Obsession (30 page)

“Why, Toni Matthews, you're back. Look, Simon, it's Toni Matthews, come back to visit us.” The stout woman stepped out from behind the counter and enveloped Toni in her familiar bear hug. “Oh, child, it's so good to see you again. How are you?” She released her and stepped back. “As purty as ever, I see. Look here, Simon, ain't she a purty little thing?”

The thin man with the ever-present wisp of gray hair combed over the top of his head squinted at her. “You're right, Maude. A mite skinny though. How ya doin'?”

“I'm fine, thank you, Simon. It's good to see you both again.” She turned toward April. “This is my friend April. We're just out for a ride and thought we'd stop by for a minute and get something cold to drink. April,” she said as she slipped an arm around her, “Maude and Simon Olson.”

April smiled. “How do you do?”

Maude raised her eyebrows. “And howdy-do to you too. It's nice to meet you, I'm sure.”

Simon nodded in greeting, studying Toni's companion with curiosity. “How come you didn't bring your other friend? Abe, was it? The one Maude first met when he come up here with you? We seen him a few times since then, working with some other fellas on that Julie Greene case. You know, that girl that drowned up here not long ago. I s'pose you heard 'bout that.”

Toni glanced at April and saw that she was struggling to maintain her composure. “I… yes, I heard about it. As for Abe… Detective Matthews… I really wouldn't know. I would imagine he's working today.” She opened her purse, hoping to get the transaction accomplished and get April out of the store and back to the car quickly, but Maude wasn't about to let them go that easily.

“You know, when I first seen you with that young man—and a mighty handsome young man he is, I might add—I thought sure he was the fella you was engaged to. Imagine my surprise to find out otherwise. Why, you coulda knocked me over with a feather, ‘specially the way you two was hangin’ on each other. When I told Simon 'bout how close you two seemed to be and then he found out he wasn't your fiancé after all, why, we was both shocked.”

“I 'spect that Abe Matthews fella wished he was,” Simon added. “Your fiancé, that is. Like I told him, it'd sure be easier on you. Wouldn't have to change your name when you got married.” He chuckled at his own joke. “I'd say he's got some real strong feelin's on that subject. Weren't too hard to tell that. Had it wrote all over his face. Can't help but wonder how that fiancé of yours feels 'bout havin'
somebody like him hangin' 'round all the time, carryin' a torch for you and all.”

Toni was now as anxious to get out of the store for her own sake as for April's. Laying a five-dollar bill on the counter, she said, “Well, April and I really have to run. It's been nice talking with you.”

In what seemed to Toni like slow motion, Simon rang up the sale on the old cash register, then pulled the change out of the drawer and handed it to her. “So, when are we gonna meet this here fella you're plannin' to marry?” he asked.

“That's right,” Maude agreed. “When you gonna bring him on up? Why, we'd love to meet him, size him up a bit.” She looked at Simon and winked. “Maybe even compare him to that detective fella, right, Simon?”

Simon laughed, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. “Aha. Now, that's a right good idea. You do that. Just bring 'em both up here together and let us look 'em over side by side.”

Toni stuffed the change in her purse and grabbed April by the arm. “Good seeing you,” she said, ignoring their last comments as she steered the older woman toward the door. “Goodbye.”

They were out the door and headed across the parking lot before either one of the Olsons could do any more damage. Once inside the car, they both collapsed into their seats, quickly closing the doors behind them.

“That was terrible,” Toni declared. “I am so sorry. This was definitely a bad idea. We should have brought an ice chest full of cold drinks from home and avoided this place entirely.”

“It's all right, my dear. I'm fine now. I know they meant well, but… I do believe it was harder on you than it was on me.”

Toni looked at her. “It was pretty bad,” she admitted, “but you're right. They meant well.”

April laid her hand on Toni's arm. “There's something you haven't told me, isn't there? You've been so withdrawn all weekend, ever since your date with Brad on Friday night. Did something happen?”

The tears sprang to Toni's eyes so quickly that she realized there was no use trying to hide anything from this perceptive woman. Besides, she had to tell someone sooner or later.

“It's over. The engagement, I mean.”

April's eyes opened wide. “You did it? You broke it off?”

Toni shook her head. “No. Brad did.”

“Oh, my dear…”

“It was hard, but… I'm grateful. It was the right thing to do. He had the courage to do it, even if I didn't.”

“He's quite a man, isn't he?”

Toni closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes, he is, and it hurts to lose him, even though I'm relieved that it's over. Does that make any sense?”

“Of course it does. Have you told Melissa?”

“No. I've been putting it off. I know it's going to break her heart. But… I suppose I should get it over with. The sooner the better.”

“Yes. You don't want to risk having her hear it from someone else.”

“You're right. I'll tell her tonight.”

April squeezed Toni's hand. “I'll be praying.”

They drove to the north side of the lake to the approximate area where Abe had told Toni that Julie's body had been found. They parked the car, and at April's suggestion, got out and walked to the shoreline.

“I need to sit here a while,” April said, settling down on a rock near the water. “I need to think… and pray… and maybe say goodbye again.”

