decided that further contact with Ken would lead straight to heartache? But when he’d offered to bring Jay on a tour, he and Jay had clearly thought that included her. She hadn’t had the heart to say no.
Be honest with yourself, her inner voice declared. No matter what the eventual cost, you plan to enjoy this day to the fullest.
The last group went by. Jay watched until they were out of sight, and then turned to Ken, his eyes shining. “That was awesome.”
“Well, you might lose a little of the thrill when you’ve done it a few hundred times. This way—let’s walk over to the chapel. Juli will like to see that. Unless you’ve done the tour before?” He looked at her, making it a question.
“No, I never have.” She’d felt a little strange when Ken had driven through the North Gate, as if someone would stop and ask them what right they had to be here.
He gave her a look of mock horror. “You’ve lived in Colorado Springs most of your life and you’ve never seen the local sights?”
“You know how it is. Tourists come from around the world to see this, and locals never even think to take the tour.” She shrugged. “I guess it is funny. I mean, The Springs is such a military town.”
“Yes. It’s impossible to get away from the signs of that.”
His voice had that tense note again, and she didn’t know what to say. Ken’s whole being was tied up in his career. If he couldn’t have that, how could he stand to face the daily reminders?
Jay had hurried on ahead of them, impatient with their slow pace.
“Do you think he was telling us the truth?” Ken’s gaze was on Jay, his voice low.
“I think so. I hope so.” She frowned, trying to get her mind around that difficult conversation they’d had with Jay once they’d gotten safely away from the pool hall. “I believe he didn’t participate in any vandalism, that’s for sure. But did he let anything drop that might have given Crale ideas…well, that’s harder to say.”
“He did know about the connotation that particular symbol had for you.”
She nodded, disliking the thought that people had been talking about her. “I guess it’s natural enough that people at the pueblo still talked about my mother’s death. The Zuni are great storytellers.”
“It’s hard to be the subject of that sort of story, though.”
Ken did understand her feelings.
“The thing I don’t get is why.” They’d been over it and over it, and she still didn’t understand. “Even if we assume Crale had something to do with the vandalism, what was the point? And why fiddle with the computer that way? He can’t have had any idea of what the effect of tampering with the financial reports would be.”
“It doesn’t seem likely. But we can’t ignore the fact that someone could have paid him to do it.”
“But who? And why?”
He shrugged. “A vendetta against Montgomery Construction? I know it seems unlikely, but so do all the other nasty things that have been happening.”
“No one could hope to harm the construction company by tampering with the brakes on your car.” She still got a chill at how close they’d come that night.
“A vendetta against Montgomerys and Vances then.” His mouth twisted. “If I heard anyone else say that, I’d think he was suffering from paranoia.”
“You know how the saying goes. ‘It’s not paranoia if someone really is out to get you.’”
“Well, the situation is in the capable hands of my police detective cousin now. We’ll have to trust him to put it all together.”
“I hope he can.” Still, what did Sam Vance have to go on? A lot of random, ugly incidents that didn’t seem to lead anywhere.
Ken paused, pointing ahead. “That’s the chapel. You’ve probably seen it on postcards, at least.”
“I’m happy to say I have, but the postcards don’t give you any idea of the scale.”
The building shone silver in the sunlight, shaped like a row of fighter jets, their noses pointed toward the sky. Her heart winced. Was that yet another reminder for Ken?
While she stood staring at it, Jay had stopped at a fighter plane, mounted in the grass at the edge of the walkway. Ken went to join him, and she could hear him answering the boy’s eager questions. Jay wouldn’t catch the strain in Ken’s voice, but she did.
She went toward them. “I thought we were going to see the chapel.”
Ken nodded, turning his back on the plane too quickly. Maybe that was why he had wanted her here today—to serve as a buffer against the pain of Jay’s enthusiasm.
“Look!” Jay’s voice brimmed with excitement as he pointed up.
Her breath caught. A group of gliders soared over them silently, crystal clear against the blue sky. With their slender wings and long noses, they looked like a flight of prehistoric birds.
“It’s the aerobatic team,” Ken said. “Practicing maneuvers.”
“Were you in that?” Jay’s voice was filled with awe.
“I was.”
She heard the pain in his voice, and her heart hurt for him.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, as Jay wandered away, head tilted back to watch the gliders.
“For what?” His tone was brittle.
“It’s hard for you to be here. But it was such a good thing to do for Jay.” She looked into her heart and found a sliver of what might be jealousy. “You’ve done so much more for that boy than I ever could.”
He shrugged. “Just because he’s flying-mad. You and Angel would outscore me with any kid who wasn’t.”
“I don’t think that’s all it is.” She couldn’t explain to him what she felt, and wouldn’t if she could. But she and Jay both understood.
There was a difference between being born Julianna Red Feather, with a disappearing father who hadn’t even bothered to give her his name, and being born Kenneth Vance, with all that name meant in Colorado Springs.
