Diamonds and Dreams (18 page)

The
same words she heard during the night they danced at the awards banquet
permeated her soul:

“If
you love me forevermore,

On
broken wings, our love can soar;

If
you need me, I’ll be right there,

Just
call my name; I’ll always care…”

Why
didn’t he put the caller’s voice on the air like he did the rest?
 
Then she remembered suddenly, Brant’s middle
name is
Crayton
!
 
Could it be possible that he indirectly sent her a message through the
song?
 
If so, why didn’t he mention her
name instead of stating that it was for “a very special lady?”
 
He probably wouldn’t want to expose his
personal life on the air quite so blatantly.
 
Yet, wouldn’t he do it in a way that she, being another professional,
might pick up on if she heard it?

She
dared to hope that the song was meant for her so as soon as Brant’s shift was
over,
she called him at the station.
 
“I heard most of your show.
 
You were great.”

“Thanks.
 
I thought you might listen to my first
show—if you love me.
 
That’s why I
played, ‘Love’s Broken Wings.’”

So
he
did
play it for her!
 
Her chest tightened with excitement.
 
“Why didn’t you say on the air that it was
for me?”

“I
don’t like to broadcast my love life to the world, but if you want me to say
over the air that I love you so the public will know how I feel about you, I’ll
do it.”

“No
need to go that far.
 
I believe you.”

“Is
that all?
 
Aren’t you going to say you
love me, too?”

“Yes,
Brant.
 
I really do!”

“Then
why are we still talking on this phone?
 
Let’s get together.
 
We need to
make up for lost time and discuss everything that came between us lately so
these things won’t tear us apart again in the future.”

“You’re
right.
 
I have important news to tell
you.”
 
She thought about her New York job
offer.

“Can
you give me a hint?”

“I
could.”

“But
you won’t, right?”

“It’s
more fun to keep you in suspense.”

“Fun for you, not me.
 
Stay where you are.
 
I’m on my way.
 
You’re calling from your house, aren’t you?”

“Yes.
 
I’ll wait for you, Brant.”

“Good.
 
I’ve waited all my life for someone like
you.
 
See you shortly.”

Lindsay
was ecstatic.
 
She felt as if her life
was a puzzle with the last missing piece finally found and snapped into
place.
 
When Brant told her he loved her,
all the ugliness of the past vanished.

After
running a brush through her hair and inspecting her appearance and checking her
reflection in a hall mirror, she felt satisfied.
 
Next, she checked the refrigerator.
 
There were ham sandwiches and chocolate fudge
cake.
 
When Brant arrived, she’d suggest
they enjoy a romantic candlelight picnic on the patio later.
 
The fear that he wouldn’t want to marry and
accompany her to New York plagued her like a buzzing bee circling her
head.
 
They loved each other, though, so
surely they could solve their problems…couldn’t they?
 
So much almost prevented them from being
together that they couldn’t afford to allow any more obstacles to rule their
lives.
 
She was so excited about
reconciling with Brant that, when the doorbell rang, she didn’t bother looking
through the
peekhole
as she normally did to see who
was there.
 
Opening the door, she was
disappointed to discover that her visitor wasn’t Brant.

“Hope
you don’t mind me stopping by without calling first,”
Rafe
Wagner said.
 
“I felt lonely so I thought
perhaps you and I could have a cup of coffee and talk.”

“Come
in,” she invited, feeling sorry for him when she noticed his swollen eyes and
suspected he might have been crying earlier.
 
“Actually,
Rafe
, I’m expecting someone to
arrive soon and--”

“I’ve
intruded, haven’t I?”
 
He entered the
house,
then
started toward the door again.
 
“Maybe I shouldn’t have come.
 
I so often do the wrong thing at the wrong
time.
 
I never used to be a jinx until--”

“Sit
down and stay awhile,” she interrupted.
 
“What I started to say was that I’m expecting company, but you’re welcome
to join us.”

Brant
probably won’t like this,
she thought,
especially
since Rafe isn’t one of his favorite people, but Rafe looks sad, like a lost
puppy.
 
I can’t be rude and tell him to
leave when all he seems to want is someone to offer him a little encouragement.

“Want
that cup of coffee now?” she asked.

“Let’s
have it a little later.”

“How’ve
you been?”

Rafe
sat down on the sofa and she relaxed on
a chair across from him.
 
“Not well.
 
I haven’t slept at night in ages.”

“Do
you suffer from insomnia?”
 
She tried to
pretend interest in their conversation.

“Yes.
 
Among other things.
 
What’s been happening in your life, Lindsay?”

“A lot.
 
For one thing I start a new job soon.”

“As a radio host?”

“Yes.
 
The job is in New York, so I’m moving.”

Pain
covered his face as if a poisonous snake just bit him.
 
“You can’t do that!”

Confused,
she said, “Sure, I can.”