Toni nodded. Walking away several yards, she, too, found a rock to sit on, nearer the trees where she could hear the breeze soughing in the branches. She looked at her watch. It was only 9:30. They had come early so April could spend as much time as she needed to sort through her feelings. As April Lippincott poured out her pain to God, Toni spoke to him of her feelings for Abe, begging God to change her heart, to help her to stop thinking of this man day and
night, wondering where he was, what he was doing… and if he still thought of her. Her faithful heavenly Father had answered her prayers and resolved her relationship with Brad. Would he now intervene and somehow help her deal with her feelings for Abe?

It wasn't often that Abe got a weekday off, but he had been putting in a lot of overtime lately, so this Monday morning, instead of being in his office, he was at the mall, pacing, and waiting for the stores to open. Actually, he was waiting to get into one particular store, and he was more than slightly nervous about setting foot in the place since he had never done so before. He had thought it over for days, however, and he knew it was the next logical step, not to mention his only viable option at this point. He just hoped he wouldn't see anyone he knew, either while he was waiting or once he was inside the store. How would he ever explain what he was doing?

Some of the stores began to unlock their doors, raising the iron gratings that protected the entrances. Abe checked his watch. The sign in the front window had said the store would open at ten o'clock. It was now two minutes after. What was the holdup?

Finally Abe spotted some movement inside. The lights had come on, and a middle-aged woman was unlocking the door. Resisting the urge to turn and run, Abe took a deep breath and walked inside, amazed that something as harmless as an excursion into an unknown store could make him more edgy than tracking a dangerous criminal. The difference, of course, was that he was trained to track criminals. He was experienced at it. This was all new to him, and very uncomfortable.

“Good morning.” The woman who had unlocked the door greeted him with a smile. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh, no thanks. I…” He glanced around the store. Soft music played in the background, but if it was meant to soothe him, it wasn't
working. Where would he start? Was there some sort of arranged order here? An alphabetical or topical listing, or… He decided he had better swallow his pride and ask for help or he might be there all day. “As a matter of fact, there is. I… was wondering if… do you have…? Well, what I need is a… New Testament.”

“Certainly. Is there a particular translation you'd like?”

Abe flushed. He hadn't realized there was more than one. Back to swallowing his pride again. “I really don't know,” he admitted. “I've… never even seen one before, let alone read it. Do you have any suggestions?”

Her smile was warm as she turned toward a large shelf full of books behind the counter. “Let me show you a couple of our better ones, and you can choose.”

With the clerk's guidance, Abe made his choice in record time and was out the door before any other customers arrived. Relieved, he clutched his purchase and hurried to his car. He wanted to get home and begin reading as soon as possible.

Melissa sat curled up on the couch in the family room while Tyler watched cartoons. She had taken him to the park after lunch where they had spent the better part of the afternoon. Now, it was just a matter of waiting another hour or so until Tyler's mom got home. With her journal on her lap, she fought the tears that had been threatening her all day.

I'm so mad
, she wrote.
Why did Toni do this? She says it was Brad's idea but that they both agreed it was for the best. I don't believe her. I think it's that Abe Matthews again. She's been different ever since she met him. Why did he ever have to come into our lives? Brad and Toni were so happy before he showed up. I really hate him. I bet if he wasn't around, Toni and Brad would still be getting married. Why is my sister so stupid? I don't even want to go home tonight.

When the phone rang, she tossed her journal on the floor and got up to go into the kitchen to answer it. Her heart jumped when she heard the familiar voice, and she wondered how she could have forgotten about his promise to call back this week.

“Melissa? This is Carlo. How are you?”

She hesitated briefly. “I'm… fine.”

“Good. I've been thinking about you and wondered if you'd come to any decision about trying out for the part. I know this is only Tuesday, so if you need more time, it's no problem. Have you given any more thought to what we discussed?”

Melissa had thought about little else all week… until Toni had dropped the bombshell on her last night. Before that she had decided that if Carlo followed through on his promise and called her back, she would tell him she was definitely interested and see about setting up an appointment for him to meet with her and Toni. Now she wasn't so sure she wanted Toni involved. After all, if Toni could make life-changing decisions without consulting anyone else, why shouldn't she have the same right? It wasn't like she was running off to Hollywood or anything. It was just a bit part in a local movie. How could it hurt?

“Actually, yes. I've thought about it a lot. I think I'd like to give it a try… if you really think I could do it, that is.”

“Of course you could. Why couldn't you? Like I told you, it's just for an extra, that's all. You probably won't even have any lines. You'll basically just be part of the background scenery. You should be able to handle that, shouldn't you?”

“I guess so, but I really should tell you, I'm… only fourteen.”

“Hey, no problem. We need people of all ages for this film. I tell you what we'll do. Why don't we meet for a few minutes sometime soon, maybe even this evening if you have time. I'll give you a few more details, and then, if you're still interested, we'll talk about getting parental permission.”

“I… don't have any parents.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. That's right. You mentioned something about talking to your older sister, didn't you? Is she your guardian?”

“Yes.”

“You… haven't already talked to her about this, have you?”

“No. You asked me not to until you called back.”

“Good. Well then, what do you say? When can we get together? Did you tell me you're baby-sitting? If you get off soon, I can meet you somewhere before you go home. I'll even buy you a hamburger.”