Ken didn’t see, and that fact was a credit to him. But she did. She’d best hold on to that difference, and not let herself get caught up in memories of Ken holding her. Of Ken kissing her. Because that wasn’t going to lead anywhere at all.
ELEVEN
“I think it needs to boil just a tad longer.” Holly bent over the glass of water on the counter, staring intently at the tiny glob of chocolate she’d just dropped in.
“You’re the fudge expert, not I.” Juli glanced at her friend. Holly had shown up unexpectedly at her door a few evenings after that trip to the Air Force Academy, declaring that her husband was working late, that she was totally bored with the restrictions on her activities and that she needed distraction.
Holly grinned. “I haven’t made fudge since I was about thirteen. Mom and I went through a run of making candy together. That was probably the only way she could get me to have a conversation with her at that age.”
“My grandmother was the cook at our house, but I don’t remember ever making fudge with her. Corn bread, lots of corn bread.” She finished buttering the platter she’d gotten out at Holly’s direction.
“There, perfect.” Holly lifted the saucepan from the burner and began spreading the thick, glossy chocolate on the platter. The aroma was so rich that even Angel, lying on her favorite spot on a braided rug in front of the sink, raise
d her head and sniffed.
“None for you,” Juli said. “Chocolate isn’t good for dogs.”
“That means we’ll have to eat it ourselves.” Holly swirled a design into the surface with a knife. “Seriously, didn’t you make fudge at all those pajama parties we had when we were in school?”
“No.” That came out too harshly. “I mean, I wasn’t invited to any pajama parties.” She remembered only too well hearing the popular girls, the girls like Holly, chatter about the parties to which she’d never been invited.
Holly paused, knife poised over the fudge. “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. I wish I’d made an effort to get to know you when we were both in school.”
“Stop, or I’ll start feeling sorry for myself.” She looked back at the person she’d once been. “Probably every teenage girl in the world sometimes feels she doesn’t belong. I was just so sure I wasn’t acceptable that I hid instead of trying to find a friend.”
Holly plopped a square of warm fudge onto a napkin and handed it to her. “There, try that and tell me it’s wonderful.”
She took a cautious bite. The aroma and taste seemed to explode in her mouth as the chocolate melted on her tongue. “Wonderful doesn’t do it justice.”
Angel sat up, whining a little, and she shook her head at the dog. “Chocolate is only for humans, Angel.”
Holly slid onto a chair, taking a huge mouthful of fudge. “Ah, that’s what I was craving,” she said thickly. “Seriously, though, Juli, I’m glad we’re friends now.” She wiggled the silver bracelet on her wrist. “Only a friend would have made my brother get me this gorgeous bracelet.”
“I didn’t make him. It was entirely his idea.”
Holly’s eyebrows lifted. “He wouldn’t have thought of it if the bracelets hadn’t been put under his nose. Believe me, I know my twin. So, what do you think of Ken now that you’ve gotten to know him as an adult?” The question was so carelessly put that Juli wondered if that was the real reason Holly had come.
“I’m happy to have him for a friend,” she said firmly. He wouldn’t have told Holly about the moments when she’d cried in his arms, would he? No, of course he wouldn’t.
Angel, as if sensing her troubled thoughts, clicked across the floor to her, putting her muzzle on Juli’s knee. She rubbed Angel’s ears gently.
“Well, since we’re all friends now, why haven’t you responded yet to the invitation to Michael and Layla’s engagement party?”
She could hardly say she’d looked at the invitation everyday, wondering why she’d been invited and what she should do about it. Or that the thought of a horde of Vances and Montgomerys en masse gave her hives.
“Sorry. I guess I should have called you by now with an answer.”
“You should.” Holly smiled. “And since I’m here, you can tell me that you’re coming. Mom and I have to go out to Cripple Creek early to set things up, but Ken will be happy to drive you.”
She didn’t think she responded in any visible way to that suggestion, but Angel pulled away, looked at her reproachfully and padded to the door.
“I have to let Angel out,” she said quickly, and went to open the back door.
She stood for a moment, holding the door open, letting the cool evening air into the warm kitchen. If Holly was still trying to play matchmaker for her and Ken—
A volley of furious barking from the backyard interrupted her thoughts. Holly’s chair scraped as she stood.
“What is it? What’s Angel barking at?”
“I don’t know. Could be another dog.” But a frisson of fear went down her spine. That didn’t sound like Angel’s greeting to another animal.
She threw the switch to the back porch light. Nothing happened. The backyard remained shrouded in darkness.
She grabbed the flashlight from its hook by the door. “Stay here.” She pulled the door open and ran out, fumbling with the switch of the flashlight.
She smacked her shin on something on the back porch. There should have been nothing there—she didn’t leave things on the narrow porch. Skipping the two steps, she jumped to the ground, finally finding the flashlight switch.
The strong beam of the light cut through the darkness. She swung it around the small yard. Nothing. Where was Angel?
