Dead Silence (23 page)

He blew out a sigh. “Because it could hurt me, too.”

“You’ve done something you shouldn’t have,” she said, a tinge of panic entering her voice.

“Some people would see it like that.”

“Kennedy, what’s going on?”

“Mom, I can’t—you’re just going to have to trust me on this.”

“
Trust
you?”

“Why not?” he replied, growing impatient. “How long do I have to prove myself? Have I ever let you down?”

She narrowed her eyes.

“In recent years?” he clarified.

She seemed to waver. “What do you suggest we do?”

“I think we befriend Grace.”

“What?”
she cried, coming out of her chair.

“If we back off, it’ll seem like an admission that we were doing something wrong in associating with her. Instead, we do the opposite, tout her innocence.”

“Your father will never agree to an association with the Montgomerys.”

“He will if you do.” Although his father hadn’t expressed any fears, Kennedy knew he was frightened of what lay ahead. He was relying on Camille to handle anything unrelated to his health and his job.

“You’re taking a big chance, Kennedy. You realize that, don’t you?” his mother said. “Maybe they haven’t found his body yet, but somebody killed Lee Barker. If you’re wrong about her and something unexpected turns up—”

The color suddenly drained from her face. “That’s not what you buried, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“Well?” she responded. “What am I to think?”

“You’re to trust me, remember? Anyway, I’ve already made the decision.” He held her gaze as he sat on the edge of the desk. “Are you with me?”

Several seconds ticked by. Finally, she nodded. “You’re my son,” she said. “Of course I’m with you.”

“It might get a little rough, but I think we can ride out the storm.”

“The Vincellis won’t win. After this—” she wadded up the flyer and threw it in the wastebasket “—I’m going to make damn sure of it.”

“We can take them,” Kennedy said, smiling at his mother’s spunk. But he was feeling far from confident. Aligning himself with Grace would alienate more people than just the Vincellis.

Camille hesitated at the door. “I hope you’re right. I don’t want to be sorry about this decision,” she said and left.

Grace was surprised to see Heath and Teddy at her door late that afternoon. Judging by the way their grandmother had whisked them off earlier, Grace had assumed they were in trouble. But they didn’t seem upset. When she answered their knock, they greeted her as enthusiastically as ever.

“Hi, Grace!” Teddy said.

Heath smiled up at her. “What have you been doing since we left?”

She’d sat out in the yard, reading a book for two hours. Then she’d closed up the stand because no one seemed interested in purchasing anything today. Plenty of folks slowed to stare at her, but no one stopped. “Making caramel apples,” she said.

“For the stand?”

“For the two of you.”

“I love caramel apples!” Teddy cried.

“How many did you make?” Heath asked.

“A dozen.”

“Maybe we could try selling a few, just to see how they do.”

Grace was quickly learning that, of the two boys, Heath was the cool-headed businessman. Teddy was the passionate one who led with his heart. “I already took in the inventory,” she said.

“We’ll help you bring it out again,” Heath volunteered.

Grace wasn’t sure she wanted to sit outside anymore. Something had changed in the past couple of days, something she could sense but not quite define.
She’d expected a reaction because of her involvement with Kennedy, but this went beyond that. It was as if the contempt and hatred she’d experienced when she was younger had increased tenfold.

She preferred to spend the rest of the afternoon in her garden. “If I’m going to be out in the heat, I should probably be pulling weeds.”

“We’ll help you do that later,” Teddy said.

“Let’s open the stand,” Heath begged. “Can we, please?”

Grace considered his hopeful face. If the boys were that excited about trying again, she wasn’t going to allow the people of Stillwater to stop her from saying yes. “Okay,” she said, and they started hauling everything out again.

“Do you think we’ll have more buyers now than we did this morning?” Heath asked as he arranged baskets of tomatoes, carrots, zucchini and peas on the table.

“I hope so.” Grace didn’t really expect much, but they’d barely finished setting everything out when Madeline pulled up to the curb.

“Here’s someone already,” Heath said.

“Hi, there!” Madeline hopped out of her Jeep, giving Teddy and Heath a smile as she strode onto the lawn. “Looks like you’ve got plenty of help this afternoon.”

