74 Seaside Avenue Part 23

"Why not?" Grace didn't want to go another month making payments on a house that sat empty. She'd been forced to refinance in order to cover a debt of her dead husband's. Before committing suicide, Dan had borrowed money from his cousin, which Grace felt honor-bound to repay.

"The Smiths' references are questionable and-"

"Judy, this really isn't a good time. Can we discuss it later?"

"Well..."

"They gave you a check, right?"

"Yes."

"Then rent the house," she said, decision made.

"Grace, are you absolutely certain about this?"

"Yes," she said rashly, intent on resuming her conversation with Cliff.

"Okay. I'll tell the Smiths they can have the house."

"Thank you." Grace prepared to hang up the phone. "Bye-"

"You'll need to come by and sign some paperwork."

"Yes, of course," she said. "Thank you, Judy. Goodbye now." Before the other woman could make small talk, Grace concluded the call and put back the receiver. Turning to Cliff, she braced herself.

Cliff now stood on the other side of the kitchen. "You said you hadn't spoken to Will, then you said he'd been in the library. So you saw him?"

"Yes, and we did speak."

"You're changing your story. Again."

Grace felt like groaning with frustration. "I'd forgotten about it, and then I remembered. I wanted you to know the whole truth."

"Which is?" Cliff crossed his arms. His body language couldn't have been more obvious; he was protecting himself, warding off pain-or the threat of pain.

"Exactly what I told you," she told him, raising her voice. "Will invited me to lunch. He said it was so we could clear the air. I declined. I want nothing more to do with Will Jefferson and he knows it. Despite that, he's trying to create doubt and confusion between us and you're letting him. I, for one, am not going to allow it. I married you. I love you and I want to be your wife until the day I die."

Cliff faltered slightly. After a few seconds, he dropped his arms and sighed. "I didn't have lunch. I think I might be a bit cranky."

She felt the tension seep away. Studying him, she said, "You should know I've decided against ever cooking again."

"You have?" Frowning, he eyed the chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.s thawing on the kitchen counter.

"If Susan cooked for you out of guilt, then I refuse to follow in her footsteps. As a result, I may very well have baked my last pie."

"No!" Cliff's protest was immediate.

"Compare me to Susan again and watch what happens."

He smiled then, for the first time that afternoon, and opened his arms to her. "I'm a jealous idiot."

"Yes, you are," she agreed, walking into his embrace. Their argument had frightened her, but the fact that Will held such power over her marriage was even worse.

"I'm sorry," Cliff whispered.

"I am, too." She clung to him, still shaken by what had almost happened. "I'm not Susan."

"I know, and I hate myself for implying otherwise. But please, Grace, don't keep anything from me again."

"I won't, I promise." She closed her eyes, listening to the beat of his heart, and for a moment all they did was stand there, in the middle of the kitchen, holding each other.

"Grace?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that apple pie is ruined?"

She saw him look longingly at the garbage. "I'm afraid so."

Cliff's chest expanded with a sigh of regret. "That's what I thought."

She lifted her head. "However, I made two apple pies and put the second one in the freezer. I'll heat it up later."

"Thank you." He leaned down and kissed her, hands clasped at her back. "One more thing."

"Yes." She spread small kisses along his neck, taking pleasure in the intimacy they shared.

"What you said about not cooking anymore?"

"Oh, that."

"How serious were you?"

"Well...for a suitable incentive I could be persuaded to reconsider."

Cliff stroked her back slowly and with just the right pressure. "Do you have any suggestions on how I can make it up to you?"

Grace smiled at him. "I'd be more than happy to do that," she said, standing on the tips of her toes and offering him her mouth. The lengthy kiss that followed was not only satisfying, it promised much, much more.

Suitable incentive, indeed.

Twenty-Four.

Linnette McAfee had been in Buffalo Valley, North Dakota, for almost two weeks. Her meager savings had run out much faster than she'd expected; gas, food and motels had taken a lot of it, and she didn't want to use her credit cards until she had money coming in.