“No!”
 
A glazed look of despair descended over his
dark eyes.
 
“If you move away from Ohio,
you’ll take her with you.
 
She’ll be out
there somewhere and I’ll never know where she is or when she’s coming back.”

“What
are you talking about,
Rafe
?”
 
She rapidly grew impatient with him.
 
Brant should arrive at any moment and she was
anxious to be alone with him to discuss their future.
 
She didn’t have time to waste playing
guessing games with
Rafe
.

“Connie!
 
I’m talking about Connie!” he raised his
voice.
 
“Did you think I’d ever forget
her?”

The
mention of her sister’s name and the demented look on
Rafe’s
face sent shivers crawling down her spine.
 
“Why did you bring up Connie’s name?”
 
She wasn’t sure that she was prepared for the answer he might give.

“Because I can never get away from her.”

Rafe’s
words made no sense to Lindsay.
 
“I don’t understand.
 
Do you know something I don’t about how or
why Connie died?”

His
face turned florid before his voice filled with paranoia.
 
“Are you accusing
me
of being involved with her death?”

“No!
 
I just thought you might have seen or heard
something that you didn’t want to tell the police.
 
Besides, you’re the one who began acting
strangely when you brought up Connie.”

“Don’t
say that.”

Lindsay
looked curiously at him.
 
“Say what?”

“That
I act strangely.
 
I don’t…except when
she’s around.”

“Who?”

“Connie.”

His
unexpected answers worried her.
 
The way his
eyes narrowed with what she feared was desire made her uneasy.

“I
really liked her,” he confessed, “more than any of the other girls at
school.
 
I never wanted anything terrible
to happen to her.
 
She was like an angel.
 
Pretty and sweet.
 
When I offered to drive her home after the
party that night, it was only because I wanted to spend some time alone with
her.”

“You
began to drive Connie home?
 
We all
thought she walked!”

“She
started to, but when I met her along the road, I offered to give her a ride
home,” he recalled.

Lindsay
was intrigued.
 
“And she accepted?”

“She
wasn’t going to, but I told her that pretty girls like her shouldn’t stroll
alone at night.
 
I persuaded her to get
into the car.
 
She finally agreed.”

A
sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
 
“Then what happened?”

“We
stopped for a hamburger and shared a chocolate milkshake.
 
For a long time we stayed there and talked.”

“About what?”

“Life.
 
Graduation.
 
Our favorite hobbies.
 
What we planned to do with our futures.
 
Connie and I were alone so all her attention was directed toward only
me.
 
It was wonderful the way she noticed
me then, like I was someone special in her life.”

“Where
did you go after you left the hamburger joint?”

He
leaned forward to be closer to her.
 
“Remember Great Oak Hill?”

“I
used to hear about it as being a favorite spot where couples liked to park.”

“That’s
where I took Connie.”

Amazed,
Lindsay said in disbelief, “Connie agreed to go
there
?”

“Actually,
she protested…said she wanted to go home.
 
I thought she was shy and frightened because she never went with anyone
to Great Oak Hill.
 
When we arrived
there, I told her to relax, that I’d protect her and that I just wanted to kiss
her.”

“Did
you?”

“Yes.
 
At least, I started to.”

“Connie
began breathing hard.
 
I thought she grew
excited about being with me as I felt around her.
 
Then she started wheezing and gasping for
air.
 
I knew there must be something
physically wrong with her.”

Lindsay
placed her hands over her eyes for a few seconds, almost as if to block out the
sight of
Rafe
.
 
She knew from her own experiences of being near Connie when she had an
asthma attack that it could be quite frightening, not only for the asthmatic,
but also for the person that stood by watching helplessly.

“I
didn’t know until later that she had asthma and needed her medicine.
 
I thought she was having a heart attack.”

“Didn’t
you try to get help for her?”

“Panic
gripped me, especially when she lost consciousness and didn’t regain it.
 
When I finally checked her pulse, I thought
she was dead.”

Lindsay’s
head throbbed.
 
“You mean she died while
she was with you?”

“I
think so.”

“Then
why was her body found later in a ditch?”

“The
situation terrified me!
 
I didn’t know
how to handle it.
 
If I called the police
or an ambulance, I was afraid people might think I killed her.
 
So that no one would accuse me of murdering
her, I drove to an isolated spot and left Connie in the ditch.”

Appalled
by his revelation, she accused, “You just abandoned her to the whim of
destiny!”

“Yes.”

Hearing
the truth after all these years stirred the ever-present pain that resided in
her since she lost her sister.
 
Somehow
she always suspected that another person had been solely responsible for Connie
dying, but that didn’t make it any easier to stand face-to-face with
Rafe
.

“Why
did you decide to tell me all this now,
Rafe
?”

“Because I couldn’t bear to keep the secret locked
inside me any longer.
 
It’s
tortured me for years.”