Last Light (34 page)

“Just a little ingenuity, my friend.”

Oh yeah, he was getting cocky. The attitude looked good on him.

Deni looked out the window as they passed Vic’s house, and he came running out.

“That’s my boy!” he shouted.

Mark beamed with pride. “It worked, Dad! You were right.”

Vic laughed and high-fived a neighbor.

“Where’d you get the horses?” Sam Ellington asked as he ran along beside them.

“Traded my motorcycle. The guy figured it would be a good deal when the lights come back on.” He lowered his voice and looked at Deni. “The guy’s a conspiracy theorist. He’d read the president’s letter, but didn’t believe it.”

A few of the neighbors asked him if he could rig the horses up to their cars to get them home.

“That’s just great,” Deni muttered. “Someone figures this out
after
we spent all morning pushing our car.”

“This is gonna catch on big-time if the outage lasts,” Chris said.

“Yeah, if people can get horses,” Deni said. “Hey, Mark, you could rent them out, make a fortune.”

Chris leaned forward to look at him. “You wouldn’t trade one for a bushel of apples, would you?”

He laughed. “I’m keeping these babies.”

He reached his driveway and carefully guided the horses into his yard. The VW rolled behind them into the grass. Several of the neighbors were waiting when they got out of the car. They descended on him, examining his design, trying to determine if they could copy it.

When Vic came up, he put his arm around Deni and whispered in her ear. “I’m almost finished building my wagon. It’ll be a nicer ride than this to Washington, if you’re game.”

Mark heard that, and turned from the neighbor who was on the ground, looking at the changes he’d made to the car. “What did you say, Dad?”

Vic just grinned. “Never mind.”

Mark looked troubled, but he was polite as the neighbors questioned him. Finally, when they had all gone home, he turned back to Deni and Chris, then glanced at his dad. “How do you know each other?”

Chris shrugged. “Your dad’s a trooper. He’s been letting us swim in his pool.”

His eyes drifted up to his father. Something flashed between them. “Well, that’s nice. You should have told me. I’d have come over, too.”

Mark’s mother came out to admire the vehicle, so Vic headed back home. It was clear there was bad blood between them.

When everyone had left them alone, Mark unhooked the horses and led them into his fenced-in backyard. The horses began to graze in the tall grass. Mark unbridled them, then tossed the gear onto the patio table.

“So, Deni, what was my dad saying about going to Washington?”

Deni hesitated, but Chris nudged her. “Tell him.”

Deni didn’t know if it was wise to share it with him, but she couldn’t see her way out now. “Your dad offered to take me to D.C. to be with my fiancé, when he leaves in a few days. I’m still thinking about it.”

Mark chewed on the corner of his lip. “Did, huh?”

“Yeah, but I can’t decide if I should or not.”

“I’ve told her she needs to stay here,” Chris said.

Mark’s lips tightened. “I agree with Chris. You don’t need to set out across the country with my dad or anyone else.”

“But he says he has money and provisions. And he’s building something to take us there.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen what he’s building. It’ll work. But, Deni, it’s dangerous out there. You’re better off waiting here. If this guy you’re marrying has any sense, he’ll come for you. I would if I were him.”

That surprised her. “Thank you, Mark. That’s really sweet.”

A hint of red seeped into his cheeks. “Not trying to be sweet, just stating fact. If a man loves a woman, he wants to be with her no matter what. If he doesn’t come, you should dump him.”

Her smile faded, and she shot Chris a look. “What did you do? Tell him to lecture me, too?”

Chris’s eyes took on that pleading look again. “I didn’t have to tell anybody anything, Deni. It’s a no-brainer. You don’t need to go with Vic.”

“I’ll think about it,” Deni promised. But the truth was, the more they tried to talk her out of it, the more she wanted to go.

That night, as Deni lay on her bed, writing to Craig by the light of the candle, she counted up the days it might have taken for him to come. He could have been here days ago if he’d really wanted to get to her.

She thought of Mark’s words tonight.

If a man loves a woman, he wants to be with her no matter what. If he doesn’t come, you should dump him.

Was Craig content with their separation? She didn’t want to think that, but why hadn’t he come? Wasn’t he worried about her plane crashing? Wouldn’t he move heaven and earth to make sure she was all right?

Unless . . .

Maybe he was injured, unable to get to her. He might have been in a car accident when the power suddenly failed. Maybe he’d been injured, and they couldn’t get an ambulance to him.

Maybe he was sick, unable to get medical attention.

Or maybe he’d been mugged for his bike on his way to her. He could be lying in a hospital calling out her name.

Whatever the reason, it had to be big. And if he couldn’t get to her, then she should go to him. What if he was lying in a hospital bed and she never came? Maybe he was counting the days, praying for her arrival.

She thought of Vic’s invitation again. He was building something to take them there. Something comfortable and creative, like Mark had done. Maybe going with him was the right thing to do. If she didn’t, the course of her future might be changed. She couldn’t take the chance of losing Craig forever.

forty-three

The next night, Brad brought the Brannings a real treat. Venison! He’d taken his boys deer hunting, and the outing had been productive. It was the first red meat they’d had in weeks, and everyone was grateful.

