If You Ever Tell (35 page)

After finally finding a parking spot, Teri took Daniel’s hand firmly in her own and they made a game of rushing through the crowd to meet the family at the appointed spot. They arrived to find Kent lolling against the brass railings of the steps while Sharon paced the sidewalk. “Teri, for God’s sake, where have you been!” she pounced as soon as Teresa and Daniel drew near her.

“I had trouble finding a parking place, Sharon.” Teresa looked up two steps at her brother, who rolled his eyes. Gabe stood beside him anxiously scanning the crowd. Teri knew Gabe was looking for Carmen. “Daniel says he’d like a cup of Kool-Aid before we get our seats at the concert.”

“Oh, I don’t know about him drinking Kool-Aid from a concession stand,” Sharon said fretfully. “You never know how sanitary these places are. Daniel, wouldn’t you rather wait until we get home to drink something?”

“Mommy, that’ll be hours and
hours
! This afternoon Daddy said I could get Kool-Aid.”

Kent joined them and Daniel slipped his hand from Teri’s to his father’s. “I’m sure they don’t serve poisoned Kool-Aid here,” Kent said to Sharon.

“I didn’t say it was poisoned; I just said it was unsanitary—” Sharon gave up when Kent turned his back on her and began marching Daniel over to a concession stand.

Gabe had joined them and Teri looked at him almost desperately. “Quite a crowd, isn’t it, Gabriel?”

He nodded. “Beautiful weather. Not too hot, not too humid.”

“So I win my bet,” Teresa told Sharon. “You owe me ten dollars.”

“What?” Sharon asked irritably.

“On Sunday I said we’d have great weather for the Fourth and you said we wouldn’t. We bet on it. Remember?”

Sharon looked at her in surprise. “Oh! Oh, of course.” She began fishing in her colorful straw tote bag. “I know my wallet’s in here somewhere.”

“Sharon, I was kidding,” Teresa laughed. “Save all that money for Daniel’s college fund!”

“College. Oh my, all too soon he’ll be leaving us,” Sharon said sadly. “I hope he doesn’t choose somewhere
too
far away—”

“Sharon, the boy is seven,” Gabe said lightly. “You’ve got lots of time before you have to worry about him going away to college!”

“Hi, everyone!” Carmen seemed to have appeared out of thin air, her smile wide, her voice a trifle high-pitched. But she looked beautiful and far younger than her years in well-cut designer jeans and a flowing top of intermingled pink and peach. Long gold earrings dangled gaily beneath her silky hair. “Is everybody having fun?”

“Oh, just tons of fun,” Teresa said wryly. “We’re mourning over Daniel leaving for college.” Sharon shot her a murderous glance and Teri reminded herself she needed to keep everyone as calm and happy as possible. This certainly wasn’t the time for sarcasm. “I’m teasing you, Sharon. I didn’t mean to be offensive.”

Sharon gave Teri a slightly placated look, which distracted her from noticing the furtive smile Gabe tossed Carmen. Honestly, Teri thought, Gabe and Carmen are acting like they’re fourteen. I can’t believe they’re so afraid of what Sharon thinks.

But they were, Teresa told herself sternly. At least Gabe cared mightily what his daughter thought, and all of Carmen’s future happiness seemed to rest with Gabe.

Carmen was attempting to make small talk with Sharon when Mac sauntered up with his mother, Emma, in tow. “Well, fancy meeting you here!” he said, tongue in cheek. “Mom, you remember Teresa, don’t you?”

Emma MacKenzie looked at her son as if he’d lost his mind. “Jedediah Abraham, I told you she’s come by to visit me. Don’t you listen to me?”

“Yeah, Jedediah, don’t you listen?” Teri asked, grinning as Mac’s color heightened. “How are you, Emma?”

“Fine, just fine,” the woman said enthusiastically, although she had shadows under her eyes and her smile was wan. “I’ve been looking forward to this. It was so nice of Jedediah to bring me instead of one of his young lady friends.”

Teri raised her eyebrow at Mac and his color rose even more. “Mom, I don’t have young lady friends anymore.” Emma looked at him quizzically. “I’ll explain later.”

“Now she probably thinks you’re gay,” Teresa muttered to Mac as Emma continued to look at her son in bewilderment.

Kent approached them, scowling. “Oh great, the gang’s all here. Mac,” Kent said curtly.

“Kent,” Mac returned. “How’s business?”

“Fine. Yours?”

“Great.”