Grace waved. “I do.”

“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

“When did you call?”

“I’ve tried several times.”

“I’m sorry. I must’ve accidentally turned it to quiet mode.” Now that George had moved on, she didn’t check it as often. “Did you need something?”

“Mom told me you were seeing Kennedy, but I
didn’t believe it until I heard the same thing from three other people. I had to come over to find out if it was true.”

“I’m not seeing Kennedy,” Grace said.

Madeline popped the gum she was chewing and nodded toward Heath, Teddy and the yard sign. “Right.”

“We’re just friends,” she insisted, but Teddy piped up at that moment with, “Grace went camping with us last weekend!”

Madeline tossed her gum into the bushes and chose a brownie. “So much for heading to Jackson, huh?”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to make a big deal of it,” Grace said.

“It
is
a big deal,” Madeline told her. “Kennedy Archer? Do you know how many women would love to trade places with you?”

Grace arched her eyebrows. “If you write about this in the paper, I’ll never forgive you.”

Madeline didn’t respond. She was obviously too busy admiring the campaign sign Teddy had hammered into the lawn. “Nice,” she replied, her voice thick with brownie. “Mind if I get a picture? You could stand right behind it, beside Teddy and Heath.”

“Madeline—”

A second car pulled up, bringing Teddy and Heath to their feet. Grace was grateful for the diversion—until she saw that it was Joe’s ex-wife. Cindy hadn’t changed much since high school. She was still as short as ever, had the same almost chubby build and round face. Only her hair was different. She’d dyed it darker than Grace remembered, and had it cut like a boy’s.

Cindy remained behind the wheel of her pickup truck as if she wasn’t sure whether or not to get out.
Teddy and Heath ran over and knocked on the window, and that seemed to propel her to action.

“Hi, guys,” she said, but her voice was cautious, and she looked around as if she was concerned with who might see her.

“What’s up?” Madeline asked.

“Nothing.” She approached the table, immediately bending over the merchandise.

Teddy followed her closely, almost stepping on her heels. “What would you like?”

Cindy’s eyes flicked Grace’s way. “Did you make all this stuff?”

“Using Evonne’s recipes,” she said so that her involvement wouldn’t deprive the boys of the sale they were so eagerly anticipating.

“I miss Evonne,” Cindy admitted.

Grace nodded. They had that one thing in common.

“The brownies are good,” Madeline said, dusting her hands.

Cindy smiled at Teddy, who was waiting for her to make a decision. “I’ll have a brownie, then.”

“What about a caramel apple?” Heath offered. “They’re new.”

“I’ll have one of those, too.” Her gaze slid back to Grace. “How much do I owe you?”

“I’ll take the money,” Heath said and paused to figure it out. “Two-fifty. Is that right, Grace?”

“Perfect.” Grace didn’t care how much he charged. She planned to keep only enough money to replenish her cupboards and let the boys have the rest. She wasn’t running the stand for profit. It was more of a tribute than anything else, a way to try and achieve the kind of calm Evonne had always possessed.

Cindy extracted the change from her purse. But when
she’d collected her brownie and caramel apple, she didn’t leave. She sidled closer to Grace’s end of the table.

“Grace, I—I know we’ve never been friends, but—”

Suspicious, Grace narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

Cindy glanced at Heath and Teddy, who were now trying to sell Madeline a caramel apple, and lowered her voice. “Joe’s family is…sometimes difficult to get along with.”

Grace had no idea where she was going with this. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“For the most part, I know how to handle them. But—” she cleared her throat “—they’ve been talking a lot lately.”

Grace became even more anxious. “About what?”

“You,” she replied, then jerked her head toward the boys, “and their father.”

“What I do is my own business,” Grace said.

“I know. I agree. I’m not trying to upset you. I just…Kennedy’s a good man, you know? I’d hate it if the Vincellis managed to hurt him.”

“Hurt him?” Grace echoed.

“Haven’t you heard? They’re siding with Vicki Nibley just because he’s become…er…friends with you.” Taking a tightly folded piece of paper from her pocket, she handed it to Grace. “I thought you should know, in case you really care about him,” she added and hurried back to her car.