She'd stayed off the main thoroughfares and stumbled onto this town by accident. Since it was almost lunchtime, she'd walked into the only decent-size restaurant around, a place called 3 of a Kind. Standing outside, she'd noticed a sign in the window advertising for a waitress. She was down to a couple of hundred dollars, so she decided to apply.

"You ever worked as a waitress?" asked a burly man with a leather vest and a long skinny ponytail. He had tattoos on both arms, and in other circ.u.mstances might have intimidated her. He'd introduced himself as Buffalo Bob and although he looked as if he belonged in a biker gang, his eyes were kind. Before she could answer, two small children came rus.h.i.+ng in, calling him Daddy. Buffalo Bob scooped them up in his arms, which was enough to convince Linnette that she had nothing to fear from him. Later, she'd met his wife, Merrily, and discovered there was a third child, an infant who kept the young mother so busy she could no longer work in the restaurant.

Linnette had some experience waiting tables. Years ago, while she was still in high school, she'd worked in a neighborhood diner.

"Do you have references?" Buffalo Bob had asked once the kids had gone upstairs and they were able to resume the interview.

"No. And I don't have a place to live, either." She might as well lay her cards on the table. The name of the establishment certainly encouraged that, she'd thought with a smile.

He'd smiled back, but then tried to sound stern. "The job comes with a hotel room. It isn't the Ritz so don't get your hopes up, but it's clean and has a television. We live here ourselves." He eyed her speculatively. "You running from the law?"

"Absolutely not!" She'd been shocked that he'd even asked such a question.

"We're not looking for trouble here," he warned.

"I'm not bringing any with me," she informed him primly.

Whatever his doubts, Buffalo Bob had offered her the job and Linnette had settled into this small town, which in many respects was like the one she'd left-with a couple of exceptions. It was smaller, and Cal Washburn didn't live there.

This was Linnette's first day off after working ten days straight and she planned to explore the area. She'd already met a few people. Ha.s.sie Knight, who had to be at least eighty, owned the pharmacy and seemed to be the person everyone went to for guidance or advice. It reminded her of the way people in Cedar Cove confided in Charlotte Rhodes. Maddy McKenna ran the grocery; she lived somewhere outside town with her husband and two children, a girl and a little boy. Linnette had enjoyed meeting all four of them the previous Sunday and taken an instant liking to Maddy. When her newfound friend asked her to visit the ranch, the two kids seemed eager to show Linnette around, especially once they learned she'd never seen a real buffalo. "Bison," they corrected her in unison.

Maddy's husband, Jeb, was quiet, smiling readily at his wife and family, although Maddy carried most of the conversation. Linnette saw that Jeb walked with a limp, but he didn't seem self-conscious about it. He seconded Maddy's invitation to come out to the ranch.

The sky was overcast as Linnette got into her car. She and Maddy had met for coffee a few days earlier, and Maddy had given her written directions to their ranch. Linnette could hardly wait to tell Gloria about these instructions, which would definitely amuse her sister. As a cop, Gloria had heard plenty of convoluted and downright incomprehensible directions from members of the public.

According to Maddy's notes, Linnette was to drive 2.3 miles south of town, turn left at the dying oak, then follow the road until the dip and the rural route box with the black lettering. From there, she was to...Linnette flipped over the page.

The color of the sky reminded her of the flat gray of the navy vessels that congregated in the cove. In the state of Was.h.i.+ngton, that usually presaged rain. She was sure it meant the same thing here. Just her luck, too-her first day off.

The sky was growing perceptibly gloomier. And it was hot. The heat seemed oppressive for September, unlike home, but what surprised Linnette most was how still everything was. Even with her windows down, she couldn't hear any birds. The road was completely deserted.

Then she saw it.

A ma.s.s of black, twisting, spiraling cloud in the distance. She recognized the characteristic funnel shape of a tornado. A tornado? Here? Now? This couldn't be happening!