“Good.”

Teresa closed her eyes briefly. They sounded like two cavemen grunting at each other. This was going to be one long evening, she thought with a silent groan. “Well, let’s get our seats for the concert before they’re all gone,” she said, heading determinedly for the entrance to Riverfront Park just past the post office. “I, for one, can’t wait to hear the music.”

Once they were all seated in the stadium-like arena, Teresa felt her tension begin to ebb. Evening was falling, turning the sky to beautiful shades of amethyst and cobalt streaked with the deep tangerine of a sinking sun. The Ohio River flowed calm and sparkling beyond the stadium.

Teresa felt her muscles begin to loosen as she listened to the sounds of soft rock performed by a local musician with a guitar he played beautifully and a voice she could listen to all night. Every year she looked forward to hearing him and she’d never understood why he didn’t go professional. Everyone seemed to relax—everyone except Carmen, who sat beside Teresa nervously drumming her fingers on her thigh. Once Teri reached over and covered the woman’s hand. Carmen tossed her a fleeting smile, held still for nearly three minutes, then began drumming her fingers again.

Although Daniel seemed to enjoy the music, he was elated when the concert ended and it was time for the fireworks display. He reached for Teri’s hand, then wisely gave the move a second thought and took his mother’s as they eddied toward the four-acre Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, located on the point where the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers meet. The site of the Battle of Point Pleasant, fought in 1774 between the Virginia militia and Native Americans under the leadership of Chief Cornstalk—the same Shawnee chieftain who was said to have placed a curse on the area before he was killed in 1777—was commemorated by an eighty-four-foot granite obelisk. Children played on the steps leading to the obelisk, but Sharon held Daniel’s hand tightly, preventing him from joining the crowd.

If Teresa had not been so concerned about how this evening was going to turn out for Carmen, she could have laughed at the elaborate casualness between her and Gabe. Carmen barely looked at her fiancé, sticking as close to Teri as possible, making inane conversation, laughing too loudly, while Gabe concentrated on Sharon, acting as if she were the only person he could see.

Suddenly Gabe boomed, “Hey, Daniel, see the Mansion House over there?”

Daniel looked in the direction his grandfather pointed and said, “It looks like a little old log cabin to me.”

“Well, it’s called the Mansion House,” Gabe said insistently. “Walter Newman built it in 1796.”

“Oh. Was Walter Newman a friend of yours?” Daniel asked.

Teresa heard Kent choke back laughter. Gabe’s expression reflected a mixture of insult and amusement. “I’m not
that
old, Daniel.” Gabe then adopted the tone used by adults when trying to make children interested in a subject. “The Mansion House is the oldest hewn-log house in the Kanawha Valley. Back in its day, the place was a tavern. Now it’s a museum. I’ll bring you down someday.”

“Okay,” Daniel answered vaguely, clearly not at all interested in visiting a museum. “Is it time for the fireworks?”

“They should start in a few minutes.”

Everyone turned to look at Mac, who’d gotten separated from them and obviously had nearly run to catch up, dragging his mother along with him. Emma appeared winded and annoyed as she pulled her arm free of Mac’s hand and said, “For heaven’s sakes, Jedediah Abraham, what’s gotten into you? I haven’t seen you so excited over fireworks since you were ten.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Mac said contritely. “I’d just like for us to get near that low wall surrounding the park like we used to do. You could sit on it and catch your breath.”

“I wouldn’t have to catch my breath if you’d stop dragging me,” Emma returned crossly. “If you’re so anxious to be with Teresa, then go with her. I’ll catch up.”

When they finally reached a spot everyone deemed suitable, Teri felt as breathless as Emma. I won’t have fond memories of this Fourth of July, Teri thought in despair. So far, every member of this unlikely group looked tired, slightly sweaty, irritable, and ill at ease. Everyone except Daniel, who paid no attention to the adults droning about a museum and griping about walking too fast.

Teresa had smacked at the third mosquito to bite her arm in the last two minutes when the first firework went off in a blaze of red, white, and brilliant blue. Everyone oohed and aahed and clapped raucously, as if they’d never seen fireworks before tonight. Daniel jumped up and down in excitement. Teresa breathed easier. At least everyone’s attention would be diverted for a while, she thought in relief. She was already exhausted.

