Dead Silence (15 page)

“Daddy? Are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“Will you do it? For me?
Please?
”

Kennedy took a deep breath, then let the air seep
slowly between his lips. “Sure,” he said at last. “I’ll go over there.”

“Be really nice, okay? And when you ask her to go camping, tell her we’re going to make s’mores. She’ll like that.”

Kennedy wasn’t convinced Grace would even let him speak to her. “My going over there might not make any difference.”

“It will,” his son said, happy again, and disconnected.

Kennedy hung up the phone. He was sorry about what’d happened in high school. Terribly sorry. He felt he should apologize to Grace. But he was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to hear it.

W
hen she came to the door, Grace was wearing a white cotton blouse that contrasted nicely with her olive skin, a long red, orange and pink skirt with a bracelet around one narrow ankle and no shoes. Kennedy caught a glimpse of the shiny pink polish that covered her toenails, thought how delicate and feminine her feet looked, and wanted to continue to stare at the ground rather than face the scratches on her cheek from last night and the wary expression in her eyes. But he owed her an apology and, although it had taken Teddy to motivate him to deliver it, he was glad to finally be here.

“Hi.” He’d already loosened his tie. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, he stepped back so she wouldn’t feel threatened by him in any way.

She hovered by the door as if she might need to lock him out at a moment’s notice, so he doubted his attempt to convince her that she was safe had much effect.

“Hello,” she said, her voice far more uncertain than welcoming.

Kennedy attempted a charming grin and jerked his head toward the stand she’d erected in the front yard. “Looks like you’ve been busy. Got any more peaches?”

Her eyes focused briefly on the stand. “You’re here to buy peaches?” she asked skeptically.

“Not really,” he admitted.

She raked one hand through the layers of her hair, which fell loose around her shoulders. “You’ve come about last night.”

The tone of her voice seemed to add “at last.” But he still didn’t know what to think about the Bible he’d found. Or what to do with it. “No.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“It’s Teddy. He called me a few minutes ago.”

Her chest lifted as though she’d just drawn a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I would never purposely take my feelings about you and your friends out on a child.”

He winced. She hated him enough that not doing so required conscious effort?

Of course she did. But realizing it didn’t make an apology any easier.

“I wouldn’t have let him in if I’d known,” she added, clearly trying to reassure him that it was an innocent mistake. “Anyway, he’ll get over the disappointment. He and I barely know each other. In the future, just…just tell him whatever you think—that I’m not a good influence. And maybe for a week or two, I’ll hold off reopening Evonne’s stand. That way I won’t be so visible to him.”

Stepping closer, he put a hand on the door. To his surprise, she didn’t try to close it.

“Grace, I’m sorry.”

She inched backward in an obvious attempt to put more space between them. “For what? Teddy was no trouble.”

“I’m not talking about Teddy. He had my permis
sion to come over here. I figured he would’ve told you by now that he’s my son. Or someone else would. Anyway, I’m sorry for what I did—and didn’t do—in high school.”

“I don’t want to talk about high school,” she said. “What happened then, happened. You can celebrate the letters you received in football and basketball and baseball. You can line up your prom pictures and your report cards and smile proudly. But I…I was stupid and desperate and…” She let her words dwindle away. “I just want to forget those years.”

“Does that mean you won’t forgive me?” he asked.

Several lines creased her forehead as she stared past him. “Will you give back what you took last night?” she asked, focusing on him again.

What did he say now? If she was involved in the reverend’s death and he returned that Bible to her, he’d be aiding in the cover-up. If he took it to the police, he could be consigning her to who knew what kind of hell. Yet he couldn’t keep it. He didn’t want anything to do with it. If anyone ever found it, he’d have to explain where it came from.

Could he trust her? He couldn’t say, not without knowing her better. “Will you go camping with me and the boys this weekend?” he asked instead of responding.

Her eyes widened.
“What?”

“Teddy’s really counting on it.” Kennedy wanted her to go, too. But he doubted she’d believe him even if he admitted it.

“No, of course not,” she said. “I mean…unless…” She stopped, lowered her voice. “Are you offering me a trade?”

“For the Bible?” He hated to use it as leverage. He
generally didn’t have to bribe women. But he needed to understand Grace better in order to decide how to handle what he knew.

“Will you give it to me if I go with you this weekend?”