The next thought that flashed through her mind was: What should I do? Her medical training kept her level-headed and calm as she a.n.a.lyzed the danger. Although the panic was quickly rising in her chest, she refused to give in. Keep calm, she told herself. Keep calm.

Her hands sweating, she gripped the steering wheel and pulled to a stop along the side of the road. Staying with the vehicle seemed to offer the best protection.

As she stared out the winds.h.i.+eld, she saw that the twister was coming straight at her. If she couldn't outrun it, she'd be killed. The image of Sheriff Davis arriving at her parents' door, informing them of her death, was unbearable. Her mother had insisted Linnette was making the wrong decision. This would be the ultimate confirmation.

Barely aware of what she was doing, Linnette scrambled out of her car. Was she going to die? It looked that way, she observed in some remote part of her brain. She'd never survive this. Already the wind was strong enough to throw her to the ground, carry her away, hurl her into the next field-or the next county. The only reason she was still upright was that she held on to the open car door. Her hair whipped painfully about her face.

Then, out of nowhere, another vehicle crested the hill, roaring down the road toward her. This truck was obviously trying to outrun the tornado. It came to a screeching halt beside her.

"Get in!" the man yelled and flung open the pa.s.senger door.

Linnette leaped into the vehicle. Half in and half out of the truck, she clutched the dashboard as he took off again. She'd just managed to clamber all the way in when the man slammed on his brakes again and the pa.s.senger door banged shut.

"Get out!" he yelled.

Hardly able to open the truck door against the force of the wind, Linnette threw the full weight of her body against it until the door flew open. The man, already out, grabbed her around the waist and dragged her into a large culvert beside the road.

"We're going to die," Linnette told him, astonished by how calm she sounded. That serenity quickly evaporated when the wind hit. Crouched down though they were, the violence of it dashed them both to the ground. The noise was like a jet engine roaring through a tunnel.

Linnette screamed in sheer terror. The man, this stranger, clasped her by the waist and held her against him, his arms around her, protecting her. The roaring of the wind was horrendous. Painful.

Then, without warning, it was gone.

Linnette's ears hurt, and she wasn't sure if that was because of the terrible sound or the change in barometric pressure.

"Well, we're not dead," the man said to her.

"No." She looked up at him and into the bluest eyes she'd seen other than Cal's. The sudden memory brought a rush of tears.

"Hey, everything's all right."

"I know." That didn't stop the tears, though.

He broke away from her and reached in his back pocket for a clean white handkerchief. She'd never met anyone who carried a handkerchief before.

His thoughtfulness only induced more tears. Not ladylike sniffles, either, but wrenching sobs that made her shoulders shake. To add to her embarra.s.sment, she started hiccuping, too, as she and her rescuer sat in the culvert side by side, their knees bent.

"I'm Pete Mason," he said. "My brother and I own a wheat ranch about ten miles down the road. I was going into town for supplies."

"Linnette McAfee," she said between sobs.

"Are you hurt?"

"No." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I was in love, you know, really, truly in love, and then Cal dumped me. He went away to...to rescue mustangs and fell for the vet. The thing is, they're perfect together."

"I see."

Clearly he didn't. "And...and my brother has all kinds of money he's never told anyone about."

Pete stared at her. Linnette had no idea why she couldn't stop talking; despite her best efforts, the words continued to spill out. "I left Cedar Cove-my hometown. I basically just packed my bags and drove off. People thought I was an idiot and...and maybe I am. Even my mother, my own mother, said I was making a terrible mistake."

"Linnette..."

"I thought I knew all about love and I don't... I don't know anything."

In an obvious attempt to comfort her, Pete laid his arm across her shoulders.

Wiping her nose with his handkerchief, Linnette took a wobbly breath. "I have no idea why I'm telling you the most intimate details of my life. I've worked for Buffalo Bob and Merrily for almost two weeks and haven't told them any of this."