As the fireworks burst in gorgeous jewel-toned patterns in the night sky, Teresa’s gaze wandered around the crowd. She was startled to see Josh Gibbs standing a few feet away, his arm draped over the shoulders of a slender blonde. He smiled at the fireworks, leaned down while the girl whispered something in his ear, then laughed and gave her a lingering kiss. He looked happy and carefree—not like a young man whose father had been brutally murdered just days earlier. Anger rushed through Teresa. Josh had no right to be having so much fun when poor Gus—

She immediately stopped her train of thought. People reacted to shock and grief in different ways. Just because she was frantic when Marielle disappeared, and inconsolable for months when the woman never came back, didn’t mean that Josh had to behave the same way in order to prove his love for his father.

Teresa abruptly looked away from the young man, not liking the path her thoughts were taking. She’d been unfairly judged so often in the past, she had no right to judge anyone else, she told herself firmly. Josh had loved Gus, of that she was certain.

Another firecracker went off with such a resounding blast the ground shook and Carmen let out a loud, startled cry, then immediately clapped her hand over her mouth when people turned to look at her. Carmen was never soft-spoken, but tonight nerves had turned her voice up a notch. Teri gave her a reassuring smile as a second spectacular green and orange firework immediately followed. In its light, Teresa caught sight of Jason, Fay, and Celeste Warner.

Again, Teri was shocked. She hadn’t seen any of the Warners at the Fourth of July celebration since the murders. Celeste—dressed more fashionably in jeans and a T-shirt—stood between Fay and Jason. In fact, they stood so close to the girl, Teresa had the fleeting image of two Rottweilers guarding their charge. No one was going to get near that girl, Teresa thought, and was glad. Celeste might be on her way to recovery, but she definitely needed to feel safe. After all, she still thought someone wanted to kill her. And me, Teri thought. And I’m not so sure she’s wrong.

Abruptly, the sheriff loomed in front of Teresa. She blinked and took a step backward in surprise, a move for which she could have kicked herself. She didn’t want the man to know he intimidated her. She mentally scrambled for composure and managed a casual, “Hello, Sheriff. Enjoying the show?”

“Very much,” he said, glancing at Mac, who was almost imperceptibly moving closer to Teri, as if to protect her, just as Jason and Fay were protecting Celeste. “How about you, Miss Farr?”

“I love the fireworks. I come every year.” She thought she sounded overly cheerful and almost childlike. “I’m sure you know my brother and his wife and their son,” she said, motioning at Kent, who looked daggers at the sheriff. Sharon literally pulled Daniel against her as if the sheriff were going to whisk her child away from her. “And Sharon’s father, Gabriel, is with us tonight.”

“Gabe,” the sheriff said, touching the brim of his hat. Gabe nodded and quickly looked away.

Carmen burst out with a hearty, “Hello, Sheriff. I haven’t seen you in Trinkets and Treasures for ages!”

“Hello, Miz Norris,” he said. “I don’t do a lot of shopping except at Christmas. You already getting your stock for December?” he asked.

Carmen laughed stridently. “Well, not
this
early. It usually starts arriving in early November, though. I’ll be putting it on display around Thanksgiving, if that makes any sense. The holidays are so close together, you see.”

“Yes, I see.” The sheriff’s cool gray gaze returned to Teresa. “Any more trouble at your place today?”

“No. Thank goodness.” Teresa told herself to stop being frightened. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she knew the sheriff could nearly smell the fear emanating from her. “Can you tell me when the barn will be released as a crime scene? I board other people’s horses, you know. They want to ride them. I haven’t let anyone in the barn except the boys who feed the horses, though. I’ve been very careful.”

The sheriff’s mouth quirked in a half smile at her breathless assurances. “Tomorrow you can start conducting business as usual,” he said. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave town.”

“I’m not leaving town,” Teri said hastily. “I’m much too busy.”

The sheriff nodded again and drifted away. Teresa felt a momentary wave of dizziness, wondering why she couldn’t conquer her ridiculous fear of the police.

Then she glanced over at Celeste Warner, who stared in her direction with big, haunted eyes. Teresa had thought the girl was enjoying the fireworks show—just a couple of minutes earlier, she’d seen Celeste clapping and smiling—but now she looked positively terrified. Teresa couldn’t tear her own gaze away from Celeste’s eyes—the eyes that had seen the murderer of her mother, the eyes that had seen someone plunge a knife into her own abdomen. In spite of the warm evening, Teresa felt chilled as memories of walking down the dark hall and bumping into a murderer before she found the small, slashed body of Celeste washed over Teresa as if it had all happened yesterday.