He could always bring it along and give it back to her there, where they had plenty of privacy—if, ultimately, that was the decision he made. But he couldn’t promise anything. “That’ll depend.”

“On what?”

“On how things go.”

Her lip curled in disgust. “God, you’re even more like Joe than I thought.”

“I’m nothing like Joe!” he snapped.

“Oh, yeah? Well, I can already tell you how things will ‘go.’ I won’t sleep with you, Kennedy. Not for
anything.
”

“I wasn’t implying—” He stretched his neck as the full impact of her words sank in. “Wow, you really know how to hurt a guy’s ego, you know that? Sleeping with me would be that distasteful to you?”

“I won’t leave myself vulnerable to you. I don’t care if you’re going to be the next president of the United States. Those days are over.”

“I wasn’t trying to—” He paused. “I’m not asking for anything physical. It’s just a camping trip, okay? It’ll last three days and two nights. The boys will be there. You’ll have your own tent.”

Her expression softened slightly. “So this really is for Teddy?”

“More or less.”

“You won’t touch me?”

He let his gaze linger on her face. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

“And you’ll give me the Bible?”

He’d consider it—for the price of an explanation. But he didn’t add that. “Maybe.”

Maybe was better than nothing. It could be her only chance to recover it. When she answered, he knew she recognized that. “Okay. I’ll go.”

“Good.” He walked away but turned back when he reached his SUV. “I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Should I bring some food or—”

“I’ll take care of everything,” he said and left.

Grace watched through the window as Kennedy Archer pulled out of her drive. A camping trip. He wanted her to go into the woods with him and his boys. But she wasn’t completely convinced it was wise to accompany him anywhere. She didn’t like the strange emotions he evoked—the simmering attraction of old, the searing disappointment and embarrassment for her actions in high school, the burning resentment, anger, even humiliation she still felt. But she was fairly confident he wouldn’t touch her if he said he wouldn’t. And she had to get hold of that Bible.

Besides, she felt terrible about how she’d treated Teddy. He was too young to understand the complexity of her feelings toward his father and had taken her reaction to the news that he was an Archer as a personal rejection.

Her cell phone rang. Turning away from the window, she rushed to answer, hoping it was George. He hadn’t called her since they’d spoken this morning.

“Any word on what went missing last night?” Clay asked.

Grace reeled in her disappointment. “Kennedy Archer has it.”

“He told you so?”

“Basically.”

There was a long silence. “Has he taken it to the police?”

“Not yet. I think he might give it back to me.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No.”

Grace heard Clay turn down the TV, which had been blaring in the background. “Why would he do that?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll be able to tell you more on Monday.”

“What’s happening this weekend?”

“I’m going camping with him.”

This information met with another prolonged silence, then her brother repeated, “You’re going camping with Kennedy Archer.”

“Crazy, I know.”

“What about George?”

Grace lowered the blind against the sweltering heat. “Mom tell you about him?”

“Molly did, too. They said you were hoping to marry him. You think I don’t know anything about your life?”

George had been acting so strange lately, she wasn’t sure they were still together.

“I think we’ve broken up,” she said.

“You’re not sure?”

“No. Anyway, camping with Kennedy isn’t a date.”

“What would you call it?”

“An…outing with the kids.”

“I can’t imagine Kennedy Archer taking you camping with his boys unless he’s interested in you.”

“His youngest has been hanging out over here. It’s Teddy who wants me to go.”

Clay gave a disbelieving chuckle. “Yeah, right. Call me as soon as you get back. I can’t wait to hear you eat your words.”

“Just don’t tell anyone where I’m going,” she said. “We don’t need to connect my name with Kennedy’s and start a big fuss. It’ll be easier to get that Bible back if he can continue on as he’s always been.”

“What are you going to say to Madeline, and Mom?”

“I’ll tell them I have to go to Jackson to see George.”

“Then that’s my story, too. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait.”

“What is it?”

“If Kennedy gives me the Bible and agrees to keep his mouth shut, don’t you think we should move the—” she cleared her throat “—item we talked about?”

“No.”

“But that way, even if it gets discovered, there’d be no evidentiary link to us.” She realized what she was saying and quickly amended it. “If we’re careful not to leave a link, that is.”

“We can’t be careful enough. It’s not possible. We don’t want to start digging around.”

“We’ll say you’re making a few improvements to the farm. No big deal.”