Grace opened what looked to be a flyer.

“What’s that?” Madeline asked, paying attention again now that the boys had finished wrangling a couple of dollars out of her for a caramel apple.

Grace shoved the paper into the pocket of her dress. “Nothing important,” she said, feeling numb.

“Did Cindy give it to you?”

She nodded.

“What is it?”

“Just a political flyer.”

Madeline took another big bite of her apple. “She supports Kennedy, right?”

“I think so.”

“He’s going to win.”

Grace watched the boys as they added up how much they’d make if everything sold. “I hope so,” she replied. But the Vincellis had never turned against the Archers before.

Nothing was certain.

The Fixin’s stand was still open. They didn’t have any customers just now, but Kennedy saw Grace out front, along with his two boys, and slowed. He had to hand it to his mother. It was nearly five-thirty, and she hadn’t come to collect Heath and Teddy. Once Camille made up her mind to support something, she followed through without hesitation. The Archers were making a statement, one that could hardly be missed with Teddy and Heath spending so much of the afternoon in Grace’s company, right in her front yard for the whole town to see.

Trying to shake off a sense of misgiving for dragging his parents into a situation that might not be best for them, he parked in the driveway.

“Dad!” Teddy cried and came running. Heath trailed behind him, his manner, as usual, a little more sedate.

Kennedy hugged both children, then walked over to Grace, who was sitting under the awning of her Fixin’s stand, watching him. When he drew close
enough, he could see the small droplets of moisture on her top lip and cleavage from the humidity. But to him she’d never looked prettier. She had her hair pulled back, and was wearing a simple cotton dress with black sandals.

“How’s business?” he asked.

She didn’t bother answering. She was upset about something, he could tell.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you know what the Vincellis are doing?” she asked.

Evidently, word was spreading fast….

Kennedy shrugged as though he wasn’t concerned. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What are the Vincellis doing?” Heath asked.

“They’re voting for Vicki Nibley,” Kennedy explained.

Teddy’s jaw dropped. “
Joe’s
voting for Mrs. Nibley?”

“Joe hasn’t signed anything that I’ve seen,” Kennedy told them. “But I’m not sure how he feels. I haven’t been able to reach him.”

Teddy’s expression grew troubled. “The Vincellis are our friends.”

Kennedy put his hands in his pockets. “They have a right to choose who to vote for.”

“But why wouldn’t they vote for you?” Heath asked.

“They think Mrs. Nibley will serve their purposes better, I guess.”

“What does that mean?” Teddy stared up at him.

“That she’ll do what they want her to.”

“Oh.”

Kennedy turned to Grace. “My mother’s expecting
me and the boys for dinner. Can we help you carry this stuff inside before we go?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ve got it.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said.

He waved Teddy and Heath toward the SUV. “Hop in and buckle up. Your grandpa’s not feeling very well today. I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“He’s sick a lot,” Teddy observed.

Kennedy needed to tell his boys what was happening to Grandpa. Soon. But tonight wasn’t the night. There were too many other things on his mind.

“Why don’t you take these to your folks,” Grace said and gave him a jar of peaches, a jar of pickles, tomato sauce and some carrots and fresh herbs from her garden.

He wanted to refuse because he knew his parents didn’t like her. But she was so sweet to send it, he couldn’t.

“Thanks.” He waited until the boys had carried the food to the car before letting his gaze settle fully on Grace. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said.

Her brow furrowed as she looked up at him. “You have to stay away from me, Kennedy.”

“Who says?”

“I do.”

He grinned, hoping to soften her. “What if I can’t?”

She didn’t return his smile, or his playful tone. “Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?” she asked, her expression serious, worried.

“Are you trying to make me do the same thing?” he asked, losing the smile.

“No! I’m trying to leave you just as I found you. You and those boys. I—” she cleared her throat and lowered her voice “—I don’t begrudge you what
you’ve had in the past, Kennedy. I
want
you to have everything you desire.”

He admired the black fringe of her lashes, the clear blue of her eyes. “What if that’s you?” he said softly. “What if I want you, Grace?”