The May Day Murders (26 page)

“
Speaking of Amy, does she
still seem to be okay with Jerry?” Karen asked.

“
Yes, so far. I still can’t
believe how well everything went with dinner Sunday night and I was
especially proud of my little girl. She was well-mannered all
evening and at one point actually modeled the dress she’s wearing
to the homecoming dance for Jerry.”

Karen laughed. “So they got along
pretty well, it sounds. Do you think she might actually like
Jerry?”

“
Well, I don’t know if I’d
go that far. But she at least seems to be tolerant of him, which is
about as much as I can hope for at this stage.”

“
Are you seeing him
again?”

“
Yes, as a matter of fact.
We’re going to see a movie.”

“
Sounds like Jerry is
becoming habit-forming.” Karen declared with a sly grin.

“
I have to admit it, Karen,
I really like being with him. He helps make me forget all of the
lousy things that have been happening lately, like Marsha’s death
and now Sam’s latest little stunt with that woman. I’m having fun
for a change instead of just sitting around brooding over
everything.”

“
Well, it’s sure good to see
you so cheerful. In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen
you so upbeat and together as you’ve been since you met Jerry. I
think he’s really good for you, Ann.”

“
I do, too,” Ann replied. “I
just hope he can continue playing by the rules though. I’m afraid
he’s starting to break down a little already.”

Karen Walker’s eyes narrowed. “What did
he do?”

“
Nothing, really. I think
it’s more a matter of what he’d like to do.”

“
What do you
mean?”

Ann’s eyes looked away for a moment
then returned to Karen. “Well, we were at the dinner table and I
caught him staring at me … At my boobs, to be more specific. I
was wearing a sort of low-cut sweater that evening. That probably
doesn’t sound like any big deal but it was the way he was staring
that made me feel a little uncomfortable. Then, when he realized
that I’d caught him, he quickly looked away and his face got redder
than a beet. Thankfully, I don’t think Amy witnessed any of
this.”

Karen laughed out loud. “Good Lord,
Ann, aren’t you being a little paranoid? He’s only human, after
all. I catch men staring at my breasts all the time—they seem to
have a natural affinity to them—but I don’t get all worked up about
it. And now here’s poor Jerry trying to be a perfect angel for you
but he lets his guard down and dares to stare at you in a manner
that isn’t quite god-like, so you act as though it’s a federal
offense. Give the poor man a break, dear!”

Ann fidgeted with a pencil lying on her
desk. “I guess I may be over-reacting a little. It’s just that I
want this to work out so much, Karen, and I’m afraid that it won’t
because Jerry’s going to start wanting more than a friendship out
of it.”

“
Could it be possible that
you don’t trust yourself, either?” Karen said.

“
Karen!”

“
I’m serious, Ann. My
instincts are telling me that you wouldn’t necessarily cringe at
the opportunity of getting intimate with Jerry, but you don’t want
to admit it to yourself. Listen, Hon. I’ve been through the very
same thing myself. After I got divorced, I had cold feet about sex,
too. It’s a natural defense mechanism. You tell yourself that
you’ve just gotten over an ugly relationship and that you aren’t
going to make the same mistake twice, so you hold out for Mr. Right
to come along. Let me tell you something I know from
experience—you’re just wasting your time waiting for Mr. Right
because he doesn’t exist! And in the process of waiting for this
imaginary character, you let golden opportunities slip by—like
Jerry Rankin, for instance. He may well be as close as you ever get
to Mr. Right, so I wouldn’t let him slip through your fingers too
quickly if I were you. Capiche?”

Ann remained silent a moment then said,
“Alright, Karen. As usual, there might be some truth to what you’re
saying. Why do you have to be so damn psychic all the time? You
always seem to know what I’m thinking!”

Karen smiled. “Age, my dear, that’s all
it is. There’s wisdom in getting older and that’s about all I can
see in it.”