“Just get hold of the Bible, okay?”

Just
get hold of the Bible? “You’re sure about—”

“I’m positive.”

She swallowed a sigh. “Okay.”

A dial tone sounded in her ear. Frowning at the
handset, she considered calling George again but changed her mind. She refused to panic. There could be a thousand different reasons he hadn’t returned her call.

But, deep down, she didn’t believe any of them—except the one she feared most. He was giving up on her.

Fortunately, when Kennedy arrived at his mother’s house, Teddy didn’t press him for details about his visit to Grace’s. As soon as he walked in, Teddy mumbled, “Did you do it?” and Kennedy nodded. Then Camille turned from peeling potatoes at the sink and started talking about how she’d known from the beginning that Grace wouldn’t be nice to Teddy for very long. At that point, Kennedy and Teddy exchanged a knowing look and clammed up.

Although Kennedy refused to stay for dinner, it took him almost an hour to get his kids out of the house. First his mother needed help setting up a new printer. Then his father wanted to show him a biography on Jack Nicholson. By the time Kennedy drove away, the boys were starving and, despite his mother’s tacit disapproval, they’d left a hot meal. But Kennedy wanted to get ready for the camping trip.

As they turned onto Main Street, he announced that Grace had agreed to go with them.

The news immediately silenced both boys’ complaints about hunger pangs.

“Really?” Teddy said with eager anticipation.

“She said she’d go.” Kennedy grinned, feeling more boyish than he had in a long while.

“No way! How’d you talk her into it, Dad?”

He’d used a small bribe, but he didn’t give himself
away. He had a good reason for wanting to get to know Grace. He needed to decide if he still stood with his mother and everyone else where she was concerned. Or if he stood alone.

“So when are we leaving?” Heath asked.

Kennedy pulled into Rudy’s Big Burger. He wasn’t planning to cook tonight. They had too much to do. “First thing in the morning.”

“Yippee!” Teddy cried.

Kennedy looked at his oldest son. “What about you, Heath? You glad she’s coming?”

Heath hesitated. “Grandma won’t like it….”

Kennedy parked the SUV. “Do we have to tell Grandma about everything we do?”

“No.”

“Great. Then I say we keep this to ourselves.”

“Okay,” he said, that easily convinced, and climbed out.

Kennedy started to follow the boys toward the entrance, but Buzz pulled into the parking lot before he could reach the restaurant door.

His best friend rolled down his window. “Hey!”

Kennedy checked to make sure Teddy and Heath got safely into Rudy’s, then walked over to say hello. As he drew nearer, he could see that Joe was in the truck with Buzz and felt his enthusiasm dim. Kennedy didn’t like Joe nearly as much as he used to. Maybe that was because Joe seemed more egocentric by the day.

“You guys going to grab a burger?” Kennedy asked.

“No. Just saw your Explorer turn in and thought we’d say hello.”

“Come in and sit down with us.”

“We can’t. Sarah’s invited Joe to dinner.” Buzz winked. “She’s got her niece Melinda coming over.”

“More matchmaking?” Kennedy wasn’t sure how he’d been lucky enough to escape Sarah’s eye as a partner for her recently divorced niece, but he was grateful. Melinda was too young. And he was tired of everyone in town wanting to set him up with someone.

“She thinks I’m quite a catch.” Joe stretched his arm across the back of the seat.

“Buzz is too loyal to tell her the truth, huh?” Kennedy and Joe always teased each other, but today Kennedy was at least partially serious.

Joe flipped him off, but Kennedy merely laughed.

“You and the kids can join us for dinner, too,” Buzz said. “You know Sarah. She’ll have enough to feed an army.”

“Daddy!”

Kennedy turned as Teddy came out of the restaurant. After making sure there were no cars, Kennedy waved him over, then put his hands on his son’s shoulders and returned to the conversation. “Thanks for the invitation, but I think we’ll eat here.”

“Hey, Buzz, guess what?” Teddy said excitedly.

“What’s that, kid?”

“We’re going camping tomorrow.”

Cursing silently, Kennedy tightened his grip on Teddy’s shoulders, hoping to relay the message to shut up.

“You are?” Joe’s enthusiasm indicated his interest was immediately piqued. “Where?”

“Pickwick Lake,” Kennedy said, knowing Joe typically liked to go farther.