But Deni saw the tension on her mother’s face as her dad invited the Caldwells to join them for dinner.

Deni couldn’t help watching the interactions. The memory of Brad following her through the neighborhood the other night, hiding when she glanced back, kept running through her mind. And so many of the neighbors were suspicious of him. The stitches on his forehead were evidence of that.

She wondered, for the thousandth time, if the neighbors were right about Brad.

Kay and Judith cooked the venison on the Brannings’ barbecue pit. Then both families sat at the patio table in the Brannings’ backyard and feasted until they were full.

Deni was quiet, silently devising her plan of escape while everyone laughed and talked. The children scattered into the yard, playing as the sun set and the breeze cooled things down. She and Jeff stayed with the adults, simply because there was no place else to go. The house was getting dark.

Her father seemed more relaxed than she’d seen him in weeks. “I want to talk to you guys about something,” he said as he picked his teeth with a toothpick.

“Go ahead.”

“I was thinking of having church on Sunday.”

Brad, who sat leaning back in his patio chair, looked at Doug like he was crazy. “Church? How you gonna do that?”

“I was thinking of having it here in our house.”

This interested Deni, because she knew that the Caldwells didn’t go to church. Most Sunday mornings as her family loaded up the car, they’d see Brad and his family out washing their cars or playing ball in the yard. What was her father thinking, bringing this idea up to them?

Brad laughed. “Who’s gonna preach? You?”

“I thought I would.”

Deni sat straighter in her seat. “You, Dad? You’ve never even taught Sunday school.”

“I realize that,” he said. “But we need to worship, and our church is way too far away.”

Deni leaned back in her chair again. So that was it . . . This was his way of being shrewd as a serpent and guileless as a dove, like the Bible said. He was worried about Brad and Judith’s souls, so he’d probably been losing sleep over ways to talk to them about Christ.

She wondered if they realized it. Were they thinking how arrogant it was of him to be so blunt with his faith when it was clear they weren’t of the same mind?

“Where do you plan to do this?” Judith asked. “Out in the yard?”

“No. If it’s not too hot, I thought I’d invite everybody who wants to come into our house, so we can sit and be comfortable. Outside, there are too many distractions. And inside, Kay can play piano—”

“Me?” Kay sprang up. “Doug, I haven’t played in years.”

“You have a few days to practice.”

Everyone laughed.

“And Jeff can play guitar.”

Jeff shrugged. “I could do that.”

Deni was glad she’d never mastered an instrument. She hoped her dad wouldn’t volunteer her to sing.

“You play guitar, too, don’t you, Brad?”

Brad started to chuckle. “Oh, I don’t know, man. I’m not much into hymns.”

“We could do praise choruses,” Jeff said. “They’re real easy. We could practice for an hour and have it down.”

Brad leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees. “Look, man, I don’t want to be a wet blanket. But the fact is, I’m not really into church. And I sure don’t want to sit there acting all charitable to the others who might come, when most of them still think I’m the killer.”

Doug shook his head. “Brad, I think you’re wrong about how many people think that.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Tension mounted again, but finally, Judith spoke up. “The boys and I will come. I’ve been thinking for a long time that we needed to start going to church. I think it’s a great idea. We’ll come with or without Brad.”

Brad shrugged. “That’s fine. I have no problem with that. But I’m staying home.”

Deni saw the disappointment in her father’s eyes, but he didn’t let it dissuade him. “Great. Now all I have to do is come up with a sermon. We’ll get the kids to make signs to go all over the neighborhood, inviting anyone who will come.”

Deni rolled her eyes. Great. She’d be a human Xerox machine for the next several days. Oh well. That was a step up from laundry and compost girl.

Beth heard the conversation and came back to the table. “Dad, are you going to do this every week?”

“I was thinking I would. Even if nobody comes, at least
we
can worship on Sundays. We’ve been working too hard. We need a day of rest and thanksgiving. And we need to set that day apart like we’re supposed to.”

Thanksgiving for what? Deni couldn’t think of a single thing to be thankful for.

“So, Deni, what do you think about all this?”

She knew better than to say what she thought. Forcing a smile, she decided to lie. “I think it’s a great idea, Dad. I’ve missed going to church.”

But even as she said the words, she hoped she could convince Vic to leave before Sunday.

forty-four

Later, when she knew her family wouldn’t miss her, Deni rode her bike to Vic’s house and knocked on his door. She waited with her chin thrust defiantly in the air, arms crossed. On the other side of the door, Scrappy barked, and she heard Vic trying to quiet the dog down. The door opened, and he smiled. “Deni! Come on in. I was just cleaning out the pool.”

She didn’t answer his smile. “I didn’t come to swim. I came to take you up on your other offer.”

Vic picked Scrappy up so he wouldn’t dart outside. “My offer? The one about taking you east?”

“That’s the one, if it still stands.”

He laughed. “Of course, it does. I’ll take you all the way to D.C. Deliver you to the door of the church and walk you down the aisle if you want me to. Come in the garage and I’ll show you the rig I’ve been working on.”

She stepped into his tiki bar living room and followed him through to the dark garage. He pulled up the door to give them some light, and she saw what would take her to see Craig.