Ann took a sip of her coffee. “Well,
I’m still going to ‘hold out,’ as you put it. At least for a while.
After all, I just met Jerry—I hardly know the man! There’s nothing
wrong with getting to know somebody before you go to bed with them,
is there? Or am I just being old fashioned?” she added with a trace
of sarcasm.

Karen shook her head. “No, you’re just
being cautious, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
Especially nowadays with all the crazies out there. The point I’m
trying to make is that you should watch that you don’t get overly
cautious to the point that you scare Jerry off, that’s all. Give
him a little slack, anyway. You’re asking an awful lot of him and
you can’t expect him not to slip up on occasion. I’ll be frank,
Ann. You are an absolutely gorgeous woman and I’m sure that Jerry
is quite aware of that. That, no doubt, makes the temptation to
slip up even greater.”

Ann made the same surprised face she
always made whenever somebody complimented her looks. “Okay, Karen.
I’ll keep that in mind. I might as well tell you now why I’m so
nervous about all of this. Jerry wants to take me to his country
retreat this weekend and I haven’t given him my answer yet. I have
told him, though, that if I do decide to go that I have no
intention of spending the night with him. He was quite
understanding of that and he says that he just wants to visit the
place before the weather starts getting nasty. What do you think I
should do?”

“
Go ahead and go with him!
There’s nothing wrong with that—especially since you’ve already
informed him that you aren’t spending the night.”

“
I think I will. It sounds
simply wonderful. He apparently owns an A-frame house nestled in
the woods somewhere in Hocking County. The way Jerry describes it,
it’s nothing short of Paradise.”

“
This guy must be loaded, is
all I can say.”

“
He seems to be doing quite
well with his real estate business.” Ann said.

“
God, how I envy you, Ann!
This guy almost sounds too good to be true. Hang on to him,
gal!”

“
I intend to do just that as
long as things keep going as well as they are.”

Karen snatched up one of the travel
brochures from Ann’s desk and started to leave. “I’ll chat with you
later—I’ve got a client waiting for an itinerary. You go,
girl!”

Ann laughed and realized that she was
in an exceptional mood all of a sudden. She couldn’t remember the
last time she’d felt this happy and she likened the experience to
those rare magical moments she used to have when she was a teenager
in high school. Like when she would find out that some gorgeous guy
she had had her eyes on for weeks was going to actually ask her out
on a date, stuff like that.

She realized that for the first time
since her breakup with Sam that things were finally beginning to
look up a bit. Nothing had really changed, granted, except for her
fledgling relationship with Jerry Rankin. And maybe that was why
she was suddenly seeing things in a more optimistic
light.

Jerry is good for you.
That’s
what Karen had told her. And she was right. Ann thought about
Jerry’s country retreat and decided that not only was she going to
accept his offer but that she was actually looking forward to it.
It would be nice to get out of town and take a long drive through
the country and enjoy the fall foliage. Most likely they would
leave early Saturday and return that same evening. Amy would be
fine in the meantime—she could either stay at home or go out with
her friends. No doubt she would be tired from the Homecoming Dance
on Friday, anyway.

Suddenly it dawned on Ann that she had
forgotten to tell Sam about Amy’s dance and wondered now if she
should call and inform him. Then she remembered that she’d seen a
letter in Amy’s purse addressed to Sam earlier that morning and
that Amy no doubt would have mentioned the dance to him in the
letter. Ann hadn’t been surprised to see the letter—Amy hadn’t
talked to her father in a while and she had been into writing
letters lately for some unknown reason—and her only concern now was
that Amy didn’t mention Jerry to Sam in the letter. At least not in
any sort of negative way. The last thing she needed now was for Sam
to somehow turn Amy against Jerry and ruin things before they even
had a chance to get off the ground. Then she recalled Shelley
Hatcher and a smile came to Ann’s face. Sam was certainly in no
position to criticize who she went out with!

Just then, the telephone rang and Ann
picked it up.

“
This is Ann Middleton, how
may I help you?”