Another furious volley of barking answered her. It came from the side of the house that bordered the alley. Just as she turned, Angel’s barking cut off with a yelp of pain.
Heart pounding, she raced toward the side yard. Please, Lord, please, Lord.
She rounded the house full tilt, the beam of the flashlight bouncing crazily. From the corner of her eye she caught the movement of a dark-clad figure disappearing over the fence.
Then her light hit Angel, and the breath went out of her. Angel lay on her side, motionless, and blood formed a pool around her head.
Ken charged in the door of the veterinary hospital, stomach twisted in the knots that had taken up permanent residence since Holly called him. He wasn’t sure who he was worried about most—Holly, or Juli, or Angel.
Then he got into the waiting room and he knew. Juli. Juli was the one who needed him now. Holly had gone home wrapped in her husband’s strong arms, and Angel was in the capable hands of the vet. But Juli—Juli was alone.
She sat in one of the straight wooden chairs that were arranged along the wall, hands clasped in her lap, lips moving silently. Praying for Angel.
He crossed to her in a few quick strides and sat next to her, folding his hands over hers. Hers were so cold it startled him.
“Juli.”
She looked up at him, her eyes piteously pleading, like a hurt child’s. “I was praying.”
“I know. I’ve been praying since I heard.” He wrapped his hands more securely around hers, trying to warm her. “Everyone has. Have you heard anything about her condition?”
Her throat moved with the effort of swallowing. “Not yet. She’s in surgery. That’s all I know.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She nodded, taking a deep breath as if to steady herself. “Holly. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. I got hold of Jake and he took her home. She wouldn’t go until I promised I’d stay with you. Not that I wouldn’t have, in any event.”
“What—” She paused, moistened her lips, and seemed to make an effort to speak naturally. “Did the police catch him?”
“No. They found—” Now he was the one who had to force himself to speak naturally over the rage that clogged his throat. “They found a pile of oily rags and trash on your back porch, and a can of kerosene nearby. His intent was pretty clear. If Angel hadn’t heard him, he’d have torched the house.”
He didn’t want to think about how quickly that old wooden structure would have gone up. Fury burned along his nerves. Holly and Juli had been in the kitchen. Would they have gotten out?
“She saved our lives.” Juli seemed to have no doubts. “Maybe at the cost of her own.” Her voice broke, and tears dripped down onto their clasped hands.
He’d never seen strong, capable Juli so vulnerable. He longed to take her in his arms, but if he did—If he did, he’d be saying they had a relationship closer than friendship, and he didn’t think either of them was ready for that.
“You got her here quickly. Layla says Doc Stewart is the best veterinary surgeon in town, and she should know.”
His brother’s veterinarian fiancé had wanted to make the drive from Cripple Creek the instant she heard, but she’d realized that immediate care was crucial.
Juli nodded, her hands clasping his. They seemed a little warmer, and he was grateful for that small sign. “He volunteers with the search-and-rescue team. He’s the best, but Angel looked so bad.”
“She’s in good hands,” he said firmly. “Don’t think about anything else.” He tried to think of something, anything, that would distract her, keep her from sinking into despair. “Quinn wanted me to tell you he’ll clean everything up at the house as soon as the police let him. And he�
�s posting a guard there at night.”
“He doesn’t have to do that. It’s not his responsibility.”
“It’s our responsibility. You wouldn’t have been targeted if not for your relationship with us.”
“You don’t know that. It could have been—” She stopped, frowning.
“What? Who?”
“I was thinking of that clash with Theo Crale. It seems far-fetched, but—”
“It’s not far-fetched at all. I told Sam about it, and he’s going to question the creep. But after the fires last month, it seems more likely to be connected to the Vances and Montgomerys, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose.” She didn’t sound completely convinced, but at least she was thinking about something other than Angel’s chance of survival.
The door to the exam rooms swung open, and Juli shot to her feet. He got up, too, putting his arm around her waist. If the news was bad he didn’t know how he’d comfort her.
But Dr. Stewart managed a tired smile. “I think she’s going to be okay, Juli. The surgery was touch and go, but she hung in there. She’s a fighter.”
Juli sagged against him. “Are you sure?”
“Sure as I can be. We’ll watch her closely, but I expect a full recovery.” He ran a hand through thinning hair. “If I could get my hands on the person who did this—”
“You’ll have to get in line, Doc.” He tightened his grip on Juli, not liking the ashy hue of her face. “Juli, she’s going to be all right. Hang on to that.”
She nodded. “Can I see her?”
“Just for a second.” The vet stepped back, holding the door wide. “You can both take a brief look, and then your friend had better take you home. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
Arm still around Juli, Ken walked with her into the operating room. A technician, who was cleaning up, smiled at them and then tactfully withdrew.
Angel lay motionless, swathed in bandages. Juli reached out a careful hand and stroked her foreleg.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Her voice choked. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Come on.” Ken tightened his grasp, half-afraid she was going to keel over. “I’m sure they have things to do.”