CHAPTER 17

Dusk had fallen as Sam pulled up beside
the mailbox and retrieved his mail. Thumbing through the four or
five pieces, he saw a letter from Amy, tossed the stack onto the
passenger seat, and resumed up the long driveway to his home. Once
inside, he went into the kitchen and opened up the letter from his
daughter, thankful that she had finally gotten around to making
contact with him. He hadn’t talked to her in over three weeks for
one reason or another and he silently cursed Ann again for not
informing him of her recent number change.

The first thing he saw when he unfolded
the contents was a picture of Amy wearing a lovely blue formal
dress. Sam stared at the photo momentarily, in awe of how beautiful
his little girl was and how much older and mature she looked
dressed in the formal attire. He then laid the picture aside and
began reading:

Dear Dad,

It seems like ages since we
last talked so I decided to drop you a line. Mom told me that
you’ve been trying to reach me but I never seem to be at home when
you call. I’ve just been so busy lately with school and
everything—you know how that goes!

I’m finally starting to like
it a little better here now that I’ve been here a while. Columbus
is so big compared to Smithtown and sometimes it’s a little scary
when you think about all of the crime and everything else that’s
going on here. I’m sure glad we don’t live on the East Side—all you
ever hear about on the news are all the drug-related murders that
always seem to be going on. Woodcrest is a pretty small
suburb—sorta like Smithtown in a way—and I’m glad we live here. It
feels safer and the kids are pretty nice. I think I’m finally
adjusting to school. I’ve made a few friends that I really like and
most of the kids are pretty cool. I’m trying to get better grades,
too, Dad. I guess you can’t ask for miracles to happen overnight,
though! (So please keep this in mind when you see my grades for
this nine weeks!)

I don’t know if Mom told you
but I’m going to the Homecoming Dance this Friday. I’m going with a
really nice guy who I think you would like if you ever met him. His
name is Jason and he is adorable! I sent you a picture of me in the
dress I’m going to wear to the dance. Isn’t it cute?

I overheard Mom talking to
her friend, Karen, and she was telling her about you dating some
woman who I could tell Mom doesn’t like. Dad, I really do wish you
guys would get back together but I know it may not ever happen so I
want you to know that I’m not mad at you or anything. You have your
own life now and I guess if you want to go out with a lady other
than Mom, it’s your business.

Mom will probably kill me if
she ever finds out I told you what I’m about to say. She’s actually
going out with some guy! She tells me that they’re just friends but
I’m not a fool—I know there’s probably more going on than that! I
met him the other day when he came over for dinner. His name is
Jerry Rankin or something like that and I can tell you right now,
Dad, that I don’t like him. So you don’t have to worry about any
competition with Mom. He’s pretty nice looking, I guess, but he’s a
real dweeb!(I think you’d call him a square.) He tries to act real
cool, like he knows all about teenagers and everything, but I think
it’s all just a big act to impress Mom. Anyway, I’m telling you
this so if Mom keeps going out with this guy and tells you about
him, you’ll know that he’s not even in your league and that I’ll
never like him, so don’t worry about that.

Well, I’d better go now. I
love you, Daddy, very, very much. And I miss you very much, too.
Write to me or call me and let me know when we’re getting together
again, o.k?

Love,

Amy

Sam smiled to himself as he folded the
letter and placed it back in the envelope. It was more than obvious
that his daughter had better taste in men than her mother did. This
Jerry character sounded like a real prize—probably some fucking
muscle-bound yuppie that spends most of his free time working out
at the local health spa and the rest of the time with his nose
buried in the
Wall Street Journal.

Sam examined the picture of Amy again
and felt a pang of apprehension as he considered how much his
little girl had grown up in the last year. She was a beautiful
young woman now—no longer the cute little girl in pigtails she used
to be. She resembled Ann even more than ever—the same long, thick
auburn hair, the same fair skin and now, the same flawlessly
proportioned body.